satsol

Honorable
Dec 3, 2012
6
0
10,510
I got my hands on an 11 year old projector and was curious about its compatibility with newer HDMI products like AV receivers, Blu-Ray, Apple TV, Netflix, etc. My main concern was if HDCP protocols would be an issue because of how old the projector is, and how HD would scale in the available ratio's and resolutions it can do. I'm also curious what kind of potential issues if any, might be present. Thanks so much.

Specs:
4:3 (Native) 16:9
XGA (1024 x 768)
SXGA (1280 x 1024)
DVI-D
4000 ANSI Lumens
1000:1
F = 1.8 ~ 2.1
f = 48.4 ~ 62.8mm
PAL, PAL-M, PAL-N, SECAM, NTSC, NTSC 4.43, HDTV
 
Solution
If you input a 16:9 aspect signal into a projector with a 4:3 panel (1024 x 768 in this case) it is the same as watching it on an old 4:3 aspect ratio TV. You will get black bars at the top and bottom. You are losing the pixels in those black bars so you don't have enough in the area where there is a picture to get better than about 576 lines of resolution as opposed to 480 which is standard def. It is better but not 720p or 1080p. HDCP is pretty standardized but the only way to be sure is to try it.
Just use one of these:
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=4511&gclid=CKWVnoeP2MQCFUpk7Aod82IA6w
to go from HDMI to DVI.
A system that old likely is not HDCP compliant and therefore, should not be able to play any protected content (blu-ray, Apple TV, and I believe Netflix are all protected). Unprotected HD content would likely be scaled down (in 16:9 mode) to 1280x720 (720i/p). No harm in trying to play that content, but don't be surprised if it doesn't play.

What is the make and model of the projector? Find out more details at Projector Central

-Wolf sends
 
Now that we know the model it will accept a 720p or 1080i input through the DVI input. You won't get real HD since the panel is 4:3 rather than 16.9 but have fun with it. You will have to extract the audio from the HDMI of any sources that don't have separate audio outputs if you don't use a surround receiver for video switching and audio.
 

satsol

Honorable
Dec 3, 2012
6
0
10,510
Well, a couple of online sources claim it is 4:3 native but is capable of 16:9. Will that cause issues in any way? If the projector is capable of 16:9 then why wouldn't that be the native resolution?
 

satsol

Honorable
Dec 3, 2012
6
0
10,510
I'm not married to the thing and had planned to buy a new one until this dropped in my lap. So I was really curious about all the con's (scaling, resolution, ratio, etc.), if any, that it had because I certainly have no desire to watch anything in 4:3. If it's in a native 4:3 and it's put into 16:9 my limited understanding was it just takes the 4:3 and cuts some out, which lowers the resolution of 16:9 by a lot, and also ends up with black lines whether the content is full HD or not? My main concern was the elder HDCP protocols it was carrying. The last new HD tv I bought about three years ago had issues with HDCP right out of the box until I updated the software/firmware, and with support no longer available for this old projector, I was concerned that could be a potential problem. I was also concerned about having to use an HDMI female to female adapter along with an HDMI to DVI-D adapter. Just seems like it adds potential things that can go wrong?
 
If you input a 16:9 aspect signal into a projector with a 4:3 panel (1024 x 768 in this case) it is the same as watching it on an old 4:3 aspect ratio TV. You will get black bars at the top and bottom. You are losing the pixels in those black bars so you don't have enough in the area where there is a picture to get better than about 576 lines of resolution as opposed to 480 which is standard def. It is better but not 720p or 1080p. HDCP is pretty standardized but the only way to be sure is to try it.
Just use one of these:
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=4511&gclid=CKWVnoeP2MQCFUpk7Aod82IA6w
to go from HDMI to DVI.
 
Solution