New Laser Projector Advice and New Screen

[Darin Steffl]

So it seems after my first Cinemacon that Laser is the way to go for new projectors. Barco Series 4 looks like a solid choice and they've also announced they're discontinuing Xenon projectors.

We have 26 foot wide Scope format screen and currently run an NEC NC1200C that was purchased November of 2012. It's not EOL yet but we would like to upgrade to a new one in the next 6 months and Laser seems like the next step.

2K already looks great to me on our screen and I'd guess 75% of new shows we get are still only 2K so I'm wondering if it's even worth looking at 4K projectors yet?

Has anyone installed a Barco Series 4 yet? Are they the best one to look at yet or should we look at NEC or Christie too? They're only Series 2 it looks like.

Our screen also has water damage so we may be looking at a new screen as well once we replace our roof which is leaking badly. What are the best brands to look at?

[Marin Zorica]

If you're going for new projector and laser try to get budget for 4k. First barco SP4K here I did on screen size like you're and that 4K was best improvement and to say only improvement (in quality terms, not reability or power costs etc) over old 2K xenon barco. So if someone today want to upgrade for laser, but havibg ok xenon projector I always recomend to go 4K also, or to hold a two or three year more with xenon and than do 4k upgrade.

[Darin Steffl]

If you're going for new projector and laser try to get budget for 4k. First barco SP4K here I did on screen size like you're and that 4K was best improvement and to say only improvement (in quality terms, not reability or power costs etc) over old 2K xenon barco. So if someone today want to upgrade for laser, but havibg ok xenon projector I always recomend to go 4K also, or to hold a two or three year more with xenon and than do 4k upgrade.

Do you only notice an improvement with 4K films? As I mentioned, it seems most (75% approx) films are still only 2K in the last 12 months.

[Marcel Birgelen]

What you first and foremost will notice is the increased contrast, especially the much improved black levels. Also, if you had a visible pixel grid / screen door effect in the front rows of your theater, you can now consider that to be a thing of the past. The only real downside to laser projectors like the Barco Series 4 is that they have some odd color artifacts. Most people won't notice them fortunately, but they're most definitely there.

Do you still want to support 3D in your new setup?

[Darin Steffl]

What you first and foremost will notice is the increased contrast, especially the much improved black levels. Also, if you had a visible pixel grid / screen door effect in the front rows of your theater, you can now consider that to be a thing of the past. The only real downside to laser projectors like the Barco Series 4 is that they have some odd color artifacts. Most people won't notice them fortunately, but they're most definitely there.

Do you still want to support 3D in your new setup?

I'm not a fan of 3D myself and no one has ever asked for it so I don't think we need that. I get headaches and eye strain at every 3D movie I've been to.

[Leo Enticknap]

I've installed around 50 SP4Ks and 20 SP2Ks, and in the vast majority of cases, experienced very happy customers. The only ones with whom there have been issues are those who want to hook very complex alternative content systems to them via HDMI that sometimes create EDID-related challenges, and ones that require integrating with fancy, touch panel automation/integration systems (usually Crestron). And the latter challenges aren't usually technical - they are related to the sticker shock of getting a Crestron reprogrammed, the cost of the Alchemy or IMS3000 module, etc.

The one gotcha I would flag up is that the convergence on SP4Ks does drift over the first 4-6 weeks of regular operation. I now advise all SP4K customers that they will likely need to have me come back about a month later to re-do it. This problem doesn't seem to affect SP2Ks.

[Darin Steffl]

We have a GDC SR-1000 in our existing projector. Do you recommend that with these projectors or the alchemy, ims3000?

[Leo Enticknap]

You can use either of those three. You can either order a SP2K or SP4K with an Alchemy in it (specifically, an ICMP-X: the two earlier variants won't work in a Series 4), or with an ICP-D and an empty option slot. I don't deal with pricing and so can't tell you this definitively, but have heard consistent reports that there isn't much difference between the two options: in other words, Barco/Cinionic will give you a very hefty discount on the ICMP-X if bundled with a projector.

If you are going with 4K and want high frame rate capability, then the ICMP-X would likely make sense. It can go up to 4K at 60 FPS in 2-D without needing to buy an extra license. I believe, but am not sure, that you need to buy an extra license for an SR-1000 to be able to do that. I have also found, anecdotally, that an Alchemy in a Barco projector tends to deal with higher frame rates (and consequently, high DCP bitrates) more reliably than its competitors.

