vpl-hs1 arrived today

micks_address

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2001
Messages
5,191
Reaction score
362
Points
1,120
Age
45
Location
Dublin
Hi folks,,

My Sony Vpl-hs1 just arrived this morning to my work address - can't wait to get home to see what its like - i was used to a 32" FQ 100 hz set but recently had to move down to a 28" 50 hz set . I can't wait to see what the picture with the projector will be like. I'll post my impression tomorrow. Will probably be running on S-Video from Sony NS900 dvd for the time being.... No screen yet as i'm moving house in the next few weeks... Any advice on setup etc would be appreciated.....

Cheers,
Mick
 
I own the VPL-HS1 ( Cineza ) as well. You really need good quality cable as always with av equipment it makes a massive difference.

As the VPL-HS1 can not be ceiling mounted I suggest you place it somewhere that is impossible for it to get knocked.

I have the "free" screen that came with the projector but I only use it for out of house entertainment. ( when a mate asks to bring it round his on his cr*ppy HC ) I have a Entire wall painted white
and im very very happy with the output
:D

All I can say now is to enjoy your new projector and I hope that you like it as much I do mine.

HcGuy
 
Mick, Enjoy your projector and as Homecinemaguy says, get quality cables (not silly price stuff, but just decent cables!)

@Homecinemaguy
>>As the VPL-HS1 can not be ceiling mounted I suggest you >>place it somewhere that is impossible for it to get knocked.

Oh yes it can, but I am sure you knew that anyway ;)

Gavin
 
@Gavin_Hall

What Ceiling Mount ? Cant see any online.

Unless u mean a makeshift

Thanks

HcGuy
 
You can't get one in the UK, that's the point. However you can make your own, just as I and other Cineza owners have done.

I wouldn't quite call a DIY job *makeshift*, it is more than fit for purpose at abount the tenth of the price :D

cheers

Gavin
 
I'm sure you're up to the task..go on, you know you want to really :D

Take a look here, you'll see pictures of what I did, it really was a complete doddle. All you need is a 90 degree bracket (to attach to a joist, and then hang the rod from) and a length of threaded rod, plus a few bolts (to attach the projector to the rod and the rod to the bracket) et voila, that's it!

cheers

Gavin
 
hi folks,

I only had a short time to look at the projector last night and probably not in the best conditions. The only connections i could find was composite and i only had a ps2 last night to use as a dvd player. The wall i was projecting onto was dark yellow.

I have to say i was well chuffed with the results. I'm starting to think i got a real bargain at 850 GPB with only 42 hours on the clock. I watched a bit of black hawk down and played some of medal of honour on the ps2 - the extra size really does add an extra demension to the viewing experiece. The speakers in the projector while probably not up to much are handy just for quick demo's - i was in a friends house last night so i couldn't hook up to my amp and speakers.

I'm really looking forward to getting into the new house now and getting it set up properly. By the looks of things last night i reckon i should be able to get quite a large screen size. I'll probably be projecting from about 10 (12 at most) feet from the screen.

The other question i have is about screen colour. I doubt if yellow is the best option to use. I'll be looking for the cheapest option possible so probably a diy screen. Will black out material do the job or should the screen be white?

I'll be using better cables when i get set up probably. I'm tempted to order the Sony component cable but i'll probably start off using an s-video lead. I imagine it should improve picture quality quite a bit.

I think i've opened up a whole new world with the projector. My friends all want one now......


Cheers,
Mick
 
something else i thought about last night - with my sound system - where should i position the centre speaker - will it be ok at the bottom of the screen? It currently sits on top of my tv - will it sound funny if its underneath the picture?
 
Hi Mick,

Welcome to the world of home cinema, its amazing how projector technology has progressed since say 3 years ago.

There are a number of people on this forum who use the HS1 so they can give you better advice what the best input to your projector is. I think if you are using a PS2 then the ProV might be worth looking into to get the best picture quality possible?. Do you have the Sony VPL-HS1 input addon? which I believe gives you component inputs ...I think that would be the best connection for best picture quality?.

You can get really good picture quality from LCD projectors by using a DIY greyscreen, you do not have to spend £1000+ on a commercial stewart grey screen to get good results imho. I currently use a piece of 8 foot by 4 foot MDF from B&Q which is painted with Dulux ICESTORM 6 matt paint. Some people use ICESTORM 5 (darker grey) but I now prefer ICESTORM 6 because it leaves the whites in tact but improves the blacks immensely. If you do go the painting route then get a foam roller from homebase, it gives a perfectly smooth finish on the MDF, looks very professional :). I did two coats on my MDF, some people have done 3 but YMMV.

