# Playing with my new toy. XG-110



## dropzone7

Just getting around to trying this thing out. I'm using a Wilsonart Designer White screen to test with. Here are a few shots with a rough setup. Picture settings were 35 for contrast and 60 for brightness when I turned it on and have not changed those settings.


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## Jesse S

Is the screen small? 35 contrast is very low.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Jesse S* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Is the screen small? 35 contrast is very low.




The screen is 100" wide by 56" high. I tried bumping up the contrast and while it looked better in some cases, I kind of preferred the overall look the way it is. Shadow detail was better and looked more film-like. Once I get the projector mounted and converged correctly I may play around with the picture settings more. I might also need to try a different transcoder as I think the one I have is crushing blacks a bit.


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## Fellenz

Wow,


That looks good; I really need to pick up some of that DW and some HD-144's for my Quee


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Fellenz* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Wow,
> 
> 
> That looks good; I really need to pick up some of that DW and some HD-144's for my Quee



Thanks! I'm not the best at taking screenshots by any means and I have a long way to go in setting up this projector. However, I could see an instant improvement with this Wilsonart fomica screen over the plain blackout cloth screen I was using before.


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## MrGogo

Those values do seem low ... I run mine at brightness 60 contrast 60 and its nice and punchi.


Nice machine hope you like yours as much as I like mine : )


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## garyfritz




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> However, I could see an instant improvement with this Wilsonart fomica screen over the plain blackout cloth screen I was using before.



I *GOTTA* get me a Wilsonart screen built. I'm still running on the BO screen I built over 3 years ago. Or maybe a high-ish gain screen like Draper M1300 or even M2500. It's crazy that I'm on my 4th projector and I'm still shining it on a hunk of curtain cloth.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *garyfritz* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> I *GOTTA* get me a Wilsonart screen built. I'm still running on the BO screen I built over 3 years ago. Or maybe a high-ish gain screen like Draper M1300 or even M2500. It's crazy that I'm on my 4th projector and I'm still shining it on a hunk of curtain cloth.



Well, I was content with the cloth until I saw some shots of the Wilsonart in the DIY thread. It's a nice material and fairly inexpensive for the size. I just have it tacked to the wall with velcro right now. I plan to cut it down to size and mount it on a rigid backing.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *MrGogo* /forum/post/0
> 
> 
> Those values do seem low ... I run mine at brightness 60 contrast 60 and its nice and punchi.
> 
> 
> Nice machine hope you like yours as much as I like mine : )




I tried that for a bit last night and while it did have more punch I felt like it was washing the picture out. What size screen are you using?


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## garyfritz

If you like the punch but don't like the washout, just lower the brightness. That's what effects the low-end brightness -- too much and it washes out. Contrast basically controls how bright the picture is.


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## dropzone7

I did the following things over the weekend:

-Cleaned lenses using solution recommended in a document by Guy Kuo.

-Did physical alignment again.

-Did convergence again (this time using an external test pattern).

-Made measurements and marked exact location for ceiling mount.

-Bought 5/16" threaded rod and square steel channel with holes to attach mount to ceiling.


The biggest improvement to my picture so far has been doing convergence using an external pattern. I swapped out my cable box from my plasma because it had the INHD test pattern on it's DVR. Using this pattern resulted in a much improved image over 1080i which will be my resolution of choice 90% of the time.


I also finally ordered one of Kim's transcoder's which I hope will arrive by the weekend. The one with gamma correction. I'm hoping that a bump in gamma will help my black crush problem.


My throw distance ended up being exactly 132" from screen center to the front center of the green lens. My screen is 108" wide by 61" high. This is a 16:9 aspect ratio and the same screen size used by Clarence with his G90. I'm also using a Wilsonart Designer White formica screen and I already knew what this material could look like with a CRT so decided to give it a try. Aside from some minor hotspotting at the screen center I am pleased with this material. The size is probably pushing things a bit for an 8" machine but I really don't want to go smaller at this point.


I will try to get some new screenshots posted tonight.


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## dropzone7

Just a quick update. I got a Crescendo Systems RTC2200 reverse transcoder with gamma the other day. This has done great things for my display and while I'm still tweaking, I really like what I see! More details can be found at the main thread for this device. Last night I had a bit of a scare with some scrolling lines I was seeing. I know about ground loop problems as I have seen them on other displays but never on my CRT until now. I tried plugging the cable box (which is my only source right now) into a two prong plug adapter. This helped a bit but I could still see the lines. I tried different outlets as well as other configurations of arranging my power cables, etc. The only thing that worked was plugging the projector itself into the two prong adapter. Scrolling lines are now gone. I also added a 1000 watt UPS unit to the mix for some added protection. I'm really hoping to get the projector mounted this weekend but it depends on how hot it is and what it feels like in the attic. My dad and I put plywood down in the attic last Saturday so we would have a place to stand and walk around. This not only will help in getting the projector mounted and cabling run but also gives me more storage so I was glad to get that done. We started at 7:30 in the morning and by noon it was just too hot to continue. When my dad started hitting his thumb with the hammer I knew we needed to get out of there! So, hopefully we get an early start again and will get the beast up to it's proper resting spot.


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## v1rtu0s1ty

you are killing me... I'm jealous since I don't have a crt yet....honestly, the picture is quite nice and looks real.....money saved went to car repair ....










what's HD-144 though?


