CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

lonnyww · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 3

I've had my NEC 9PG on the ceiling for nearly ten years now. I bought two of them at a university surplus back in 2002 and then sold one and broke even. Now that same university has some XG 75/85 projectors and I'm wondering that if one of them checks out, should I replace my 9PG? I've read about the ACAT convergence on the XGs, which sounds great if I understand it correctly. Match up 13 crosshairs and then push a button and it does the rest? The specs between the 9PG and the XG85 are very similar, again - if I understand them correctly, so I don't know if it is a worthwhile upgrade. I'm hoping to start running Blu-ray and AppleTV at 720p in the near future, if that makes a difference.

Someone help me out here, please.

**kal** · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:41 pm Post subject:

Topic moved to CRT projectors forum.

Kal

ecrabb · Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:52 pm Post subject:

All the NEC guys talk about how great of a projector the 9PG was/is. So, unless the XG is LC (then only the 135/1350, right?), I don't think it's probably much of an upgrade, if not a bit of a downgrade. I think your 9PG is easily able to handle 720p or 1080i from AppleTV or Blu-ray.

That said, considering how old CRT projectors are and how few people are interested in them anymore, you could probably pick one up for $100 and flip it for what you paid for it on cragislist if you wanted. Then, you could play with it and see what you think.

SC

lonnyww · Joined: 11 Dec 2010 Posts: 3

It's funny you say that - the XGs I was going to look at are $100 each. They are 75s and 85s, so it sounds like I'll skip it and keep the old 9 on the ceiling.

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

I'd say switch, but ONLY if you can get an XG852. Please note, ONLY a "2" series, with unblemished tubes, untouched magnetics, and perfect color, ie., no messed with color controls, which should be fairly easily evident if you can see them running any video...

The reason I'd say the 852 is the only one I'd take is precisely because of the MCAT option which provides trouble free convergence.

Some XG's can do 1080 HD resolutions, some can't, I've seen more XG's that can't, so be prepared to add a scaler so you have control of the porches of your HD sources if you do get an XG...or switch to 720p.

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

I had an XG852, but I don't think it had MCAT. (It's been years.) It's a very fine projector, but it is a noisy beast. Noisier than the PG from what I understand.

The crucial thing is for the tubes to be pristine, and for the internal adjustments (pots = potentiometers, "dials" inside the projector) to have been unmolested. If somebody tweaks with those, it can totally mess up the projector to the point where almost no one can fix it.

gjaky · Joined: 05 Jun 2010 Posts: 2802 Location: Budapest, Hungary

If they are 100$ then buy one and compare by yourself. Only the lenses worth ~100$ (if they are HD145s) so if you don't like I think you can easily get rid of that. On other hand, you said that the 9PG is nearly ten years on the ceiling, maybe the XG has lower overall hour count (or better tube shape)

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 3:12 pm Post subject:

Mr. Green · Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 6:50 pm Post subject:

I have a 9PG+ and 1080i looks really good. If you are close enough, you can see scan lines, but it wasn't a huge bother to me.

Borrow (or rent?) a PS3 and some games/ movies. Set it to 1080i and see what you've been missing on your PG. I haven't viewed an XG myself so I can't help you there, but if you haven't moved to a higher res on the PG you're about to fall in love with it again.

I'd be torn, for $300 you can get the PS3 slim, or everyone on here goes on about the Oppo BR players for cheap instead of buying more projectors... Still for $100, I'd consider grabbing a few and make 1 nice projector (not to mention spare boards/tubes come in handy with these old beasts). I think I've read that the PG is way more stable than XG's for failures, but at 15+ yrs old your PG could start having random failures too. You could also sell a couple sets of the lenses and you're off! Heck you could stack if you wanted to.

I personally would like to hear what you think after comparing the PG and XG at 1080i (I never tried 720p myself). I'm surprised Mark hasn't chimed in. He's run load of NEC's and should have some good advice.

Hope that helps.

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

Is there an MCAT for the XG1100? or can one be used? I doubt Ill get one ever but Im just curious Smile

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

Also, aside from the G70/G90, and Marquees with the sleek piano gloss plastics, the XG is one of the few projectors that has an "attractve" design to it, by that I mean, it looks modern vs the PG which looks like an antique Razz

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

**Curt Palme** · Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2010 5:34 pm Post subject:

The ACAT used an external camera. I've got one here somewhere, buried. I've never tried it.

\The MCAT was simply a calculation of 8 (?) points of convergence that you set manually, then the projector would set all points inbetween. Kinda cool, but better if you did the whole setup yourself.

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

Curt, I'd disagree with you about the MCAT. Personally, I found it did at least as good a job as I could do on my own, it would often need to be run a couple of times, but MCAT worked perfectly, the result was as good as I could do manually, at least. It works better than ANY of the camera based auto convergences that I've used, including ACON and the IRIS3 on my current projector(which is by far the WORST auto convergence out there...).

The ACAT from previous NEC generations not only needed a camera, but a dedicated PC running the NEC control software too, didn't it ? I think, it was my understanding that ACAT was always a bit of an abortion that NEC never fully developed, unlike MCAT which was completely self contained and worked*(in my experience) really, really well.

Jeremy112 · Joined: 28 Sep 2006 Posts: 2649 Location: Fond du Lac, WI

So an MCAT could not be removed from a 1352 and installed in an 1100? Damn..

Elaine Benes · Joined: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 1416

Mark_A_W · Posted: Fri Dec 17, 2010 8:11 am Post subject:

I wouldn't go through the bother of swapping a PG for an AC XG. The image is basically the same, only a touch better.

I would only consider it if the tubes are better.

Anyway, take it with a grain of salt, as I don't think 8" CRTs are worth the bother any more, the digital are so much better now.

hansilili · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 302 Location: Köln, Germany