Barco 1000, 1001, 1500 and 1600. These are a series of 9" analog convergence projectors that Barco came out with from about 1989 to 1993. All very similar to the Barco 600 chassis, but used 9" Sony ES focus tubes, called the SD-146A. A great picture when properly set up, but Barco drove these tubes quite hard, and sudden tube failures were common. These tubes are hard to find on the used market, and are insanely expensive if purchased new. 64 Khz scan rate, 1000 to 1500 lumens.

In around 1990, Barco came out with the 500 and 800 models. The 500 is a 7" version of the 8" Barco 800. The 500 put out 600 lumens, the 800 put out 825 lumens. The projectors have digital convergence which is very easy to set up, and lots of on screen menus to guide you through the setup procedure. ES focus on all of these sets.

In about 1993 Barco came out with the Barco 801. The 801 was very similar to the 800, but had an extra circuit called AKB that compensates for picture tube wear. Basically the same overall picture as the Barco 800. ES focus on this set as well.

There are two versions of Barco 500 and 800 as well as other Barco models. There are Graphics and Data models of most projectors. The Data models use hybrid lenses and do not scan as high as the Graphics versions, which also have all glass lenses. The Graphics are somewhat more desirable, but in most cases the scan rate of the Data projectors is more than adequate for home theatre use.

The Data 500, 800 and 801 scan to 58 Khz, (line tripling), the Graphics scan to 92 Khz.

In 1992 to 1994 Barco had a model called the Barco 700 and 701. This was designed more for the home market as the case was small and very streamlined looking. 7" Sony ES focus tubes, about 600-700 lumens, and scan rates varying from 36 Khz to 60 Khz depending on the model. This unit had digital convergence, and a very nice picture if the tubes are in good shape. This model was not as modular as other Barco modules, requiring the projector to be sent in as a whole when servicing was required.

A higher end version of the 701 is the 701s followed by the 708. The 701s and 708 used 1000 lumen ES focus Toshiba tubes, and both sets came with component inputs along with RGB, video and S-video.

In late 1993 Barco introduced a new series of video projectors, the 808, 1208, 1200, 1209, and 1101. The 808 and 1208 were 8" tubes with the improved EM focus, the 1101, 1200 and 1209 used 9"tubes with EM focus. Many of these models also had Data and Graphics models, with varying scan rates, and all were rated at 1000 lumens or above. Digital convergence on all of these models and lots of on screen menus.

Depending on the production run, the 808 either used Sony or MEC tubes. The MEC's are rebuildable and the Sony are not. The Sony tubes are at least $1800.00 USD each to replace, the MEC's can be rebuilt for $600.00 USD each.

All of these sets give an excellent picture and have been a popular seller when I get them in. I get far fewer 9" projectors in, but the 808 and 1208 are usually in stock.

The Barco 808 was made until about 1998, and has been replaced with the Barco Cine 7 and Cine 8. I have not worked with these projectors as I have never had any in on the used market yet. Very high end projectors though.

Barco strengths/weaknesses

In general, the Barcos have held up very well, other than the 1XXX series as noted above. Barcos are very modular, and about 98% of the components can be changed out without picking up a soldering iron. Most Barcos have a series of diagnostic lights within the chassis that make it easy to narrow down the problem area of a projector if it fails. I have serviced and repaired many Barco projectors via email or phone, with about 80% of the projectors being repaired the first time I send out refurbished boards.

Barcos are known to develop bad solder connections, specifically in the main power supply area. The Barco 500, 800 and 801 have the unique problem that if a certain solder connection fails on the power supply, all three tubes can be burnt instantly. Once the solder joint is repaired however, the problem never appears. I make a habit of resoldering all solder connections prior to selling these sets, and any power supply sent to me for repair has all connections resoldered as well..

Barco parts are insanely expensive from Barco themselves, however thanks to the large amount of projectors on the surplus market, several resellers such as myself have a large inventory of rebuild modules and other parts in stock at a fraction of the original purchase price. I sell all parts on an exchange basis; you send me back the defective module so I can rebuild it and sell it at a later date.

