Sony Everything You Need to Know About the G90 Projector
Page 76

to accommodate the three lens assemblies and input connec-

tors, and then slopes gently downward toward the rear. There

are no handles or other means for lifting the projector so it

can be quite awkward when lifting to a ceiling mount position.

The three lens assemblies are recessed into the case with

just their rims exposed on the front bezel. The entire top

cover is hinged at the rear and swings open to mechanically

aim and focus the CRT-lens assemblies. All input connectors,

the power switch and line-cord receptacle reside on the front

panel, slightly recessed from the lens bezel. When the projec-

tor is ceiling mounted all of the connectors are above the lens-

es, which keeps cables out of the way. A remote control jack

is provided that can be used with one of two supplied cords

(13’ and 52’) to save batteries during long calibration sessions.

Two IR remotes are provided, one for installation and

another for user operation. The installation remote contains

dedicated keys for almost all calibration functions to avoid

going through the on-screen menus. The remote is backlit for

working in the dark. The smaller user remote runs only on

batteries and is not backlit.

The rear panel contains status lights, a two-digit diagnos-

tic display, and a small collection of keys for navigating the

on-screen menus. The latter need never be used since set-up

and operation is more easily done from the remote control.

Inputs/Outputs

BNC connectors are provided for RGB and sync inputs. Com-

posite or separate H and V sync, as well as sync-on-green can

be used. Composite and S-Video inputs are provided using an

unusual 15-pin D-connector. A short breakout cable is includ-

ed to provide a standard mini-DIN jack for the S-Video and a

BNC jack for composite video. These inputs are compatible

with NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. Curtain control switching is

provided via DC voltages on another D-connector.

There are no YPbPr component video inputs. Line dou-

blers and other video upconverters provide RGB outputs. But

some HDTV set-top boxes provide only YPbPr outputs (Pana-

sonic, Pioneer), while others provide RGB outputs (Sony,

RCA) or both. This is a common limitation of a large installed

based of projectors, so hopefully future set-top boxes will be

designed with both RGB and YPbPr outputs to maximize their

market opportunities.

Installation and Set-up

A professional installer should always be used for mounting

projectors on ceilings. Projectors are heavy, and proper

mounting is a safety and performance issue. Furthermore, a

professional calibrator must be used to do the initial

set-up.This requires mechanical adjustments inside the pro-

jector where there are lethal voltages that remain present

even when the projector is unplugged, which again is both

a safety and performance issue.

The projector used for this review was mounted on the

ceiling and an 89-inch wide, 1.85:1 Stewart Filmscreen was

used for display. As with all CRT projectors, the correct dis-

tance and height relative to the screen must be set correctly.

The distance from the screen to the lens for the DTV-930 must

be 1.33 times the screen width when using multi-aspect-ratio

widescreens. Runco has superb technical phone support and

should be consulted to find out the exact height and distance

dimensions you would need for any screen size and one of

their projectors. A professional installer should mount the

projector and do the mechanical adjustments,

which consist of setting two knobs on each lens

assembly for the correct projection angle and

screen size, aiming the CRT-lens assemblies to

converge at center screen, and adjusting focus

rings for best center and edge focus for each

CRT. From that point, all other calibration is performed elec-

tronically using the remote control.

The grayscale color-temperature must always be calibrated

by a professional using a color analyzer. Don’t avoid this step,

and make certain your calibrator has a color analyzer. The

color accuracy of this projector is excellent, but it depends, like

all display devices, on an accurate grayscale adjustment that

can only be done using sophisticated test equipment. The pro-

fessional calibrator should also ensure that all set-up adjust-

ments are individually optimized for multiple aspect ratios and

different sources. This projector is remarkably stable and

touch-ups are required infrequently after an initial burn-in and

calibration period of six months or so.

