CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[mike calcott]

:My sony 1251/71 uses pt65 lenses, where do they stand in the lens ratings?

[Sonynut]

They and the PT-43 from the 1270 models are the best you can get without shelling out $$$ for the HD-144 or 145 lenses PLUS adapters.

[mike calcott]

Is the difference with HD144/5s marginally better or exceptionally better

[Sonynut]

Opinions vary on that one.. You won't need the color corrected ones, as the glycol already is tinted in the 12xx. The focus is tighter on the Hd-144/145, though. I have never bothered to spen the 400-500 extra bucks for a set plus adapters, so I have no personal experience. There are those out there that say at 1080i/720p the difference is amazing, and those who say that at 1080i, the scanlines become annoyingly visible, and at 720p it does not matter since the tubes resolve the resolution softly anyhow.

It all boils down to how much you want to spend modding an inexpensive machine.

[mike calcott]

In Australia there are not many upgrade options available (higher grade PJs) a couple of years ago it was different but the supply seems to have run dry. I used to buy 6/8 12XX units at a time when the university's were clearing out CRT's in favour of LCD projectors, but now there is next to nothing available. Making what you have got the best it can be seems to be the the only option as I cannot afford the $10,000 price asked for the occasional G90, this is why I am trying to squeeze the last bit out of my 12XX, so any improvement suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

[Zebu Fellenz]

My advice would be to not get the lenses but instead to sell your 12xx and put the money towards finding an 8" EM machine.

I don't think you would see much of an improvement with the HD-144 145 lenses.

[NewbieDAN]

[ecrabb]

Plus, consider the consequences of going to a sharper machine (or making your own sharper). My 1271 throws a beautiful picture with a 1080i source like HD DVD, Blu-ray or OTA/satellite. Really beautiful. A surprising benefit of the softer image is a totally artifact-free image. It's true that the machine is probably only resolving something closer to 960x540, but the image looks higher resolution than that. You're not distracted by anything at all in the image that isn't supposed to be there. Save for the lack of sharpness, it's probably as close to 35mm film as you can get.

Dan's really right. Focus on making your sources and signal paths the best that you can make them, and then start saving up for an XG or a G70.

To be really honest, I actually have a little bit of a concern about my switch to my new G70. With the 1271, I love the picture, but I had the nagging 'upgradeitis' to get a better, sharper machine. In my testing with the G70, I'm a little worried that I'm going to love how sharp the picture is, but I'm going to have run a dam scaler to at least go to 1080p with my 1080i sources. The 1080i scan lines were really noticeable - and distracting. I sit at about 1.2x screen widths, though so it might be an issue for me where it might not be for some others.

Finally, a set of clear HD144/145's and a set of adapters are probably going to run you close to $500. That's as much or more than a 12xx is worth, and 1/4-1/3 of an 8" machine (even 1/2 of some!).

Food for thought.

SC

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]

[ecrabb]

I wanted to try it, too - I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Too much money given what some nice 8" machines are going for. There was a G70 on AVS for awhile for about a grand that sat and sat. Given that, how can you spend $500 on a set of lenses and adapters?

I'm not saying it's a stupid idea or anything - I have a feeling it work well - I just don't see how anybody can justify the cost.

SC

[AnalogRocks]

[AnalogRocks]