plv30 and hcpc users please......

[buns]

none left

[Timh]

Hi Ad

You might be best popping over to www.avsforum.com powerstrip is used fairly frequent over there.

[buns]

I have been on there, im a bit of a serial lurker over there! The problem being no one has a plv30. I know at least one member uses one with a pc....... so i just wondered what his settings were.

To be honest, i dont really know how to decide which is best. At the moment i have no video playback available to me, so im hoping i will get inspiration as to how to set powerstrip when i do!

thanks

ad

[Timh]

Hi Buns

Maybe you should just set Powerstrip to 800x600 and with the refresh rate set to 60Hz.
Surely there must be several uses using a differant Sanyo model with an HTPC, the settings should be the same for other 800x600 sanyo use's.

Earlier this year I took my PC to my Brothers House, he has a PLV-30, we tested it in 800x600 but no powerstrip, I left the refresh rate alone as I didn't know any better then, we did have some vertical lines showing, but the projector probably just needed calibrating.

Be prepared for some Headaches

Good luck

[buns]

The reason i ask is because, to be honest, i dont know what im attempting to achieve with powerstrip! Am i wanting to set the resolution as high as i can and still have the projector accept it?

I have asked about this in hcpc forum, but as yet nothing! It seems to me that most powerstrip users just copy other peoples settings without actually knowing how it is all working.

Ad

but soon I will have an HTPC...

I have just tried it briefly with some cheap components on a server I had laying around.

I am not certain why you would want something like powerstrip for the Sanyo PLV-30 as it is a box-standard 800x600 LCD panel which is also a standard computer monitor resolution provided by, dare I say, ALL SVGA drivers.

Powerstrip can be usefull if you have a native wide-screen LCD panel or a non-standard resolution as not all graphics card drivers have these options build in.

Maybe I have missed something Buns, but please explain a bit further what you are trying to do.

Regards,

JP

[buns]

Hello!

thanks for the reply!

I have now had fair chance to play about with powerstrip, and i can confirm that, in my case it is important. I use a 16:9 screen, hence my normal desktop overlaps off the screen area. Using powerstrip, you play with you front and back porch settings and can resize your desktop to a 16:9 format. I admit i havent had a chance to try this with a movie yet, that must wait until my immersive card comes along. But what i am hoping is that, set as it is, i will get 16:9 films will effectively play full screen over my desktop, 4:3 movies will be centred on the screen..... though im not certain yet. To be honest, having played with girder a bit, all those things are easily possible using it.

so far i think powerstip is a good touch since it has resized my desktop, it also lets you play with timings, so you could try and match the projector recommended timings, but what difference this makes i dont know. I will report back in a bit with my findings! Though nothing specific or else i get my NDA balls chewed off!

ad

Why do you project the PLV-30 to a 16:9 screen? You do realise that you are loosing out on a lot of the pixel's this projector is capable of? Have you considered trading the projector in for a cheaper true 16:9 model if that is what you want....

I still watch a lot of Sky Digital and play the Xbox which are all in 4:3 format. Personally I prefer to have a larger 4:3 picture and black bars with widescreen material (which you will get anyway considering the large amount of different aspect ratio's). Than telling the projector to not use the top and bottom rows of pixels in order to simulate 16:9 and have the 4:3 material even small in the middle with black bars to the sides.....

I know everyone has got their own preferences and good for them, but I am curious as to why you'd want a 16:9 screen with a 4:3 projector.

Cheers,

Jean-Paul

[buns]

It is very simple! I bought a projector at the time when the only 16:9 panel available was the sony at £3500, somewhat beyond my limit!

I am aware i lose a fair chunk of the pixels, but i would not be willing to trade the projector in just because of this. The picture i achieve is really very good up until now simply using composite dvd, i have difficulty believing that the panny can do any better.

I dont watch 4:3 material in ny way, hnce a 16:9 screen was the only logical course to take. To sell my sanyo i cant imagine getting even £1000, so the panny would still require more and im not willing to trade sideways like that. I am happy with what i have, the hcpc will almost certainly make things alot better. When I can afford a higher end projector i will go there!

I think there will be alot of people using 4:3 projectors with 19:9 screens..... the cheap 16:9 projectors are not about for long (less than a year), until then, 4:3 was the only budget route. The only reason it now seems such a strange route is because the cheap projectors of late have brought the technology to the masses..... anyhow, im wandering!

Basically i saw the sony 16:9 last year and compared to the sanyo with iscan, the results were to my eyes almost identical. I cannot imagine a cheap 16:9 pj to better that, hence there is every possibility i might choose the same method again even now!

ad

[Jim_E]

buns,

How did your experimenting go? I've just got a new pc and am going to try it with my Sanyo as soon as I liberate my long VGA cable from DHL. Do you have any advice on the best Powerstrip settings? I have a Radeon 9700 graphics card - I'd like to get a VGA to component adaptor for it but these only seem to be available in the US.

Jimmy

[buns]

Hi Jim! Welcome to the forums!

Experimenting went very well thanks! I now have a nic stable picture which is much superior to my dvd player on its own.

Why do you want a vga to component adaptor??? I just am using vga to vga.

What screen format are you using?

Ad

[Jim_E]

buns,

I use a 4:3 Da-Lite matt white screen with the 16:9 mode on the pj. I was interested in the VGA to component adaptor so that I could still use the 16:9 mode - which I don't think is possible using the VGA connection.

However I suppose I can just set DVD software to output a 4:3 picture, I doubt I'll notice any difference in picture quality.

What settings do you have powerstrip on?

Jimmy

[Smurfin]

Jim,

go here: http://www.nec.co.uk

In the projectors section it shows a VGA to component adapter, if you phone NEC they can give you the name of a dealer who sells them. Mines on order for my DLP projector, mind you they arent cheap, £65 inc delivery.

Why do you want one??

[buns]

Jim,

I dont use an internal dvd solution, so im making assumptions and may be wrong here! But, why worry about using the sanyo 16:9 mode? All you need do is put it to computer mode and let the software dvd do the anamorphic squeeze or whatever.

I am using a 16:9 screen.....i am running at 800x450. Howver, as may well already have been stated here......you really neednt look beyond the native resolution of 800x600 since there is nothing to be gained.

Ad

[karkus30]

This is interesting stuff, I have a PLV30 and a DVD player, but all this talk of powerstrips is fascinating, its like the twilight zone.

Take my hat off to anyone brave enough to fiddle around with PCs and multiple sets of program functions, what is the benefit? is the HTPC solution better than a DVD player? or is it just the satisfaction of getting something like this to work? Is it cutting edge?