SIM2 HT200 DMF Projector
 It's been said that no American
male thinks his is big enough. And it's also been said that American women don't really
care what size it is, because they never get to use it the way they'd like to anyway -- at
least not with a man in the same room.
I'm talking about TVs, of course. What did you think
I was referring to?
And when it comes to big, perhaps the purest expression of
the concept is the front-projection system. At their best, projection systems come the
closest to reproducing the true movie-in-a-theater experience. Instead of lights in a box,
a well-executed FP system literally throws a picture up on a screen bigger than life --
and at least as bright and clear too.
At the very top of the heap, in terms of quality, are the
big CRT projectors with 9" guns and external line-multipliers and scalers. They're
astronomically expensive, of course. And they're complex -- those three-element systems
constantly drift out of alignment and owners who want to keep the focus sharp and the
colors true are constantly fiddling with the colorimetry, gray scale, and calibration
controls.
Fortunately for those of us who haven't (yet) won the
lottery, there are Digital Light Processing (DLP) projectors, which are less expensive and
simpler to operate -- and which increasingly contain many of the same functions as the
expensive out-board units required by the CRT units. (Less expensive, I said, not cheap
-- although Plus's HE-3100 showed it is possible to retail one for less than $3000.)
Yep, front projectors are definitely sexy. Especially when
they come in packages as curvaceous and ripe as SIM2's $8595-USD HT200 DMF. Arf!
Ay yi yi -- and Boy Howdy!
Of course, sexy is as sexy does, and that's where
the HT200 DMF really puts on its do-me shoes and struts its stuff.
Awwwrowllll!
Is it hot in here -- or is it me?
There’s something generous in mere lust
SIM2 Multimedia SpA is owned by Industrie Formenti SpA (a
leading Italian consumer electronics manufacturer) and Friulia SpA (a regional venture
capital company). SIM2 focuses on two segments of the video arena: the large display
business and video entertainment. The large display business line covers display walls for
control rooms for military applications, utilities, transport, and traffic control,
corporate and institutional meeting rooms, digital merchandizing, and large events (such
as exhibitions, conventions, and broadcast studios). SIM2's video entertainment line is
broadly diversified, ranging from projectors suitable for sports arenas to those aimed at
home-theater applications. In other words, even though SIM2 Multimedia probably is not a
name familiar to you, the company didn't just decide that home theater is the future and
rush any old projector into the marketplace. They're the pros from Dover -- blowing up a
TV image so it looks big in your living room is not exactly the hardest project
they've ever tackled.
It shows. The HT200 DMF is packed with usable
technology. Based on a Texas Instrument digital micromirror device (DMD), the
HT200 DMF is a dual-mode projector (in other words, it conforms to the 480p
high-definition standard, providing two different resolution modes -- 16:9 format with 848
x 480 pixel resolution and 4:3 format with 800 x 600 pixel resolution).
DLP projectors derive colors through a color wheel, which
spins at high speed. In addition, the projector bulb generates a lot of heat, so most DLP
projectors use a fan for cooling. The HT200 DMF employs three small ones rather than
a single large one, which does make it quieter than most. However, there's no getting
around it: All DLP projectors generate noise and even though the SIM2 is pretty quiet as
these things go, if you are bothered by any noise added to your room, this will bug you.
Most of the time, I didn't even notice it, but only you can decide how big a deal it will
be for you.
The SIM2's high-quality high-resolution optical engine is a
sealed system that offers both motorized zoom and focus adjustments. This greatly
simplifies matching image to screen size (I initially had problems figuring out how to
convince the remote to let me do this, but you might be smarter -- or luckier.)
The projector also boasts a built-in deinterlacer and
video-enhancement device (Faroudja's DCDi) that allows the HT200 DMF to deliver
phenomenally clear, crisp images. DCDi employs motion-adaptive deinterlacing to prevent
motion artifacts and jaggies (stepped edges) in video-camera-generated signals. DCDi also
features patented 3/2 pull-down technology with advanced edit detection for precise
frame-by-frame reconstruction of the original image.
Plus the built-in scaler and image formatter will fit just
about any source or format onto the DLP chip's native resolution. You can watch
high-definition ATSC (480i, 720p, 1080i) with either 4:3 or 16:9 anamorphic image aspect
ratios, PAL, NTSC, SECAM, and even computer graphics up to 1600 x 1200 pixels resolution
(albeit compressed).
Unlike most DLP projectors, the HT200 DMF has
user-adjustable color-temperature adjustment. It has three preset values and the
individual colors (red, green, and blue) can be separately adjusted via the remote. I
suspect there is more than sufficient range to truly mess up your color values, so I
tended not to experiment once I achieved a setting that kept the reds from blooming, but
it's there if you want to screw around with it -- I mean, "correct" the color
temperature.
The HT200 DMF has more display adjustability than any
other DLP projector I've seen. It has a broad range of focal distances, so it offers more
positioning options than most. It has 10 degrees of optical keystone adjustment and more
or less the same amount of digital keystoning in both the vertical and horizontal planes,
so floor-, ceiling-, and corner-mounting schemes are all made simple. It can project an
image between 50" and 250", measured diagonally.
The projector has a full complement of inputs, ranging from
composite video to S-video, component video (interlaced and progressive, of course), and
RGBHV via PC input. An RS232 input is included to facilitate user upgrades of the
projector's software (available from SIM2's website). A 30' long single cable Remote Input
Interface is available for installations where multiple input cables would be too
unsightly.
