BigDave Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 Hi guys, I currently have a standard def. optoma projector (h56 themescene), had it for over 4 years (pretty long for a projector). The upgrade bug is really getting to me and I was recently given a great price on a new hc3100 (720P darkchip3 dlp projector). I know a number of people on this forum either have or have had this projector (been out for a couple of years). While I appreciate that 1080p projectors are all the range at the moment, they do really start at around 3 grand if you want to buy locally (and I do - had too many problems with the optoma to not have a warranty ). I can get this proj for under 2 grand and have installed one for a friend and was very impressed with its blacks. He did not have it hooked up to the best equipment but I can say that it was very forgiving of a bad source (looked pretty good with even a composite connection ). I am used to dlp so no probs with rainbows. advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang3 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 its a great PJ for the $$$ and i was planning on getting one until i saw rainbows everywhere !! i ended up getting a Sanyo Z5 which has been a great PJ so far, not one single issue and fantastic build quality.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeffpr Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 its a great PJ for the $$$ and i was planning on getting one until i saw rainbows everywhere !!i ended up getting a Sanyo Z5 which has been a great PJ so far, not one single issue and fantastic build quality.. i,ve got one and thought its picture is better than the entry level 1080ps . its best to watch it at 2x screen width for pic quality,ie a screen 2 mt wide[not diagonal] watch from 4 mt. as an added bonus it accepts 1080p24 from my sammy bdp1400. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lunt Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I would not go as far as to say that it has a better picture than entry level 1080P projectors - they are a great little machine. As for the rainbow effect many people are not aware that this projector as the ability to change its colour wheel speed to minismise it should you be susceptible to it. If you do get it have it calibrated as I have seen it done and they look great for the cost of the projector - GO FO IT!!!! Later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lunt Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I would not go as far as to say that it has a better picture than entry level 1080P projectors - they are a great little machine. As for the rainbow effect many people are not aware that this projector as the ability to change its colour wheel speed to minismise it should you be susceptible to it. If you do get it have it calibrated as I have seen it done and they look great for the cost of the projector - GO FO IT!!!! Later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 well, that is what I thought as well, jeffpr. maybe some of the entry level 1080p projectors don't come up to the standard of a good 720p projector (at the moment). I have a 92 inch screen (which is not huge) and we sit 5m away (which is far for that size screen). I think maybe the benefits of 1080p may be lost on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lunt Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I would not go as far as to say that it has a better picture than entry level 1080P projectors - they are a great little machine. As for the rainbow effect many people are not aware that this projector as the ability to change its colour wheel speed to minismise it should you be susceptible to it. If you do get it have it calibrated as I have seen it done and they look great for the cost of the projector - GO FO IT!!!! Later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang3 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I would not go as far as to say that it has a better picture than entry level 1080P projectors - they are a great little machine.As for the rainbow effect many people are not aware that this projector as the ability to change its colour wheel speed to minismise it should you be susceptible to it. If you do get it have it calibrated as I have seen it done and they look great for the cost of the projector - GO FO IT!!!! Later yeh the one i saw was on the max wheel speed, 5x if i remember right but i could still see rainbows.. i never felt sick or dizzy from them and it was only maybe one every 5-10 seconds depending on scene, but it was bloody distracting and i reckon it would eventually give me a headache.. its a pity cause i love the PQ of DLP, it just seems to pop out more than LCD.. still love my Z5 LCD though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted September 19, 2008 Author Share Posted September 19, 2008 funny thing is that I originally saw them a little bit when i first got the projector. But after a little while of owning my dlp projector (which is 4x speed) I just didn't notice it anymore. Still has a good pq, just not great on blacks (and their is dust in the lens assembly - which is not supposed to happen to dlp as they are a closed system). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Geez, don't let a few rainbows bother you. If you don't pass out from seeing them immediately you will be fine. If you look for them you will find them, but once you forget about them they won't be a problem. It doesn't take long either. Not one person out of about 50 have ever said a thing about rainbows without me proving to them that they exist... I've got the HC1100 and after 18 months and 2000 trouble-free hours it is still bright and still as good as it was the first day I turned it on. I use mine in a really dusty environment and I have used the dust filter that came with the projector. I clean the filter every couple of months and I've never had any issues with dust. I doubt I even needed to use the filter, but I do it for the sake of it. Anyway they are very highly regarded and great value projectors, so I doubt you will be unhappy with one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lunt Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 Well if we are going to be so picky then lets start: LCD projectors - fly screen affect even with direct drive system of latest LCD projectors (wont mention brands as that is unprofessional) you can still see the fly screen affect - how about convergence issues with seeing either blue, green, red around the individual pixels - how bad will this get over time of heating and cooling - how about the blurring that occurs on faster moving scenes - how about when dust specs stick to the hot panels and causes blurs and blemishes on the screen - how about the colour decay that will occur over time DLP projectors - rainbow affect that only affects small % of people We could go on and on an on I mean it gets worse with Plasma and LCD panels - which I cannot believe people are paying thousands of dollars for the poor picture quality that most panels have these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 yeah, totally agree with you guys, the rainbow effect is totally overrated. Look forward to splurging soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang3 Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 yeah, totally agree with you guys, the rainbow effect is totally overrated. Look forward to splurging soon! do you see rainbows?? it makes some people sick and dizzy = fact. I wouldnt say thats an overrated reason not to look at DLP !! While i agree that DLP has more benefits over LCD, the rainbows i saw were distracting enough to put me off.. who knows, after a few weeks i might not notice them at all, but i would hate to blow some coin on a DLP PJ and always see the rainbows.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted September 23, 2008 Share Posted September 23, 2008 Dave is right the rainbow effect is massively overrated. The percentage of people who get sick from them is apparently really small and is surprisingly made up of 95% LCD owners. I own a DLP and I never saw rainbows until I started looking for them. Once I found them I couldn't stop seeing them, and on about my third viewing of my projector I had to stop watching as I started feeling a little uncomfortable, but I was really tired and should have just stopped anyway. Since then I have never had a problem. Yes I see them and I can make them appear if I want to, but now I don't even notice them. They do not ruin the experience and in some cases they add to it. nobody has ever been sick in my theatre and nobody has ever complained. Funnily enough the only time I have ever seen anyone complain of sickness while watching a projector was my wife and it was when watching a LCD projector at a friends house. So go figure that one out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexx1503560195 Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I've got the HC1100 and after 18 months and 2000 trouble-free hours it is still bright and still as good as it was the first day I turned it on. I use mine in a really dusty environment and I have used the dust filter that came with the projector. I clean the filter every couple of months and I've never had any issues with dust. I doubt I even needed to use the filter, but I do it for the sake of it. I have an hc1100. Its been good. But i didnt know it had a dust filter. Where would i look for it? Its bound to be dirty by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 I have an hc1100. Its been good. But i didnt know it had a dust filter. Where would i look for it? Its bound to be dirty by now. Mine wasn't attached to the unit, it came in a separate bag and has to be attached. So yours is probably in the plastic bag in the box or a cupboard somewhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 Just quietly, I had been somewhat unimpressed with my HC1100 lately. The blacks seemed really poor. Watching a dark movie last night highlighted the problem and then I realised the whites were ridiculously bright. I'd replaced just about all my sources and I only just realised that I had calibrated the projector to suit the crappy old PC I was using for a media centre and hadn't changed anything since hooking up a new one 6 months ago... So I recalibrated the projector, without the aid of a good tool, I just used pictures and even web pages I knew how they looked on my CRT monitor in the study. It only took me about 5 minutes, but the results were amazing. I sat down and started watching the movie from the start again (Dark City) and I was completely blown away by how good the picture was now. The mediocre-poor blacks were now quite reasonable and the shadow detail was so much better. When I started watching the first 15 minutes before calibrating I just