WHAT2BUY,

I am sitting 13' from 120" diagonal screen with projector mounted approx. 16' away. Beautiful results!!!

Stace

I'm getting a panny as my first projector next wed, and i've almost gone crosseyed reading this forum. i can't find threads that haveone person whose compared all three outputs from an htpc and given an objective review of plusses and minusses. so can someone point me to a place or give me their findings. thanks in advance.

I use an HTPC and have tried both hdmi+vga connections.

The difference in picture quality was non existant once the sharpness levels on hdmi were turned down(for some reason hdmi on the 700 is set too high at the factory).
On vga you have no issues with cropping, pixel perfect is easy as pie.

I'm fortunate in that my cable runs are short(3 meters from pc to pj) so the cables weren't too expensive. I had both connections running at the same time so could quickly do direct a-b testing of a variety of sources.

I can only see two reasons to use hdmi over vga.

1/ cable length - if you have long runs hdmi is better, vga is more limited.
2/ If your going to use a filter, vga doesn't have colour and tint controls so you would have to adjust these at the htpc.

My opinion only, others may differ. I suggest you try for yourself.

Yep, it wasn't 100% parallel. I was able to dial it in properly by making it parallel, adjusting the feet for some more vertical, which allowed me to use the lens shift to shift the picture a bit more to the left without distortion. Then dialed in 1 point of keystone correction, and it's about perfect.

Still have the scan line issue though, I did note that the oppo was only outputting 480p via DVI and not 480i, so I'll try it with the component cables or my old DVD player to see if I can get fewer scan lines in the picture.

be sure to have "truelife - On" in the Oppo video setup menu as this enables the de-interlacer.
Also I would suggest to try to avoid any use of the keystone correction. It will degrade picture quality. Try to setup your AE700 such that is at a 90 degree angle with your screen in both the horizontal and vertical pane. Then use the lensshift and zoom to position the AE700s image on your screen.

Also in the movie when the camera shows a distant shot of 3 or more people, the image is not that clear, whereas when a single person is all over the screen, the picture looks flawless..
Why is this? Can anyone explain..

There just isn't enough pixel information on a DVD to create a fully focused and lifelike image--those middle distance characters are designed to be seen 3 or 4 inches high on a TV not 2 feet high on a pj.

You've got an oppo uncoverting to 720p so it's not going to get any better til true HD comes along.

Dave

Has anyone installed the latest catalyst 5.8 drivers on their HTPC for use with the AE700? Any issues maintaining 1:1? I've got mine working fine with earlier drivers but am wondering if 5.8 is worth upgrading to (for gaming reasons) and if there are any issues.
TIA!

Hi guys,

Is it recommended that one uses the internal scaler of the AE700 by feeding 480i signal to it using component cable from a dvd player or bypassing its internal scaler by feeding 480p signals ?

I've been using the 480p signals for the last few weeks, just thought that effect it has by using 480i. Does it improve picture quality ?

tks,

F.

Ferdinand, you'll just have to try for yourself. There is a good chance the AE700's deinterlacer+scaler is superior to using your DVD player's deinterlacer plus the AE700's scaler (it still has to convert 480p to 720p.)

ok Abdul, many thanks for the input.

F.

Anyone using the trigger output on the Panny AE700?

I tried hooking mine up tonight, but it didn't seem to send out any signal to my Dalite screen.

Hooked up the exact same cable and wiring to my Denon AVR-4806, and it controlled the screen properly.

I was assuming the Panny would do the same.

If you search in one of these mega threads (this one and the other) I believe, if my memory serves me, there is some workaround regarding the trigger -- sorry I don't use mine but remember reading about it and possible problems people were having.

Good luck

Nod, been searching through both the tweak thread and the main thread, but with over 200 pages of posts the solution has eluded me.

See page 55-56 of the AE700 service manual. It documents the alignment procedure for the mirrors and reflectors. Adjust the green for magenta uniformity, red for cyan and blue for yellow.

Dave

Did anyone successfully fix this problem either through warranty or DIY? I have the same issue and just thought it was a Behr Silverscreen problme until now...

Thanks, Steve

dozer42 - if you search this thread for "Trigger" and look at the 5th one down it might help you -- here is the ultimate link but try that search word in this thread and you will see this link that goes to another thread - I bet you this is your problem

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=504591

dozer 42 - The problem IS with the panasonic's 12 volt trigger output. I had the same problem when hooking up my tensioned draper screen. If you put a multimeter on your trigger wire you will find that the panny barely put's out a volt. I called projector people (where I bought it from) and they sent me out a converter box. Plug the panasonic trigger output into converter box, run trigger from box to screen, problem solved. Box isn't very attractive but I hid it so no big deal. I also put the switch box on a switched outlet on the back of my receiver so when I shut it off, it kills the power to the switch box.

Just a useless piece of info for anyone who may care:

My bulb is at 1800 hours and going strong.

This is particularly interesting because my house is at 130VAC instead of the normal 110 - 120 meaning the light bulbs in my house always die fast.

So far so good.

The powersupply is regulated and can take up to 240v input 50/60hz with no problems, 130v isn't going to trouble it :)

dozer 42 - The problem IS with the panasonic's 12 volt trigger output. I had the same problem when hooking up my tensioned draper screen. If you put a multimeter on your trigger wire you will find that the panny barely put's out a volt. I called projector people (where I bought it from) and they sent me out a converter box. Plug the panasonic trigger output into converter box, run trigger from box to screen, problem solved. Box isn't very attractive but I hid it so no big deal. I also put the switch box on a switched outlet on the back of my receiver so when I shut it off, it kills the power to the switch box.

Just talked to the guys at the Projector People and they had no idea about any converter box. Was it an off the shelf item, a one-off, or... ?

Did anyone successfully fix this problem either through warranty or DIY? I have the same issue and just thought it was a Behr Silverscreen problme until now...

Thanks, Steve


I had a similiar color unifomity problem and I sent mine in for service. The technician replaced the analysis block. I've never heard of this piece, it might be called something else.

Does Vertical Banding on the AE700 go away on its own after 2 months or so of use? Does VB require tweaking in the service menu in order to reduce or remove itc completely?

Please advise.

On monday I sent my 11 month old projector in to get the firmware upgrade from 1.03 to 1.07. Today is Friday and I got it back! Nice and quick in my opinion. Anyway, onto the reason I'm posting. On the technician's notes is says:

Customer Complaint: FIRMWARE UPGRADE.

Service Performed: REPLACED PC BOARD

What the heck? Is "replaced PC board" part of the firmware upgrade? I was suffering from some pretty severe brightness flickering for many many months... Maybe they noticed that and fixed it. I'll power this thing up later tonight and see what changed.

Does Vertical Banding on the AE700 go away on its own after 2 months or so of use? Does VB require tweaking in the service menu in order to reduce or remove itc completely?

Please advise.


I would recommend you DON'T tweak the vb yet, let it settle and the components "burn in" for, say, 200 hours or so before you consider the vb tweak.

Look at it this way, from what I've read here, most(if not all) those who started tweaking out their VB straight away, are still tweaking on a regular basis.

They also find it nescasary to turn off main power to the unit every time to avoid VB.

I left mine well enough alone and only adjusted brighness, contrast position etc and thought I'd wait and see what happened over time.

Guess what, no VB, NEVER tweaked, the unit is ALWAYS in standby when not in use.

PJ's at about 650 hours now.

If I'm wrong, you can still tweak to your heart's content later, nothing lost.
If I'm right, you will be a happy camper with a VB free pj.

BTW firmware 105 and I'm NOT taking it in for an update. No bastard is opening my, faultless, projector. :p

Don't count on it.

While some members would have you shake goat entrails over the projector and roll chicken bones across your floor to avoid VB, my belief is a bit simpler. Some have it (VB), some don't. While it may be true that for some it goes away after some time period, at 150 hours, VB is still going strong on mine, Flicker tweaks, powering off, have had no noticible effect on VB, On certain scenes, it's very noticable, Of course neither my Wife, my kids or any of our friends have ever noticed and I haven't had the heart to point it out to them.

I've been waiting for something else to become available (the ae900 is looking promising) at which point I will certainly take advantage of Costco's excellent return policy.

My advice is that if VB on your projector bothers you, return it if you can,

Tom

Does Vertical Banding on the AE700 go away on its own after 2 months or so of use? Does VB require tweaking in the service menu in order to reduce or remove itc completely?

Please advise.

Does Vertical Banding on the AE700 go away on its own after 2 months or so of use? Does VB require tweaking in the service menu in order to reduce or remove itc completely?

Please advise.

I had terrible VB for the first 50 hours, and it has slowly faded to the point that at 400 hours I now have virtually none. And I'm always looking for it. I remember when I first purchased the 700 - I had wished I had kept my trusty and reliable 500. On occasion I do see a little FPN (Fixed Pattern Noise) - but it's slight and I can live with it. I also had a color uniformity issue (noticeable only on B&W films) that now seems to have faded away too. No bulb flickering (so far). My 700 is working so perfectly - I may not up-grade to a 900. Hate to start the process all over again. But if the contrast is greatly enhanced on the 900 - I will.

On monday I sent my 11 month old projector in to get the firmware upgrade from 1.03 to 1.07. Today is Friday and I got it back! Nice and quick in my opinion. Anyway, onto the reason I'm posting. On the technician's notes is says:

Customer Complaint: FIRMWARE UPGRADE.

Service Performed: REPLACED PC BOARD

What the heck? Is "replaced PC board" part of the firmware upgrade? I was suffering from some pretty severe brightness flickering for many many months... Maybe they noticed that and fixed it. I'll power this thing up later tonight and see what changed.

After testing for 3 hours last night, I could not see any flickering. None whatsoever. But now I have a new problem. On gray screens, the lower left and upper right portions of the image are tinted red. It's not noticable on red, blue, green, yellow or any screen except for a gray. The lower left is a stronger red than the upper right. Could this have been there all along and I didn't notice? Or did this appear as a result of "REPLACED PC BOARD". I think I'll call their 800 number and get more details of what was swapped and why.

Is there a way to tweak out the uneven red tones?

WEIRD am having an almost IDENTICAL problem :) :(

sent mine in about a month ago for some dust blobs to be cleaned off the prism and for the 1.07 flash to get rid of the hdmi flashes......

got it back and the hdmi with hdcp no longer worked (tho i am now thinking that was just a massive coincidence that my hd tivo's hdmi finally went kaput at the same exact time) and found a massive yellow area visible on any light colored area...... which after reading up here i figured out to be the blue polorizer going bad.....

so a few weeks after sending it in the first time i bundled it up and sent it back (asked them to check the hdcp/hdmi output so i could narrow it down to the hdtivo, while they had it....)

got it back with the checklist...... saying something like image block replaced (?) have to dig up that sheet and see the exact wording....... but anyways...... polarizer replaced and the yellow tint is gone :)

but i'm watching it and i slowly start to notice the same red tint towards the top of the screen and middle left, and what seems to be a blueish green tint on the bottom half........ and like the last poster it is ONLY VISIBLE ON GREY , since i watch a ton of black and white stuff (my day isnt complete without an episode or two of Combat! with vic morrow) this is driving me buggy..... ITS ALL I CAN SEE....

now i've never got into the advanced picture area or messed with any of the gamma or color settings..... but is there some connection with a NEW blue polarizer going into the projector and this red tint and blue/green tint ?? is it something like having a NEW blue polarizer means i need to go in and compensate for that somehow with the gamma/color settings in advance (doubting this as the red tint etc is so localized and not all over, but fingers crossed that its that simple)

i'm about at the end of my rope....... having to send it in (my only tv) for the third time in like a month would just about kill me....... especially now that its football season :(

i'd have to demand some kinda loaner or something..... as this is getting to be regdmndicules......... :(

another thing..... after this 2nd in a month servicing..... it also came back with a ever so faint internal rattling as if somethings not quite in place :( sigh......

i love my projector........ but i really cant recomend them anymore to friends and family.......... not without a loaner advance exchange sort a system set up.......