EDIT:


Is this true from what I've read before


Marquee = easy to setup but picture is not as great as NEC

NEC = hard to setup but picture is amazing


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *v1rtu0s1ty* /forum/post/11462646
> 
> 
> you are killing me... I'm jealous since I don't have a crt yet....honestly, the picture is quite nice and looks real.....money saved went to car repair ....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what's HD-144 though?
> 
> 
> EDIT:
> 
> 
> Is this true from what I've read before
> 
> 
> Marquee = easy to setup but picture is not as great as NEC
> 
> NEC = hard to setup but picture is amazing



Thanks! I'm trying to make it better. HD-144's are lenses. Some come with HD-144's some with HD-145's and still others with HD6's or HD8's. From what I have read the 144's and 145's are more desirable and are an upgrade from the others. Regarding Marquee projectors, I have never owned one myself but they have a really loyal following. I'm sure that they are easier to setup than a NEC unit and depending on the model it's completely capable of throwing just as good a picture as any NEC model. It's kind of apples and oranges and you would have to compare a specific Marquee model to a specific NEC model to make an accurate assesment. I believe with the exception of the 10PG, all NEC models are 7" or 8" CRT projectors while there are Marquee units with 9" CRT's which would get you to the top of the line in CRT. I think the 9500LC is on par with the best CRT's out there. NEC units are known for there very accurate colors and smooth film like image in addition to the negative things you hear about the time involved in setup. With CRT, no matter what the make or model, the more time you spend with it the better it will look. That's assuming you start with a unit that is in relatively good shape and has decent tubes. If I had it to do over again I would have started with an NEC XG unit like I'm using now and just bypassed the PG models. While they are very nice when setup correctly, they have more manually adjustable controls like the raster centering magnets which require some skill to get right. On the XG the raster centering is done electronically. The astig magnets were pretty set when I got the unit so honestly I have not had my hand in this XG at all except to do mechanical setup and focus. Everything else has been done with the remote. My suggestion is to find something cheap and in decent shape and just play around with it. After that, if you don't have the bug then just sell it and get your money back but I bet you will be hooked and never be the same. I know I am and that's why I'm now on my third CRT and always looking for another one.


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## dropzone7

Well, the projector is now mounted and resting 7' above the floor. What a chore that was! Me, my dad and another guy got it lifted up and set on the bracket which is supported by two five foot pieces of Unistrut laying perpendicular to the rafters in the attic. Here are a few shots of what it looks like after having to do convergence over yet again.


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## dropzone7




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## dropzone7

Here is one before I figured out how to use my camera. As you can see, everything is over exposed so you can see the inside of the room. The tape on the screen show the borders of what the final screen will be (61x108). There will be black curtains covering all of the walls and that light fixture will come down and be replaced by recessed lighting. Still lots of work to do...


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## dropzone7

The beast on the ceiling.





















The messy room with my makeshift screen masking falling off the wall. This area will get some much needed attention in the next week or so. I have a window behind the screen that I have to fill in with something to support the middle of the screen. I still may need to raise the screen up a bit more as well.


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## Fellenz

It's so...
































































Naked










Looking Good,


Erik


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## dropzone7

I guess you mean the projector. Yeah, it's showing all of it's juicy guts at the moment because I painted the case black. It was that ugly computer beige color and was just screaming for a paint job. I have more pictures to post of how this thing is mounted. I was making it out to be so much more complicated that it needed to be but in the end all it needed was brute force and some steel.


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## NautikaL

You just need to paint that nasty, white room







. Is this LC or AC by the way?


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/11559011
> 
> 
> You just need to paint that nasty, white room
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . Is this LC or AC by the way?



I was going to paint and then I remembered how much I suck at it! Plus it will take many coats to get it really dark and I want to sell this house one day and not have to worry about covering black down the road. My dad has offered to sew some curtains for me that I will hang wall to wall and ceiling to floor. Well, not totally to the floor but rather about 2-1/2 to 3' from the floor at which point I will have another fabric color covering insulated material to make a kind of wainscoting around the walls.


This is just an AC unit. I would love to find a nice LC down the road but until I figure out what I'm doing this AC will have to do.


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## dropzone7

Not much going on right now so I thought I would put the projector covers back on after my dad painted them. They have been sitting around for a few months and I figured it was time to see what they look like on. I noticed a while back that I forgot to take off the small louver piece near the front so that will be getting paint as well. We taped off the areas that have information about the projector so you can still see some of the old case color. I will remove the feet from the projector and may consider darkening the lens rings somehow. I think it came out pretty well. Much better than the ugly computer beige color.


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## NautikaL

Call me crazy, but I think the white on the lenses actually looks cool.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/11772852
> 
> 
> Call me crazy, but I think the white on the lenses actually looks cool.



Yeah, I guess it does create some contrast. Maybe I will leave those as is.


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## dropzone7

In other news...here is my Crescendo Systems transcoder with the HD Fury attached to it.










and my new Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver which does not want to play nice with the HD Fury.


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## NautikaL

Wow. We have essentially the same video setup. I have an XG-1100 with the RTC2000 and HDFury and am about to get a Wilsonart screen. When was your XG manufactured, and is it the 1100 or 1101? What are your sources?


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## dropzone7

I just checked the tag and it says it's an XG-1100 and was manufactured September 1996.


As for sources, right now I am just using my Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR cable box and a Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player. I am running everything at 1080i because I find that is what looks best so far. I have wires running everywhere and I'm still setting it all up. Everything will be moved into the closet at the back of the room once I get an AC outlet and cable line pulled in there.


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## NautikaL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/11773017
> 
> 
> I just checked the tag and it says it's an XG-1100 and was manufactured September 1996.
> 
> 
> As for sources, right now I am just using my Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR cable box and a Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD player. I am running everything at 1080i because I find that is what looks best so far. I have wires running everywhere and I'm still setting it all up. Everything will be moved into the closet at the back of the room once I get an AC outlet and cable line pulled in there.



Mine's manufactured July 1996, and I'm also using the HD-A2 player. Very cool!


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## dropzone7

If I could just get this receiver to output the HDMI sources through the HD-Fury I would be set. I just ordered a Monoprice HDMI switcher to put between the receiver and the Fury because a few people have had success doing that. Fingers crossed.


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## NautikaL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/11773104
> 
> 
> If I could just get this receiver to output the HDMI sources through the HD-Fury I would be set. I just ordered a Monoprice HDMI switcher to put between the receiver and the Fury because a few people have had success doing that. Fingers crossed.



I'm cheap







. I just switch the cables manually. I don't mind... less headaches anyways. It's not like my theater is a real HT room. It's just in a basement with all the equipment set on a table behind a couch. In my opinion, I'd rather spend 2500$ on audio and video than $1500 on the room and then 1000$ on audio and video.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/11773272
> 
> 
> I'm cheap
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . I just switch the cables manually. I don't mind... less headaches anyways. It's not like my theater is a real HT room. It's just in a basement with all the equipment set on a table behind a couch. In my opinion, I'd rather spend 2500$ on audio and video than $1500 on the room and then 1000$ on audio and video.



