[jermmd]

I've been following this thread on AVS and this projector sounds too good to be true. If this streets for < $8k I'm soooo in.
Quote,
"1. Price $10K to $13K (MSRP confirmed at $10K)
2. Machine showed us vibrant pictures on an 8 ft Da-Lite (diagonal)
3. Dynamic Iris was engaged. Looked great. Crushed blacks.. Needed caibration. My installer and I agreed, 8 ft max. screen size (Sony says 120")
4. Ultra quiet
5. No changing of lens (short to medium throw).
6. Smaller SXRD chip than 004.
7. No Zeiss optics like 004. Picture seemed less sharp than 004
8. 'Cheaper electronics' than 004
9. Ruby has edge over Qualia in contrast
10. Source was Sony HD Cam (1080P) of various film cuts.
11. Some panel (blue) misalignment.

All and all.....a fantastic piece at a price easy to swallow."

Anyone else looking at this?

[zybar]

The Ruby will be competing in a pretty tough segment of the market and will need to be very good to snag market share.

From reading the thread, it certainly sounds interesting and worth a look.

At some point I will need to replace my Marantz VP12S1 (although it still puts out a darn good picture).

George

[jermmd]

They also mention 3 chip DLP projectors for under $15K. That's $10K less than what they have been selling for.  I'm tempted to but a $3K hd projector (like the Optima H77) and upgrading when the Blue ray/HD DVD/ HDMI stuff gets sorted out.

[Ears]

They also mention 3 chip DLP projectors for under $15K. That's $10K less than what they have been selling for.  I'm tempted to but a $3K hd projector (like the Optima H77) and upgrading when the Blue ray/HD DVD/ HDMI stuff gets sorted out.

This new Sony would require venting.....or having air conditioning on in the winter I believe
I am sure its nice though...just like the new 3 chip Sim pj.

Anyway....get the H-78DC3 over the 77/79....it is an H-79 with a production bulb thats not quite spec......on your first bulb change ...you have an H-79 for less than 4k.
This is an upgrade to even the Marantz s-3....and in a direct comparison without proper calibration....even the s-4 was just slightly better and the s-4 comes almost perfectly pre calibrated.

[Ears]

Currently I have the Panny AE700. But I'm drooling over the new AE900 with 1100 ANSI and 5500:1 contrast!! MSRP is $3,199.

Forget those specs as there obviously not at d65.....if they were....all the other pj brands would be out of business or something

[zybar]

Currently I have the Panny AE700. But I'm drooling over the new AE900 with 1100 ANSI and 5500:1 contrast!! MSRP is $3,199.

Forget those specs as there obviously not at d65.....if they were....all the other pj brands would be out of business or something

True, but the Panny puts out a very good picture - period!  Not just for the money.

I am amazed at how quickly the technology is progressing while costs continue to come down.  Features such as 1080p and 3 chip engines are rapidly becoming affordable as well.

Today's relatively cheap pj's (say street price of $3k or less) can produce a picture that rivals or surpasses pj's that retailed in the $10-20k range from just three years ago.

George

[jermmd]

Ears,

That H-78DC3 projector is hard to beat at under $4K. I don't know how I missed that. I'll definitely have to look into it.

Thanks,

[Woodsea]

I love my 700, probably the only one in Mongolia!  I am holding onto this for at least 3 more years, the picture is great.  I just don't think that my budget nor the technology leaps will coerce me to upgrade before then.  
It is fun to see what is out though.

[jermmd]

Fabaudio,
Great article. Thanks for the link. Man, there's some great projectors coming out and cheaper than ever. I think this is definitely going to be the year for me to take the plunge.

[Ears]

Ears, you missed the point. For comparison's sake the Panny AE 700 is quoted at 1000 ANSI and a 2000:1 contrast. The 700 is the wordwide best seller and has given the competition a hell of a headache. Furthermore with the 900 they might just put a few other brands out of business! Have you seen the image the 700 puts out?

Yes I saw the 700 at a local dealer and it looked very nice...especially with HD content.
But now that I have an H-78.....my impressions have changed

Of course its not a fair comparrison as the H-78 probably had an MSRP OF 8K.
But then again, it probably wasn't fair comparing the 700 to my 4805 either...especially for hi def.

For now I am sticking with DLP...but that could change if we ever get actual 1080p sources to watch.

The H-78/79 except 1080p input...unlike almost every other pj on the market regardless of price.

