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Crystal View 2 CRT Video Projector
By Bryan Southard
July 2003
Introduction
Despite the advent of truly exciting digital
projection technology in the past few years,
there is still no denying that a “big
gun” CRT video projector is the best
source for a great-looking video image available
on the market today. While digital projectors
DLPs and D-ILAs are incredibly bright and
appealingly small, an eight or nine-inch
CRT projector still creates a picture that
looks more like film. Someday, digital projectors
may surpass the performance of a CRT, but
if you are in the market for the best picture
money can buy in 2003, you are likely shopping
for a big-time CRT projector.
There is a new kid on the block dedicated
to absolute video performance with a special
angle towards customer service. Crystal
View was formed in 2002 to address the needs
of the high-end video projection customer.
Co-owners Gary Guidi (also owner of HI-REZ,
one of the world’s largest and most
respected projector service and repair companies)
and David Wolff (formally an executive with
Vidikron) teamed up to start Crystal View
to provide the very best projectors money
can buy, as well as providing the necessary
setup, service and support to ensure that
your investment lives up to its price tag.
Lots of companies sell pricey eight and
nine-inch CRT projectors that can potentially
make a great picture. With an investment
in a Crystal View projector, you get a company
that takes control of the entire process
of a high-end projector purchase, from selling
you the projector to popping the cork on
some Perrier Jouet to celebrate how good
your new picture looks. Their in-home technician,
if prompted, will even teach you about the
intricate details of exactly why the picture
looks so good. It is like video school in
your living room.
The review sample I hung on my ceiling
is the Crystal View 2, an eight-inch CRT
projector that is capable of reproducing
all of the formats I have ever dreamed of
using, including 720p and 1080i HDTV. The
price of the projector is $44,950, including
installation and in-home calibration. Physically,
the View 2 measures 29 inches in width,
38 inches in length and 21 inches in height,
at an unpackaged weight of 145 pounds. The
View 2 is available in a variety of high-gloss
automobile colors, which can be exactly
matched to the color of your choice. It
has long been possible to make your projector
look like your 360 Modena if so desired
and this tradition continues with the Crystal
View line.
The View 2 is designed to project image
sizes from as small as 80 inches to as large
as 180 inches, depending on your application.
Standard inputs include RGBHV Video, Stereo
Audio, RS232 control connection, an external
switcher connection and remote. Optional
connections include a second RGBHV, DVI,
SDI, and multi-standard video. For outputs,
the View 2 has a variable stereo audio output
and RS232 pass-through. The View 2 has a
max resolution of 2048 x 1536 and is clearly
capable of displaying HDTV at its very highest
level. The View 2 will also support nearly
every conceivable aspect ratio including
1:1, 4:3, 16:9 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. Light
output is rated at 1,000 ANSI lumens or
an impressive 28 foot lamberts, nearly three
times the number considered to be reference
level. Getting down to where the rubber
meets the road, the Crystal View 2 is capable
of as much as 10,000:1 contrast ratio, an
absolutely staggering number. Compare this
to DLP, LCD and DIL-A, which most often
fall below the 1,000:1 ratio. What this
means is that the View 2 will display the
closest to absolute black and white levels
you can find. Lower contrast ratios, like
those found on digital projectors, will
render the darkest blacks more like darker
shades of gray. While this is not the entire
reason why CRT projectors rule supreme in
a perfect environment, it is certainly the
most important.
Virtually every aspect of the Crystal View
2 is updated from CRTs of the past. The
Crystal View 2 has liquid-cooled, air-coupled
lenses for picture clarity. Additionally,
the View 2 incorporates complete gamma correction,
assuring perfect color balance. The View
2 has astigmatism adjustment in nine separate
zones for perfect focusing, sheimphlug adjustment
to adjust the coupling between your lens
and CRT guns, multi-zone contrast adjustment
that assures even brightness throughout
the picture, and one of the slickest features
on the projector, ultra-simple 45 zone computer
controlled and memorized convergence, just
to mention a few features.
