[Rip]

Yay picking up my Brand spanking new HD550 tomorrow for £2900 yay

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by Rip

Ok thx, do you think the HD750 is worth the extra money over the HD550?

I'v been told the HD750 has been discontinued so to answer my own question i guess not.

The way I understand it, the 550 is a replacement for the 350 while the 950 replaces the 750 - that's why I just bought a 750.

[KelvinS1965]

Originally Posted by Boxinghris

On the remote are buttons for all the other modes to switch bewteen on the fly, but then when I want to return to THX I have to get up the OSM and select it that way.

The newer HD950 has a THX button on the remote, so this allows you two options:

1. Buy a spare HD950 remote.
2. Use a programable remote like a Harmony and download the HD950 settings as I believe everything on a HD750 will work using a HD950 remote or a clone.
3. Send your HD750 to me and I'll upgrade it for a direct button for THX...it might take me about three years to do though.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Boxinghris

The way I understand it, the 550 is a replacement for the 350 while the 950 replaces the 750 - that's why I just bought a 750.

Oh right, sorry didnt mean it to sound as if i was being funny. How much did you pay for your HD750? Do you think its worth the extra?

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by Tight Git

No, you haven't missed anything.

The only way to select THX mode is through the menu.

How on earth JVC managed to omit a THX button on the remote is beyond me.

Having said that, I always keep to THX mode, so it's not a problem...

Fabulous PJ though, isn't it?

It's the first projector I've had, but it does seem the dog's ********.

Yeah it makes no sense at all having every picture mode selectable via the remote except the one you'll probably use the most.

What I'll do is copy the THX settings and save them as USER3.

[Rip]

Can anyone tell me the differance between the HD550 & the HD750 please, just want to make sure that im doing the right thing going for the HD550 before money changes hands, thx.

[sammy the squid]

Originally Posted by Rip

Yay picking up my Brand spanking new HD550 tomorrow for £2900 yay

hi Rip, thats a good price, you mind me asking where you're getting your pj from?

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by Rip

Oh right, sorry didnt mean it to sound as if i was being funny. How much did you pay for your HD750? Do you think its worth the extra?

No apologies needed - didn't think you were being funny and I did consider either the 550 or the earlier 350 but opted for the 750 after reading numerous reviews of both, some where they were compared to each other.

Basically the 750 does have the edge and also offers more by way of picture adjustment, so it was a no-brained for me when I found a 750 at the price of a 550 which is the 350 when it comes to picture quality.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by sammy the squid

hi Rip, thats a good price, you mind me asking where you're getting your pj from?

Hi Sammy, I can let you know but as he only has one in stock atm he would have to order more in, & as i dont want to loose it, i can give you the number tomorrow if you dont mind waiting? thx.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Boxinghris

No apologies needed - didn't think you were being funny and I did consider either the 550 or the earlier 350 but opted for the 750 after reading numerous reviews of both, some where they were compared to each other.

Basically the 750 does have the edge and also offers more by way of picture adjustment, so it was a no-brained for me when I found a 750 at the price of a 550 which is the 350 when it comes to picture quality.

Ok thx, how much did you pay for your HD750?

[music]

Originally Posted by Liam @ Prog AV

Beamax is a common choice. Beamax 10015 has a 226cm long case and a viewable image area of 210x118cm. It's quoted as a 1.5 gain white but is more like 1.2, not as uniform as the VuFlexPro and not as stiff but almost half the price at around £800. This is a more standard electric drop down screen, not tab-tensioned or anything.

In both cases you will need to cost additional remote controls or triggers if required

I got the 10236 brand new just before Xmasto go with a 350 (which is the next size up in the Beamax M Series being a viewing area of 233 x 131cm) for £694 including VAT (and this also included an extra long drop which costs extra too) so you should be able to get the 10015 Beamax for much less than £800.

[sammy the squid]

Originally Posted by Rip

Hi Sammy, I can let you know but as he only has one in stock atm he would have to order more in, & as i dont want to loose it, i can give you the number tomorrow if you dont mind waiting? thx.

im not after buying a 550 mate, im just wondering how much this place would do a 990 for!

[Rip]

Originally Posted by sammy the squid

im not after buying a 550 mate, im just wondering how much this place would do a 990 for!