And, as if its sleek, sexy styling weren't enough, it comes
in a wide range of bright, rich colors in addition to the handsome, standard two-tone
Silver/Blue: Racing Red, Silver Gray, Black Shadow, and Pearl Gray.
It even includes a comprehensive, logically arranged
owner's manual -- will wonders never cease?
Love is more cruel than lust
Don't even demo the HT200 DMF if you can't afford to
take it home. I did and I know I'll be packing it up blinded by tears when it comes time
to send it back. Dagnabit, why didn't I buy Microsoft stock back when it was $21 a
share?
In my home theater, I was able to get 16 x 9 images that
completely filled my 82" diagonal Stewart GrayHawk screen with sharp, bright, deeply
color-saturated images. This certainly wasn't the SIM2's limit, it was simply all the
screen I had.
From my normal viewing position about 13' back, this was
certainly big enough -- and detailed enough -- especially with DVD as a source. DirecTV
had edge and motion artifacts that were far more noticeable, but that says more about how
many channels they are attempting to squeeze into their bandwidth (not to mention the
format's own compression).
This was much worse when viewed from nearer the screen. I
can attest to this since I spend a lot of time watching FX's 7 a.m. episode of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer from my stationary recumbent bike six feet from the screen. The
more the image filled the screen, the more motion artifacts were apparent in the slaying
sequences, as was the DLP intrinsic grid structure -- but the solution was simple. When I
reduced the image size by 20%, the picture became far sharper and the artifacts were
harder to detect. And the picture was still plenty big enough to distract a sweaty cyclist
from his aerobic monotony.
That was using the S-video inputs, of course. I was also
using S-video from the Arcam DV88 DVD player, mostly out of force of habit, never
previously having had a video display that accepted component input. D'oh!
So I connected the component outputs to the projector.
What an incredible difference that made! Films
became, ummm, much more film-like, as in comparing a large-format studio camera to
a two-megapixel digital toy. Wow! Citizen Kane's intensely high-resolution
deep-focus black and white seemed etched into the GrayHawk. It was magical.
Shrek was intense -- the colors leapt off the screen
and the animation had details I had never even dreamt of. It was a revelation.
But as good as using component input was (at least in
combination with the built-in deinterlacer), I don't want to use up all my superlatives.
Near the end of my audition, I obtained a Kenwood Sovereign DV5700 DVD player with
progressive-scan output. That produced an image that was scary-good. As bright and
crisp as the image looked with the Arcam's component output, the progressive output was
completely devoid of dot-crawl and other squirmy video aberrations. I feel almost petty
saying this because going from S-video to component got rid of so many of those problems
that even mentioning the small amount that remained seems unsporting.
But if the difference between a lot and almost
none is vast, it ain't a patch on the gulf that separates some and none.
No wonder people are so rabid about their HDTV.
Men, when they lust, can many fancies feign
Directly comparing the SIM2 HT200 DMF to the Plus
HE-3100 isn't exactly fair. After all, the HE-3100 was built to a budget point and lacks
progressive scan, 480p, and even zoom capabilities. It also limits its output to 450 ANSI
lumens (compared to the SIM2's 800), undoubtedly in a move to prolong bulb life (a
considerate compromise, given the cost of bulb replacement). But what the HE-3100 offers
in exchange for those omissions, is entree to the front-projector experience at
nearly one-third the price of the SIM2.
What do you get when you spend that extra money?
Far more immunity to light pollution, for one thing. I
didn't absolutely have to pull my blackout shades if I wanted to watch TV casually
in the daytime, for instance -- simply lowering the blinds was enough unless I wanted to
view something in critical mode.
The brighter image seemed sharper and with progressive
scan, of course, it was. But even with S-video input, the HT200 DMF's DCDi
circuitry delivered a sharper video image with every source.
The SIM2 offers far more placement options, as well as a
larger picture. It accepts more input options and formats and offers vastly more user
flexibility. The Italian unit is quieter and possesses greater visual appeal than the Plus
unit -- but the SIM2's pretty much better looking than every other DLP projector made, so
no shame there.
Kind of sounds like a trouncing, doesn't it? Well, there's
certainly no question that the SIM2 HT200 DMF offers better performance than the
far-less-expensive projector -- which it ought to. But the HE-3100 is still a little
marvel that delivers the genuine front-projection experience at a price no one has yet
challenged. So it's not a match for the SIM2 -- who said it was?
Tell love it is but lust
The SIM2 HT200 DMF is a spectacular performer. It's
gorgeous to look at -- and even more beautiful in action. It delivers a sharp, bright
picture and stands to just perform better and better as the signal you feed it improves.
It's true that its total of 480,000 pixels (800 x 600) is far short of the two to four times
that amount true HDTV requires, but for anything short of true high-def input, it's fantastic.
And anybody who says that size doesn't matter obviously
never had as big a love for a pint-sized overachiever as I have for this 'un.
C'mere you sexy thing -- daddy wants some eye candy.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com
SIM2 HT200 DMF Projector
Price: $8595 USD
Warranty: Two years parts and labor (lamp excluded)
SIM2 USA
10108 USA Today Way
Miramar, FL 33025
Phone: (954) 442-2999
Fax: (954) 442-2998
E-mail: info@sim2usa.com
Website: www.sim2usa.com
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