Thinking about H31

[johnsona0]

Hi guys,

New to the forum, lots of great info here!

I have been thinking about buying a HD-RPTV for a little while almost bought a Samsung until I stumbled onto the front projectors. I have been researching the projectors and have been impressed by how cheap they have become.

I kinda like the H31 from all the reviews and info from projector central but since I am still new to front projectors I still am unsure and maybe you guys can help.

My question is that since the H31 is not native HD - will I have a problem when I get a HD receiver for my cable TV? Or should I spend more money, I don't really want to to get a native HD projector?

I am in Edmonton, Canada, is there anywhere close I can actually see one of these in action?

Thanks

[JonMarsh]

Well, you'll have a problem getting an HD image. It will scale and downconvert HD to what is effectively the resolution of anamorhpic DVD, and that will look better than NTSC broadcast TV because of the better color resolution, but it won't be HD.

If you really think HD is in your future while you still have whatever projector you buy next, I'd say hang back, do some more ressearch, and see what you can find that produces a pleasing image at a price you can handle. Think in terms of 1280X720, though. Problem is, DLP in that range is typically $4K or higher. Other possibilities might be a Sony HS51, or Sanyo Z3, for less money.

~Jon

[ktaillon]

Hi Jon,

What are your thoughts about the Sanyo Z2? It is selling almost as cheap as the lower resolution units. Maybe this would be a unit for John to look at.

[mvoorberg]

There was another thread where someone was looking to preview in Edmonton...

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13806

Jon, I think that while the H31 may not do HD natively it may still be a valid entry level FP when budget is considered. I'm not familiar with the H31 myself but run an XGA projector at 100" and am very happy with it especially when I look at my reciepts that total under $2k CDN.
Sure, I'd prefer a nice NEC 10" CRT but given the WAF et al, it's not going to happen.

Cheers,
Mark

[JonMarsh]

There was another thread where someone was looking to preview in Edmonton...

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=13806

Jon, I think that while the H31 may not do HD natively it may still be a valid entry level FP when budget is considered. I'm not familiar with the H31 myself but run an XGA projector at 100" and am very happy with it especially when I look at my reciepts that total under $2k CDN.
Sure, I'd prefer a nice NEC 10" CRT but given the WAF et al, it's not going to happen.

Cheers,
Mark

Oh, I certainly understand that- it just depends on what the optimal tradeoffs are for Mr. Johnson's viewing habits- or yours, if you're considering a similar choice.

I've had a couple of digitals, and worked with some friends to setup 1280X720 and 1368X768 class digitals with HTPC. The Sony's handle downconversion of 1080i to that format quite nicely, for the most part. It's just that if he really wants HD, going with 858X480 is something of a compromise- been there, done that, SONY VPL-400Q, which was 968X480 (not squre pixels) and would downconvert 1080i nicely. The Sony WOULD reproduce the color bandwidth of HD, which is 1/2 the luminance resolution. But there's a big cut in vertical resolution.

It just depends on which aspect of tradeoffs works best for someone- I'm not trying to make a "firm" recommendation, just suggesting things to check out.

For under $2K, I went with my 9PG+ - actually it was 1600. But it does NOT have WAF, in many/most cases, and they're difficult to find- not as hard as 10PGS, though. For me, that was the right trade-off. For someone else, it might be a DLP, LCD, or LCOS. There's a lot of discussion here and on other forums regarding the trade-offs in image quality in all those technologies, so we don't have to re-hash that here. It's best that either of you view examples of any technology you're considering before making the purchase decision. Look at them with real HD as well as scaled up DVD. Look at them with low light material and black and white stuff, too, to help identify potential issues that might bother you later.

In digital's, I'm partial to LCOS, and am pretty close to having talked my manager into Canon LCOS portable for our group biz presentations. (it's a light cannon, and 1400X1050, matching the newer notebook resolutions). It doesn't have rainbows, and there's no temporal dithering or VB. In the case of the Canon, contrast ratio isn't quite up to HT standards, but that's not what we're going to use it for.

I've run XGA in the past, and was fairly happy with it. ThomasW runs XGA on his NEC XG, with a Faroudja NRS, until I also set it up for HD at 1080i through his NEC switcher.

My problem which sort of dictates what I'm willing to do in compromises is that I sit relatively close in relation to screen width- so close that pixels on a 1280X720 projector are quite visible to my corrected 20/15 vision. Of course, I could just take my glasses off....

Most people use more sensible viewing distances.

Are you using HD widescreen through your XGA setup? What's your viewing distance in proportion to screen width?

~Hib

[mvoorberg]

About 90% of what I watch is widescreen DVD's upscaled by a DV318, I'm sitting at about 1.3 times screen width. The width of my screen was pretty much dictated by the width of the inset entertainent unit built into my wall and the back wall being so close.
If I were shopping for another PJ I'd be looking for something that had a 16:9 aspect ratio and preferably a minimum of 1280x720. I'd probably run into some issues finding something that could do 80" wide from under 10 feet back.

The 9PG for ~$1600 would have been a sweet deal, but with a 1 year old in the house, who has time for the tinkering that would be required to keep it in line?

[JonMarsh]

Yes, it's a bit different, having a 21 year old than a 1 year old.

OTOH, the only time I've tweaked my NEC9PG+ since installation was when I switched from the Zenith DVB318 with KD transcoder to an Oppo DV971 and Dtronics DVI-D to VGA converter, and the sync timing was slightly different, necessitating setting up another input registration and tweaking the static alignment and convergence slightly (that was December). Haven't needed to touch it since.

The key to stability in CRT setup is doing a good mechanical setup for the throw distance, and not working the electronics too hard to compensate for NOT having done a good mechanical setup. Then, the adjustments are quite stable- I hadn't touched my 9PG with the Zenith since the original installation.

I'm not sure, but I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding something that will do 80" wide at 10 feet in a digital- these days, most of them have pretty short throw lenses, as well as zoom. I think an HS51 would do that, for example.

Good luck with your hunt when you're ready to upgrade.

~Jon

[ausmatt]

in australia we get the h27 (virtually the same as the h31) and its a sensational projector, i'd by one over a hd lcd any day, and it will down scale 1080i and 720p without a problem.
Don't get hung up about rainbow either, if you don't see , don't worry about it.

[sfdoddsy]

I also have an H31, bought in the US but used in Australia. I think it is the best of the cheap projectors, but I am biased towards DLP because of the black levels. I don't have HDTV, but have played HD clips through it with very nice results. I'd trade the better blacks and contrast against the better resolution of the Z2 any day.

Steve