Vidikron Vision 80 3-chip D-ILA Home Theater Projector
Well, you finally got that compensation package you've been waiting for.
What projector should you get for your new home theater. Vidikron is
making a strong case for your projector dollar with its Vision 80 3-chip
D-ILA projector (MSRP $29,995). Why would you spend your hard
earned $30,000 on this particular projector? For starters, the Vision 80
is one of the few home theater projectors on the market that will display
native 1080p material. The Sony Qualia 004 ($29,995) and Fujitsu
LPF-D711 ($24,995)are two of its main competitors. As you can see,
you have to pay to play in this market.
The Vision 80 comes in a fairly small, attractive (as projectors go)
package that is available with either a white or dark grey enclosure. The
sample I evaluated was the grey color. It looked pretty good, but not like
the stunning Sony Qualia. The Sony, however is huge at 23" x 30", so
the Vidikron is much easier to find a place for on your ceiling. This is
especially true if you opt for a projector enclosure to reduce noise.
This unit is fairly loud. Not like a jet at take off as some have suggested,
but the noise is definitely noticeable. A good noise reduction technique,
if a full enclosure is not part of the program, is to vent the exhaust into
the ceiling, rather than into the room. This has the added bonus of
helping to keep the room cool. I did have the opportunity to see the
Fujitsu LPF-D711 and it was very quiet, probably the most quiet digital
projector I've ever (not) heard. At 3' it was almost completely inaudible.
Would it be worth it to find a way to deal with the noise from the
Vidikron? You bet! The picture is pretty spectacular. This unit was shot
onto a 45" x 80" screen from Screen Innovations. This screen uses a
80% white / 20% grey mix to help ensure both accurate color
reproduction and good black levels. It seems to work, at least with the
Vision 80.
The black levels were very good, especially for a D-ILA unit.
Traditionally, the D-ILA projectors have lagged a bit behind DLP
projectors in black level reproduction, but the Vision 80 did a very good
job. This is even true straight out of the box. It appears Vidikron sends
the unit with a pretty good calibration straight from the factory. There
are ISF day and night modes included in the menu so greatness should
be expected when checking the calibration on one of these projectors.
This definitely extends to the grey scale tracking. Visually, it was almost
spot on, right out of the box. From 20 - 100 IRE it looked very, very
good. I'll have color analyzer measurements from the Sencore soon.
The color rendition was good, when checked visually with a test pattern
and blue filter.
The Vision 80 is packaged with it's own, dedicated scaler. This is one of
the secrets Vidikron uses to get a fantastic picture from DVDs and other
non-HD sources. There is a DVI link to the projector from the scaler,
keeping the signal chain purely digital, from source to display, when
using digital sources. It works great, and the scaler produces fantastic
results with DVD and other source material. The DVD picture looked
almost like HDTV.
The scaler has two DVI inputs that will accommodate a variety of digital
sources. What they will not accept is 1080p input from an HTPC. If you
are using an HTPC, or some other DVI 1080p source, you must use an
external DVI switcher and switch between the output from the scaler and
the HTPC. If this is not done, the projector refuses to lock on to the
HTPC video signal.
The main reason to use an HTPC is to play Microsoft Windows Media
HD DVDs in 1080p. They are the only commercially available 1080p
source material at this time. It's a pity there's not more, because the
Windows Media 1080p material looks spectacular. Most of the available
content is IMAX documentaries and movie trailers. The lone feature film
is a remastered version of Terminator 2. It is very well done. There are
supposed to be 10 - 15 feature films in time for the holiday shopping
season, and we can hope for many more releases after that. If you have
this projector in your home theater, that's what you'll want to use for
source material.
For standard DVD I looked at Hart's War, Troy and The Incredibles.
These DVDs actually were incredible. All small details were rendered
beautifully. The wide vistas in Troy were like looking off your balcony. In
chapters 20-21 the facial closeups reveal incredible detail. The scene in
Troy where the camera pans around the stadium bleachers showed no
motion effects or jaggies.
The projector ships with a small remote for the projector only, and a
Phillips Pronto Neo programmed to control both the scaler and
projector. This sample had some severe response issues. The scaler
worked flawlessly from the remote, but the projector showed a
reluctance to power on and off. You probably want that feature to work
reliably in your home theater. This may have just been a problem with
the review sample.
All in all, this is a fantastic projector and the included, external scaler is
top notch as well. I'll update this review after living with the projector for
a while and getting used to the operation and fine points.
