Vidikron 40 HT User Manual

110 Home Theater / November 2003 • www.hometheatermag.com
GEAR GUIDE
detection for film-based material, good color decoding, and a nice features package. It’s also competi­tively priced and, as such, is an excellent value in its category.
The Model 40 has a compact, squarish design with a white finish. It measures 4.75 inches high by
15.75 wide by 13.625 deep and weighs a reasonable 15 pounds. The unit has a very solid feel, which indicates good build quality. The lens is offset slightly from the
center of the pro-
jector. Some of
the remote’s most
commonly used
buttons are also on
the top of the unit,
such as power,
menu, input, enter,
exit, and the arrow keys
for navigation within the menu
system. Heat is vented through the front of the projector, and there’s virtually no light leakage from the lamp.
The remote control, while not backlit, is fully illuminated by glow­in-the-dark buttons. The remote does offer discrete access to all of the projector’s inputs, aspect ratios, and memories, which is very important to a custom installer who’s trying to integrate these functions into a Crestron or AMX touchpanel control system.
The connectivity suite, which is located on the projector’s rear panel, is fairly comprehensive. You get one 480i-only component video input with RCA connections, plus a set of RGB inputs with H and V sync; if you use only the R, G, and B inputs, this connection doubles as a high-bandwidth com­ponent video input that’s capable of displaying 480i/p, 720p, and 1080i sources. Of course, the oblig­atory composite and S-video inputs are also here (one of each), as well as a DVI input with HDCP copy protection for use with the new crop of satellite and cable HDTV receivers. Finally, Vidikron pro­vides an RS-232 port for integrated control systems like the above­mentioned Crestron and AMX touchpanel systems.
The Model 40 has few, if any, consumer-type features, but that’s to be expected with any front pro­jector. However, it does offer a few notable picture-enhancing features, including a nine-point
system for calibrating the gray scale that gives the professional installer and/or video technician unprece­dented flexibility in
this important setup area. You also can set the gray scale and all other picture parame­ters for each input separately. A total of 21 separate memory loca­tions gives you more flexibility than you’re likely to ever need in terms of optimizing the picture for all video and computer sources. For added versatility, you can choose either a short-throw lens (1.38:1 to 1.63:1), or, for an addi­tional $1,000, you can opt for the long-throw lens (1.83:1 to 2.40:1).
DLP projectors have become all the rage in the front-projection home theater arena, thanks in large part to the 1,280-by-720 chips that hit the market a little over two years ago. These chips raised the bar in
picture quality for
affordable high-end front pro­jection. Vidikron, a front-projection home theater pioneer, was recently purchased by Runco International and has launched a new line of DLP projectors.
The company’s Vision Model 40 is a one-chip DLP projector with a native resolution of 1,280 by 720, and it’s based on the second­generation HD2 (or Mustang) DMD chip. Compared with the first-generation chip, this one defi­nitely delivers better black-level performance and a higher con­trast ratio. The Model 40 has solid video processing with 3:2-pulldown
Vidikron Vision Model 40 DLP Projector
Possibly the best value in high-resolution one-chip DLP projectors.
by Kevin Miller
A. The Model 40 has
a 1,280-by-720 reso-
lution and utilizes
the HD2 chip.
B. Take your pick of
connection options,
including a DVI input
with HDCP.
A
B
The Model 40 has five color­temperature settings: 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Of course, it also offers several aspect ratios: 4:3, letter­box, anamorphic, and Intelliwide. Vidikron designed the Intelliwide setting specifically for blowing up 4:3 material to fill a 16:9 screen, and it does so with a minimum amount of picture distortion, unlike many other similar imple­mentations of this sort.
I evaluated the Model 40 using a Panasonic DVD-RP91 progressive­scan DVD player in interlaced mode and Dish Network’s HD satellite feed on a 72-inch-wide Stewart Studiotek 130 screen. I obtained maximum contrast at a setting of +18, which is about two-thirds of the way across the menu’s sliding bar, before clip­ping or white crush set in. This produced an amply bright picture (see the measure­ments box for our mea­surements using the Photo Research PR650).
