My Black Pearl Adventure (Sony VW60)

[bhampton]

Hi,

For the last 10 years I've been enjoying CRT based front projection and a few weeks ago now I installed my first digital projector the Sony VW60 or Black Pearl.

Digital projection is completely new to me and I'm surprised by how much there is to learn. I thought they were plug and play to a much larger extent than they really are.

I have about 70 hours on the bulb now and took my first shot at calibration with my color meter. I didn't get it perfect but I was happy with how tune-able it was.

I need to redo the ceiling mount (I'm still using my DIY mount from my CRT FP but I have a custom pj mount for the VW60 that I want to use.) And I also want to re-build my DIY screen. (My current screen it too reflective and the texture of the screen can be seen in brighter scenes.) But,... I am ready to take some screen shots and share them soon.

Every type of display tech has it's own strengths and CRT was certainly better in regards to absolute black level. The VW60 does come out ahead in a lot of other areas though.

I'm loving the experience so far. I can play PS3 games with no thoughts of "burn in" and also watch some network HDTV with no worries about station logos burning in. It also doesn't take half and hour to warm up.

-Brian

[doctorD]

I'm so glad to hear that your Black Pearl finally came from that online retailer. I'm looking forward to seeing your posted pictures. Would you recommend this retailer?

[ryoohki]

You can always tell you this. Even in a theater, black level is never great. It's always dark gray. I never saw a theater with Kuro Plasma Deep Black.

As technology evolve stuff evolve. LCD/LCOS/DLP projectors are great device...

[bhampton]

My local theater has horrible picture quality. I only go there if I have movie cash (like the stuff that came with MIB or the James Bond Blus.)

However,.. even good theaters have enflated black levels. I've seen this anytime I go to a "real" movie theater and they have fade to black.

Anyway.... I wouldn't go so far as to say I would recommend the place I bought it from since it was not an easy purchase. They did provide me just what I wanted at a great price so there is something to be said for that.

[bhampton]

Quote "You can always tell you this. Even in a theater, black level is never great. It's always dark gray. I never saw a theater with Kuro Plasma Deep Black."

To comment further on this (it's a big issue actually)... the VW60 does have very good blacks. (At least ... after about 40 hours or so on the bulb.)

I have a custom built room with no windows and all dark paint and carpet and so on. I don't even think a Plasma would be able to go fully black in my theater. My CRT FP had blacks so black I could not see my hand pass in front of my face (Really... I tried it.) However,.. You would always lose some shadow detail with it set like that.

The CRT would win for absolute fade to black but when it comes to a scene with mixed light levels like a person standing in a well lit room with a black tux on ... the VW60 wins. It preserves more close to black in a scene of mixed light level.

Apart from Black... Focus and Uniformity are perfect on the VW60. On my old CRT FP there were 4 optical focus adjustments for each of the 3 tubes... Making 12 optical focus adjustment and then plenty of Electro-Magnetic Focus adjustments followed that. Even if you were careful,.. you had more chance of winning the lottery than getting it all setup correctly. And...Still... Color uniformity and focus varied as you moved about the screen.

I don't think I would consider Plasma or anything with a possibility of Burn in now. I love my PS3 and have several games and over 100 demos on the hard drive. I can play anything and never think about burning in the health gauge. Also station identification logos of HDTV stations similarly no longer pose a risk.... I love that.

-Brian

[Trogdor2010]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Quote "You can always tell you this. Even in a theater, black level is never great. It's always dark gray. I never saw a theater with Kuro Plasma Deep Black."

To comment further on this (it's a big issue actually)... the VW60 does have very good blacks. (At least ... after about 40 hours or so on the bulb.)

I have a custom built room with no windows and all dark paint and carpet and so on. I don't even think a Plasma would be able to go fully black in my theater. My CRT FP had blacks so black I could not see my hand pass in front of my face (Really... I tried it.) However,.. You would always lose some shadow detail with it set like that.

The CRT would win for absolute fade to black but when it comes to a scene with mixed light levels like a person standing in a well lit room with a black tux on ... the VW60 wins. It preserves more close to black in a scene of mixed light level.

Apart from Black... Focus and Uniformity are perfect on the VW60. On my old CRT FP there were 4 optical focus adjustments for each of the 3 tubes... Making 12 optical focus adjustment and then plenty of Electro-Magnetic Focus adjustments followed that. Even if you were careful,.. you had more chance of winning the lottery than getting it all setup correctly. And...Still... Color uniformity and focus varied as you moved about the screen.

