3D Projector

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3D Projector

Post by laughingoctopus » April 10th, 2012, 4:21 am

Hello, I'd like some advice. I'm considering getting the Optoma HD66 3D projector, and I'm curious if any of you have it and what you think. Also, what is the best 3D Blu-ray player? I'd also love some suggestions for good 3D Blu-rays.

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Re: 3D Projector

Post by Ben » April 12th, 2012, 7:08 am

I can't really suggest if the projector itself is any good or not since I currently review 3D discs at a friend's, where he has a 60" Samsung TV.

I'm currently waiting to build my own home theater in the basement, but have decided on a JVC DILA projector, which looks a-m-a-z-i-n-g. It's not DLP, LCD or LED but their own proprietary chip and, although you pay for it, the image is simply stunning. It comes with a bolt-on 3D option, which I haven't actually seen for myself yet, but from all reports it is among the best out there.

For your player, I've always stuck by Pioneer's Elite range, but haven't read much about their 3D decks (again, I'm waiting for when I'm ready to splurge for my set up and will then really look into what's hot out there). What does get good reviews, and what I have right now, is the Sony BDPS-580, which replaced the 70 series that got top scores all around.

In looking for a really good "future-proof" player, it seemed that big money didn't always get you the best reviewed player and it really is a case of technology having come down to prices where you can buy really top-flight models for just a few hundred dollars instead of thousands (as we did with LaserDisc and the first DVD players).

As for discs themselves, well, we have a pretty comprehensive listing of BD3D reviews that cover all the recent Disney releases. Off the top of my head, Tangled is the best 3D I've seen in a theater or on disc, and Gnomeo & Juliet was good in that format too. It seems to suit CGI animation better than anything, because it's often brightly lit and "natively" three dimensional.

Conversely, I have found that live-action, especially moodily shot films, benefit very little from the extra D. Pirates 4, Tron: Legacy...these films are so dark in places that they can strain the eyes; indeed, for Pirates 4 in the theater I took off the glasses and watched the last 40 minutes without any fuzziness at all since the whole movie was essentially shot flat.

On disc, the effect is even more lessened because of the screen size (and the fact the creators scale back the dimensionality for the home). A way of trying to get more "light" from the TV to counteract the dimming effect of the glasses is to brighten up the image, but then it can make it hazy looking. Bumping up the contrast somewhat works but then you start to lose image detail in the shadows, making the blacks blacker and kind of reducing the point.

Check out our recent Blu-ray reviews:
http://animatedviews.com/category/views ... s/blu-ray/

...many of which include comments on the 3D discs. :)

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Re: 3D Projector

Post by laughingoctopus » April 12th, 2012, 3:45 pm

Wow! Thank you so much. I heard Tangled was good on 3D Bluray, so I guess I'll have to buy it again in 3D. :) And I see that Pioneer Elite has a 3d Bluray player, so I might get one of the two they have.

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