Runco Client Experience: CRT to LED

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Posted by Bob Brown

I had a long talk with my Runco CRT DTV-933 projector and I concluded retirement party was near. I purchased my first Runco projector new in May 1999. I've been eye-balling several replacement models and absolutely love Runco products because quality is their first priority. The Samsung SP-A900B projector was on the top of my short list of DLP projectors. After careful consideration of my DLP™ options, Runco's LED QuantumColor Q-750i was the winner. No moving parts, pure colors, black and whites much better than a CRT, off the scale contrast, very bright (light dedicated room recommended), thousands of hours without a lamp, quiet and awesome specs across the board.

I bought the Q-750i from my favorite local home theater and lighting control center, Advanced Audio Design in Naples, Florida. The gentleman who assisted with this project was Jon Guenther of Advanced Audio Design. Jon is my go-to man for all of my tougher technical questions. Jon's extremely familiar with Runco, along with most home theater, lighting and home automation related products. He's been in the business forever - give or take a week.

I needed Jon’s assistance to mount the projector on the bracket. He also helped me configure the Runco Q-750i to the screen. He also helped with the setup of the internal menus for my application and preference (Personal Color Equalizer™ allows color adjustment that includes those exactly defined by the cinematographer and the color preferences of each individual viewer for each source). I did go through the manual later on because I enjoy knowing everything about my home theater equipment. Jon saved me a lot of time so I didn’t have to read through the setup manual myself. From the moment I started the projector, and saw the out-of-box projected image, I knew I had something special. The image was astounding and the projector was very quiet. My old CRT was directly above my seating area and sounded like a harrier jet hovering overhead. I mounted the Q-750i about 6 feet behind. The Q-750i makes little sound.

Without hesitation, my first film on the Q-750i was the new Star Trek movie. Besides being a huge fan of Star Trek, I knew the picture was going to be stellar – and I wasn't disappointed. The colors were dead-on, the image was sharp as a thumbtack, and there were no motion artifacts— not even during explosions and intense light bursts. No rain-bowing (no color wheel in the Q-750i), the contrast and black levels were astounding. The white areas (high frequencies) were not blown-out like you can see with an LCD and it maintained fine detail. Simply put, it's the best projector I've seen to date. And by the way, I have seen a lot of projectors.

I also own a PlayStation 3 (PS3). I often play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 online (warning: If you want to stay married, try to play when your wife isn't home). I connected the PS3 in my theater via HDMI and modem (modem to the router, router to a switcher, switcher to the PS3) Wow! The streaming image was indescribable - color, sharpness and detail were beyond my wildest dreams. Proprietary Runco Smart Color (RSC™) provides a hue compensation curve and gamut mapping that allows for lifelike, accurate flesh tones. Speaking of, you'll have to excuse me I need to return to my theater for another game of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Runco client Bob Brown has been a Traffic Homicide Investigator for the state of Florida for the past 21 years. Bob studied photography at Florida International University, film and script writing at the University of Miami. Bob created his website http://www.amateurhometheater.com/ in 1999.

No Limit for Better

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Posted January 11, 2010 by Jennifer B. Davis

This weekend’s Parade magazine features an interesting interview with mega-star Harrison Ford, who brought to life beloved characters from Star Wars, the Indiana Jones franchise, and a whole host of Tom Clancy novels set to film. Yet, in his interview he doesn’t emphasize his talents as a gift or even a job really, but rather a craft. Something that must be worked at to achieve mastery.

“When I was a carpenter,”, he explains,” I once worked with this Russian lady architect. I would tell her, ‘Look, I’m terribly sorry, but I want to change that a half inch,’ and she would say, ‘No limit for better.’ I think that is a worthy credo. You keep on going until you get it as close to being right as the time and patience of others will allow.”

“No limit for better” is a great motto for Runco as well. Our products are the result of applied mastery of video for home theater applications and elsewhere in luxury homes. We continue to drive innovation and set the standard in the CEDIA industry, which means new products in flat panel and projection, new categories of solutions, and a constant drive to develop our craft. More importantly, we understand the for our dealers and the clients they serve, there is no limit for better.

by Jennifer B. Davis - Jennifer B. Davis is all about technology innovation and is a customer advocate, business executive, mom, and loves her job as Runco’s VP of marketing.

A Christmas Carol Frightens and Delights

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Posted December 27, 2009 by Pippa Edelen

To jumpstart getting in the holiday spirit, my hubby and I dropped $31 at our local multiplex to check out the IMAX 3D Disney remake of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, starting Jim Carrey. Having played Mrs. Cratchit in Hallinan Elementary’s riveting showcase of A Christmas Carol in 5th grade, I was familiar with the story and had both read Dickens’ original and seen a range of versions, being particularly inclined to the version featuring Scrooge McDuck. Given the various iterations I felt fairly well prepared for what to expect in terms of the undead and blatant lesson of “do unto others;” however, I substantially underestimated how frightening this tale can be. As someone who startles easily, and hates to be startled, my neighbors in the theater were tickled the first time I screamed, rather loud, when something popped out of the screen accompanied by 30,000 watts of sound. They were understandably less charmed the third time I did this. And the fourth. And the fifth. The story holds nothing back in terms of death, ghosts, the afterlife and should come with a precursor this interpretation can be flat-out freaky. I cannot tell you how many kids I saw hiding or crying as they left the theater, so take note that this is definitely a movie only appropriate for audiences with double-digit ages. For the younger Christmas movie enthusiasts, I highly recommend the aforementioned tale featuring animated relatives of Donald Duck.
My previous exposure to big-screen 3D started with Jaws 3 in the 1983 and, most recently, the hastily-added 14 minutes to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. As someone who is prone to vertigo and miserably suffered through Beowolf with only my sour Skittles as comfort, I was delighted with the realism and execution of A Christmas Carol and give an enthusiastic thumbs-up to the incredible advancement in the 3D technology and application. Particularly impressive are the scenes where Scrooge and various ghosts are flying over London and the details and texture in the otherwise ordinary, everyday things, like the wrought-iron fence and the characters’ skin. The animation still lacks a small detail of realism, particularly in the characters’ eyes, which fail to sparkle and light in a way that simulates lifelike. But the people are so well animated that you can, upon being introduced to new characters, guess the actor voicing them instantly, particularly Colin Firth as Scrooge’s nephew who plays a well-wishing opposite to his cold uncle. You’ll find yourself trying to guess each actor as we meet new guests and ghosts.
My favorite scene in A Christmas Carol, which does a particularly good convincing job using 3D to suspend disbelief, shows Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present watching a Christmas party through the floor of Scrooge’s vast London manse. I was impressed by the visually-stunning semi-opaque wood that is blends to be both the floor of the mansion and the ceiling of the party. Watch for the grains of wood disappearing into nothing and for the pressure caused by Scrooge’s hands on the ceiling. Its small details and effects like this that make this picture particularly enchanting and rather whimsical, spookfest-aside. At the end of this scene, Scrooge looks up at the ghost and, if shown the image as a still frame, in 3D, next to a photograph of the character, I would have been hard pressed to guess the animation from the actor. The talent is simply terribly impressive and represents a true advancement because instead of merely forcing a illness-inducing gimmick into an otherwise enjoyable movie, A Christmas Carol and the storytelling is instead enhanced by 3D.

The story is timeless, but the application of the latest 3D animation technology, as well as the affect from really talented actors, including my personal favorite, Gary Oldman, make for a stunning holiday movie that may be the first movie I’ve seen that’s worth the $15.50 for admission.