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Home Theater sales, calibration, & service!
We sell and service CRT projectors and
carry other
home theater
products & accessories including a complete line of
calibration tools made for all
display types. We also offer hundreds of
free home theater tips,
as well as a discussion forum! Why CRT? With true blacks and
real contrast ratios beyond 40,000:1, in
2011 people still
choose CRT projectors for home theaters
and movie mixing studios where HDTV and Blu-ray playback quality is paramount.
Carefully refurbished and tested, our projectors will provide you with thousands of problem free hours of service.
Since 1985 we have worked on over 5000 projectors and stock lots of spare parts.
We offer trade-ins and can advise on what's best for you!
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Latest News
CurtPalme.com Presents: The Home Theater Book
March 28, 2012
Learn how to design and build your dream
home theater! Over 800 construction photos spread
over 500 pages!
The Home Theater Book chronicles the building of
nine dedicated
home theaters from start to end including design,
construction, electrical, HVAC, finishing, and more.
The fundamentals of building a dedicated home theater
are taught by walking you through the process from
concept to completion.
This book was created for those people who fall
into one or more of these categories:
- Want to design or build a home
theater themselves.
- Are going to contract out the
theater construction and want to know what to watch for.
- Want to learn from the
experience of other home theater owners, including pitfalls and lessons
learnt.
- Love home theater and want to
see what others have done, including seeing hundreds of home theater construction
photos!
Also included is bonus content with hours of audio interviews
with home theater experts, including an all new audio interview about video
calibration with Kal Wallner
(Editor of CurtPalme.com and author of
Greyscale & Colour Calibration Guide for Dummies).
The book is split into four parts:
Part I: Planning
- What is Home Theater?
- Audio Options
- Video Options
- Screen Options
- Seating Options
- Soundproofing and Acoustics
- Speaker placement
- Wall construction techniques
- Designing Your Theater
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Part II:
Construction
- Prior To Construction
- Walls
- Screen Wall Framing
- Ceiling
- Soffits
- Stages
- Proscenium
- Risers
- Line of sight considerations
- Hush Box
- Equipment Room / Rack
- Concessions / Snack Bar
- Heating and Cooling
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Part III: Electrical
- 120 Volt Versus Low Voltage
- Ground loops
- Power Control
- Lighting control systems
- Network Wiring
- Cable / Satellite Wiring
- Component Wiring
- IR Repeaters
- Speaker Wiring
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Part IV:
Finishing
- Insulation
- Drywall
- Lighting
- Sound Treatments and Wall Fabric
- Paint
- Carpet
- Columns
- Moulding
- Seating
- Equipment Installation
- Speaker Installation
- Opening Night!
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The Home Theater Book is a digital download
available for immediate access upon payment. No
shipping!
More Information »
Projectors for sale
March 18, 2012
See our
CRT Primer to read why CRT projectors are still used where
reliability and picture quality is paramount. Our
Projector Rankings page will show you how they
stack up. Not sure what
projector is right
for you? Email Curt
for help!
It's been a while since we've put out a list of
projectors for sale, but given that we've got in
dozens of new sets, it's high time that one got sent
out.
Considering the large number of high end 9" sets
that we've received in the last month, some older
projector parts had to go. We have now recycled all
Sony 10XX parts,
analog Barco parts (1000, 1001, 1500, 400,
and 600) and
ECP 3000/4000 parts. We also got rid of
Zenith PRO 851 and
880/881 sets, and most of our
Ampro 2000 and
2600 parts. We did keep select ECP parts,
specifically the power supplies and a few neck
boards, but considering we haven't had an inquiry in
over 2 years for these parts, it was time to
liquidate literally 500 lbs of PC boards and other
parts. We do still have a test chassis for each of
these sets however, so if you're still running one
of these 22+ year old sets, we can still repair
boards if need be.
Over the next 6 months we will be blowing out a
lot more of the older
ES focusing set parts for dirt cheap. This
includes most parts for the
Barco 800/801/500/1200, more Electrohome ECP
boards (3100
and 4100 series),
Zenith PRO 900, most
Sony 12XX parts, SD187 tubes, 07MP tubes,
07MSP tubes (some in mint condition), some
NEC PG
parts and tubes, and a bunch of the older
Marquee
8000 parts. If you're running one of these sets,
here's a good time to stock up on boards and tubes
for next to nothing.
