Projector advice

[Brad]

They're having a clear out at work. A Sony VPL-PX20 is up for grabs. Would this be any good for PS2, PS3 and Gamecube use? Any advice? Is it worth having (for free)?

Thanks chaps.

[wod]

Just get it and then see if it's any good for console use.

Is it just VGA input or are they any component inputs etc on it.

You may just need a new bulb in it.

[Brad]

It has a plethora of composite, s-video, vga and component inputs but the components have these odd bnc connectors. Not a problem as I can concoct the appropriate cables.

Native res is 1024 x 768 at a 4:3 ratio.

[wod]

Should be fine for old console use if it is free, just get it anyway.

I wonder if you could use a hd box pro or xrgb2 through it etc.

[paulus]

but the components have these odd bnc connectors.

I used to have those on my old Yamaha PJ. It came with some BNC to phono adapters and my NTSC Cube really looked good through it. The Xbox 1 also looked good especially when playing on the 720P games.

[Baseley09]

Sounds pretty good, might as well nab it and give it a whirl.

[Brad]

It's mine

Won't be able to try it out for a while though due to... Stuff

Cheers for the advice chaps.

[koopatroopa90]

Just read some old user reviews and it sounds like it was quite a decent pj in its time, although was it really released in '99?? How many hours left on the bulb if that's true

Apparently despite being 4:3 native it can do 16:9 fine too. Sounds like a decent thing for free

[nonny]

Any projector is worth having for free!

Not too familiar with the older sony models but basically even at that native resolution and at 4:3 ratio is should still be half decent even for the latest consoles as most of these projectors upscale HD quite reasonably. It just depends on how far from the screen you're sitting really and too close might show up the pixelation.

My only other real advice is if you do start using it often get a screen. It makes the world of difference to the visuals. I had a 720P project for a year before I bought my fixed screen (120" matt white). I only paid $450 for the screen and if I had known it would have been that much of an improvement over a white wall I'd have done it on day one.

[Brad]

Finally took this home.

The good:

The lamp is rated at 1500 hours and currently sits at 503 so a good bit of use left on it.
DVDs and MGS3 look really good through composite off the fat PS2. No other cables lying around to try it out with at the moment.

The bad:
I hooked my macbook up using a mini-dvi->VGa adapter. I got a good picture except it was very obviously tinted yellow!

So, mostly good. Would be nice if I could get the VGA working properly too though. Any thoughts?

[Oldgamingfart]

Have a play about with the menu options. There's often a colour temperature setting for VGA, which should make things look a little less yellow.

[Brad]

Will do. This is too yellow for that I think though. Reminds me of the sort of thing you get when a scart lead is faulty or you try to use a foreign console without the right cable or something. The sockets on the projector dont say VGA, they just say rgb.

[nonny]

Mate.

Did a quick search and found this brochure: http://www.pmotions.com/Public/PDFs/SONY/vpl-px20.pdf

It says the projector has both an analog and digital RGB/VGA port so maybe try the other one? If you're using an adaptor from DVI maybe its just getting the wrong signal or not understanding how best to output it?

Not sure. Just a guess basically... but to isolate the issue maybe try a different cable or input from a different VGA device. Then it may be the settings for temperature but as you say its really off and therefore I think its just not determining it as the wrong output.

I know when I had an old Infocus projector similar to this the VGA port was in fact an RGB port and needed to use a different cable to get the full colour output. Maybe its the same thing but I dunno.

[Brad]

Cheers. Few things to try now.