I heard that! They don't come much cheaper than me. I can't believe I spent what I did on this receiver and now it wont even do what I want it to. I am going to make DIY speaker stands for my front speakers and a DIY audio rack for the closet. I'm talking probably $75 for all of it when I'm done. The walls will get covered in black curtains or fabric and I will probably try some DIY acoustic panels. My room is just a converted bedroom. It's 13'x17' and I have a huge window right on the screen wall. The screen covers most of it but I still need to put something behind it to make it more stable and fill in the gap.


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## NautikaL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/11773319
> 
> 
> I heard that! They don't come much cheaper than me. I can't believe I spent what I did on this receiver and now it wont even do what I want it to. I am going to make DIY speaker stands for my front speakers and a DIY audio rack for the closet. I'm talking probably $75 for all of it when I'm done. The walls will get covered in black curtains or fabric and I will probably try some DIY acoustic panels. My room is just a converted bedroom. It's 13'x17' and I have a huge window right on the screen wall. The screen covers most of it but I still need to put something behind it to make it more stable and fill in the gap.



Ahhh isn't DIY just great? The white carpet in front of my screen is covered with like 10$ black fabric







. I'm not going to mess with acoustic panels though. I just have some basic JBL speakers with a Yamaha receiver. What about you?


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## dropzone7

Well, I have that Onkyo 705 receiver in the picture above and I have no speakers at all right now. I ordered Ascend Acoustics speakers and part of them are scheduled to deliver tomorrow. That will be my front left and right and center speakers. The surrounds should come about a week later. I'm doing a 5.1 setup to start with and may add two more surrounds later after my wallet cools off. The Ascend speakers will be my first set of nice speakers ever. My last ones were a brand called Dual and I paid $9 each for them at Circuit City on a day after Thanksgiving sale a few years ago. I got my speaker wire from Parts Express and will be running that this week. I bought a few pieces to start my speaker stands yesterday. Can you say PVC pipe and scrap wood?


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## kschmit2

try to eliminate the adapter plug and get an HDMI to DVI cable instead.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *kschmit2* /forum/post/11776337
> 
> 
> try to eliminate the adapter plug and get an HDMI to DVI cable instead.



Yep, already on it. I have one on order as well as a Monoprice HDMI switcher. I will try removing the adapter first. If that does not work then I will try the switcher. If that does not work then I may be returning the receiver.


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## greg_mitch




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/11776627
> 
> 
> Yep, already on it. I have one on order as well as a Monoprice HDMI switcher. I will try removing the adapter first. If that does not work then I will try the switcher. If that does not work then I may be returning the receiver.



I was just gonna say...the steps we take to get to a great picture are funny sometimes...the picture with the kimcoder is hilarious.


dvi/hdmi adapter > HD fury > kimcoder > rgbhv to projector!


Don't you envy the HDMI capable projectors just a little?


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## NautikaL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *greg_mitch* /forum/post/11785308
> 
> 
> I was just gonna say...the steps we take to get to a great picture are funny sometimes...the picture with the kimcoder is hilarious.
> 
> 
> dvi/hdmi adapter > HD fury > kimcoder > rgbhv to projector!
> 
> 
> Don't you envy the HDMI capable projectors just a little?




Die MPAA. Just die. HDCP... brilliant idea. Totally stops movie pirating too







.


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## greg_mitch

I have my cable box using the component input to my kimcoder and my xbox using the vga input on the kimcoder.


If I get a PS3 or BR player with HDMI and get an HDFURY I might need to add another level to this mess.


I am laughing as I ask this question but would a KVM switch with the xbox and the HDFURY then to my ISS be WAY too many things in the loop.


I guess if I get rid of my HTPC and just use the xbox I could get rid of the ISS and just use a vga-rgbhv cable to the projector...but still.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *greg_mitch* /forum/post/11808167
> 
> 
> I have my cable box using the component input to my kimcoder and my xbox using the vga input on the kimcoder.
> 
> 
> If I get a PS3 or BR player with HDMI and get an HDFURY I might need to add another level to this mess.
> 
> 
> I am laughing as I ask this question but would a KVM switch with the xbox and the HDFURY then to my ISS be WAY too many things in the loop.
> 
> 
> I guess if I get rid of my HTPC and just use the xbox I could get rid of the ISS and just use a vga-rgbhv cable to the projector...but still.



I don't think it would be too many things in the loop as long as all of the cables before the Fury are short. You would probably also need the power adapter for the Fury in case it is getting bogged down in that KVM switch. I was also running component in to my Kimcoder and then added the Fury to the VGA passthrough. It works just fine that way. The problem I am having is routing it all through my receiver. HDMI issues between the Fury and the receiver. I have a Monoprice HDMI switcher coming tomorrow that I really hope will fix this.


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## dropzone7

I thought I would post a few pictures of the speaker stands we put together for my new Ascend front speakers. These are for the left and right front channels. The center will need to be moved up a bit so something similar may be fabricated for it. This was a concept that my dad and I came up with. I was in Lowes looking in the plumbing section when I saw these 4" PVC cap ends. Well, it turns out that they make the perfect mate to a wood base and top with a section of PVC pipe in between. The stands are 31" tall from base to top and with the Ascend CBM-170SE speakers atop them it puts the tweaters at exactly 40" from the floor. This is just right for ear level seating in my room, or what will be ear level seating. The stands are painted with black automotive undercoating spray. This is the stuff that you spray in the wheel wells to protect from rust and it also helps to deaden sound to some degree. All I did was buy the caps and give them to my dad with the height measurement I wanted and he came up with these stands. I think they look great and the investment was just under $20 for the pair. We have some material left over so a short version for the center will probably be in the works. Oh yeah, the PVC tube is hollow of course so it can be filled with sand to provide more weight and sound absorption. The top platform and cap is removable to fill the tube with sand. The top is also covered with a thin layer of rubberized mat like you would find in the drawers of your toolbox. This is perfect to protect the base of the speakers. The base wood piece has four screws drilled through about 1/4" to help dig into the carpet for added stability. I can't imagine having spent more money and getting anything better.


