Greetings and happy holidays.

It’s almost Christmas Eve here in southern California, and we hope everyone is enjoying the season as much as we are.  I’ll be knocking off after I finish this W7000 projector blog.  (finally)

I had intended to try and get a good portion of the review  up and running this evening, but there wasn’t enough time.  I’ve still got 100+ images to process (Lisa’s overseas – so I have to do all that myself), and tons of writing to do.  But, more importantly, at this point, I really want to speak with the BenQ folks for information on the newer firmware that’s already out there.  (I am working with an early engineering sample – firmware 0.22). By now, BenQ should be up to at least at 1.0 firmware.  We’ve noted a number of issues in the earlier blog from two days ago.

Let’s talk BenQ W7000 and our engineering sample!  Based on comments and emails, I want to start off by discussing what an engineering sample is, since understanding that is important.  Then back to the W7000 projector.  First, for those of you concerned after reading the first blog – relax!

BenQ W7000, an exceptionally bright projector

This BenQ W7000 is likely to be one of the best projectors around the price, if the final versions are clean, and there’s a bit of performance improvement in one area.

I elaborated yesterday when answering a  comment about engineering samples, but most of you might miss that.

Over the years, we’ve probably reviewed at least a dozen engineering samples out of something approaching 200 projectors.  In almost every case, we were able to bring in a full production version of the projector, not too long after first consumer shipments, to confirm that all the things missing, or not working, or acting strangely, are fixed.    That’s the plan here.   Although the differences are a bit vague, let’s say that engineering samples are typically “unfinished” whereas a pre-production version is normally finished, and very close to what will ship.    The reason we like do engineering samples when we can get them, is that it means we can give you folks a heads up, by the time the projectors are beginning to ship, and then we get a second look, for updating you.

Unfinished?  By unfinished, I mean that some projectors have had only HDMI working, a few had menus only in Japanese, or Chinese or Korean.  In one case, in HDMI we couldn’t access most color controls making a calibration impossible.  In another, HDMI was the only input working – no component, computer, or even composite video.  I’ve had one where the case wasn’t even close to final.  (the entire top piece was blank, and made of the wrong material.  Entire modes are often missing, menus incomplete, if it’s a whole new projector, it’s probably a good bit dimmer than a full production projector.  And they usually have a bunch of glitches and non-working features.

This BenQ W7000 fits the bill.  As I reported, some glitches, and possibly even some menu items might be missing, but as I have also said, most of what’s missing or not right, should be just fine by the time full production W7000 projectors ship.

For that reason, we’ll post the review in a few days, but we plan on a major update within the next couple of weeks.

Great. With that out of the way, time to talk more about the BenQ W7000 itself.

I’ve been watching football on the W7000 all day while writing and minding my fantasy football.  Wow, it’s a sharp image.  It’s very bright!  I’m filling my Studiotek 130 at full 16:9 size of 98″ diagonal for regular viewing, but when I’m watching DirecTVs NFL Mix, with it’s 8 separate games going on one screen, I zoomed out so that I was filling the full width of my 124″ diagonal screen, which works out to the equivalent of about 130″ (in 16:9).  Boy is it bright.  Even at the larger size, (with some of the unneeded (non game) parts of the image off the screen, the W7000 was effortlessly bright, even running in “best calibrated mode”.  That was with my rear lights on, and my shutters just a little open as usual (sunny day).  No problem.

I’ve done some more 3D viewing.  As I had reported, I believe, the BenQ when in 3D seems to be a little less bright than the Epsons (3010 and 5010 series), and the Panasonic PT-AE7000.   But not by much.   I found previously, that the Panasonic and Epson seem about equally bright.  I normally view in 3D with the glasses setting in the medium of 3 positions, when available.   Bright usually has lot of ghosting, while for me, low and medium aren’t too different, with low a touch cleaner.

Well the BenQ doesn’t have any glasses options (don’t expect them too, either) – that feature seems to be showing up on 3 chip LCoS and 3LCD projectors but not DLP.    Basically my impression is that the W7000 falls in between the Epson 5010′s medium and low brightness glasses settings (this is a feature controlled by the projector – you won’t see any difference to the image in brightness unless you have the glasses on).  There isn’t a whole lot of difference between those two modes.   Switching back and forth between the different classes (both projectors running at the same time), it took a bit of time to get the overall feel that the Epson was brighter.  In other words, if a full production W7000 is at all brighter than this engineering sample, it should be at least as bright as those other bright projectors in 3D.

Movie viewing is a pleasure, but for the blacks that could/should be a bit blacker. Classic, rich, deep  colors, well calibrated as we have come to expect from DLP projectors.

Black level performance is actually at the top of my list of questions when I talk with BenQ this week, rather than some of those reported glitches.  We shall see if production projectors do better blacks – boy if they do, look out!

Brilliant Color – the implementation is subtle (compared to most).  It really doesn’t get “over the top” like so many do.  The BenQ’s image is still excellent with BC on, but still, as expected, the W7000 is a little more natural looking with Brilliant Color turned off.

BenQ W7000 - X-Men - Cityscape

Touring the BenQ W7000 – I’m going get the Tour page up perhaps first, so you get a feel for the W7000 hardware.  Remote and most menus look like they have for years, and I’m a fan of both.  It’s basically the same remote that I loved when I owned BenQ projectors way back to the PE-8700 and PE8720, 4,5,6 years ago.  It’s got good range, a great backlight and good organization!

The collection of inputs is pretty standard, no surprises, that too will be covered in depth on the Tour page.

3D brightness – seconds ago, I found more lumens, from playing around.  You will all love this, especially in regard to things “missing” on engineering samples.

In 3D mode, first of all, the menu is all kinds of stretched, they haven’t grabbed it, and made it 3D, pretty ugly, but functional.

When the W7000 was setup next to the Epson 5010 in 3D,  as reported above, it wasn’t quite as bright, but very close.  Now I should have been running with Brilliant Color on, as I was looking for max lumens.  Well, I got that wrong, and I think it relates to some work not yet done on this .22 firmware.

When in 3D with BC On, the projector seems to be in a Warm or Normal Color Temp modes – basically, based on our calibrated best.   When I went to the Color Temp settings, though and tried to change to other Color Temps, I could change it from Normal to Warm, Cool and Native, but while the words changed, the picture did not.  That’s right, essentially, in 3D on this projector, the Color Temp looks good, but we can’t get to the one really bright mode – Native.

But:

Turn Brilliant Color to OFF, and strangely, now 3D drops into the Native Color Temp mode, and brightness goes up.

Now that I’m aware of these idiosyncrasies, I’ll take another look, against the Epson to see which one rules in terms of brightness.  It’s quite possible I was in their “3D best”, rather than 3D brightest.  I don’t think so, but, I’ll get back to you.  Real soon!

BenQ W7000 Projector - Image from X-Men FC

We’re not going to try that with this engineering sample, but we will give 3D gaming a spin when the production version shows up.  Meantime I’ve dropped in the PS3′s hot new game UnChartered: Drakes Deception.  I even tried playing it for a few minutes.  The 3D looks pretty good (says the non-gamer), but, in this case, the game is 720p.  With all this screen surface, I sure would prefer a game in 1080.  Pete or Scott will ultmately get a full production unit to test for lag, and for their gaming expertise.

Uh-oh, family obligations.  OK, I’m out of here!  I’m going to stop back tomorrow or after Santa leaves, and drop in a few images for you.  One last time – happy holidays! -art

PS.  Was watching a replay of the old Uconn vs. Oklahoma BCS Tostidos Bowl in 3D on ESPN 3D, few a few minutes.  Turning off BC, really made a difference.

On a related note, ESPN 3D is coming over in 1080i/60.  Their 3D implementation (DirecTV + ESPN 3D), definitely isn’t a sharp as a 2D 1080p signal, no doubt about that.   I had thought that ESPN 3D was 720p (will check), in which case DirecTV may be converting it to 1080i.

Acer H9500 3D projector - $1699 MSRP

Greetings home theater projector fans.

Update 11/22/11 – the bulk of the review is posted, but for the competitors and screen recommendation pages.  Some more images (menus) and content to still be added.

Here’s the direct link to the Acer H9500BD home entertainment projector review. Enjoy! -art

I must admit, going into this review, never having seen the projector before, and not knowing too much about it, I didn’t have very high expectations.  As it turns out I was right (only kidding) wrong.

The Acer seems to have several  rough edges, as many under $2000 projectors do (MSRP is $1699), but it also had a couple of real positive surprises.

And the first of those is that this just might be an ultra high contrast projector.  I don’t think either the Optoma HD33 or the Epson Home Cinema 3010 are particularly close to the Acer H9500BD in this regard.  I took some side by sides, comparing to the the Epson 3010, and the Acer smoked it at blacks.    That alone makes this projector worth reckoning with.

And get this:  It’s got vertical and horizontal lens shift. The vertical is about 0 offset, so not a match for a typical LCD projector, but that’s still a nice touch, since few projectors below the Acer H9500BD’s price have lens shift.

The H9500BD is a single chip DLP, claims 2000 lumens.  3D brightness isn’t up to the Panasonic or Epson projectors but it seems to be closer to the Epson’s Dynamic 3D mode than to it’s 600 and change 3D Cinema mode.   The Acer H9500BD projector does have a dynamic iris, and CFI – smooth motion.  That’s more than most projectors under $1995 can claim, and they operate in 3D too.

There are not controls for grayscale calibration – I told you some rough edges. As a result the closest grayscale balance (per Mike) is right around 7000K, not 6500K.  OK, that’s it for now.   I’m still up in the air on this projector.  3D seems to have to be turned on, or off, manually (still playing) a mess sometimes up on the screen until you change the 3D setting.  A rough edge.  OK, I’ve got more homework to do.

Look for a good chunk of the review to post Monday late night.   I’m doing housekeeping on the Acer – still watching, checking out things, but already shifted much of my viewing to the Epson Home Cinema 5010 Projector which I’m going to try to have up late Wednesday night – well in time for Black Friday decision making.  (or Cyber Monday)

I’m going to try to get the Acer H9500 projector over to Scott S, for his take on the H9500BD’s gaming skills.  The H9500BD is Nvidia 3DTV ready so  Scott should be able to do 3D PC based gaming.  So far, all the other projectors we hoped would work, were too new, with nVidia not yet having released the drivers.

Happy holidays folks!   And good shopping.  Look for a few of our advertisers to be launching holiday specials banners, over the next couple of days.  Hopefully some really good deals, and your favorite projectors and accessories in stock!   -art

Mostly I’ve got great news so far, but also a disapointment or two, but the news is mostly good.

Black levels are really good.  I actually haven’t run it against the 8700UB, but I did put it up against the PT-AE7000 that’s here, and I’d have to say, there’s at least as big an advantage with the Epson Home Cinema 5010 when compared to the PT-AE7000, as “last year’s” Home Cinema 8700UB had against the older PT-AE4000.

In 2D, based on what I consider most important, Looks like the Epson has the picture quality advantage over the Panny.  The Panny of course has a cool feature set, and the Epson jazzes its up with side by side picture viewing, etc.

But I’ll save all that for the review.

I’ve got no issues with the Epson doing 2D.  It closely resembles the 8700UB, but with a healthy boost of lumens under the hood.  Black levels are still about the best this side of a higher end projector like my RS20, or the newer version, the roughly $7500 RS45.   That’s a lot more change to further improve black levels which are pretty darn good.

My complaint, if any, is with 3D.   Oh, let’s be clear, I love the reasonable 3D brightness with Dynamic mode, and even 3D Cinema mode, is as bright or almost as bright as a couple LCoS projectors in their brightest 3D modes.  I also found the color to be slightly better than the Panny when they are both doing their brightest efforts.

What bothers me, is that we are denied, I believe, all of the dynamic features – definitely no CFI, and no Dynamic iris, and for that matter, their dynamic sharpening – Super-Res, when in 3D on this pre-production projector.    I’m awaiting confirmation whether these might be implemented on full production projectors.  I’ve already contacted them and pointed out that most competitors do have such features active in 3D.

Now, I love my blacks, and want great blacks in 3D too.   At least I can settle for the fact that 3D is never especially bright, so overall black levels are well below what 2D would look like with the dynamic iris turned off.

Still, I did shoot the Epson vs. the Panasonic and Optoma, and both easily beat it at 3D blacks.

Now from my take, the Epson advantage in 2D, is more important than, say the Panasonic advantage in 3D.  That’s not in measured difference, but do the lower brightness levels used for 3D viewing, lowering the blacks as well.  IN the old days, many of us bought HC gray screens just to lower the overall black level.

As always, great placement flexibility.  And warranty.  An interesting feature I haven’t played with much relates to pixel alignment.  it’s an auto feature, and and haven’t figured it out yet, but I suspect it’s digital, and softens a bit.   It could even be doing something like JVC does to call some of their projectors 4k, which is to double projector, with some shift.   I’ll get back to you all on this, in the full review.

Tomorrow will be my first serious test of the Split Screen feature.  It’s not that I don’t have other displays here, but I will put up an NFL game from HDMI while feeding computer signal to the other window.  Do some Fantasy football, side by side with the game.  (And each will still be larger than my friends 50″ LCDTVs.)

BTW, in doing the photo shoot against the Panasonic and the Optoma HD8300, I should note that the HD8300 was in the middle regarding black level performance, but it was definitely closer to the Epson, than the Panasonic, which is to say, that the HD8300 has slightly better blacks than the Panny.

OK, that’s it, gotta blog the Acer, right now, then start writing up the Acer H9500BD, full review.

Hey folks the Acer turns out to be a pleasant surprise, so check out the next blog, and the Acer’s review.  It’s priced down there with the lower priced Epsons and the Optoma HD33, etc.

BTW, the Epson Home Cinema 3010 – the $1599 Epson, will be on the way to Pete for his gaming projector blog.  He’ll let everyone know about lag, and how well it plays.

OK, off to do that Acer -art

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!

Hi everyone,

It’s time for me to introduce another new blogger on our site.  Welcome Ron Jones, below he’s provided a brief introduction to himself, and tomorrow I’ll be posting his first serious blog on the technical side of projectors and related home theater.

I’ve asked him to write a short intro, for me to post here.  After that, I want to tell you a bit about what we’re up to, blog wise, and why Ron’s starting to blog for us.   So, here’s Ron:

Greetings all:

My name is Ron Jones and I am very pleased to have been invited by Art to contribute to Projector Reviews with a new blog focused on home theater video technology with an emphasis on new technologies, such as 3D, and associated issues/considerations.  My background is as an Electrical Engineer (MSEE) with 30+ years professional experience and as a home theater owner/enthusiast for 35+ years.  My home theaters have evolved through several generations of CRT front projectors to current micro-display digital projection technology.   I plan to start off the new blog with discussions on the transition to a 3D capable home theater and to the technologies involved. I hope to give readers an understanding of the unique factors, issues and limitations that need to be considered for creating a 3D enabled home theater.

And there you have it.  Ron’s very focused on 3D at the moment, I’ve already read a draft of the blog that will post tomorrow, which is definitely 3D.  To clarify, though, Ron will be taking on a wide range of topics, of which 3D is but one.  I expect, though, that 3D will dominate his first month of blogs.

Most of you know we  another new blog just a couple months ago, which looks at projectors for gaming, and other games related aspects.  I’ve got a plan, it seems, and that’s to grow a small network of bloggers to blog on related topics, and get some critical mass, as I can only do so many reviews, write so many blogs, and answer comments.  As a result, I’m (working on building up a select group of blogs and bloggers tied together primarily by home theater, and especially projector related.  This could mean as many as 6 new blogs this year, and probably that many next year.

I asked Ron Jones to blog for us, as he has the skills and background to take on some highly technical issues.   You all know me, I’m more of the subjective guy, techie at heart, but am more concerned about the bottom line – the end result, than the actual technical reasons.

Enter Ron, who in the past, has been one of the more active folks in terms of commenting on my blog.  One thing I admire, is that when he sinks his teeth into a topic, he seems impressively thorough at examining it.   Ron, like me, happens to be very into 3D, but he’s a detail guy.  I’ve been learning 3D as fast as I can for two years now, but Ron has consistantly managed to provide me helpful information, and he’s corrected me, or provided more accurate explanations than mine, a number of times, which you can find on old blogs of mine.  I recall in particular his understanding of polarization issues as it concerns screens for 3D.  Until I met Ron (online), my assumption was that if you take two “non-3D” screens, such as the Stewart Studiotek 130, and the Carada Brilliant white.  Very similar doing 2D, similar gain, etc., they would likely behave fairly similarly.  Ron pointed out, and explained why, that one of those screens could end up producing an image easily twice as bright as the other, with 3D content, because they are very different in terms of polarization retention.  I learned, readers learned.

Ron’s been active at providing good additional info, occasionally correcting me, for quite some time, and I simply felt that giving him his own blog, letting him answer your comments, would be a real plus for the overall worth of www.projectorreviews.com.

Point is, he’s into it, and has good stuff to share.  So, again, welcome Ron!

Remember, his first real blog – technical, will be posted here tomorrow, BUT, that same blog will appear on his own blog sometime this weekend.  As soon as he’s up and running with it on his blog, I’ll pull down the version on my blog, and replace it with a link to his new blog (you will also be able to find a link on our homepage in the BLOGS section (left-center column).

Over the next few months we’re going to be expanding our social networking options.  So far, we’ve been pretty minimal, so look for lots of ways to pass on the word about our site and blogs to your friends.

One last thing – we’re going to launch still another new blog – next week, if all goes well.  That one will be a second one relating to the gaming world and projectors.  More info in my next introduction, probably right after the 4th.

Hang in there, and enjoy the Fourth of July weekend (US), everyone else, hey, just enjoy!   -art

It would seem that the Optoma HD3300 is a more feature laden HD33.  The primary difference should be that the HD3300 is equipped with HDMI 1.4a, and is compatible with Blu-ray 3D and other 1080p HD sources such as satellite or cable.  This would separate it from the HD33 which looks to be an HD20 replacement, 3D capable without the full range of 1080p full HD 3D compatibility.  That should result in a noticeable price difference between the two, but as if yet, I’ve got no indication how the HD3300 projector, or its less expensive sibling, the HD33, will be priced.  I was able to find information from a translation of a french website: http://www.hdfever.fr/2011/06/14/optoma-hd8300-hd3300-et-hd33/

Here’s a couple of paragraphs from a google translation:

The Optoma HD3300 also loads a chip Acronym Chip 0.65 “DarkChip 2 DMD DLP, therefore compatible DLP 3D 1080p with HDMI 1.4, support for technologies Syde-by-Side, Top & Bottom, or 3D sequential 3D Blu-ray, input. Against it by in the characteristics that change a little with a brightness of 1900 lumens for contrast much lower than the HD8300, 5000:1, therefore much less deep black (no DynamicBlack technology) and compensation movement is a PureMotion (not PureMotion2 the HD8300), but the BrilliantColor is of course present. Further details, apparently it is ISF certified and offers a lens shift for easy placement:

• Single 0.65 “1080p DLP DarkChip3 ™ Technology by Texas Instruments
• Iris Control, Full Shift lens
• True 10-Bit Processing Full HD
• Optoma Stage 3 Image Processing

With the HD33, Optoma offers a more affordable solution, which also offers two HDMI 1.4 ports with support for technologies Syde-by-Side, Top & Bottom, sequential or 3D Blu-ray 3D input. The variant appears to be in the management of 3D. If this projector is capable of displaying 1080p from 2D, 3D would be limited to 720p against 120 Hz also embeds BrilliantColor, a chipset Single 0.65 “1080p DMD DLP DarkChip2 and compensation PurMotion with support from 1080 / 24p.

I’m not sure that the translation is “perfect”, but that seems to be the gist of things, best I’ve been able to tell.  The bottom line, the HD3300 will offer more 3D capabilities than the HD33.  Other differences can wait until we have more details. -art

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

I mentioned it, so let’s get that out of the way.  It was reported that the VPL-HW30 will sell for $3699.

The price point should shake up the young field of 3D ready home cinema projectors.

The Sony VPL-HW30ES projector is claiming 1300 lumens – the same as the three more expensive JVC 3D ready projectors, but the one JVC we received for review was very disappointing in terms of brightness.  We would expect this Sony HW30ES to do a lot better.

Contrast (using a dynamic iris) is 70,000:1.

The  HW30ES handles up to 240hz, a definite plus not found on many lower cost 3D projectors.  Sony’s new active shutter glasses (apparently not included), are $129.  The real news is the weight, which is an exceptionally light 59 grams – just over 2 ounces.

Apparently, the emitter for the 3D glasses is optional at $79.95 and outboard.  A small savings for those not into 3D, or at least not yet.  Still an emitter and four to six pair of glasses, will be a nice little additional dent into your credit card.

I can’t wait to lay my hands on this Sony projector.  I’ve got the content all ready and waiting.  Come on, Sony!   -art

The officially “unannounced” HD33, and also, I expect, an HD3300 for the local and big box dealers, look like this:
Optoma HD33
1800 lumens
4000:1 contrast
3D ready, uses active shutter glasses
3D Compatibility:
120Hz Frame Sequential 3D for Resolutions Up to 720p,
60Hz Field Sequential 3D for Resolutions Up to 480i

HDMI  1.4a (2), Blu-ray 3D compatibility
Roughly 14.2×12.25×4.5 inches
7.7 pounds
1.2:1 zoom
30/28 db noise levels
230 watt lamp
0.65 Darkchip2 DLP
Lamp Life 4000 / 3000 hours
Lens offset is 116% – similar, I believe to older Optoma’s

The HD33 I expect, will launch (pretty soon, see below), with a 1 year parts and labor warranty, as that has been consistent for Optoma on their lower priced projectors for several years.

If there’s an HD3300 that turns out to be a similar projetor, for the local dealers – that might come with a longer warranty.

Optoma HD33 Price tag?  Unknown.  Sorry about that!   I realize that’s a key piece of info, but I couldn’t find any indication anywhere.   If someone has some knowledge… let me know and I’ll share the word.

Meantime, the HD33 sounds like Optoma’s idea of a 3D replacement for (or step up from) their HD20, which is one of the most popular home projectors of all time!

Some of the info also on the original blogs I found, indlcated a ship date in the July – August time frame for the HD33, and also for the HD8300.  That’s pretty soon, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Optoma doesn’t formally announce this projector in the next week or so, especially since it seems the cat is out of the bag (word leaked.)

This is exciting.  Optoma usually takes good care of me, in terms of a getting us review units in the first batch to go out.  That means I’m making sure I can review the HD33 immediately, when it shows up here.

Optoma also indicates on that pre-launch data sheet, that the HD33 projector is targeted to gamers as well as the usual movies, sports and general TV viewers.

Let’s go Optoma, the word’s out, give us the rest of the info, especially price points and delivery dates!!!

PS. That datasheet has a photo as well.  They show the lens on the right (looking from the front), usually Optoma’s lens is on the left.  That said, reverse the HD33 projector’s image and the HD33 looks a lot like the HD806 and its siblings.  These dimensions don’t match anything else in the Optoma line up, of Optoma projectors I have reviewed.

More on the Optoma HD33 when I know it.  -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.