CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[gonthorn]

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Hi All,

While I have been in the home theater hobby for 10+ years I have 0 experience with CRT projectors, so please go easy

I would say I am very DIY oriented and would like to take on a challenging project to cut costs.

I have been researching projector blending, and now have a new theater room to start building. My goal is a 4k 2.40:1 projector system with "long" lamp life..... on a reasonable budget. Today that is not possible, a laser light source "non- commercial" 4k projector from Sony is running almost $50k !

This leads me to CRT projectors which offer "long tube life" (greater than 2 - 3k hours traditional lamps offer) and great black levels, but most important ability to sync to custom resolutions.

Now time to burst my bubble, are any 9 inch CRT projectors able to run a custom resolution close to 2000 x 1600 ? With a blend zone 2 projectors would produce 3840 x 1600 (2.40:1 ratio)

I have read that Nvidia Quadro cards (k4200 series and above) offer native blending options that work across a Windows desktop, it works at the driver level so all applications can utilize the blended resolution.

Recently I have had my eye on Barco 1209s units, I read about video bandwidth on Curt's ranking page and I'm wondering if any CRT can properly handle 1600 lines ? All the talk about lens options and c elements is still a bit foreign to me.

I am looking to fill a screen about 11 feet wide, so each projector would have a 6 foot wide image to fill. I could even run a full 4:3 resolution to utilize the most of the tube face (2133 x 1600) but not sure there is bandwidth to accommodate that.

I was hoping to keep the cost of both projectors at 2000 or less, which is why the 1209s caught my eye, something like a Sony g90 seems too expensive (at least looking on ebay)


Any input is appreciated, I wish I would find a local CRT for sale for like 50 bucks just so I could play around and learn about them (even if its a 7 inch set)

Thanks!

[digitalayon]

well right now most on ebay are not too pricy. It's the shipping that runs more currently.

[ElTopo]

Blending with the top of the line 9 inch should not be a problem.

2 x G90

or

2 x Marquee 9500LC Ultra

or

2 x Barco 909/Cine9/1209s (Graphics Version)


cheers
ElTopo

[gjaky]

IMO the Barco 1209 lacks the bandwidth to even resolve 1080p, but that is the lesser problem. A 9" tube running (no matter on what chassis) at 2000x1600 will look quite soft, plus you'd better to run all this at 72Hz refresh at least. I'm not saying a CRT can't do this, sure it will display, but the outcome won't be close to what you'd expect and beside all this the projectors will work very hard (= more likely to fail).

[redfox001]

[ElTopo]

Theater room still in the builing process.

Next up mounting acoustic ceiling.

My screen size = 3,32 x 1,38m (1.2:40)

cheers
ElTopo

[jbmeyer13]

[redfox001]

my opinion on the 4k thing is that I do not need the extra detail. It is true that my 4k television shows more details but on my 1080p crt it just looks much better even though when I focus I see that there is a little less detail. I see much more blacklevel en shadow detail and depth on the CRT.

Perhaps with 4k original material I will need 4k?

[ElTopo]

Why 3500 x 1600 on one projector ?

Why not using 2048 x 1536 to one projector ? (you don't need the black bars on cinemascope so no 2160p in this case).

Finally you will get 4096 x 1536 which gives you a blend zone of 256.



cheers

[gonthorn]

Its my understanding using an Nvidia Quadro card like a k4200 will allow good control of the blend zone and allow for all the fine tuning for each projector (gamma, color calibration etc). I haven't gotten that far yet, as Im still unsure if 2000 x 1600 is doable.

Some conflicting responses, some even saying 1080p is "too soft", I don't know what to believe. I realize manufacturer bandwidth specs may be overstated for marketing purposes, but I am surprised there isn't more interest in testing 4k. maybe when 4k bluray arrives that will change ?

So a Marquee 9500LC (ultra I guess) may be able to do it, but none of the Barcos? Not looking to spend 5k on 2 projectors

[hansilili]

[redfox001]

rmoved hansiii says it right.

Ok I wanted to say that with two Barco's you can go up somewhat in vertical resolution because the extreme small spotsize with the LUG and focussing system. If you place two next to eachother you will also solve the bandwidth problem.

With the Marquee there is no way I see to go up in vertical resolution. The spotsize of the LCP is to big. Horizontal it does better with the bandwidth.

[ElTopo]

1080p looks very sharp on a 9 inch unit if your setup is right.

[redfox001]

[hansilili]

[jbmeyer13]

[ElTopo]

The Barco lists 2048 x 1536 on the internal pattern list.

Why is it listed there ?

[gjaky]

[ElTopo]

Well then i use 1064x800@72Hz like Nash on each

[jbmeyer13]