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## dropzone7

Tonight we made a supporting structure for my Wilsonart DW screen. For the past few months it has been hanging by 2 Hercules Hooks! (insert infomercial here). Anyway, they supported the weight with no problem but did not keep the screen taught and free of sag. I had a unique problem in that I not only needed something to strengthen the laminate, I also needed something to span a large window opening and prevent the material from bowing backwards towards that open space. It's the worst possible place to have to hang a screen but it was my only option in this room. I have some picture listed here that kind of show what we did. My dad had the the idea to attach a 1x4 at each end of the laminate first. Then we hung the three cross members to span the window opening. The trick here being that we cut those pieces slightly longer than the measurement between our two screen boards. The logic being that this would put some tension at both ends and stretch the laminate in the middle to smooth out any slack in the material. I think it worked and I have a much more flat and level surface than before. Now I can redo my geometry and convergence! Joy! Next we will be hanging furring strips along the walls to attach fabric and prepare a header to cover that. Hopefully in the next day or two the room will look much different.






































Here we cut a few pieces of the peg board type material, but without holes. Very lightweight but just enough to cover the exposed parts of the windows top and bottom.





































The top and bottom light blocking panels will be covered with curtains and other fabrics to finish out the look of the screen wall. No light will be getting into this room anymore!


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## Herve

If I correctly understand what you are doing, it is really too bad to cover that window permanently. Have you considered making a swinging screen that, when not in use, could be swung up out of the way and "latched" to the ceiling?


The top of the screen frame would be hinged (piano hinge, maybe) at the ceiling.


For exact screen positioning from use to use, you could have velcro tabs mounted to fixed "benchmark" protrusions from the wall that match points on the screen's frame that also have velcro. That way, when the screen is swung down into its "in-service" postion, it would be located exactly where it was when initial pj calibration was done. (Alternatively, I suppose one could use small magnets instead of velco.)


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Herve* /forum/post/12166922
> 
> 
> If I correctly understand what you are doing, it is really too bad to cover that window permanently. Have you considered making a swinging screen that, when not in use, could be swung up out of the way and "latched" to the ceiling?
> 
> 
> The top of the screen frame would be hinged (piano hinge, maybe) at the ceiling.
> 
> 
> For exact screen positioning from use to use, you could have velcro tabs mounted to fixed "benchmark" protrusions from the wall that match points on the screen's frame that also have velcro. That way, when the screen is swung down into its "in-service" postion, it would be located exactly where it was when initial pj calibration was done. (Alternatively, I suppose one could use small magnets instead of velco.)



Yeah, I have seen that done but I really don't mind the window being covered. This will be a theater room only and I have no reason to open that window anyway. It would just be a matter of taking out maybe 4 screws to take the screen down if I had to. With all of the fabric, curtains, etc. I will have in front of it, the swinging screen would be kind of difficult to move back and forth. I can see where it would be a good idea for those that share their theater space with another function such as a bedroom or living room. This however, will be a man cave.


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## dropzone7

Making a little more progress Friday afternoon with the walls. What you see are 1x4 strips of poplar which we are using for furring strips. Fabric will be attached to the bottom rail and a pelmet or header will be attached to both the top and bottom rail, covering the top of the fabric and creating a decorative piece that will surround the room. We used 3" drywall screws to secure the 1x4's to the wall. The pieces are 8' long in most cases. When we were going to come up short using two 8' long pieces, we cut longer sections rather than have a really small block that might not hold screws well or find a stud.


The top rail is at 4" below the ceiling.




























The speaker brackets for the surrounds are going to be moved back a few feet as I think I placed them to far in front of the listening position. I am trying to keep seating as far back from the screen as possible since the room is not large yet the screen is.










Here is a look at the idea we had for the header design. It's the same material we covered the arched window with, cut into 12" high strips, 8' long. This stuff is just flexible enough to bend into a shape and still support itself. We test fit one piece just to see if it would work. There are short block pieces at the opposing corner to receive the end of the material. We pulled out on it just enough to create a bow in it. Place two screws through the header and into the furring strips. Bow the next section and place two more screws in the end.










Next we were experimenting a little with rope lights and decided that the top rail or furring strip would be a great place to hide a strip of rope light and create a kind of low level up and down lighting effect. You get the idea here what it might look like. These pieces will be painted before they go up and will most likely get some kind of design to make them look more like a flowing piece of filmstrip. Of course the fabric will be attached to the bottom rail before any of this goes up.


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## greg_mitch

That is an amazing idea. I love it! Keep the pictures coming.


If I were you I would fill in the window or make the screen removable, unless of course it will all be covered by the 'screen wall'.


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## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *greg_mitch* /forum/post/12182687
> 
> 
> That is an amazing idea. I love it! Keep the pictures coming.
> 
> 
> If I were you I would fill in the window or make the screen removable, unless of course it will all be covered by the 'screen wall'.



Thanks, I'm happy with the way it's turning out. The screen wall will be completely covered in a mix of fabric and curtains. None of what is there, except for the screen itself obviously, will be seen.


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## dropzone7

Did a little more this afternoon. It will be time to start hanging fabric hopefully tomorrow or one day this week. We moved the surround speaker brackets back probably 2 to 3 feet which is where I should have had them to begin with.










Next we hung all of the pelmet pieces the same way that they will be hung in their final positions. This was necessary to determine where the cuts needed to be made and how many cuts needed to be made in order to maintain a consistent wave in the material. The left wall as you walk into the room is 15' long. The right wall is 17' long.
































































After all of the pelmet pieces were up, we took them down and marked the back sides of all of them to identify their positions in the room, noting where seams come together, which end is up, etc. These will all be painted and some type of decorative design (yet to be determined) will be applied.


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## dropzone7

After seeing how nice the rope light looked when behind the top borders we decided to run it the length of both walls and rest it on the top rails. We used romex staples with plastic strips to hold the rope light in place. There are plenty of outlets on all walls to power these and the cords will all be hidden by the fabric once installed. We lit up both sides of the room with rope light and took a quick look at the projector powered up. Surprisingly, the picture was still very acceptable with that amount of light in the room. Once the pelmets are reinstalled the light will be focused more in an upward direction and will provide just the right amount of light.


