Hello,
I'm a new poster but longtime reader of LL forums and I'm setting out on building my 2nd DIY projector. My 1st projector though was a simple LCD + OHP rig so moving up from that to a box containing my own fresnels, lenses, lamp assembly, etc. will be a big step (as well as a good learning experience). I'm budgeting about $1000 for this project and plan to use a WUXGA panel for HDTV resolution, so I'm collecting as much info as possible before actually beginning any work so as not to make any mistakes.

I picked up a Sharp LQ154M1LW02 panel off eBay a couple weeks ago for $179 and I'm interested in purchasing a Dobie Huang LCD controller. I am curious though if anyone has used a controller other than the favored G2A130 and would know what significant advantages/disadvantages there are (if any) between them:

G2A130 -> http://www.winmate.com.tw/ipc/2G2A130.htm
G2A210 -> http://www.winmate.com.tw/ipc/2G2A210.htm
R2H -> http://www.winmate.com.tw/ipc/2R2H.htm
R2U -> http://www.winmate.com.tw/ipc/2R2U.htm

All four claim to support Sharp WUXGA LCD's. The G2A210 specs explicitly state it supports component input via what I assume is the Sync-on-Green feature of the VGA input, but the G2A130 also has a VGA input-- does this controller have support for component input as well?

The R2H and R2U are curiosities since I have not seen them used in projects here. Anyone have any insight as to why the G2A series is preferred?

I plan to integrate the final product into my home theater-- although 1920x1200 is the maximum resolution of the controller, I don't see 1920x1080 listed as a resolution. Has anyone had success piping 1080i/p output to the G2A controller (JonJandran?) If not, are there any recommendations for how to handle an incoming HDTV signal?

Thanks in advance

It's mainly just a difference in features.

The G2A boards add a lot of options like Motion Adaptive De-Interlacing, Picture in Picture, Graphics on Video, Video on Graphics, split screen, High-Quality Video Processing, High-Quality Advanced Scaling.

So basically the G2a boards are more advanced than the R2H with an extra processor.

The G2A210 and G2A130 are almost exactly the same but the 210 adds componet input support and a larger audio amp.

HELP!

I have managed to obtain a 15.4" LQ154M1LW02 Sharp panel and am now strugling to find a source in the UK for the G2A130 controller.

Does anyone know where I can get one of these controllers from?


Brad

Weird... Mine's a 130 and I have component going into it (with a VGA to component cable).

That's how I imagined it would work, via a VGA adapter cable... So the 130 can support component input OK then? Seems like the two biggest advertised differences between the 130 and 210 are component input and audio. I don't have need for the audio part of the controller so if component input reportedly works on the 130 then I can probably save a few dollars getting the 130 vs. the 210.

Also, regarding 1080i/p input, any success running HDTV input into the 130? Does the scaler handle this input and scale/crop/matte it to 1920x1200?

Forgot to answer this.

Yes it accepts 1080i and 1080p just fine. You can scale it to fit the screen or use 1:1 and it will have very small black bars at the top and bottom. I have run 1080i through the DVI and component and 1080p through the DVI and VGA.

What are the differences in cost for these? I can't seem to find them.

Is there a large noticeable difference between 720p and 1080p? I can't decide whether its worth the money.

Dobie sells the G2A210 for $412 shipped in the U.S.

And he also sells the G2A130 for $345 shipped in the U.S.

For most people with a 100" projection there probably isn't a huge difference. But on my 180" there is a big improvement with 1080p.

My apologies for a newbie question ... why is component input important on the controller?

My Xbox and DVD player use Y/Cr/Cb component output for high-definition video. I don't have a dedicated HTPC (yet) so the VGA/DVI inputs would remain mostly unused.

It really depends on the media. If you have HD DVD or BluRay
hell yes you will see the difference.

I have found that with a standard dvd it can look worse scaled up to 1080 than it does o 720.
I don't have any fancy scalers or progressive scan dvd players my results are from a computer plugged into HDTV using PowerDVD or WinDVD.

The other thing is that 1920x1200 is a much more useable resolution if you plan to just use the thing as a computer monitor at all. After setting up a HTPC with my Sony WEGA 60" HDTV my girlfriend and I became quite fond of surfing the internet on it in the living room.


There are so many variables to look at when choosing. What are you using it for? What are doing with it most? What do you want to connect to it?