CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[hasaanchop]

Ok, despite the fact that I've had Mits CRT RPTV's for decades and know a lot about calibration, i will soon be plunging headlong into the deep end with a new old-stock Marquee 9500LC Ultra I got for $1k and shipping and a mint 100" Stewart filmscreen that I picked up at a garage sale for $150.

My main question is that we all know how touchy CRTs are, even though with Dragan's mods, I'm sure the convergence will drift a ton less than a stock one. But my question is that with the advent of all this ChromaPure auto calibration stuff, is it worth it to just go ahead and get a ChromaPure Advanced auto plus an EyeOne 3 Pro and upgrade my old Vision to a Lumagen Radiance 20xx with 729 points of RGB calibration, and then just every week or so, while dinner is cooking, set that thing up to auto jam itself into a perfect picture, and sit down to eat and watch Tron: Legacy just as it's finishing?

Does this question even make sense? It seems that with one of the best CRT projectors ever made, with brand new tubes, $734 for the ChromaPure/EyeOne Pro /advanced auto calibrate package and $2235 for the Lumagen (minus any upgrade differential I can still get in on for my old VisionOne), $3k for all that sounds like a bargain, and even though I understand completely what Craig Rounds can do with one of these babies, is it nearly as good to have this capability available? Maybe bring in a pro for the initial setup and cal, and get the auto stuff for weekly maintenance?

Of course I'd also like to get into how to eventually set up one of these 300lb. suckers, how to figure out positioning, ceiling mounting, screen mounting, etc, I'll try to read up on that so I at least have an idea how it all starts. Is there a thread for basic projector placement and mounting?

Thanks for any advice!! This should be the first I a hopefully long series of posts on my new home theater. Basically are working at a great company for over a decade, I was laid off with 95% of my team. Out of work for 1.5 out of the last 2 years, I finally have another job, and am saving for a move back to Denver where I want to live the rest of my life, and getting all this kick ass home theater gear out of storage and into my first house, where I can proudly display some of my 2k+ vintage movie poster collection, like my $2500 original rolled Matrix international "lightning" onesheet, and my extensive Japanese collection with stuff like an original two panel for The Sword of Doom (available on Criterion Collection DVD) and B1's for Amelie, Ghost in the Shell, and Appleseed while I watch Evangelion 1.11 on Bluray brilliantly projected onto a 100" screen and audio through a B&W 604/602/LCR600 Series 3/Velodyne 5-channel dual sub setup. I could live the rest of my days content with that. Oh, and cooking rare steaks sous vide. You haven't had a steak until you've had it sous vide. Period.

Sorry for the exposition, I just don't get to talk about this much. Mainly just think about it every day as I watch stuff on a little 40" LCD in my bedroom with audio through a B&W Zeppelin.

[jeffslife]

Too late ! They already got ya. Enjoy !

[ecrabb]

You don't need to recalibrate a newer, low-hour CRT weekly. Monthly would be beyond anal-retentive. Most people do it more like quarterly or twice a year, or hire Craig to do the same. I calibrated mine a couple of times a year, and even went a year once. I'd rather watch movies than fart around with the gear, though that's very much a personal thing.

I won't comment on the Lumagen purchase. I know Craig and some others think they're the best thing since sliced bread, but I aways had a thousand other things I wanted to spend the money on, and with gamma correction, bias, and gain controls got my machine close enough that I was very happy with it without spending 3-large on a box to nail grayscale and gamma. Just depends on your budget, and whether you want a very good display, or an excellent reference display.

Where are you located? Maybe somebody can give you a hand with initial setup.

My CEO is a cooking nut and raves about sous vide steaks. Need to try it. He did holiday turkey the same way and said it was the best turkey he'd ever had.

Cheers,
SC

[AnalogRocks]

I think calibrating once a week is overkill. Even with the old junk I run here I only need a touch up when the seasons change. Unless you have the projector on 24/7 with contrast cranked, I don't think your color calibration will drift too soon.

[AnalogRocks]

I think calibrating once a week is overkill. Even with the old junk I run here I only need a touch up when the seasons change. Unless you have the projector on 24/7 with contrast cranked, I don't think your color calibration will drift too soon.

[hasaanchop]

Ok, so I guess a follow up addendum: with the cost of an on site calibration in the $600+ range, don't you think it would be money better spent on the ability to calibrate whenever you want? And should I be content with an old VisionOne with RGBHV cables and adapters and DVI to HDMI cables, or would it be easier to just get a new Lumagen? They gotta make CRTs look better, just after seeing how my VisionOne really dialed in grayscale over the tweaked in-set controls. Isn't it better to spend the money once instead of every year, and you're at the mercy of people's nationwide calibration touring schedules? And then you can do it whenever you need to. Just looking at the practicality of the situation.

I guess another veiled question in there was also if the auto calibration through a Lumagen really looks good vs having a pro come out to do it.

[digitalayon]

RUN!....GO DIGITAL AND JUST RUN!!! That's if you value your time. HE HE

[UncleWill]

WELCOME TO THE CLUB

Watch this video for a in depth explanation of your problem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVqBb4CePJg

[UncleWill]

In all honesty though, I only adjust mine maybe one every two or three weeks. Usually it is just in a few spots. Convergence drift is very normal.

Little video about ceiling CRT setup here. Most of it is about finding the right beam layout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CURsJDfdbfc

You sound like you already quite a bit about these things, so you should be fine. I am in Northern VA - give a holler if you need help on this side of the country.

[draganm]

[Spanky Ham]

I will only address the auto calibrate function. Craig has mentioned that you shouldn't use auto calibrate with CRT. It is fine with digital though.

[kal]

[kal]