----------



## dropzone7

I set everything on the projector back to "0" and normalized everything last night and began setup once again. Once I started a rough optical focus I noticed something on the blue. I could get decent focus everywhere with the exception of the lower left quarter of the screen. I do have blue defocus tracking turned "off" while doing the optical focus. The blue seems softer and less sharp than the other tubes anyway which I suppose is correct in order to maintain proper color balance. However, should the blue ever be able to be sharply focused like green and red? I turned contrast all the way up for the optical focus procedure but still have that less focused section. Is this something that could be corrected with Schiemflug (sp?)? I have set the rings to the recommended position for my screen size and mounting but I understand that sometimes these need to be tweaked in order to get better overall focus. I played around with the electronic focus controls a bit but they did not seem to have much affect on that problem area. Any suggestions?


----------



## NautikaL

How's your astig in that corner?


----------



## Curt Palme

Suggestion re: rope light.


I used to install/sell the stuff to clubs. Hopefully you've got the kind that can be cut and spliced with special connectors. A series of about 12-15 bulbs will die once one of the bulbs goes out, and some manufacturers allow you to cut out that series of rope and replace it with a good section.


Anyways, to greatly extend the life of the bulbs, put a large diode in series with the AC line. That will drop the voltage to about 70 volts and the lifespan of the rope will at least quadruple. Or, put them on a dimmer and preset the dimmer not to exceed 50-70% of full brightness. Trust me, you want to do this..


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/12267476
> 
> 
> How's your astig in that corner?



It looked okay I thought. Of course, like I said it is not as sharp and easy to see as red and green but the dots were round and I did not see a lot of flare. I was using the "H" pattern for focus and when I finished I played some of the DVE disc and the menu text was less sharp and focused in that lower left quadrant than the rest of the screen. This is with just the blue tube on.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Curt Palme* /forum/post/12267486
> 
> 
> Suggestion re: rope light.
> 
> 
> I used to install/sell the stuff to clubs. Hopefully you've got the kind that can be cut and spliced with special connectors. A series of about 12-15 bulbs will die once one of the bulbs goes out, and some manufacturers allow you to cut out that series of rope and replace it with a good section.
> 
> 
> Anyways, to greatly extend the life of the bulbs, put a large diode in series with the AC line. That will drop the voltage to about 70 volts and the lifespan of the rope will at least quadruple. Or, put them on a dimmer and preset the dimmer not to exceed 50-70% of full brightness. Trust me, you want to do this..



Thanks Curt, that's a good point. I did note on the instructions that this rope can be cut. I have a little remote dimmer hooked up to all of these that's good for about 300 watts. The total rope light load is only about 120 watts. It has four settings for dimming and I would imagine that the lowest setting is where these will be most of the time. I just plan on having them on during previews and such. Then it's lights out for the movie! Luckily, it wont be too difficult to get behind there and just replace a whole string of those rope lights if necessary.


----------



## NautikaL

Careful with dimmers being on the same circuit as the projector. Sometimes they introduce noise to the power line and from one thread I read, the XG doesn't have that great of power filtering.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/12271649
> 
> 
> Careful with dimmers being on the same circuit as the projector. Sometimes they introduce noise to the power line and from one thread I read, the XG doesn't have that great of power filtering.



Yeah, I thought about that early on. I have the XG on it's own outlet in the attic directly above the projector. That outlet is on a separate circuit breaker from everything else in the room as well. I pulled the outlet from a spare bedroom that does not get used much and has no high current loads connected.


What I'm concerned with at the moment is getting my geometry and convergence back to at least what it was before.


----------



## NautikaL




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/12267668
> 
> 
> It looked okay I thought. Of course, like I said it is not as sharp and easy to see as red and green but the dots were round and I did not see a lot of flare. I was using the "H" pattern for focus and when I finished I played some of the DVE disc and the menu text was less sharp and focused in that lower left quadrant than the rest of the screen. This is with just the blue tube on.



Look at it with different focus settings. Turn contrast to 100 and defocus to -90%. The core of the beam should be centered in the flare. Then turn focus to +100% and check that it is round. Also, watch the position of the dot as you go from -100% focus to +100% focus. If it moves, your astig is off. Don't forget to zero electronic astig before this though! From what I understand, you want to do astig basically the first step after you mount the projector since the astig magnets affect the raster centering magnets. I learned this the hard way







. See this picture from Curt's site:


----------



## Doug Baisey

Drop,

Redo the blue outside lens focus and see if it helps. Blue is tuff to see but balance the sides then redo edge and corner. Doug


----------



## dropzone7

Crap, Jeff thanks for giving me yet one more thing to do! After my experience with the PG units I'm kind of afraid to touch astig on this XG. I won't have time to fix it by the weekend if I screw it up really bad. I may save this for a rainy day. I'm sure you are correct that it needs attention though. I will see if I can get some decent pictures of my current astig for your evaluation.


----------



## NautikaL

It's not that big of a deal to do. Just mark the spot on the screen where the center of the crosshair hits. Then adjust the astig magnets, which should only take around an hour at the most. When you're done, just center the raster by moving it back to that original center spot (looking at the screen). I THINK this works, since astig affects the centering magnets, but Doug or someone else please correct me if I'm wrong. But if it works, then this makes it far easier to recenter the raster. On the other hand, the astig magnets somehow affect image shift or phase....










You really need to get astig right before you do convergence, focusing, and all that good stuff, or else you're just wasting your time







.


----------



## Doug Baisey

Nautikal is pretty much correct. Moving raster centering will move astig core a bit. Moving astig will move raster centering a bit. Start with static at 0.


Dropzone if your stressing save it for later when you have more time. Doug


----------



## dropzone7

Jeff and Doug, thanks for the pointers on astig. I think I will wait until after my little get together to try that. I was up doing geometry and convergence until midnight last night. I could not hold my eyes open any longer. Doug, I can say without reservation that you and the other guys that do this for a living are worth every penny. Hopefully one day I can have someone set this thing up in a way that truly does it justice. Until then...I will keep squinting at the screen and pushing buttons in the dark.


----------



## dropzone7

Well, continuing with the room dressing I am posting a few pictures of the curtains we made to cover my ugly white walls. I started out thinking I was only going to cover the side walls but it turns out I had plenty of fabric to frame out the screen wall as well.


I bought 35 yards of soft suede in ebony from Fabric.com. Highly recommend them as they were very quick to ship and your first order ships for $2.99! In this shot we had been through about half of the fabric.