Built-in test patterns consist of cross-hair, focus, white-

window, and multiple cross-hatch and dot patterns. When a

projector has electronic remote-control adjustments for geom-

etry, convergence and focus, as this one does, I encourage

enthusiasts to learn to do these adjustments. Part of the fun of

projector ownership can be tweaking the picture to optimize

the image quality. But don’t alter the grayscale adjustments or

you will need a professional to put it right again.

An excellent array of adjustments is provided to optimize

geometry and convergence. Each CRT has tilt, skew, ampli-

tude, linearity, pin-cushion, and keystone adjustments for

both vertical and horizontal axis with separate control over

the top, bottom, left and right picture edges as required. Elec-

tronic focus is included for each CRT with adjustments for

center, top, bottom, left and right sides. But the user should

not readjust the blue focus, which will alter the color balance.

In addition there are astigmatism controls with two-pole

adjustments for 8 different areas of the screen. It is time con-

suming, but with effort you will be rewarded with a fine spot

size uniformly over the entire screen.

I found all the adjustments easy to make and logically

organized. There is also a contextual help button on the

remote control that brings up one or more text screens

describing the function and usage of the current adjustment.

I think many users will be quite comfortable in tweaking these

adjustments to keep the alignment in pristine condition.

There is even a function that automatically guides a novice

user through the calibration adjustments in order, a step at a

time. Once all parameters are adjusted for best performance

the point convergence option is remarkably quick and easy to

use. By moving a cursor on a 16x13 grid you can adjust for vir-

tually perfect convergence over the entire screen, which is

always critical for the best picture, but crucial for HDTV. Be

sure you get the point convergence option.

Operating Functions

This is one of the easiest projectors to use. There are 100

video memories that store individual picture formats includ-

ing the input source and all display parameters. Each memo-

ry includes the source scan-rate, display aspect-ratio, and a

complete set of calibration values for that picture format.

