Projector Process...

[Nicholas Mosher]

Well guys, I officially have a front projector! :-y





The Sanyo PLV-Z3 arrived today. Unfortunately I just received an eMail that the used Denon DVD-2910 replacing my failed DVD-2900 is shipping today. I have to check out the tracking number they sent me after 8pm EST.

But oh man is this thing cool! Just made a rough placement on a bookshelf behind the couch. The projector will actually be mounted just 2ft above where it sits on top of the bookshelf now. The lens shift works kick-@$$! Not sure how anyone could live without this feature.

With my new black curtains I bought last week, my room is more than dark enough even during the middle of the day. The lamp is set on low too! I'm going to have to shorten my center speaker stand by 4-6". Right now all five monitors are at ear level, but this is a sacrifice I'll have to make, the screen just seems too high...

Did some experimenting with screen samples using various menu options and colors. Was quite suprised...

Things I found I disliked...
1. Textured materials. They soften the image some, and don't preserve that razorsharp digital quality.

2. Any material gray in color. Blacks are definetly better as well as the resulting contrast, but colors look like $#!t! That vibrant chlorophyl green color of spring grass becomes november pine needle green and Tomato red becomes a maroonish offshoot. Blechhhhh! Not to mention that the brightest white you can see is the color of the gray screen...

3. Any coating/finish that sparkles. It bugs the hell out of me, and plays tricks on my eyes. Silver screen, glass beaded, even the "High Power" I was boasting about.

4. Screens with a viewing angle less than 45*. Even though my couch is within a 30* angle of each screen edge, the only seat that looks 100% is the middle one.

This eliminated every single Da-Lite screen sample I have.

Oddly enough, I thought the best image was produced on the Carada Brilliant White (1.4 Gain) material! There isn't any weave to it that softens the image, white's are white, colors are pure, there is no sparkling/shimmering, and it looks the same almost 180*, no matter where you sit/stand. It's really not that much different than the Carada Matte White material. The matte seems to be slightly off pure white while the Brilliant White is like Elmer's glue white. The Criterion frames look quite impressive too. I'm just worried about having enough tension with the Carada material. It's slightly stretchy, and I'm worried it will lose it's elasticity/resiliency and sag after a couple years. I suppose if it does they will replace the material.

Found out with my placement option, 80" is the smallest Carada screen size I can go with (min zoom on the PJ produces a 74" diagonal image). So here is what I plan to get...

Carada Brilliant White 80" Diagonal Criterion 1.78 to 1 Screen ~US$645

I'll most liekly be ordering it on the 24th. Have to pay the bills and flight tuition first...