Right out of the box, PEARL is an impressive performer. Colours are saturated and vivid. Shades and dark levels are impressive…still a bit short of the CRT performance I am accustomed to. The 2ms refresh of the SXRD looks really great with fast-motion action materials. The PEARL does shows great potentials!

The built-in scaler (DRC2) in PEARL does a reasonably decent job with film-material; however the same cannot be said on video-material…it is generally quite fuzzy. The internal scaler performance appears to be very sensitive to the video quality of the feed. I would say that the video performance of the PEARL, right out of the box, as impressive, acceptable for most (small sized screen projection) set-up and excellent value…but not quite high-end.

However, for large sized screen, a general sense of lack of sharpness appears. I am projecting on a 138” (1:1.85 aspect ratio) Stewart Ultramatte 150 THX-certified micro-perforated screen. Upon closer inspection (which is further confirmed by the subsequent upgrade exercise), it has indicated that this is neither attributed to the SXRD technology itself, nor the lens quality, but to do with the internal video signal processing and its transmission method deployed. At this point, it is vital for me to quantify that the general “lack of sharpness” occurred when PEARL was feed with video signals via the analogue component-video signal (at 480i/525i) AND when the internal scaler must be engaged to upscale the input signal to 1080p.

In summary, here are the critical upgrades applied:
(1) To augment the video processing requirements, I have introduced the PixelMagic Crystalio-II (VPS-3800Pro) scaler. The main improvement here is the Gennum VXP broadcast grade video scaling performance.

(2) To preserve signal integrity and retain absolute control over all the 1920*1080 pixels on the SXRD panel, HDMI connection is used to avoid unnecessary D-to-A and A-to-D conversions (when coupled between the external scaler and PEARL). HDMI transmission is fine using copper conductors up to a few meters, but for any further distances, significant problem arises as the falling/rising edges of the signal is blurred. This is where optical fibre technology comes in. For this application a 100ft PureLink HDC series Fibre Optic HDMI cable is deployed to preserve the utmost signal integrity.

(3) To provide the Crystalio-II with the purist digital video feed, the DVD player has been modified with a PixelMagic SDI BT656ProKit. Comparisons between the SDI and HDMI feed between the DVD player and Crystalio-II has demonstrated the superior quality of the SDI. When SDI is deployed, significant improvement on the dark levels has enabled the deployment of 1.5 gain screen (as opposed to the 1.3 in StudioTek); colour purity and rendition has also been improved vastly.

With upgrade (1) to (3), the PEARL’s video performance is completely transformed. Any attempt to describe the improvements will be futile…as it will not do full justice to the actual projected image seen. One has to experience this for oneself.
Suffice to say, it is the MOST movie-like experience, I have ever seen from a consumer video setup. In fact, the performance is so good that it has convinced me that it can finally replace the BARCO projector (with this, I have lived thru the evolution of 7″, 8″ and 9″ CRT, with upgraded NORITAR full optical glass lens) I have been using over the decades.

In retrospect, another interesting point is to evaluate how critical each of the upgrade from (1) to (3) really are, in an attempt to see if the whole exercise can be ecnomized. Further experimentation to remove any item from (1) to (3) shows that all of them are on the critical path. Remove one, and you won’t get the same performance, which has completely swept me off my feet.

If one view the procurement cost of PEARL as purely for its light engine and SXRD panel, it is actually quite a bargain, considering how much the RUBY and Qualia004 are selling for. Technically, having the highest potentials in achieving the ultimate consumer video setup, the SXRD panels are certainly not to be missed, given that they have become so much more affordable over the years to most video fans.

Right out of the box, PEARL is an impressive performer. Colours are saturated and vivid. Shades and dark levels are impressive…still a bit short of the CRT performance I am accustomed to. The 2ms refresh of the SXRD looks really great with fast-motion action materials. The PEARL does shows great potentials!

The built-in scaler (DRC2) in PEARL does a reasonably decent job with film-material; however the same cannot be said on video-material…it is generally quite fuzzy. The internal scaler performance appears to be very sensitive to the video quality of the feed. I would say that the video performance of the PEARL, right out of the box, as impressive, acceptable for most (small sized screen projection) set-up and excellent value…but not quite high-end.

However, for large sized screen, a general sense of lack of sharpness appears. I am projecting on a 138” (1:1.85 aspect ratio) Stewart Ultramatte 150 THX-certified micro-perforated screen. Upon closer inspection (which is further confirmed by the subsequent upgrade exercise), it has indicated that this is neither attributed to the SXRD technology itself, nor the lens quality, but to do with the internal video signal processing and its transmission method deployed. At this point, it is vital for me to quantify that the general “lack of sharpness” occurred when PEARL was feed with video signals via the analogue component-video signal (at 480i/525i) AND when the internal scaler must be engaged to upscale the input signal to 1080p.

In summary, here are the critical upgrades applied:
(1) To augment the video processing requirements, I have introduced the PixelMagic Crystalio-II (VPS-3800Pro) scaler. The main improvement here is the Gennum VXP broadcast grade video scaling performance.

(2) To preserve signal integrity and retain absolute control over all the 1920*1080 pixels on the SXRD panel, HDMI connection is used to avoid unnecessary D-to-A and A-to-D conversions (when coupled between the external scaler and PEARL). HDMI transmission is fine using copper conductors up to a few meters, but for any further distances, significant problem arises as the falling/rising edges of the signal is blurred. This is where optical fibre technology comes in. For this application a 100ft PureLink HDC series Fibre Optic HDMI cable is deployed to preserve the utmost signal integrity.

(3) To provide the Crystalio-II with the purist digital video feed, the DVD player has been modified with a PixelMagic SDI BT656ProKit. Comparisons between the SDI and HDMI feed between the DVD player and Crystalio-II has demonstrated the superior quality of the SDI. When SDI is deployed, significant improvement on the dark levels has enabled the deployment of 1.5 gain screen (as opposed to the 1.3 in StudioTek); colour purity and rendition has also been improved vastly.

With upgrade (1) to (3), the PEARL’s video performance is completely transformed. Any attempt to describe the improvements will be futile…as it will not do full justice to the actual projected image seen. One has to experience this for oneself.
Suffice to say, it is the MOST movie-like experience, I have ever seen from a consumer video setup. In fact, the performance is so good that it has convinced me that it can finally replace the BARCO projector (with this, I have lived thru the evolution of 7″, 8″ and 9″ CRT, with upgraded NORITAR full optical glass lens) I have been using over the decades.

In retrospect, another interesting point is to evaluate how critical each of the upgrade from (1) to (3) really are, in an attempt to see if the whole exercise can be ecnomized. Further experimentation to remove any item from (1) to (3) shows that all of them are on the critical path. Remove one, and you won’t get the same performance, which has completely swept me off my feet.

If one view the procurement cost of PEARL as purely for its light engine and SXRD panel, it is actually quite a bargain, considering how much the RUBY and Qualia004 are selling for. Technically, having the highest potentials in achieving the ultimate consumer video setup, the SXRD panels are certainly not to be missed, given that they have become so much more affordable over the years to most video fans.

I don’t belive that 3 tiny 1080 LCD panels, should add $3000 over a 720p $1,500 LCD projector. At least with the Sony you feel you are paying for some new technology. All the LCD Projectors that will come out at 1080p soon by Sanyo, Panasonic, Mitsubishi etc… are all essentially the same line of products.