Ok i will ask the man when i see him tomorrow.

[danny daniell]

Originally Posted by music

I got the 10236 brand new just before Xmasto go with a 350 (which is the next size up in the Beamax M Series being a viewing area of 233 x 131cm) for £694 including VAT (and this also included an extra long drop which costs extra too) so you should be able to get the 10015 Beamax for much less than £800.

Hi music,could you tell me where you brought it from please?

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by Rip

Ok thx, how much did you pay for your HD750?

I picked it up for £3,250 - ex-demo with very few hours on it.

[Rip]

Originally Posted by Boxinghris

I picked it up for £3,250 - ex-demo with very few hours on it.

Sounds like you got a bargin. There doesnt seem to be anymore around now so think im gonna go with the HD550, sounds like its gonna be a bit step up from what i'v been used to for the past few years my old Sony HS20, its served me well but its time for an upgrade . . .

[Liam @ Prog AV]

I've checked the excellent control document that GaryB put together and it seems the code for THX on the HD950 remote WILL put a HD750 into THX mode. I still can't see the point, you either calibrate it and run calibrated settings you run THX mode or not. Why you would need to go in and out of THX mode is beyond me. Surely at most you would use two user presets, one for high ambient light and one for low ambient light which would in turn set the picture mode and the IRIS setting etc.

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by Liam @ Prog AV

I still can't see the point, you either calibrate it and run calibrated settings you run THX mode or not. Why you would need to go in and out of THX mode is beyond me. Surely at most you would use two user presets, one for high ambient light and one for low ambient light which would in turn set the picture mode and the IRIS setting etc.

I don't intend to be frequently flicking in and out of THX mode, but then again why would anyone want to be flickign between Cinema1, Cinema2, Natural, User1 etc, and come to mention it, surely THX and Natural should be the same settings?

Whetehr anyone should or shouldn't be going in or out or THX is irrelevent - the fact is, JVC have decided to include 9 viewing modes which can be switched between, and the only one which can't be selected via the remote is the one which will be used the most.

Personally, I've set USER1 as THX, then USER2 and USER3 also as THX but with different iris settings for different times of day and light conditions.

[music]

Originally Posted by danny daniell

Hi music,could you tell me where you brought it from please?

Hi,

I found it here. It lists both screens mentioned. I actually got bluestream av to price match it as I was buying some other stuff from them.

Hope that helps.

[KelvinS1965]

I made a discovery last night that is more relevant to those using an external lens, but might also be useful if anyone has an issue with slight overspill on their screen:

Using the 'Picture Position' control on the 'Input menu' (shown on page 27 of the manual) you can move the image sideways or vertically. This really just moves the image on the panel cutting off the image edge on the side the image is moving towards (it stays pixel mapped for those worried about such things), causing a row of black pixels to appear on the opposite side of the image. Once the image is then shifted back to central on the screen the black pixels will not show up against your screen border (unlike bright parts of the image which I can still clearly see on my screen border).

This setting is not global: I didn't check if it is resolution dependant (I was only using 1080/24p last night when I discovered this) but it is dependant on the 'V-Stretch' setting. Effectively you have two 'memories' according to whether you use V-Stretch ON or OFF. In my case I used a physical adjustment on my Isco lens to realign the image, so that for 16:9 content with no lens and V-stretch OFF the image remains central and uncropped. Kind of like a primative 'lens memory', but I'll check tonight if it is resolution/input dependant (it might be possible to have two position settings according to HDMI input for example).

This discovery may mean that I am free to sell off my Lumagen HDQ as I'd used it's own masking control to trim my image to fit 2.40:1 films onto my 2.35:1 screen. I now have the VideoEQ CMS calibration box (but it doesn't perform V-Stretch, upscaling, or masking) so I'm looking at other solutions hence why I discovered this.

The V-Stretch isn't quite as good on the HD350 as the Luamgen, but this is only apparent on test patterns rather than real film, so I think I can live with this. Now I have a method of being able to trim the image using this position control, that just leaves DVD upscaling, so maybe a better BluRay might help (again the HDQ does a better job with this than the HD350, so an alternative will be required longer term).

