CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

...and I probably bid too much for not seeing a picture of the tubes! Ah well. 4117 hours on the tubes and home theater use so they shouldn't be TOO bad. This is my first non-Sony CRT projector -- exciting! I'm hoping it will be a half-way decent upgrade from my D50 for my basement setup, with its slightly bigger tubes (7.5" right?), EM focus, and more brightness. I know with the D50 I'm only resolving slightly better than DVD resolution, which isn't a big deal for gaming seeing as though many games are just a bit better than SD that's upscaled to HD -- Call of Duty 4 and 5, GTA4. Though it is a bummer for HD content! Hopefully I'll see a half-way decent difference with this Runco! I'll miss the component input on the D50 though. Eh, probably should get a HDfury anyway as I'm using a PS3 with it and I've heard that component from the PS3 isn't the best.

Anyone here had a D50 and a 6PG Xtra? Anyone have any idea of if I'll need to situate this Runco closer to my screen? Don't the lenses on the PG projectors have a shorter throw distance? They use HD-144 lenses, right? Hopefully, as I have a mint set thta I got for a 1031Q that's just collecting dust. I'm just concerned that will mean shorter throw compared to the D50. With my D50 I'm running with a 7.75' wide screen and 11.5' throw distance. Any fellow 6PGers care to share their throw distances, screen widths, resolutions, and refresh rates? Thanks!

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:14 am Post subject:

6PG I have (Runco 900 rebadge ) has HD-6's

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:21 am Post subject:

Forget the throw distances, you'll need to put the image within the tube wear area. NECs throw was always a bit too far back, using a small phosphor area, but work within it, then expand the image to the virgin area to see what you should have, probably about 20% more brightness, and a lot more green in the image. Smile

THe Xtra runs circles around the D50 as to punch, sharpness and resolution.

Mark_A_W · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:53 am Post subject:

It probably has HD-145 lenses, which have a roughly 1.4x width throw distance.

But it depends on previous wear.

An Xtra does have bigger tubes than a D50. It has the same size tubes as a G70, or XG. P16 panasonic tubes.

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

Yeah, I'm hoping the wear isn't too bad and the previous owner used as much phosphor as possible. My D50 had only a little wear on it when I got it and I expanded the raster as much as possible anyway. I can see the virgin phosphor on bright scenes, but it doesn't bother me too much and my friends don't really notice it. I guess I'll have to see how worn it is. I'm excited to see how much better it is than the D50!

Mark_A_W · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:13 am Post subject:

Ahh...it will have been installed by Runco at some stage.

They put them even further back than NEC.

I would be preparing for bad wear.

secstate · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 720

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

Well, dammit! Buzzkill! Though maybe I can give phosphor wear leveling a try or maybe just staying within the wear pattern will fit well with my screen.

Mark_A_W · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:21 am Post subject:

The word is HELL.

HELL HELL HELL!!!

Think about it from Runco's point of view though - they had Joe-$$$-Six-Pack hooking any old signal up to the projector, with no clue what they were doing. They had to leave a buffer to the tube edge.

Brooklyn · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 494 Location: Morgan Hill, CA

I liked my Nec 6PG. Set up is a little different than the Sony but you will likely be alright. My 6PG could resolve 720p and 1080i, but I thought that the scanlines were too visible at 1080i. I saw that auction, cause it was close to me and it appeared to have the nice color filtered hd144's.

drice1234 · Joined: 07 Oct 2006 Posts: 1309 Location: Allen, Texas

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

Dan, don't get me wrong. The D50 does look okay running 1080i @ 60Hz, which is what I've been running. As I said, video games, many of which are only slightly better than DVD resolution and upscaled to 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, will look alright on a D50. But for high definition content, the 7" tubes and ES focus just doesn't cut it, especially given the premium price of Blu-ray discs. Then again, I'm comparing my D50 to my 1292Q which is running 1080p @ 48Hz. I was concidering getting a VisionDVI for my D50 and running it at 48Hz to get a little more sharpness from a lower refresh rate, at least for movies, but eh, I saw that Runco projector not too far and figured I'd give it a try.

imprez25 · Joined: 01 May 2007 Posts: 70

I saw it too and almost bid on it. There is another one semi local to me that I am considering upgrading to from my "minty" 1251q. I'm just unsure if it will be a "Major" upgrade or just a "yeah it's alittle sharper" upgrade.

secstate · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 720

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

Well, the green tube looks to be about a 6, the blue is probably an 8, and the red, maybe a 9. That's probably typical for a set with 4000 hours. Now the question is whether a 6PG Xtra with a green tube worn to be a 6 beats out a D50 with a pretty minty green and a blue that's probably a 8. Damn, I'll have to get a HDfury to find out! One step forward with the EM focus and larger tubes, one step back with the wear! Ah well. That's what I get for bidding on a projector without seeing the tube faces. Size-wise, the wear pattern wasn't as bad as I feared. I'm anxious to see how it stacks up against my D50!

Curt, what did you mean by it having a lot more green in the image?

secstate · Joined: 20 Mar 2006 Posts: 720