Bad blacks on projector

[munkle]

So I picked up this projector: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B97ZKIA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (first projector ever)

One thing I have noticed is the the blacks are pretty bad, like light grey. But as far as I can tell its the image that the source is putting out. If I bring up the projector menu which is black, it is much darker and blacker than the image being out put. Like the black bars on the top and bottom of a movie are grey while the projector menu is black. I'm using an htpc with gt 430. I'm not even sure what to adjust to get the blacks to be darker. The image itself looks fine if its not a dark scene but as soon as its a dark scene it looks washed out.

If I switch on the projector hdmi to limited range instead of full range this makes the blacks a bit darker but still not as dark as the menu. Is there something else I should be looking for?

 

[Makeroflostsouls]

What are you playing back? Blu-ray? DVD? Also what program are you using to play back the video ? That's a pretty decent projector, the black's won't be true black on it but should be a dark grey. Movie blacks can differ from movie to movie. I have some movies the blacks look great on my projector and some have a washed out look to them. Have you tried more then one movie?

 

[ShinyFalcon]

Usually when switching between limited and full I have to adjust brightness to get black as black as possible. For example, I can put brightness higher on full before it starts washing out blacks. The same brightness setting on limited will make everything very washed out, and so I have to lower brightness.

Do you know what your video card setting is set at? YCbCr, RGB full, RGB limited, etc?

 

[Zangmonkey]

Well, that's a pretty bright projector as advertised, so I'm sure that's part of it.
Most inexpensive DLP projectors like that use a clear slide in their color wheel to increase dynamic brightness but this practices can damage blacks.

Otherwise you may have a gamma problem on your GPU outputting.. Have you tried connecting a BD player to look at test patterns?

Have you calibirated the projector?
What sort of screen are you using?

 

[munkle]

What are you playing back? Blu-ray? DVD? Also what program are you using to play back the video ? That's a pretty decent projector, the black's won't be true black on it but should be a dark grey. Movie blacks can differ from movie to movie. I have some movies the blacks look great on my projector and some have a washed out look to them. Have you tried more then one movie?

I've tried the avengers, the dark knight, the dark night rises. All seem to show the same issue blacks in the movie are grey but the actual projector menu is much blacker so it doesn't seem like a problem with the projector being overly bright. I have used a cheap standalone blu-ray player and power dvd 11.0

Do you know what your video card setting is set at? YCbCr, RGB full, RGB limited, etc?

Where do I check this? I don't see any options for this in windows control center, nvidia control panel or power dvd.

Well, that's a pretty bright projector as advertised, so I'm sure that's part of it.
Most inexpensive DLP projectors like that use a clear slide in their color wheel to increase dynamic brightness but this practices can damage blacks.

Otherwise you may have a gamma problem on your GPU outputting.. Have you tried connecting a BD player to look at test patterns?

Have you calibirated the projector?
What sort of screen are you using?

It is a bright projector but what bothers me is that it is capable of producing blacker blacks as you can tell the projectors menu is much blacker than the movies' blacks.

I haven't fully calibrated yet the projector as I no idea what to adjust on this. Turning the contrast lower destroys the image, turning brightness down makes everything dark. Right now I am projecting this on a white wall. What bothers me is that the projector itself is capable of blacker blacks because the menu itself is much darker than the movies but the movies come out grey at best for their blacks.

 

[VulcaN]

The quickest test as mentioned is to hook up a bluray player and see if its different.

Most likely you have your PC and projector mis-configured. Is the projector outputting a PC 0-255 RGB range signal? You should set it to do so, and make sure you run the toggler so that your NVIDIA card is outputting full range as well:

http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=83

Nvidia cards do not output full PC range by default, hence the toggler (its a bug / "feature")

 

[Nenu]

I had a similar issue when I first got my projector (Optoma HD131x).
I changed to ycbcr and that worked, but later I found all that was needed was to use the Windows colour calibration tool and all is well with RGB now.
The Gamma being used was too high.

Before calibrating Windows, set the projector back to default config.
Calibrate the projector after if needed.
I also set my display adapter to output full range video (0-255 rather than 16 to 235) as all the video I play is full range.

To calibrate the colour in Windows, go to Control Panel, Colour Management.

 

[Verge]

So I picked up this projector: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B97ZKIA/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (first projector ever)

One thing I have noticed is the the blacks are pretty bad, like light grey. But as far as I can tell its the image that the source is putting out. If I bring up the projector menu which is black, it is much darker and blacker than the image being out put. Like the black bars on the top and bottom of a movie are grey while the projector menu is black. I'm using an htpc with gt 430. I'm not even sure what to adjust to get the blacks to be darker. The image itself looks fine if its not a dark scene but as soon as its a dark scene it looks washed out.

If I switch on the projector hdmi to limited range instead of full range this makes the blacks a bit darker but still not as dark as the menu. Is there something else I should be looking for?

You just discovered the difference between a 600 dollar projector and a 6000!

 

[VulcaN]

You can also add $2000 to the value of your projector simply by installing black carpet and painting the area around the screen (walls + ceiling) flat black for about 10 feet out from the screen. Place blackout curtains over any windows if you watch during the daytime.

Prepare for your wife to kill you but its worth it.

 

[Nenu]

For sure, removing all other light sources + dark walls etc improves blacks and dark detail.
It also makes colours a little more vibrant, the opposite of being washed out.

Even though my room is pretty dark with curtains closed, its always better watching movies at night.
Thats not to say it isnt usable during the day, I can use it just fine even with the curtains open, I watch TV like this.
But getting blacks as dark as they will go is paramount to get the best out of your pj when watching a film.