Sony VPL-VW60 "Black Pearl"

[kccarl]

You wrote:

If you are going with the 130" wide screen, you should consider a higher gain screen unless you like a dim picture (some do). Otherwise, going with a slightly smaller screen might get you a picture more to your liking. For instance, just going to a 10' wide 16:9 screen, you would increase your luminance to 12fL. Most people who have a Black Pearl seem to have maximum screen sizes in the 110-120" wide range (16:9), unless they are using a high gain screen.

I'm asking:

I read through your dissertation on what screen size he should get. It was interesting to put into the terms you did, even though I don't really know how to coordinate the lumins to a particular eye. At any rate, I do have a question, above you said that most people who own black pearls have a 110 to 120 screen. Who do you know this first of all, and second, why is that? I have the DLA-RS1 and a 120 inch diag, 1.3 gain screen and its plenty bright at 180 seating inches from the screen. You mention he might think about a high gain screen, but I'm not sure what you mean by that. In a light controlled room, he should not need a high gain screen. A 1.3 gain should be plenty unless there is something unique about the black pearl.

Why exactly do you think that having a screen size of 128 to 136 with say a firehawk G3 1080p grey screen, or even a white screen, would not work well with the black pearl?

KCCARL

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by kccarl

I'm asking:

I read through your dissertation on what screen size he should get. It was interesting to put into the terms you did, even though I don't really know how to coordinate the lumins to a particular eye. At any rate, I do have a question, above you said that most people who own black pearls have a 110 to 120 screen. Who do you know this first of all, and second, why is that?

Just from what i've read on the various VW60 owners threads over at AVSforum. In general, most of the popular PJ's have calibrated lumens in the 300-600 range. For most of these PJ's, a 16:9 screen any bigger than 120" wide is going to give you low luminance. For instance, your RS1 with a 120", 1.3 gain screen figures about 16 foot-Lamberts at maximal light output (700 lumens) [ERROR- Whoops, you have a 120" diagonal which is a 104" width screen: putting your luminance at 21.3-- plenty bright!]. That is pretty acceptable to most viewers. Now the actual figure is probably less than that, and light output drops as the lamp ages (up to 50%), so a bigger screen than that is going to be problematic with light output unless you go with a higher gain screen, like a DaLite HP (which is very popular amongst those that want a screen bigger than 120" using an RS-1).

I have the DLA-RS1 and a 120 inch diag, 1.3 gain screen and its plenty bright at 180 seating inches from the screen. You mention he might think about a high gain screen, but I'm not sure what you mean by that. In a light controlled room, he should not need a high gain screen. A 1.3 gain should be plenty unless there is something unique about the black pearl.

Why exactly do you think that having a screen size of 128 to 136 with say a firehawk G3 1080p grey screen, or even a white screen, would not work well with the black pearl?
KCCARL

Everyone is different in the amount of light output that they like out of their systems, but most prefer light output in the 14-20 fL range. Your setup with a 10' screen (ERROR- 104" screen) is fine and is very popular, but try going to a 130" or 140" screen and see how quickly your light output will go down (13.8 and 11.9 fL respectively, with new lamp and maximal light output-- high setting, short throw). I think your setup just confirms that using a 10' wide, 1.3 gain screen ("industry standard") with the RS-1, RS-2, Black Pearl, Ruby, etc... is fine, but if you're thinking of going larger (particularly larger than 12') then considering a high gain screen is probably a good idea. You can easily decrease light output from a PJ. You cannot increase light output without replacing the PJ.

A 128" or 136" Firehawk G3(1.3 gain) could work with a Black Pearl, although you are getting to the point where some will not be happy with the light output. At 525 calibrated lumens (with a new lamp), the luminance would be 10.7 fL and 9.45 fL for those two screen sizes respectively, which is getting to be a pretty dim image, which will continue to dim with lamp age.

The RS1 is also a brighter calibrated PJ than the Black Pearl.

Again, everybody will have a different preference for light output, but I would guess that the average viewer will prefer higher light output (the "large plasma TV" look).