UPDATE: Scott has posted his first review of the Optoma GT720 gaming projector on his blog! Check it out!

Greetings everyone!

Well, I’ve warned you guys.  It’s time for our third new blogger to come on line.  This time, welcome Scott S.  He’s a local – lives about 25 miles from me here in So. Cal.  Scott S will blog on gaming and projectors, and, like Pete, has looked at the Optoma GT720, which he will comment on in is first (non-intro) blog.

This may be curious, or co-incidence, but would you believe Scott S, like Pete owned an Epson 6500UB, though now Scott S. has the newer 8700UB.  (Pete’s still got his 6500UB)

Scott S (we need a moniker for him) wrote an intro, which you’ll find below.  I will also use the same process as we did launching the other two bloggers.  I’ll post his first full blog on my blog here, and when his blog is fully live in the next 48 hours, we’ll move his blog over.

OK, Scott S has a bit different background than Pete. While Pete’s a hard core gamer, that, these days, is more into consoles than PC based – he plays both – and was a fanatical PC gamer, pre-college.    Scott S, by comparison, is a PC gamer first, (though he has consoles as well, and will use them too, when contributing his two cents about projectors for gaming).

Scott, though, is very much a hardware guy, which means he’ll have other interesting things to contribute.  He loves to build high power gaming PCs.  He’s going to build me more of a  medium power PC shortly.   He’s also about to upgrade to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 580 card in one of his own game PCs.  If I understand correctly, that GTX 580 has to be one of the most bad ass graphics cards in existence.   (I’ll get a “lowly” 560 card, by comparison, I believe.)  Our thanks to Nvidia for providing the graphics cards.

OK here’s Scott S’s intro.  A good part of it is his history of gaming.  Enjoy and look for his blog (links from here, the homepage and the other blogs, in just a few days:

Greetings,

I’ll start off with a brief background, I guess.  I am thirty-six years old, I am an Accountant, and I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area.  I currently reside in Orange County, California. I have been playing video games since I was too young to remember.  I can honestly say I was born into the video game world; I don’t recall a time without video games.  My first system was a hand-me-down Pong system from my Aunt.  From there I graduated to an Atari 2600.  My first home computer was the Commodore 64.  I loved that thing. These are all of the console gaming systems I have owned:

Pong
Atari 2600
Intellivision
Colecovision
Atari 5200
NES
Sega Genesis
TurboGrafx 16
Neo-Geo
Super NES
Atari Jaguar (to be fair I only paid $29.99 for it)
Nintendo 64
Sega Dreamcast (currently own)
Nintendo Gamecube
Playstation 3 (currently own)
Nintendo Wii (currently own)

I am not a huge Sony fan, but the PS3 had too many features for me to pass it up.  In all honesty, my PS3 is mainly used for Blu-ray playback and Netflix streaming.  I do play a few of the exclusive games, but not many. I generally prefer PC gaming over console gaming.

Handhelds – Game machines:

Gameboy
Atari Lynx
Sega Gamegear
Gameboy Color
Nintendo DS

The Atari Lynx was the shining star of the bunch, I really miss that thing; it was way ahead of its time.

I guess I would fall into the moderate gamer category.  I don’t have enough free time to be a “hardcore gamer”, but probably would be if I had the time.  When I was younger, I would have definitely been considered a hardcore gamer; I would play for twelve hours straight during the summer months.  Ahhh those were the days.  I spent a lot of time playing all of the classic games – mainly NES – and TurboGrafx 16 titles.  I am a huge sucker for Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Sonic, Bonk, and Donkey Kong games.

I spent most of my teenage years in an actual arcade, attached to a Street Fighter II machine.  I was involved in tournaments, and was pretty damn good.  I would usually play at our local 7-11 located on Cahuenga and Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, and make some money from time to time with a little wager here and there.  I also played a lot at the Family Fun Arcade in Granada Hills, California.

For the past five years or so I have really gotten into PC gaming, and PC building.  I love building PCs, and that has become a new hobby.  To put it bluntly, I am really cheap.  I am not going to try and sugarcoat it.  I am always looking for deals on Slickdeals.net, and planning for my next build, or upgrade.  I currently have three PCs in my home: one home theater PC, and two gaming machines.  One is a mid-tier gaming machine, and the other is higher end.  The HTPC is perfectly capable of gaming as well.  I usually game on a monitor, but do game on my Epson 8700UB projector as well.  I have my Wii hooked up to the projector and also game on the HTPC from time to time.  There is no comparison to gaming on a 120” screen; it’s a whole new experience.  And nothing is more fun than family game night with Mario Kart on the Wii, using a screen that large.

My top 10 favorite games/series of all time:

Console:

Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Mario Kart Wii, Crazy Taxi (Dreamcast), Little Big Planet, Resident Evil, Infamous, Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx 16), Sonic the Hedgehog

PC:

Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, The Sims, Mafia 2, Fallout, F.E.A.R., Bioshock, Civilization, Overlord, Doom

Arcade:

Track & Field, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Ms. Pac Man, Stryder, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II, 720, WWF Superstars, Double Dragon

Here are the specs of my current gaming computers:

Moderate Gaming PC:

Case:  COOLER MASTER RC-692-KKN2 CM690 II Advanced Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Processor:  Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz
Motherboard:  BIOSTAR TH55B HD LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
Power supply: COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS
Memory:  G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Video card:  Sapphire Radeon HD4670 1 GB DDR3 VGA/DVI/HDMI PCI-Express Video Card
Optical drive 1: ASUS 24X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Hard drive:  SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB
Wireless card:  Zonet ZEW1605 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter

Main Gaming Rig:

Case:  COOLER MASTER Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Processor:  Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost)
Motherboard:  GIGABYTE GA-P67X-UD3-B3 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Power supply:  CORSAIR Gaming Series GS800 800W ATX12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified
Memory:  G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Video card:  MSI R5770 Hawk Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5
Optical drive 1: ASUS 24X DVD Burner Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Hard drive (boot drive):  Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAA064MAG-1G1 64GB SATA III MLC
Hard Drive (storage):  Western Digital Caviar Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

Home Theater Gear:

Projector:  Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8700UB
Receiver:  Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel
Front Speakers: Boston Acoustics CS226B Classic Series
Center Channel: Boston Acoustics CS225CB Classic Series
Rear Speakers: Boston Acoustics CS26C Classic Series

HTPC Specs:

Case: nMEDIAPC Red Wood Wood/Steel HTPC 8000 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case
Processor:  Intel Pentium Dual-Core E6500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz (stock cooler)
Motherboard:  EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI ATX Intel
Power supply:  COOLER MASTER GX Series RS650-ACAAE3-US 650W ATX12V v2.31 80 PLUS
Memory:  Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) 6-6-6-20
Video cards (SLI):  2 x PNY GeForce 9600 GT 1GB GDDR3
Optical drive 1:  LG Black 10X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray Disc Combo Model CH10LS20K
Optical drive 2:  X-box 360 HD DVD external drive
Hard drive:  SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB (adding another 2TB drive in the near future)
Wireless card:  Zonet ZEW1605 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter
Remote:  Lenovo Multimedia Remote with Keyboard (Black)
Software:  ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre Platinum

-Scott S

Art’s note:  OK, Scott will need to work on his blog endings a bit, a touch of what’s next, etc.

Well, that’s it for now.  Scott’s bringing back the Optoma GT720 tonight so I can finish the overall GT720 review in a day or three.

On a separate note, the BenQ W1200 is on its way to Pete, for his take on how BenQ’s W1200 does as a gaming projector.  We liked it well enough as a near entry level home projector.

Ahh, we also have the Mitsubishi HC9000D, their first 3D home theater projector (LCos), inbound as I write this.  (or so I’m told) -art

Enjoy!

The ViewSonic VP3D1 3D processor earns our Special Interest Award!

Eureka! It works!

I’m talking about ViewSonic‘s VP-3D1.  What is it? What works? The VP3D1 lets you watch 1080p 3D content from Blu-ray 3D discs and other, including HDTV sources, on 3D projectors that aren’t currently able to do so.  It’s the magical device that changes the range of capabilities of those relatively low cost first and second generation 3D projectors sporting 720p and similar native resolutions such as WXGA. For lack of better terminology, let’s call the ViewSonic VP-3D1 a 3D processor.   That seems to make sense. and, that’s what ViewSonic calls it.

VP3D1 - brings Blu-ray 3D, and 1080p 3D HDTV to low cost 3D projectors

The VP3D1 has an MSRP in the US of $299, but street price seems to be mostly around $249 based on a quick online search.  That makes it a very reasonably priced add on to your system, considering the benefits delivered.

The Viewsonic VP-3D1 addresses several issues that have limited what you can do with these projectors when it comes to 3D.  Mind you the Viewsonic VP-3D1, isn’t the only device of it’s kind.  Optoma‘s been shipping their similar 3D-XL, to do the same thing.  Strangely, the Optoma device has been available in the EU for many months and is just arriving here (or has arrived), but Optoma hasn’t had review units yet.

So, here comes the VP-3D1.  What does it really do?  First, it has two HDMI inputs – and they are HDMI 1.4a.   HDMI 1.4a is the newest HDMI standard, and the thing that matters – the Blu-ray 3D standard, for all Blu-ray 3D DVDs requires HDMI 1.4a.  The VP3D1 also supports Side By Side, but I haven’t looked into that yet – stay tuned.  I’m also planning to put on and watch/listen to a bunch of those 3D music videos I’ve been recording for months from DirecTV.

I know many of you will say that the Sony PS3 now in it’s 3rd or 4th year, can play Blu-ray 3D since firmware updates many months ago.  How do it do dat?   The Sony PS3 is a powerful computer essentially.  It’s upgradability by firmware is downright revolutionary, and as a result, yes, it simply has the horsepower to emulate any HDMI 1.4a features needed for viewing Blu-ray 3D.

