CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

Blorton · Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 105 Location: Hotlanta, GA

I get that they are stupidly big, heavy and loud as hell. Besides that, what's really wrong with them?

From crawling around in searches, it seems like some are prone to streaking and they are one of the dimmer 9 inch sets available. Also seem to be some video chain stability issues?

Can anyone please give me the straight skinny on these? Would one with good tubes be a reasonable upgrade from a tired 1272? And I could expect a decent service life out of? I'm in a basement HT, so light control is not a big deal, and I can deal with making a hushbox and/or doing fan mods.

I'd appreciate any pointers,
Dan

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

1292's have FANTASTIC resolution, and their usable range of Brightness and Contrast is pretty much the ENTIRE range of the control. That being said, they DO have low light output for a 9" set, and ARE the loudest crt projector by a huge margin, your searches have turned up the truth.

They are, image wise, quite a large step up from your current set, but the drawbacks are more significant than you might first assume. The noise especially is really, really, really bad. With the light control you have, the dimness likely won't bother you, but the noise....You'd have little choice about having a hushbox or doing fan mods to run one, or put it into a separate room and project through an artists glass window...or rear projection with a good high gain screen would solve both issues...

The streaking is something I've personally not experienced with the two 1292's I've owned, but it is apparently an unsolvable issue if you end up with one which displays it...

If its a *cheap* 1292, go for it, if you're being sold one at a premium, give it a huge pass(would be my opinion, others invariably, will have different opinions...).

**kal** · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 1:05 am Post subject:

Personally, I wouldn't go with a 1292 even if it was free because of the noise issue. Even hushboxed it's a noisy bastard and completely destroys any audio dynamic range. But that's just me. Everyone has different tolerances. When I owned a NEC XG for while I used to work on it with earplugs in while it was running because the droning noise just got to me.

Kal

emdawgz1 · Joined: 14 Mar 2006 Posts: 7949

The 1292 was designed for a commercial setting. The cooling was deliberately over designed.In the past i have seen several of the fans disabled. This has brought the sound WAYYYYY down. Other than that its a nice pj.

Blorton · Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 105 Location: Hotlanta, GA

Thanks all. I'm an old hand at speccing and replacing cooling fans... once saved my company a lot of money on some network hardware that came with (failing) garbage sleeve bearing fans by swapping in nice ball bearing ones. I expect that once I get one in hand, I should easily be able to make a big difference in the noise levels by retrofitting some of these modern stealth fans that would yield at least as much flow as the factory bits.

I think really, I just need to know that the 1292 platform is worth becoming invested in. The goofy memory settings in the 1272 being carried over are a negative from the "living with it" standpoint and seeing the thread where MP gave up on modding them was a downer.

Anyways - thanks for the sanity check!

Dan

perisoft · Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Posts: 2920 Location: Ithaca, NY

When people say it's dim for a 9"er, are they talking 'still brighter than any 8"er', or 'as bright as any 8"er', or 'this thing makes a dwin look like a 9000 lumen D-ILA'?

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:41 am Post subject:

I have a couple here. I sell them for cheap because the tubes aren't rebuildable and are a bit hard to find. I'll be retubing one soon. I typically sell them for about $2K in really good shape. you can boost the brightness by getting an Extron 202xi with a video gain control, and overdrive the input a bit. That gives the image more punch without smearing.

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 2:50 am Post subject:

I agree. The Ampro 4200 and BArco 1200 that use the same tubes are rated for 1000 lumens. That's why I recommend boosting the input. You wear the tubes faster, but at this point unless you're running them 8+ hours a day, you'll never wear them out.

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 5:45 am Post subject:

Now THAT would be cool to watch!

"Atomic Batteries to power. Turbines to speed"

MYoung · Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Posts: 369 Location: Madison, WI

I snagged a 1292Q for just under $500 a couple of years ago with 6k hours, though the tubes were in excellent condition -- probably R-9, G-9, and B-8. That was back when the University of Wisconsin -- Madison still sold surplus CRT projectors for dirt cheap. I miss those days! Now all they have are crappy ass 10 year old digitals that people overbid on and which will be totaled as soon as the used bulbs burn out. Back to the 1292Q, I remember the guys helping me load it couldn't believe I was going to be setting it up in my house! They must have heard it turned on! Unfortunately, my 1292Q had a bad red CRT neckboard. However, I was able to replace thanks to Graham Johnson and about $100 for a replacement neckboard from him. Talk about sweating bullets swapping it out! I actually bent a bunch of the red tube's cathode pins! I had to bend them back incredibly carefully with needle-nose pliers! Not fun!

