Barco Cineversum 70
Huge picture, huge contrast, huge cost
By Tony Davey
July 2004
Barco Cineversum 70 DLP projector. $21999
Originally established for the manufacture of radios, it wasn’t
until the late 60’s that Barco even ventured into the video side
of audio/video. Today, they are synonymous with quality video projection,
and if you have seen a three beam projector in a local tavern, chances
are high that it has come from their stable.
The Cineversum range is a step away from Barco’s traditional home theatre product, the mighty CRT (cathode ray tube) projector. They are one of the few companies still producing CRT projectors however they now look to be bring across some of that quality that they have been renowned for into the digital world.
The Cineversum 70 is quite different from your “normal” digital projector, this is no easy-to-tote A4 sized desktop office projector masquerading as a home theatre projector. This is a sizeable unit, weighing in just under 8 kilos built from the ground up with only home theatre on its mind. The case styling is bound to gain that ever important wife acceptance factor with its curvaceous European styling.
At the heart of the projector is the latest Texas Instruments HD2+ DLP chip with a five speed, six segment colour wheel. With a native resolution of 1280 x 720 this is ideally matched for hi-definition material. As with other HD2+ machines, lumen rating is a healthy 1000 ansi and the Barco reports a staggering contrast ratio of 2700:1. Lamp life is rated at a moderate 1500 hours, with lamp replacement cost of $1550 + GST (or broadly $1 per hour running cost), although the importer advises that this is the minimum expected figure from the bulb.
Inputs are numerous including the now standard DVI input (although interestingly at this price point, no HDMI). There are two 12v trigger outputs, one for control over an electric screen as well as one for aspect ratio control (screen masking).
Set up is straight forward, with the on screen display readily stepped though to get the picture optimised, including all the brightness, contrast and colour settings to get the picture looking “just so”.
The Barco is equipped with “lens shift”, allowing flexibility with vertical placement as it helps you avoid keystone correction (and the horrors that can come from that) and there are several lenses available to suit varying distances (short and medium throw lenses available). For my set up, the projector is approximately five metres from the screen, producing a healthy 120 inch picture.
The remote is fully backlight and easy to use, handily there are numerous functions available as dedicated buttons, such as aspect ratio control, contrast, colour saturation and brightness control. One feature that Barco could remove from the projector is the LED light on top of the case, this was far too bright and when table mounted and created a blue circle on my ceiling.
Test material included the obligatory Lord of The Rings, the Toy Story movies and True Lies.
Upon firing up the Barco, its easy to see their videophile history, everything shown just looked right.
The dark scenes throughout LOTR: Return of the King and the opening scenes of True Lies left me stunned at the black levels – only stalwart CRT fans could possibly nit pick about them. Shadow detail is plentiful with not a hint of the grey murkiness historically associated with digital projection.
Toy Story is a marvellous disc with bright vibrant colours and looks good on most display devices. Through the Barco the characters leapt off the screen and it had the smoothness and detail one might expect from a plasma display, only two to three times the size.
Its difficult to explain what it is that captures your attention about the image, it is truly a “hair standing up on the back of the neck” sort of feeling and the Barco had simply the best image I have seen from a projector yet and with no DLP side effects (rainbows and/or eye strain).
It wasn’t necessarily the near inky blacks, the ability to display fine picture detail, the natural skin tones, the excellent colour fidelity or that pinnacle of home theatre, the 3D picture, it was the fact that it did it all without breaking a sweat.
When comparing other DLP units recently reviewed, the Barco is certainly in a different league performance wise, with outstanding contrast, picture detail and colour fidelity.
It is also in a different league price wise with a retail price and lamp replacement cost more than double the Infocus 5700 and Maxx Maverick, the Barco is not a purchase to be taken lightly. However, economies of scale usually aren’t a critical driving factor for purchasing decisions in this price bracket.
If you are simply after an excellent picture for your theatre, then the Barco represents the pinnacle - the best performance option from single chip DLP technology that I have viewed to date.
For your nearest Barco dealer
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