Shock Horror DLP price reductions!!!

[Streetrod]

Hi All, according to HI-Fi News today the introduction of SIM2's C3X 3-chip DLP projector has sent a bit of a shock through the industry causing Infocus to radically reduce the price of its projectors to compete. The Screenplay 7205 has been reduced to £2999, the 7210 down to £3500 and the 3 chip 777 down to a ridiculers £9999, a reduction of over £10000. WOW......
So this begs the question, have, Infocus been profiteering or are they just trying to dump stock in the face of impossible completion, especially from the C3X which was half the price of the 777 and uses a chip set two generations further down the line?
In addition they have now set the price of the ThemeScene H79 (DarkChip 3 equipped) at £2995.... Gulp.
Things are hoting up big time in this market, and as I am a potential buyer I am now wondering when to jump in

Hotrod


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[Knyght_byte]

these price changes happened a few weeks back.....i know cuz i got a refurb 7205 with gold warranty for £2700...lol

in fact 7oaks are now doing a brand new 7205 for £2,800....(was £3000 when i got mine....i figured i save £300 and get a better warranty going refurb...lol)

any company sells things more expensively when there is such a small market to compete against.....soon as more companies start producing models it gets cheaper.....imagine how much top end intel cpu's would be if AMD never came along...lol

its not really profiteering tho, these are super-luxury items......you wannem, u pay for 'em....heh

personally i think £8-10k sounds about right for a decent 3 chip DLP, make them too cheap and the companies will cut costs in production to make it even cheaper to produce.....

doesnt make any difference to me now tho, i took the plunge, i got me PJ, im quite happy with it.......

my advice if you looking to jump on tho, wait a month or so, they may still drop a bit more...

 

[Streetrod]

Sounds like you got yourself a deal, I need to keep a better eye on the market

 

[MikeK]

If you can wait, I wouldn't jump just yet.

Remains to be seen of course, but the new AE900, Z4 and HS60 LCD models may shortly be bringing increased pressure to bear on the prices of 720p DLP models!

 

[stryker]

I think they all profiteer. I mean look at hard disk drives, now a days you get a 80GB for £23...... only now when they have recouped their R&D costs do you see the true value.....

There is no way in the world I'd pay 10k for a 3 chip dlp, I just don't think its worth it.

 

[wassap]

It would be interesting to see what kind of number are sold world wide, i certainly think its not gonna be that high, so imo the high price is warranted.

Also generally some of that profit is gonna be ploughed back into R&D, these things aint that cheap to develop.

 

[RTFM]

Also generally some of that profit is gonna be ploughed back into R&D, these things aint that cheap to develop.[/QUOTE]

The Sim2 C3X cost $5,000,000 to develop

Jeff

 

[Knyght_byte]

dont forget the company shareholders need their bread and butter....that goes for both the manufacturer and the retail outlets...lol

when i say decent 3 chip, i mean a 1080p 3 chip around £8-10k.....720p shouldnt be more than £6k......with some 3 chip 720p's coming in around £4k would be about right.....then top of the range single chip 1080p around £3k, 720p no more than £1700.....576p no more than £1,000

480? consigned to the annals of history...lol

 

[Streetrod]

So does this mark the end of the high end projector, with the quality that seems to be on offer or that appears to be coming soon be the death of projectors like the Sony Qualia 004. Or will the manufactures use these products to show case new technologies and for PR?

PS I saw the Sony on demo at Musical Images in Covent Garden a couple of days ago, the high def picture in my limited exp was outstanding, but there again at £25000 I would expect it to be

 

[Zag]

With the Sony Ruby at around 6K any 720P single chip DLP above this price is dead in the water. Only the ill informed would fall for that.

3K for single chip DLP... unless the new wave of LCD projectors can get close to the PQ of the H79 I don't think it will move from this price point. It won't need to until it has some competition and the DC3 equipped H79 doesn't really have any.....yet.

 

[danny daniell]

I am seriously tempted by the H79,anyone seen one in action & can comment on performance?

Dan

 

[Knyght_byte]

havnt seen the H79....but for £2700 the 7205 is gorgeous (especially with 3 year gold warranty when got from 7oaks...heh)

had to say gorgeous, watched Sin City on it tonight....oh wow was that a treat...lol.....even in my room which has apple white walls and white ceiling the black level was very good.......the contrast with the reds and yellow/orange that they let you see as the only colour in the film is perfect...

(oh, and blue, forgot her eyes....heh)

 

[gandley]

the H79 is better and on par with much higher priced projectors. Spend a bit on a decent scaler and this PJ will live up to its reputation as the giant killer.

I have seen the north american model which is said to probaly be no different from the UK model (in all but paper specs).
Those in the know seem to recommend this PJ.

Theres no real need to spend more for a single chipper. Just a shame its a bit ugly although if ceiling mounted it will probaly blend away well. and its very quiet.

