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 October 1, 2006Knoll HD290 DLP Projector
But one of these choices now seems to be a no-brainer. Progressively scanned 720-line displays (720p), the highest resolution available last year, are today’s forgotten stepchildren. Still, for many of us, a discounted 720p display may be a better choice than a new 1080p model. Sound crazy? I concede the numbers. A 1080-line chip has more than twice the pixels of a 720-line chip: 2,073,600 vs. 921,600. That makes a difference, especially for those who sit close enough to count the pixels. All else being equal, a good signal from NBC or CBS, or HD images from a Blu-ray or HD DVD, will look better through a 1080p projector. The problem is, all else frequently isn’t equal. TV networks actually send 1080 signals as interlaced, not progressive scans. This means that, somewhere along the line, the signal must be deinterlaced, which is a potential source of problems. While the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps promise a progressive signal, so far it ain’t happening. Before I get flamed by all you owners of Samsung Blu-ray players, yes -- the Samsung can put out 1080p, after having done its own deinterlacing. I believe that sending and receiving a pure, uncompressed signal -- what’s called pixel-to-pixel mapping -- results in a better picture. Unless you have one of the really stellar video processors, such as the Lumagen VisionProHDP or the DVDO iScan VP30, the deinterlacing and scaling will be done by your source or your display, and sometimes by both. Those who have purchased upconverting DVD players are unwittingly betting that their display doesn’t do a very good job of scaling. The real sad cases are upconverting to 1080, then sending the picture to a DLP or flat panel with only 720 or 768 lines, which means the scaling is being done twice. No matter who makes the scaler or how good it is, everyone is happier when the handshake between source and display happens without scaling: 720 to 720, or 1080 to 1080. If you watch a steady diet of 1080 source material and don’t mind spending two to seven times as much, then 1080 is a great way to go. Make sure it will work with 1080p at 24Hz, 48Hz, and 60Hz (most won’t). If the seller doesn’t understand why you’re asking the question, find another seller. The ability to operate at each of these frame rates will likely be the next big breakthrough after we’ve gotten three-chip, DarkChip 3, Deep Color, 1920x1080 DLPs. In the meantime, for $3000 or less, the rest of us can enjoy great images with the current wave of 720p DLPs. Purists like me, who want a pixel-to-pixel picture, can take solace in the fact that the best sports stations -- ABC, ESPN, and Fox (and Fox’s myriad regional sports stations) -- all broadcast at 720p. And, except for pixel-packing numbers, 480p standard-definition DVDs will look just as good on a 720p display as on a 1080p. Since either must upscale the signal, it doesn’t really matter which way you go. Two years from now, 1080p sets with newer, better technology will cost only $3000 (maybe even less, since the new Sony VPL-VW50 costs only $5000); plus, you’ll have had two years of enjoyment of a mature technology (fewer bugs), and will then have a spare projector to put somewhere else in the house. Knoll HD290 DLP projector The inspiration for that long introduction is the contented couple of months I’ve spent with the Knoll HD290, a 720p machine based on the InFocus IN76. Like many companies in hi-fi history, Knoll is getting its start by improving an already good piece of electronics. Some of Knoll’s changes are minor but useful. They wrote slightly different software, mostly of a convenience nature. The manual has been completely rewritten and is a bit more helpful than the usual InFocus product. Knoll also includes a ceiling mount at no extra charge. Most important, they manually tune each unit to 6500K before boxing it up. Knoll products are sold through a small number of dealers, all of whom are committed to serving the local customer’s needs with help with installation, warranty issues, and generally holding the customer’s hand. The Knoll HD290 costs $3599 USD (the InFocus IN76 costs $2999). As with most digital projectors, setting up the HD290 was mostly a snap. The projector needs to be 11.1’ to 14.1’ away from a 100" diagonal screen, with a 7.3" offset between the center of the lens and the screen’s top or bottom edge. The HD290’s nice-looking base makes aligning the projector to the screen a bit trickier than the classic system of an adjustable three-point bottom. The base allows the HD290 to be moved in all directions, but the friction of plastic on plastic makes it difficult to get just the right placement. I live with a woman who loves Italian furniture, so I’m used to dealing with everyday disturbances in the name of design, but getting this projector perfectly set up was frustrating. In any case, you need to set it up only once; after that, you’ll have one of the most beautiful designs of any projector in the digital era.
