3D Projector Reviews

Overall, and apart from ergonomic issues I’ll get to a bit further on, the images from the Titan projector were simply spectacular. I’ll limit my comments mainly to 3D; but everything I have to say applies equally to 2D, apart from the 3D effect and slightly lower 3D brightness (in two-lamp mode) versus 2D (with a single lamp).

3D from the Titan on our screen was as bright as I’ve ever seen it. In fact, it was enough to compete handily with what you’ll see from a huge, two-projector IMAX 3D presentation. It was bright enough to give the picture rewarding punch, but not so bright as to generate viewing fatigue. Again, the lack of 3D test patterns meant that I couldn’t test directly for the 3D peak white output. But when I factored in the 70-percent light loss expected with shuttered glasses, it suggests that with two lamps cooking, the 3D brightness that reached our eyes from the Titan, on our screen, was roughly 15 ft-L. Single-projector commercial theaters are lucky if they can generate a 3D peak output of 5 ft-L.

The impact from 3D on this projector is as good as it gets. Coraline demonstrates this beautifully. From Coraline crawling through the tunnel into the other universe, to the final confrontation with her other mother, to the dissolve of the latter’s world, the result could hardly be bettered at the current state of 3D technology. While 3D (with two lamps and 3D glasses) is slightly dimmer than 2D (with one lamp, no glasses), the Titan never made me yearn for more punch.

Digital Projection included a Disney 3D sampler disc (not yet available) along with the projector and Samsung player, and this provided a striking preview of future 3D releases from that studio. Framed by a hand-drawn, animated sequence of Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King championing 3D, it includes clips from A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, The Nightmare Before Christmas, G-Force (at last, a 3D movie with at least some live action), and Toy Story 3. Yes, I know that some of these were converted to 3D from 2D for their theatrical releases (definitely the 1993 Nightmare), but from the evidence here, this can work, particularly on animated material. A Christmas Carol has already been announced for a fall 3D release, and some of the others (perhaps not Toy Story 3) should arrive soon thereafter.

The Disney disc also includes a full-length Disney 3D Donald Duck cartoon, Working for Peanuts. From 1953. Both this selection and the Timon and Pumbaa clips had that distinctive cardboard-cutout appearance, like the pop-up characters in a child’s storybook. But they were still a lot of fun.

As was Monsters vs Aliens. This release, still exclusive to Samsung 3DTV buyers as I write this, produced the best combination of story, detail, and effective use of 3D of any of the titles available to us for this test. The Digital Projection Titan brings that 3D home in a way that even a 3D skeptic can’t deny.

Clash of the Titan
Despite the fact that I could get it working well on four of the six Blu-ray 3D Discs available to me, producing the sterling 3D images described above, it wasn’t entirely free of glitches on any of them.

Your eyes would glaze over if I addressed these issues in detail. To make a long story short, the projector’s operation wasn’t seamless on all of the 3D source material available to me, nor with the two 3D players I tried, the Samsung and a Panasonic DMP-BDT300. The Samsung definitely worked best, and that’s the one I used for most of the observations presented earlier.

Digital Projection is working overtime to address these issues and has been releasing regular firmware updates. To be fair, while this projector has been available with 3D capabilities for about a year, it’s only recently that consumer 3D sources—Blu-ray 3D Discs and players—have been available to enable testing on a more real-world source than 3D from a computer server. The problems I encountered definitely involved the projector, but some form of incompatibility between player and projector also appeared to be part of the mix. It has to be noted that this projector would normally not only be set up and installed by an experienced Digital Projection installer, but also used with an advanced control and integration solution. For our demo, we made do with the projector and a stock remote control.

The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Digital Projection Titan had issues, primarily limitations in getting a full-resolution 3D image from the range of Blu-ray 3D players and discs we had on hand. True, buyers who have the resources to own one will have to be patient while Digital Projection smooths out the ergonomics and issues with the Blu-ray 3D players coming to market. Once it does, there will be no better way to get killer 3D into your home. When all the stars are aligned—which wasn’t all that hard on most of the Blu-ray 3D Discs we tried—the results are eye-popping. I’ve never seen 3D look any better than the 3D I saw from the Titan projector.

Digital Projection, International
(770) 420-1350
digitalprojection.com

Stewart Filmscreen
(800) 762-4999
stewartfilmscreen.com