Barco projectors with digital convergence are very easy to set up for convergence, and the manuals are very well written. ------------------------------------------------------- Sony Sony basically was one of the pioneers of flat screen front projection TV's. Sony made a series of wooden box KP-XXXX in the early to mid 1980's that were designed to be projected onto a 6' curved screen, and later these could also be used on a flat screen. Video only projectors, and most had a speaker and TV tuner built in. Very reliable sets, but I have not seen one in years.

Sony came out with their first flat screen CRT video projector in about 1983-1984 called the VPH-722. Later this model became the VPH-1020 and 2020, with little differences between each of these. 7" Sony Es focus tubes, analog convergence, 500 lumens or so. Convection cooled, very reliable, and occasionally I still sell these sets.

Between 1986 and 1996 Sony came out with a number of their 10XX series, including the VPH-1020, 2020, 1030, 1031, 1040, 1041, 1042, 1044, 1000, and 1001. With the exception of the 1030 and 1031, these were all video grade sets, had analog convergence and had slight variations between the models. Some had S-video inputs, some had slightly brighter tubes, etc. etc. All very reliable sets, small footprint, and most had 2 or 3 small cooling fans in them. 600 to 750 lumens. In general, the higher the model number, the newer it was, but that changed with the introduction of the 1000 and 1001 in about 1995. I have no idea why Sony changed their numbering sequence...All of the above sets used Sony 7" ES focus tubes.

The Sony 1030 and 1031 scanned to 26 Khz and 36 Khz respectively. With a small modification (I have not tried it), the 1030 could also accept a 32 Khz line doubled signal. Other than that, the overall picture was very similar to the rest of the 10XX series.

In 1990, Sony introduced a higher end model, the 1270. It came out in 5 different versions from 1990 to 1997, the 1270, 1271, 272, 1251 and 1252. All had slight variations of the same basic chassis, and all used Sony 8" ES focusing tubes. The 1270 had 650 lumens and 75 Khz scanning rate, the 1251 had 56 Khz scanning rate and 750 lumens, the 1252 had 61,5 Khz scanning rate and 750 lumens.

Each of these sets had 9 zones of fine convergence adjustments within the digital convergence settings.

The 1271 and 1272 had 65 and 92 Khz scanning rate respectively, and had 21 points of fine tuning, making these sets a bit more desirable for high definition installations. For all intents and purposes though, the entire 12XX line had identical pictures up to line tripling.

The Sony 1292 was introduced in 1995 as Sony's flagship model. 110 Khz scan rate, 1200 lumens, 21 point digital convergence, and 9" EM focus tubes. the basic image was very similar to the 12XX series, but the larger tubes and EM focus made for a razor sharp picture. Very large and heavy beasts.

The entire Sony 12XX line of projectors is known to be quite noisy due to the fans used to cool the projector. The 1292 is even noisier than the other models due to a total of 14 fans. A hush box is recommended for these Sonys if the noise bothers you.

In about 1997, Sony changed their projector lineup, and introduced the Sony D 50, D 70, G 70 and G 90 models, The D series was 7", the G 70 was 8" and the G 90 was 9". All were significantly quieter than the 12XX series, had expanded digital convergence set ups, and gave an excellent picture. I have only to date worked with the D 50 and G 70, and they had stunning pictures.

Sony strengths and weaknesses: The entire Sony lineup of projectors is known for their reliability, and failures during normal use are far and few between. The 10XX series and 12XX were not really designed as a modular set, and thus in field troubleshooting and repair is difficult. Almost all of these sets have to be sent to a service tech when a failure occurs.

Failures of fans have been seen, bad solder joints occur, and the odd component failure does happen, but in general Sony parts from Sony are less expensive than the equivalent from Barco. Again, there are many surplus Sony projectors on the market, and good used parts are easy to find.

The Sony manuals are extremely well written and setup is almost as easy as the Barcos.