CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:19 am Post subject: so who has switched?

so, who has switched to the dark side? and what to?

we have the ruby, and it's still going strong. still happy with it...

greg_mitch · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 5198

Technically that is the light side...CRT is the dark side.

If I had cash I would think about the AE3000. Darn NEC won't break either.

Zebu Fellenz · Joined: 21 Dec 2006 Posts: 2548 Location: Phelps, New York

Person 99, and Riderbreck (sp?) both switched.

secstate · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 718

I haven't switched, got a deal I couldn't refuse on a 9" but honestly I probably would be quite happy with a decent digital these days but I am cheap bastard and I will probably wait several more years not because digitals aren't good enough but more because I like to get my "money's worth."

nuttall_chris · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:00 am Post subject:

I switched from a modded Marquee 9500 Ultra to an RS2 with a Lumagen Radiance about a year ago. I've been very happy with the RS2 Smile

Chris.

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:02 am Post subject:

had you seen the ruby? we are about due to re-lamp, but MAY just upgrade to the JVC...

nuttall_chris · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:32 am Post subject:

I've never seen the Ruby. If I were buying now I'd buy the JVC RS-20. The RS-20 has about twice the contrast ration of the RS2 and is quite a bit brighter. Also with the adjustable iris you can keep the light level at the same amount as the bulb ages.

I've spent a lot more time watching movies since I bought the RS2 and alot less time "tweaking". The Radiance made a huge difference with the full CMS. I've put 400 hours on the RS2 in the last year. I got an extra bulb when I purchased the RS2 and even if I change the bulb every 1000 hours, I should get 5 years out of the current 2 bulbs. At that point I'll likely upgrade to another digital.

Chris.

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 3:32 am Post subject:

we're at just under 2000 hours on the ruby. sure, it doesn't do total fade to black, but it is razor sharp, smooth, and luckily, our convergence is spot on...

i'd go xenon again, bar the ludicrous $28k (about $20k) that sony want for the vw200 here...

then again, the xenon lamps are $2500 here... or landed for $1200 out of singapore

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 9668

nuttall_chris · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 2:04 pm Post subject:

The native contrast ration (contrast ration without using an automatic iris) is significantly betting on the JVC projectors than on any other brand.

Chris.

WanMan · Joined: 19 Mar 2006 Posts: 9668

nuttall_chris · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:07 pm Post subject:

The JVC doesn't modulate the lamp not sure how they get the better contrast ratio but they do. The auto iris's are getting better but I've yet to see on that doesn't have visible pulsating "artifacts". The JVC RS-20 can get 50000:1 contrast ratio without an auto iris, some of the other manufactures claim to be able to get a higher contrast ratio but they use an iris to achieve those results. As soon as ANY light is put on the screen the iris opens up and the black background level elevates. The native contrast ratio of most of the non JVC brands are in the 5000 to 10000:1 range.

Chris.

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 7:01 pm Post subject:

exactly. and the re-lamp price of the ruby is approximately half the price of the jvc here.

to have the contrast range of the ruby (15000:1) WITHOUT an iris is appealing. however, we don't notice it pulsing in operation. just starry sky scenes, the stars look dim...(ish)

nuttall_chris · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:08 pm Post subject:

The RS2 gets ~20000 to 30000:1 depending on the zoom and the RS20 gets 30000 to 50000:1 depending on the zoom. All of this without an iris. The RS20 goes for ~ $5800US and the bulb is ~ $350.

Chris.

**kal** · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:18 pm Post subject:

I've seen both the Ruby and Chris's RS2/Radiance. I don't like the Ruby at all (sorry!). It would be a big step backwards for me. Chris's RS2 was interesting to see since I know he knows his stuff so I was anxious to see it. It's a nice setup. Made me smile to see how far digital's come and that I'd be happy with that setup.

I have no intention to switch to something like that any time soon however since I would be a somewhat sideways move for me. It does some things a lot a better and some things not as well. In the end for watching movies I think it would be somewhat of a wash for me. Sharpness is certainly *miles* better but funny enough, for strictly movie watching sharpness is about the LEAST important factor (believe it or not). ANSI contrast is better but overall contrast isn't. Black level isn't as good. Colours with the radiance are good. It would be an absolute requirement for me to tame those overly saturated primaries.

So I wait... I want my first digital (probably in the $5-8K range) to be something that truly blows me away and is a significant upgrade.

Bulb cost of digitals is not something I care or worry about. It's not really an issue (IMHO) and is typically overblown. Setup time/maintenance of CRT is also overblown (IMHO). Any CRT projector worth owning for me would be new enough that it wouldn't drift (my current one built in 2000/2001 hasn't been adjusted in years why my older one built 10 years before that needed daily adjustment). All projectors require a lot of work for CMS/colour calibration regardless of technology used. No matter what technology is used, if you want perfection it's going to take a lot of work. This idea of digitals being plug and play if you want it to actually look good is simply not true.

Kal

Mr. Green · Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Posts: 1214 Location: Calgary

I have one major beef with bulb projectors. Why does EVERY freaking one have to have a different bulb? Why is there no universal bulb/or 2 for each manufacturer? That would surely bring bulb costs down and you wouldn't have to worry about replacing the entire machine every 3 years because nobody has a bulb for it any more. Not everyone has the $$ to buy a 2nd or 3rd bulb at the time of purchase so end up getting screwed. At least with CRT, you can still get tubes for your 20 year old projector an parts will be around for a few years yet.

I wouldn't consider a "bulb" projector, however if the long life/ super bright LED's progress the way they have been, they should be worthwhile in a few years. It would be funny to replace a 200lb beast with something that will fit in a small bag if not a pocket.

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:26 am Post subject:

i bought a led micro in singapore for about $100USD. its a toy, but just perfect for the boat that we work on. home theater on a factory trawler...

Smile

nettwerkjohn · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 6:26 am Post subject:

i bought a led micro in singapore for about $100USD. its a toy, but just perfect for the boat that we work on. home theater on a factory trawler...

Smile

Tom.W · Joined: 09 Mar 2006 Posts: 6382

Whats a Dig- i -tal ?

Wink

**kal** · Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2009 1:01 pm Post subject: