Darbee or not Darbee !

mr spendalot

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So , i have read the threads and looked at a few reviews, still cannot make my mind up as to wether i should buy one of these or not ?

Was hoping a few of you guys who have owned one now for 6 months or longer can enlighten me as to wether i would notice an improvement in picture quality on my JVC DLA-350.
 
Well, I was a sceptic but I picked up a used one and tried it on my old HD350 and was very happy with it. I still use it now with my X35 and it just gives a little extra something to the image in terms of depth and sharpness. I don't like it ramped up too high as it makes even the most porcelain skinned beauties look like they have too many wrinkles and blemishes, but used in moderation (I like around 45-50% HD) it works well.
 
As a ex 350 owner I fully recommend a Darbee! They are a great match :).
 
Conclusion: Buy a Darbee and upgrade your projector shortly afterwards. :D
 
Yes :D. I blame this forum to be honest! It's dangerous.
 
Anyone tried one with the higher spec epsons, ie 9000 or 9010 please?
 
Should work well with the Epsons as they are quite soft when it comes to the image being LCD so a good match
 
Been browsing here for ages and was still lost to what Darbee is, What were ye all on about :)
Only tonight I saw it being supplied free with 9100w, quantumav.co.uk.

So they around 235 stg and basically helps filter and sharpen picture? So HMDI in and and one out?
sounds like a good deal, everywhere seems to be approx 2900 for 9100w but with Darbee included sounds like a good deal? And Like Dazza good match to Epsons?
 
i`ll agree that an Epson with Super High resolution adjusted and a Darbee at around 50% does produce some quite excellent images

one or 2 are offering free Darbees with every projector
 
Some people don't like the Darbee but then lots of people do. For the number of Darbees owned by forum members versus the amount that have went up for sale in the classifieds - you can conclude that most people who buy them like them and keep them in their set up. I've had mine hooked up to various projectors from Sony/JVC and BenQ (DLP)

It works well on all of them (oh, and works well on my plasma too!)
 
Some people don't like the Darbee but then lots of people do. For the number of Darbees owned by forum members versus the amount that have went up for sale in the classifieds - you can conclude that most people who buy them like them and keep them in their set up. I've had mine hooked up to various projectors from Sony/JVC and BenQ (DLP)

It works well on all of them (oh, and works well on my plasma too!)

Hi Brian

i`ve been asked this only this morning buy a nice guy in NI.

what qualities did/do you think it brought to a DLP projector

as i`m all LCD/DILA/SXRD here I honestly couldn`t answer him from a personal point of view but did point out that it brings "more" to the image of my Samsung 64" E8000 Plasma

Allan :smashin:
 
Hi Allan

The darblet works equally well with both my projectors DLP & LCD, the DLP is an Optoma HD20 the LCD an Epson TW3200.It has been in constant use since I got it from you some months back and apart from the occasional high grain bluray is usually used at 60% HD.

DLP is slightly sharper than LCD normally and the darblet gives the same boost to both techs.

Cheers

Keith
 
I've had a Darblet since my previous PJ (Optoma HD33). It worked wonders on that to bring out extra detail without looking like it's been processed to death. When the right amount is applied (in my case 40-57%), it's a great way of getting that bit more image quality.

The same is true on the X55 - the native image is excellent, and the Darblet just serves as a bit of icing on the upscaled 4K cake (which tastes nice btw) :)
 
I thought as much Keith but its not fair to comment on something I personally have not seen or had experience with

it did/does compliment the Sony 1000 so kinda thought the Darbee would improve anything you plug it into

cheers and thanks for the feedback

Al :smashin:
 
I got a Darbee over Christmas and to be honest most of the time it's switched off and when it's on it's at about 30%.

This partly has to do with the types of film I watch more of, it can give an older film an unwanted processed look particularly if it was shot on one of the more heavily grainy film stocks.

I've actually watched a couple of recent digitally shot films (that the Darbee is more suited to) only to realise that I'd forgot to turn it on beforehand. I think I'll have to remember to activate it next time I'm watching such a film and maybe give it more of a chance, but it certainly isn't a magic picture improvement across the board device.
 
