CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[capa]

Hi all.

just got my new Cine8 LimoPro mounted with the help of two friends



Has 4400 hours on the tubes, first hand, installed and adjusted by a Barco technician back in 2002.

The former owner had it installed in quite an expensive setup, Vigatec Dune F, Stewart TEK130 Screen
and I would like to sort out some details before I put this projector into action again.

Not sure if I should have split all my questions into several topics here or if the holistic approach
is better... I'll give it a shot...

My previous setup was with a BD801s and my HTPC only.

1. Alignment/ Adjustment

1.1 Dimensions based on Barco's Lens.exe

This time I have built on the settings which Barco's adjustment tool (Lens.exe) provided.
From your experience: Are those values reliable? Or would you suggest taking a closer
look at the image size on the tube surface instead?

2. Settings for my HTPC



2.1 Which resolution?

For the standard DVD content coming from my MediaPortal what would
be the optimal resolution (PAL standard) which I should feed to my PJ?
Have Powerstrip installed already and have a graphics card which supports user defined resolutions.
The BD801 needed sync on green (negative). Is this the same with the Cine8?

2.2 Which graphics card?

At the moment I'm running an MSI StarForce FX5200LE which does support user defined resolutions through
Powerstrip but is quite noisy. From your experience: Which brands do support Powerstrip best? ATI? And are
there any passive cooled cards available from those manufacturers? (Need something with AGP bus...)

3. Blu Ray Content/ PlayStation 3

I'm totally new to HD content. A colleague of mine has suggested that I should try a PS3 to be able to view
Blu Ray content since the PS3 is one of the least expensive Blu Ray players available at the moment and the
picture produced would look really great (he does not own a PJ though).

3.1 Connection

3.1.1 HD Fury - an option for me?

During research I came across the HD fury adapter.
Would it make sense to hook the PS3 to port 3 of the Barco via a HD fury adapter?

3.1.2 Cables needed to connect HD fury to Cine8

I've got 10 meters between (future) PS3 and my Cine8, so I need a HDMI to DVI cable
to get to the HD fury which is connected directly to port 3 to hook up to the PS3?
Those cables are available in almost any price range. What quality would be reasonable
in this case based on your experience?

3.2 Possible resolution on Cine8

As far as I understood the Cine8 has problems with 1080p in as-delivered condition.
The Mike Parker mod would be able to solve that "problem"? Correct?

So at first I'd be limited to 1080i, right?
Does the PS3 allow to send the signal at 1080i instead of 1080p?
(Never even had a chance to take a closer look at a PS3 so far....)

4. Scaler

This has been one of the most confusing parts on my journey through that new technology...
Would a scaler contribute to my new setup and which one fits my needs?
I do not intend to buy one right away but I would like to know if it would help me...

4.1 Confusion caused with scaler and LimoPro option...

As far as I understood the LiMo Pro option is capable of doing line-doubling and -quadrupling.
Doesn't this interfere with a scaler like the Vigatec that fed this PJ before?

4.2 Will a scaler be useful for standard DVD content?

I used to watch just DVDs from my HTPC. Based on your real-world experience: Does a scaler
really enhance the image through doubling, quadrupling and other techniques?

4.3 Which one?

Even though this might start a battle... There are so many brands out there, what would you
suggest in my case? I had the opportunity to get a Key Digital HD Leeza a few days ago
but still was not sure if this really fits my needs so I decided to wait for your replies first before
I decide to buy anything in this area....

Have a DVDO iScan VP 50 SDI in my Ebay watchlist as well as an DVDO iScan VP20.
I'm really confused by that big variety... Hope you can shed light upon this for me...

Hope this long post does not scare the most of you away and it makes sense somehow
and you can understand my English...

I really appreciate your input.

Best regards
Carsten

[Nashou66]

I do not own a Barco but for setting up screen size I would do it by forst maximizing the raster on the tube face, more phosphor means brighter pic and better resolution.

the HD fury will be great since moome I do not think made a HDMI/DVI card unless you go with a crad by Greg Eisemann do a search for him On AVS forums. he specializes in Barco mods.

For a scaler I only have Used Lumagens and they are very respected in the CRT world, especially since they have now added color gammut controls to their Vision series, it also has 11 point Gamma controls.
the PS 3 has been a good player for most, but if you can fine A LG BH100 or LG BH200 i think you'll be pleasantly suprised. There has been a region hack found for both sd and BD disc's. look at the Dual formatt players forum on AVS also for more info, its in the sticky's.

