What performance should I expect from a Eiki lc330 projector?

[yoda313]

I just bought this projector used on EBAY today. I should probably get it in a week or so. It was only $50 plus shipping. I was looking at that zoombox that was brought up in the other thread but they were over a $100 and I wasn't ready to commit that much to something I'm just going to fool around with right now.

Here are the specs from the manual:



I know thats not the latest and greatest but should I be able to get a reasonably decent picture out of this? It says it can go up to 300 inches which is 25 feet. I don't know how realistic that is. What should my expectations be?

Would this perform at all in the daylight? Is this low enough that it will be restricted to night time us only??? Thats ok if it is. I'm just getting my feet weet in the projector market. I see the svga projectors are dropping to around $500 in some weekend ads. Those are 800x600 usually but thats just slightly better than 720x480 dvd spec so that would be fine by me if I ever went the full blown current gen projector route.

Also - I'm not going to invest in a screen right now. I want to see how it looks first. Should I expect at least standard def tv performance? I know this won't look like a 40 inch plasma I just want it to be clear enough to be tolerable.

If anyone can shed some light on this I'd appreciate it. I'll post my own reviews once its delivered. I just thought I'd get some insight before I got it. Thanks all.

[BJ_M]

it is an old sanyo made projector - video looks horrid on it , but computer graphics are not even possable ...aweful blacks , low output (forget daylight) , expensive bulbs also ... 640x480

about vhs quaility - will not play HD or even component video .. no video engine on board, no scaling ...
50 bucks though is about right -- the lcd panels in these projectors fade bad at about 3000-4000 hours and contrast goes to about 25:1 - whichis prob. what this one is ...

[BJ_M]

the lamps for this are 429 bucks - if you can find one .... they are no longer made

[yoda313]

Thanks for the info bj_m.

I'll find out when it comes this week. Maybe I should have tried for the zoombox afterall.....

But this should be interesting anyway. I figured what was the worst I could get at $50?? Now at least I can say I have a video projector

[SingSing]

it is an old sanyo made projector - video looks horrid on it , but computer graphics are not even possable ...aweful blacks , low output (forget daylight) , expensive bulbs also ... 640x480s ...

I saw a Sanyo video projector demo about 10 years ago in a local electronics store. The demo room was very dark, but the demo video looked nice. Was that a different technology that Sanyo used ?

[BJ_M]

nothing wrong w/ sanyos they made some great projectors in the day, the eiki EIKI LC-Xxx series were used by lots of rental companies and were pretty good

[jagabo]

Note the spec says "Number of Pixels: 338,400 (112,800 x 3)". That puts the resolution far below 640x480, more like 470x240.

[yoda313]

I'm warned. Thanks for the translation though jagabo. I wasn't sure how that worked on in traditional video lingo.

I figure for $50 I just want it to work a little bit. As long as I can see the picture at all it will be fun to have it at a large size.

[jagabo]

I figure for $50 I just want it to work a little bit.

It sounds like a fun little plaything. Let us know how it turns out.

[yoda313]

I figure for $50 I just want it to work a little bit.

It sounds like a fun little plaything. Let us know how it turns out.

Thanks. I sure will (can't wait for it to arrive )

[yoda313]

BUMP!

It came it came!!

The thing is huge! I'll post some pics and vids this weekend.

It looks great Worth every penny.

Though I do have a question. I have to use a mirror to get it to project properly. When I point it straight at a wall or something the video is reversed. When I point it at a mirror then direct the mirror where I want it the video is normal. Is there anyway to correct this so I can just point the projector straight at where I want?

The picture isn't perfect. When I project it huge the pixels can be a bit obvious. But in any movement its not distracting. Also I can see it in light conditions but the blacks aren't terribly sharp. But all in all worth $50 totally. Now I have my own movie theater!!!! THIS ROCKS!!!

[BJ_M]

yes - there is a way to set it for front screen instead of rear screen ...

but i cant remember on that projector what it is .... if it is not n the menu (most likely) , it would be a switch in the case or a dip switch ..

on some crt projectors - you have to switch internal leads - but not on your projector ...