I do the seemingly unthinkable with my 1292Q. I run it floor-mounted without a hushbox! Yeah, it has noticeable hum. But my sound system is hardly anything special. You can also increase the signal to noise ratio by increasing the signal -- turn up the volume! In general, you can get used to it, unless you're an audiophile. I do admit, I sometimes miss the times in movies where there should be complete silence. I still might try a hushbox if I get ambicious this summer with my inner shop class hick. I only use my 1292Q setup at night so brightness isn't an issue. I have it setup with a 7' wide, matte-white screen. I think I run contrast at 80 and brightness at 50 and it's plenty bright in a dark room.

The resolution is excellent, as previously mentioned. I run mine with a Lumagen VisionHDP, displaying HD DVDs at 1080p @ 48Hz. The picture is incredible! My 1292Q is a streaker, though. Streaking is especially bad for things like starfields. You'll find that on bright scenes you won't get streaking. It is a bummer that while you eliminate haloing quite well with the LC lenses, you still get streaking. I enjoy the lack of streaking on my Runco IDP-980 in my basement. However, streaking aside, 1080p is awesome! I kinda wish I had held out for a G70 that was going up for auction shortly after the 1292Q I won. Ah well. It's still a sweet projector and can put out some serious eye candy! Maybe I'll post some screenshots of mine -- both eye candy and the ugliness that is streaking.

**kal** · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:31 pm Post subject:

bbfarmht · Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 4:13 pm Post subject:

In the thought of NEC's and the 1292 with the noise, I never thought that fan noise was an issue until I picked up this 6pg xtra. Yes fan noise sucks compared to my barco the NEC sounds like it trying to keep the ceiling up.

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

Blorton,
What is your budget for a new pj? I know this is blaspheous here, but are you set on CRT or are you considering digital as well? I haven't seen a 1272, but I think your only good upgrade options are the 8" LCs or a 9" excluding a 1292. If you didn't already have the 1272, then I would throw in the NEC PGs.

In another thread, you mentioned screen size. Are you using or wanting a 16x9 or 2.35 screen? Going 10 feet wide is possible, but I would go the Torus route. With a Torus, an 8" pj will give you enough light.

Blorton · Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 105 Location: Hotlanta, GA

Well, the 1292 set I was looking at has 7000 hours with little tube wear and would cost almost a grand with shipping. Obviously, I'm passing on it.

The fans and turbulence - I gotcha on that one, I would probably try lower cfm stealth ones then, if I were to be getting one.

Spanky: I don't really have a budget in mind, other than wishing I could get one of these sweet govliq deals. Very Happy

I've been real tempted by the pioneer jvc clone, and have also considered the AE3000, but I can't get comfortable with the whole bulb situation on those. I've actually even considered almost taking a "disposable" approach and getting one of the budget 720p digitals.

There's a heavily modified 808s local to me that I'm planning to go check out - LC and lens upgrades along with board mods, but I'm pretty deadset on getting a 9".

I'm also trying to stay with CRT's so I can game on it as well. I'm real interested in those Nvidia 3d glasses that require 120Hz screen rate, so obviously a higher end set would be the preferred option.

My screen wall is just over 12' wide and under 8' tall. I'd love to do a 12' 2.35, but more realistically will go with a 10' 16.9 if I can. The seats start 16' back from the screen, so I could get away with the high power, but I'd really rather go with something less extreme. I've searched on the Torus option, and am afraid I haven't been very successful. Is that some kind of curvature?

(I've been running the 1272 on an 8' wide screen for years and if I go to a bigger pj without also increasing the screen size, I'm gonna get cranky. lol)

Anyways, thanks all once again for the extremely helpful information.

Dan

Spanky Ham · Joined: 22 Mar 2006 Posts: 5643 Location: Comedy Central

If you try messing with the fans, then you could run into some trouble. I will let others chime in on this.

The govliq deals are becoming more and more scarce. Your real opportunity was the Longbows that Nash won't let anyone forget. You will be looking for awhile for a good deal on a 9" set. The 808 doesn't sound to bad and really any of the good 8" should be able to handle what you want. For the digitals, the JVC clone looks to be a really good deal. I would check one out, first. I wouldn't worry about the bulb, as that is overblown.

On your screen, 10 foot 16x9 is doable. I think you are better off with a Torus, but some don't mind the lower brightness of a 1 gain screen. Do a search at AVS for Torus.

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

Blorton · Joined: 27 Jan 2009 Posts: 105 Location: Hotlanta, GA

These glasses block one eye at a time via a synchronized IR signal, hence the 120Hz requirement. No fatigue or perception issues with with each eye receiving an alternating 60Hz signal.

There's some reviews out on the net for it. It's a very impressive product considering the glasses are just $200 if you already have a 120Hz-capable display and high end Nvidia card.

draganm · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 8990 Location: Colorado