projector choices

[drewnkc]

I just found an Infocus LP130 at an auction and have been slowly piecing my home theater together. I'm thinking of mounting the LP130 but have heard it is not the best choice for a HT projector. Any suggestions? I could probably sell this on ebay for the price of another used projector, but thought I would give this a try.

Am I stupid using this?

thanks for the help, folks.

[George Bellefontaine]

Sorry, Drew, I am not familiar with that particular model. Perhaps someone else will chime in here. Jon or Dean ?




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[JonMarsh]

The LP130 is a compact (3 lb.) DLP XGA model designed for portable work, built for business projection. On the plus side, it does have a variety of video input capability, including 720P and 1808i HDTV, using downscaling. On the downside, it's designed for brightness in a small package, using a business oriented color wheel with a clear section to improve brightness, and so color fidelity, contrast ratio, and freedom from "rainbows" on moving video take a back seat to light output and compact size.

At the right price, this is a nice way to get started, provided you and your loved ones not susceptible to rainbows from single chip DLP's. Some folks see them occasionally, and are not bothered; others get headaches. Only way to tell is by viewing. I'm in the "susceptible" or sensitive category, so excepting the 5 and 6X color wheel high end models, DLP isn't for me.

Things to look out for are hours on the bulb, dust in the optics, etc. If the optics are clean, and the price is right, shelling out $300-400 for a replacement bulb is reasonable. UHP's do tend to keep their brightness and color fidelity until they go, but sometimes when they go, they explode, so if the time counter shows it's past the normal working life of the bulb, replace it.

Best regards,

Jon




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[Wireless]

One tweak that can improve contrast, reduce absolute black level, and increase color saturation is to turn off the clear(white) section in the menu, if possible, and color in the segment on the wheel using a Testor silver paint marker.




John
My HT Picts

[Brandon B]

and color in the segment on the wheel using a Testor silver paint marker.

Do you know someone who's done this? I would be concerned as these wheels spin very fast and are precision balanced, and this could very easily put them out of whack or shorten their lifetime.

BB

[drewnkc]

Thanks for the info Jon. I think I will give it a chance, for nothing else but to see how I like the idea of the front projection. I am a little worried about the noise but we'll see.

I agree with you BB. I won't be cracking this thing open and painting anything. but it sounds interesting.

Thanks again, everyone.

drew

[Wireless]

Brandon,

Not on that particular model as I'm not sure there is a menu cut off for the white segment. I've done it on an LT150 DLP, as have several business DLP adapters. It is a very simple tweak, just takes a steady hand. The amount of mass added by that small amount of paint is insignificant and will not affect the color wheel balance. The modification can vastly improve the image. There are pros who will do it, such as Thumper (handle on AVS) but you spend at least $300 for something that takes you 5 minutes.




John
My HT Picts