Studio Experience Cinema 20HD mini-review

[Kevin P]

I had the opportunity to test out a Studio Experience Cinema 20HD LCD front projector last night. Here I will post my impressions after playing with it for a few hours. It will be installed in the owner's home this weekend.



Set-up was a cinch. I connected my Sony DVP-S9000ES DVD player to the component inputs and my JVC 3800 S-VHS VCR up as a cable TV source, via S-video. The PJ has three inputs. Input 1 is DVI or VGA only; input 2 is component or RGB video via BNC connectors; input 3 is selectable composite, S-video, or component via RCA connectors. Since I didn't have any BNC adapters I connected both my sources to input 3, and switched between them from within the projector's menu. I would like to have seen more inputs available, such as separate selectable composite, S-video, and component inputs.

(Shameless plug: that component video cable is a CatCables Tigress )



Since I only have the PJ for a couple days, I just set it on my coffee table and hung a bed sheet from the ceiling to act as a screen. Once powered up, there is a ton of setup options available. The usual setup options are there, including floor/ceiling mount, front/rear projection, motorized focus and zoom, and a cool lens shift feature that allows you to shift the entire image up and down to align the image with the screen without having to tilt the projector. This minimizes the need for digital keystone adjustments, which of course are also available.

When feeding standard home-theater type signals to the PJ, all the usual calibration settings are available, including color temperature, contrast, brightness, sharpness (looks best if turned down all the way), color, tint, and various "automatic adjustment" features. Computer resolutions up to 1024x768 are available. Four aspect ratio options exist: normal (4:3), full (16:9 anamorphic), zoom, and wide zoom (used for non-anamorphic letterboxed DVDs and LDs). A digital zoom is available for computer or DVI signals.

So, how does the projector look? I have to say this is one of the best looking LCD projectors I've seen. I'm not a big fan of LCD, as they don't have the black levels I like. The 20HD won't compete with a top end DLP or a CRT, but it holds its own. This is one of the brightest consumer LCD projectors available, offering 2200 (max) ANSI lumens, which is important if you'll be watching in a lit room. I watched cable TV with the lights up in the room and it was very watchable. I wouldn't watch it in a sunlit room, but close the drapes and the PJ will still be fine for non-critical viewing. Save the movies for nighttime in a darkened room, for the best impact. There is a slight amount of ringing or edge enhancement visible in the AVIA Sharpness pattern even with the sharpness turned down. The "low" color temperature looked pretty close to 6500K to my eyes, but then I don't have a colorimeter to determine how close it really is. All the color temperatures are tweakable from the user menus, so ISF calibration of the projector shouldn't be too difficult.

Here's a shot from Toy Story 2. The distortions and creases in the picture are because I used a bed sheet for a screen.



The projector did a good job of deinterlacing even analog cable TV. It looked better than my 46" Mitsubishi HDTV looks on cable.



A shot with the lights up. This projector is bright!



No pixels or "screen door" was visible from a normal viewing position. The only other flaw I saw was a slight purplish tint at the very bottom left of the screen, about an inch high; perhaps something was blocking part of the green LCD panel. A blotch was slightly visible on black or dark scenes, probably due to dust in the optical path. This is probably easy to fix if you're daring enough to open up the projector. Chances are a non-critical viewer won't even notice these flaws.

In summary, the 20HD is a great projector for those who need FP in a room that doesn't have total light control, someone who wants to project their PC onto a big screen, or for someone who wants a flexible projector for non-critical viewing. More critical viewers will likely be happier with a newer DLP or CRT projector.

KJP




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[Brandon B]

Couple of corrections:

input 2 is component or RGB video via BNC connectors

Input 2 will also accept composite on the first BNC.

2000 lumens

It's 2200 maxed out. Obviously less when calibrated.

I have one of these (one of the first shipped). As you say, if you have light issues, this is the way to go. My HT area cannot (realistically) be light controlled during the day. The Hitachi or the Sharp would be smoother, but even under light controlled conditions, this PJ does have the advantage of punch. Sunny outdoor scenes look SUNNY.

The blobs you are seeing are almost certainly dust. After 6 hours on mine, I had a red dust blob. At 10 I had a big green one. Eveentually I ended up with about 7 really noticeable ones, 1 even through the image. At that point I opened it up and cleaned it. After maybe 6 more hours I am back to 4 new blobs. 2 almost unnoticeable, 1 so-so and one that is irritating the crap out of me. This is the one MAJOR flaw of this unit in my opinion. The almost immediate return of these blobs confirmed my feeling that it would be a bad idea to return the unit to SE for cleaning, since it would not permanently solve the problem, and subject to the PJ to possible shipping damage.

BB

[Kevin P]

How easy is it to open and clean? If it's not too difficult I might do it before we deliver it.

2000... 2200, close enough. I don't have the manual or specs in front of me.

Have you tried doing Pronto macros for it? Particularly discrete on/off macros? I know you have to hit power twice to turn it off, so hitting it once would guarantee it's on, but will sending power twice when it's off cause it to stay off or power on then off? Or will it turn on and warm up? I'll be doing the Pronto tonight.