Prior to calibrating the gray scale, I measured 6,150 Kelvin at 30 IRE and 5,975 K at 80 IRE. This is quite close to the broadcast-standard color temperature of D6500. The top end of the gray scale had a distinct magenta hue that I was able to completely elimi­nate with gray-scale cali­bration. Post-calibration, the Model 40 measured a very impressive 6,500 K (x=0.313 and y=0.328) at 30 IRE and 6,450 K (x=0.314 and y=0.327) at 80 IRE. It’s clear that Vidikron made a serious effort to calibrate this projector’s gray scale, but I should note that your screen size and material will play a key role in achieving a linear, accurate gray scale. Your service technician will need to calibrate the whole system, which includes using your DVD player for the best results.
The Model 40’s color decoder is pretty accurate. After I set the color and tint with SMPTE color bars, I reduced the color level four clicks (from 34 to 30), as skin
tones looked a little too red on the “Montage of Images” section from the Video Essentials test DVD. The Model 40’s video pro­cessing is quite good. As I looked at the opening sequence of Star Trek: Insurrection, 3:2 pulldown was clearly evident, as the projec­tor rendered the bridge railing, canoes, and rooftops pristinely. The bouncing ball in Video Essentials’ Snell & Wilcox Zone Test Plate
test pattern was also exceptionally clean.
My review sample’s
short-throw lens had
some minor chromatic aberrations. Red was out by approximately one pixel, mostly in the horizontal direction. The lens also appeared to
have a slight barrel dis­tortion at the top of the picture, which shows up as a very slight hori­zontal pincushion error.
This was only visible on 2.35:1 material like Training Day. That said, the lenses on all of the
latest-generation one­chip DLP projectors exhibit some chromatic aberrations, and the Model 40’s are certainly not the worst I’ve seen. In fact, with regu­lar DVD and HDTV sources, I was hard-pressed to see these issues from my viewing position, which is roughly 10 feet from the screen. I also commend Vidikron for offering both a long- and short­throw lens option for added flexi­bility. In my room, I would have no choice but to opt for a short-throw lens, even with my relatively small 72-inch-wide screen.
If you look at the spec sheet,
you’ll see that the company claims
Vidikron Vision Model 40 DLP Projector
GEAR GUIDE
112 Home Theater / November 2003 • www.hometheatermag.com
C. The remote offers
discrete input and
aspect-ratio buttons
that glow in the dark.
5000
5500
6000
6500
7000
20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
IRE
Color Temp - Before Color Temp - After
Color Temperature
Blue
Green
Red
Vidikron Red
Vidikron Green
Vidikron Blue
D6500 K
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
DTV Phosphors D6500 Color Temp - Before Color Temp - After
HT Labs Measures: Vidikron Vision Model 40 DLP Projector
The top chart shows the Model 40’s gray scale relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the 2 color-temperature mode, measures slightly blue across the gray-scale range. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures extremely well, within 80 Kelvin of D6500, the accu­rate color temperature, across the entire range. This is a slight improve­ment compared with the already-good performance before calibration. The bottom chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display’s red, green, and blue color-filter-wheel segments. Green (x=0.311, y=0.574), red (x=0.656, y=0.338), and blue (x=0.144, y=0.070) are slightly off those specified by SMPTE. Green is somewhat undersaturated, while red and blue are slightly oversaturated. This means that the display will reproduce most of the colors available in the system. The light output was approximately 13 foot-lamberts (on a 6-foot-wide Studiotek 130 screen). A brighter image is possible at the expense of gray-scale accuracy. The display has excellent DC restora­tion and a good color decoder. The Model 40 displays approximately 480 lines (per picture height) with NTSC sources and, using our Leader LT-446 HD generator, is capable of resolving DTV signals out to the limits of the 1,280-by-720 chip.—GM
Vidikron Vision Model 40 DLP Projector
Color Temperature
C
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