:(

Don't count on it.
VB is still going strong on mine, Flicker tweaks, powering off, have had no noticible effect on VB
Tom

Just out of interest, how soon after you started using your 700 did you see vb and how soon did you start to tweak it out?

It's curious that others seem to be able to get rid of vb with the flicker tweak and powering down.

After testing for 3 hours last night, I could not see any flickering. None whatsoever. But now I have a new problem. On gray screens, the lower left and upper right portions of the image are tinted red. It's not noticable on red, blue, green, yellow or any screen except for a gray. The lower left is a stronger red than the upper right. Could this have been there all along and I didn't notice? Or did this appear as a result of "REPLACED PC BOARD". I think I'll call their 800 number and get more details of what was swapped and why.

Is there a way to tweak out the uneven red tones?

So I called their tech number and got the reason for "REPLACED PC BOARD". They said that the unit would not power on. The red power light was on but pressing the power button did nothing. Ugh, it worked before I sent it in, I'm guessing it was damaged during shipping.

I'm still working with them on resolving the red hues in the lower left and upper right corners.

Edit: I've been instructed to ship it back to them again so they can fix the red hues. This is getting costly...

Just out of interest, how soon after you started using your 700 did you see vb and how soon did you start to tweak it out?

It's curious that others seem to be able to get rid of vb with the flicker tweak and powering down.

I saw it in the first couple of hours of viewing. Tweak attempts followed shortly. While I'm sure that there are some with no VB, and it's certainly possible that the flicker tweak can help, I can't say it's made any difference on mine. Keep in mind that VB is difficult to measure and qualitative judgments are difficult. It's possible that it got a little better with the flicker tweak but it's most definitely still there.

There are certainly entire movies where I either don't see it at all or barely for a few seconds. there are others where it's an almost non-stop annoyance.

Tom

Have you considered taking it in to Panasonic?

I certainly would.

I notice it almost exclusively on grass sporting events. Most notably in football, but mainly when the camera pans on the grass. I don't notice it on blue skies or the ocean that much though.

However, when watching Discovery HD, the camera pans across the shoreline. The water is green, and I defintely see vertical banding. I tried the usual demo DVDs like U-571 and Pirates of the Carribean (first chapter) and barely notice it, if at all.

Viewing distance is not a factor, because I can notice the banding from 10ft and as far away as 16ft.

My screen is Da-Lite Video Spectra (1.5 gain) and the size is 45x80. My Panny 700 is approx. 12ft away from screen.

I have 24 hours total use, and so far VB hasn't gotten any worse (or better) since day one. I'm still holding out hope it will disappear over time as others have stated.

I have 24 hours total use, and so far VB hasn't gotten any worse (or better) since day one. I'm still holding out hope it will disappear over time as others have stated.

Dude, your bulb has barely warmed up!

Give it a coupla hundred hours before you tweak it.

Let it settle in.... ;)

I have a nvidia fx5200 that allow mw to use at the same time the DVI output and the VGa output
I setted up the same resolutionfor both outpus (1280 * 720, 60hz ) and I used the function that give you the same images on tw output.
then I linked my PT AE 700 with dvi to hdmi cable and with VGa cable.
Then I opened a good picure and I saw the same images with HDMI input or with PC input, (just pressing the putton on the remote control)
This is what you see.
your eyes will tell you the differences between HDMI and VGA.

Have fun

dave

HDMI PICTURE (http://www.rulezman.com/images/hdmi.jpg)

PC PICTURE (http://www.rulezman.com/images/pc.jpg)

Of course I used the same parameters to shoot those images, with the nikon colpix 8400 8mpx camera, on a stand.

Just wanna say I hit 1000 hours on my Panny this week. The only tweak I've ever done is the color filter, and I'm still impressed. Knock on wood I haven't had any problems, occassionally i'll get the flicker...but it's random.

I have a nvidia fx5200 that allow mw to use at the same time the DVI output and the VGa output
I setted up the same resolutionfor both outpus (1280 * 720, 60hz ) and I used the function that give you the same images on tw output.
then I linked my PT AE 700 with dvi to hdmi cable and with VGa cable.
Then I opened a good picure and I saw the same images with HDMI input or with PC input, (just pressing the putton on the remote control)
This is what you see.
your eyes will tell you the differences between HDMI and VGA.

Have fun

dave

HDMI PICTURE (http://www.rulezman.com/images/hdmi.jpg)

PC PICTURE (http://www.rulezman.com/images/pc.jpg)

Of course I used the same parameters to shoot those images, with the nikon colpix 8400 8mpx camera, on a stand.


How come your screen looks tilted, almost like a trapezoid?

How come your screen looks tilted, almost like a trapezoid?

Yes, but just in the shoot, because I placed the camera on a small table in front of the screen

Look at this: the screen is perfect....

What do you think about diferences HDMI to Pc..?
do you see the diference??

dave

Yes, but just in the shoot, because I placed the camera on a small table in front of the screen

Look at this: the screen is perfect....

What do you think about diferences HDMI to Pc..?
do you see the diference??

dave
WOW! The difference is incredible! Thanks for taking the time to do this. A lot of times although I can see a difference, I don't think the difference is all that significant for overall viewing pleasure. This is significant. You just saved me the cost of a 25 foot vga cable to do my own comparison.

anyone know how to change the convergence of the 3 lcd panels. It seems that mine is off. I just rec. the video test off of HDNet and it seems that mine is off. Can you do it via the service menu or do you have to take the projector apart?

The blacks are a lot stronger in the HDMI picture.

I think that the image is a little "charged" of colors.
But both the systems give you a nice picture.
You can't see any difference if you deon't see the same thing at the same time , and that is not possible, if you don't have two projectors, and two screens!!!

I am going with HDMI but I am not so happy to LOOSE 20 pixels (10 bottom, 10 top).
Some one know more about this pixel cropping on pt ae700 with hdmi input??
Is not possible to correct this error?

dave

Hello,
I just got the HD cable box from COMCAST. I am trying to hook it up to the Panny. Can you please tell if I need to do any tweaks to get the best experience out of the Panny..
Thanks
W2B

I purchased the 700 last weekend and have read most of this thread. One thing I have noticed with the projector is that dark scenes look darker than they do on a regular tv. I am projecting against a wall that is flat taupe (light brown) in color. Will a professional screen improve the contrast in these scenes so they don't appear as dark? I really like the projector but find it frustrating when I can't see the detail in the darker scenes. I am building a screen out of blackout cloth to see if that helps things. Will a screen make a huge difference here or is there something I need to tweak on the projector?

Thanks,
Brendin

I purchased the 700 last weekend and have read most of this thread. One thing I have noticed with the projector is that dark scenes look darker than they do on a regular tv. I am projecting against a wall that is flat taupe (light brown) in color. Will a professional screen improve the contrast in these scenes so they don't appear as dark? I really like the projector but find it frustrating when I can't see the detail in the darker scenes. I am building a screen out of blackout cloth to see if that helps things. Will a screen make a huge difference here or is there something I need to tweak on the projector?

Thanks,
Brendin

Have you calibrated your brightness/contrast using DVE/AVIA? If not - that is your problem with lost details in dark areas.

NEED HELP SUGGESTION PLEASE...
I got the Comcast HD receiver to watch the HD channels on my Panny. I am using the component inputs right now..When I watch HD shows like the "Tonite show- Jay Leno" in 16:9 it appears like the image is streched out and I also have black bars on the top. Are the HD channels not transmitted in 16:9 format? Are is there something I should do with my panny?
Also when go in the advanced menu section. I see 525i as the display format. Can anyone explain this? Thanks in advance
W2B

Check your settings on your Comcast receiver - it seems to be outputting the signal in a non-HD format - that is the first thing you should do.

Check any program that appears in regular format against other HD stations at that moment. If the other stations comcast gives you are in HD (at that time period you can check out Letterman), then your NBC supplier isn't supplying the HD feed at that time. That happens often. If no stations from comcast look correct, then "yes", check your box settings.

Just bought a scaler CS-1. I found that the flashing problem on HDMI is gone (1.03) but the cropping is larger than the past (dvi to hdmi from pc).
Anyone experience the same? any tips? Anyway to improve the cropping?

I have an HDMI problem that I cannot see mentioned anywhere else - although I doubt it is a PJ issue, but I'll ask anyway. I basically get no image at all with HDMI using an 8m Supra HDMI cable and a Denon 1920. The DVD player says there is a connection, and this is validated as if I turn off the PJ, the HDMI light on the player flashes to indicate there is no complete connection.

I was just wondering if there is some setting on the AE700 I am missing. S-Video works fine.

Hey man I am not shure about an 8meter hdmi!!
do you try with a shorter one?
I think max lengh is 5 meters........or 3 ?!?!

Dave
Thereis nothin that you need to setup on the pj, just press hdmi and see on the display the hdmi mark right top, green.....

Hey man I am not shure about an 8meter hdmi!!
do you try with a shorter one?
I think max lengh is 5 meters........or 3 ?!?!

Dave
Thereis nothin that you need to setup on the pj, just press hdmi and see on the display the hdmi mark right top, green.....

I use a 30ft. HDMI cable and my GIEC HDMI DVD PLAYER is working perfectly well with my Panny AE700.

I paid like $75 for the damn cable, but I feel I got a good quality cable that will last me a LONG time. I'm perfectly happy with it.

I've heard numerous people using 10-15 m cables so maybe I need to shop around for a different cable. I've got a cheap 3' cable bought off ebay coming in a few days, so I'l let you know if that solves it.

Rieper - my Supra cable was nearly $200 which is the going rate over here, so don't feel bad about $75!



EDIT: November 8, 2005:

just to keep you up to date, I received the 3' cable and it worked really well.
So I sent my 8m Supra cable back, they tested is, and staed it was faulty.
I replaced it with an 8m Bettercables HDMI, and the results are stunning :D

I don't know if this helps, but I use a 50-foot HDMI cable from pccables.com with my HD-Tivo and it works flawlessly.

(knock wood)

After testing for 3 hours last night, I could not see any flickering. None whatsoever. But now I have a new problem. On gray screens, the lower left and upper right portions of the image are tinted red. It's not noticable on red, blue, green, yellow or any screen except for a gray. The lower left is a stronger red than the upper right. Could this have been there all along and I didn't notice? Or did this appear as a result of "REPLACED PC BOARD". I think I'll call their 800 number and get more details of what was swapped and why.

Is there a way to tweak out the uneven red tones?

Got it back after sending it in to fix the red hue in the corners. They corrected most of the problem, but I still see a faint red hue down the right side of the image - it's on about 5% of the screen width. It's not as bad as it was before sending it in, but it's not a uniformly smooth grey screen.

