CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[jarseneau]

I recently bought a G90 for $999 that came from a private home doing some 'upgrading'. I was surprised to see it go on eBay for the opening bid but figured the local pickup ony and the slow economy were factors. I didn't mind bidding as I did since it looked great upon inspection and it had enough hours on it to make the DALLAS chip problem unlikely. Now I see a 2nd G90 go for 1375 with less than 1800 hrs.

So should I be happy they're getting affordable or wonder if it's a bad investment? It works great and will be awesome with the new P19LUG.

Just wondering what others think.

[LOTREE]

Don't you hate that. I bought my 1200x then 2 days later an Electrohome 9500LC hit eBay for $799 BIN, I paid quite a bit more for mine. Buyers remorse for sure. There's lots of other G90's out in the world, some still in the box unopened I'm sure, so I'd say enjoy yours and try not to worry about the others. For the extra $400 you saved that's a tube replacement in the distant future or extra things you can buy now. Thankfully I convinced my father to get the 9500 and now it hangs from his basement ceiling. Some stories do have a happy ending.

[mhalsan]

I think CRT projection is a lot like my uncle's old-time auto restorations. Relatively few people do this, because only a few people understand why. Just like folks who ogle a '57 Chev on the street, then buy something 'modern.' The people I've had over are impressed with the quality of the CRT's picture, but then, they picked up a $899 DLP at Costco for themselves.

I can't see any reason why NOT to stay with this technology. Curt has been able to fix what few problems I've had, and with a few exceptions replacement parts are still available.

The risk of obsolescence comes from whatever the Next Big Thing is, and whether or not we HAVE to Have it. HDMI was an example- we needed it, and Moome made it happen.

I've heard mutterings here and there about line-doubled 1080p, or "2160p." This is going to be tough, based on the bandwidth and scanning frequencies required. It will take something with a lot more storage capacity than Blu-Ray as it currently stands to deliver these bandwidths, and until we have content available, I won't worry too much about it.

Blu-Ray 3D presents some obstacles to work well with CRT projection, but I'm more confident that this can be overcome. The shutterglasses kit from Nvidia didn't work, due to phosphor lag and synchronization problems. Polarized projection, using dual projectors and a silver screen holds some promise, and in fact I have found various examples in user forums of this being done, with inexpensive digital projectors and filters. I hope to have such a system set up this year. We'll see how it turns out.

Thanks, Mark

[Curt Palme]

CRT for the home market simply is dead at this point, save for the enthusiasts. That's pretty obvious from a number of former diehards that have switched as well.

I still talk to people weekly that far prefer the CRT image, but the inquiry for sales now is mainly coming from flight simulator and other commercial applications. I sold 4 sets last month, three were to commercial applications.

With commercial projectors being $100K+ for 'good' ones, and with the economy being what it is, that actually has benefited me at this point, as Uncle Sam would never have thought to buy a used product back 10 years ago, but now, every penny counts.

I've been working on digital flat screens, and while arguably, the construction quality is at that of your high end CRT projector, the component tolerances are simply too tight and too close to the edge of operation to make them reliable. I've got a really nice Sony Bravia here, 2 years old, but used, the logic board is going to cost me $150, new it was $600. From a retail point, that's hardly worth repairing. Things like chips are so damn expensive and so hard to pull off boards that it's usually better to buy a new set.

I'm going to be blowing out my refurb 42" plasmas on CL for cheap, I had good success selling a couple of 30" monitors for $75 to 125 this weekend. Thing is, neither one had a remote, and while the controls can be accessed at the TV, the universal remotes didn't find the IR code for these two no name brand Best Buy specials, which is why I dumped them. But.. make a living at repairing flat screens? Hardly!

[Curt Palme]

CRT for the home market simply is dead at this point, save for the enthusiasts. That's pretty obvious from a number of former diehards that have switched as well.