Both of my PS-3′s and my Panasonic HDMI 1.4a Blu-ray player typically have no problem with the Blu-ray 3D discs.

720p projectors like the Optoma GT720 – a machine geared for gaming, or for that matter any of perhaps two dozen 720p and other lower resolution WXGA projectors that are 3D capable, however, mostly lack HDMI 1.4a, and also the programming to work with that 1080p 3D content.

Without the ViewSonic VP3D1, these projectors can typically handle a variety of 3D, including some of the channels on DirecTV and cable.  But they are primarily designed to work with game machines and PC’s rather than 3D DVD or 3D HDTV.  The VP3D1, changes all of that.

The VP3D1 converts 3D up to and including 1080p down to an HDMI 1.3 720p 120 hz signal which is the standard for 3D on the lower resolution 3D capable projectors, lots of them!

With the ViewSonic VP3D1, therefore, these low cost projectors can now handle a range of 3D content rivaling the very expensive 1080p 3D projectors like the Sony‘s (about $4K, and $10K), JVC‘s, Sharp XV-Z17000, etc.

There are still a number of current standards (and “optional” modes) to do 3D, and so far, only one projector I’ve worked with, for example has been able to work with all three 3D channels DirecTV puts out.  And that includes the pure 1080p 3D projectors.

But back to the VP-3D1.  This was so easy.   I set up the GT720, plugged it in, fired up my Panasonic Blu-ray player, but instead of running the HDMI cable from the Panasonic, to the Optoma, instead, the cable goes from the Blu-ray player to the VP3D1 HD 3D processor.  The VP-3D1 has two HDMI inputs, I should note, that can be switched from the front, each with discreet buttons.

The next step is to run a second HDMI cable from the VP-3D1 to the 3D projector, in this case, the Optoma GT720.

Firing up everything, I put in my favorite all purpose Blu-ray 3D DVD, Ultimate Wave, 3D Tahiti.

Here’s the cool part.  That was it!  I put on the active shutter 3D glasses that Optoma sells for their projector, and bingo, Ultimate Wave 3D plays beautifully in 3D, from Blu-ray 3D.  No muss, no fuss!  Out came the Ultimate Wave disc, and in, Tron Legacy!  Tron Legacy also played great in 3D.  (a very fun movie to demo to friends, that Tron).

The next step was to try one of my two PS3s.  I simply pulled the HDMI cable out of the Panasonic player, put it into my PS3, and Tahiti kept on playing in 3D.

Audio.  I need to look into audio a bit later.  I can tell you that the audio from Ultimate Wave, made it from Blu-ray player to VP3D1, to the GT720, and the sound played fine through the Optoma’s small speaker.   I also played the audio through my room’s sound system, but I already pull the audio out via digital optical cable, not HDMI, since I don’t use my AV receiver to switch the video, only the audio. As that’s not the way most folks do it, I will report whether one needs to treat audio any differently when the VP3D1 is hooked up,  than without the VP3D1 in the system.

Update:  Not a problem.  I outputted the audio via digital optical from the Panasonic, to my AV receiver, while sending the video to the VP3D1.   It works fine.  Same when using the PS3.

Finally, I had mentioned the Optoma 3D-XL.  The two are similar, but, the Optoma has an additional capability, even if few will use it.  You can pair two low cost projectors with 2 3D-XL’s polarizers, etc. and create a system using passive glasses.  My take on that, too expensive, with things changing so quickly, but that is a difference.  Another difference is that the Optoma is a full $100 higher MSRP, and close to that difference when both are discounted.

Break time around here!  When I come back, I’ll report on how the VP-3D1 performs as I try it on 3D HDTV content.  I’ve got content recorded from all three DirecTV channels, two of which have only worked on one projector so far.  The plan is just to add to this blog (within 24 hours of the post), rather than split up the info on two blogs.  That way we can keep all the comments on one blog.

And of course, after I finish this blog on the VP-3D1 3D processor I’m starting on the full review of the GT720, which I will try to post by next weekend.  Also of note, while doing both, I am writing up my thoughts on Carada’s Masquerade CIH masking system, designed to work with most fixed wall screens.   It’s a busy week.  At the same time, I also will post a one page review on the legendary Studiotek 130 from Stewart Filmscreen.

So, it’s a busy week, but I’m having fun today and tonight with 3D.

Look for this blog on the VP3D1 Processor to be added to, and finished within 24 hours.

Update:  Ok, folks I forgot to update.  I’m just getting back to it now.  I’m done playing.  The Optoma GT720 is going home to Optoma and for the moment, I’m out of 720p 3D capable projectors that lack HDMI 1.4a.

But, I did want to bring up one topic, and that’s compatibility with my PS3s.   I originally reported that I switched while watching one Blu-ray 3D disc, from Panasonic Blu-ray player to one of my PS3s, and no problem at all.