Another problem I now have is convergence. Using a 2x2 bitmap with the top black and bottom white, I have perfect horizontal convergence. Using a 2x2 bitmap with left black and right white, the screen turns grey... Ugh. I swear I did this test a year ago and was satisfied with the results. Now it looks like the red and green are both shifted opposite of each other.

Plus the brightness flicker is back... it's just as bad as before.

Anybody have sympothy for me? I'll have to collect some tools... the service manual, the cable extender kit, and do it all myself.

I just thought I would post and say that I had a bulb blow after 295 hours of use... Luckily I work about 6 miles from Heartland services, so I was able to hand-deliver the projector to them. They treated me very well, and even swapped out for a new bulb even though I was about 3 days beyond the 90 day warranty for the bulb. They inspected the device, and found no operational error or abuse that would have caused the bulb to blow, and concluded that it was most likely just a bad bulb.

"Plus the brightness flicker is back... it's just as bad as before."

GKMad, Maybe old news, but have you tried running the pj at high bulb power? If it doesn't flicker at high power then leave it on high for an hour or so and it may have settled when you turn it back down to low. That got rid of my brightness flicker--at least for now.

Dave

Being an owner for nearly four months, I state with a certainty that the bottom line with this projector is it is simply NOT durable for the average consumer environment.

This bulb issue can be related to alot of different issues but my guess, just a guess, is that DUST that seems to be able to get inside the lenses can possibly get onto the lense and simply blow the blub. Moisture is another possibility. Inadequate ventilation, also having "the most quiet" fan out there may also be contributing to the lamp failure.

Any one with a brain know that HEAT rises as well as condensation.

Many people are placing these units on ceilings or close to it with little or no ADDED ventilation to speak of.

I have a air purifier hooked up next to the projector to not only clean the air as best it can but also to keep air circulating in my theater. Remember, most people have no windows and few doors in their HT's.

After seeing how fast and bad dust builds up in this unit combined with heat at high levels in certain rooms, and remember that dust can sometimes conduct arc's etc. Bulb failure on this unit is not surprising.

My advice to all present and future owners...have adequate ventilation in your rooms, have one or two air purifiers running when not using the HT, and, and probably would not hurt to run the fan on the unit on high even in low lamp level just to keep the bulb and unit as cool as possible.

Remember that these units create very intense heat that needs to be disapated correctly, it just might be that these units fall for this reason.

You can pick up a air purifier at places like TARGET for $50-150 bucks.

For those of you who have pets that like to watch movies as much as you, I totally recommend one or two. Pet dander is some of the finest dust around and one to two dogs can generate a half a pound of dander in just one week in the average house.

As far as picture quality, hands down, HD-TV gives the best this projector can put out there. DVD's will drive you nuts as not all correctly transferred and calibrated.

DISH Network HD rocks.

I bought my Panasonic AE700U last month from Projector People. It came with the latest firmware version (1.07). Are there any known issues like VB at this firmware level?

Also, what is a good sharpness, contrast, and brightness level for HDMI input?

Thanks,
Sindhi

gijoela
"The Reality of this projector"
I agree, you have to take it easy on this thing. Sacrifice a bit more noise, keep it well away from surfaces that inhibit airflow and don't crank up the bulb too high and it will last longer. Some may fault it for having options that will let you burn it up quickly, but i like having the various options. Some people may have had some bad bulbs, but I suspect some complainers made ill advised choices with the way they treated their bulbs...
A better user interface is what projector manufacturers will have to come up with if they want to get more mainstream. Something with logic and a real user interface.

"Are you sure you want to have LOW FAN with BULB HIGH?
Click OK to continue.
FATAL ERROR 1232615:
This error has the following information:
<>
Please shut down and restart projector
Click OK to proceed with shutdown"

sindhibd
"Also, what is a good sharpness, contrast, and brightness level for HDMI input?"
These settings depend on the screen and more.
Search for "calibration"

tsteves, I'm not sure if that's entirely the case.

My PJ has had ideal treatment, connected to a UPS, on it's own circuit, climate controlled room, dust free, 2 feet clear all around with plenty of airflow. Always used with the lamp set to low, filter cleaned every week, once it's turned off it stays off for a minimum of one hour.....

As you can see I've tried to think of everything humanly possible to get the most life out of my globe.

Didn't quite make it to 800 hours, globe darkened to unwatchable in the space of two hours or so.

Waiting to hear back from Panasonic. I can tell you this though, not paying a damn cent towards the replacement. I'll jump up and down, yell and scream, go to Consumer Affairs, take it to A Current Affair(tv show) if I have to.

What else could I have done to protect the globe? There is NO WAY this is my fault, regardless of what any manufacturer has to say, there are laws to protect the consumer.

Ok rant over. I'll save the rest of my anger for Panasonic management.....

Smegger
Yes I agree, that's why I did say "some", since I know there are some sensible people who did seem to have bad bulbs. I'm just suggesting some people may have made bad choices. I am one of the lucky ones with a "good" bulb that seems to be lasting fine at around 1300hrs. There are a number of us.
I agree about the yelling and jumping up and down thing. Seems to work in general.

I have the Zenith 318 DVD player that outputs at 480p and upscales to 720p or 1080i.

I find that I get the best picture using the 720 output to the Panny 700. The problem is that I found that some older films that I want to watch in OAR have to be played at 480p because the DVD player does not allow me adjust the aspect ratio at 720p or above. When I play the DVD's at 480p, I get horizontal lines and break-up in the picture, so I usually have to switch back to 720P and watch the 4x3 video source stretched out to 16x9. I know that some people like to watch a stretched picture becuase they hate to "waste" part of the screen, but I prefer to watch films and TV at 4x3 if that is the way they were originally shot. I hate seeing the people "squashed" to look shorter and fatter than they reall are.

So I have a couple questions:

1) Has anybody else had problems playing 4x3 source DVD's at 480p on the Panny 700?

2) Does anybody know of an upscaling DVD player that allows you to adjust the aspect ratio at 720P or 1081i? I have a Dish Network HD DVR and I use the 720P output setting. The nice thing about it is that I can change the aspect ratio of any TV program from "4x3' to "16x9" to "zoom". I would like to find a DVD player that outputs 720P that would allow me to show my old 4x3 films in that ratio to get the best of all worlds.

Thanks,

Steve

SteveCoug, the oppo opdv971h is generally considered the best upscaling player in its class--it also has a wide/squeeze setting which diplays both 4:3 and 16:9 formats in their proper settings. I use it with the AE700 at 720p through DVI (warning: the player does not upscale through component) and get excellent results. It's about $200. Check out the dvd player (standard def.) threads on this site for more info and debate.

Dave

I am sure that I have read something about this subject in this or in one of the other AE700 threads, but I can't for the life of me find it back. It's not for lack of trying the search facility.

Somebody, and I thought it was Aussie Bob though I wont swear to it, mentioned that after the lamp had started fading, there was a switch in some meny that allowed a reset and that several persons had tried this with increased luminosity as beneficial result. Obviously I am aware of the potential danger of stressing the lamp that this might imply, but I really do have the feeling that after 500+ hours mine has lost quite a bit of it's blazing glory.

I would really appreciate being reminded of what was involved here

I am sure that I have read something about this subject in this or in one of the other AE700 threads, but I can't for the life of me find it back. It's not for lack of trying the search facility.

Somebody, and I thought it was Aussie Bob though I wont swear to it, mentioned that after the lamp had started fading, there was a switch in some meny that allowed a reset and that several persons had tried this with increased luminosity as beneficial result. Obviously I am aware of the potential danger of stressing the lamp that this might imply, but I really do have the feeling that after 500+ hours mine has lost quite a bit of it's blazing glory.

I would really appreciate being reminded of what was involved here

Lamp reset is in Service menu.

SteveCoug, the oppo opdv971h is generally considered the best upscaling player in its class--it also has a wide/squeeze setting which diplays both 4:3 and 16:9 formats in their proper settings. I use it with the AE700 at 720p through DVI (warning: the player does not upscale through component) and get excellent results. It's about $200. Check out the dvd player (standard def.) threads on this site for more info and debate.

Dave


I do have a similar setup and I agree that the Oppo player is an excellent choice for the Ae700, great picture at 720p.

:)

Lamp reset is in Service menu.

Yes but was that all there was to it?

Today is the first birthday of my 700. It now has 1200 hours on the original lamp, in high lamp mode, and it continues to look fine. I'm sure its dimmed some but is still plenty bright on my 118" Carada Brilliant White (1.4gain) screen. I have the 81EF filter but I am not using it as I prefer Normal -2 as posted I believe by Tom Hoffman with contrast, tint, color and brightness set using Avia. Both HD DirectTV and DVD sources are HDMI, and the unit was returned to Heartland for the 1.07 firmware upgrade. No dust blobs, stuck pixels, flicker or any other annoying problems. I no longer cut power as the VB has gone away over time. All in all I'm one happy customer. Sure hope I don't snake bite myself with this post.

I have the 81EF filter but I am not using it as I prefer Normal -2 as posted I believe by Tom Hoffman with contrast, tint, color and brightness set using Avia.

Got a link to this?

Today is the first birthday of my 700. It now has 1200 hours on the original lamp, in high lamp mode, and it continues to look fine. I'm sure its dimmed some but is still plenty bright on my 118" Carada Brilliant White (1.4gain) screen. I have the 81EF filter but I am not using it as I prefer Normal -2 as posted I believe by Tom Hoffman with contrast, tint, color and brightness set using Avia. Both HD DirectTV and DVD sources are HDMI, and the unit was returned to Heartland for the 1.07 firmware upgrade. No dust blobs, stuck pixels, flicker or any other annoying problems. I no longer cut power as the VB has gone away over time. All in all I'm one happy customer. Sure hope I don't snake bite myself with this post.

Happy Birthday! My SPoT (yeah, I named him) has his first birthday on Oct 27th. He arrived today at HL for the firmware update. He only has 500 hrs or so on him. When I sent him off he had very minimal VB (you had to struggle to see it), no dust blobs or other issues, and was still quite bright eyed. I also use the filter, and it works great with Brad Bissell's settings. (I only wish I had written them down before sending for the upgrade). I am also having them check the lens shift mechanism to see if they can make it more 'smooth". My biggest fear is that it will come back in worse shape than I sent it, but I guess that is the risk we take. I always cut the power, but I may stop and see how it goes. I haven't had to do a flicker tweek in a long time so maybe it was just a lamp burn-in issue that dimenished with lower light output? The tech mentioned on the phone that 1.07 fixes the VB, but I didn't believe him and asked twice. From what I have read on here (and I trust you guys more) 1.07 only addresses the HDMI flicker and perhaps a small tweek to the OOTB color settings. Neither really affect me, as I use DVI to HDMI from my Oppo and the 81EF filter. I always used low lamp and did occassionally hear the shutter click and an occassional increase in light output during movies. I may try running it on HIGH to see if that does anything, but it is so infrequent and short lived that it doesn't bother me (and no one else even notices it). After a year of usage, it is getting easier to enjoy the movie, and much harder to find any faults. :D

darn..

thought all this talk of dimming at 500 hundred hours etc dud bulbs was exagerated (my original bulb still goin decently at 2300 hours)

then after a firmware update and dust blob cleanin in the heartland, i threw in my new bulb for football season.....

then had polarizer go kaput and had to send it right back in to the heartland....

got it back and the bulb was dimmer and just slowly went to like 10% brightness... now for instance cinema 1 or 2 with the contrast and brightness cranked is still virtually black.... thats how dim it is :) :( i can make things out only in dynamic with both cranked and we can all imagine how that looks :)

anyways threw in my old bulb and its like 8 billion times brighter even at 2300 hours........

only got like 300 hours i think on the NEW bulb before it went dark on me :(

sigh......

if only i had heeded the advice to throw in a new bulb imediately and tuck the old one away to test it while under warranty...... :(

anyways a couple questions.....