KJP




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[George Bellefontaine]

Nice review, Kevin. The 20HD is the same PJ as the Sanyo PLV 70 and the dust problem is a big issue with both. Too bad, because from what I have read in comparison to other makes, The Sanyo and SE lcd projectors are rated the best. What these projectors need is a sealed light path. I have read where owners are having to clean these things weekly and sometime more often than that. That would be a real pain for anyone who has these ceiling mounted.




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[Brandon B]

I am a pronto-less sort, so I can't help you there. If it is off, and you hit power twice, it will come on, then put a message on screen at the second power-on signal asking you to push again to confirm. This message will go away shortly after that if nothing is done.

It's not a big deal to open up. 4 screws on the sides, 2 on top, 1 on the back and 2 on the bottom front. LCD panels are right there in the middle to be blown or puffed clean. Problem is, if you turn it on when open, it overheats pretty quick as your airflow path is not contained.

So you have to clean it (you think), close it, turn it on and check if you're blobless, if not, then rinse lather repeat etc.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I've emailed SE about this to see if there was any truth to a rumor that Sanyo is figuring a fix for this.

BB

PS If you want a really good laugh, pull the filters out and look at them. If you want to give everyone else a good laugh, post a picture of them.

PPS L.A. sucks. It is in the 80's here this week. In NH and Canada you all probably think that sounds like whining, but I hate sunshine and warmth (constantly). If I could get a decent paying job in New England, I'd be out of here in a week. I used to spend my summers at Ossipee lake in NH when I was a kid.

Guess we'll cook the turkey by setting it outside on the sidewalk.
8)

[Kevin P]

I am a pronto-less sort, so I can't help you there. If it is off, and you hit power twice, it will come on, then put a message on screen at the second power-on signal asking you to push again to confirm. This message will go away shortly after that if nothing is done.

Maybe sending three power toggles will do the trick. If on, the 1st toggle will throw the prompt. 2nd toggle will turn off the PJ. 3rd toggle will hopefully be ignored since it'll be in the cooling cycle. If off, it'll go on, throw the prompt, then turn off. I'll try that tonight.

It's not a big deal to open up. 4 screws on the sides, 2 on top, 1 on the back and 2 on the bottom front. LCD panels are right there in the middle to be blown or puffed clean.

Maybe I'll try that tonight. I have a puffy thing for cleaning lenses which will probably do the trick. A can of compressed air will probably do even better.

PS If you want a really good laugh, pull the filters out and look at them. If you want to give everyone else a good laugh, post a picture of them.

Why, are they ineffective? Are better filters available, or would they constrain the airflow and make it overheat?

PPS L.A. sucks. It is in the 80's here this week. In NH and Canada you all probably think that sounds like whining, but I hate sunshine and warmth (constantly). If I could get a decent paying job in New England, I'd be out of here in a week. I used to spend my summers at Ossipee lake in NH when I was a kid.

I wouldn't want to live in LA, but I wouldn't mind 80 degree weather right about now. I hate the cold, and November is always lousy. And the job market sux too. That's why this projector is going in someone else's home theater and not mine. :roll:




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[Brandon B]

Oh, I'd say ineffective is about right. Picture some thick white threads on a 3/16" grid, with a mat of hair from someone's shower drain stuck on it. I guess LARGE ants might hav trouble crawling through it.

Yes, I think just substituting a denser medium into the existnig filter frame may restrict airflow, so I am planning on adding a filter housign to the outside with denser media but much more surface area.

Your customer's first (or your last) action should be to remove these filters and blow them both ways to get any and all dust out of them prior to running the thing. Also clean the LCD panels (there are some good threads describing this on AVS, as well as a very helpful thread by someon named Bobbo or some such where he has indexed ALL the threads pertaining to the PLV70).

THe stop gap measure some others have taken is to take a large piece of air register filter medium available from home depot (sort of a slick polyethylene open cell foam availabel in small sheets for a couple of bucks) and tape a large piece of it over the filter inlets with the material puckered way out in the middle to increase surface area.

If you have any other questions you'd like to ask me about this thing before you ship it off, I'll PM you my phone number.

BB

PS I could not have afforded one either if Disney had not shipped me off to Japan for 2 years and given me a whopping cost of living increase for the duration. And married a very nice girl who appreciates HT. You'll probably be able to buy something that toasts it for $2k in a year or 2 anyway.

[Kevin P]

I did some more playing around with the projector tonight. I did open it up and did some huffing and puffing and cleaning and I got rid of the green blob, and now it's clean other than a couple very small blue blobs, but I'm not going to worry about those for now. A can of air would be a big help in cleaning dust out of those little crevices.

I also got a Pronto macro to shut the projector off. I had to do a power toggle, 6 second pause, power toggle, 2 more seconds then one last power toggle, to ensure that the projector shuts off even if it was just turned on. This isn't all that good for the bulb so I just put it in the off macro on the Pronto. Of course, turning it on is easy, just send the power toggle once.

I discovered that you can't change inputs during the warm-up cycle. Since I don't want to put a 30 second delay in the macro I'll add an intermediate panel that will basically read "press this when the projector is finished warming up", and then it'll do the input selection and go to the appropriate panel for whatever they're watching (cable, DVD, VCR, etc.).

KJP




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