However, Ultimate Wave 3D Tahiti seems a little more forgiving than some other Blu-ray 3D detecting discs.   Over repeated use, I’ve found that one of my PS3 players doesn’t always like the VP3D1/Optoma combination.  On occasion, I’m getting messages that there is no Blu-ray 3D compatible device, and the discs are kicking me out.  Most times it works just fine, sometimes not.  It seems that if I have one such disc working, then the next one will too.  Problem is, I haven’t figured out why a few discs don’t always work, or rarely work.   I’ve tried all dozen plus Blu-Ray 3D’s  in my collection.  From FIFA soccer, Tron Legacy, to Monster House all have worked on the PS3/VP3D1 projector combination.  Just a few times I get the 3D display compatibility error.

Bottom line – Using a PS3 should be just dandy, but perhaps not 100%.  I have been able to get every Blu-ray 3D disc to work, but not every time.  Of course one of my PS3′s is real old – one of the first two months production?  When I visited a forum about the 3D1, all mentions of using the VP3D1 with a PS3 are positive, with no issues reported.  So I’m the only person reporting any issue.   BTW I suspect cables.  Not all of my cables are wide bandwidth HDMI, and I run some longer lengths.  I plan to upgrade several of them.  Frame packing 3D apparently requires about 2X the bandwidth of 2D?  There is a question raised about Top-Bottom 3D, being an issue.  I did not specifically identify any top-bottom 3D content.  I am going to ask Viewsonic about that.

Mind you I will have other projectors arriving, that can use the VP3D1, so when they do, I’ll try some more.  Is the problem being caused by the projector?  Or is it the combination of the VP3D1 and the particular projector model, or just related to the VP3D1 in certain circumstances, or more likely – a PS3 issue?

But remember, my Panasonic Blu-ray player with HDMI 1.4a (the first Panasonic with it), works flawlessly.  Not once did the Panasonic tell me that the display isn’t compatible, so the PS3 is at least part of the issue.

While there were some issues with the PS3, note that there was no such problem with 3D content coming over my DirecTV box with the VP3D1 and Optoma.  Content from all 3D channels worked as advertised.  Note, that included ESPN 3D’s X-Games, concerts in 3D from Guitar center (there’s a whole series of them, with great artists), L5: First City in Space, China Revealed, and National Parks, all on 3net, and Adventures in Animation, and Vancouver 2010: Olympic Stories, from the n3D channel.

Artifacts:  Overall, pretty clean, but I have no comparable 720p projector that doesn’t need the VP3D1, to do side by side 3D comparisons with.  This opportunity may present itself in the near future.  The only noteworthy, annoying artifact I noted, turned out to be a left right issue, which with most 3D projectors is easily correctable.

So, bottom line – other than some once in a while issues with using a PS3, the VP3D1 looks pretty good.   Until I can find me a proper 1080p 3D projector I can live with, I expect I’ll probably be using the VP3D1 or a competitor’s with one of these low cost 3D capable projectors until my dream projector arrives to replace my now aging JVC RS20.

Products like the VP3D1 can take your basic 3D projector to the next level – with 1080p support and Blu-ray 3D support.  A device like the VP3D1 combined with a low cost 3D projector (and a more expensive 2D one) makes for a tantalizing, and practical alternative to dropping a big bundle on todays higher end 1080p 3D projectors all of which seem to be over $4000 at the moment!  In other words, if your 3D is only occasional, this way, you can wait for the expensive ones to move to 2nd or 3rd generation 3D and get brighter.  -art

Hope that helps folks. Again, any owners – feed us all back!  thanks -art

Greetings all,

Panasonic will have a new 3D ready home theater projector before the end of 2011. Figure that will be after the CEDIA show – which means after September.

This is exciting news. As many of you know, Panasonic has only been selling one home theater projector, the PT-AE4000, for the last year since they discontinued the lower cost PT-AX200U. The PT-AE4000 also happens to be almost two years old. Unlike others – they didn’t announce any new home theater projectors last year at CEDIA. For years Panasonic was the number one seller of home theater projectors in the US, but when you cut your product line in half, that’s got to cost you market share.

This new 3D Panasonic home theater projector doesn’t have a name yet. When Panasonic announced it the other day, they provided almost no info beyond that there will be one. In fact it was a single sentence announcement. I think Panasonic felt it important to let the world, and its fans know their still in the game! Panasonic also introduced a number of commercial projectors but that’s news for our other blog.

Pricing is totally unknown but, since they did say this projector would replace the PT-AE4000, I’ll speculate only this:

Panasonic may well be priced well below the other 1080p 3D projectors out there from Sharp, Sony, and JVC, all of which are at least $4495 (JVC), The Sharp is $4995 – that would be the already reviewed XV-Z17000 projector. The others are the $8000 JVC, the $12000 JVC, and the $10,000 Sony VPL-VW90ES.

Panasonic wouldn’t even tell me if it was 3LCD or something else. All previous Panasonic home theater projectors have been 3LCD. I’ve already seen some blog sites say it is, but, I’m pretty certain they didn’t hear that from Panasonic – so, call it a rumor.