1- after i put in the new bulb...... and after they replaced the polarizer i decided to do two things...... one- always run in high fan low lamp mode and two- i put a small standing fan like 10 feet away from the projector and on really hot days/nights after the thing had been running a few hours and felt reallt hot... i would run the fan in low across it from the filter side.........

now this bulb goes (after the other is still going after 2000 more hours than the new one)

is the fan a bad idead? could it have decreased the life instead of extending it like i thought it would??

or perhaps more likely.... was the jostling arounf by ups on the 2nd trip back and forth to the heartland maybe responsible for its shortened life?

and

2- where are the best/cheapest places to get bulbs? has anyone taken a poll to see where the duds are coming from ?

sigh......

Got a link to this?
Tukkis,
I'm embarrassed to admit I do not know how to add a link, but the post I'm referring to is titled "Panasonic AE700, ColorFacts, and me" and was originally posted by TomHuffman on 3-13-05. There are some follow ups over the course of the next several days. Hope this helps.

I think the thread your after is HERE (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=519542)

Closed now, and after reading it I'm not sure how much your gonna get out of it.

I'll try the settings myself, when my 700 comes home(sigh) but it seems the setttings he posted are really only good for 480P component.

got it back and the bulb was dimmer and just slowly went to like 10% brightness... now for instance cinema 1 or 2 with the contrast and brightness cranked is still virtually black.... thats how dim it is i can make things out only in dynamic with both cranked and we can all imagine how that looks


I posted the same problem but mine was around 900hrs. I got the lamp replaced for free.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=580775

I posted the same problem but mine was around 900hrs. I got the lamp replaced for free.

Me too, coupla pages back, a bees dick under 800 hours.

Just spoke to the repair center, lamp will be replaced free of charge and firmware updated to 107(from 105).

BUT(always with the but) there is no stock of lamps. 1-2 week wait.
I said "then just send me an AE-900 instead and keep the old one".
Didn't work.

Hands shaking......eyes blurry.....drooling.....need projector fix soon....damn tv's too small..... :D

but these were your original lamps right?

like i said above , this was my second lamp (bought as a replacement)

are you saying you got panasonic or a secondary rplacement lamp dealer to replace past the stated warranty?

Mine was first lamp.

Original lamp as well.

I think previously someone surmised that there was an issue with the original lamps.
Dunno if that's true or not.
I guess only time will tell.

Mind you I find the short life(as a product) of this projector a bit suspicious.
Barely a year old and it's discontinued and the ae-900 released.

I wonder how lamp life will be with them.....

yea my original lamp is still going strong now that i put it back in (after replaceing it at 2300 hours)

its a bit dimmer but MORE than watchable....... i could even live with it if i had to..... :) :(

tho i think i am going to have to get another one here before football heats up and the world series starts.......

just wish better waranties came with the darn bulbs or that they were a REASONABLE price to replace......

as for the less than 1 year life cycle of the 700..... yea i think it has alot of problems...... from the initial hdmi firmware flash thing to polarizers just going kapooey waaaay too soon..... to dust blobs on the prisms that cant be cleaned except at the haertland (mine appeared like 150 hours into the darn projector!)

and just all around bad filtering/dust protection....... my lens up front is just covered with dust inside....... they said at the heartland that this was normal aging and could not be cleaned......... would like to post a picture..... as there is NO WAY that is true.... :( mine looks like a snowstorm is hitting town...... a pretty heavy one :) :(

wish they would just let us trade up to the 900 if the 900 actually fixes any or all of these or the bulb issues :( i'd gladly pay the difference.........

they have alot of unhappy people out there and they know it :(

I could use some help guys....

I am a little disappointed with the output of my AE700 and 92" HCMW Dalite Screen. I bought the combo used, with about 1500hrs on the lamp.

The room that I am using is light controlled and viewing distance is about 14". Throw distance is roughly 15ft....give or take a few inches. The PJ is shelf mounted above the seating position.

Pix of setup....click thumbs for larger view (http://www.cyberfrogs.net/photo/index.php?directory=/albums/house/mediaroom&page=3)

While I didn't expect the AE700 to be a conon of light and compete with my Sony GWIII, I am somewhat disappointed with the lack of brightness.

Movies like Nemo, Fever Pitch, etc are acceptable...but movies like bourne supremency or kingdom of heaven that were filmed with a darker lens are nearly impossible for me to watch. The scenes just seem so dark and lack definition/punch. I almost want to say its a combination of brightness and contrast that is lacking.

I've calibrated the setup using Avia and even tried the B&W filter...no joy. nothing seems to clear this up. Are me expectations to hight? or is there something that needs improving?

Is it my long throw distance? I would prefer to keep the PJ on the shelf rather than moving it closer and adjusting the zoom to get the 92" picture with a ceiling mount. I will however try to set it on the coffee table and move it closer just to see if it clears it up. I can't imagine 3 ft making that much of a difference though. I didn't think that it would have a problem with a 92" image from that distance though...I've seen galleries here on AVS with about the same setup.

I would hope that the lamp is not the issue. I fully appreciate the fact that is has 1500hrs on it, and that it is not as bright as it was when new...but it shouldnt have dimmed that much should it?

How about the screen? I was told it was HCMW, but it doesnt show the material anywhere. Do I need someting with more gain?

Any suggestions are highly appreciated as I feel that I have wasted my money at this point...and will have to go back to watching movies on the sony.

edit: forgot to mention the room is light controlled and pitch black when using the PJ. There is some reflection of light from the screen itself, but not so much that it washes the picture out.

need4speed,

If you have light controller room and picture is very dim - probably your lamp is very dimmed.

Btw - when trying B&W i hope you tried it with Dynamic mode.

While I didn't expect the AE700 to be a conon of light and compete with my Sony GWIII, I am somewhat disappointed with the lack of brightness.

Throw distance has nothing to do with it for a given area. Given the age of your bulb I would suggest its the main culprit - bulbs *do* diminish to about half their output within a few hundred hours of use - at the very least checking lumens/lux level at the screen with a meter would be telling.


I've calibrated the setup using Avia and even tried the B&W filter...no joy. nothing seems to clear this up. Are me expectations to hight? or is there something that needs improving? Assuming you've set your black and white levels correctly (see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=494606)) then I would not use the filter - it drops your lumens output by 2/3 rds of an F stop = about 30%.

I also assume you are using the brighter modes on the 700 - NORMAL or VIDEO if you are using a filter.


I would hope that the lamp is not the issue. I fully appreciate the fact that is has 1500hrs on it, and that it is not as bright as it was when new...but it shouldnt have dimmed that much should it?

See above

How about the screen? I was told it was HCMW, but it doesnt show the material anywhere. Do I need someting with more gain?

Any suggestions are highly appreciated as I feel that I have wasted my money at this point...and will have to go back to watching movies on the sony.

edit: forgot to mention the room is light controlled and pitch black when using the PJ. There is some reflection of light from the screen itself, but not so much that it washes the picture out.

I've looked at your pictures and though it is light controlled, there would be a large degree of reflections in the room from the ceilings the floor and even your light coloured furniture - this would defeat any ANSI CR that a PJ might provide (already low from an LCD). You could try experimenting with some black cloth placed on the ceiling, floor and screen wall as well as the wall that the PJ is mounted on.

As to the screen - do you know its gain - I thought HCCV was in the area of 1.2.

If it were me I would first calibrate a bright, reasonably balanced mode like NORMAL without the filter and then measure your output. Stay away from modes like DYNAMIC unless you are satisfied with the wild GAMMA curve it presents - some are happy with it.

I project onto a similar sized screen for 16:9 and then stretch it to 51 x 120 for 2.35 source. I get away with about 9 ff lamberts in this size but then my room is close to a bat cave.

ted

Throw distance has nothing to do with it for a given area. Given the age of your bulb I would suggest its the main culprit - bulbs *do* diminish to about half their output within a few hundred hours of use - at the very least checking lumens/lux level at the screen with a meter would be telling.

Assuming you've set your black and white levels correctly (see here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=494606)) then I would not use the filter - it drops your lumens output by 2/3 rds of an F stop = about 30%.

I also assume you are using the brighter modes on the 700 - NORMAL or VIDEO if you are using a filter.



See above



I've looked at your pictures and though it is light controlled, there would be a large degree of reflections in the room from the ceilings the floor and even your light coloured furniture - this would defeat any ANSI CR that a PJ might provide (already low from an LCD). You could try experimenting with some black cloth placed on the ceiling, floor and screen wall as well as the wall that the PJ is mounted on.

As to the screen - do you know its gain - I thought HCCV was in the area of 1.2.

If it were me I would first calibrate a bright, reasonably balanced mode like NORMAL without the filter and then measure your output. Stay away from modes like DYNAMIC unless you are satisfied with the wild GAMMA curve it presents - some are happy with it.

I project onto a similar sized screen for 16:9 and then stretch it to 51 x 120 for 2.35 source. I get away with about 9 ff lamberts in this size but then my room is close to a bat cave.

ted


excellent advice.

I will remove the filter and recalibrate it on normal mode. I have no light meter...so I can't measure the output.

yes, I used video mode with the filter, but even with the filter the picture seemed really dark.

There is some refection of the walls and ceiling, but I would think that would wash the picture out rather than making it seem too dark.

on a side note, it looks like the lens has some dust and a single thread of hair on the inside....best way to get that out? I would assume the PJ will need to be cracked open.

The screen is HCMV not HCCV and the gain is 1.1 as far as I know.

thanks for your tips.

I do have a similar setup and I agree that the Oppo player is an excellent choice for the Ae700, great picture at 720p.

:)


Thanks for the recommendation guys ... but do I understand that I have to use the DVI output if I want to be able to change the aspect ratio of my videos to 4x30 at 720P?

I am currently running on component because I have about a long cable run (currently using three 50-foot coaxial cables). I probably only need about a 35 foot cable, cause I have plenty of slack left. Have DVI cable prices come down? Any recommendations where I can buy a good one, 35-40 foot long?

Thanks,

sTeve

SteveCoug, To get the best our of the excellent oppo you need DVI (or DVI to HMDI for the AE700) to run 480p, 540p, 720p or 1080i. The oppo only runs 480i over component which is no advantage over many other players.

If by 4x30 you mean 4:3 then you have two choices. You can play them at 720p if you use the oppo's wide/squeeze mode which will pillar box the material. Some people have experienced loss of resolution this way. I haven't. Or you can play them at 480p (wide mode) and let your display device do the pillar boxing. Some say this is better. As I say I find the oppo pillar boxes at least as well as, if not better than, the AE700. I run at 720p in wd/squeeze mode.

The real problem is with non anamorphic letter box material. The oppo's zoom is wretched--though a there is a rumoured firmware update on the horizon which may imporve this.

