Yamaha LPX-510 User Manual
Equipment
Review
Yamaha LPX-510
Affordable Performance LCD Video Projector
B
ILL C USHMAN
High Contrast, High
Accuracy Front
Projection
The Yamaha LPX-510 is the latest high
performance LCD projector from Yamaha. It
offers many unique and truly useful features
that provide great flexibility in installation
and usage. It has the highest contrast ratio
of any LCD projector I have tested, and it
was accurately calibrated from the factory.
It delivers a beautiful picture and is an
excellent value ($5,495) for demanding
home theatre applications.
Yamaha LPX-510 LCD Video Projector
Description
The Yamaha LPX-510 uses three 1280 x
720 pixel, 0.7-inch, 1.78:1 polysilicon TFT
active matrix LCD panels manufactured by
Epson. It has a short throw zoom lens with
“It is a breakthrough product
offering wonderful flexibility of
placement, truly useful features,
comprehensive menu selections,
excellent contrast, and terrific asrecieved calibration”
some unusual and highly desirable features.
The lens has a large zoom ratio of 1:1.5 and
offers both vertical and horizontal lens shift.
This allows placement anywhere in front of
the screen (actually a little below the screen
in floor installations or a little above the
screen in ceiling installations). The large
zoom range gives a throw distance of 1.35
to 2.00 times the screen width. Focus and
zoom are motorized. Horizontal and vertical
shift are manual but are easily accessed
from the top of the projector.
The light source is a 200-watt UHE lamp
that has adjustable power levels from 100
percent to 75 percent. An internal cinema
filter balances the light beam in most opera-
Specifications:
Device: 0.7 inch HTPS TFT x 3
Pixels: 1,280 x 720
Projection Lens: F=2.1 - 4.3, f=1.4 - 31.7 mm,
zoom motorized: x 1.5
Lens Shift: Vertical up: 100%, down: 50%, horizontal
left/right 50%
Motorized Iris: 100% - 75%
Projection Ratio: 1.355 - 2.038
Screen Size: 30-300 inch (16.9)
Lamp: 200W-150W UHP; 1,700 hours (200W
continuous); 3,000 hours (150W continuous)
Brightness: 1,000 ANSI lumens (iris: off, Cinema
Balance Filter; off) 350 ANSI lumens (iris: fully on,
Cinema Balance Filter: on)
Contrast Ratio: 1200:1 (iris: 75%, Cinema Balance
Filter: on) 1000:1 (iris: 100%, Cinema Balance
Filter: on)
Color Format: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, NTSC 4.43,
PAL-M, PAL-N and PAL60
Compatible Signal: 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p,
and 1080i
tional modes and operates automatically as
the picture modes are selected. An
adjustable iris is also provided (from 100
percent to 75 percent) to improve black
level and enhance contrast ratio.
The projector is about 17 inches wide,
13 inches deep, 6 inches high, and weighs
14 pounds. Both it and the remote control
have a silver metallic finish. All connections
are made to the back panel. Eight chromed
buttons plus an x-y rocker ring and two sta-
PC Signal: SVGA, XGA, MAC13", MAC16, MAC19",
iMAC VGA, iMAC SVGA
HDMI Input: 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i Digital YPbPr
and Digital RGB
Fan Noise: 27dB (lamp power min.); 34dB (lamp
power max)
Power Consumption: 290W
Dimensions (WHD In Inches): 17-5/16 x 5-3/8 x
12-5/8
Weight (In Pounds): 13.9
Price: $5,495
Manufactured In Japan For:
Yamaha Electronics Corporation, USA
6660 Orangethorpe Avenue
Buena Park, California 90620
Tel: 714 522 9105
www.yamaha.com/yec
tus lights are located on the top of the projector. The ergonomically designed remote
has 22 buttons, a depressible four-way x-y
wobble pad, and a two-way backlight paddle. The backlight paddle is exceptionally
easy to locate in the dark, but illuminates
only the five main control buttons for simplicity of operation. To aid in proper adjustment a crosshatch and gray scale test pattern may be selected from either the projector or the remote. A double push of the
Widescreen Review • Issue 86 • July 2004
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Equipment
Review
power button is required to turn off the projector to avoid accidental turn-off, which
would reduce bulb life.
The Owner’s Manual is unusually thorough and is almost completely devoid of
marketing hype. It offers many suggestions
that will help the average user extract maximum performance from the projector.