Remember that the PT-AE4000 sells for under $2000. I figure it would therefore be unlikely that Panasonic would replace it with a projector costing twice as much or more.

So, if my guess is correct, it should price somewhere between $2000 ($2K is unlikely but, you never know), and $4000. My “best guess” based on no information but that “replacement” statement, that it is the forthcoming 3D home theater from Panasonic might price at $2995. I’ll be really impressed if I’m right (at the price and that I guessed it).

Now that would be truly exciting. Unfortunately we’ll almost certainly have to wait 3 months until CEDIA to find out.

Otherwise not much exciting news here at the show, for home theater (it’s a show for the commercial display industry (including projectors of course).

But I do have a few rumors to report about more home theater projectors, which I’ll write in separate blogs while flying back from Orlando to San Clemente (California) tomorrow evening. Stay tuned! -art

First, Pete – our new gaming blogger has shipped me the GT720 so I can do the full review. He’s done for now.  Pete reports he played a range of different types of games on it, with great success, and has much to report, which he’s already posted in his Art of Gaming blog. His blog still isn’t well known, and a bit harder to find than mine, so this is just a:

“Hello, and a Reminder” – to go read Pete’s commentary about how the Optoma GT720 does as a serious and not so serious gaming projector.  Let’s just say that Pete – who’s been gaming using his old Epson 6500UB, was most impressed.  Check out his GT720 comments! Pete, btw, is such a gamer… He took the projector right out of the box, hooked it up, adjusted nothing, and started gaming. He’s not a projector hobbyist – he’s a gamer. (We all know how some of us get carried away with the projector’s performance almost forgetting to watch the movie on occasion…)

I haven’t yet hooked up my own Wii, since the move last fall. I expect I’ll break out the Wii Sports, and maybe even Carbon Canyon for my PS3, just to see how it does from a lightweight’s standpoint. (Hey my favorite game is still RISK!) But mostly I’ll be filling out the rest of the review – how the GT720 does overall – movies, sports, etc.

My name is Pete Connolly and I’m very excited to start helping out here at Projector Reviews.  I spend a lot of time in front of the big screen with a controller in my hand and hope to share some of my thoughts and experiences on pairing video games with home theater projectors.  I will be doing this by adding a video game section to future reviews, as well as contributing here in a gaming focused blog.

So…where to begin?

Update 4/25/2011:  Pete’s Games and Game Projector Blog is now live.  His opening article “The Starting Bit”, which appeared here, has been moved there.  Please join him there!  The short name for his blog, is Bitbound – A Gamer’s Blog.  -art

I would like to tell you about a new blog launching on our site in the next few days.  More importantly, t0  tell you we’ve got an expert to blog on the topic of gaming and projectors.

Gaming!  As we all know, one popular aspect of owning a projector at home is that you can not only watch movies, sports, TV, but also play games.  Games and gamers, come in all types and complexity.  In almost all cases, game playing is a much better experience thanks to the greater immersion, when filling say, a 100″ diagonal image, instead of some  37″ LCDTV or a portable game machine.  Of course, if you are mobile, pico projectors for your gaming?

I’ve always wanted to answer the gamers who regularly email me, comment on blogs, etc., with good advice regarding gaming and what to look for in a projector, for the best gaming experience.  One problem only:   I am not a gamer.  Oh, I have a Wii, and a PS3 (and an XBox) but they don’t get much use.  Oh, Carbon Canyon auto racing a few hours every couple of months  (I play Risk occasionally online too, but that’s low def, simple), and on occasion, Wii sports.   Playing Wii, though, on my screen – is something!  But I’m strictly entry level as a gamer.

So I went out, and found one.  Well, possibly two, but that’s a story for a later blog.

Meet Pete.  Mostly I’ll let him tell you his story, but Peter is one serious gamer, and he owns a projector.  He tells me he used to compete on the national level until he had to focus on his college education.  He may be more into gaming than me, but we do have one thing in common, it seems:  We Are – Penn State!

So, this is how things will happen.

I’m going to post his first blog on my blog, here, in the next hour or so.

Better news still.  Pete will also be reviewing certain projectors strictly for their gaming ability.  In most cases, that will mean a real section on gaming added to a number of home theater projector reviews, as well as a new breed of lower cost gaming projector.  I hope Pete to have his first review of a projector from the gamer’s perspective done in May.  He currently owns an Epson home theater projector (fyi).   Finally, He also plans to blog about specific games.  Pete thinks too many of us don’t get to be aware of some great games out there, among the less commercial game titles.

Pete’s blog is now open for business (as of 4-25-11), check it out:  Bitbound – A Gamer’s Blog

And one more item.  I’ve got two other gamers I’ve also been speaking with.  We could add even more.

So, I’m sure many of you have at least tried some sort of game on your home theater projector, or are interested in some gaming when you get your first projector.  All of you, welcome Pete on board!

OK, it won’t be long now.  Gamers are Welcome!  Let Projectors Rule Your World!  -art

The Sharp XV-Z17000 looks like it's predecessor

Wow, a practical 1080p home theater projector.  I set the Sharp XV-Z17000 down on the table in my theater, plugged it in, connected it to my PS3, and DirecTV box, and dropped in Alice In Wonderland in Blu-ray 3D.

Eureka!   It works – in “living” 3D.   My PS3, and the disk recognized the projector as a Blu-ray 3D device, and everything fired right up.

So, what have we here?  The XV-Z17000 projector from Sharp is essentially a slightly updated (overall) version with 3D, of the existing XV-Z15000 which has been around more than a year, and which is a very nice home theater projector (Hot Product Award), that sells for about $2000 and has an MSRP of $2495.

If there is an “unfortunately”, it’s the price.  The Sharp XV-Z17000 has an MSRP of $4995, which is double that of the older 2D projector.   This projector is just about to start shipping (not quite yet, as of this writing), so I cannot make any determination as to what the street price will be initially.  I imagine the Sharp Z17000 could sell for close to the MSRP, or, considering that the street discount on the older projector tends to be around 20%, then the same would have the Sharp XV-Z17000 available for close to $4000.

Either way, this is the lowest MSRP 3D 1080p projector we’ve seen to date, although the JVC DLA-RS40 which is starting to ship, is also $4995.   We will be reviewing that projector as well, but probably at least a month out, as JVC is now sending an RS60 as the first one we get for review.

Ahh, let’s stay on target here, which is the Sharp XV-Z17000 projector.

I won’t discuss 3D picture quality but to say, sure, there’s a little crosstalk, and other minor artifacts, but I have yet, including the $15,000 LG CF3D, or the $6000 Lightspeed Modulator to see a truly clean 3D image.  That is to say, for those of us playing with home theater projectors 5, 7, 10 years ago, we were used to all kinds of minor noise types and artifacts.  Over the years, the processing has gotten cleaner and cleaner, to the point that today’s basic $2000 home theater projectors probably produce a cleaner overall image than most of the very expensive projectors only a handful of years before.

Most likely it will take the 3D projector industry a couple of years to start refining the 3D aspects and deliver a truly clean 3D image.

But, the Sharp projector is very watchable.  I watched about an hour of Alice (forced my wife to watch some as well), then we switched to an hour long 3D program from the Universe series from TV, now shipping on Blu-ray 3D.  The solar system visuals in 3D were nothing less than stunning. Again, not perfect, but definitely knock your socks off type of “wow” material.

Finally, I put on Monster House in 3D, afterall, probably more than half of all 3D movie titles right now are animations.   That was fun too.

I should note, my theater still has a temporary screen – a 100 inch diagonal 16:9 Elite HC gray surface.   I don’t think it’s ideal for even active glasses 3D such as the Sharp.  I will be trying out the projector on several other screens, including the Carada Brilliant White, and the Da-lite 3D surface.  If the Stewart silver 3D screen arrives on time, that one too (it should be here before Superbowl).

Yes, the 3D looks pretty good, but what about overall?

Dim!   I started in Movie 1 mode, with Alice.  Forget that idea.  Movie 1 mode is dim.  Period.  The Sharp has never been a particularly bright projector especially in “best” mode, in fact the opposite.  The older model measured just barely 300 lumens in “best” mode, but a much more respectable 1100 lumens at its brightest.

In Movie 1 mode, the projector was unwatchable – too dim on Alice, on the dark scenes, to be acceptable.  Now, Movie 1 has the manual iris stopped down for max contrast, and the dynamic iris feature off.

Next I switched to Dynamic mode.  Oh what a joy by comparison.  Alice was now definitely reasonably bright.  I won’t say that some extra brightness wouldn’t have been a little better, but then my screen isn’t as bright as a normal white surface. A better match in a screen would help.

In other words, I’ll go out on a limb to say that in brightest mode, the Sharp does have the muscle to fill a 100″ diagonal 16:9 screen with 3D content.  (Though not a lot to spare).  Forget having a nice, really, really, bright image for sports, or Discovery HD type 3D content, but if you have your room lighting control, you do get a good 3D showing!

Next I tried Movie 2, which defaults to dynamic iris on, manual iris maximum open (brightest).  That was still down from brightest mode, but a huge jump from Movie 1.  When Mike gets done calibrating a best mode based on Movie 2, we’ll see how “bright enough” it is.  Let’s say that probably you’ll view in “brightest” mode for 3D, for the max lumens, but for some viewing, or on a smaller screen, Movie 2 just might do the trick.

The experience:    Sorry to many of you.  I am a big 3D fan.  I don’t call for 3D everything, but I have been enjoying 3D in the theaters and here at home.  I don’t care if 95% of what I watch is 2D, 3D, to me, is often truly worth watching.  I found the Universe programming in 3D to be right up my alley.  And I’m just about to start watching some sports in 3D!

I’ll discuss more, in the full review, who I think, of  different types of people, with different enthusiasms for 3D, and with different viewing habits, and different budgets might consider this XV-Z17000, as a good move now, who should wait, and who might find other 3D alternatives better today.

Let’s just say that for the first time I’m looking at $4000 – $5000 for a 1080p 3D projector that is pretty capable.  Yes, in a year, 3D pictures will probably be a bit cleaner (including less crosstalk) but I’m figuring two years probably to get to a clean approaching what us enthusiasts have been used to,  the last 2-3 years with 2D projection.

I’m well familiar with the performance of the basic XV-Z15000, and have always liked it among the lower cost ultra-high contrast projectors, though it never had the brightness in best modes to handle my larger 128″ screen.

Considering all of that, this Sharp XV-Z17000 may be one of only a small handful of 1080p 3D projectors being rolled out, that can, a) get the job done, in 3D – at a fairly reasonable price.  (A price though that will get a lot more reasonable in a couple of years, though as more folks start buying 3D).

Mike should be calibrating the Sharp 3D projector tonight, so I’ll be back viewing it again tomorrow afternoon.  I’ll be doing some 2D viewing as well, but I expect that to be very much like the older projector, so not too much new to support there.

Let me say this – after about 5 hours of total viewing last night, all but minutes, in 3D, this Sharp Z17000 looks to be viable for those wanting a respectable image in 3D without going and spending a lot more, for say the Sony 90ES, the LG, or the higher end JVCs.

I look forward to completing this review, and trying to build out a method for you all to figure out if 3D is for you, or rather, when 3D will be for you.

BTW my wife passed the LCD shutter glasses test.  She wasn’t initially happy, but she got used to them.  I should note, they are not the slickest, or the lightest of the 3D shutter glasses out there.  The projector, I should note, came with two pair of active shutter glasses, as part of the price.

Finally, since I failed to mention this above.  This Sharp XV-Z17000 projector is a Sample, definitely not production, though physically it’s well finished since it’s built on the year and a half old Z15000 projector design.

For those of you who want to better familiarize yourself with the other aspects of the Z17000, here’s a link to the review of the older, 2D, Z15000 projector.

3D – at home – that works!  In 1080p!  Blu-Ray 3D compatible!  $4995.  Definitely doable for those of us with the budget.   Stay tuned!  -art

No, I’m not recommending trading in your  Epson or Panasonic home theater projectorsor JVC or Sony projector, or any others, for a nice little pico, but remember, millions are expected to end up watching TV and movies, and internet, and who knows what else, on the 10s of millions of pico projectors expecting to be sold in the next 2-3 years.

The entire US home theater projector market is about 110,000 units a year – or less than 1% of LCDTV sales.

But, onto the home theater projectors:  I’ll start with Panasonic, and add a blog entry for each brand.

Panasonic – was one of my first meetings.  I’ve been trying to get some straight answers from them since CEDIA.  Are they staying in the market, are they exiting…?   Remember, the PT-AX200U – (it’s almost identical predecessor, the AX100U was the best selling home projector in its day – before 1080p dominated), is now end of life…

Not so, however, the PT-AE4000.  Panasonic is still shipping those and they will be around almost certainly until the fall, when… ta-da…

Panasonic will introduce it’s first 3D projector.   Now, I’m not sure about the “fall” aspect, but darn sure you won’t be seeing it this spring.  From what little I learned, I’m figuring it will show at CEDIA, and ship shortly thereafter.   But, you never know…

And yes, it will be 3D, and no, I don’t know the price, and yes, I suspect it will be in the $5000 or up range, and no, I am not sure, I could be completely wrong, and it could be $1999, or $2999, but I would really, really be surprised, especially in light of the competition.

I expect it will appeal to 3D gamers as well as 3D movie fans, and those just wanting to enjoy high quality 3D content from various sources.

The other good news is that Panasonic does have a 2nd projector in the works,  And folks, it was like pulling teeth.  That is all I learned.  I asked 50 questions, and got nothing more than “there will be a 2nd one” no idea when, or the price.  I’m hoping sooner than the fall, but, considering how tight lipped, who knows.  (So, I’d just not worry about Panasonic projector #2, since we have no clue as what or where, or how much, or why).  (It could be a 720p, it could be an all-in-one – unlikely, it could be something unique and amazing, or mostly a retread of the PT-AE4000.  I could speculate all day, but with nothing to go on, it’s futile.

Next of interest would be  Mitsubishi who again showed its 3D projector, but this time it worked better… (That was a very early engineering sample.)  I know a lot more about the HC9000, than I do about new Panasonic home theater projectors.   -art

Lots of readers have asked about gaming on various home theater projectors.

OK, I’ve concluded that I’ll never be a real gamer – certainly not one with the gaming experience, etc. to make good judgement calls on whether a given projector is particularly good, bad, or otherwise, when it comes to playing various types of games, be it WOW, or Carbon Canyon, or…Sonic?

So, here’s the story:   I’m looking for an experienced gamer, living somewhere near San Clemente CA. (half way between LA and San Diego).

This person ideally is both a PC gamer and PS/3 or XBox  (even Wii counts, but, hey, it’s still not as high end…)

Said person would evaluate various home projectors for key issues such as how good is the response time, picture quality (many projectors end up too dark on dark scenes (ie. WOW), and other issues.

Most likely “testing” would be done at my location.   I already have PS/3′s and a Wii.  I can add XBox 360 if really needed. Since I’m looking for a PC gamer, that person would help me purchase and configure a pretty high end gaming PC, which would be installed in my location, to be used by our “Projector Gaming Master.”

Once a process is set up, I imagine, the testing per projector shouldn’t take more than an hour or two, to cover both PC and game machine options.

The individual I’m looking for, would probably have the option of evaluating up to 20 projectors a year, but likely more like a dozen or so.

My gaming expert would be an independent contractor.  Said person would be contracted one projector at a time, or perhaps several over a period of time.  Very “part time” only a few hours a month, most likely, and that depending on what projectors…  But, it should be fun.   And, if the gamer can write reasonably well, I may want to launch a blog about gaming and projectors on the site.  If that was the case, I’d be looking for someone to blog about once a month.  This would be separate from testing the projectors/gaming.

So, OK, you hard core gamers, anyone nearby, have skills, and want to make a few bucks?

Students also welcome.  Must have own transportation.   Since the desired person will be an independent contractor contracted for on as needed basis, they should be flexible.  Testing will be done here (with rare exceptions), in the daytime, or the evening.  Those are details that can be worked out.  While this may be about gaming, I’m looking for someone I can count on.

BTW, some of that gaming in 2011, is almost certain to include 3D gaming.

If local, skilled (at gaming), and interested, contact me at reviewer@projectorreviews.com

thanks! -art

I figure it’s time to catch up, let you know what’s going on around here.  First some of you probably have noticed the site look has changes slightly – that’s a wider center area for content, and a slightly narrower right (advertising) column.  Then there’s the color change (I always preferred blue, but “one of those other review sites” was using blue.  Well, I’m tired of the old one, so blue it is.  And for those of you with sharp eyes, you’ll note that the background is that of a tensioned screen (with a ridiculous aspect ratio.)

More to come.  You’ll actually see a lot of new items, including a major redesign of the homepage.  In addition we’re building a database of press releases, with our additional comments.   The most recent will be on the homepage.  All considered we’re trying to improve the navigation and the visitor experience, and we’re not quite done yet.  anyone wants to throw in their 2 cents, with possible improvements, now’s the time, and commenting to this blog is the way.

NEXT – what’s in the works projector wise.

A Pico Projector Comparison (Round-up) is in progress. Tony now has 4 Pico and Pocket projectors at his place with a couple more to arrive.  He’s handling the measurements, writing the primary reviews (with an occasional comment from me), and will pass all the gear, with recommendations, back to me.  I’ll then play with them as well.  I’m primarily going to focus on the Projector Comparison writing.  We hope to have that completed before the end of August.

While that’s going on, I’ve got Mike just starting the core reviews on three low cost, single chip DLP projectors, that are 3D ready.  We have more 3D gear coming in, including LightSpeed’s Depth-Q which can be added to many projectors to make them 3D capable.  I’m picking up a new computer geared for gaming, with a GeForce card, so we can also look at how they handle serious 3D games, including those hundreds (of games) that Nvidia GeForce cards can re-render into 3D on the fly.  We have 3D education software to work with too.  In fact, the biggest problem is home theater content.

Mike will spearhead the 3D review process, focusing on the low cost units. I’ll handle the Lightspeed review.  Tony will jump in, when he’s done with the pico reviews.  It’s going to be a hellish 6 weeks before CEDIA, because after that, I have to clear the decks and focus myself completely on new home theater projectors.  Tony and Mike will continue to turn out some biz/education, and other reviews.

And naturally, I’ll be writing a report based on all that 3D reviewing, trying to put everything in perspective.

Meantime I have other projects as well, so some things will likely slip.

I’m in the midst of writing up the LG AF115 – an under $2500 LCoS projector – little brother to the CF181D reviewed earlier this year.

The review of the Screen Innovations Black Diamond 1.4 also needs to be written up.  (The screen is already back in its box awaiting return to SI.

You may remember, I bitched about the Optoma HD8600′s dynamic iris when I reviewed it.  - well, they’re sending me one with the latest firmware – with a reworked iris.  I’ll only have it for 48 hours, enough to see how much that iris improved.  With an improved iris the HD8600 becomes a top contender. We shall see.

And I’ve got the Sanyo PLV-Z4000 inbound.  Word is it’s a Z3000 with minor changes.  There shouldn’t be any surprises with the Z4000, but I’m hoping for some subtle, but worthy improvements.  And I’ve got a surprise projector inbound as well, but I’m under NDA (non-disclosure agreement) on that one, so “I could tell you which one it is, but I’d have to kill ya”.  Let’s say it is the successor to one of my favorites… Sorry, that’s all you get for now.  -art