There's lots of advice about DVI cables throughout this thread and, better, the DVD Player Standard Definition threads for the oppo (there are two of them). People have experienced problems with very long DVI cables. I never understand why people just don't put the player nearer the display device?...no doubt they have their reasons.

Dave

Well, apparently Panasonic is replacing the globe under warranty, however Electronics Corp.(service agents) say there could be a 2 week wait for the globe.

I just rang Panasonic, the guy I spoke to was surprised to hear that(the wait), took my details and said he'd get back to me tomorrow.

I want my pj back!

*twitch*

I sent my 700 in last Monday (10th), and they received it on Wednesday (12th). I got a call yesterday from the technician who informed me that there is a backlog of projectors at Heartland and they haven't started on mine yet. They are hoping to get to it before the end of this week. Must be a lot of 1 yr birthdays coming up and people sending them in for firmware updates. I asked them to update the firmware, check the sticky lens shift, check the vertical banding and light output ( 425 hrs), and the occassional shutter clunk during playback. I will give them a call on Thursday to see where they stand on repairs. I guess I won't be watching "Batman Begins" this weekend . :-(

UPDATE EDIT: I just got a call from Heartland and the firmware update is complete. They could not do anything about the sticky lens shift. The lamp output is low (which sucks since it only has 425 hrs on it), but they do not have any lamps in stock and no known leadtime. Rather than wait 1-2 weeks or more for the new lamp to come in, I elected to have it shipped back with the old lamp. The only drawback is that the lamps cost more if they do not install them at the factory ( nearly $70 more purchased seperately with shipping). I thought about having them replace the lamp, and keeping my old one as a spare, but I don't want to wait that long. Projector should be here by the weekend.

First of all, many thanks to all those out there who've already posted tweaks and suggestions. I've read them all, and tried most of them, but I'm still not satisfied, so here I am. I'm a newbie poster to this thread.

I just got my panny last week and had the whole weekend to play with it. On HD material the picture is great, although a little soft. On DVD playback I'm pretty unhappy. I see artifacts along edges (text, faces against background). The artifacts are not too noticeable during closeups, and are worst when shots are zoomed out. I see this even on suberbit DVDs. I'm running component video in prog scan mode on my dvd player (granted, my dvd player might be a pile of crap) and have been told to try a dvd player that will upconvert to 720p before sending the signal out. I had the Infocus 5000 for a couple weeks before, and was pretty happy with the image sharpness.

My question is this: is there anything else I can try to get rid of the noise/artifacts on dvd playback? Also, is there anything else I can try to improve the sharpness? Would using DVE help?

I'd definitely try another dvd player, as the quality of a dvd should not be anywhere near the distraction level you are experiencing. Heck, I plugged my 20.00 CyberHome player into my ae700 and it looked really nice.

I'd definitely try another dvd player, as the quality of a dvd should not be anywhere near the distraction level you are experiencing. Heck, I plugged my 20.00 CyberHome player into my ae700 and it looked really nice.


I've tried 2 diff dvd players (although they aren't much diff in quality). i will try a better one tonight from Best Buy. Maybe what I'll do is take a screen shot of what I'm seeing and post it and you guys tell me if i'm being neurotic (but aren't we all :)?

First of all, many thanks to all those out there who've already posted tweaks and suggestions. I've read them all, and tried most of them, but I'm still not satisfied, so here I am. I'm a newbie poster to this thread.

I just got my panny last week and had the whole weekend to play with it. On HD material the picture is great, although a little soft. On DVD playback I'm pretty unhappy. I see artifacts along edges (text, faces against background). The artifacts are not too noticeable during closeups, and are worst when shots are zoomed out. I see this even on suberbit DVDs. I'm running component video in prog scan mode on my dvd player (granted, my dvd player might be a pile of crap) and have been told to try a dvd player that will upconvert to 720p before sending the signal out. I had the Infocus 5000 for a couple weeks before, and was pretty happy with the image sharpness.

My question is this: is there anything else I can try to get rid of the noise/artifacts on dvd playback? Also, is there anything else I can try to improve the sharpness? Would using DVE help?

What kind of noise/artifacts are you seeing? Have you tried sending a 480i signal and letting the projector do the deinterlacing?

This is a long shot, but when I first got my 700 the picture was abnormally soft. I eventually found that one of the component cable interconnects was not seated very well. When this was remedied, the sharpness improved dramatically. Although relative to HD it's still soft.

What is your hd source? VGA from my pc is razor sharp.

kengm

These artifacts suggest that they might be SHARPNESS / scaling induced - you might try lowering your sharpness setting and borrowing an upscaling player over HDMI/DVI for a comparison. Cable length/quality would come into play as well, since Component is an Analog transport. Ringing could be introduced.

btw, have you calibrated your setup?

ted

kengm

These artifacts suggest that they might be SHARPNESS / scaling induced - you might try lowering your sharpness setting and borrowing an upscaling player over HDMI/DVI for a comparison. Cable length/quality would come into play as well, since Component is an Analog transport. Ringing could be introduced.

btw, have you calibrated your setup?

ted

The only calibration I've done so far is changing basic color settings as posted by other users here. I've gone into the service menu, but the factory flicker settings looked fine, so I didn't change them. I have turned down sharpness to -1 and that has seemed to help, but I feel like that's more of a band aid fix than addressing the real problem. I do plan on borrowing an upscaling player and making sure my connections are secure in the back. I purposely left them a little loose there because all i have right now is Monster Cable which likes to rip out rca connectors from back panels.

Thanks for the ideas...I'll report on my progress later...

What kind of noise/artifacts are you seeing? Have you tried sending a 480i signal and letting the projector do the deinterlacing?

This is a long shot, but when I first got my 700 the picture was abnormally soft. I eventually found that one of the component cable interconnects was not seated very well. When this was remedied, the sharpness improved dramatically. Although relative to HD it's still soft.

What is your hd source? VGA from my pc is razor sharp.

Probably the best way for me to describe the artifacts I'm seeing is comparing it to when you convert a bitmap to a jpeg in Paint. Around edges you'll get some noisy pixels that weren't there before. On the PJ, it is most noticeable when the camera is panned out...closeups look great. Or, when bringing up the dvd menu you'll see noisy pixels around the edges of text. So, it's something to do with my dvdp...either the connections or the scaling.

My HD source is comcast. It looked razor sharp on the infocus 5000, and softer on the panny...but I suspect that is a characterstic of the panny and not necessarily a defect.

My problem.
persistent slight interference pattern seen on screen when the image is in its sharpest focus.

I bought my 700 AE since April 2005. I have bee pretty happy with it. Total lamp hours in about 80 hrs. My DVD player is Zenith 3?? upconverting DVD player. My screen is 96 horizontal inch HCMW from Dalite. I'm projecting it at about 90 inch horizontally.

My problem has always been since day one, a strange subtle but noticeable, what appears to be some sort of interference patten seen only when I focused the projected image to its sharpest focus regardless of the image size projected - be it mimimally zoomed to maximized beyond my screen size, I would still notice these patterns. Again, it is only seen at its sharpest focus which is frustrating. I would have to intentionally defocus the projected image just a touch to eliminate them - which unfortunately softens the image a little. I'd rather have the sharpest image possible but then I have to tolerate these lines.

They are most visibly , I suspect with any other subtle image irregularities, with large expanse of even colored images on the screen ie, the sky, snowy scenes, or a wall. They are not affected by color of the projected image and they are visible even without DVD's input. Ie, a blanked blue screen from the 700 itself. So I suspect it's coming from the 700 itself.

The pattern is like, having two window screens (the screens that keep insects out of our house) overlying on top of each other at a slightly off set alignment, and the result is this multiple waving patterns. Anther good example would be like the lines drawn on the weather map of a TV forecaster depicting wind directions or pressure gradient. Or on a aviator's map that showing elevation lines.

Furthermore, when I move my pull down Dalite screen to and away from the projector or if the A/C blows on the screen, the pattern changes with the distance it is from the projector -and the screen displacement need only be an inch or two, and these patterns/lines would change reproducibly in their pattern/waviness. In fact, I suspect that the waviness of these lines is probably related to the slight unevenness of my screen's surface as it hangs freely from the ceiling.
These patterns are static, they do not change in shape except when the screen is moved or if I intentionally indent my screen with my hand by either pushing the screen away or towards the projector but when the screen returns to is free hanging position, thes line would resume their original pattern.

Any thoughts as to what is causing this. Does it have anything to do with the smooth screen technology that 700 uses? or has it be mal-adjusted in my unit?? Any idea on how to fix it?

I would be ecstatic if this could be resolve. thank you.

308wl
VB - Verticle banding. Many posts here on that. search "flicker tweak".

kengm
You should not turn up sharpness! Why do people turn up sharpness and then are surprised when they get noise, ringing, etc? If you tell them to turn down sharpness they ignore you.
Sharpness=bad

With cheap DVD players try running the dvd interlaced (480i) into the 700. It's better at deinterlacing than some cheap dvd players.

"You should not turn up sharpness! Why do people turn up sharpness and then are surprised when they get noise, ringing, etc? If you tell them to turn down sharpness they ignore you.
Sharpness=bad"

?? I said that I turned sharpness DOWN--you're preaching to the choir my friend :) I have it set to -1.

thanks, both of you for the rapid reply.

I belive I know what VB looks like and there may be just a little bit of this going on with my projector but this problem is perhaps more like what you folks call it,"ringing."

I am not that picky about all the setting. I don't think I even touched the sharpness adjusment from the box.

But if this works, I would be overy joy. I will try to play with sharpness control and hope it works.

Sorry, the "Reducing image noise/enhancing sharpness?" thing maybe threw me off a bit.
Still, you say the dvd player is poor, you have your cables loose and you are making the serious compromise of a -1 sharpness setting. It seems you have some options to try!

I'd get some non-locking connectors on my next cable - but I bet you already have that idea.

You should not turn up sharpness! Why do people turn up sharpness and then are surprised when they get noise, ringing, etc? If you tell them to turn down sharpness they ignore you.
Sharpness=bad


Should sharpness be turned to down completly for all inputs?

Probably the best way for me to describe the artifacts I'm seeing is comparing it to when you convert a bitmap to a jpeg in Paint. Around edges you'll get some noisy pixels that weren't there before. On the PJ, it is most noticeable when the camera is panned out...closeups look great. Or, when bringing up the dvd menu you'll see noisy pixels around the edges of text. So, it's something to do with my dvdp...either the connections or the scaling.

My HD source is comcast. It looked razor sharp on the infocus 5000, and softer on the panny...but I suspect that is a characterstic of the panny and not necessarily a defect.

Are you talking about this type of thing: http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefactsGibbsEffect.html

Should sharpness be turned to down completly for all inputs?



Are you talking about this type of thing: http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefactsGibbsEffect.html

YES dude! That is it exactly. And I'm not a big fan of it :)

Should sharpness be turned to down completly for all inputs?



Are you talking about this type of thing: http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefactsGibbsEffect.html


I went into the service menu and looked at my convergence using the cross pattern...vertically my red is off about a pixel to the right and horizontally my green is up too high. This manifests itself when you look at the black cross pattern against the grey background and you see a faint green shadow above the horizontal black line.

I switched out to an upscaling dvdp on HDMI inputs and 720p and it didn't seem to make much difference. I'm starting to think I have a convergence issue.

I switched out to an upscaling dvdp on HDMI inputs and 720p and it didn't seem to make much difference. I'm starting to think I have a convergence issue.