I don't think I would consider Plasma or anything with a possibility of Burn in now. I love my PS3 and have several games and over 100 demos on the hard drive. I can play anything and never think about burning in the health gauge. Also station identification logos of HDTV stations similarly no longer pose a risk.... I love that.

-Brian

I'm glad you love your projector. I just have one thing to say.

Plasmas ARE basically Fixed pixel CRTs, since they both use phosphors to emit light. They both have the same benefits and problems. CRTs (Including Front projection) are just as suspectable to burn in (Image retention is more accurate) as a Plasma, and the effects of burn in are less suspectable after the first 100 hours. The reason you don't hear people arguing about burn in on a CRT is that people used full frame content from VHS tapes and people who watched letterboxed DVDs have used their TVs for a while. The reason many plasmas can't match the level of black from a CRT is that manufacturers use certain picture enhancements that try to increase the brightness, and achieve optimal Footlamberts for daytime playback, but never reach the level of black of that of a CRT. The Pioneer Kuro is the plasma closest to a true CRT-like black, and Panasonic is getting up there. Plasmas I believe were originally made to emulate a CRT image, anyone who considers the picture of an LCD over a Plasma is likely choosing on brightness alone, unless of course if it is a bad quality plasma. Of course a good quality CRT will beat most modern plasmas in terms of black and color saturation.

[bhampton]

Hi,

Thanks,... I didn't know that about plasmas. I know they can look very good and Kuro seems to be the best or nearly so.

I also know CRT's have the potential for burn in. I never caused any burn or vis-able wear on mine but I was always concerned about it so I'm glad to have a setup where it's not an issue.

=Brian

[bhampton]

Been calibrating (tweaking) today and the PQ I get now is fantastic.

I tried to take pictures but they came out much different (more washed out looking.) I will try again.

[Psiweaver]

Some of the nicer DLP projectors can get very close to the black level of CRT. I'm talking 3 chip DLP's now and you'll find that they usually have better more accurate picture quality than the Single Chip DLP's and the best of Kuro's. I'm not saying the Kuro's are bad (I have one at home) i'm just saying 3 chip DLP is really the best front projection technology on the market currently for picture quality.

Glad to hear your liking your Sony projector. How big of a screen are you throwing it onto?

[bhampton]

Hi,

Small screen... 72x41 or 83" diagonal. That's because I built a very small room. Anyway... I kind of like it that size as well.

-Brian

[pmardis2]

Congrats on the purchase of your new vw60 projector. To get the best possible PQ I would purchase a Steward Firehawk screen. These screens have a tint on them that is optimized for Sony projectors. I have a Sony VW50 which is the predecessor to the VW60. My screen is a Steward Firehawk 92inch screen and the PQ is great. I suggest go the your AV store and check one out.

Good Luck!

pdm

[bhampton]

Thanks,... I will look into it.

I have a screen for the moment made of Blackout fabric,.. I can believe it's not the ultimate/best solution.

I once met the "Stewart" of Stewart Filmscreens. He was giving away a CRT Front projector on AVS because he had replaced it with a Sony LCD Pj. I drove down to his house near LA. Was a very nice house with a view of the ocean and I think he said he could walk down (it was kind of cliffy) and surf. (He seemed to be prepping a surf board or something when I showed up.

That was many years ago maybe in early 2000 or 2001. At the time he asked about what I was going to do for a screen and I said I was going to make one out of Blackout Fabric and his expression changed fully to disgust. He said to keep in touch and he would try to set me up with something but the Pj was for a friend and I never got back in touch with Stewart.

(There must be a thread about the whole thing in AVS archives but it would likely be hard to find.)

=Brian

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by pmardis2

These screens have a tint on them that is optimized for Sony projectors.

I didn't know that. Looking up the Stewart website info on SST screens, seems to be verified...

"Sony Electronics approached Stewart to collaborate in the design of this specialized material to optimize the performance of the Sony projectors."

I'm in New Hampshire and my local custom installer has nearly nothing. I don't think they even have projectors they just mount flat screens and install car stereos. So,.. I may have to plan a field trip to see one of these.

=Brian

[pmardis2]

Go to ABT ELECTRONICS in Glenview, IL or you can look them up at ABTELECTRONICS.COM they have them in all sizes. That is where I bought mine from, and they will ship anywhere in the USA.

Good Luck