CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Yaphet]

Hey everyone.
I just found a Electrohome Marquee 8500 with great tubes for $500 so of course i snatched it up!
The projector I have now is a NEC XG 75. Its a great CRT but has ben acting up lately. Anyways I'm planing on setting the 8500 up in a day or two and wanted to know what the easyest way to set up a 16.9 aspect ratio. The screen is 145" and I'm trying to do 1080p. I would be grateful for any tips and help, thanks.

[Tim in Phoenix]

Hello



Advise you read Tips 1, 3, 5, 9, and 10: http://www.etechvideo.com/techtips.htm You will need a soldering iron and some 56k resistors.


.

[draganm]

[cmjohnson]

Is the 145" screen measurement the diagonal size or the width?


Either way, it's STILL too much for even a single 9" machine if you want acceptable brightness.

A 120" diagonal screen at 4:3 is the limit for a quality picture. That's 107" diagonal at 16:9. Either way, this
screen is 96 inches wide.

1080p is not impossible for an 8500 but it would have to be heavily modified and have healthy, low hours tubes,
or better yet, higher res tubes than the 180DMBs, with HD-145 lenses, better focus yokes, and mods to the neck,
VIM, and focus cards.

1080i and 720p, no problem. But 1080p is only going to be fully resolved by an 8500 if it has the best mods.


CJ

[rssimm]

[cmjohnson]

P16LNQ series tubes have a smaller spot size than standard 180DMBs. IF you can get them. Be aware, they have G2 on pin 6, not pin 2.

If I were out to hot-rod an 8500 to the max, I would first attempt to try to find a set of LNQs.

Also, Lexel Imaging (a VDC subsidiary) makes high resolution substitutes for the 180DMB series as well as a high resolution
substitute for the P19LCP and LUG tubes (Yes, higher res than LUGs) IF you are willing to pay the price. The 8" high res
version comes standard in the VDC Marqee 8500HR (High Resolution) which was developed recently by VDC. Tse
can tell you about them. It's an 8" machine that resolves 2048x2048 in an otherwise dead stock (new production)
Marquee 8500 chassis...with HD-145 lenses, that is.

Incidentally, the experiments I performed a few years ago that led to the creation of the first FrankenYokes led me
to believe that 1080p is beyond the ability of the HD-8B lenses to fully resolve. In my opinion, HD-145s and Joust
adapter plates are one thing that is necessary in order to get full HD out of any Marquee 8500. And you might as well
get the color corrected version of the lenses.





CJ

[rssimm]

Thanks CJ i'm fully intending to get 144/145s and joust adapters as the budget allows.

for the OP first will be a hd source after the squeeze mod. that is what i'm going to do hopefully in the next week or so. even at 480i and a temporary magnetic focus it looks good, not great but good. set it up and don't look back, you'll love it

[cmjohnson]

Incidentally, I just listed a set of color corrected HD-144s in the buy/sell forum. It's the only set I've ever had.


CJ

[LOTREE]

[Sparky015]

Going through the heavily modded route of my 8500, I would highly encourage you to get the 144/145s if you do the vertical squeeze mod for 16:9. Focus will be poor outside the 4:3 window as the HD8s weren't designed for widescreen. Besides working with Mike on his latest VIM Mod, that's probably one of the best bang for the performance increase I've done. I would also encourage you to go through the Marquee Maintenance Thread and make sure your machine is back to stable, or "healthy" as another member put it. I have stock tubes with low hours, and they give a great picture with the right mods and lenses. It's all in the cash your willing to spend! I've had mine for nearly a year now, and it has yet to leave my shop for the theatre yet. Too many mods, too little time! Good luck!