thought the movie was crap and too dark... now it is just crap... only got through about 20 minutes this time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nang3 Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 Just quietly, I had been somewhat unimpressed with my HC1100 lately. The blacks seemed really poor. Watching a dark movie last night highlighted the problem and then I realised the whites were ridiculously bright. I'd replaced just about all my sources and I only just realised that I had calibrated the projector to suit the crappy old PC I was using for a media centre and hadn't changed anything since hooking up a new one 6 months ago...So I recalibrated the projector, without the aid of a good tool, I just used pictures and even web pages I knew how they looked on my CRT monitor in the study. It only took me about 5 minutes, but the results were amazing. I sat down and started watching the movie from the start again (Dark City) and I was completely blown away by how good the picture was now. The mediocre-poor blacks were now quite reasonable and the shadow detail was so much better. When I started watching the first 15 minutes before calibrating I just thought the movie was crap and too dark... now it is just crap... only got through about 20 minutes this time... you at least got to the part where georgey gets her baps out though right ??? ROFL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted September 25, 2008 Share Posted September 25, 2008 (edited) you at least got to the part where georgey gets her baps out though right ??? ROFL Yeah, I made sure that part was in both sections I viewed... and then once again at the end for final measure... Just finished watching the movie and it didn't get any better. Glad I didn't wait for the bluray version. Edited September 25, 2008 by fallout boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franga Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Picked up the 3100 for about $1700 about 8 months ago from someone on this forum and i have to say the picture is fantasitc! If you have a chance to pick it up i say go for it! You will not regret this buy. Also i live on a dirt road (so lots of dust) and ive had no problems with the filter or the PJ at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Lunt Posted September 26, 2008 Share Posted September 26, 2008 Dave is right the rainbow effect is massively overrated.The percentage of people who get sick from them is apparently really small and is surprisingly made up of 95% LCD owners. I own a DLP and I never saw rainbows until I started looking for them. Once I found them I couldn't stop seeing them, and on about my third viewing of my projector I had to stop watching as I started feeling a little uncomfortable, but I was really tired and should have just stopped anyway. Since then I have never had a problem. Yes I see them and I can make them appear if I want to, but now I don't even notice them. They do not ruin the experience and in some cases they add to it. nobody has ever been sick in my theatre and nobody has ever complained. Funnily enough the only time I have ever seen anyone complain of sickness while watching a projector was my wife and it was when watching a LCD projector at a friends house. So go figure that one out. Hey fallout boy its funny that you say that as that I was convicning someone that most people really would not know the difference unless it was pointed out to them. Had a customer that was convinced about it so I had an LCD and DLP covered with a box - performance was very similar and also picture quality. I asked them to pick which was the DLP and which was the LCD without doing any stupid head moving that I have seen people do to try and find the "dreaded rainbow". Well he picked one and guess what he picked the LCD as having rainbow affect - ????????? As with most displays they have some negative and if you look hard enough you will always find it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MouldyCrumpet Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Hi all, just letting you know we have 2x HC3100 at our store being sold dirt cheap One is Brand new and is selling for $1850.00 the other is a store demo which will be sold for $1650.00, please call me (Robert) at Big Picture People CHeltenham on 9584 6900 if your interested in this fantastic projector. Both will be sold with full factory warranty attached thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry1 Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Perhaps a sill question - What are the main differences between a 1500 and a 3100? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quijibo Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Perhaps a sill question - What are the main differences between a 1500 and a 3100? The HC3100 has better image processing, dark chip 3, a dynamic iris, 4/5 speed switchable colour wheel speed and a 6 segment colour wheel. The HC1500 has DC2, 4 speed 7 segment colour wheel with a clear segment for extra brightness. The HC3100 is designed for image quality. The HC1500 is aimed at high brightness for high volume sales in America. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harry1 Posted October 3, 2008 Share Posted October 3, 2008 Cool thanks for clearing that up. The 3100 must be a great machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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