Starting all over again....

Well , I`m selling the old homestead - and with it goes the old Home Cinema !!.

I loved my old setup - a converted loft - HT200,Pioneer908 Receiver, Skyworth 1050 dvd - but now I`ve got to start again !

There is a room - 26x16 - which is perfect in the new place - and it`s on the ground floor (so no "cathedral" ceilings !).

So , the question is - what do I get to replace it ?.

I am not rainbow susceptible,and loved the HT200 , so I guess the new SIM HT300 is a possible on the DLP front.

How about CRT ? - I now have the space, so it is an option, but what are the pros and cons ?

Are they noisy ? Do they create a lot of heat ? .

I guess all things are relative , but what package of equipment would be required -scaler ? pro-scan DVD ? OTHER ?

What would the package price be ?

All suggestions gratefully received - it will be a few months before I`m in, so what better way to while away the hours than "WINDOW
SHOPPING !"

[Paul D]

Steve.
Roland at B4 projection has just got a large consignment (40+!) of CRT projectors in.
This would be a good place to start!.
As far as i can tell:-(may not be accurate)
Barco 708(lots)
BarcoData 808s(a few)
BarcoGraphics 808s(a couple)
Sony 1272(lots) etc
Plus many others including some Barco1209's.
He has just done me a superb deal on a perfect condition (zero marks/burns etc) BarcoData808s

Thanka mate - good steer.

What`s the story Roland ? - Perhaps you could drop me an email with some details - it may be a little early , but you never know ....

Cheers

[Roland @ B4]

Up to my ears today just out the door to set up a projector on the Denon stand at the Manchester HiFi show show SAT / SUN.

I'm sure I'd have something to suit. I'll send you a list but probably not 'til Monday now.

tHANKS rOLAND - NO RUSH AT ALL

Any crt owners have any comments on noise/ heat problems?

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Hi Tiberious:

Well, what a lucky position you are in.

1st: When it comes to projectors you need to go see what can be achieved. The HT300 should outperform your HT200. A CRT with off board scaler will also. You will have to use some form of external video processing with any CRT unless it's a video only device in which case you shouldn't be looking at it anyway.

Noise issue. Well just as some DLP's are noiser than others it's the same with projectors. I have a Sony1270 in my living room just now and it's much noisier than the NEC 9PG which was there before. The 1270 is more like a SanyoPLV30 while the NEC was more like a SonyVPL10.

If you are having a dedicated room again then CRT should be an option to consider.

Heat: Well the lamp projectors I have taken home have generated more heat in my room than the CRT's. Not sure if this is good or bad!

Much has been written about the pro's and cons of each technology. I think you need to find some folk nearby who can show you just what's achievable from each.

Now about the rest of the kit. Are you now looking for amp, speakers, DVD and screen etc?

Gordon

Thanks Gordon,

Yep - pretty much everything (as it stands at the moment) is going to stay at the old place - so I`ll be looking at speakers,receiver,dvd player,projector,vcr - the lot !.

Initial thoughts were Denon 3802 receiver , Monitor Audio speakers, projector - ???, dvd player - well, depends on how much the rest costs, and I think I`ll stick with the JVC digital VCR.

aLL THE ABOVE BASED BASED ON WHAT I`VE READ - not auditioned anything as yet , so everything may change - any faves you rate highly ?

Probably looking at a total budget not more than £10/- (that may include having to tart the room up a bit !!) - so let your imagination run away!!

Steve

- oh, by the way, I`ll probably need an 8ft wide 16:9 screen too (window in the room is 8 ft wide - hoping to rig something up which lowers the (fixed) screen ,covering the window, when in use.

Also .....

are there many advantages to the larger size tubes ?

People talk of 7,8,or 9 inch tubes - is it just the size of image produced, or brightness ? - what are the size differences ?

As always, thanks in advance

[squid]

basicaly the bigger the tube the brighter the image tends to be . this in turn enables bigger screen sizes .

i'm sure that no one would advercate going as big as 8ft with a 7incher . you will need somthing brighter . you could maybe get away with it if you had a pitch black room . (we are talking no windows and apsolutely everything in matt black .

the other big diferense is resolution . the best 7" pjs are realy best fed with somthing like 1024x768 without overlap . the top of the range 9inchers are capable of some ridiculouse resolutions . through this you get better detail when fed with the right signal

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Steve: There are many facets to choosing the right CRT device. Size of tube is just another misleading spec like amount of pixels, contrast ratio or light output.....

As well as being different sizes there are also different ways of focusing the beam of electrons. These are generally electro-static focus (brighter but nt as sharp) and electro-magnetic (dimmer for same tube size but sharper image due to better control of focus of beamspot over entire surface of tube). The slightly lower light output of EMF projectors is probably one of the reasons that the NEC 7" EMF units...NEC6/9 etc use slightly oversize 7" tubes. They are nearer 7.5" if you get the drift. Runco even claimed they were 8".

So a 7" EMF unit will be sharper than an8" ESF unit but probably dimmer.....Oh this is getting confusing. ....Other things to consider with video playback are the quality of the lenses and the colour of the phosphors used. You will have noticed some projectors have colour corrected lenses while others are colour filtered. What are the benefits here. Well, a green tube doesn't just stick out a PURE green light. It outputs a spectrum of light. Do you remember sticking a white light in to a prism at school and watching the rainbow of light come out the other side. Well same thing with the lens of projector. The differetn wavelengths of green light get bent slightly differently resulting in a change of colour at the edges of the lines. This is noticeable on a grid pattern if you go to the edge of the screen. Each side of a vertical line will have a slight tint of a different coolour on each side. Colour correction tries to eliminate this.

Now there are standards written down for the colours of green, red and blue in a PAL, NTSC, SMPTE, EBU and mutitude of other playback standards. Of course none are the same and no manufacturers make phosphors of the exact colour for each standard. This bit is quite complicated and needs a graphical representation. I don;t know how to upload that but I'll try later...
Anyway colour filtering is designed to make these non-standard phosphors achieve the full gammut of colour afforded by these standards. They make things look more accurate and real but they also reduce light output.......

So, bigger isn't always better.....except if I have a 9" CRT then you must buy ot from me at all costs!

Gordon

.....at ALL costs ??!!!!

Seriously , interesting stuff. I guess it`s down to looking at the specific models (assuming a 9 inch isnt the size of a car !).

Learning all the time .........

[Stuart Wright]

Re resolutions.
If you are wanting an 8 foot screen, then a 7,8 or 9 inch CRT would all be able to do the job ok.
When installing a CRT, the contrast and brightness are adjusted to produce the correct image, and 7,8 and 9 inch CRTs (read Barcos as I don't know about other CRTs) can all produce a bright enough - i.e. 'correct' image on an 8 foot screen.
But an 8 incher would produce a better image than a 7 and a 9 would produce a better image than an 8. (Assuming the projectors are all running on an even keel).
By 'better' I mean clearer, more detailed, sharper, deeper, truer. Lots of words to describe better.
A 708 could produce a picture which is gob smacking. An 808 would produce one which is better. And so on.
Re resolutions, the optimal ones go something like this:
7 inch - 800x600
8 inch - 1280x720
9 inch - 1280x960
But this depends on the size of your screen and the specific ability of the projector etc.
For example when watching an anamorphic movie, the vertical height is squashed down so the optimal number of lines is reduced.
1280x720 is perfect on a 7 foot screen with an anamorphic image from my 1209.
It totally depends on your budget, but I would choose a 1209 powered by a home cinema PC or a Rock +.
Have thick, dark curtains either side of your window to block out the light as you don't really want a back-lit screen.

Now then Spectre - you raise the horny question of HTPC !!

I`m useless with computers - can these things be bought ready made (with the best bits inside - no crap) , so they just "turn on".

My wife is even less computer friendly. Do they still "crash" alot ??

So many questions,so little time ....Aha.

Originally posted by tiberious
Now then Spectre - you raise the horny question of HTPC !!

I`m useless with computers - can these things be bought ready made (with the best bits inside - no crap) , so they just "turn on".

My wife is even less computer friendly. Do they still "crash" alot ??

So many questions,so little time ....Aha.

If I may answer...

You can build them so they are almost perfect but they still do not quite reach the disc insert/play approach of a Video Processor. On my design you have to insert the disc and click on the "Watch DVD" button. Once the film is finished you close the Player which reverts the HTPC back to its default state.

I have it set so it is just turned on and off pretty much. Can they be bought prebuilt? Yes