[Bwanagreg]

The pace of development with LCD projectors is impressive. I've been  enjoying the color fidelity of my AE-300 for a few years now, and the thought of combining this with 5500:1 contrast ratio (even though the actual number might be half of that   ) is making me think "upgrade"!

I haven't seen a DLP in a few years. The DLP Sony's I looked at at that time had noticeable motion blur problems. I assume that has been improved - can anyone comment?

[Ears]

The pace of development with LCD projectors is impressive. I've been  enjoying the color fidelity of my AE-300 for a few years now, and the thought of combining this with 5500:1 contrast ratio (even though the actual number might be half of that   ) is making me think "upgrade"!

I haven't seen a DLP in a few years. The DLP Sony's I looked at at that time had noticeable motion blur problems. I assume that has been improved - can anyone comment?

No motion blur problems on the H-78/79 DC3 DLP's like I have seen on most others.
I am guessing 3000:1 or so calbrated at d 65 with these two as mine does not have enough hours for proffesional cal just yet.

Others are getting calibtrated numbers in that area.

Of course painting my theater walls and ceilings very dark recently...and adding a dark Gray screen almost made the elevated blacks on the 4805 look exceptable.

There almost inky with the H-78

[zybar]

The pace of development with LCD projectors is impressive. I've been  enjoying the color fidelity of my AE-300 for a few years now, and the thought of combining this with 5500:1 contrast ratio (even though the actual number might be half of that   ) is making me think "upgrade"!

I haven't seen a DLP in a few years. The DLP Sony's I looked at at that time had noticeable motion blur problems. I assume that has been improved - can anyone comment?

My DLP is getting close to four years old now (Marantz VP12-S1), and I never had any motion blur issues or rainbow effect.  Now these issues are extremely person dependent, so it is really hard to say.

In general, DLP pj's have sped up the light wheels and in some cases added more segments, in an effort to minimize possible negative effects.

Until the 3 chip DLP get into the affordable range (probably 2-3 more years), the best advice is to go view the newest DLP's and see if you can notice anything.

BTW, I have not been a fan of the Sony pj's outside of the Qualia line.

George

[Bwanagreg]

zybar,

Your Marantz was considerably more than the Sony I looked at, so no surprise to me it's better! I was really underwhelmed with the Sony, and since I expected the pace of development to be quick I'm glad in retrospect I paid "only" $2k for a Panny. It's served me well.

Ears,
You are dead on about painting the walls and celing dark. I went with a dark earthtone (rust) color in a light-controlled basement room, and the picture is stunning. I think you get more bang from a few dollars worth of paint than any other tweak you can do. Theaters are not maroon for nothing...

[Ears]

Wow.... that Mits hc 3000 with dc3 seems like a good deal also.

[zybar]

Ears,
You are dead on about painting the walls and celing dark. I went with a dark earthtone (rust) color in a light-controlled basement room, and the picture is stunning. I think you get more bang from a few dollars worth of paint than any other tweak you can do. Theaters are not maroon for nothing...

I couldn't agree more on painting the room.  As the pic below shows, I have a substantial black border around the screen and it really makes the colors pop a little more and definitely impacts perceived contrast levels as well.

George


 

[klh]

I was in Vegas this weekend and saw a Spiderman 2 trailer on a pre-production Blueray player. I saw it on two video diplays... the $30,000 Sony projector and their top of the line $13,000 70" rear projection TV. All I can say is UNBELEIVABLE .  The image from the projector was good, but it wasn't great... the seating was about 8-9 feet from a 120" retractable screen so you could see imperfections and the color saturation was less than I expected. The 70" TV was just behind the screen and from about 10' the image was absolutely incredible. No grain or digital artifacts noticable. The amount of contrast and color saturation was amazing. It actually blew away the front projecor even though the room was black for the projector and there was ambient light with the TV. I was also surprised how much better the 1080p pricture was than 720p. If any of you go to Vegas, they have it at the Sony Style shop at The Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. Definitely check it out. BTW, the guy said they were using component cables and not HDMI. I presume it's either because they didn't have HDMI cables or maybe the pre-production unit had glitches (he said they have had it for about 6 months). He also said he thinks the PS3 will sell for around $450-$500 when it's released.

[klh]

George... what are you using for your screen? Is it retractable?

[ctviggen]

One thing that's kept me away from digital projectors is the black levels -- compared to a CRT, the projectors just don't seem to have the black levels and contrast I'd like to see.