Does this occur with HD sources as well as SD? I doubt convergence would cause pixelation errors as pictured in the link provided.

ted

Yeah,
convergence issues may indeed be giving you a problem, but they are not much like the mpeg artifacts pictured.
Sharpness should be set using a calibration dvd or other calibration image. You turn it down until no image artifacts are present.

Does this occur with HD sources as well as SD? I doubt convergence would cause pixelation errors as pictured in the link provided.

ted

On HD it manifests itself more like a slight shadow along edges. I don't know if this is the smooth screen blurring edges together or what. And on HD it mainly bugs me during pan out shots...close ups look good.

Yeah,
convergence issues may indeed be giving you a problem, but they are not much like the mpeg artifacts pictured.
Sharpness should be set using a calibration dvd or other calibration image. You turn it down until no image artifacts are present.

I've turned down sharpness to where there's no more artifacts, but I'm still not quite sold on the picture. Basically it boils down to: closeups look great...no complaints at all...very film like. As soon as it's a panned out shot...things get blurry, which didn't happen on the other 2 LCD projectors i've used.

This may sound blasphemous, but I'm thinking of returning this and getting the Z4 unless someone can convince me that something is horribly wrong w my projector.

A big thanks to all who've replied...I appreciate it.

Um, returning it for a Z4 would get no complaints from me! I think I'll be waiting for next year to replace my ae700, but if I were buying one now? well.......

My problem.
persistent slight interference pattern seen on screen when the image is in its sharpest focus.

.....


The pattern is like, having two window screens (the screens that keep insects out of our house) overlying on top of each other at a slightly off set alignment, and the result is this multiple waving patterns. Anther good example would be like the lines drawn on the weather map of a TV forecaster depicting wind directions or pressure gradient. Or on a aviator's map that showing elevation lines.

Furthermore, when I move my pull down Dalite screen to and away from the projector or if the A/C blows on the screen, the pattern changes with the distance it is from the projector -and the screen displacement need only be an inch or two, and these patterns/lines would change reproducibly in their pattern/waviness. In fact, I suspect that the waviness of these lines is probably related to the slight unevenness of my screen's surface as it hangs freely from the ceiling.
These patterns are static, they do not change in shape except when the screen is moved or if I intentionally indent my screen with my hand by either pushing the screen away or towards the projector but when the screen returns to is free hanging position, thes line would resume their original pattern.

Any thoughts as to what is causing this. Does it have anything to do with the smooth screen technology that 700 uses? or has it be mal-adjusted in my unit?? Any idea on how to fix it?

I would be ecstatic if this could be resolve. thank you.

I know this is a few days ago. This might not produce anything new, but have you tried projecting on a wall or other surface to see if you have the same pattern. I seem to remember having read about somebody having a what sounds like a similar problem with the actual screen.

I know this is a few days ago. This might not produce anything new, but have you tried projecting on a wall or other surface to see if you have the same pattern. I seem to remember having read about somebody having a what sounds like a similar problem with the actual screen.

This is a similar situation I experienced. What I thought was screen door effects or pixels was actually the screen texture I was seeing. I increased the screen distance by 2 feet from my seated area and the artifacts disappeared.

I have had this projector almost 1 year and have been very pleased with it.

I got the AE 700U about 2 months ago and am liking it very much. I do seem to have some problems getting the picture brightness/contrast just right. I'm using the Avia CD but I don't care for the CD when it comes to performing the calibrations because the picture is always too dark after following the calibrations. I'm wondering if there is a better utiltiy for perfoming the adjustments that is more geared towards this type of projector. Also, I have the projector about 17ft from the screen, and I'm wondering if there is anything to be gained or lossed by moving the projector closer to the screen. Any help is appreciated!

Regards,
Derek

I got the AE 700U about 2 months ago and am liking it very much. I do seem to have some problems getting the picture brightness/contrast just right. I'm using the Avia CD but I don't care for the CD when it comes to performing the calibrations because the picture is always too dark after following the calibrations. I'm wondering if there is a better utiltiy for perfoming the adjustments that is more geared towards this type of projector. Also, I have the projector about 17ft from the screen, and I'm wondering if there is anything to be gained or lossed by moving the projector closer to the screen. Any help is appreciated!

Regards,
Derek

Derek,
For a given screen size the lumens should be the same regardless of what your throw distance is - though there are some issues with the 700's lens having a different F-stop depending on where in the range you are located - but I doubt that would have that much an impact.

What mode have you been trying to calibrate?
Is the unit of satisfactory brightness in *any* of the modes?
What is your room like as far as light control and ambience?

I use DVE as well as AVIA but either should be capable of doing what you wish.
Are you calibrating with respect to whiter than white and blacker than black? If WtW and BtB are strange to you may I suggest you take a look at this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=494606). It is highly informative regarding basic display calibration.

ted

Thanks Robert, you are correct.

In fact, that night after I posted my query here, I decided to see if my problem would resolve if I projected my image onto a large white sheet of card board at the same distance as the screen, and also having retracted my screen and have the image projected onto my living room wall 4 feet further than the screen - I had to refocus for this.

In both cases, the interference pattern disappeared completely.
I am most happy, at least I know now it is not the projector at fault.

I appears that my Dalite HCMW screen's texture (very small grit-like pattern) interacts with the 700's minimally visible pixels and produced these annoying visible lines. Must have something to do with light physics, the "troughs and peaks" (wave form cancellations and re-inforcement) when given the right situation.

So for me, it was unfortunate that I mounted my screen at the perfect distance to produce this interference pattern between the two

I resolved my problem by minimizing my projected image by < 5% and this pattern disappeared entirely. So now I can watch my movies in perfect focus.

I am very pleased. Now if only I can only have a reasonably priced HD-DVD or blue ray player to go with my projector. . .

I'm going to be doing a demo for my friends who are on the fence about the ae-700 pj. Is it the 700 or 900 and is the extra money worth it on the 900? They are current owners of other pjs so they know a thing or two about pjs.
They have heard so much about this PJ I want to put on a good show for them. This thread is large and I know you guys have come up with the best fixes.
I'm looking for true "tweaks and tips" for this PJ. I must admit, I have not owned this pj for very long and I'm trying find those last little hidden/unknown tweaks. If you know somthing is better left untouch that is fine too, but if you know of some neat setups that really make this pj shine that is really what I'm looking for. Maybe you know an area on this forum that somebody has already put together a list of "todos" an d not to do for this pj.

You can of course pm me with your results, but then maybe somebody else might want this list too. Your choice.

Thanks for your advice, tips, tweaks, and general honest commentary.

G

I'm looking for true "tweaks and tips" for this PJ. I must admit, I have not owned this pj for very long and I'm trying find those last little hidden/unknown tweaks.

It's not as helpful as you'd like but go back to the early pages of this site (first 20 or so) and you'll find what you need...more than enough in fact. I don't know if anyone has the strength to post their settings any more.

On a different tack, if you had a tv/dvd player that had a noise reduction tweak you'd immediately turn it off or put it as low as possible (like sharpness). Why was it/is it recommended to have NR turned on on the AE700? Does it in no what diminish PQ?

Dave

This site's gone quiet! Does anybody still own this pj or have you all given up tweaking and now just dream of the ae1100?

Dave

maybe everyones bulbs have all blown out at the same time :)

and lord knows you cant buy any (and havent been able to for about a month :) !!

This site's gone quiet! Does anybody still own this pj or have you all given up tweaking and now just dream of the ae1100?

Dave

Happens every year at this time.
This thread is a year old - not a lot to add. Out with the old, in with the new. The new 900 owners will feel this way next year - cast aside, forlorn, passed by for a new, pretty face.

ted

I think we're all just watching movies. I for one don't obsess about new projectors. If you're happy when you watched it a year ago, it doesn't look any worse this year (bar bulb blowing!).

I think we're all just watching movies. I for one don't obsess about new projectors. If you're happy when you watched it a year ago, it doesn't look any worse this year (bar bulb blowing!).

You're right, of course. I guess a quiet tweak thread means happy (or at least contented) bunch of owners who now know the joys/limits of their equipment. I know I'm one.

Dave

I, for one am happy and contented and watching movies and HD.
At some point I expect I'll be posting my "coat hanger bulb fix" tweak.

I have read and read and read about tweaking, the only tweaking I have done to date has been in the flicker adjust menu and turning the sharpness level to -1 in all viewing fields.

I work in the entertainment industry here in Los Angeles and am obsessed with "getting it right".

I have owned my projector for nearly five months now and watched TONS of content.

I am running my system with a Panasonic S77s and a Dish JVC 811 HD receiver. UI have two screens, one 2.35 from Carada and a 16 X 9 manual pull down for HD/16X9 film content. I have a Mac Mini running into my PJ hooking me online using bluetooth wireless so I can surf the web anywhere in my theater.

As far as the tweaking madness I used to get caught up...No more. The bottom line..

It is really really really the content.

Some recent DVD releases absolutely confirm this. Seems hollywood is getting better at the compression business before they ramp up to blue ray.

Recent DVD's that LOOK AMAZING..... Star Wars SITH, WOW, PERRRRFECT, definetly nearly the BEST DVD quality yet. The New Titanic Transfer is pretty good, def an improvement over the first issue, Kingdom of Heaven - Excellent transfer, Das Boot - Superbit DVD, My Own Private Idaho on Criterion - Perfect...Now the CRASH transfer sucks as does NOT look good on this projector. Batman Begins Looked very good. But SITH rules, still a wow to digital film.

As a rule, use Criterion DVD's as a color guide as they are mastered the BEST.

Bottom line, choose your content carefully, DVD disc's loaded with tons of extras have bad transfers

One thing about the AVIA DVD calibrator. It is so old, and at a low res transfer, looks bad on the screen, I cannot believe anyone could accurately adjust sharpness etc using a blurred image being fed into a 720p projector. Makes no sense. My next step is to hire a theater calibrator pro to come over and do it right. Talk about a waste of time in going back and forth. Comments, suggestions, PM please.

Color.
My pj has great color and yes I enjoy a great picture no matter if my picture is 85 inches or 110. Those of you that own the panny 700 know what I'm talking about.


Cable type:
I'm currently only using component cable.
I want to try HDMI to see if there is a difference. I've read on this thread that some say yes it improves and others say not that much compared to component.

VB
VB is slight and not really enough to bother me. I've been very honest with my views on this on. Others point out this is/is not a problem. For me, I see it very slightly, but then it goes away quickly.

Sharpness
It isn't as sharp as I would like, but is still good.

Slight Blur- Question for panny700 owners.

I'm not sure if any of you have experienced this before, but my pj appears to have a very slight blur during movement or when camera angle moves. Have any of you experienced this? I really see it when watching sports.

Is it a good PJ? Yes. Is it perfect. No, but then again is there a perfect pj? I think Projector Central did a good job on their opinion. Now you have my 2 cents.

Thanks
Gman

Color.


Slight Blur- Question for panny700 owners.

I'm not sure if any of you have experienced this before, but my pj appears to have a very slight blur during movement or when camera angle moves. Have any of you experienced this? I really see it when watching sports.

Thanks
Gman


This is pretty typical: it's probably a limitation of the technology.

Dave

This is pretty typical: it's probably a limitation of the technology.

Dave


Dave,

Is this something you have experienced or are you giving opinion?

Thanks
Greg

Color.


Slight Blur- Question for panny700 owners.

