CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

krelian · Joined: 07 Apr 2015 Posts: 9

Hi everybody

so, in a nutshell
I have been browsing these forums for quite some time and tried and get some knowledge
you guys are incredible, really, and very nice too

I am all over the places now, literally
I will settle down in a year or so, and the original plan was to get a projector then
However I can see things changed dramatically for the past year
it really seems game over now
so I was thinking to move in advance
the final blow was the moome card being discontinued, so I was thinking to get one preemptively before they really get rare to come by, got only 2 days left to decide

I am really struggling to decide what to get, I am leaning toward a Sony D50 or G70
there are places like fhvideo selling them new, but I am a bit unsure if I want to trow 3 or more grands for something that, according to many on this site, is worth nothing (not to mention delivery to Europe)

I will give more info of my equipment, etc..
These are my priorities
-Laserdisc
-DVD
-Blu-Ray
-Tapes

Anime/Animation make about 75% of what I watch, so that is pretty much THE one thing that has to look best
20% is made of old Asian movies, mostly from the 80s and 90s, the remaining 5% of Hollywood flicks mostly from the 70s and 80s

The Pjt will be driven most likely by a Lumagen processor

any suggestion would be appreciated Wink

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 7:09 pm Post subject:

Well I am selling top of the line BArco 909 starting at $1500 USD, plus about $500 to get it to you, so you're well under the $3K mark. The two Sonys you mention should literally be free at this point, as tubes are no longer available. If you don't go 9", then at this point I'd recommend a digital. A lesser set simply isn't worth it.

Cheers!
Curt

HaydnG90 · Joined: 22 May 2006 Posts: 1356

**kal**

krelian · Joined: 07 Apr 2015 Posts: 9

thanks a lot guys
Curt, I was going to send you a long email anyway in 1-2 days, as I obviously need your "help"

not that I have anything against a 9 incher
however I recently was at my friend's house who owns a properly set G90 and I could see scanlines even at 960/72p
I think the 909 is even more high-res, so I am not sure if I will like what I see
I have read here and there that it was meant for flight simulators and other pro-environments
so not really suitable for home cinema, but of course this might just be sheer ignorance

As I said most of the stuff I watch is of sub-par video quality (upscaled Laserdiscs mainly), on top of that a good 40% is 4:3 aspect ratio
so I need a pjt that is as good with modern stuff as with old, grainy, very low-res stuff
all in all 720p at 96Hz is the highest I'll ever need

digital really is out of question, I will never go digital

wanderer · Joined: 11 Jan 2015 Posts: 76

The good news with a 9" is that you don't have to see scan lines with a 720P image if you don't want to. The reason a well setup 9" will show scan lines at even 960P is that it's focused to the nth degree during setup, but you don't have to have it that sharp. You can defocus it a bit there on the magnetics side or in the GUI menu and you'll wind up with whatever target resolution you have looking totally film like with no line structure. So I wouldn't let that put you off if you were worried about seeing scan lines as you get to set the focus levels as you see fit.

4:3 material aspect ratio is interesting. Are you thinking of going with a 4:3 screen?

You can still probably get a nice 909 from Curt that's been tested, with excellent tubes, support, and red\green colored C elements to get to REC.709 color for less than you think.

**kal** · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2019 2:45 am Post subject:

To add to waderer's post above, if you're going to use a Lumagen to scale anyway, just scale higher.
We have Lumagen Radiance units here: http://www.curtpalme.com/Radiance.shtm
Open box and previously owned units are available too - contact me at kal@curtpalme.com for a hidden order page if curious. Cheers!

Kal

nidi · Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 305 Location: Switzerland

A CRT will look fantastic with older video materials.

I myself am using mine also for 4:3 to display SD from the 80's and 90's (plus LaserDisc and DVD).

be sure to save some money for a Radiance video processor, does not have to be the most expensive one,
has to be able to do 72 for NTSC and 75 Hz for PAL sources.

for SD though, the Crystalio II looks the best!

if you find one very cheaply , grab it.

gjaky · Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 2802 Location: Budapest, Hungary

krelian · Joined: 07 Apr 2015 Posts: 9

thanks a lot guys...I wasn't kidding when I said you are amazing

a few things

re: the screen, I am not sure yet
I was reading a bit trough Curt's guide, having 2 screen seems an option and at the end even more practical
The original plan was to get one of those transparent Saymour screen, though I am not sure if they are suitable for CRT
I guess the gain on those is very high and meant for digital pjt's?

as I said Laserdisc is my absolute n.1 priority so having a good comb filter is paramount (only Lumagen 2124/2144 series and CII are good for that)
Ideally I would like to get a 2124 but I guess these sold very few units, everybody got a 2144, which is way out of my budget
hopefully I might get a used unit in the future, otherwise I will get any older unit such as XE/XS and use a Pioneer DVR and feed the Lumagen the already "corrected signal"
CII is not an option unfortunately as it can not lock film mode 48/72p when feeding an interlaced, say 1080i, signal (or should I say inverse telecine)

Curt mentioned that tubes are no longer available for the G70 and D50
so I suppose they are still manufactured, or at least there is plenty of availability of Sony G90/Barco 909 tubes?

nidi · Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 305 Location: Switzerland

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2019 6:27 pm Post subject:

I think VDC still has tubes for a number of sets, but given the selling price of whole projectors these days, I don't think anyone save for the military is buying new tubes at this point.

VDC at one point told me that they'd gotten rid of all tubes, then Tim Martin told me otherwise, so who knows what they are doing.

The biggest issue with lower end sets is the price of shipping and resolution. Sure, for what Krelian is doing, even a Barco 708 would do the job fine, and I've got one for $300 USD, but shipping will be $400 USD to get it to Europe.

krelian · Joined: 07 Apr 2015 Posts: 9

fundamentally all I need is to line doubling Laserdiscs, tapes and DVDs
and watch Blu-Rays at something, anything even a tad little above 540p
that's pretty much it

on the other hand I also do not want to renounce to EM focusing and LC lenses
despite the scanlines I was blown away by my friend's G90
I doubt something like a Barco Cine 7 would give me the same stunning picture

re: shipping
that is not a concern to me
I stopped caring about it very long ago
in my adult life I never really bought anything from Europe, only ever bought from the US or Japan
DVD/BD players, processors, DVDs, videogames etc
of course with the exception of TV sets and power amps

so I always assume I need to pay 2-3 times what people in the US or Japan pay
for example last year I bought an old Shure surround processor that cost me just $25
yet I paid $160 in shipping

but thanks for the concern Wink

**kal** · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:42 pm Post subject:

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:59 pm Post subject:

Krelian, if you want a good working Barco 708/Runco DTCV 947, email me through the main site. I have one or two here that I would let go for almost nothing, plus shipping.

pj-toso · Joined: 19 Mar 2015 Posts: 69 Location: Norway - Oppland

jask · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 10187 Location: kamloops BC

wow... at this point the processor is worth more,,, any sub 9" pj will do, I am really partial to NEC and BARCO .. if you are in the EU customs and brokerage are more of an issue than shipping,,, a nice PG or barco 8 ... would be awesome, but you need a room with really good light control

krelian · Joined: 07 Apr 2015 Posts: 9

first thing, Curt sorry for late
not only have I been very busy, also I am getting mad at deciding what is really best for me

to answer the last posts from kal, toso, jask
I have an Oppo 93 as a HD source and that is pretty much the last HD source I will EVER had
I don't watch TV and I will never bother with any streming device whatsoever
as I said the old stuff, until early 90s is what I really care about

I think it is my fault for maybe making things a bit confusing?
many times I have read comments such as "everything below a 9" don't matter anymore" and such
which of course it does sound right
however I think most people think from a HD point of view
very few care about old SD material so I can't really blame anybody

garyfritz · Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 12088 Location: Fort Collins, CO

If you really intend to watch only SD sources, then a 9" EM projector is a waste of money. The SD sources are very low-fidelity and they're a good match for the lower-fidelity projectors like the D50. Higher-quality projectors like G90/909 will make HD sources look fantastic, but in comparison the SD sources will look like crap. Fuzzy and no fine detail.

It does NOT make sense to buy a 909 and defocus it! That's like buying a Porsche and putting bicycle tires on it to intentionally cripple it. If you want a bike, save yourself some money and just buy a bike.

How big a screen do you intend to use? If you're using a small screen, say maybe 50-60" diagonal, then D50 with SD sources will look OK. (But if you're doing that, why not just spend a few hundred $$ and get a nice LED flatscreen?) But if you go for a 100" diagonal, you will see much more detail -- good and bad. IMHO 100" is too large a screen for SD sources.

ElTopo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1640

@krelian: Where are you located ?