Sports, of course, and movies The NBA Playoffs were in full swing when I took delivery of the Knoll HD290, and I carefully watched them on three channels. ABC and ESPN both broadcast in 720p, so I sent those signals straight from my DirecTV box to the Knoll. I could immediately tell that both networks were still struggling with the long panning camera used for half of all hoops TV: getting the proper focus seems to elude them. That’s partly due to the old camera problem of depth-of-field vs. the aperture size needed for a given amount of available light. To have all the players in focus simultaneously, you have to reduce the aperture size (i.e., increase the f-stop), and, given the lighting in an arena, you may have to sacrifice focus. The HD290 ruthlessly revealed such problems. But when the camera operators were able to use a larger aperture and focus on a single person or on a small area of the court, everything looked clear, with no motion artifacts, and colors were pristine and natural. Switching over to TNT-HD, which is 1080i, I first let my DirecTV receiver do the scaling and deinterlacing, then the HD290. The two pictures were close enough to make no difference. I also tried inserting the Lumagen VisionProHDP and DVDO iScan VP30 video processors in the chain, and both enriched the fine details, which means the HD290 still has a little bit of room for improvement. But those processors cost $2499 and $1999, respectively. The good news was that the HD290 had the clarity and resolution to reveal such subtle differences. I also tried watching sports with a bit of daylight streaming into the room. No problem. I hit High Power in the Knoll’s menu and everything brightened up, though I ultimately lost some contrast. Bottom line: you can use this projector 24/7, not just in the dark of night. High-definition films from Universal HD and HDNet looked wonderful. Universal’s Battlestar Galactica (a TV series better than 90% of the theatrical films made) is darkly filmed, with a combination of digital effects, live action, and lots of movement, all in immaculate hi-def. The HD290 required a completely darkened room to give me the full effect, but it was worth the trouble for such stunning pictures. Standard-definition DVDs, too, looked great. Well-recorded films such as The Lost City and Inside Man had depth, accuracy, and an ability to get almost black while retaining exceptional resolution of detail. Competition? The Knoll HD290’s most obvious competitor is its own ancestor, the InFocus IN76. I haven’t yet reviewed the IN76, but InFocus charges $234 for the ceiling mount that comes free with the Knoll, which helps mitigate the cost difference. And the cost of having someone adjust the IN76 to 6500K, which Knoll does at the factory for the HD290, is worth another couple hundred and brings the costs in line.
When I put the Knoll up against the Mitsubishi HC-3000, both had their pluses. The Mitsubishi has the darkest blacks of any digital projector I’ve used. Based on the 1280x768 DarkChip3 set, its screen is 15:9, which means that everything coming in must be scaled. And because the HC-3000 comes with all its settings jacked up, it will probably (depending on your skill level) need to be calibrated by an ISF technician. The Mitsubishi looks industrial. It also costs $2495. The Knoll HD290 looks like a work of art, it has the best picture I’ve seen from a DarkChip2, and watchers of ABC, ESPN, and Fox can use it with straight pixel-to-pixel mapping -- i.e., no scaling. Unless you’re prepared to spring for a high-end processor, the ability to get a picture without scaling pays significant dividends. The HD290’s blacks may be just slightly less inky than a DarkChip3’s, but they’re still better than those of any LCD or D-ILA projector. Wait or jump in? A whole slew of companies will offer 1920x1080 projectors by Christmas, but most are projected to cost between $5000 and $10,000 (and please don’t mention all those 1080 RPTVs or plasmas; when you’re watching sports, 60" doesn’t cut it). Instead, today you could be watching a huge picture with a very respectable 1280x720 chipset. Save the extra $2000-$7000, buy a higher-resolution set three years from now, and still have enough cash left over to buy another set three years after that. And each of those sets would not only be cheaper per technology increment, it would offer more mature technologies. I’d say it’s time to jump in. …Wes Marshall Knoll HD290 DLP Projector Knoll Systems, Inc. E-mail: info@knollsystems.com
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Transition periods are the bane of every
lover of home theater. HD DVD or Blu-ray? Or maybe just a really good-quality upconverting
DVD player? HDMI 1.2 now, or wait a year for 1.3? Are Dolby Digital and DTS good enough,
or should you wait for TrueHD and Master Audio? DarkChip 2 or 3, or wait for the Deep
Color chipsets? Buy an expensive 1080p projector, or a now-bargain-priced 720p model? With
any inherently digital medium, you know two things will always be true: tomorrow the
technology will be better, and it will be cheaper.
Focus, zoom, and vertical image shift
are all accomplished with ease using manual controls. As with all projectors originating
from InFocus, the HD290’s deep menu system gives you enough control to fix almost any
problem. The controls of most of the displays that end up on mega-box showroom floors are
jacked up to create impressively bright pictures, but the HD290 comes precalibrated to D65
because Knoll products tend to be sold by people who know better. I made only minor
adjustments to the system; everything was ready in less than 30 minutes.