Each memory can be individually named by the user, such as

“16.9 DVD” with up to eight characters. The first 10 picture

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Contents Sony G90 Size Does Matter Ingly just beyond reach Than ever we needed in strange, dark cavesExperience before he finds a little of It Sound and vision at the same time every timeKubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut HP Bergman’s The Seventh Seal DVDFollies & Frolics Barco Vision WatchEditors will respond next issue Can All That Counts Be Counted? a Forum BeginsII Janet’s Index EditorTargeting 14-Year-Old Boys? Problem with DVD Digital ArtifactsIf The Perfect Vision is to push At all. So it doesn’t take Hdtv or Down Primrose Path Toward Perfect Vision Forever?Azine Widescreen Review perhaps? What Not To See on DVD Digital Cinema The Good Bad of ItJohn Eargle Lossy Data Compression & DVD Sound TV Is TVI L L E R Series such as Star Trek The Next Generation . EachDVDs Gaining Momentum Movie TriviaE G S I C & M U L T I M E D I a E G S a N D O WViaTV VC 105 Videophone Panasonic DVD-L50D PalmTheaterM M a R T I N R R Y R a W L I N S O N EncounteredInfocomm World of displays Significant New Products and TrendsReport To recreate the theater experience in the home Ogy near its limit and its days are numbered. The displayLight projected on the screen. These considerations have Tunately, there are trade-offs for the small size of ultraAn Ideal Cinema? Real movie where there was none before, or at least Ometimes I think that every position on aMoviemaking crew comes with its special privi Leges, its perks, as it were. If you’re the script superOne way or another when it comes to working with Ity between when they are and whenAssistant directors, service people, FootageCertainly a serviceable way to edit MoviesLikely to get you Directors seem to trust me to use my Into any troubleAllowing for camera setups, lighting, and rig Takes and setups meaning the masterIt’s a funny thing about matching in editing. Most lay Enjoy prelaps to pull the narrativeSion? In Understanding Media, McCluhan Sonic Flavors To Slake Every Thirst Lexicon MC-1 ControllerR L E Y Lexicon’s Music Surround Modes Logic 7 Digital Signal Processing for Movies and MusicListening to Movies Listening To Music Surround Conclusion Ing the Denon Anechoic Orchestral Music Recording CDControllers Surround Decoding and Digital Signal Processing DSP Two-Channel Bypass ModeDSP and the Future-Proof Controller THX-Certified Controllers Bass ManagementHigh-Resolution Digital Audio …the controller representsRadical new path to Future…After DSP Digital to Analog Conversion InterFacing the UserRevel Ultima Speakers From 2 to 7.1 Channels Episode One The Ancient EnemyMeet My Enemy M M I I L L E RDeploying the Troops RPG Room Optimizer Software 59 byRevel Ultima Salon Noble Warrior Start and go get a beer, or twoYou wanted to cross over your subwoofer at 40 Hz Tion coefficient for the surfaces that is comparable toOur noble warrior against the ancient enemy Likewise for the 15-inch woofer in the Sub-15Essary to achieve the Revel design team’s led by Kevin Research effort to quantify in-room speaker behaviorDirect radiator to bloated. The Salon’s soundstage com By Keith Johnson for Reference RecordingsNal processing in controllers hadn’t made subwoofer Speaker? Removing the bottom octave from the Salon’sCians often use emphasis in the intensity Woofer, when it is well integrated with your main speakersFormance. Orchestral music, for example, is performed Cy, phase, and time. It then develops adaptive filters that Battle Summary Stand-offEpisode Two a War On Two Fronts Get that the fight for the lowlands was far from overLINN-AV5103 Aktiv Multi-Channel System Search of the Mythical BeastCompany of the Beast Quest BeginsWorking the Environment Remote InterfaceNAD T770 Audio-Video Receiver Just the Basics, Done WellSumming Up I L G a D E RDas Boot, The Director’s Cut Wolfgang Peterson, director Gaines’ Stormy Monday I’ve Got the T-Bone WalkerSteering in DD mode is precise and smooth Manufacturer’s CornerRPG Diffuser Systems Inc., Room Optimizer Designs go, the NAD T770 is all steakMajor Labels’ Plans for Classical Music on DVD Want My DVDI D I W a L E S O N Tan Opera Guide to Opera on Video and executive direc Audience, he says. We fed that information to the rear Tion from the main mikes as well as the spot mikesFrom the two main mikes and brought it to the rear ones Have been considered typical indeed, good for aSee review, this issue Quering technology issues, Moorhead says. Most of ourFall was so high. This was an elaborate joint Computer and TV combinedOriginal, so they’re not going to fake it for DVD Made for DVDStars. God, was I skeptical Dramatic confrontation, in the second scene of Act Two Must answer three riddles. If his answers are correct, sheTo Turandot’s collection the Chinese nation, ruled by an Ple either turning cynical, or lusting for more bloodTurandot. And why would there be? Yes, Puccini conscien Preoccupation like that made more sense, butTucks into a tiny corner of the staging. Hordes of Chinese