headaches with budjet dlp

[superman180]

Maybe this is a silly question but here it goes.
I went to a local store to demo a budget DLP 480p projector and I found myself with a headache in 30 mins. I wonder if this was being caused by motion artifacts? Does anyone else have this problem when watching This type of projector? Maybe this was an isolated problem and I am crazy but it seemed directly related to viewing the projector. once I left the store my headache was gone.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Maybe this is a silly question but here it goes.
I went to a local store to demo a budget DLP 480p projector and I found myself with a headache in 30 mins. I wonder if this was being caused by motion artifacts? Does anyone else have this problem when watching This type of projector? Maybe this was an isolated problem and I am crazy but it seemed directly related to viewing the projector. once I left the store my headache was gone.

Sounds like you are affected by the RBE - RainBow Effect of DLP, which means you need to be looking at a budget LCD instead. The new Sanyo PLV-Z4 and the Panasonic AE900 both are getting rave reviews and have setup options that make them what I would strongly recommend in the $2K or under price range. Contrast levels that are beating DLP and colors that are incredible.

RBE is an effect caused by the single spinning color wheel inside a DLP projector and while only a small portion of all viewers can see it or are affected by it, those that do can quickly develope headaches and not feel well. The eyestrain just takes away from the pleasure that they would otherwise have from a projection unit.

LCD uses 3 separate chips so it is not subject to color-wheel issues or RBE.

 

[MACCA350]

Or look at a 3 chip dlp(expensive), or even one with a faster color wheel may help if you really want a dlp projector.

cheers

 

[superman180]

I just want one I can afford that will give me a good dvd picture. This is really upsetting The PJ was very bright and I was paying extra close attention to detail and I hope I was straining my eyes doing this. Another thing I noticed when the PJ was on HD it was slightly blured I hope this was contributing to my headache, however if not it looks like I will be looking at a budget LCD PJ. Any suggestions in the 1500.00 range. I would like this price to include screen and mount Thank you for your advice!!

 

[droeses58]

Check this one out, it may work for you.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_h31.htm

 

[BMXTRIX]

I just want one I can afford that will give me a good dvd picture. This is really upsetting The PJ was very bright and I was paying extra close attention to detail and I hope I was straining my eyes doing this. Another thing I noticed when the PJ was on HD it was slightly blured I hope this was contributing to my headache, however if not it looks like I will be looking at a budget LCD PJ. Any suggestions in the 1500.00 range. I would like this price to include screen and mount Thank you for your advice!!

WHAT projector were you looking at?

If I had to guess (total guess) you may have been looking at some cheapie business class projector instead of a proper home theater projector.

What's the difference? Well, it's all the difference in the world. Business projectors usually use 2x color wheels with DLP vs. 5x or faster color wheels with home theater projectors.

Pricing?

Optoma H31 and InFocus SP4805 are about $1,000 and provide 853x480 resolution. Excellent for DVD and regular TV, but they both lack the resolution to really sit as close or be as big as you may like.

The next step up?
The Sanyo PLV-Z3 or Panasonic AE700 (if you can find it) are about $1,500 and are last years models. But, they are no slouches! 1280x720 resolution doubles that of the two projectors listed above. They have very serious contrast ratios and use LCD technology so there is NO color wheel and no chance of rainbows. It is the least expensive way to go to get a HD native projector and the quality is comparable to units costing thousands of dollars more. (no, not a joke or overstatement)

If you are looking to stay around $500.00 I would suggest you rethink your purchasing needs. Yes, the Yugo is a car people could have for thousands less than a Civic. But, it is a waste of money no matter what. I will not recommend you waste your money.

Spend a few hours (days) reviewing the information on home theater projectors over at www.projectorcentral.com - it may confuse you some, but that's what the forums are for.

 

[superman180]

It was the 4805 actually, I had my heart set on the H31 but all I could find to demo was the 4805. I figured they were pretty close to the same quality so I could get a feel on how this price point PJ looks. Now I am not so sure this is the way to go. I will go back to take another look, I hope that the blurred HD source was more of the problem than anything else.

Thank you for the replies.
Mike

 

[BMXTRIX]

Mike - If you go and continue to have DLP issues, then the Panasonic AE900, Panasonic AE700, Sanyo Z3, or Sanyo Z4 are the way to go.

The new generation of LCD projectors are phenomenal.

Period.

At $1,500 for the Sanyo Z3 and a touch more for the AE700 it is a small step up in price for similar overall quality and black levels, yet a 100% increase in resolution and added projector placement flexibility.

 

[superman180]

Thank you for your advice. This is what I needed to here, I have looked at the ae700 and the Z3. I am sure this will be the route I will go if the DLP doesn't work out. Only one more question, has anyone dealt with Sanyo's warranty from what I have read they don't replace units even if they are DOA they will only repair them? This concerns me a little.

Thanks.
Mike

 

[BMXTRIX]

Thank you for your advice. This is what I needed to here, I have looked at the ae700 and the Z3. I am sure this will be the route I will go if the DLP doesn't work out. Only one more question, has anyone dealt with Sanyo's warranty from what I have read they don't replace units even if they are DOA they will only repair them? This concerns me a little.

Thanks.
Mike

Order from Visual Apex and they will take care of you. They will warranty items brand new and make sure you are very happy. DOA? Yeah, ask them, they should exchange it for you no problem. They'll handle the rest.

Call and talk to them and mention your concerns. You should feel good after a call to them. They are the single best store (online or B&M) that I have ever dealt with and strongly recommend them. Use a link through this site so they get credit for it!

