Runco Projectors & Stewart Screens
There are two names at the top of the Home Cinema hierarchy – Runco and Stewart. They both make what are simply the best products and command prices that reflect the absolute levels of performance they offer. And until now, here in New Zealand, you might well have regarded them as unaffordable.
As avowed projection enthusiasts in our own home we have been eagerly awaiting the New Zealand launch of the new entry level Runco DLP Projector – the Reflection CL-410 (just NZ$ 6,995) and are happy to report that from the very first time we saw what it could do we have been converted. This is a unique machine in the world of sub NZ$ 10K projectors – to our eyes it offers the best picture quality and is a worthwhile alternative to our more well known InFocus models. Your own choice will be driven by a number of factors and we’ll outline the significant differences later in this page...
Firstly let’s give you some more information on the CL-410 itself. DLP – Digital Light Projection, is well accepted as the best technology for home cinema projectors at this level (LCD is better for business oriented data projection) and naturally the CL-410 uses this, a widescreen 1024 x 576 native resolution chip being at the heart of the matter. What separates the Runco from other projectors which may share the same resolution is the really interesting bit. By combining a highly efficient optical light engine with broad installation and integration options, the CL-410 establishes the perfect balance between performance and affordability.
With Enhanced GEN 3 technology, the CL-410 produces deeper blacks, greater contrast ratio and brightness, and richly saturated colours. Among the CL-410’s features is the industry’s best grey scale tracking, which far surpasses CRT projectors and is vital to vibrant, true-to-life colour reproduction and superior black and white level performance. Runco’s acclaimed Vivix video processing and scaling assure pristine video imagery, while the CL-410’s light output is powerful enough for screens up to 2.5m wide.
The CL-410’s broad lens shift, variable throw distance, and keystone correction allow for flexible placement within virtually any theatre environment. Discrete IR control is also included, allowing simple integration with other audio/video components and automated control systems.
Gen 3 technology consists of a number of engineering enhancements developed by Runco to deliver more efficient use of our DLP light engine design. This is achieved by implementing proprietary and unique methods to achieve superior images. Products using Gen 3 technology deliver improved black levels, better contrast ratios, more uniform grey scale tracking, better colour temperature control and improved colour saturation and fidelity.
Runco’s ‘Enhanced Gen 3’ technology results in even greater contrast, the lowest black levels in the industry and significant improvements to colour purity. These advances are in addition to the fantastic performance refinements achieved with the advent of Gen 3 technology in late 2002.
In addition, the new Enhanced Gen 3 products incorporate Imaging Science Foundation’s ‘ISF 3c’ (Certified Calibration Configuration) set-up and calibration standards in projector GUI menus that facilitate picture quality conforming to the highest standards in the industry.
Runco’s Gen 3 products all have DVI inputs, which include HDCP copy protection decryption. While this new chip technology definitely contributes to improved image quality, it is only one part of the story. Overall picture quality depends upon the optimisation of the total projector design, including the lens system/optics, the careful design of the entire optical light path, colour-wheel filtration dynamics, precise colour balancing capability, and superior digital video signal processing. Runco’s Gen 3 products collectively optimise all these factors to provide today’s best possible picture quality.
Optimising Colour
Runco’s Gen 3 products utilise a seven-segment colour wheel. This type of colour wheel was chosen for use in our Gen 3 products because it provides a very true colour imaging model that creates the best balance of colour accuracy, light output and black level. Many other projectors on the market opt to use a 4-segment colour wheel to achieve greater light output. One trade-off to this approach is that it raises black levels, resulting in degradation of picture quality and the introduction of undesirable moiré patterns resulting in what is known as a “rainbow effect”. Other methods of achieving greater light output utilise less saturated colours in their colour-wheel components, resulting in less faithful and vivid colour reproduction.
Runco has developed a proprietary nine-point colour balancing control system that is used in all of its single chip DLP projectors. This unique Runco innovation consistently provides the best grayscale tracking in the industry – surpassing any CRT colour tracking system and is as good or better than most 3 chip DLP projectors. There are three parameters that can be calibrated for gain, bias, and gamma, delivering uniform colour temperature and unprecedented grey scale tracking.