The first piece goes up on the wall. Starting at the front left corner and working back. At this point we were not even thinking about the screen wall because I was not sure I had enough fabric. I was not sure how much fabric would be used to achieve the pleating effect I was hoping for. This fabric as with most was 54" wide. I had figured at worst case I would get panels at 30" wide after pleating. Luckily, it ended up being more like 42" wide after pleating. Therefore, the walls got covered with fewer panels than originally anticipated and I knew after the first wall went up that there would be extra fabric. Sweet.










You can see here how the panels went up. We attached the fabric to the same 1x2 pine strips we had been using for the pelmet frame. The original plan was to attempt to staple the fabric directly to the bottom rail. This would have meant a lot of climbing up and down the ladder and an awkward position for stapling. Instead we did all of this on tables at waist level and then secured the panel directly above the bottom rail. This also provided some extra height to the top edge of the fabric and will do a better job of hiding things underneath the pelmet header pieces.










Here you can see the top edge where the fabric panels were attached to the 1x2 pine strips. The edges of the fabric were ragged from making cuts but all of this is hidden anyway.










Now this stuff is just too cool. I don't own a sewing machine and I did not plan on buying one for this project. For about $2 a roll I found this hemming tape which is basically double sided tape for fabric. Worked like a charm for hemming the bottom edge of the fabric to the correct length and to hide the frayed end of the fabric.


----------



## dropzone7

Here is a shot of a complete wall but before doing any side hemming. The material falls so well that you really don't notice the breaks from side to side. I was pleased that we were able to achieve the pleated effect all the way across the wall.










The other wall almost finished.










Both side walls are pretty much complete at this point and we begin to think about covering the screen wall.










Here is the first screen wall corner panel. Same principal as the others except that the wood strips and fabric panels are shorter. Pleats are closer together but continue in the same direction as each opposing wall.










Here is the other side. Now to fill in the gaps with a top and bottom panel.










A view from the rear of the room shows that things are really starting to take shape. It was interesting to note the changes in sound and lighting as we went along. I have no acoustical treatments of any kind in this room and it was just an extra bedroom so not ideally isolated or treated. However, we noticed a distinct softening and deadening right away as the fabric began to soak up reflections of both light and sound. It got more and more difficult to see in there!










Here we are with the top panel hung and framing of the screen is almost complete. I was very glad that we had enough fabric to cover these areas as I would have had to buy actual curtains and probably would not have been able to achieve the same look.










Here we have the bottom panel secured and it's pretty much finished! I will get more pictures once all of the junk is out of the room and the pelmet header pieces are attached above the curtains. This stage of the project took all day Saturday and a few hours on Sunday to complete. Once we figured out the pleat spacing and how to maintain the consistent look everything went pretty smoothly. The most time consuming parts were cutting the fabric and stapling it to the wood strips. If I had this to do over again I would get a larger working surface as my two tables were just not wide enough to roll out a 54" wide bolt of fabric and really spread things out. We worked around it but it would have saved time had we not had to handle the fabric so much. A few things for those that might consider doing something like this. An electric stapler is a life saver and was $30 well spent! The hemming tape is inexpensive and works really well for projects like this. Walmart had it in their craft section for about $2 for a roll of 60 yards. We ended up using about 4 rolls. Fabric pencils! We did not have one and just made do with a marker which did not do a good job of marking the fabric. About half way through we found a piece of chalk and this worked better. Next time I would pick up a few fabric pencils and save a lot of time and headaches. The staples we used were T50 3/8" which was perfect for securing the fabric and getting just the right depth into the wood.










I think that's about it. The next pictures should be of the completed room!


----------



## larrykelly

It looks great so far. It will be interesting to hear your opinion on the change in picture now with the room treatment. On thing you may want to address with sound is the fact that with all of that fabric on the walls it will cut medium and high freq. quite well but may leave alot of problems with boomy bass, standing waves, and just a muddied sound overall in the low end. I am helping my son build his control room and isolation booth for his recording studio and when we applyed the foam treatment on the walls it seemed to be working but the bass started sounding bad before we started putting bass traps in the corners. If you have this problem I can post an easy and inexpensive way to build a bass trap. We are in the process of building a set and if I can borrow a camera, (my only camera is being repaired), I will be able to take pics. of the progress.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *larrykelly* /forum/post/12278545
> 
> 
> It looks great so far. It will be interesting to hear your opinion on the change in picture now with the room treatment. On thing you may want to address with sound is the fact that with all of that fabric on the walls it will cut medium and high freq. quite well but may leave alot of problems with boomy bass, standing waves, and just a muddied sound overall in the low end. I am helping my son build his control room and isolation booth for his recording studio and when we applyed the foam treatment on the walls it seemed to be working but the bass started sounding bad before we started putting bass traps in the corners. If you have this problem I can post an easy and inexpensive way to build a bass trap. We are in the process of building a set and if I can borrow a camera, (my only camera is being repaired), I will be able to take pics. of the progress.



Thanks Larry, I would be interested in that bass trap idea when you get the time. As for the picture, I am also in the process of redoing my setup and convergence of the projector but I can already tell that the perceived contrast is just so much better having that dark fabric all around the screen. It just really makes things pop so much more. I still have to run the setup on my receiver once I move the speakers back into the room so I'm not sure what kind of issues I will have but I suspect you are correct about the overbearing bass I will probably notice. Luckily, there is room in the corners for traps if it comes to that.


----------



## NautikaL

Wow that looks very nice! I wonder if you could somehow attach the curtains on the bottom and top of the screen to notches for easy masking. Hmmmm....


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/12279936
> 
> 
> Wow that looks very nice! I wonder if you could somehow attach the curtains on the bottom and top of the screen to notches for easy masking. Hmmmm....



Yeah, that would be nice and I will probably work on something like that in a few weeks. Right now I'm just trying to get the room workable for Saturday because family will be coming over for my birthday. My fiancee has planned a movie themed party for me so I have been under the gun to make this look like something.


----------



## dropzone7

Here are some pictures of the room after everything was hung and ready to go. I still have more plans for the header pieces and the room in general.










Flash off, overhead track lighting and rope lights all on.










I really like the rope light and how the light follows the shape of the header on the ceiling and beneath.










Other side. A few more blocks to fill in as well as some paint touch up on the screws.










From the back of my little room. I hope to upgrade seating in the future.










The DIY speaker stands are one of my favorite items in the room. Adding sand to the PVC tubes really made them solid.


