Barco Cine 7 LT

Natural selection and the evolution for CRT

By Max Christoffersen

November 2003

Barco Cine 7 LT. $18,999

The scene: Four weeks of experiencing daily digital projection as an influx of DLP and DiLA projectors converged at my place.

The scenario: A CRT projector arrives - it's the new Barco Cine 7 LT, a purpose-built home theatre CRT projector.

The task: Weigh up the merits of CRT technology while still experiencing the after-taste of digital projection.

In the jungle that is the projector market, there are some dinosaurs that continue to rule. There are some new species fighting for the top spot but these lumbering beasts continue to be at the top of the food chain.

Or to put it another way, CRT remains the choice of videophiles the world over. Typical three-gun fans will speak of superior black levels, fluid-full-bodied images and all round ease of viewing that digital still can't produce. And they may be right. But the market is speaking and for many the choice is digital.

With this trend in mind, Barco launched the Cine 7 LT as part of its 'CRT Forever' promotional campaign. CRT projection may be a 'technology dinosaur' but Barco among others, continue to believe it sets the standard in overall image quality.

The trick to stay current with emerging projection technologies, is to manufacture a CRT projector that has some of the qualities typical of digital projection, while retaining all the positive aspects of CRT picture making.

And this is the background for the twinkle in the eye of the Cine 6 and Cine 7 as they got down to 'business'. The Cine 7 LT is the natural offspring of this glorious union and it's an outcome best described as a hybrid - the Cine 7 LT retains most of the best parts of both projectors at a digital price point.

As with previous Barco CRT projectors the Cine 7 LT is equipped with Barco’s LimoPro video processing for de-interlacing of interlaced video and film images (3:2 pull down for NTSC and 2:2 pull down for PAL/SECAM), line multiplying (tripling) and frame doubling. And it's here that much of the image quality is being produced.

Add to this video processing superior to stand alone boxes, high quality lenses and tubes and the ingredients are all there for quality big pictures. Under the hood, the Cine 7 LT contains 7" Toshiba tubes along with full colour corrected and colour filtered lenses. Barco quotes a brightness specification of 1000 Lumen (@10 % peak white); ANSI Lumens @ 180 Lumen and Contrast Ratio >15 000 : 1 (Full On/Off).

Having become familiar with the Barco image I knew in advance what the image should look like as well as how it would function. In use, I found I needed to drive the machine relatively hard to achieve a satisfactory light level, but that is easily overcome with the use of a high gain screen instead of the customised perf screen that is my own screen of choice.

As expected, the image is full and fluid. And after many hours with digital projection there is an immediate sense of relief. CRT is simply an easy watch. There is no eye strain or pain and while there is always an element of softness about CRT projection, this creates a creamy image that many find desirable – even when using digital projection.

But it’s a one key area where the image begins to put some distance between itself and others in the food chain. Many misunderstand the black issue with CRT projection. It's not solely a matter of producing black. It is a matter of producing body. The ability to produce black is fundamental to producing a quality image. If you don't have black then you don't have full colour rendition. If you have it in abundance, as does the Cine 7 LT, you have the basic elements of image making at your disposal. And this is where the body, the detail and the fluidity pay off. Add in smooth pans and the image is very seductive and free of ‘visual nasties’ that draw attention to themselves.

But here is the catch. While CRT can do all of this, it can’t produce pin-point detail to the equivalent degree of the new digital projectors and this is where many first time home projectionists have placed their priority.

Users will have to define their own image making priorities, but with high end domestic digital projection now going past the $30,000 price point, it’s an easy decision to make.

At a price point the Barco 7 LT is a genuine CRT bargain. It achieves what it sets out to – fit snuggly between the image quality of the Barco Cine 6 and Cine 7 and does it all for less. And that is some technological achievement!

It’s a genuine missing link. Darwin would be proud.

For your nearest Barco dealer

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