LG BH100 AVS thread, middle of region free talks

LG BH200 Sticky

I think it could do 1080p but 1080i is what most say to run an 8 incher at I run 1080p@48 on my marquee 8500 ad love it.

Hope i helped out a bit.

Athanasios

[kal]

[kal]

[ecrabb]

One minor addition to what Kal and Athanasios said about ignoring the Barco Lens recommended mounting and maximazing rasters... The only problem with maximizing rasters at this point in the projector's tubes' life, is that you will probably see the wear the tubes almost certainly have. With 4400 hours on the clock, that's enough to show wear pretty badly in whites and grays. Depending on how it was previously installed, you might be able to shorten the throw, or you might have to use it where it is if you don't want obvious brighter/bluer bands on the sides of the image.

I agree with Kal and Athanasios that you just start out with a good Blu-ray player and see how you like the scaling from one of those players. I love my PS3, but there is a downside. You won't get advanced audio unless you have a newer HDMI-based AVR or processor. One of our pickier members - Dave/Person99 - bought one of the LG players and really likes it.

https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=10423.html

On 1080i/p, you'll get different opinions. It really depends on your sources, the projector, and your viewing distance. Kal and some others advocate 1080i, as do I in a lot of cases. But, since I got my G70 installed (a comparable projector to yours) and saw 1080p on it, I'm BLOWN AWAY. Consider how close I sit, though - about 1.2x screen widths. 1080i might look excellent a little further away from the screen.

Start slow, learn, and figure out what you like and don't like. You don't have to do it all at once. Congrats on getting an excellent projector!

SC

[Axatax]

[perisoft]

I'd never give up the HTPC. You have zero control if you're using blackbox equipment, unless you spend gobs of money. It seems ridiculous to pay a thousand bucks for a thing to add a gamma boost when you can do that, plus have a big library of content, plus do image post processing, plus play multiple kinds of content in multiple resolutions, plus have specific control over said resolutions and timings, plus use it as a DVR, plus have direct control over audio routing and post processing, plus... etc. And all of that for under $1500 even WITH a bluray drive and enough storage to queue up ten BD movies.

If you have the time and knowledge to use an HTPC, use an HTPC. Doing anything else is like cutting your legs off because it's too much trouble to walk.

[ecrabb]

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[WTS]

The cine8 will accept either positive or negative syncs when using the RGBHV inputs.

[Person99]

[Person99]

[jask]

[Person99]

[MikeEby]

[Person99]

[Zebu Fellenz]

I use a HTPC,

My main reason was cost, my entire Blu-ray HD-DVD machine cost me less than $600 in parts total. The HTPC also makes sense for me because I use it as my main PC. I don't have cable and have no interest in it so that is one problem I don't have to deal with. I also like having the capibility to run a front-end that intergrates my music, pictures, SD-DVD collection, and recorded Tv shows (ATSC OTA) all into one clean easy to use interface.

Sure the HTPC has problems and can be buggy but for me I feel the benifits outweigh the negatives. I'm wondering why Phil was having trouble with his HTPC always having to reboot to fix problems, once I have my machine setup right it will run day in and day out without any problems. Usually it will run for weeks at a time without a reboot.

Erik

[perisoft]

Why in God's name would you spend $1500 on an HTPC? I'm hard-pressed to find a way to spend $1000 on a 4gb quad-core monster with a great 3D card, let alone a machine that needs few of the most expensive specs for the previous!

Oh, and if timeshifting rented movies makes me a thief, then consider me guilty. If storing the media I already own on a PC so I can access it without swapping disks around makes me a thief, then consider me guilty. If having the ability to game, play demos and other real time content, and control lighting and audio automatically makes me a thief, then consider me guilty. Otherwise, consider the maxim: Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

[Axatax]

The software players also can't touch the decoding and deinterlacing performance of dedicated hardware, as Secrets has proven time and again in their testing.

The VPxx and Lumagens (and most other modern outboard processors) consistently ace the entire testing battery (100 point scale), while the software players hover in the 20-60 point ranges. FFDshow won't help you here.

You get what you pay for.

[perisoft]

[Axatax]