----------



## g-man5.1

Looks very nice. Great job.


----------



## Fellenz

That looks very nice, do you mind if I ask how much the fabric cost.


Thanks,


Erik


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Fellenz* /forum/post/12333754
> 
> 
> That looks very nice, do you mind if I ask how much the fabric cost.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> Erik



It was about $176 for 35 yards and I had a few yards left over to do things like wrap that little center channel stand. Shipping was just $2.99 for my first order so I took advantage of that. Fabric.com is in Georgia so I received it in 2 days.


----------



## overclkr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/12334602
> 
> 
> It was about $176 for 35 yards and I had a few yards left over to do things like wrap that little center channel stand. Shipping was just $2.99 for my first order so I took advantage of that. Fabric.com is in Georgia so I received it in 2 days.



Dude, that room is AWESOME. LOVE IT!!!!!


You should build some accoustic panels to put behind the curtains for sound treatments. VERY NICE ROOM!


Cliff


----------



## AnalogRocks

Lookin' good. Are you planing on darkening the celing in anyway?


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *overclkr* /forum/post/12343140
> 
> 
> Dude, that room is AWESOME. LOVE IT!!!!!
> 
> 
> You should build some accoustic panels to put behind the curtains for sound treatments. VERY NICE ROOM!
> 
> 
> Cliff



Thanks Big Dog! Now if I could just stumble across a G90 I would be set!







Acoustic panels are my next project as soon as I can find a local source for Owens Corning 703 or something similar.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *AnalogRocks* /forum/post/12343689
> 
> 
> Lookin' good. Are you planing on darkening the celing in anyway?



Yeah, it needs something doesn't it. Perhaps some panels suspended from the ceiling would tone down that nasty white.


----------



## NautikaL

So how are things coming along?


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *NautikaL* /forum/post/12626849
> 
> 
> So how are things coming along?



Well, I'm pretty much done for now. I got a little refrigerator for Christmas and a Harmony 880 remote. Now we can have cold beer upstairs without having to leave the movie! I plugged up the remote and charged it but have not had a chance to set it up yet. I got several HD DVD's also that I need to crack open. I thought I was going to buy a new subwoofer a few days ago but the post holiday money situation made me think twice...


----------



## dropzone7

Cleaned up all of the Christmas decorations and mess today. We made a gingerbread house about a month ago and it's been a table center piece during December. Today I decided to give it a glorious death. It's amazing how resilient this little bastard was. I had to punch a small hole in the back wall and stuff it with napkins. Then I set those on fire and eventually the inside got hot enough to crack it open and it really started to burn then. I took a few pictures before it was totally consumed. By the time I took these the walls were already collapsing from the heat and flames and the roof started to crack open.


----------



## overclkr

Ahhh, reminds me of the little pyro in me!!!!!










Cliffy


----------



## dropzone7

A few screenshots I took last night. I am still trying to figure out my camera but after some trial and error I felt that these most accurately represent what I am actually seeing. Aside from being a little out of focus in the pictures they look close.


----------



## JustGreg

This was probably the most fun I've had reading a post in a long long time. You and your dad applied some very nice innovative touches that are truly one of a kind.

I hope you don't mind but I'm going to steal your idea for the rope lights and film panels. Who did all the artwork on those?


As for the ceiling, Parts Express (and I'm sure a zillion other distributors) has 12x12 ribbed acoustic panels. I THINK there's something like 16 in a box. A dab of silicone on each corner will hold them up and you'll be able to get them down without ripping holes in the ceiling.


Very, VERY nice! The screenshots look great too BTW.










Greg


----------



## dropzone7

Greg, thanks so much for the kind words! It really was fun working on the room and I think my dad and I were kind of sad to see it done in a way. However, your suggestion about the acoustic tiles has got me thinking...that's a great idea and I will certainly look into it. I love Parts Express and have bought a ton from them already. By all means, take anything you can from what I have done and I hope you can make it work in your room. That was the whole point of me posting the pictures was in hopes that someone might be inspired or become interested. My girlfriend (now wife as of two weeks ago) did all of the painting of the film panels. We actually plan to go back and touch up the screw holes and also add some kind of embellishment to the joints where the pieces come together. I actually needed a little kick in the rear to get working on the room again so thanks a ton for the compliments AND the idea!


----------



## dropzone7

Well, I did a lot of tinkering this weekend and it paid off. I had this lingering green focus problem on the far right of the screen. Did optical focus and electronic focus over and over again. Worked on convergence and really helped things out there. Then I checked green astig and that solved my focus problem. The edge adjustment on the right side of the screen was pretty far off and tweaking astig there made a huge difference. I'm seeing the best video image I have ever squeaked out of this projector and I love it. I know it's not perfect, I know it needs more work but dam does it look good to me. I will try to get some more screenshots posted soon.


----------



## overclkr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/13074424
> 
> 
> I will try to get some more screenshots posted soon.



Get your ass to work! I'm tired of posting all of these damn screenshots all the time!










Cliffy


----------



## dropzone7

Okay, so my camera skills still suck but here are a few from the DTS Demo.


----------



## CaspianM

Looking good!


----------



## dropzone7

So, just thinking out loud here and have posed the question over at Curt's forum as well. I'm picking up an XG852 locally which has a toasted green tube but appears to be in good shape otherwise. I think I understand that that 852 is considered a little nicer model than the 110 that I currently have. Along the lines of the PGXtra as compared to the PG or PG+. So, I'm thinking of taking the 110 down and changing my good green from that unit into the 852. Is there any reason why I should NOT do this? Am I asking for trouble and is it going to mean that I have to perform white balance procedures and astig on the 852 after the tube swap? I removed all three tubes from my plain PG over the weekend so I have a little experience with the removal part now. It's placing the magnetics back on the new(used) tube that concerns me and what kind of work I will be making for myself.


----------



## greg_mitch

I didn't think the 852 was regarded as any better. From Curts website the 110 has a higher Horiz scan rate up to 110 while the 852 only goes to 85. It also has a higher listed max resolution.


I thought the main advantage it has over the 110 was component inputs. Might be wrong though...


If you have things all setup I wouldn't worry about swapping, although it isn't hard to do.


