CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[Curt Palme]

I have a customer that will most likely be buying several video projectors for an industrial type application sometime this summer from me. I believe that the source will be a non HD source, upconverted to RGBHV via a scaler. The customer has specified the Extron 304 scaler, that I have no experience with.

Zaphod, I know you spent big $$ on an Extron scaler, was it the 304?

I am getting a pile of Runco/NEC/? brand scalers in with the lot of projectors I'm buying in Seattle, that were designed for use with the Runco 943/847 (Barco 708 and Cine 7) projectors. Are the Runco scalers on par with the Extron 304 as to SD picture quality, or should the customer be looking at something like the DVDO VP30/50/Lumagen products?

I don't have all of the source details, but let's assume a video or Svideo or 480i component source for now.

I'm linking the customer to this thread...

Thanks!

[Curt Palme]

I have a customer that will most likely be buying several video projectors for an industrial type application sometime this summer from me. I believe that the source will be a non HD source, upconverted to RGBHV via a scaler. The customer has specified the Extron 304 scaler, that I have no experience with.

Zaphod, I know you spent big $$ on an Extron scaler, was it the 304?

I am getting a pile of Runco/NEC/? brand scalers in with the lot of projectors I'm buying in Seattle, that were designed for use with the Runco 943/847 (Barco 708 and Cine 7) projectors. Are the Runco scalers on par with the Extron 304 as to SD picture quality, or should the customer be looking at something like the DVDO VP30/50/Lumagen products?

I don't have all of the source details, but let's assume a video or Svideo or 480i component source for now.

I'm linking the customer to this thread...

Thanks!

[zaphod]

yep, i have a 304, used it for a couple of years until i closed down the room - plan to use it again i like the extron stuff particularily the video only as i keep my vid and audio chain separate.


easy to set up, menu driven on the front panel, or on screen or if you hook it up the your network, it has a built in we server that lets you upgrade the firmware and change setting and so on. has an IR remote, but i use my harmony.

my model is EOA, but they have an upgraded version of the 304 that is digital friendly. there was an SDI card for the 304 but bluray came out before i got around to putting SDI on my panny RP82.

some people claim that extrons have ringing, i never saw it.

inputs
1 composite
2 S-video
3 Svideo/component
4 RGB/composite/component/RGB scaled/RGB passthrough

two outputs (twinned) one is 5 BNC and the other is VGA style.

i hooked up some old composite inputs (via another extron switcher) to 1, the laserdisc to 2 and i ran 4 as passthrough from an HDFury.

supports a bunch resolutions, latest firmware added 1080p24 best 96Hz is 768p

other than running really hot, it is robust and built like a tank. i really like it. but i like all extron gear. i drank the koolaid.


i've never seen the Runco, but since i'm not useing the extron i could swing it by and we could do a comparison of the two. i did look long and hard at Cliffy's VP50 but researched out that they have very very similar picture quality the one advantage of the VP50 is blanking. yep no front/back porch adjustments on the 304. oh well.