Moon onstage we see a corps of Chinese dancers, wearingClassical DVD Sampler DVD-nessMent of that, and when I listened, I found I’d choose With the sound either way, or with the sound of the ScalaFull of pomp and circumstance, but much less lifelike PerformancesRole mostly as a force of nature, powerful but blank Start of each one, there’s Karajan on screen, his faceLike institutional persona, Herr Music Director of All That’s simply ravishing This performance is broadRoger Reynolds Watershed Mode 70, DVD SurroundedJargon Experiment in a New MediumAre so new that we all need orientation Though, is that Reynolds is way too impressed withYes, theorists can find all sorts of relationships among Areas of music rhythm, loudness, and tone color, forMusical score Maybe, succeeded by metallic effectsBut in rhythms he himself creates. In practice, these, to That, while Otto is allegedly creating syntax by movingPop With a Twist B G E N D R O NMents of a Clockwork Orange What Ever Happened to Baby Performance we see on DVD begins with a filmPerfect timing and careful choreography Below-average vocal performanceSon’s Dead to the World. Nope Horizon, probably to his death. It is a scene that demandsDVD, with its digitally clear resolution Tabloid, because of its sensational purInsignificance of the media and with a Ly slurs the tune’s climactic line,WhatDent films Gods and Monsters, Cookie’s Fortune that Godzilla, Armageddon, Instrument is better thanWith 1991’s In on the Kill Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan of Arc Close EncounterD R E W Q U I N T Special presentation of Voices of Light/The Passion of Joan Obvious. The movie is about as complete as it can be. Other instances, were not merely happy coincidences, norEach other. Seen together, they seemed inseparable yet By much of the sound reinforcement heard in BroadwayAn Introduction to Digital Video Part 2 Video Color ConceptsPhysics of Color Human Color PerceptionColorblindness Color Concepts for Video Additive ColorLuminance Hue and SaturationCIE Chromaticity Diagram Display Color Accuracy RGB Primaries The Color TriangleGrayscale Color Temperature White Reference Color TemperatureColor Measurement Color Bars Other color signals will also Color errors.Are used in some circumstances Instrument known as a color analyzer or a spectroColor and Hue AdjustmentsAvia Guide to Home Theater pro Physical Sony VPH-G90U Multiscan ProjectorE G R O G E R S Installation and Set-up ConnectionsScan Rates Operating FunctionsPerformance SummaryRunco DTV-930 Multiscan Projector SpecificationsDescription Inputs/Outputs Convergence Labs Test Report Greg Rogers Formats can be selected directly from the remoteHorizontal and vertical scan frequencies and other source Be noticedRange Combination is about the reasonable limit to achieve anIEV Turboscan 1500 Line Doubler Remote ControlLine Doubling = Deinterlacing Video outputs. As a progressive video reference, I used a Creates progressive video without deinterlacing artifactsIcs-grade front projector 3Dfusion do each in different ways. The TurboscanLook and Feel Pioneer Elite DVL-91 Combination CD/LD/DVD PlayerL L C R U C E Up menus allow you to configure such things as onscreen lan Meaning clearDVD Performance LD PerformanceLy, the remote of the DVL-91, like that Wrong one in the darkDvdo iScan Plus Line Doubler Celebrate Film Classic Comedy’s Second Coming Roberto Benigni L M & M O V I E SThough a number of films in which Benigni Quently escape was Benigni’s first American and EnglishRoberto on the Internet Cute cameo which perhaps hints at a sequel Aspect ratio and running time incorrectlySound Original Pink Panther film go figure. Sad to saySpecial Editions Kubrick and The Space Monsters First wave of anger and incredulity. The DVD set wasNo thanks to Warner’s folks Small wonder Set consists of Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001 aBoth Clockwork and Full Metal Jacket exhibited pinkish Special Editions Few Weird Thoughts What Dreams May ComeWorth a Look Relatively Recent Arrivals Navigator a Medieval Odyssey, the other is Map Human HeartHow beautiful she was when she was married to Roger Movie would have had the solid foundation it neededTo say that the film is developing a cult following some Smooth as could be and given the importanceBiopics Three British Royals Love.1 AsOtranto Man in the Iron Mask 1939. But it is his Old Dark House 1932, The Invisible ManHP Comments Ic in this context in cloud cuckooland, with their You have an idea of what’s really going on in the filmMon with The Shining than with any other Kubrick opus Food-storage roomFrom Art to Cult N a T H a N V a L I NOnly later goes on to give them human dimensions. Even Such blatant symbolism can sustain an entire movieNot content to present us with an allegory of the eternal Face the questions that vexed and hauntedIssues 111 Back Issues Website Change of Address Questions About Your SubscriptionLetters to the Editor Editorial SubmissionsA S S I F I E D a D O R D E R F O R M Name Company Address CITY, State , ZIPVision Watch
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