Nice looking theater again BTW.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *greg_mitch* /forum/post/13192041
> 
> 
> I didn't think the 852 was regarded as any better. From Curts website the 110 has a higher Horiz scan rate up to 110 while the 852 only goes to 85. It also has a higher listed max resolution.
> 
> 
> I thought the main advantage it has over the 110 was component inputs. Might be wrong though...
> 
> 
> If you have things all setup I wouldn't worry about swapping, although it isn't hard to do.
> 
> 
> Nice looking theater again BTW.



That's exactly what I was thinking but I asked this question over at Curt's site and the few that have responded say that the 852 was a late model and included component inputs as you say in addition to the MCAT feature which allows a very quick convergence of red and blue once green is manually set for proper geometry. All in all, probably not much different in the sets but it is 3 years newer than mine and I would be interested in seeing how the MCAT feature works. I'm just worried about getting the green tubes swapped out correctly. I know I can do physical swap but I'm afraid of having to do mechanical astig on the green. I'm not sure if it would make a difference if I just swapped the tubes with all coils and magnets intact or not? Thanks for the compliment by the way, I need to do some more in that little room but it's just hard to find the time.


----------



## dropzone7

Just experimenting with cropping my shots.


----------



## MikeEby

Nice shots!


Mike


----------



## dropzone7

As of today I have done a tube swap from my XG-110 to my newly acquired XG-852. The 852 is now hanging on the ceiling. I transferred the case pieces as well for now but may paint the 852's case as well. Just to prevent confusion (mostly myself) I am going to start a new thread about the 852 but will have a link in my signature back to this thread as this is where it all began for me with the XG series of projector. I'm hoping that the 852 will be an improvement and will aid in better convergence as well as now firing off with three minty tubes.


----------



## kschmit2

Make sure to try MCAT










Kai


----------



## dropzone7

My saga with the XG projectors continues here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1027039 



Thanks to everyone for all of the great help!


----------



## markeetaux

I don't know if that all that as a pilot, but a woman with as much interest and knowledge

of HT as you. It's downright exciting. By the way, are you entertaining marriage proposals?


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *markeetaux* /forum/post/16708580
> 
> 
> I don't know if that all that as a pilot, but a woman with as much interest and knowledge
> 
> of HT as you. It's downright exciting. By the way, are you entertaining marriage proposals?










Sorry to burst your bubble but "she" is married. The picture is actually my wife but she is flattered by your kind words.







As for HT she tolerates my hobby pretty well as long as I don't get out of control with the volume!


----------



## markeetaux

Oh! That sounds very familar, as a matter of fact, that's exactly my situation. I don't

get it, she loves watching movies and she really loves music videos because of my audio gear.

But if I mention that we need something to enhance the experience, I'm reduced to becoming

a lobbyist. Good luck dropzone, I withdraw my marriage proposal.


----------



## Curt Palme

It doesn't change, does it? One tiny pix of a woman in this forum, and the guys are all over it.


Markeetaux, too bad you weren't here when Rhonda was.


----------



## dropzone7




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *Curt Palme* /forum/post/16718300
> 
> 
> It doesn't change, does it? One tiny pix of a woman in this forum, and the guys are all over it.
> 
> 
> Markeetaux, too bad you weren't here when Rhonda was.



Yo Curt!







Are you going to make it to the Virginia BBQ/CRT meet this October?


----------



## dropzone7

The theater goes dark tonight so I can change the red tube and install a new Elite fixed-frame screen. Fingers crossed that all goes as planned. The wife is out of town for two weeks so I was hoping to get in some movie time with obnoxiously loud volumes and such. Hopefully this wont take me too long...


----------



## nashou66




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/16942431
> 
> 
> The theater goes dark tonight so I can change the red tube and install a new Elite fixed-frame screen. Fingers crossed that all goes as planned. The wife is out of town for two weeks so I was hoping to get in some movie time with obnoxiously loud volumes and such. Hopefully this wont take me too long...



Good luck!!! I hope it goes smooth and you have no issues. Enjoy your 2 week holiday!!! PARTY!!!!!


Athanasios


----------



## dropzone7

Haven't had a lot of time to work on things but I did get the projector pulled down last night and the red tube changed out. I was able to get the CPC magnets pretty close to where they were before so maybe I will be spared doing this adjustment. I let the unit run for an hour or so last night and all seems fine so far. I pulled down my laminate screen and all of the supporting structure I had behind it. It's been almost two years since I saw that window behind there! Tonight I will probably get the new screen assembled and hung on the wall but I have to find something to fill that window area in. I'm getting a lot of light through there even with the plantation blinds closed. I don't want the sun baking on the back of the new screen and I certainly can't have any daylight spilling through into the room.


For those that haven't read the beginning of the thread, here is what I started out with and what I'm back too, minus that 1x4 across the window. Everything that was covering the window is removed now. The black fabric bordering the screen area is still there, just not shown in this old picture. Any ideas what I might use to fill in or cover the window while still maintaining a flat surface for the new screen?


----------



## dropzone7

I just realized it's been almost three months since I posted to this thread. Things that have changed:

1.Replaced the screen with an Elite Fixed Frame 120".

2.Replaced the red tube in the projector.

3.Filled in the window area behind the new screen with better insulation and fabric to totally block light from outside.

4.Replaced my Panasonic BD-30 Blu Ray player with the Oppo BDP-83 (awesome machine by the way.)

5.Last but certainly not least, I had Ken Whitcomb here in September to do a calibration on the projector! Thanks to Ken I'm really making the most of the XG now.


I'm also working on a new project with the WDTV Live media player. I have had it for about 2 weeks and while it has it's issues I really like what it can do. I can't decide if I'm going to keep it or go for the upcoming Dune BD Prime player.


----------



## Prehjan

Dropzone


The colors are so vibrant and it seems that for a rough setup you are doing great.


Keep it up and...nice job!!!


Martin


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## dropzone7

Oh, I need to take some more recent screenshots since Ken has been here. Not that pictures can do it justice but it looks much better to me in person.


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## overclkr




> Quote:
> Originally Posted by *dropzone7* /forum/post/17476166
> 
> 
> Oh, I need to take some more recent screenshots since Ken has been here. Not that pictures can do it justice but it looks much better to me in person.



You sir have been blessed by the man that can do no other..... The legend......


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