Shoot Curt an
email to discuss
what you're looking for.
As for the new sets that we've gotten in, here
goes:
-
Barco 808:
We have a number of really nice condition Barco
808 sets. We have virtually all four models in stock,
from the BD808 to the BG808s sets at very attractive
prices, but two of the BG808s sets deserve
mentioning:
We received in two new old stock
Barco 808 split
packs recently (8" tubes). Both of these had under 150 hours on
the chassis, one was still fastened to the plywood
mounting hardware that they ship in. Barco puts
about 130 test hours on the chassis before shipping,
so these indeed were new old stock.
For those not familiar with split packs, these
are sets where the electronics is in one box, and
the tubes and lenses are in another. The boxes are
connected with a 6 foot umbilical cord. These were
designed for flight simulators, so that there was a
lot more flexibility with the installation of these
sets. While the boxes are simply powder coated
aluminum, they do allow for neat installations where
you might mount the lens box between studs in a low
ceiling, for a low profile CRT installation. For
more information and pictures see
this page at Barco.com.
We can sell these split packs as is, or we can
put all the boards and tubes and lenses into a
BG808s chassis, so that short of the motherboard,
you'll have a new old stock BG808s projector. We're
selling these sets at $2000 each. Perfect for 1080p!
The cases on the BG808s sets that we can drop these
tubes and electronics into are in good shape,
minimal marks and scratches.
-
Marquee 8500:
We also have three Marquee
8500 sets
in stock with
excellent condition tubes, along with one Vidikron
Vision 2 (Marquee 8500 with the fibreglass case on it
in white). $1800.00 each.
-
Marquee 9500 Ultra:
Two low hour (about 2500), 1
owner units, no tube wear. Top of the line sets that
are still in production by VDC. We go through these
sets fully, clean all module contacts and test run
the projectors. With a
Moome
HDMI card these are excellent 1080p
and beyond sets, with a life expectancy of over 10
years. $3800 each.
-
Sony
G90:
Two sets available (with 1 more possibly coming in). Top
of the line Sony sets, capable of well past 1080p.
We
install new Dallas memory chips into these to
prevent premature failure, and they come with
original Sony remotes. We've got two sets here with
light wear, but also have brand new green tubes in
stock. $3000 with light wear on the green.
$4000 with a brand new green tube (no R or B wear).
-
Barco 809 split
pack projectors: Here’s a rare find: These
sets are the same as the Barco 808 split packs
described above, but with a 909 tube and lens end.
The tube box comes with 9" LUG tubes, the best you
can get, and with the super rare and expensive
HFQ900 lenses. In essence, you get a 909 projector
attached to a BG808s set of electronics. Not quite
the adjustment range of a 909 chassis, but we've
always said, most of the performance of a projector
is based on the tubes and lenses used, not the
electronics behind them. The BG808s set of
electronics has the best specs of all the Barco 808
chassis. We have 7 in stock.
These came out of a simulator, where they were in
standby mode for long periods of time, with no light
coming out of the tubes, but were apparently only
used twice in the last 10 years before they were
pulled out of service. There is absolutely no wear
on the tubes, and the emission is as new. They put
out an amazing picture!
Two options with these: We can sell them as split
packs as offered, but I can also pull the tubes and
electronics and put them into
Barco 1209s or
Runco
1100 chassis that we have here, for a conventional,
turbocharged 9" set. Comes with remote. $4500 each. A steal
for an amazing 9" set. Listed on eBay
here (no reserve).
Again, we have also received many parts in
recently, too numerous to list, and we've scrapped a
lot of chassis, with lots more to go. We simply don't
need 150 projectors in stock. If you want some
backup parts, we have multiples of almost everything
in stock at this point (save for Barco quads and
Marquee HVPS) and a bunch need to go. Why buy "as
is" parts on eBay when you can buy tested ones that
come with a warranty here?
See our
eBay listings for additional items. Interested or have questions?
Email Curt!
See All CRT Projectors »
New lower price on professional JETI Specbos
meters
February 27, 2012
Professional calibrators (or an enthusiast with
really deep pockets) take note!
Effective immediately:
Contact us for meter only pricing.
The
Specbos 1201 and 1211 are the most affordable true reference color
analyzers available on the market today. Just mount either on a tripod, facing towards the source, connect to
ChromaPure Professional and use as you
would any other color analyzer.