The VideoEQ will give my HD350 a working CMS (plus greyscale and gamma calibration controls if I find them easier than the HD350's), so the HDQ's colour 'mitigation' will no longer be required, so anyway of triming down my equipment will help as two external VP devices seems a bit OTT.

I hope others find this useful: It may well apply to HD1,HD100, HD550 and HD950/990 models also but I can't confirm this at the moment. It's only useful for small triming, but for those as picky as I am about overspill, or tiny black bars, then it's a useful workaround.

[music]

Hi Kelvin,

where did you get your VideoEQ from please? Do you have to use the Calman software with it?

I'm interested in mitigating the colour on my 350 too and would love to know how well it works?

Unless you ghot a thread on it elsehwere?

[RICKYJ]

Originally Posted by music

Hi Kelvin,

where did you get your VideoEQ from please? Do you have to use the Calman software with it?

I'm interested in mitigating the colour on my 350 too and would love to know how well it works?

Unless you ghot a thread on it elsehwere?

I hope Kelvin doesn't mind me answering. The videoeq came via spectracal (calman) as Kelvin was part of the beta tester program.

As for the software, Kelvin will not (at least for the near future) be using calman. Instead he will be using another calibration software (see my sig).

The videoeq comes with it's own windows software to manipulate the greyscale/cms. At the moment there is no user feedback on the software as the videoeq boxes are undergoing a hardware mod to improve the cms.

User feedback should start appearing in the next few weeks

[KelvinS1965]

Just to confirm what Ricky said: I got my VideoEQ under the Beta (Early Adoptors Program- EAP) deal. I only got it last week, so had little time to play with it. There is a hardware mod required so I'm shipping it back and also taking up the offer to upgrade to an introductory deal on the 'retail' VideoEQ Pro model (the one with CMS, as opposed to the cheaper VideoEQ model which just does greyscale and gamma adjustments).

I'm using Chromapure software (bought from the forums power buy from Ricky) and I'll be posting my colour gamut results once I get the 'Pro back and have chance to calibrate the CMS. As Ricky says it will be a few more weeks before reports (and charts) start appearing. I've already recalibrated my HD350's greyscale and gamma using only the controls in the HD350, so I'll be able to go straight to doing the CMS only with the 'Pro. After this I may use a spare User memory in the HD350 and a default gamma curve and redo the gamma and greyscale in the 'Pro for comparison...I imagine it will be easier than the fiddly custom gamma in the HDxxx models.

The VideoEQ Pro has an IR sensor, so it can be used with Pronto and Harmony remotes (once the codes have been supplied to these companies I presume) so it can be controlled directly and in real time whilst calibrating. Supplied software will also allow real time adjustment of the CMS (and the greyscale/gamma IIUIC) via the USB connection.

As Chromapure allows real time viewing of the hue, saturation and brightness of each colour (after taking a reading for white, using 75% or 100% test patterns) it should be quite simple to adjust each colour in turn, then a quick check afterwards. The VideoEQ is reported as being able to completely change one colour (the example of adjusting yellow in the CES video with Phil Hinton) without effecting any other colours, so interaction seems negligable.

The combination of using Chromapure and the VideoEQ Pro should enable a really quick and accurate way (sensor depending) of correcting the oversaturated colours on the HD350 (plus HD1, HD100 & HD550 too). Ironically you need some oversaturation for the 'Pro to work as it can only 'take away' and not add colour that the display can't produce.

[KelvinS1965]

Just to confirm the 'Picture position' setting is independant per input and per resolution. I might buy a 1 in 2 out HDMI splitter so I can use both HDMI inputs with two spearate settings for all resolutions: HDMI 1 for use with the lens and HDMI 2 without (all picture position settings to '0' for zero cropping).

Can someone confirm if there is a way of directly selecting HDMI 1 or 2 without scrolling through all the inputs (I have a Harmony 525 if it helps)?

[music]

Hi.

Having some problems with my picture on HD350.

I want to check if there's any chance the PJ could be at fault? The problem is this:

When playing either BR or SD dvd's from a panasonic BD60 BR player more often than not at some point in the film I will completely lose the picture - screen turns blue and says "NO INPUT". I got the PJ and BR at ropughly the same time. The sound seems to continue but I can't get the picture back. The only way to resume the film is to stop the film altogether and restart and then go to the chapter just before the picture dropped out and then play again from there. After this it plays perfectly to the end of the film. The picture drops out at any random point (i.e. not at the alyer change point etc.) and only seems (so far) to do it once in any film after which it play until the end. It doesn't always do it - approx 65% of the time which is maddening.

