Sony Discover the Ultimate Performance of G90 and VPH-G90 Projectors

Runco DTV-930 Multiscan Projector

ne of the more exciting announcements at the last

Consumer Electronics Show was the introduction of

the Runco DTV-930, which significantly altered the

price-performance curve for CRT projectors. The DTV-930

was cloned from one of Runco’s most successful products,

the widely acclaimed IDP-980 Ultra. Conservatively built and

highly reliable, the IDP-980 Ultra has been a favorite in pre-

mium home-theaters for its excellent picture quality and easy

to use features. A year ago, it was priced at $23,000. The DTV-

930 with point convergence option is now $16,195. To sweet-

en the deal even further, Runco offers a DTV-933 package that

adds an external line-tripler for another four large. I haven’t

evaluated the tripler yet, but I’ll review it separately in a

future issue.

You are probably asking what you give up, other than

cash, for nearly a 30 percent reduction in price. The answer is

very little for home-theater applications.

Specifications

The DTV-930 was created by limiting the maximum horizontal

scan-rate of the IDP-980 Ultra from 100 kHz to 50 kHz. This

positions the DTV-930 to handle nearly all video applications,

but leaves a little room at the top-end for Runco’s higher

priced CRT projectors. The DTV-930 is fully compatible with

line doublers, triplers, and any of the ATSC HDTV standards

including 1080i or 720p. Its 50 kHz scan rate will accept a

maximum computer display resolution of 1024x768 at 60 Hz.

The DTV-930 has a bandwidth of 80 MHz, while the IDP-

980 Ultra bandwidth was specified as 100

MHz, but this difference was only significant

for the higher resolution computer

graphic display capabilities of the IDP-

980 Ultra. It doesn’t affect video perfor-

mance, where the highest bandwidth

requirement is a flat response to 30 MHz

for HDTV. The only other change from

the IDP-980 Ultra is the deletion of a

scan-line dithering board, a feature I

never used anyway.

Curiously, the DTV-930 is listed as an

8-inch CRT projector, which Runco

quickly volunteers really uses liquid-

cooled, 7-inch electromagnetic focus

(EMF) CRTs. The decision to list it as an

8-inch CRT projector dates back to the

introduction of the IDP-980, apparently

as a way to differentiate it from inferior

projectors that used 7-inch electrostatic focus (ESF) CRTs.

Runco says they intend to revise their specifications in the

future. Electromagnetic focus CRTs mean smaller spot size

and higher resolution, so they hope this distinction will be

understood by buyers comparing projectors by CRT size

alone.

The DTV-930 uses the same (USPL HD-144) color-correct-

ed, air-coupled lens assemblies that have been used for sever-

al years on the IDP-980 Ultra. (Runco’s webpage is outdated

on this point.) Light output is specified as 1100 Lumens peak

and 225 ANSI Lumens. The former spec is more descriptive of

video performance, which has relatively low average lumi-

nance levels, while the latter better describes computer

graphic display capabilities.

Description

The DTV-930 is available in black or white, 24 inches wide and

30 inches long, weighing about 124 pounds.

The case is about 12 inches high at the front

G R E G R O G E R S