I'm not sure if any of you have experienced this before, but my pj appears to have a very slight blur during movement or when camera angle moves. Have any of you experienced this? I really see it when watching sports.

Gman

720p or 1080i ? Component as well?
1080i *should* give better temporal resolution but at the expense of interlace artifacts.

Panel rise time on LCD's is not as fast as DLP, LCOS, or CRT which might be a factor.

ted

720p or 1080i ? Component as well?
1080i *should* give better temporal resolution but at the expense of interlace artifacts.

Panel rise time on LCD's is not as fast as DLP, LCOS, or CRT which might be a factor.

ted


My previous pj was the infocus 4805. This may surprise you, but if I would have know about these defects I would have stayed with the infocus. Despite the loss in resolution.

I find 720p much better. Comparing the 1080i football game and 720p football I can say for me I think 720p is much better. This blurring affect is driving me crazy. Haven't done and pc testing yet. I've tried several component cables. Same result. I've run the feed through my STB and my Home Theater receiver. No difference.

Greg

My previous pj was the infocus 4805. This may surprise you, but if I would have know about these defects I would have stayed with the infocus. Despite the loss in resolution.

Greg

Doesn't surprise me actually - you are not getting what you paid for. Wish I could see the issue. Have you contacted your dealer or Panasonic?

best of luck anyway, sorry I wasn't better help
ted

Dave,

Is this something you have experienced or are you giving opinion?

Thanks
Greg

It's something I've always experienced on the AE700, though I've only played DVDs on it. A blurring in some fast moving scenes or mid paced pans, especially in backgrounds. It's probably not just a limitation of the pj but of SD DVD in general--but it has never added up to much and is well within my tolerance/expectations for this fairly new technology/low price kit. I love it. There have been any number of people who have reported great results with sports on the earlier pages of this thread--though they may have been HD receivers.

An afterthought: have you tried the ae700 and what ever other kit your are using with things like noise reduction off and the absolute miniumum of any kind of so-called picture enhancing tricks? These can all add to blurring.

Dave

It's something I've always experienced on the AE700, though I've only played DVDs on it. A blurring in some fast moving scenes or mid paced pans, especially in backgrounds. It's probably not just a limitation of the pj but of SD DVD in general--but it has never added up to much and is well within my tolerance/expectations for this fairly new technology/low price kit. I love it. There have been any number of people who have reported great results with sports on the earlier pages of this thread--though they may have been HD receivers.

An afterthought: have you tried the ae700 and what ever other kit your are using with things like noise reduction off and the absolute miniumum of any kind of so-called picture enhancing tricks? These can all add to blurring.

Dave


I started out with the factory default settings and noticed it right away. I mostly watch only hd content and prefer 720p for best results. My tolerance level is low for blurs and the opposite for VB. I have vb, but it is not a huge issue for me. 720p sports do look great, but still have a blur. I just never had this on the lower prieced 4805. I may try the Optoma H31 if I can't get it resolved. I know this is going down in res, but blur.... Maybe a different 700 would do the trick.

I mostly watch only hd content and prefer 720p for best results. My tolerance level is low for blurs and the opposite for VB. I have vb, but it is not a huge issue for me. 720p sports do look great, but still have a blur. I just never had this on the lower prieced 4805. I may try the Optoma H31 if I can't get it resolved. I know this is going down in res, but blur.... Maybe a different 700 would do the trick.

So you do you notice this on DVD's? I was assuming you did. Since you say you mostly watch HD - back to what I was hinting at earlier. Is this film source as well as Video source this is happening on? Sports would be Video source. Perhaps what you are seeing are scaler issues. Are you familiar with scaler and deinterlacing artifacts?

Is that HD sports source indeed 720p or has it been scaled from SD or 1080i?
Was I mistaken in assuming this is from more than one source (not transport) say upscaling DVD, set top box or HTPC?

ted

So you do you notice this on DVD's? I was assuming you did. Since you say you mostly watch HD - back to what I was hinting at earlier. Is this film source as well as Video source this is happening on? Sports would be Video source. Perhaps what you are seeing are scaler issues. Are you familiar with scaler and deinterlacing artifacts?

Is that HD sports source indeed 720p or has it been scaled from SD or 1080i?
Was I mistaken in assuming this is from more than one source (not transport) say upscaling DVD, set top box or HTPC?

ted

Ted,

Here is what I know. I notice it on DVD's and HD. It happens on Sports and Movies. At this point, it is happening on all my sources. My 720p is true 720p and 108I is real 1080i. I do not have any upscaling DVD players, STB, or HTPC's. I'm concluding it is the PJ. A co-worker bought the same pj the same day and he does not notice the Blur.

Btw, are you familair with the "hidden menus"? How do I access them? How do I determine my firmware? I hear the latest firmware reduces VB. This may solve my problem.

Thanks for the questions and your all your help. I certainly want to ensure I'm giving all the facts. I realize "others" are reading these threads and they may be making decisions based on my responses.

Greg

Ted,

Here is what I know. I notice it on DVD's and HD. It happens on Sports and Movies. At this point, it is happening on all my sources. My 720p is true 720p and 108I is real 1080i. I do not have any upscaling DVD players, STB, or HTPC's. I'm concluding it is the PJ. A co-worker bought the same pj the same day and he does not notice the Blur.

Reading this, I sense there has been some confusion in the terms I've been using so if the following sounds pedantic, I sincerely apologize and take it with a huge dose of whatever makes you smile.

When I refer to "sources" I'm speaking of individual devices that would be connected to your PJ, not the "transport" or method by which they are connected. So in your case, I'm assuming that you've two "sources" - one a cable box (STB) tuner which provides your HD. You've stated the "transport" for this is Component. Your other source would be the DVD player. The 700 only has 1 set of Component connectors so what connections (transport) are you using for this? Swapping cables or a switcher? YPbPr is low tech enough in my book but frankly anything less than Component is not worth concerning yourself with. So the question is this a source issue or a PJ issue and here you have said that you see it on your HD sources as well as DVD sources, but is it the same? Is your cable box giving you the same artifact as DVD player? Again they would have to be the same transport (connection method) for a fair comparison and even then not entirely accurate because one is SD and the other HD. Does your HD box have DVI output that you could at least try that? Can you take your PJ to your friends house and try it there with his HD source? Can your computer be used for motion playback. If so hook it up and try that. For me the simplest method would be to solicit your friends help - an afternoon with beer and the boys.

I'm out on a speculative limb here, but unless you are particularly sensitive to the slower response time that LCD's have, it is a scaler issue in which case it could be your cable box just as easily as the 700. There have be messages relating to issues from certain STBs.

Btw, are you familair with the "hidden menus"? How do I access them? How do I determine my firmware? I hear the latest firmware reduces VB. This may solve my problem.

Select OPTION from the main menu. This will provide the second level menu which has OSD, CINEMA REALITY, etc. Select OSD and hold ENTER until the service menu appears. Here you will find FLICKER ADJUST which can be used to minimize VB. I can't remember which selection provides firmware - try SERVICE CHECK - I think that's what its called. I'll turn my unit on later and confirm, though others might confirm. I apologise if the menu choices in the service menu are not literal (burnt holes in my memory years ago) but you will get the idea.

The idea that VB is alleviated with the firmware upgrade is a 700 urban myth. I don't understand how VB and motion blur could be related but might be worth a try.

Did you buy this new?
BTW - Change the CINEMA REALITY and NR settings. CINEMA REALITY has to do with deinterlacing of film material and though it should not be involved with VIDEO material, see if it has an effect anyway - though the menu might not allow for a choice so don't sweat it.

Thanks for the questions and your all your help. I certainly want to ensure I'm giving all the facts. I realize "others" are reading these threads and they may be making decisions based on my responses.

Greg

You're welcome - I just wish they weren't for nought and that you could avoid all this frustration. Solicit your friends help and do a comparison. You might just be particularly sensitive to LCD response time or your 700 may indeed need slapping upside the head. Again though, don't discount the cable box.

ted

Reading this, I sense there has been some confusion in the terms I've been using so if the following sounds pedantic, I sincerely apologize and take it with a huge dose of whatever makes you smile.


Not a problem what so ever. I know you are sincerely offering your help and not trying to be a "know it all". I appreciate you being extremely thorough with your responses and not being quick with your answers. Off the cuff answers do not help me or you not to mention the other readers. Keep the pedantic keeping! You seem like the kind of person that likes to "get it right" and honest too. These are highly valuable qualities that are hard to find in this forum.



So the question is this a source issue or a PJ issue and here you have said that you see it on your HD sources as well as DVD sources, but is it the same? Is your cable box giving you the same artifact as DVD player? Again they would have to be the same transport (connection method) for a fair comparison and even then not entirely accurate because one is SD and the other HD. Does your HD box have DVI output that you could at least try that?


Technically I'm sending my STB cable and DVD player outputs to my Home Theater Rec. Then I take the output from the Rec and send the signal to my PJ. I have connected the dvd and STB directly to the PJ bypassing the Home Theat Rec to determine if it is my REc. Same results.
Yes you are correct that the panny 700 only has one component input. With the REC I can just press a button on my Remote to choose if I want cable viewed on the pj or DVD.

I'm out on a speculative limb here, but unless you are particularly sensitive to the slower response time that LCD's have, it is a scaler issue in which case it could be your cable box just as easily as the 700. There have be messages relating to issues from certain STBs.


I'm a little sensitive to changes in clarity especially when it changes constantly. I think you are correct in your assessment that I should view my friends pj before I make any final decision.

Thanks by the way for the "hidden menus" info. I called Panasonic to inquire about my issues and basically they concluded that I should get a replacement. The tech would not even discuss guiding me through the hidden menus to see my firmware version num. He said it would void my warranty.

Thanks
Greg

Reading this, I sense there has been some confusion in the terms I've been using so if the following sounds pedantic, I sincerely apologize and take it with a huge dose of whatever makes you smile.

When I refer to "sources" I'm speaking of individual devices that would be connected to your PJ, not the "transport" or method by which they are connected. So in your case, I'm assuming that you've two "sources" - one a cable box (STB) tuner which provides your HD. You've stated the "transport" for this is Component. Your other source would be the DVD player. The 700 only has 1 set of Component connectors so what connections (transport) are you using for this? Swapping cables or a switcher? YPbPr is low tech enough in my book but frankly anything less than Component is not worth concerning yourself with. So the question is this a source issue or a PJ issue and here you have said that you see it on your HD sources as well as DVD sources, but is it the same? Is your cable box giving you the same artifact as DVD player? Again they would have to be the same transport (connection method) for a fair comparison and even then not entirely accurate because one is SD and the other HD. Does your HD box have DVI output that you could at least try that? Can you take your PJ to your friends house and try it there with his HD source? Can your computer be used for motion playback. If so hook it up and try that. For me the simplest method would be to solicit your friends help - an afternoon with beer and the boys.

I'm out on a speculative limb here, but unless you are particularly sensitive to the slower response time that LCD's have, it is a scaler issue in which case it could be your cable box just as easily as the 700. There have be messages relating to issues from certain STBs.



Select OPTION from the main menu. This will provide the second level menu which has OSD, CINEMA REALITY, etc. Select OSD and hold ENTER until the service menu appears. Here you will find FLICKER ADJUST which can be used to minimize VB. I can't remember which selection provides firmware - try SERVICE CHECK - I think that's what its called. I'll turn my unit on later and confirm, though others might confirm. I apologise if the menu choices in the service menu are not literal (burnt holes in my memory years ago) but you will get the idea.