I have an older Panny that has had zer problems in 2+ years (one new bulb) and bought a AE700 for a neighbor this year - which blows my 2 year old unit away.

Unreal the way LCD technology has gone.

 

[westcott]

Maybe this is a silly question but here it goes.
I went to a local store to demo a budget DLP 480p projector and I found myself with a headache in 30 mins. I wonder if this was being caused by motion artifacts? Does anyone else have this problem when watching This type of projector? Maybe this was an isolated problem and I am crazy but it seemed directly related to viewing the projector. once I left the store my headache was gone.

My wife and I both suffer from DLP technology issues. I was wanting a DLP projector but when my wife and I sat in front of two very expensive DLP projectors, we were severly affected by headaches and motion sickness.
I consider Runco's some of the best and they had 5x wheels!!!

We bought the Panasonic AE700u LCD and have been very happy with its performance and the price was a nice side benefit. The AE900u gets even better reviews but if you are on a budget, I could strongly recommend the AE700u.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I consider Runco's some of the best and they had 5x wheels!!!

It's like calling Bose one of the best (IMO).

 

[MACCA350]

The Infocus Screenplay 777, or any 3 chip design, should not be a problem for those who suffer these headaches. But this quality comes at a price.

On a side note, all these new 'Digital Cinemas' are been outfitted with 3 chip DLP Projection, they must have a good reason for this. For more info see here and here

cheers

 

[westcott]

It's like calling Bose one of the best (IMO).

You could hardly compare Bose product quality to Runco's product quality. At least Runco uses the same heart\chip as all the other DLP's use. The same could not be said for Bose. I doubt you would catch many audio experts waving the Bose flag.

The point was that no matter how expensive the DLP projector is, the color wheel technology is flawed and does effect some people no matter how expensive the unit is. I could have named Mistubishi, Sanyo, NEC, Sony, BenQ, InFocus, etc., as well.

 

[BMXTRIX]

You could hardly compare Bose product quality to Runco's product quality. At least Runco uses the same heart\chip as all the other DLP's use. The same could not be said for Bose. I doubt you would catch many audio experts waving the Bose flag.

The point was that no matter how expensive the DLP projector is, the color wheel technology is flawed and does effect some people no matter how expensive the unit is. I could have named Mistubishi, Sanyo, NEC, Sony, BenQ, InFocus, etc., as well.

True - Out of about 30 Runco installs I have seen at least 25 of them have hardware failures.

I think Bose is far more reliable.

Runco is not my favorite brand not because they are over-priced or because they don't give a great image (they are both) but because they are horrendously unreliable by my own personal experience. I would not judge any product any other way and did not mean to sound flippant about it. I am very serious when I say I won't ever recommend Runco to anyone - EVER. When I pressed Runco's president about their reliability issues inside a room full of people he got very flustered about my questions.

Since they don't design projectors from the ground up, they really don't know how to fix their own products and what they do make themselves fails so often, that it should never have been included in the first place. Throw in that they have very protected dealerships and you end up paying top dollar all the time and not often getting a good basis to compare it to.



Hope that is justification for my unsupported comment I made above.

Love Optoma, Sanyo, InFocus, Panasonic, and a long list of others who not only sell projectors, but build them from the ground up.

 

[superman180]

Apparently my Headache was from the PJ being out of focus on the HD source. I went back and took another look at this same PJ and this time I only viewed a DVD source and had absolutely no problems. Thanks to everyone that responded. This is great new because I really wanted to like the 480P DLP PJ. I believe with my current set-up only playing DVD’s this will work out good.

Thanks
Mike.

 

[setite]

True - Out of about 30 Runco installs I have seen at least 25 of them have hardware failures.

I think Bose is far more reliable.

Runco is not my favorite brand not because they are over-priced or because they don't give a great image (they are both) but because they are horrendously unreliable by my own personal experience. I would not judge any product any other way and did not mean to sound flippant about it. I am very serious when I say I won't ever recommend Runco to anyone - EVER. When I pressed Runco's president about their reliability issues inside a room full of people he got very flustered about my questions.

Since they don't design projectors from the ground up, they really don't know how to fix their own products and what they do make themselves fails so often, that it should never have been included in the first place. Throw in that they have very protected dealerships and you end up paying top dollar all the time and not often getting a good basis to compare it to.



Hope that is justification for my unsupported comment I made above.

Love Optoma, Sanyo, InFocus, Panasonic, and a long list of others who not only sell projectors, but build them from the ground up.

I think he was talking about Bose being unique and using lots or proprietary technology. But I agree that bose seems to be a very reliable company, and runco is hit or miss from what I read. And to the thread starter, I am not a DLP fan but i am glad you don't suffer from RBE. It is always better to have options. I have an ae700u, which i decided on after much ado about the ae900s increased contrast ration from a cost perspective. I eventually chose the ae700 because I couldn't justify the extra cost in regards to my overall experience being that a decent projector and decent screen can sometimes be advantageous to a good/great projector with a bad/poor screen. I currently am on a 30$ homemade blackout cloth screen, which is surprisingly good, but I am looking forward to a higher gain screen to increase shadow detail in dark movies. Yesterday I was tweaking the picture at the source and on my pj to make Professor Snape's(HP Fan here ) black robe change from a solid black, as it is with all settings on zero on source and display, to a detailed chest showing buttons and all the ruffles that should be visible. I am not very familiar with the 4805 ,though I do know of it's existence, so I am not familiar with its shadow detail. I assume that it is superior as DLP is supposed to be in this regard, nonetheless you may want a screen with a little gain. But I am sure you are already aware of this and know whether shadow detail is something you care about or not. Ok I'm just rambling now... so I'll stop.