[GliderRider]

Any views on the Screenplay 7200 in terms VFM? This PJ is now selling £2500. I was pretty much ready to place an order when I got a demo on the AE700 which blew me away. Does this mean for double the money I'll get twice the experience on the screenplay which I havn't seen? In other words will I get an even more realistic movie experience with the DLP? This will be my 1st PJ.

[SimonInd]

I would have thought it would blow the AE700 out of the water but then it is twice the price. I recently upgraded from a AE100 to a BenQ PE8700 ( £2400 ) and the difference was massive. Now I know the AE700 is going to be better and the 7200 has the older generation Mustang DLP chip, but I'd still of thought it would give you better brightness, colours, better blacks/low level detail, and vertical banding or screendoor. Without seeing them side by side you can never be sure though...

Simon

[GliderRider]

Thanks, Simon. The 7200 quotes a 1400:1 CR. This lower than a lot of projectors for less money. Does the fact that it is well engineered and DLP compensate. For me, I'll be using in a dark room so may not be a problem. Thoughts please, anyone. I'm really stuck on DLP vs LCD.
Andy

[Muf]

Hi Andy,
I have a Toshiba MT-8 which is a re-badged 7200 made by Infocus for Toshiba and it is a great PJ. I got it 16 months ago and it has never given any bother. I use it for looking at HD movies and DVD occasionally but my wife uses it as a TV, sometimes up to 10 Hrs/day. It now has over 2700 Hrs on the clock, still on the original lamp and still looks as good as day one.
The contrast is excellent although quoted at only 1400:1, contrast figures can be misleading. I had considered upgrading to the newer MT-800 / 7205 (same unit with later DLP chip) but my MT-8 is serving so well I decided I will wait for an improvement in resolution before my next upgrade. Unfortunately I can't give you a comparison with the AE700 or any of the current crop of LCD's as I haven't looked at any of them. 18 months ago I couldn't find an LCD that came close to the MT-8 but I believe the situation has improved enormously. I find Rainbows are very infrequent on the MT-8 compared with the lesser DLP,s (slower colour wheel DLP's). Yes I am one of those who can see rainbows but unlike others there is no suffering involved just a great picture.

Jim.

[GliderRider]

Thanks Jim, that helps, I've got another demo on the Panasonic 700 tomorrow, but gut feel tells me I'll still go for the screenplay. Not many left by all accounts, so a demo is out. hope it pays off.

THanks for advice.

Andy

[Gary Lightfoot]

I have an older NEC HT1000 which is xga 4:3 but I use it in dedicated 16:9 mode. It's rated at 3000:1 contrast, but after calibration with a Hoya FL-Day filter, iris closed and in eco mode, I measure 1833:1 to 2000:1 genuine on/off contrast. Small differences in black level can make a lot of difference, but with the iris open, contrast was around 1300:1 to 1400:1 on/off. Black level is pretty good too.

If black level is important, don't go for LCD (except for Sony H50), but go for a lower lumen DLP (if you don't see rainbows that is).

HTH

Gary.

[GliderRider]

OK Guys, thanks for your comments so far they have been really usefull However, before I finally commit to buy the 7200 tomorrow, If anyone out has one, then your view would be much appreciated, especially any negatives. Also, is there a better DLP for £2500?

Cheers

Andy

[martian1]

I have done the same seen the 5700 in action cool ordered a 7200 ...Also seen hitachi and sony hs20 very good but just not cinema...either i am a freak or this rainbow thing isn't the issue everyone makes it out to be , i had no problems with viewing. Waited over 6 months to make my decision
I f you get yours before me pm me with your findings...good luck m8t

[Muf]

One thing I forgot to mention Andy. There is a very slight lens distortion on the 7200 and MT-8 at the bottom of the screen, a slight curve (Barrel effect) on the bottom corners. It amounts to a few milimetres on an 8 foot wide picture. I have seen posts where people were upset by this but it doesn't bother me.

Jim

[GliderRider]

Thanks Muf, one other question. I can't find any info re noise level for Screenplay 7200. What is it on the Tosh? Does it cause any problem for you? and can you hear any whine from the colour wheel that a few people have mentioned?

If anyone can give the official Db rating for the 7200 noise level it would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Andy

[Muf]

MT-8 noise level is quoted at 32dB and is not very obtrusive. There seems to be two speeds on the cooling fan so when the room temp is high the PJ occasionally switches to a higher speed, then back to normal speed again when temp is under control. Yes there is a distinctive whine from the colour wheel stepper motor (this is a characteristic of single chip DLP's) but again it is not excessive and has neither improved or disimproved with use. I have a spare lamp on stand by and it is nice to see that the assembly has it's own built in fan so the fan gets replaced with the lamp.