What projector should you get for your new home theater. Vidikron is
making a strong case for your projector dollar with its Vision 80 3-chip
D-ILA projector (MSRP $29,995). Why would you spend your hard
earned $30,000 on this particular projector? For starters, the Vision 80
is one of the few home theater projectors on the market that will display
native 1080p material. The Sony Qualia 004 ($29,995) and Fujitsu
LPF-D711 ($24,995)are two of its main competitors. As you can see,
you have to pay to play in this market.
The Vision 80 comes in a fairly small, attractive (as projectors go)
package that is available with either a white or dark grey enclosure. The
sample I evaluated was the grey color. It looked pretty good, but not like
the stunning Sony Qualia. The Sony, however is huge at 23" x 30", so
the Vidikron is much easier to find a place for on your ceiling. This is
especially true if you opt for a projector enclosure to reduce noise.
This unit is fairly loud. Not like a jet at take off as some have suggested,
but the noise is definitely noticeable. A good noise reduction technique,
if a full enclosure is not part of the program, is to vent the exhaust into
the ceiling, rather than into the room. This has the added bonus of
helping to keep the room cool. I did have the opportunity to see the
Fujitsu LPF-D711 and it was very quiet, probably the most quiet digital
projector I've ever (not) heard. At 3' it was almost completely inaudible.
Would it be worth it to find a way to deal with the noise from the
Vidikron? You bet! The picture is pretty spectacular. This unit was shot
onto a 45" x 80" screen from Screen Innovations. This screen uses a
80% white / 20% grey mix to help ensure both accurate color
reproduction and good black levels. It seems to work, at least with the
Vision 80.
The black levels were very good, especially for a D-ILA unit.
Traditionally, the D-ILA projectors have lagged a bit behind DLP
projectors in black level reproduction, but the Vision 80 did a very good
job. This is even true straight out of the box. It appears Vidikron sends
the unit with a pretty good calibration straight from the factory. There
are ISF day and night modes included in the menu so greatness should
be expected when checking the calibration on one of these projectors.
This definitely extends to the grey scale tracking. Visually, it was almost
spot on, right out of the box. From 20 - 100 IRE it looked very, very
good. I'll have color analyzer measurements from the Sencore soon.
The color rendition was good, when checked visually with a test pattern
and blue filter.
The Vision 80 is packaged with it's own, dedicated scaler. This is one of
the secrets Vidikron uses to get a fantastic picture from DVDs and other
non-HD sources. There is a DVI link to the projector from the scaler,
keeping the signal chain purely digital, from source to display, when
using digital sources. It works great, and the scaler produces fantastic
results with DVD and other source material. The DVD picture looked
almost like HDTV.
The scaler has two DVI inputs that will accommodate a variety of digital
sources. What they will not accept is 1080p input from an HTPC. If you
are using an HTPC, or some other DVI 1080p source, you must use an
external DVI switcher and switch between the output from the scaler and
the HTPC. If this is not done, the projector refuses to lock on to the
HTPC video signal.
The main reason to use an HTPC is to play Microsoft Windows Media
HD DVDs in 1080p. They are the only commercially available 1080p
source material at this time. It's a pity there's not more, because the
Windows Media 1080p material looks spectacular. Most of the available
content is IMAX documentaries and movie trailers. The lone feature film
is a remastered version of Terminator 2. It is very well done. There are
supposed to be 10 - 15 feature films in time for the holiday shopping
season, and we can hope for many more releases after that. If you have
this projector in your home theater, that's what you'll want to use for
source material.
For standard DVD I looked at Hart's War, Troy and The Incredibles.
These DVDs actually were incredible. All small details were rendered
beautifully. The wide vistas in Troy were like looking off your balcony. In
chapters 20-21 the facial closeups reveal incredible detail. The scene in
Troy where the camera pans around the stadium bleachers showed no
motion effects or jaggies.
The projector ships with a small remote for the projector only, and a
Phillips Pronto Neo programmed to control both the scaler and
projector. This sample had some severe response issues. The scaler
worked flawlessly from the remote, but the projector showed a
reluctance to power on and off. You probably want that feature to work
reliably in your home theater. This may have just been a problem with
the review sample.
All in all, this is a fantastic projector and the included, external scaler is
top notch as well. I'll update this review after living with the projector for
a while and getting used to the operation and fine points.
Vidikron Vision 80 3-chip D-ILA Home Theater Projector
Mini Review
Mini Review
1 Touch Movie.com