If there isn't long to go on your SR-1000's warranty, that may be another argument for switching to the Alchemy, if you're offered a significant discount on it when bundled with the projector. GDC warranty renewals are not cheap.

Arguments for sticking with the SR-1000 would be that you've already negotiated the learning curve for it, and that automation/integration would not have to be re-done.

The only argument I can think of for an IMS3000 in your situation would be the 11TB external NAS option. GDC also offers an external 3.5" RAID box, but it's a lot more pricey the last I knew. If you do arthouse or festival type programming, and need more server space than a typical 'plex screen, then Dolby has the most competitive solution on the market, IMHO.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

NEC has been the most reliable for me. All my installations were in the five mountain states. 334 installations ranging from the NC-900 to the NC-3240's. I am right at about 14 problems that actually required a technician on site to deal with it. The latest was a bad formatter in an NC-2000..... Christie and Barco are more light efficient but I have had more troubles with the few Christies and Barco's I have dealt with over the years than I have with 334 NEC's.

[Leo Enticknap]

In my (admittedly more limited) experience, Series 2 Barcos possibly go wrong more often than their equivalent NECs; but when they go wrong, they go minor irritant wrong (e.g. pull cards, DeOxit, reseat, glitch fixed). NECs will chug along for longer without complaining, but when something does break, it's more of a soldering iron up your bum scale problem, requiring major surgery and/or long lead time parts.

In any case, NEC don't make RGB laser projectors (unless the 1040L is still offered, and I don't think it is) - they bet the farm on laser phosphor. If Darin wants RGB laser, the effective choice is between Barco and Christie; and I simply don't have enough experience with Christie laser projectors to have any valid opinions about them.

[Darin Steffl]

It looks like only the SP4K has RGB and SP2K does not. Are RGB lasers considered to be the better choice over laser phosphor?

[Steve Guttag]

Yes but...

Laser Phosphor has its own issues. Its color is not right either but differently, One normally has to "wink and nudge" its DCI color space. You've just added another wearable into the system (the motor for the phosphor wheel and the wheel itself. Historically, the only time we've used LP projectors has been for those that were remote-mounted to avoid lamp changes. RGB lasers seem to be more prone to speckle but the various companies are constantly trying to improve upon that. Green is the expensive laser so that is the one that is added last. You normally see two blue lasers in the lower-end machine with a yellow phosphor wheel on one laser to get the other colors. The next one up adds in the red laser so two blues and a red with the second blue going through a green phosphor wheel.

Yeah, NEC is definitely in the LP camp but they did have an RGB (NC-3540LS) but that is showing as discontinued. Another thing about NEC's LP projectors are the absurd number of fans they put in them. What is it? 54 fans in the NC-3541L? NEC also manages to not get a contrast ratio bump for using LP the way Barco has. I would agree with Leo that NEC has probably the best service record with the least number of failures/unit. Barco is, by far, the easiest to service but the number of board reseats is unacceptable.

[Carsten Kurz]

Screen choice is also important with laser source type. Of course, it is always best to use a matte/gain 1.0 screen. But is even more important with RGB lasers. Gain screens raise speckle issues.

As far as Barco are actually saying: Gain Screen->Phosphor laser, RGB laser -> matte screen.

[Marcel Birgelen]

Most NEC projectors I know off, have been pretty trusty workhorses over the years. Like Leo and Steve indicated, Barco projectors seem to need more interventions, but most of them are minor and are usually quickly solved, due to their modular design.

Since no 3D is being planned, a silver screen isn't needed, so simply size the SP4K in such way that you don't need a gain screen for the best result. Speckle seems to be a mostly solved problem in the SP4K, as long as you keep the screen gain low.

We're still pretty early in the "RGB" laser game, although LP has been around for a while now. I consider the SP4K platform to be superior to LP in longevity, since it requires less mechanical parts to work. Like Steve indicated, the phosphor wheel itself will be subjected to considerable wear, as is the motor driving. Also, most LP machines seem to run hotter, therefore usually require more mechanical cooling to keep working. The SP4K platform also has modular laser sources, which are field-replaceable.

[Elia Orselli]

The SP4K platform also has modular laser sources, which are field-replaceable.

Same for the SP2K, laser plates (blue and red, when installed) are field replaceable (and are mostly the same parts).

Personally, until we have to respect DCI P3 color space, with barco SP projectors I prefer laser-phosphor version.