talbs

IanD, is this still available? Interest in player without discs only.

Also have a HD-A1. Purchased from an E-bay vender. Arrived within 3 days. No problems. Only problem is lack of software. Only one disc has arrived to date to play on my new Pearl.

Just visited JB to see if any Panasonic S97's around. Noticed new Pioneer DVD's instock with HDMI replacing DV -686A & DV-383. Any news on the ability of the DV-686A replacement? As well as HDMI still has DVD A and SACD for what they are worth. It looks like it is the DV-696AV-K. Not on the Australian Pioneer site yet. HDMI output with Video Scaler (720p/1080i) 49.5mm Slim Design DVD-Audio & SACD Universal Playback High Quality 192khz/24-bit Audio DAC Dual Pure Cinema Progressive Scan Quality 108Mhz/12-bit Video DAC JPEG/WMA/MP3 Playback RW Compatible DivX Ultra Playback with Subtitle Coaxial Digital output

Just got lucky - Picked up a DVICO dual from HN for $199 (I guess they put the wrong price code on it, had three, one marked at $325, another at $295 and one at $199). This is my third digital PCI card - I have another DVICO plus, and a vision plus. Had no problems running the card with the 3.40beta drivers.

Back to my 400Q, condition is largely unchanged. Save for cleaning its dust filter it has never been professionally cleaned. About 18 months in it developed two dead pixels, right next to each other in the top left corner. Initially they seemed obvious to me but from time to time they turn back on (probable as the projector has two transistors to drive each pixel) and to be honest I havent noticed them for some time. I have had no problems with dust blobs, and any variations in uniformity across the picture over time have been so small as to not be noticed. There has always been a slight colour shift from right to left but this is only ever evident in B & W films. Both side extremes of the picture have a slight tendancy to blue when the projector is attempting to project black, that is probably more extreme if the unit is hot. However, this is not new. As the globe loses strenght the picture looses punch, however, this has had the advantage of increasing the perceived black levels and reducing the obviousness of any uniformity issues. The fan, well it still is as load as ever! Those early Vidikrons and Sharpvision's must have been loud! All in all I would have to say it is save two pixels the same machine that I lifted from its box 7 years ago.

Mojo-man, I purchased my sub 400CR vacuum cleaner with lamp attached to it Sony W400 in May 1998 for around $6500. At the time it was the only 16x9 lcd panel projector on the market, was affordable and was a great match for DVD which at the time I was from the US. Sure the projector was never perfect (none of them are) but my one seems to have escaped some of the greater variations between models that were commonly reported at the time. At the time I was active on the Big Picture forum and had email assistance from people such as Bill Cushman (reviews for Perfect Vision and past owner of 400) in setting the projector up. Since 1999 I began experimenting with the use of HTPC's to drive the 400Q in order to take advantage of the increased colour bandwidth provided by the use of the Sony's 1125/60 HDTV input. The Sony using a HTPC running Theatertek, ffdshow upconverted to 1920x1080i into the Sony's HDTV input has enabled me to continue to use this projector to the current day. The difference in color and sharpness using the HTPC over my set top player is not even close. (there is no way I would still be using this player today but for the HTPC as without the picture is no longer up to acceptable levels given the new breed of (even cheap) projectors) I consider I have got every last ounce of performance from the projector and then some! Notwithstanding this history I had a great laugh about the "vacuum cleaner with lamp attached" reference. Mojo is right about that. I also agree that it is now worthless and I am not surprised it did not sell on e-bay ($1200 - what was the seller thinking?) But I have got 7 years faithful service for my $6500, and had lots of fun pushing the boundaries of its capabilities to boot. Yes I have been tempted since. By the VPL 10 in 2000, the 12 and more recently by the HS 20, as well as the more expensive 1280x720 DLP's. I have had friends buy a HS 10 , and relations recently a Pana AE700, so I can get comparisons with the new and the old. Clearly the new are better on all fronts (save reliability?), but mine is still watchable and I have saved plenty over the years. I imagine 2006 will finally see the 400 retired. What to buy? At present it would be a Sony HS 50/51. If I had the Money maybe a Sharp 12000 or the new Marantz. I guess my tastes are more in the $5K plus than under $3K range. Whatever it turns out to be, I doubt that I will get another 7 years from it. We will see!

"All Australian content is broadcast at 25 / 50 fps attempting to output it at 30 / 60 will look, feel and be hideous beyond belief Are you currently outputting NTSC or PAL DVD's ? " I am aware of this, but my projector that pre-dates Aust standard HDTV only provides support for the US resolutions. Anyway, while I have a preference for NTSC DVD's for this reason PAL DVD's do not look feel and be hideous beyond belief! All I want to know is if it will output it. Yes, I meant DigiVision. My mistake! As you would know Theatertek has a great yxy type built in resize function. It would be great if this functionality could be added to the software in due course for those of us using custom resolutions through VGA out to component inputs. Any response on my 4th question? Stephen

I am looking to purchase the Vision Plus Card. Just a few questions. Currently I use Theatertek to play DVD's. I run windows at 1920 x 1080i at 30mhz to a Sony W400Q 16x9 projector using a vga to component converter. I then use theatertek's resize function to get rid of overscan ie set to around 1800 x 960. The Sony projector has to be sent a US HD resolution to accept the signal (ie above or 1920 x 540P at 60mhz.) It does not sync at 50hz. I intend to keep using Theatertek. 1. Will DigiTV co-exist with theatretek, and not stuff up stable theatertek (where I use ffdshow and reclock)? 2. Will DigiTV output Aust HD picture on projector using 1920 x 1080i 30hz output (or 1920 x 540P at 60hz output)? 3. Does DigiTV have inbuilt resize function like theatertek, or would I need to use yxy? If need yxy is built in support planned in future? 4. Finally, registration of DigiTV is said to be linked to MAC address of registered PCI card. I Understand licence is only for the registered card, however, does anyone know if the licence will work when card moved between two machines. ie. I would intend to trial the card and software in one machine, and then move it to my HTPC. Stephen