Inputs And Signal
Compatibility
There are five main inputs, composite
video (RCA jack), S-video (4-pin mini-DIN),
Input A and Input B (5 RCA jacks each),
and an HDMI Digital input (HDMI connector). The composite input accepts virtually
all world television standards. Input A and
Input B can be configured for component,
RGB-TV, or RGB-PC operation. The HDMI
input accepts RGB digital signals and can
be used with products having a DVI output
by using a DVI to HDMI cable (not provided). Inputs A and B accept 480i, 480p,
720p, and 1080i as well as a large number
of computer formats. The HDMI input
accepts RGB 480p, 720p, 1080i, and computer formats.
Menus
The main menu is divided into four
parts, the Image Menu, the Setup Menu, the
Info Menu, and the Reset Menu. The main
menu window can be located on any part of
the screen, and a simplified line menu function is provided for frequently used picture
adjustments. The menu system is extremely
comprehensive and flexible. It is intuitive
and easy to use, although my detailed
description may make it seem complicated.
The Image Menu is divided into Picture
Quality, Color Adjustment, Picture Mode,
Memory Save, Auto Setup, and Reset.
Picture Quality includes the Input parameters (White and Black Level), Iris, Color
Intensity, Tint, and Sharpness. Tracking and
Sync adjustments are provided for some
input signals. Color Adjustment includes
Absolute Color Temperature (500K increments from 5000K to 10000K), Flesh Tone
(raises or lowers green), and an overall
RGB adjustment for Offset, Gain, and
Gamma (used to calibrate gray scale tracking). Picture Modes include Dynamic,
Bright, Standard, Cinema, Cinema Black, or
PC. Memory Save allows picture settings to
be saved to any of six memories, which can
be directly selected by dedicated buttons
on the remote.
The Signal Menu is divided into Signal,
Screen, Operation, User’s Logo, On-Screen
Display, Input Signal, Language, and Reset.
Signal provides a choice of Film/Auto or
forced Video Progressive modes. Motion
Detection adjusts the video deinterlacer.
Two levels of Noise Reduction plus Off can
be selected. Overscan can be set to either
4 percent or 0 percent (default on HDTV is
0 percent). Setup Level can be set to 7.5
IRE or 0 IRE. The HDMI input can be set to
Normal (maps video levels 16 to 235 to 0 to
255) or expanded (0 to 255).
Screen allows adjustment of Position,
Caption Zoom, Electronic Keystone (normally not needed, and should be avoided to
prevent artifacts), and Projection position
(front floor, front ceiling, rear floor, rear ceiling). Operation includes Sleep Mode, Lamp
Power, Standby Mode, Trigger Output,
Settings Lock (Focus, Zoom, or Keylock),
and LCD Panel Alignment. Any image can
be captured and assigned as a User Logo.
The On-Screen Display can be moved and
its color changed. The Line Menu can be
turned on or off, and the Menu Color can be
changed. The Hide Screen can be Black,
Blue, or the User Logo, and the Startup
Screen can be turned on or off. Language and
Reset are the final items in the Signal Menu.
The Info Menu displays the Lamp Hours,
Source, and depending on the type of sig-
nal —Input Signal, Source Resolution,
Refresh Rate, or Sync Mode.
The Reset Menu includes the lamp timer,
picture memories, and a master reset.
Aspect Ratios
The aspect ratio choices are Normal,
Squeeze, Zoom, Smart Zoom, Through, and
Squeeze Through. Normal provides a 4:3
(1.33:1) windowboxed image when the
source has a 4:3 aspect ratio, and provides
a 16:9 (1.78:1) image on HDTV. The aspect
ratio on HDTV is not adjustable (all HDTV is
1.78:1, even when displaying upconverted
regular programs with side bars). Squeeze
is the proper setting for 1.78:1 (anamorphic)
DVDs. Zoom is the proper setting for 1.33:1
letterboxed DVDs. Smart Zoom is a modified geometry mode used to display 1.33:1
images using full screen width with minimal
observed geometry distortion. Through and
Through Squeeze are pixel-by-pixel
mapped modes similar to Normal and
Squeeze (for non HDTV images).
Scaling And
Deinterlacing
Scaling and deinterlacing is excellent in
all modes. A Genesis (Faroudja) DCDi™chip
is used for processing and contributes to
the excellent performance. I viewed a variety of demanding deinterlacing test patterns on AVIA PRO and the Microsoft WHQL
test discs and results were generally very
good for both film and video sourced material. Identification of the 2-3 cadence and
switching to film mode (inverse telecine)
took about 0.25 seconds. I also viewed the
“Montage Of Images” on the original Video
Essentials, and the continual switching from
video to film sourced material was seamless. I also viewed the Sony DRC demo
disc, which is all HDTV video sourced material, downconverted for DVD, and results
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