Sony VPH-1270Q CRT questions

[jordanny]

I just bought a house that has a Sony VPH-1270Q CRT projector in it. Have any of you had any experience with 1270Q's? Are/were they dependable? Any problems I need to watch for? The previous owner has a line quadrubler connected. Specs say that the 1270Q should be HD capable, but how would I connect it? According to the owners manual I found online, the available inputs are a 9-pin (it says RS-422???), Y/C 4-pin, BNC-type video, BNC-type RGB ( listed as R, G/G SYNC, B, SYNC/HD, VD). In reading up on HD, it doesn't seem that any of these will work. Am I wrong? If I'm not wrong, are there any adapters available? I'm new with all of this, so any help you can offer will be much appreciated. I move in an a couple of weeks and would like to hit the ground running.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Yes, you can feed the projector HD, but it must be via RGBS or RGBHV - if you look at some of the HD DirecTV boxes, you will see that they have a 15 pin SVGA type (computer monitor) type connection on the back. That 15 pin connection is RGBHV and is a perfect direct connection to your projector.

The quadrupler is likely already connected to the projector via a RGBHV connection so odds are the only HD connection is being used. The hard part with everything is that RGBHV was pretty much dumped by the video industry in favor of component. All HD is carried, these days, on 3 cables instead of 5. So, older projection systems, especially 3-gun CRT projectors, are left out in the cold since they were built prior to the days of HDTV.

It doesn't make the projector bad, in fact all the new DLP and LCD projectors are still trying to reach the same level of quality that CRT projectors provide... But, CRT projectors are very large, somewhat difficult to adjust, and, like yours, they may not have the inputs that are expected by today's video devices.

You may be able to find a component to RGBHV converter, though I personally had no luck when I was looking - I used a DirecTV box with 15 pin output and a generic 15 pin to 5 BNC (RGBHV) converter when I had a 3 gun CRT projector.

If nothing else, just enjoy regular video and games on it, then when you are ready, eBay what you have and go for a newer projector.

 

[jordanny]

Hi BMXTRIX, and thank you for your help. I actually understood most of what you wrote . I realize that the technology is old, but it still has a suprisingly good picture. As you advise, I will probably Ebay it within the next year, or two. But, in the mean time I'd like to try for true HD. Do you think that there is a way to connect HD to (or actually, through) the line quad? He told me that he bought it about a year ago. I think it is a DVDO. Also, one last question-- given the crt @ 110", and assuming I can get it to work, which would you choose to provide the best quality--DirecTV, Voom, or CoxHD? Thanks again.

 

[BMXTRIX]

The quad will.... Well, I don't know. This has always been an issue for me because scalers (doublers, quads, pixel for pixel devices) typically only manipulate NON-HD sources. That is, 480i material then output them at 480p, 960p, or something else.

I would expect that the scaler you are aquiring will not help with HD material.

But, I know for a fact that some DirecTV units have RGB output which you can hook directly up to your projector and get an awesome image. I mean really - the image is really about the best there is, and on a CRT projector it is even better.

Understand me on this: Despite the age of your projector, neither DLP or LCD is close to the same quality that CRT produces. CRT is still the yardstick by which all others are trying to be measured and if the projector is really good, then you may want to hang onto it for a lot longer... But, the lack of component input may prove to be very frustrating.

Do some research to find a component to HD converter - it may be $1,000 to own one though, but I expect they exist. If the projector rocks, then it may be worth it to get the converter instead of a new projector...

I just took a quick look through my Extron catalog and I found this:
http://www.extron.com/product/product.asp?id=cvc200
Which has an MSRP of $895.00 so can probably be had for under 800 bucks.

What do I like best of HD cable, DirecTV, Voom... Don't forget Dish!

I use HD cable (cox), I think Voom and DirecTV likely have higher quality but, there is a major investment going on when you talk about DirecTV and Voom due to the requirement to purchase a lot of hardware and install sat dishes in your home. HD cable is a much less expensive way to go to start off with and you will likely get your cable modem as well so you may get a 'package' discount on things. If you switch entirely to DirecTV then you have no need for cable, and you will pay more for a cable modem hookup if that is what you use. In my opinion, DirecTV is better, but ends up costing more. So, it is a money issue. If you are in a solid financial situation and are prepared to spend a little more for more quality, then go DirecTV... If you are a little more price concious and are willing to lose a little quality, then go cable.

Voom looks like it has a GREAT promotion running right now that may be worth getting in addition to cable or DirecTV. But, it will not replace cable or DirecTV because of a lack of channels.

I haven't looked at DirecTV in a while, but you may want to check on the status of local stations in HD over DirecTV as this can make a difference. I like that with Cox I get ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox from my local Washington DC broadcasts which include the Skins games on Sunday in HD on Fox. That combines with the internal DVR function of the box to provide some nice viewing experiences.

But, DirecTV can give you a lot of that stuff - it just costs more... and you get a little more quality.

 

[jordanny]

Thanx BMXTRIX!

Hi BMXTRIX. Once again your analysis is much appreciated. One last question. If the line quad is operating correctly, is it putting out 960p to the Sony? Its probably a stupid question, and if so, I apologize.

 

[BMXTRIX]

It should be, which to me raises some questions about making sure everything works correctly as to whether you want to keep the quad in line with an HD setup. CRT projectors can be a little picky when you start sending them different signals and it may look great with the quad processed image, then look way off with a 1080i or 720p HDTV image. This is not something I can tell you for sure, but is definitely something you want to keep in mind. Hopefully you will have the user manual and there may be presets available that you can recall that will either automatically, or easily manually be recallable for different video formats so your image always looks the best it possibly can.