OT - CRT projectors

[xcortes]

I'm definitely a center channel hater, but ultimately 5.1 content really needs the center channel most of the time, otherwise the dialogue always seems to get drowned out. Ultimately, however my hatred of center channels comes from the sideways MTM, and there's no chance that you'd end up using one!

Nope, no MTM crap here.

I'm thinking that since I already have the five identical amps and speakers there's no reason to limit myself to stereo. Moreover because I can alway run stereo if that's what I want.

I have six TL404 autoformers so maybe I should build me a six channel preamp!

[madbrayniak]

Doc, I hear what you are saying about the whites with the gray screens. That is something I am very curious about.

My biggest interest in them is because I wont have a dedicated theater room when I get something set up.

I have been doing some reading also on the effects the room has on your perception of the video and have decided that the multi-media room needs to be a neutral color like Munsell grey....I wonder what the picture would look like just being projected on a wall that color....

[Doc B.]

My experience has been with three different digital projectors and now the CRT. There are differences in each projector's presentation that might have an impact on your choice of colors and how dark to go, but I can say that with the lower output projectors I have used (all around 1200 lumens and varying degrees of contrast ratio - my screen currently reads around 10 ft lamberts with the CRT) I have never had any regrets going with very dark gray sides and back wall and a black ceiling and front wall in my dedicated room. Windows have removable opaque panels with felt on the edges for a light seal. Trim is all dark brown and the rug is an earth tone floral pattern against a black background. Even our chairs are black. I have tried the backlit screen thing that is supposed to make blacks on the image look darker with respect to the wall and didn't like it at all. My screen setup has a movable upper and lower matte made of black velvet covered foamboard to hide the gray bars and adjustable black side curtains with weights attached to the bottom corner to make the edge of the curtain hang as straight as possible when used as a side matte for taking the 16:9 screen down to 4:3.

Bear in mind that I am a movie guy, not a sports fan. So I am maybe happy with a less bright setup than someone who wants to watch sporting events. And for a lighter room you may also need more of a 'light cannon' than the projectors I have used.

[madbrayniak]

I am similar in the fact that I am more of a movie fan than a sports fan.

The only sport I really watch is USC football...so really not that much. Only other sports I am into is Hokey and Golf....I'd rather go see a live Hockey game and just play golf....

I'll keep all your tips in mind. I dont think I will get away with dark walls at all as my wife wont stand for it. But she is all for the more "neutral" color pallet of the room.

[Doc B.]

The most important thing is blackout curtains. Get the daylight out of the room and you have the stray light about 90% licked.

[xcortes]

My room only has a small window. It'll soon be replaced with brick and mortar. The door is on the other side of the room (8 meters away from the screen) and shuts pretty well.

[xcortes]

The projector arrived yesterday.

And a nice pair of Altec A7 VOTT is luring me. I''m struggling with the issue but Voice of the Theater "sounds" right for a home theater.

[xcortes]

The A7s weren't so. Just the drivers. Back to square five (point one).

[Doc B.]

That's a good thing. You need to be like 10 meters from A7s to get the full benefit. Nice speakers, just not practical in a normal size room. Your projector looks very nice. I think yours is bigger than mine.

We're watching the last season of Breaking Bad this week. Amazon streaming quality is much better than Netflix. The picture from the CRT is still impressing me every time I watch. Seems like the need for fine tuning is easing up, things are getting pretty stable.

Decided to go with three S.E.X. amps to get the surround setup going. Hope to have the audio system fully operational by the end of the month.

[ironbut]

Amazon streaming quality is much better than Netflix.

Noticed that too.
Hopefully, streaming of all video will improve pretty soon.
Here's a (ad laden) blurb from CES.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ultra-hd-tv-pushed-by-netflix-amazon-at-ces-2014-1.2488465

[xcortes]

The project keeps moving sideways. The two architects and the builder were here yesterday and we settled many things. However tonight we watched a movie with the kids and I realized my current tv room is just perfect. Less isolated and would require some light treatment but a much cheaper and easier project. The ceiling is too high but i already found a solution to mount the transformer. The audio is installed as is the video equipment. I would need an electric screen to unwrap in front of the tv. And having the room upstairs isn't a negative.

The current seating is perfectly located for a 96" wide screen which is the max Curt recommended. And the throw distance would allow me to fix the projector from the back wall instead than from the ceiling.

I may some day build the other room but for now it looks like I'm sticking to the one I have.

This may change overnight though!

[Doc B.]

It makes a lot of sense to simply get a screen up in the existing room and play around with the setup for a while. 96" is what I have. If the room is blacked out you could go bigger, but I suspect the picture would start to seem not sharp enough. That is my only minor compliant about the CRT. The awesome contrast and color from it far outweigh the slightly soft image.

[Yoder]

The issue is simple - Comcast throttles your internet way back when you run Netflix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx13U5W7FQg&feature=youtu.be

Man, we have been fighting with this for years. DSL is not available in the hood, so we are stuck. I have found that the browser can really help with streaming. Safari and Firefox are crap. I like Opera, but Microsoft products, including server software, do not play well with it--maybe because Opera spanked MS in the courts over IE. Chrome does work relatively well. I have no idea why, but playing with the Audio Midi Setup settings in OS X can have a profound effect on the picture quality. Anytime the image has a black/green pixelated look then it is time to go into the AMS and reset to either a lower or higher sample rate, most of the time it wants a lower setting.

Surprised that there has been a class action suit against Comcast/Xfinity. In the Comcast workplace, workers are blocked from sites that compete with Comcast. I upgraded to HD and had a question about EyeTV and the worker could not access anything on it.

[xcortes]

Today I pulled myself together and placed the projector in a temporary setup to start trying it. The first thing I noticed was that at the 107" throw distance that Curt calculated I was getting a smaller image. Checked the manual and it says that for a 96" width the distance should be 127" instead. I pulled it back and voila. Unfortunately in the big installation it will be closer to 107 than 127 so it may not fill the full screen.

Anyway. We noticed that the image came and left and it's clearly the hdmi jack. Until it left completely. Now I only get a No Vsync message. I'm really hoping it's the card. I know I'm not the one with issues with these cards

Another problem is that although the fan is very silent something vibrates. Maybe something got loose on shipping? Will look at that.

On the positive side I learned to reverse the throw (it's on the floor now) and did a lot of adjustments after the signal left. Its easier to adjust than what I expected!

[Doc B.]

This was my solution to the flaky input on my g70 card. Works great now.

http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=403222#403222