If you do a search for ICESTORM or MDF there are quite a few discussions about home made screens. If you are going to fix the MDF to the wall then I would get 6mm depth as it does warp but wont if its fixed to the wall. 12mm depth MDF at that size is very very heavy, 6mm is much much lighter. Its probably best to pop into your local B&Q and buy some say 60" size MDF as a test and some ICESTORM 6 and ICESTORM 5 paint and cover each side with each colour and compare them with the projector to save time/hassle. MDF costs about 9 quid and the paint about 8 quid or so!.

There are also quite a few people on this forum who went the roller blind route, I believe you can order very large plain grey roller blinds from places like John Lewis which do a good job, I think the blinds cost about £80?. 4:3 projectors are handy if you use a lot of 4:3 material (such as tv viewing/games), however most films are widescreen and to get the best picture quality you will want to get rid of the light spill at the top/bottom of the picture. Black Velvet from places like John Lewis do a great job of getting rid of light spill by having it above/below the 16:9 home made screen.

I personally have a 16:9 home made screen about 24 inches off the ground with black velvet at the bottom and black velvet from the top of the screen to the ceiling, basically it covers the whole wall, so all I see is a 16:9 screen. It looks really good even in the daytime. I use a HTPC to project my movies, I have configured my pc dvd player so that the 16:9 movie is always projected at the bottom of the 4:3 panel as the top 25% of my panel projects on to the black velvet (since its 4:3 aspect ratio projector). This basically makes the projector look like a native 16:9 projector as I have no light spill :)

If you like to tweak the projectors performance the Sony factory/service menus are very comprehensive (I personally own the CX1 btw). The website below explains some of the projects he did. To get into the factory menu/service menu you just press on the remote (enter) (enter) (left) (enter), then (up) when it asks 'do you want to enter the factory mode' . From the looks of it Sony bundle the filters with the projectors now judging from this post http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39338&highlight=factory+AND+menu

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/Success_Stories.html his whole website is worth a read as there are many good articles on it, although in particular interest might be http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/HTPC.html and http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/filters.html and http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/files/proj_settings.htm

/James

p.s their are other forums for speaker setup, although I see no problem with your current position of the speaker.
 
Thanks for the comprehensive reply james. I'm really looking forward to getting set up in the new house. To start with i might just try and live with projecting onto the wall and may then look at making a screen with MDF. Just a question on your screen - if its 16:9 does 4:3 material fit ok on the screen? If i was to use velvet to blockout light spillage - would i need to adjust it for 4:3 viewing and 16:9 viewing?

Cheers,
Mick
 
I forgot to mention that before you tweak any settings on your projector always write down the default settings.

If your new house allows you to project on to a wall then I would personally paint that wall with the ICESTORM paint. The only reason Im using some MDF for a screen is because I have a radiator in the way, so the screen is slightly away from the wall. I think sometime next year I will get the radiator moved and then paint the end wall Dulux IceStorm 6 matt paint.

With 4:3 material I can use the zoom lense so that the vertical size of the picture fits into the 16:9 frame, obviously this means the picture wont be anywhere near the size of a 16:9 image. To be honest I rarely watch 4:3 material and when I do I just use dscaler.org in 16:9 mode even with 4:3 material...after a bit you get used to watching 4:3 programmes 'squashed'. Although most programs I want to watch on TV are widescreen anyway. Next year when I have the radiator moved I will be able to have a proper masking system though using velvet, perhaps motorised.


Quite a few people have made their own masking systems, I posted some links below which might give you an idea if you like DIY :)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=161522
http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/masking.html


A wealth of information can be read at avsforum.com http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=23 to do with screens, the forum is American based but members are from all over the world. Theres plently of people posting screenshots of their setups so it gives you ideas too like http://www.hayenga.com/mark/TheaterSystem/MVC-633S.JPG for example.

/James

p.s the velvet I bought from John Lewis has a gold line about 4 cm from the edge of the roll, its very light and soaks up the lightspill from the projector very well. They had some other velvet on sale but it is way to heavy imho.
 
thanks for that - i'll probably use the wall - easiet and cheapest option to start with :)
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom