|
|
|
|
Video |
|
Displays - Mitsubishi WS65-807 HDTV Video is my favorite part of the whole deal. I remember when RPTVs were just pieces of garbage. The picture was terrible. You could only see it if you were directly in front of it blah blah blah, you know the rest. But eventually the technology got more advanced and things began to get better for RPTVs. I think I got in at the right time. I bought a WS65-807 Mitsubishi HD RPTV in 2001. They were still very expensive but I had to have it. Man what an upgrade from my 50" Proscan SD RPTV. I still am the only person I know that owns a TV this big so that's kinda cool. This TV is awesome. The picture is really sharp even with 480i material because of it's good internal scaler. If you hook up a HD STB or a up-converting DVD player watch out cause this pic will blow you away. Very nice, I just wish it had more HD inputs. That is where the limitation lies with this TV. It only uses component inputs for HD.
Now this is the best part of the whole Home Theater.
When I added this projector I knew that I had reached a level I never thought possible. The Z3 is unreal.
It can produce a 100" image on a wall or on a screen that rivals my
RPTV. The scary part is it cost less than half as much and is twice as big. I
can't say enough good things about this projector. It is completely devoid of
any of the traditional problems that LCD projectors usually fall victim to.
There is no screen door
effect and no vertical banding. I would like to give some credit to the
sources of info that taught me what I needed to know before I even considered
buying one of these things. Projector People - best retailer on the web. Save time and just buy if from these guys. I needed a screen to go with my Z3. I had to go with a roll up screen because I was going to put it in front of my TV. I found a really go deal on a Elite Screens 100" Matt White screen at Tiger Direct.
Here are some shots of a Z3
in action
Calibration - I have monkeyed around with just about every single calibration setting that has been published on the web. The best results are achieved with a CC20R Filter and a 1 dB attenuator placed on the red cable (if using component cables). Here are the settings that I am currently using. Note: Jeremy Anderson was the first one to use these settings similar to these. Bear
in mind that I have a CC20R filter over the lens and am using a 1dB line level
attenuator on the Cr component cable to bring red push to 0 (though that
shouldn't affect anyone's settings). Start in POWERFUL mode and immediately
turn the bulb down to theater black. User menu settings are: Sources - Zenith DVB318 Up-converting DVD Player I want to use my TV and Projector to their full capacity so I had to go with a DVD Player that up-converted through the component outs. There are a few players out there that do it. Most of them are from Japan are quite good in terms of picture quality but are very hard to get your hands on. But Zenith makes the DVB318. If you buy this player at Best Buy right now it will not up convert through the component outs because the most recent firmware upgrade prohibits it for anti-piracy reasons. It will still work through the DVI out but I don't have a DVI in on my TV. If you upload the old firmware into the DVD player it will return the unit back to the original settings and will allow you to work with the component outs. After using the old firmware I was amazed at the PQ (picture quality). There are absolutely no jaggies at all. The picture is smooth and the color is vivid. Here are some example of what the up-converting to HD looks like. They are in 480P, 720P and 1080i order. Look at the inside part of the "D". See how the image is cleaner and the line is sharper. For a better look (less compressed) at this go to this review.
The Zenith does have the coveted Faroudja Video processing
chip which comes highly recommended by Secrets of Home Theater.
Denon DVM1815 This player is also very very good. Probably better than my Zenith at displaying the 480P images. But I had some problems with the deinterlacer when running it through my Z3. I was experiencing some sync tearing on the top of the image. This was a great excuse to upgrade to a up-converting DVD player. I use this Denon in the living room so the boy can watch Blue's Clues and Monsters Inc. This player also has the Faroudja chip. OTA HD Decoder - ProBrand
HD3150 I had Dish Network for a little while and with service I got a HD Decoder so I could pull OTA HD signals along with the HD Dish offered. They started frustrating me with poor service so I dropped Dish. I then scored a ProBrand HD3150 HD Decoder so I can still pull OTA HD signals. This baby works great I highly recommend it. It has all the outputs you will need for the next 5 or six years and is essentially plug and play. Gaming and Blu-Ray Player- Sony
Playstation 3 Unreal! The PS3 is simpley awesome when connected to my projector via HDMI. The colors are so much more vivid and the blacks look like ink. HDMI is a big improvement Gaming - XBox
360 Live is a really awesome for gaming. It also allows you to download HD movies. Really sweet. The only problem is the 360 s horrible when it comes to product failures. 20 -30% failure rate due to heat problems. Get a PS3 if you are in the market. Cables Python 50" RG6 Component Cables I can't talk too much about cabling cause in makes me sick. But these are built like a tank and are quite cheap too. I got mine from Beyond Computers on Ebay. they cost about $45 with shipping. 30" Monoprice 22 gauge Cat. 2 HDMI Cable \.
|
—> Home
|
|
|