Lens Systems
The lens system optics used with any projection technology is critical because it is this component array that controls the ability to fully resolve and optimise video signals and the resulting images, by creating a sharp pixel presentation. The dimple in the centre of DMD pixels should be clearly defined; this is essential in projecting a clear, well-defined image without soft edges. The superior Home Theatre and Cinema Grade lenses that Runco uses also do not produce colour fringing. Most projectors built with standard lenses, usually plastic, exhibit chromatic aberrations and colour fringing on image edges that result in the projector appearing to be slightly mis-converged.
Runco’s Gen 3 projection display devices feature a range of professional, all-glass lenses of the same type that are also used in the best digital cinemas. The primary advantage of all-glass lenses is the ability to produce a highly detailed image without any chromatic aberrations or other optical distortions. This is very challenging in a single lens display device because the lens must focus the entire spectrum of RGB primary colours, which have different wavelengths, increasing the likelihood of chromatic aberrations. While the projector is limited by the resolution of the DMD, how well it can focus that resolution on the screen plays a large part in the final image quality.
Signal Processing
All of Runco’s Gen-3 projector products use Runco’s award winning ViViX video processing. Runco’s “Pixel for Pixel” technology matches the output resolution, sync types and output format, to most efficiently drive the display unit. This prevents ‘double scaling’, which can cause a loss of resolution, or other unwanted artefacts often associated with other processors. This feature is one of the keys to turning an otherwise good, fixed-pixel display device, into a high quality video display suitable for the discriminating home theatre enthusiast.
In addition, ViViX boasts other features that no other processor has, providing chrominance and luminance enhancement controls that increase sharpness without inducing ringing. Runco’s ten-bit video processing also makes the picture look brighter because of increased perceived contrast ratio.
Summary
It is important to understand when evaluating DLP projectors that even when comparing two projectors that use the same DMD chip, that all projectors won’t look the same. The final picture quality produced by each projector will vary significantly based on how well each system addresses all of the parameters that determine the final image quality.
In addition to using the newest DLP technology available from Texas Instruments, Runco’s Gen 3 and Enhanced Gen 3 products have been designed from their inception utilising proprietary Runco features and engineering to address all of the areas that contribute to superior image quality. This more effectively and efficiently increases the performance levels of Runco projectors.
Are you still with us?
The CL-410 could be viewed as the least compromised entry level projector. It’s physical appearance certainly suggests this – the black metal casework, weight and physical size immediately set it apart from the nearest logical contender – the ScreenPlay 5700 (which shares the same resolution) and is within NZ$ 1,000 price-wise. Aesthetics of the actual projector aside, the Runco has the best picture quality and contrast BUT this is balanced by its lower light output. Should you wish to explore larger screens (over 100" diagonal or wider than 2.2 metres) or have a situation that means you have appreciable stray daylight in your room, the ScreenPlay option may make more sense. Conversely, smaller rooms with shorter throws will favour the Runco. If you can tell us about the practical considerations in your chosen room, we’ll be able to make the best recommendation for you.
We will also continue to emphasise the importance of screen quality – this really makes a huge difference – in our opinion, it is greater than the differences between the projectors we have been describing. A white wall is absolutely not an option with the Runco – you would be grossly short-changing yourself. We have found reasonable screens for as little as NZ$ 600, but wouldn’t want to step below the better quality LP Morgan Rondo pulldown screens for our own use. Should you have the option of a fixed screen, you’ll be able to enjoy the best performance at any given price. This will also open up the Stewart option for you. Yes – they are the most costly screens – often more than twice the cost of other options, but in the overall scheme of things, if you choose the right Stewart screen (material and size) for your specific situation, there is nothing better. The starting point for a suitably sized Stewart fixed screen for the CL-410 is just on NZ$ 4,000. What you have to do is simply ask us, would a more costly projector with a cheaper screen give me a picture that is better in my room? The final result is what really counts!
So is Runco projection the right choice for you? If you are selective viewer who wants to get the most out of the few hours you spend each week with either broadcast or DVD we think so. Projection holds more appeal to us than any conventional TV or flat panel display because of both its physical size and impact, but also because of the quality involved – if we take a real cinema as the benchmark, then this is the next best thing. And in fact if well set up, the quality will better that of most commercial cinemas. Projection systems can be as flexible as you want, and need not take over a room when not in use. The advent of the Runco CL-410 has simply made it feasible to enjoy a better quality picture at home than was previously possible at this price.
Isn’t it time you had some fun?
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