At some point many professionals conclude that their work requires a
reference colour analyzer. SMPTE has established standards for such a device. It
must measure color accurately to within ±0.002 xy at or above 10 cd/m2 and
luminance accurately to within ±0.5 cd/m2 for white field measurements. These
are very exacting specifications that no standard tristimulus colorimeter can achieve, at
least for chromaticity. For this level of accuracy you must have a 5nm
spectroradiometer.
Unfortunately, such devices are not cheap. The Photo Research and Minolta
reference devices start at about $15,000 and go up to near $30,000. The
X-Rite EyeOne Pro is reasonably
affordable, but it is a 10nm device that cannot routinely achieve ±0.002 xy
accuracy. Furthermore, in addition to being expensive, true reference devices
also often suffer from practical limitations. They can be slow and have problems
with low-light readings.
In the last few years a German company JETI Reference
Instruments developed two true reference spectroradiometers, the
Specbos 1201 (also known in the U.S. as the
Orb Optronics SP100)
and the Specbos 1211, that solve most of these problems.
First, they are relatively affordable, that is at least what passes as
"affordable" in the context of reference devices. Second, both are reasonably
fast for higher luminance sources, and the 1211 is speedy even with low
luminance sources. They are also amazingly compact and portable and both include
a nifty laser spotter that allows for accurate aiming.
The only feature these incredible devices give up to the established Photo Research and Minolta
competitors is stand-alone operation. The Minolta and Photo Research
alternatives allow for aiming through optical sights and readouts on a small LCD
screen. They are fully functional devices without a PC. In contrast, the JETI
devices work only when attached to a PC via USB with custom software (such as
ChromaPure of course!). For display/home
theater calibration this is a non-issue as you'll be using calibration software
anyway.
Confused about meters? See our
FAQ: Which meter
is right for me?
Questions? Email us at:
chromapure@curtpalme.com
More Information »
Special pre-order price on the new HDMI 1.4 card for Sony CRT projectors
February 13, 2012
The new
IFB-FULLHD v3 card starts shipping March 5, 2012.
Order today at a special pre-order price. Quantities
are limited!
Upgrade your Sony CRT projector
by adding two HDMI 1.4 inputs with 3D support, gamma
correction and infrared remote control! Don't be
stuck watching PS3, Blu-ray, and DVD at only 480p!
Add digital HDCP-compliant HDMI 1.4 inputs allowing
you to watch hi-def content at up to 1080p
resolution!
The
IFB-FULLHD card allows you easily add digital devices such as
Blu-Ray players, PS3, Xbox360, Satellite/Cable HDTV set-top boxes, and HTPCs with HDMI graphic cards to your
Sony CRT projector. Simply plug the card into your projector, your DVI/HDMI
devices into the card, and watch!
How does the 3D
work? When used together with a
Radiance video processor, the IFB-FULLHD v3
HDMI card allows 3D movies, games, and other content
to be viewed on your Sony CRT projector. The
Radiance does the processing to convert the 3D
signal into something your Sony CRT projector can
understand and display, while the IFB-FULLHD v3 HDMI
card interfaces with and controls your 3D glasses.
Enjoy 3D at 720p120Hz or even at custom resolutions
like 1080p75Hz.
The
Optoma 3D-XL or
Viewsonic VP3D1 3D video processors have
also been tested with this HDMI card. Unlike the
Radiance however, the output resolution is fixed at
720p120Hz.
Any
Infrared (IR) Active Shutter glasses or
Radio Frequency (RF) Active Shutter glasses
that include an emitter will work with the
IFB-FULLHD v3 card as long as the emitter has the
standard 3-pin DIN connector.
How does the
new v3 card compare to the older v2 card?
Complete information on the new card can be found in the
manual. Below
are a few highlights:
|
Feature |
IFB-FULLHD v2 |
IFB-FULLHD v3 |
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HDMI version |
HDMI 1.3 |
 HDMI
1.4 |
|
3D support with sync output |
-- |
Yes |
|
Radiance sync support
(The Radiance can control the 3D sync timing on the card's 3-pin DIN
connector instead of the card) |
-- |
Yes
- Via Input 1 |
|
Gamma |
Improved Gamma for
more linear greyscale (changes suggested by Walter/WTS) |
Even
more advanced Opamp |
|
Sharpness |
Sharper Image (changes
suggested by Mike Parker) |
Even
more advanced Opamp |
|
Picture purity |
Cleaner/Less noise
(changes suggested by Mike Parker) |
Even
more advanced Opamp and new analog power supply design |
|
Range expansion |
Yes. Supports 0-255 RGB
level support for higher dynamic range (in addition to 16-235) |
Yes. Supports 0-255 RGB
level support for higher dynamic range (in addition to 16-235) |
|
Stability |
ESD enhanced to
prevent electrostatic discharge |
ESD enhanced to
prevent electrostatic discharge |
|
Black boost |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Able to manually select colour space
with remote |
Supported |
Supported |
|
Sync polarity adjustment |
-- |
Yes |
|
Optional horizontal image shift |
-- |
Yes |
Questions? Email us at
Moome@CurtPalme.com.
More Information »
Marquee Anti-Banding Mod now available
December
12, 2011
The Marquee banding problem
as seen on a convergence grid
Fix the banding issues on your Marquee,
Vidikron Vision One/Two, or Madrigal CRT projector
with this mod!
The
Marquee Anti-Banding Mod removes bunching and
spreading of scan lines that appear as lighter and
darker bands across the image, especially on white.
If you find that your Marquee picture has waves or
an picture with uneven brightness, this mod is for
you.
An additional custom programmed EPROM chip is
added to your control (CLM) board to give rounded
waveforms in place of sawtooths. We also store your
settings, replace the lithium backup battery, and
restore settings so nothing is lost.
This mod is available for all Electrohome Marquee
CRT projectors and clones, including:
- Marquee 8000,
8110, 8110+, 8500, 8500LC, 8500LC Ultra, 9000,
9500LC, 9500LC Ultra
- Accurate
Imaging Technologies Accurate 8, 9, XL
- Accurate
Imaging Technologies Integrated 8
- Accurate
Imaging Technologies Modular 8,9
- Accurate
Imaging Technologies Ultimate 8-X, 9-X
- Crystal View
CV-1, CV-2, CV-3
- GTT Audio Video
HT Reference 8, 9
- Madrigal MP-8,
MP-9
- Reference
Imaging CinePro 8x, 9x, 9x Elite
- Spatz Tech
RE8000, RE9000, RE9500
- Theater
Automation Wow (TAW) HD-800, HD-900
- Vidikron Vision
1, 2, 3
- Visual Dynamics
Reference 8/9
For complete details see our
Marquee Anti-Banding Mod page.
More Information »
ChromaPure and Radiance are winners in the Best
of 2011 awards!
December
5, 2011
Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity
recently announced their
Best of 2011 awards,
and a big congratulations
goes out to:
- Tom Huffman and
his team for winning in the 'Best
Calibration Software' category with
ChromaPure 2! Two years in a row!
- Jim Peterson and
his time for winning in the new category 'Best Video
Processor' with the new
Radiance Mini 3D!
We've always thought the two make a killer
combination and the editors at Secrets seem to
agree:
"Initially, we were very impressed with
ChromaPure and are happy to say that with the latest
version that still holds true. The interface is
still very clean and straightforward, making it easy
to get started for anyone. The additional features
offered in the new version have added more power and
customization than was previously available, yet
without added complexity.
Overall,
ChromaPure is still my choice for calibration
software and what I plan to continue to use. When
combined with the
Lumagen Radiance, the results that
I was able to achieve were even better. I had
thought that an external CMS was somewhat outdated
now that most displays and projectors included some
sort of CMS, but I was certainly wrong in that
regard. With the Radiance I was able to achieve
results far beyond what I could do with the display
controls, and a far better image as a result of it.
Given all of the issues that we have found recently
with Blu-ray players, receivers, and processors with
how they handle colorspace information, adding an
external CMS can resolve all of these issues, and
give you a far better image to boot. It’s a piece of
gear that I didn’t want to return, and that I hope
to pick up for good in the future."
- Chris Heinonen of HomeTheaterHiFi.com
Links:
Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity best of
2011 awards
ChromaPure software and meters at CurtPalme.com
discounted prices
Lumagen RadianceMini3D video processor - currently
on sale until Dec 31
Complete list of awards »
Older News »
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