CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:27 am Post subject: Barco hd20

Hi guys
Anyone tried one of these domestically?

I’m toying with the idea of either a hd20 or the Sony srx-t615 for my home theatre.

Planning on a 6m wide screen.

Thoughts?

Zebra · Joined: 02 Jul 2020 Posts: 87 Location: NJ USA

Neither are suitable for a home theater, even one with a 6m wide screen IMO.

I've owned one of the older Sony SRX line (a T110). They're nice projectors (as you'd expect for ones that retailed for $100k+) but it is immediately obvious that they are not meant for a home. They're super hot and loud and enormous. You pretty much need a dedicated room and ventilation.

They're most at home on a 25m screen in a commercial environment or for use at a brightly lit trade show etc. Aside from the excess light you also have to deal with expensive Xenon bulbs which don't last that long.

If you look at Barco's actual home theater range, even their larger 3-chip models put out half the light (or less) than an HD20. They're nice projectors if you have the cash though (their home theater range, not the HD20).

For a used more affordable 3-chip option for a larger home theater, I'd be looking on ebay for something like a used Runco VX44, Christie HD10k, Digital Projection Titan 1080p, ProjectionDesign F82 or F85.

These projectors are certainly not small and they have plenty of power but they're more manageable for a home.

This is just my opinion. Obviously I haven't seen your home or your screen. Maybe you're set up with a ventilated projection room and plan to use a low gain ALR screen in which case the advice may differ...

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12025 Location: Fort Collins, CO

John! Long time no see. Season's Greetin's to ya!

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2020 3:14 am Post subject:

Hi Gary

Best to you and yours as well

Yeah - I've been out of the loop for a while - just working and watching movies on the JVC.

Anyway, now I'm contemplating building a dedicated theater and thinking of going whole hog with 6M (or 20 foot) wide screen. Hence considering commercial cinema projectors.

I've just replaced all my speakers with monitor audio silver 500s. They significantly outperform the wilson audio watt/puppies that I had previously and are a much easier drive on the h/t receiver.

I have a ready source of cheap xenon lamps so run cost isn't really a concern. Theater will have dedicated projection booth if required - I'm really starting with a blank slate.

Zebra · Joined: 02 Jul 2020 Posts: 87 Location: NJ USA

20ft is not that big in the scheme of things. It's a larger home theater but it's nowhere near the sort of size that requires 20,000 lumens.

The price of bulbs, heat and space requirements are really a secondary issue. The primary one is that it's the wrong device for the job and will produce an inferior image.

There is a reason why most home theater projectors put out ten times less light than an HD20. Excess brightness causes a washed out image. 3000-4000 calibrated lumens would be more than enough.

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2021 10:31 pm Post subject:

zebra, thanks for the input. much as i didn't want to hear what you were saying, its what i need to hear.

have scaled back to a barco w8 3 chipper but will keep eye out for similar christie.

any experience with the 10000 panasonic 3 chipper?

Zebra · Joined: 02 Jul 2020 Posts: 87 Location: NJ USA

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 4:08 am Post subject:

zebra

i see an f85 on ebay with +- 2000 hours. quite tempting for larger screen.

last couple of weeks has seen me move the viewing seats closer to my 120" screen and watching more and more movies. i'd forgotten how good this jvc was.

i love the idea of a 3 chip dlp (so no rainbows) with a heap of light. there a heap of projection design, christie, digital projection and barco's floating round. the runco vx44 looks like a re-badged digital projection unit.

certainly love the idea of multiple lamps - the panasonic unit has 4 lamps so even running 2 at a time for 5000 ansi lumens with total redundancy has an appeal.

shame about not being able to use the supply of xenon lamps that i have available, but like you said, wrong product.

Zebra · Joined: 02 Jul 2020 Posts: 87 Location: NJ USA

I'm a big fan of the F85 and it's cousin in the Avielo home theater range. Really nice contrast and great lenses. They're pretty small and manageable compared to other 3-chip DLPs I've owned too.

Compared to one of the JVC home theater range you'll obviously lose the ability to generate a deep all black screen (especially if using a white projector screen). But the actual image clarity, contrast and detail is in different league to all the JVC projectors I've owned. With a decent anamorphic lens you should be well pleased (depending on the price).

I still have a JVC RS35 packed away in my attic somewhere. They're great for the price. That "for the price" is key though. When you compare a $10,000 home theater projector to a $50,000+ 3-chip DLP + a $9000 lens option, it's no longer apples to apples...

I believe the RS-44 was a rebadged Christie (maybe an HD6K or similar). This is no bad thing. Christie's high end projectors are fantastic. Someone like a Runco toning down the light source for home theater and adding one of their superb external processors is no bad thing either.

As a side note, I wouldn't get hung up on the 1 chip vs 3-chip thing on high end projectors. There is a world of difference between a cheap Viewsonic 1 DLP and a $30,000 ProjectionDesign F35 viz sim (+ an extra $9000 of glass).

There is definite pros and cons of each though. For example, the 1-chip design can result in a sharper image given that there is no such thing as perfect convergence. ProjectionDedign's F32 and F35 (etc) range use a double lamp / double color wheel design. This, plus the best color management tools I've seen in a projector, allows for significantly higher calibrated lumens than what you'd find on your typical sub-$15k 1 DLP home theater device.

At the end of the day, what matters is color accuracy, clarity, motion handling etc. If these things are good the 1 chip vs 3 chip should be about home much brightness you need.

I'd probably go with the Runco VX-44D for your needs - especially if you can find a deal than includes a high end anamorphic lens. There is a reason why they were the only choice at high end installers - because no other options were necessary...

If you go with one of the two (or more) lamp 10,000 lumen 3-DLP devices, you'd almost certainly end up using it in single lamp mode anyway.