[jagabo]

Yoda, thanks for the report. Could you try a resolution test pattern like the one from this post:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1517803#1517803

Just curious to hear how it does.

Is it noisy? If not, maybe I'll get one for the bedroom when our old 13" TV dies.

[yoda313]

yes - there is a way to set it for front screen instead of rear screen ...

but i cant remember on that projector what it is

Thanks. I had found it. I had downloaded the manual the other day and I finally was able to locate the control panel on the unit. There is a reverse button on the projector. I pushed the button and it worked beautifully.

Its much clearer now. The mirror trick worked but it was a little more muddy then it is now that I have it properly reversed internally instead of externally.

I'll have to do that test some other time jagabo. And its not very noisy. Think of it like a loud computer (loud computer fan that is - audible but not very distracting). And I don't think it would do to well in the bedroom - this particular model is huge. A good two feet long it seems.

[BJ_M]

the mirror would have only worked if it was a first surface mirror -- most mirrors are not ..

[yoda313]

Hi,

Here is a picture of the unit:



Its in pretty good shape.

Here's the screen I'm using currently



And here's a 3 minute 5mb wmv presentation of the projector. I capped it from my analog camcorder and compressed the 40mb mpeg2 file to a 5mb wmv file. So there is compression artificats in the video and should not be taken as a full represenation of the projectors quality. This is just to give a feel for it:

www.yoda313.com/video/projector.wmv

[SingSing]

I had watch movie on the Advent three beam projector( size about an end table ). This one is not big at all. It look similar to the Sanyo unit I saw 10 years ago.

Now, we are looking forward yo YODA3131 to find a movie screen on Ebay, to replace the bed sheet.

Er, the projector.wmv does not play ! what is type video2 ?

[yoda313]

Hi singsing.

I did get a new screen today:



And its on a tripod:




It was $10 at a Church Rummage sale!! Great bargain and it works great. It's about 5' horizontally.

About the video - its a normal wmv. I converted it with windows media encoder 9. I can stream it just fine myself. I'll try to post an avi if I can get the file size low enough. (can you play it if you download it instead of stream it?)

[SingSing]

My other PC has MS9 decoder install. I should be fine. Thank you.

I am suprised that there are churches operating in sector 001. Ha Ha.

[yoda313]

Here we go:

www.yoda313.com/video/projector2.avi

Its a 7.5mb divx clip taken from the original 40mb mpeg2. It should play without any problems.


---and regarding the church - it was really a front from the Bajorans trying to get more converts to worship the PROPHETS

[gll99]

Great stuff! Thanks for the video. I have been relunctant to buy an svga and even edged on some xga lcd or dlp with 1500 to 2000 max rated lumens but I see that yours looks pretty good in near darkness and on a sheet no less .

Mind you my investment will be more in the $1000 plus taxes so I'm a little cautious but for $50 I think you did extremely well. Wouldn't mind one myself but don't trust using my cards online and I'm not sure if there is any other way to do business without giving personal info. Can you use money orders etc..?

After the bulb dies you may want to look at the home made projectors. There are a few sites around. One I think is called lumenlabs. Some enclosures are not much larger than yours and they are using a MH bulb which costs around $50 or less. There are also those who use halogen bulbs which are even cheaper. Halogen may not produce the same color fidelity and generate more heat but some seem to like them. It shouldn't be too hard to retrofit your unit with extra fans, a protective glass for the bulb and a new light socket if you get the urge and can't find a replacement bulb at a decent price.

Anyway that's in the future. Enjoy your movies.

[yoda313]

Thanks for the feedback gll. Yes it is in pretty good shape. It looks even better on the new screen I just got.

Some ebayers will allow money orders. I don't know about many online companies.

However if you wanted you could always do a circuit city or bestbuy online. Both have instore pickup now to save on shipping as well.

There's also paypal that some online stores accept if you don't want to give your info directly to the store (though of course they'd need your shipping address).

I'll think about the homemade stuff whenever the time comes. Though that zoombox at $250 seemed intruging as a future replacemetn option.