I still talk to people weekly that far prefer the CRT image, but the inquiry for sales now is mainly coming from flight simulator and other commercial applications. I sold 4 sets last month, three were to commercial applications.

With commercial projectors being $100K+ for 'good' ones, and with the economy being what it is, that actually has benefited me at this point, as Uncle Sam would never have thought to buy a used product back 10 years ago, but now, every penny counts.

I've been working on digital flat screens, and while arguably, the construction quality is at that of your high end CRT projector, the component tolerances are simply too tight and too close to the edge of operation to make them reliable. I've got a really nice Sony Bravia here, 2 years old, but used, the logic board is going to cost me $150, new it was $600. From a retail point, that's hardly worth repairing. Things like chips are so damn expensive and so hard to pull off boards that it's usually better to buy a new set.

I'm going to be blowing out my refurb 42" plasmas on CL for cheap, I had good success selling a couple of 30" monitors for $75 to 125 this weekend. Thing is, neither one had a remote, and while the controls can be accessed at the TV, the universal remotes didn't find the IR code for these two no name brand Best Buy specials, which is why I dumped them. But.. make a living at repairing flat screens? Hardly!

[ecrabb]

[Mark_A_W]

Well..if that chip dies you have a big boat anchor.


It's all about 3D. If my CRT can do it, it will stay. If not, it's digital time. Despite having 2 XG LC's with good tubes, I'm loath to mount a pair for 3D. More heat, more noise, hassle of a stack, more power consumption.

[Curt Palme]

I'm going to guess that the whole 3D thing will be a big bust.

[Curt Palme]

I'm going to guess that the whole 3D thing will be a big bust.

[Tim in Phoenix]

[overclkr]

[draganm]

[Mark_A_W]

You guys are kidding me. Avatar was amazing. The 3D gave total immersion.

Gamers will drive 3D, it will flow from there.

[huggy]

Would I be correct in my assumption that one would need good vision in both eyes to appreciate 3d?
I have somewhat blurry vision in one eye ( nasty accident with a concrete nail ) and would love to see a movie in 3D however,am a bit reluctant as you would imagine.



Dave

[Mark_A_W]

Well, I know you can drive a car, so I think it would be fine.

You can but try and see.

[mp20748]

[Mark_A_W]

So...you made this whole statement WITHOUT seeing the film?

The world is not flat. It has depth. What is artificial is a 2D representation of it. Your statement is completely backwards.


And the digital projection was light years ahead of any film based projection I've ever seen. It was sharp. The colours were amazing. It was bright, yet the slight light loss from the glasses made black black.

An order of magnitude better than film (and yes I've seen a 35mm film since...it was crap). One of the nice side effects about 3D is it forces them to use a digital projector, and they are now so very much better than a commercial film projector.

[huggy]

[Mark_A_W]

Just beware, from what I saw of Alice in Wonderland in the preview, I would not see that as a reference for 3D.

Alice was jarring and annoying. I hated the 3D in that preview.


Avatar was not like that.

[WanMan]

So, how can I get a pair of good 9" CRT projectors setup in my home with excellent tubes, running 1080P for, say, $5K? I'm not buying the reality tour, here. I think these are more exceptions than the rule.

[mhalsan]

I'm amazed at the anger towards 3D. Not just here, but in other media as well. Like mp said, it's perceived as a threat. I don't see why, since the Blu-Ray 3D standard specifies 2-D playback in non-3D equipment.

The drawback on Blu-Ray will be the additional compression applied to fit two video streams on to the existing disc.

Whether or not it will be successful is an open question. Between a new player, display and the glasses, it looks like a minimum of $4,000. That's only for a 4-foot screen. Bigger screens - more $. Projection- a lot more $. This will, at best, be a niche market for a long time. As far as mass-market appeal, well...that's doubtful. For us CRT users, 3D will be a niche-within-a-niche. Anyone remember Quad? D'oh!

Thanks, Mark

[mp20748]