See this thread for all the info you need and some pretty eye candy screenshots.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=507075

There was also a review somewhere on the net that compared the H78DC3 with the marantzS4, and the pic almost looked identical with the sharper pic going to the optoma H78. The marantz had better processing for deinterlacing etc but was not worth the almost 3X price tag. Very surpised by that considering the S4 is viewed as the best single chip DLP at present.

H79 is a quirky bugger evidently but thats not to say more expensive models are not either so.......That makes the H79 the PJ bargain.

Also theres a review of the AE900 compared to the H78DC3 which gave the medal to the H78, the AE900 did well but still did not manage the black level of the H78. So the H79DC3 should do better still(stated by the reviewer who had seen the H79 as well)

 

[danny daniell]

I am staggered that the h79 is considered in the same ballpark as the S4 & am going to arrange an audition forthwith I think this will definitely be good enough for me until the 3-chippers come down to a more affordable level.

 

[gandley]

That sound like a wise plan, more so considering 1080p will be here in strengh next year. Would be a shame to blow near 6-8k on a 720p unit for it to be worth somthing like 2.5k in less than 6-12mths.

 

[Knyght_byte]

sky is only gonna be 720p isnt it?

i've got far too many DVDs to wanna replace them so soon with blu-ray/HD-DVDs, i also cant afford to after buying my 7205 PJ..lol.....so in the UK, other than pirating 1080p downloads there isnt really that much need for a 1080p PJ is there?.....not for a couple years......certainly for me....obviously future proofing is good, but knowing how slowly we feed new tech out it wont be till 2008 earliest till true HD (1080p) is widely available....

 

[lw32]

Sky supports both 720p and 1080i

The final choice is up to the broadcaster, though.

So I'd expect some 1080 material but most will be 720p.

 

[paul3153]

Hi let me tell you the tale of the h79 purchase, well i had a demo and the scenes
were all fairly bright so no rainbow.
But and heres the big but, in low and dark background scenes i suffer from the rainbow effect. Its when i suddenly move my eyes from one part of the screen to another i get a rainbow flash, eg. starwars, the text at the front end when
i go to the next line right to left "flash".
Its the same with a scene cut when i refocus my eyes to another part of the screen because the subject has moved, rainbow flash again.
i just cannot live with it because its all the way through the film, buying this was a big mistake its got to be 3-dlp or lcd.
My advice to any one who is thinking of this projector you must see a demo first with dark scenes...
ps. my friend just can't see any problems at all - weird?

 

[TopMeTom]

I too had a terrible time with rainbows,when I was buying.

The wife saw none,BUT,after a while i got used to them.Don't know if that is right,but it does not bother me now

 

[Marty Williams]

Give it some time.

You might find that when you relax and stop looking for the RBE it stops being a problem.

That's how it worked with me.

 

[paul3153]

sorry for the delay in posting but xmas etc etc..
any way i had a chance over the festive hols to watch a few films and athough
i can still see rbe its less anoying than it was, but i still want to go for a 3-chip
model and wait for the 1080 res to come on the market.
Having said all the above, apart from rbe it really is a stunning picture from this unit.
superglueing the eyeballs has done the trick.

 

[m_paul]

i still want to go for a 3-chip
model and wait for the 1080 res to come on the market.

I'm debating whether to go for an H79 (£2500 seems bloody good for the spec) or carry on with an oldish but good 848x484 DLP, which despite occasional rainbow flashes I'm reasonably happy with, until I can get a 1080 res unit... how many years' use do you reckon to get out of your H79 before paying out again...? I've no idea how long before 1080s get down to the H79 sort of price range, but at least there'll be HD DVDs with 1080 by then to make use of it.

can you tell me much the 1280x720 offer over lower res widescreen DLP, 848x484 or whatever, with standard PAL DVDs? or is it the upgrade to DC3 that makes the big difference?

 

[Peter Parker]

Higher contrast will mean a better black level for the same brightness, and depending on how low the contrast of your current pj is, you may see more detail in dark scenes compared to now. The higher res will mean a smoother look with reduced screendoor or allow a closer seating position.

Of course the only way to know for sure is to try and get a demo and see for yourself.

Gary.

 

[Fluffy-Bunny]

Is the smart money on the next series of LCD projectors being 1080 X 1920?

In other words will we see Panasonic AE1100 and Sanyo Z5's with 1080P panels?

 

[Cocksure]

Is the smart money on the next series of LCD projectors being 1080 X 1920?

In other words will we see Panasonic AE1100 and Sanyo Z5's with 1080P panels?

Personally i think that is very unlikely as they all use Epson LCD panels, and the latest D5 panel from epson is not that old. So i cant see Epson being in a terrible rush to launch a D6 panel that is 1080 native. However i could be wrong.