[gll99]

The homemade jobs still cost enough when you add up all the parts, material and delivery but I would just borrow their idea to retrofit a cheaper bulb into your existing projector when the time comes to replace it.
You've got everything you need so there won't be much to get except as I said a socket, bulb, fan and possibly a piece of clear glass to absorb uv and some of the heat from the brighter light if your projector doesn't have one.

Those zoombox bulbs look pretty dim. I doubt the picture would quite measure up to yours. I wouldn't see it as a step up for you except that it's smaller. I'm sure your lens is better quality. It looks like they are marketing them more to the tween and mid teen audience.

If you could post some new clips on your new screen that would be great. Please give some x y and diag sizes of the newly projected images. I also like what you did with the lights on and off. It's good to see the effect of light on a 100:1 contrast ratio projector.

btw) Is your screen white or light gray. It's hard to tell from the pic. Thanks

Man that is a real deal on a screen. You sure lucked on that one

[yoda313]

The screen is a lightish gray. (I used a flash so you could really see it well).

I'll try to get around to doing a test of the new screen. Don't know when though.

I wanted to give some realworld examples of a projector for those who haven't seen them outside of a showroom.

[gll99]

From what I remember the light gray may be exactly whats needed for a lower contrast projector. I was also looking at the specs you provided and your projector already comes with a 180w metal halide lamp and a mirror projection system so a lamp retrofit may be very easy for this unit. You've got it made.

The real world experience is what is lacking in showrooms. The few I have seen are too brightly light and they often only display high end home theatre models that don't interest me. I have scoured the net in the last while trying to find images and better yet video that show units in a home environment before I plunk my money down.

An other issue I had concerned the pixels showing and or screen door effect. I was told that this would lessen a lot at svga res and disappear at xga resolution but no-one had a clear enough display (as in contrast) so I could believe them. With washed out pictures everything disappears

Costco is the worst. Theirs are in the open with the brightest lights shining on the screen so it's totally washed out but the other stores are not that much better.

Your brief clip of the screen on a sheet shows much more detail than I expected on a lower resolution unit. Frankly for the price I'm impressed and will await patiently any new clips you can provide.

Thanks again.

[yoda313]

FYI you can still see the pixels on my unit. Though I have it larger than most would probably recommend for a projector of my quality. And its only noticable on still scenes or low action sequences where the camera doesn't move much. But if your not right up on the screen you barely notice them at all. And I'm not saying they're huge but seeing as how we're all video buffs here it would be an issue to some. But like we've said on a budget it ain't too bad

I would be interested in retrofitting this unit. The lamp does seem to brighten and fade slightly even now. Though its hardly noticeable and is brief. If you could get a new 180w bulb for under a $100 and the installation was relatively easy I would seriously consider it. This projector is very good for what I'm using it for and I really don't see a need to buy a new one at $600 or more if I can do a relatively cheap replacement with a new bulb that isn't brand specific - do all metal hylide bulbs have a similar socket system??

EDIT:

Is this something that would work as a replacement bulb:

http://dyna-brite.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SYLV-64342&Categ...roduct_Count=0

HQI-SE150/NDX

150W single ended compact metal halide lamp, neutral white delux, clear, universal burn




If so I'd love to spend $50 or so to get a brand new projector in effect......

[jagabo]

yoda, thanks for the review video. It's a great deal for $50. Especially if you can retrofit an inexpensive bulb!

[yoda313]

Glad to help out.

I hope I can replace it easily as I finally noticed that the "REPLACE BULB" light is on. So its not a question of IF I will need to replace it soon but WHEN I have to replace it.

I'll have to do some research on replacing bulbs on projectors.

[SingSing]

the lamps for this are 429 bucks - if you can find one .... they are no longer made

Is this something that would work as a replacement bulb:
http://dyna-brite.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SYLV-64342&Categ...roduct_Count=0
HQI-SE150/NDX -
150W single ended compact metal halide lamp, neutral white delux, clear, universal burn
.....

This $51.00 lamp make more sense than BJ_M mentioned. You may need a matching electronics/ballast to work with it.

[yoda313]

Thanks singsing. I've just signed up over at lumenlabs.com and posted a question about it.

What exactly is a ballast in respect to a projector bulb??