CRT’s of the past were (rightfully,
in many cases) dubbed “maintenance
nightmares” because of the need to
continually adjust the convergence and other
settings. This usually needed to be attended
to by a professional, unless the owner had
gone so far as to complete ISF training.
While this projector comes with the complete
installation package included in its price,
its stability was quite notable as compared
to other CRT projectors I have owned in
the past. Like a kid on Christmas morning,
I couldn’t wait to get the View 2
on my ceiling, so I asked (suckered) a few
of my stronger neighbors to help me lift
up the 145 pound projector. While my first
CRT projector experience with an old Sony
seven-inch CRT was a mess, I could get the
strikingly simple View 2 looking surprisingly
good in less than one hour. I know nearly
every client will never be as impatient
as I was, but it is nice to know that the
projector is easier than you might think
to use and/or install. No matter how easy
the View 2 is to set up for the video savvy,
the tech support from Crystal View takes
the setup to entirely different levels of
excellence. They set up your color temperature,
your aspect ratios and much more with a
level of fine tuning that amateurs can’t
hope to achieve.
CRT projectors do require touch-up convergences
and, unless you opt for a $1,900 ACON system
(which automatically converges your projector),
you will want to be able to do them yourself
every few weeks without having to call a
local dealer. Worry not – the View
2 is not only easy to converge but it is
also rock solid, not needing significant
changes too often. This is very different
than older, big-dollar CRT projectors and
is a welcome change.
System Configuration
During the period of this review, I ran
the Meridian 598 DVD player to the Faroudja
NR Series Scaler, configured at 720p, using
a Transparent Premium Component Video cable.
I then went out of the Faroudja NR using
a 30-foot Transparent Premium RGB cable
into the View 2 projector. I projected onto
my reference 73-inch wide 4:3 Stewart Filmscreen
Studiotec 130, viewed from a distance of
eight feet. For HDTV, I run the older RCA
DTC-100 and set the Faroudja NR to the pass-through
mode.
The Movies
One of my favorite video demos is the 1992
courtroom drama “A Few Good Men”
(Columbia/TriStar Home Entertainment), a
movie that I often use for video evaluation
due to its dark yet detailed courtroom scenes
and challenging contrast between the uniform
whites and dark wood backgrounds. Chapter
4 contains the scene where Lt. Caffee (Tom
Cruise) meets Lt. Cmdr. Galloway (Demi Moore),
a visit that begins the love/hate relationship
between the two that defines this film.
In this scene, I paid close attention to
the View 2’s ability to reproduce
the white in Galloway’s dress uniform,
in contrast to the black shoulder board
that displays her rank. Immediately, you
could discern this projector’s fantastic
contrast ratio and its ability to make the
blacks perfectly black, even though they
exist directly next to the white. There
were no signs of bleed-over, something that
indicates among other things that the View
2’s power supply has more than adequate
power to supply the projector. This is not
a trivial feature, as many CRT’s fall
short in this area, causing lines to curve
and overall performance to dip. In the courtroom
scene at the end of the movie where Caffee
has Col. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) on the
stand, the colors in the faces were superb
and displayed exquisite color saturation
throughout the entire image. The video quality
of this film is good but not great, as there
are some artifacts that can be accentuated
on most video systems. With the View 2,
I have never seen this DVD look more like
film. When I reviewed the nifty and far
less expensive Seleco HT200 DLP, it had
great color, but this was a strength that
was overshadowed by rainbow artifacts caused
by the color wheel of the Seleco DLP projector
on this demo.
Recently, I had a chance to put a Madrigal
Imaging MPD-1 DIL-A digital projector right
up against the View 2 in my room. When compared
directly to the View 2, the Madrigal D-ILA
had greater picture and color brightness,
but in comparison, the overall picture was
not up to the challenge posed by comparison
to the Crystal View CRT. The CRT had a lot
of brightness, but not as much as the D-ILA.
