CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[LDV33]

I've been doing a lot of reading trying to educate myself about resolution and I have a couple of unanswered questions.
You guys have been great at explaining things so I thought I'd ask here...

From my understanding, it is better to feed the projector a signal closest to its native resolution. This way it doesn't have to work as hard to scale the picture. Correct?
If this is the case, how come Sony does not spec what the native resolution is for a Sony 1270Q?
Is it safe to say that if there is no native resolution, it will display anything up to its maximum resolution (1280 x 1024) and will scale anything over that to fit?
I'm a little confused here (im still learning) on how to go about this. I understand how it works that if it has a given native resolution, say of 1024x768 that it will scale a given signal to fit 1024x768 (higher-->lower or lower -->higher), is this right or wrong?

The only reason I ask is, I want to know if I will get a more focused (less soft) picture if I give the 1270 a resolution that doesnt require the scaler to kick in. I was reading somewhere that although the projector can handle 1080i it has to scale it down to to 1280x1024 and that this softens the picture....

Please tell me if I sound confusing...I'm not very good with words...

[perisoft]

CRT projectors don't have a native resolution. Each tube has a smooth layer of phosphor that's traced by an electron beam, lighting it up as it goes; the effective resolving ability is determined by the rapidity with which the beam can change intensity and the phosphor quality itself (think film grain). The rated maximum resolution is usually a (somewhat optimistic) calculation of the maximum resolving capacity of the tube + electronics.

If you ask a CRT projector to do 320x240, it'll scan 240 lines separated by the amount necessary to make them fill the vertical bit you want, and change the beam intensity 320 times per line. If you ask it to do 1920x1080, it'll scan 1080 lines and change (or try to change!) the intensity 1920 times per line.

So, there's no scaling going on regardless of the resolution. Digital monitors / projectors are a bit more like a mosaic, where you have discrete elements of color; CRT projectors / monitors are more like a painting. This isn't a perfect analogy but it's close enough for this question...

Note that this doesn't mean that you can draw a 'pure' diagonal line without stairstepping with a CRT projector; it's still *displaying* a matrix of pixels, because that's what it's been told to do. But you can scale the matrix any way you want without introducing artifacts aside from scanline gaps at very low resolutions, and blur at high resolutions.

[LDV33]

Bingo!

I think I got it. So its best to stick as close as you can to the max resolution so you don't get overlapping lines that make the picture soft, is this correct?

[stefuel]

Some projectors (read very few), have internal scalers. Most do not. They simply display what you feed them or die trying.
Most projectors can lock onto signals (scan rate) much higher then they can actually resolve.

[LDV33]

Boy! making a change to the computer resolution setting mad a huge difference. I previously had it 1280x1024 which was the maximum resolution, and the picture was great but just a tad bit to soft for me. It was hard to make out the text. So, I changed it over to 1024x768 and viola, better focus and less softness. I likes!!
Can others who use the 1270 chime-in with what resolution they have found to be the best?

[ecrabb]

Do you watch much 4x3 material? If not, and you're like most of us in that 90% of what you watch is widescreen, then use a widescreen resolution. So, instead of 1024x768, use 1024x576.

1920x1080i is a great resolution for a 12xx, but not if you use an HTPC and want decent sharpness for UI. An alternative would be 1280x720p.

Try 1280x720p and 1024x576 and see which you like best.

SC

[LDV33]

It's a good split half and half. Most of my collection is a split between 4:3 and 16:9. A lot of my older DVD's are in 4:3 and some of the documentary's that I have are in 4:3. I would say as of 2008 I've been buying a lot of the special editions or widesreen editions where the material is in 16:9. I'm gonna try and use the resolutions above and report back what the results are.
I'm also getting a DVDO iScan Hd from a co-worker tomorrow , so I'm gonna play with that too and see where it takes me. From what I've read about it, it's pretty flexible with the resolution output, just don't know if I can customize them yet. I haven't found a manual online or any procedures on how to use it to its full advantage. My co-worker only knows the basics of it, and not much else. I'm gonna keep hunting for info..Unless, someone here knows?

[Sparky015]

Here is a link to some DVDO manuals
http://www.curtpalme.com/VideoProcessors.shtm#DVDO

[LDV33]

Thanks Sparky!
I forgot about those...
I wonder why when I "googled" it last night it didn't come up

[WanMan]

[LDV33]

I got the DVDO iScan HD this weekend. So I chucked the old pc out of the system and started playing with the iScan. All I can say is WOW!! and YAY!!! This thing kicks butt...It's better than the PC in my opinion. I got cleaner and tighter convergence lines from the DVDO than I did with the PC. This may have been due to my low end video card.
Anyow, the picture is even better than before in my opinion. I was able to play with the resolution, and even custom make one using the DVDO. So far, I've come up with several different options. I tried ecrabbs suggested resolutions and actually found the resolution in the "mooneyass article" to be the best 1184 x 666. I noticed a tad bit more detail using this resolution setting.
The wife really likes it a lot, and was watching a bunch of movies with me last nite. I've noticed that since I've been making a lot of positive progress in the last couple of weeks, that she's been getting into the hobby. She even called up a friend of hers whose an electrical contractor to come and hide the vga cable going to the projector. Yay! for me!!
So up next is an HDFury, gonna order one this week and maybe a gamma boost unit...Anyone have a great one to recommend?
You guys have been great by the way, thanks!!!

[LDV33]

I was thinking of maybe the GammaX or the Box 1021? Better? same?

[jask]

[LDV33]

No kidding jask!

[LDV33]

[LDV33]

Did some research and I figured this out...thanks guys!