CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[CRT_Ben]

[Mark_A_W]

Ask the copyright owners what they think about that - you think they agree with that ruling? Different technicalities here anyway, although I believe the stupid Free Trade Act means US copyright laws can be applied to us.

There is no moral difference when you rip a HD-DVD that you legally own, in fact, given that you really do own a copy, as opposed to taping a copy that was broadcast, the moral position is much better.

Just pisses me off that every time you mention HTPC to Dave, he screams "THIEF", while he's admitted taping terabytes worth of Cable HD, which is morally WORSE if you ask me. It may come down on the legal side of the line in the sand, but not morally.

Of course, if you OWN a legal copy in HD-DVD/BD of EVERY taped HD movie in your collection, then there's no moral difference, and I will shut up.

[CRT_Ben]

[perisoft]

[Mark_A_W]

[perisoft]

[Mark_A_W]

Perisoft, I actually agree with you 100%. Read back again - what I was actually complaining about.

I happily break Australia's laws everytime I rip a HD-DVD to my hard drive. It's the only way to get decent playback.

I don't have any problem with taping cable HD to DVHS personally. I record Free to Air HD to my PC all the time here. Same, same.

I just get riled up when someone who tapes cable accuses all HTPC owners of theft.

[CRT_Ben]

[Mark_A_W]

Like Dave, you are making an assumption. Everyone with a HTPC is busy torrenting away feverishly.

The Verizon (duh) comment goes over my head. Remember, I'm in a different country. We don't have Firewire recordable cable HD here, so the specific details are lost on me.

[CRT_Ben]

[jask]

This keeps coming back to what you want in the experience.
screen distance is relative to image quality,I think all of us have a preferred local cinema to watch first run movies-and I would wager that this is due to the image quality at that location.A poor image will look better on a screen that is smaller or further away and a great image will look great inside of the previously quoted preferred distances- I ahve no problem watching HD content at 1.2X, but if it is sd progressive or upscaled I will go further back to decrease my awareness of artifact.
The fact that we are a group of computer literate forum users counters the HTPC point....we have the computer gear already,(and I have spent more on computers over the years than home theater by a large margin!) just like I had a lot of audio gear that "crossed over"into my theater.
The issue of content is another matter worthy of a whole other thread.
I have yet to see a single digital projector of any kind that will produce a reference image for more than a few hundred hours....there are some very good,very bright,very sharp projectors out there and not one of them will go 2500 hours,without serious image loss,bulb failure, pixel loss or total failure- the cost of ownership on CRT projectors is a bargain... IF you are willing to tweak(and I know we ALL are, otherwise we would be over at the other forum in the digital forum.)
In 5 year I doubt this forum will actively exist , and there is a good chance I will have a digital (hopefully laser) projector. I will still probably have a CRT running HD and with any luck it will be one of the many 909s or 9501lC units that will be orphaned by progress.
The market is falling out for Curt (and a lot of others) but when VDC stops production of new CRT projectors and tube sales become unprofitable then the curtain falls,without a source for good tubes we are marking time.

[deronmoped]

The one huge downfall to digitals is not digitals themselves, but human nature. Buy a digital today and six months down the road you will be drooling all over the latest greatest digital coming out. No longer happy with what you have, you start to think of ways to get together the bucks to get the latest and greatest digital.

Tax rebate time means you can upgrade, Christmas means another upgrade, "Might even get that bonus this year"! Hell, in a few years you should have a stack of old digitals in the closet reaching the ceiling

Deron.

[WanMan]

First, let me say WOW, I never really thought I'd get this many responses in one day! Secondaly, I should have been more clear about the concept of critical viewing and non-critical viewing. I think a consumer seeking a digital front projection solution capable of 1080P could easily be had for under $3K going on list pricing alone. But that is by my definition of non-critical viewing.

And it is fun to entertain the possibilities for non-critical viewing when its 99% please to the wife and 80% pleasing to me. Expectations are not there so the results are not overly critical in delivery and response. BUT, I am comparing this to non-critical viewing within the 1920x1080P capable CRT world as well. I am not sure a Sony 12xx would be fair even in this match, and stepping up beyond this places the cost vs rewards system into a place above the non-critical level.

What do I mean by this? If I am going to be looking for a 1920x1080P capable CRT that will best its comparably capable digital then I am probably going to be spending more than $5-7K on the projector and french fries to get the sources into the unit and to afford a proper setup. This doesn't take into account the luxury mods, and this price point now comes with an expectation of critical-viewing scenario (I'm not about to spend above $3K for a non-critical viewing CRT--that's just nuts.

Yet, it is in this area, the area of non-critical viewing, I wonder where the cost vs rewards are playing out. I see the prices on the 1080P digitals and I am surprised. Why? Because they are at the cost of a flat-panel and that immediately makes me think for theater-like rooms in my home.

[Curt Palme]

It's funny though how many people come back to CRT after 'experiencing' the digital experience. Of the CRTs I'm selling now to the HT market, quite a number of them are to former CRT people that went digital two or three times, got rightly pissed off at the bulb/projector life, and are BAAAACK!

[Curt Palme]

It's funny though how many people come back to CRT after 'experiencing' the digital experience. Of the CRTs I'm selling now to the HT market, quite a number of them are to former CRT people that went digital two or three times, got rightly pissed off at the bulb/projector life, and are BAAAACK!

[Curt Palme]

Hah, just opened this email this morning to follow up on the above comment:

i didnt study enough last time i got into projectors now i have 2 digital paperweights. lost the second last week -had to dust off the 27 inch in garage- ouch

This guy now has a Barco 1208..

[Curt Palme]

Hah, just opened this email this morning to follow up on the above comment:

i didnt study enough last time i got into projectors now i have 2 digital paperweights. lost the second last week -had to dust off the 27 inch in garage- ouch

This guy now has a Barco 1208..

[perisoft]

Has anybody done a study, or found a study, on the human eye's ability to perceive ANSI contrast - checkerboard style contrast?

I have a really strong feeling that there's a limited dynamic range we can perceive across bright edges. If you imagine a window screen in front of you, think about seeing the screen up against a medium gray background: You can see the mesh quite well and it's very dark. But now think about it up against a bright white light - does the mesh look black? Can you even tell?

Is it possible to tell the difference between a blazing bright on/off ANSI checkerboard with high contrast and one with relatively low (CRT-level) contrast?

What's the ANSI contrast of projected film itself? Of the actual recorded data on film or digital?

Is very high ANSI contrast imperceptible, and if it is, does it make things look 'wrong' on-screen?

[dropzone7]

The evolution of my projector usage:

Infocus SP4800 -> NEC 6PG -> NEC 9PG+ -> NEC XG110 -> NEC XG852

[perisoft]

OK, i've done a tiny bit of research. I'm gonna start another thread for this; it seems interesting...

[MikeEby]

I would like to also put in my 2 cents in the digital / CRT debate. It’s not all about static image sharpness. What about motion artifacts? I know of one RS1 owner that complains about his panel being slow. I find that to be just as distracting as bad black levels.

Now on the HTPC vs. STB/BR-HD-DVD, the ability to set just about any sync timing I want gives the HTPC an edge over a STB. Yes if you pop for a high end VP then you will most likely have that versatility but we are talking about way more cost. I use my HTPC as a STB, I load PowerDVD on startup and can pop disk in and out just like a STB, its rock solid I rarely go to the desktop. I have a Gen 1 Toshiba HD-DVD player and found I rebooted it more often than I do my HTPC. One other advantage the HTPC over a STB is the ability to keep your signal in the analog domain, I zero HDCP issues, period.

Mike

[Bruce 09]