Jim.

[martian1]

How much was tha lamp

[Muf]

The lamps are expensive, in the region of £350 from http://www.lampz.co.uk/ . As I remember there is a different part No for the Infocus lamp so price might be a bit different. One thing about Lampz, the price of the lamp is the total price, they will post it free of charge.

Jim

[martian1]

Oh.. I thought they were about £270 see this link, left column, Lamps then scroll to infocus then scroll to 7200...

www.tsi-europe.com

[GliderRider]

Thanks for all your help guys, I just ordered the 7200, should have it tomorrow. I'm way over budget so hope it pays off. If my wife is impressed I'll get away with it!

Cheers

Andy

[Muf]

Thanks for the link,it looks like the MT-8 lamp is a bit more. On the TSI site £248 +VAT+postage = £339. £40 postage to Ireland, I could nearly fly over and collect it for that. I wonder if the two lamps are the same. I have a spare anyway which will probably carry me to my next upgrade.

Jim

[Muf]

Andy, You can put her on to my wife, She is happy with it.

Jim

[martian1]

Cannot understand why tosh is more

[martian1]

Hi Gliderrider i have a 7200 on order..Payed well out of budget as well... the missus would have a fit if she knew the price i am in the same boat mate..Can you let me know what you think of it, my original budget was only £1500 and now there is a thread quoting the 7200 at £1500 and the 7205 at £2500..Must be an error

[GliderRider]

For those of you interested, my 7200 arrived yesterday. Set it up (Basic with S- Video, awaiting component lead) with an old slide projector screen (awaiting Goo) and an old Limit DVD player (awaiting a Denon 2910). I was bowled over with the image approx 50" diagonal, really stunning. Watched Gladiator, The Reds, Golds and Blue were natural, No rainbows, darted my eyes about the screen much to my wifes concern (I thought best not to tell her about rainbows and see if she picks them up, but she only noticed my eyes rolling about in their sockets and put it down to excitement.)
Admitedly I'm not an expert, but I am over the moon, more than met my expectations and so I'm in for a Xmas treat!

Thanks again to all who advised.

Andy

[GliderRider]

Martian1, I've just read your bit (to eager to reply on my 7200 to notice) if you do get it for 1500, well done, but I'm not sure i want to Know? I am pretty sure you'll be pleased. And my my wife's impressed too!

[martian1]

Forget the £1500 wishfull thinking i will be paying £2500 for it... anyway so you have it up and running now...what do you think so far ?

[GliderRider]

Well, again to reiterate the above, I'm really staggered by it. I'm away from home today and so I only got last night to play around with it and set it up in the most basic and non complimentary way (on the box it came in). I set a old 4' square screen in front of the tv, connected up an old dvd player and watched Gladiator. Better than any Plasma!, At that size I had to play around with brightness and contrast (easy with he remote) had to bring both down to around 25%! and then the colours really came out. I've really only messed about with it. My Goo arrives tomorrow. I've managed to lay my hands on some spray kit to get me screen organised proper 2.2 X 1.24 (just got sell that to the wife, as I'm spraying the wall)
So far brilliant! But I guess it is all personal, I don't want to raise your expectations too high at the same time, I was quite nervous when it arrived having just laid out all that cash, so I'm still hoping that when my set up is complete it will better than ever.

[martian1]

Thanks for that and sorry for making you repeat yourself never seen your earlier post . One last thing what is the geometry like [are image edges true] Thanks

[GliderRider]

Can't say at the moment, this old screen I've got was simply slung in front of the TV, It's got wringles and..blah.
However, I've just started painting a screen on the wall, I should get it set up properly today, so watch this space

[martian1]

Thanks...Oh have you ran out of cash for a screen i will have to make my own for now as well

[GliderRider]

Totally My Screen Goo arrived yesterday but I'm going to paint in matt white emulsion first to check the screen size (2.4 x 1.35). My viewing distance is just under 4 meters, NEXNIX, advised an optimum screen size of 2 meters for that distance and the 7200. But elswhere on this forum I've been advised that 2.4 should be fine if I want impact, so I'll test with Dulux before waisting the expensive stuff (£170 for Goo and Flok Tape )

Andy