CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[dvh99]

[donaldk]

[donaldk]

[Mr. Green]

Well, I can't remember which Epson it was (1080p - 8200 or something), but I put it up against my NEC 9PG+. The Epson within 5 minutes was sharper and brighter, but (IMHO) the image wasn't as film like (probably because it was razor sharp and since we weren't using too much CGI for reference, it seemed fake).

Having said that, my Marquee 9501lc is way better than the PG+. I think the pg+ was probably able to be sharper with the colored lenses it had, but the picture quality (especially the scanlines at 1080i on the PG+ vs. 1080p & no scanlines on the 9501) makes a huge difference. You are talking entry level CRT vs. top end. I did the jump from barely medium to high end CRT and the difference is staggering (not to mention the marquee is 25 times easier to set up than the nec). I'd also like to mention that the friend with that digital has changed bulbs once in the 2 yrs he's had it and bulb # 2 is already noticably more dim after 590 hrs. He still says he couldn't take the time I did to set up and maintain a CRT, but he's pretty annoyed with his bulbs.

Honestly, New, out of box digitals are close if not on par for the most part with decent CRT from the ones I've seen, which has been quite a few.

You simply need to decide if you want your projector to be a hobby or "plug-n-play". If you are tired of tweaking, go digital.

My personal opinion is if you got the marquee, you'll have a projector that will make you happy until digitals- either LED or Laser that will last as long as CRT are the norm and have a reasonable lifespan. I personally wouldn't bother with a bulb digital. 2 of 3 people I know with $2000-$3000 digitals are thinking about the next upgrade after only 2 years. IMHO- That is a waste of $$. I'd rather tweak a marquee and get 5-10 yrs out of it myself. Having said that every time (like right now) when it breaks down, I wish it wasn't as high maintenance... then it gets fixed and the world is right again.

It's a tough call that only you can make in the end. I still think digital needs a few more years to perfect itself. I'd try to talk the marquee guy down. If you decide to go digital, PM Dave (Dturco) the sellers info. He looks like he wants to play with a blender.

PS: Another few final notes, I find spending that kind of money on something that is disposable (either impossible, hard or expensive to repair) a waste of $$. The marquee (with exception of tubes) can be repaired for a couple hundred $$. Curt has parts to swap or can fix yours and return it (or less $ if you have the bean bag to try repairs yourself as many on this forum do). Try that with a current digital. I do feel that once they replace bulbs with something less hot and longer lived, CRT will really be only for the true die-hard extremists. I personally think were still 3-5 years off having a digital that will draw all but the most serious CRT-ers. If you are willing to put some work into a CRT you'll have a sense of pride that you can't get from plug-n-play digitals. It might not be the sharpest or brightest, but I still wow people with the old beast, especially anything like the BR - LOTR that has great cinematics. When the picture goes dark, so does the room... sorry, I WAS trying to be neutral and as far as maintenance/setup I am, but I still haven't found a sub $5k CDN digital that I'd be willing to take my marquee down for. If it has a bulb, I'm not biting.

Hope that helps.

[WanMan]

[donaldk]

AT the lower end the long lifetime has already arrived, with the LG HS201 nd its replacement the HX300 LED units.

[TheVerge]

[donaldk]

Yes, I did catch that busted led posts in one of the LG LED threads over at AVS, his problem was lacking/delayed local availability drove him to order from Asia, so LG USA wouldn't honor any warranty, and the thing was too cheap for him to ship it back and forth.

The Casio Hybrids on the other hand offer 3 year warranties (or 6000 hours), so that's a plus.

BTW, the LEDs themselves are generally specced up to 100,000 hours (for the PT 120/120, don't care too re-check the PT-54 spec), so half the 30K spec for the hs201 should be attainable, the 300 drives the same LEDs harder, so its spec is limited to 20K hours. 10-15K hours still should provide comparitavely good value, as even a 300$/€ budget LCD projector plus one lamp would be as or more expensive.

If you wan't something that doesn't draw too much power because the kids leave it on all day, or are drilled to switch off lights and TVs when they leave the room, you want to look into an LED, as that way you don't burn bulbs like crazy. If you want a good 1080P image for limited money, for HT use, get the Epson TW2900, while it lasts, it has been clearing for under €900, for a while now, but the 3200 is still not available locally (most likely exactly the same machine as the upcoming 3600, except considerably cheaper, as was the 2900 to the 3500, as the 3600 measured the same as the 2900). The US/Canadian version, 8350, is well received over at AVS.

[skypuppy]

On the crt's, have the <censored> <censored> <censored> channel bugs caused any <censored> burn-ins?

[benareeno]

pure image quality is a wash...digital does some things better, and some things worse.

Practicality is so far tilted in favor of the digital, that's it's not even a debate.

[TheVerge]

[Nashou66]

Not picking on any one but who ever thinks eventually digital chassis will ever last as long as a CRT's chassis is not understanding the new business model of these large consumer companies. They purposely make their products to fail after a certain length of time. This way those who missed out on the latest greatest by a month because they just bought their new tv can get the latest greatest when thier current one fails. Before it was after 15 years or so, now this cycle happens every 3-5 years.

I like things to last. And now the saying you get what you pay for no longer has any merit in CE.

So i'll pay for a re tube before a new Digital is in my theater. Well, that could be a long time considering all the spares i have I might be dead before then

Athanasios

[Spanky Ham]

I hope VDC doesn't make their digitals to fail after a certain period of time.