Is there any chance this is something to do with the PJ (I suspect the Panny BD60 myself).

I am aware there can be handshake problems with hdmi, but presumably because it plays fine to begin with and completes the film when reset (and occasionally plays a whole film through without the problem occurring) it's nothing to do with handshaking or the hdmi lead (picture when it's playing is perfect.

This has never happened when playing back my Foxsat through the PJ.

As I say I suspect the BD60 is droppping the picture, but I can't find anyone else on the internet who seems to have had the same issue with the BD60.

The hdmi leads go through a neet 5x1 hdmi switch, but again surely this can't be the problem as it all works fine with foxssat or dvd's until the problem suddenly occurs.

Anyway, I'd like to discount any problem with the HD350 - has anyone else ever had such a problem occur? - or any other ideas?

Sorry for the lengthy exposition.

[Boxinghris]

A shot in the dark is that your HDMI cable might be at it's limits passing the full 1.3v signal if it's a long length, and so HD or DVD would present no problems while some Blu-Rays would result in drop outs during complex 'bit heavy' scenes.

Probably wrong, but hey - it's the thought that counts.

[KelvinS1965]

HDMI can be a law unto itself at times, so there's no real guarentee that one device working should mean another will even using the same cable, switch etc. The only thing I would suggest is that I have seen someone say that try using the other HDMI socket on the HD350, just incase.

Also I presume you are outputing BluRays at 24p and your upscaled DVDs are at 1080/50p? The higher frequency will put more strain on the cable and switches, etc so it seems strange if the 24p causes issues but the 50p doesn't. Of course if for some reason you are outputing BD at 60p then that could explain the difference (though it makes motion really judder doing this, so I'd imagine that you're using 24p).

I'd also recommend trying to bypass the HDMI switch to see if it makes any difference: Mine recently packed up completely, though there was no gradual breakdown, it worked on day and not the next...

Hope some of this is helpful.

[music]

THanks for the replies.

OMG - if it's the cable I'll die as it's firmly plastered into the ceiling
I'd always understood that an hdmi cable either works or it doesn't!

But for clarification it happens on DVD's and BR's the same. And surely if there was some problem with a complex 'bit heavy' scene it wouldn't play okay next time around?

I'll test without the switch, but then what? If I have to keep exchanging the hdmi cable it will be really annoying.

I'm gonna try a standard dvd player with hdmi out for a while and see if that changes things.

Meanwhile I see I am drifting away from the HD350 thread. I will change the hdmi input and see what gives, and yes I am outputting at 24P. Perhaps I should go over to the cables forum and see if they have any more ideas? Thanks again guys. Very unhappy.

[Boxinghris]

Originally Posted by music

But for clarification it happens on DVD's and BR's the same.

In that case it won't be your cable, or at least the spec of the cable anyway.

The best course of action then will be to find out what the problem is by a process of elimination, trying different inputs, different source components etc and you will eventually find the culprit so don't panic.

[KelvinS1965]

Music, don't go replacing the cable just yet: Even if it is marginal there is the possibility of adding a HDMI repeater at the HD350 end if need be. Anyway, as you are using BluRay at 24p this is less than half the bandwidth of the DVD upscaled to 1080/50p so really that 'proves' the cable anyway.

I don't believe that there is any extra strain on a cable for 'data heavy scenes' as the video is effectively uncompressed by the time it is squirted down the HDMI cable...though I stand to be corrected on that one.

If it did turn out to be the switch it could be replaced. Another thought is your player's firmware: Is it upto date incase there are any issues with certain discs or with 24p?

Also I'm presuming there is an amplifier involved somewhere in this chain, so look into that as well in the appropriate sub forum just incase. Your player is a popular model, so it's highly likely another owner will have some of the same equipment as you.

Hope you get it sorted...how are you getting on with the Chromapure software BTW? I've got my greyscale and gamma really sorted ready for my VideoEQ Pro to return to me so I can do the CMS.