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Just wanted to throw in that i picked up the Sanyo PLV-Z3000 as my first project and i absolutely love it on a 106 inch screen. We used it in a mixed purpose theater room and when you turn the brightness up you can clearly see everything when the lights are one. If you eliminate the light it even gets more awesome.

Regarding the multichannel analog out dilemma, I think Scott is correct, but mislead. However, he’s not alone, as journalists are not engineers. Think logically about this. A receiver’s primary job is to convert digital signals into analog signals, and provide clean gain (analog signals should only receive gain). Therefore, one would hope, the op-amps, DAC’s, and power supplies will not induce any noise/distortion/jitter. The player’s primary function, conversely, is in the digital domain. It's analog section is made from cheap parts, sharing the power supply with all other circuits (read: noise & jitter). Space savings beat out circuit design. Only the best players provide decent analog performance, for either audio or video, and if you can afford those players, then you can do buy a receiver/processor that can accept audio in bitstream form. Even if the player has a decent audio section, RCA cables induce noise, and all of Scott's points still apply, but are far less important than the reaso

If light control is an issue with this project, a potential screen to investigate is the Screen Innovations' Black Diamond II. It supposedly rejects ambient light well. FYI, I do not have a connection with this company, nor have I personally used the product.

Tom, I regret that your comment got cut off by the character limit. I don't see how I and other journalists can be correct but mislead. (BTW, I have a degree in physics, so I understand engineering reasonably well for a journalist.) I agree that the analog section of most players is likely to be inferior to the DACs in many AVRs, which is another reason to prefer sending digital audio via HDMI. However, I don't understand your statement that "Only the best players provide decent analog performance...and if you can afford those players, then you can do buy a receiver/processor that can accept audio in bitstream form." If a player provides good analog-audio performance, wouldn't you send analog audio to the receiver, not bitstream? I maintain that my points are also important along with pure audio performance, but I will add that to my list of reasons to prefer digital from the player to the AVR.

Scott, good idea about the Black Diamond! I haven't seen it yet, but I probably will at CEDIA next month, so stay tuned. In general, I'm skeptical about such screens, which normally have hot-spotting issues among other potential problems. But that's from a video purist's perspective, and I'm sure such a screen would work reasonably well for those who aren't as picky as I am and who need the lights on when watching a projected image.

for what it's worth, I call dibs on Scott's extra ticket to CEDIA, if he has one! ;)I know it's sort of off topic, but I've got to throw it out there!

Re: TiVo w/FiOSSounds like the Tivo is being forced to convert an analog video signal and is not doing a good job. DirecTV, FiOS and over-the-air are all digital and there is not conversion. The data is simply streamed to the hard drive in the DVR to record and streamed to the video DAC for playback.I agree completely with the Projection system - exactly a speced. I was have a similar system for about 1/2 the price. I have the same Onkyo receiver and Epson 6100 (no frame interpilation), SVC 10D, 3 B&W 600 series and 2 tiny Boston Acoustic in the rear. I also painted 1 wall with Screen Goo. I am VERY happy with the results.I also agree with the multichannel PCM conversion. The later the analog to digital conversion is done, the better. There are exceptions but they are expensive. Example: though there are few receivers that can actually produce a flat 100KHz response from a 192KHz, fewer still can do it with an analog signal.

Bill, I wish I had an extra ticket! Sorry I don't...Derek, you're right that all forms of digital delivery are digital, but I suspect that each one is formatted slightly differently, maybe packetized with different digital "wrappers," which is why the TiVo is having trouble with the FiOS signal. That's my best guess anyway...

Regarding TiVo with FiOS...I'm using a TiVo HD XL with FiOS, I have been for almost 6 months, with no major issues. Make sure you're using a cable card in your TiVo...if it matters I have a multi-stream card in mine so I only have to use one.

I have just bought a PS3 with software version2.80, I use HDMI, have the player set forlinear PCM, and when I play blu ray movies with7.1 sound, I only get 5.1. I set my oppo blu rayplayer for linear PCM and I get my 7.1 sound.This includes Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD master audio,a 7.1 uncompressed. I have spoken with Sony, theychecked my settings, which were properly set. ButI have no resolution. I am pretty down in thedumps on this. Please advise.Thanks C.B.

Scott, some one can be correct on their response, but for the wrong reasons. Hence being mislead, but correct. Next: "Only the best players provide decent analog performance... and if you can afford those players, then you can do buy a receiver/processor that can accept audio in bitstream form". The key word there is decent; not spectacular. I'm specifically referring to the flagship denon and oppo units, and while they both provide decent analog audio, it's still no match for even mid-priced receivers (if path is digital), which cost less than the combined average of both players. If someone can drop $500+ on a new player (with DECENT audio), they could instead spend roughly a few hundred more and get a receiver that accepts at least hdmi 1.1 audio spec, and avoid the analog issue completely. Also, the core of a lossless track is nearly undistinguishable from the lossless (play truehd with coax out, and compare with hdmi out, then with analog out). The media continually ignores this

Hello Scott I listen to you on the tech guy radio show with Leo Laporte and read your articles at home theater and ultimate AV Magaziens. My question how come the print quallity when movies are restored for blu-ray sometimes the prints are not as good? Does that have to do with the film elements themselfs? Why are some films harder to restore for blu-ray? Are movies shot from the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's harder to restore in high-def than films of today?

"Are movies shot from the 50's, 60's 70's and 80's harder to restore in high-def than films of today?"Kenny: It isn't so much that they're harder to restore, it's simply that the elements for older films often haven't been stored properly; have been duped too many times, etc. (Watch the mini-documentary on the restoration of "The Godfather" on the new Blu-ray remasters to see what shockingly horrible condition that film's original elements were in.) Unless the studio decides to pay for a frame-by-frame (and very expensive) full digital restoration, a few scratches and nicks are bound to appear on older titles. The type of film stocks used, different lens types and the cinematographer's particular style can also affect a film's look. Grain is also inherent to film, and is a feature, not a bug. Blu-ray's added resolution also means studios can't be lazy and just rehash old masters done for VHS or LaserDisc; they have to strike new ones,

Cutoff sentence from above:"...they have to strike new ones, and as a result many of the catalog titles coming out now do look terrific, even with an occasional blemish on the print."

Thanks for explaning this to me John. So John do think the think that when evently The Star Wars Saga and the 1st 3 indina jones films also the back to the future trilogy comes out will they be new masters or used to trasfers from the dvds as a starting point to make new trasfers of the films for blu-ray?

Both the original "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" series of films have been extensively worked on by Lowry Digital, and given that Lucas was involved, I'd bet good money they were stored as high-definition files, and the DVD's were made from those. Lucas is said to be "tinkering" with the "Star Wars" films again (hopefully not "fixing" what isn't broken) but the Blu-rays for them and the "Jones" movies will be created from the same basic hi-res digital files, just probably with new color timing, the addition of lossless audio, etc. (No direct info on the "Back To The Future" trilogy, but that's one of Universal's most popular catalog titles, so I'm sure they'd have to do new masters for those.)

What about the sony projector at that price...? I hear their LCOS?? is a better system?Anything coming out if CEDIA for projectors?