Funny that the guy I bought my Darbee off had a HD350 and didn't rate the Darbee. I had a HD350 at the time and though it was worthwhile, so it's not a 100% guarantee that everyone will like what it does. I've found that I tend to have it set lower than I first did since it can make grain really stand out and cause some negative effects on people's faces for my liking. I prefer to have a fit and forget setting, so I'm trying it at 45-50% HD for now and so far haven't felt the need to turn it off or lower, but it could just be the films that I've had lately.

Odd that the sharper native image of the X35 over my old HD350 doesn't seem to make a difference as to what setting I can run at for various discs, so I think it's just down to personal taste what setting is 'too much'.
 
Thanks guys, seems more people like it than not !

Think for the price it may me a worthwile investment , just did not want to buy something that may seem like an alternative to dynamic mode.

Like the effect in the pictures but the original pic always looks very soft , almost blurry as a comparison !!

Is it still ÂŁ235 or is it dearer now ?
 
I'll just chip in to say my Darblet works great with my X3. I have it left on permanently at 45% Every now and then I think to check what it's like off as opposed to on, and so far it's kept on as turning off usually feels like I applied a blur filter. I wouldn't use it for any SD material though. The better the source the better it works.
 
I tend to be conservative with the Darbee. %45 is about as high as I want to go for the most part, and usually lower. I don't really want to notice that my image has been processed and I pretty quickly spot the "Darbeeized"
look with the device on, especially on people's faces (where highlights on noses, foreheads, cheeks etc start to get to "hot" looking). And I especially want to keep the film look for older movies, so I'll go between 15% and %25 on average, sometimes more for a new movie. I use it just enough to "lift the veil" a bit, like upgrading the optics on my projector, but not enough to make the movie look obviously processed.
 
I agree, most seem to leave it at 45% as I do, others may want to adjust it down as well as up

as we are all different, that is what makes this product as good as it is, its extremely adjustable and takes seconds rather than hours to see the results

Allan :smashin:
 
I think it might also depend on how high users have their display's sharpness and detail controls set too. Having further processing after the Darbee might exaggerate certain side effects for example. I have my X35's sharpness set very low since I've found that I can see the start of ringing pretty much as soon as I go above 0.

Perhaps this means that I can run the Darbee slightly higher than another user that might have the same projector controls set higher? Of course it's also screen size, environment, transfer quality and of course personal taste.

On other thing that I've found is that I get a better result with 2.35:1 by having the Darbee after my Lumagen. Someone who zooms or is CIW will be sending 1920 x 800 pixels into the Darbee for 2.35:1 films. Since my Lumagen does the vertical stretch first, the Darbee gets 1920 x 1080 pixels for all aspect ratios (even though 2.35:1 films are effectively upscaled).

If I did this the other way round, then the 1920 x 800 pixels would pass through the Darbee first, then the Lumagen would then scale this result, so the Darbee effect would be 'stretched'.

So just comparing these various possible configurations shows that the same disc in the same room might give different results and require different Darbee settings.

As it is more of an enhancing device, then of course we're all free to set it as high (or as low) as we like. All I know is that it looks great to my eyes with it set to 45-50%, but I'm sure there are others who would prefer it higher or lower, but they aren't watching it with me. :)
 
I'm yet to see one of these in the flesh but from what evidence I've seen looking at some videos and screen grabs online the only way I can describe the effect of this device is: It makes Plasma like picture look LCD like. :rolleyes::D
 
I'm yet to see one of these in the flesh but from what evidence I've seen looking at some videos and screen grabs online the only way I can describe the effect of this device is: It makes Plasma like picture look LCD like. :rolleyes::D
I've noticed some of the films you buy (in the blu ray forum) tend to be early classic cinema (some fine choices by the way :smashin:) and for those you wouldn't want a Darbee anywhere near your kit. I switched mine on out of curiosity while watching the Criterion release of Chaplin's Modern Times the other week and it doesn't do the image any favours.
 

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