However, the View 2 looked smoother and
more lifelike. When playing the same “A
Few Good Men” demo, blacks looked
washed out when compared to the blacks on
the CRT. On 1080i sources, the comparison
drew closer and the D-ILA’s brightness
became more of an advantage. However, on
720p, the D-ILA really struggles, reportedly
because of an internal scaler issue. The
View 2 was far superior for 720p and smoother
for 1080i.
Another killer video demo is the CGI-animated
classic “Dinosaur” (Disney Home
Entertainment), a movie that is delightfully
real-looking and a great movie for children
and adults alike. In Chapter 3, a scene
where the lemurs discover the egg that is
soon to become their oversized friend Aladar,
the View 2 took my breath away. I have never
witnessed video this pure in my room. There
was no visible noise in the picture, even
though I was viewing it on a very large
screen from a mere eight feet away. Amazingly,
the View 2 showed no signs of individuated
pixels from as close as three feet away.
This is an increasingly important consideration,
as many viewing environments simply won’t
allow you to view from the digital projector’s
recommendation distance of two-and-a half
times the horizontal screen width.
I have long used the movie “Toy Story
2” (Disney/Pixar), as a personal favorite
video demo. It’s a movie that is sheer
eye-candy and one that will impress pretty
much anyone when showing off your video
gear. Although animation can be easier to
reproduce than live-action film due to its
lack of natural shading and color temperatures,
this movie again floored me when played
through the View 2. I noticed details that
I had never seen on my old seven-inch CRT
system. Edges that could become jagged and
less than sharp were now crisp and smooth
and looked altogether 3D. What you need
to realize is that the feature that is most
responsible for the look of depth is the
smooth transition as the image nears its
edge. If the edge is pure and smooth, it
will look as if it disappears behind the
object. If it is jagged, it looks more reproduced
and less realistic.
Downsides
The Crystal View 2 needs to be installed
in a room that can be completely darkened.
Unlike the brighter digital projectors to
a certain extent, CRT projectors cannot
retain the integrity of their picture with
ambient light. Proper attention, including
thousands of dollars, needs to be given
to making your media room dark before you
install a View 2 or any CRT for that projector.
System designers concerned about daytime
viewing often install an alternative source
like a Sony 36-inch XBR tube TV set for
more casual day viewing if that is a design
requirement of the room.
The Crystal View 2 is a monster at 145
pounds and needs to be wall-mounted to the
ceiling. I highly recommend that you have
your dealer (it isn’t really the job
of the Crystal View technician) hang the
projector securely. This is an urgent safety
issue that cannot be overlooked. Alternatively,
you can install on the floor or on a table.
Digital projectors don’t need to
be converged, while CRTs do. The View 2
is the best projector I have ever witnessed
for this, but you will want to learn how
to converge the picture yourself in order
to be able to get your system 100 percent
before a dinner and a movie party. If you
struggle to program the clock on your VCR,
then you need to consider if a CRT projector
is right for your needs.
Long-term value must be considered when
investing in a large-scale CRT video system.
Assuming you could buy a (very hard to find)
Mercedes SL 55 AMG today, you could drive
it for a few weeks and resell it within
days for every penny you paid for it. With
CRT projectors, this phenomenon is absolutely
not the case. Therefore, you will want to
make the investment taking into account
the long-term performance and value of the
projector. Considering the View 2’s
performance for DVD and HDTV, there should
be little to worry about.
Conclusion
The Crystal View 2 is a video projector
that will display movies and TV better than
any projector in its price range. It is
definitely not a projector for everyone,
but for those who can take the plunge, it
is something to behold. In a dedicated media
room, the Crystal View 2 will reproduce
bright, colorful pictures that are so filmlike
that it can take your breath away.
At nearly $45,000, this projector is extremely
expensive, yet for those who can afford
it, it offers a solid, long-term value.
In years of owning a lesser CRT projector
and shopping for future upgrades at the
CEDIA and CES trade shows, I can accept
the fact that there are currently no diamonds
in the rough that will outperform this projector
for less money. The Crystal View 2 is a
modern-day video gem that will make any
high-end theater/media room the envy of
all who are privileged enough to watch a
movie there.
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