The idea that VB is alleviated with the firmware upgrade is a 700 urban myth. I don't understand how VB and motion blur could be related but might be worth a try.

Did you buy this new?
BTW - Change the CINEMA REALITY and NR settings. CINEMA REALITY has to do with deinterlacing of film material and though it should not be involved with VIDEO material, see if it has an effect anyway - though the menu might not allow for a choice so don't sweat it.



You're welcome - I just wish they weren't for nought and that you could avoid all this frustration. Solicit your friends help and do a comparison. You might just be particularly sensitive to LCD response time or your 700 may indeed need slapping upside the head. Again though, don't discount the cable box.

ted

I also posted this on the AE700 consolidated thread...I have had my AE700 for about a week or so, suddenly the aspect ratio button on the remote doesn't work, which includes the zoom function. Maybe I dissengaged it somehow by accident?

Pedro. Are you using the hdmi input? I can't use those functions when using that input.

ahhh, now I feel dumb! Thanks--that must be it. P

Hey all, I'm on about 800 hours with my ae700, and I too suffer from the "background blurs", but I believe that it is more dvd transfer than hardware.

After 9 months, I have some questions on a couple of issues:

1. What is acceptable "misalignment" in the 3 colors, say, in terms of pixel lines off?
I haven't stood close and counted the lines, but they are visible from a distance, if I look for them.


2. Has anyone experienced HDMI signal dropouts, that they attribute to the ae700?
I originally setup to use HDMI (from panny S97) and would lose signal (randomly) that went to white noise and would not re-synch. I thought it was a HDMI switch, but still did it connected straight to S97. I now use componant, which is fine, but am disappointed in not being able to use HDMI.

3. Has any "cracked the code" on the service menu options? What do they do? should I tweak them? (namely SD Level? and the HDCP settings)



Thanks,
Scott

I'm running the ae700 with an oppo DV971h, DVI-HDMI. When I play a PAL disc, upscaled to 720p, at supposedly 2:2 cadence (the oppo has a setting for this) the AE700 still reads 750/60p, i.e., not the 750/50p I would expect. Anyone seen anything like this or know why it might be happening?

Dave

bump

I owned AE700 for few months and I have been quite happy. I have been using the component video output and happily watching DVDs (Hindi and English). Recently, I bought Samsung HD upconverter (with DVD) and connected it up using HDMI cables -- HDMI output of the DVD to the HDMI input on the projector. I did not do any other setup on the projector. On the DVD side, I set chose the resolution to be 720P. I see a blue screen with occasional disturbance. Then I went back to the factory set defaults on the DVD upconverter (which is 480P). Now, I can see the low quality (resolution) hindi movies but I still cannot watch my favorite "Return of the King (Lord of the Rings 3)".

Clearly my connections are correct because I can see the DVD menu screen and see low resolution movies but I cannot watch movies like Lord of the Rings and Starwars.

Any advice? Help! I would love to watch my favorite movies in HD

BTW, this is my first posting. I read the posting but sometime I find them too advanced for me :(

I owned AE700 for few months and I have been quite happy. I have been using the component video output and happily watching DVDs (Hindi and English). Recently, I bought Samsung HD upconverter (with DVD) and connected it up using HDMI cables -- HDMI output of the DVD to the HDMI input on the projector. I did not do any other setup on the projector. On the DVD side, I set chose the resolution to be 720P. I see a blue screen with occasional disturbance. Then I went back to the factory set defaults on the DVD upconverter (which is 480P). Now, I can see the low quality (resolution) hindi movies but I still cannot watch my favorite "Return of the King (Lord of the Rings 3)".

Clearly my connections are correct because I can see the DVD menu screen and see low resolution movies but I cannot watch movies like Lord of the Rings and Starwars.

Any advice? Help! I would love to watch my favorite movies in HD

BTW, this is my first posting. I read the posting but sometime I find them too advanced for me :(


First things first, upscaling improves SD but it does not give you HD. It may improve the scaling in the AE700 but it can't add data. As to your problem, it's a bit baffling. I'd put the question on the relevant samsung thread on the Standard Definition DVD thread on this site (here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=30&f=18). Someone with the same set up might be able to help you.

Dave

Im finally thinkING about getting the B&W 81ef filter.

Does adding the filter make the white colours slightly duller as its a warming filter (like setting the projector temp lower) as i currently have mine on cinema 2 settings and love the vibrant whites..

i have a 81c which i believe is just a level higher (or lower ???) than the 81ef (81c is not quite as dark) its what ckl was using when cal. the ae900 he had on loan. anyway i like it alot (course my bulb is new) it may make the whites duller when the bulb starts to dimm but for now its great i think, so the 81ef is prob just as good. jeff

finally got my B+W 81EF MRC filter. Got my sony 92v dvd player connected via hdmi to my Panasonic AE700 projector.

First i tried Brad B's settings. Too much green and a little to 'warm for my liking, but the whites were white and great contrast.

Then i triend gnom4's setting. I almost fell over. The pic now looks natural and with so much depth. Its a slightly 'colder pic' like increasing the colour temp, but i love it. still a little mor etweaking, but my pic looks almost as good as his, just a little less sharp.

Very Happy.

Now wheres my HD-dvd player.....

just wondering, but some of you said you should do the flicker tweak with a white (100 IRE) test pattern and some said that you should do it with a moving picture....has there been an agreement of where it is best to do it on in the past 80 pages? I'm only wondering because when I tweaked the red on a white test pattern, there was no flickering, but when I went and looked a moving picture, there was some...the other two were fine.

dazbug
Very Happy.
Now wheres my HD-dvd player.....
This is fun isn't it?
lax01
You have to be in the ae700 menu to do the tweak, so a moving picture is not an option.

lax01
You have to be in the ae700 menu to do the tweak, so a moving picture is not an option.

:D

and yes it is fun - just ask my family.
ted

dazbug

This is fun isn't it?
lax01
You have to be in the ae700 menu to do the tweak, so a moving picture is not an option.

not with the AE900 ;)

it displays the color ontop of whatever you're watching...at least for the flicker adj

phwoo phwooo get the dust off this thread.

So I've noticed a recent problem with my AE700...... It's blinking. I have it hooked up to a DVR from Insight cable. When I'm watching it live or something that has been recorded it'll blink randomly. Sometimes once every 5 min. or longer or closer together. I think it might be the iris closing completely for 1/10th a second....not sure the exact time but it's just a slight bit longer than the human eye blinking. And just to make sure it's not the dvr I rewind and play it back it and then it doesn't do it. I just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this "blinking"

I have SciAtlanta DVR HD Box and I have not noticed this on my ae700

Has anyone noticed a yellow and magenta tint to the overall picture of the 700u? In every scene yellows are way over exaggerated and skin tones look magenta. Anything pink is overexaggerated as well. In the advanced menu there are tweaks for RGB but none for CYM. Anyone know of a good way to correct this?

Has anyone noticed a yellow and magenta tint to the overall picture of the 700u? In every scene yellows are way over exaggerated and skin tones look magenta. Anything pink is overexaggerated as well. In the advanced menu there are tweaks for RGB but none for CYM. Anyone know of a good way to correct this?

What are your current settings and what are you putting into it?

Dave

What are your current settings and what are you putting into it?

Dave

Right now I'm running a Panasonic RP-91 dvd player via component to the projector along with PS2. I notice the casting on both sources. Currently my settings are:

NORMAL
Contrast -2
Brightness +4
Color -9
Tint +2
Sharpness -2
Color Temp 0 (Tried with -1 as well)
Lamp - Low
Cinema Reality and NR - ON

I've left the advanced menu screen alone for the time being as it seems to make the pink and yellow hue problems worse. I've also tried using color managment on trouble areas but it seems to be too fine of an adjustment. I've read up on what CYM is and it seems M is an absence of Green, but when I add green, the yellow problems get worse etc. Could the problem be related to a colorspace disagreement? I've tried the dvd player with progressive scan turned on and off and the same for the PS2 to no avail. Anyone else have this sort of issue?

Right now I'm running a Panasonic RP-91 dvd player via component to the projector along with PS2. I notice the casting on both sources. Currently my settings are:

NORMAL
Contrast -2
Brightness +4
Color -9
Tint +2
Sharpness -2
Color Temp 0 (Tried with -1 as well)
Lamp - Low
Cinema Reality and NR - ON

I've left the advanced menu screen alone for the time being as it seems to make the pink and yellow hue problems worse. I've also tried using color managment on trouble areas but it seems to be too fine of an adjustment. I've read up on what CYM is and it seems M is an absence of Green, but when I add green, the yellow problems get worse etc. Could the problem be related to a colorspace disagreement? I've tried the dvd player with progressive scan turned on and off and the same for the PS2 to no avail. Anyone else have this sort of issue?

I've always found that normal was a bit off colour wise. When I first got the ae700 it was too yellow and too pink, as many reviews had observed. Now I've had it a while, and calibrated it (I actually took some green out on the advanced menu to lower the yellow...seemed to work) I'm either used to it, or it's no longer a problem.

My set up: ae700, DVI-HDMI, oppo 971h.
Cinema 2 (still best for movies)
Con +6
Bri +1
col 0
tint 0
sharp -4
temp 0

Advanced menu
Con G -3
Bri G -3

Looking at your settings, contrast and colour seem low and sharpness high (IMO). Still, recalibrate to cinema 2 and see if it helps any. What calibration disc are you using? The above was done on Avia.

Dave

Need some help!

I have had my 700 since March of last year, and just went through my first HD football season.

On DVD's the colors are great. I have used DVE for basic calibration.

On OTA HD football, I have flaming NEON yellow everything, goalposts, sideline jackets, etc.. they glow! Even in last weeks Denver v. Pitt game, the Pitt uniforms were glowing yellow and not gold.

Any ideas about how to adjust the settings to tone down the flourescent yellows?

thanks for any advice.
Scott

I thought i had a good lamp but at barely 1300 hours its now dimmed to such a degree as to be unwatchable and the red light flicked on today and the projector switched down.... a sign that the bulb needs changing....... barely 6 months worth of use and way below the manufacturers supposed 3000+ hours bulb usage ( i always had low lamp on and high fan and never played the system for more than 6 hours at a time - mostly 4 hours )

Bulbs are so expensive too...... gotta say the manufacturers need to make these bulbs last longer...... i can't afford to replace every 6 months or less..... not economical to do so and i'm annoyed that the stated bulb life was nowhere near reached and now i buy a new bulb and the same thing could happen again.

I thought i had a good lamp but at barely 1300 hours its now dimmed to such a degree as to be unwatchable and the red light flicked on today and the projector switched down.... a sign that the bulb needs changing....... barely 6 months worth of use and way below the manufacturers supposed 3000+ hours bulb usage ( i always had low lamp on and high fan and never played the system for more than 6 hours at a time - mostly 4 hours )

Bulbs are so expensive too...... gotta say the manufacturers need to make these bulbs last longer...... i can't afford to replace every 6 months or less..... not economical to do so and i'm annoyed that the stated bulb life was nowhere near reached and now i buy a new bulb and the same thing could happen again.
There is so much stuff on this thread and others about premature bulb failure. You should be dancing a jig if you got it past 1000hrs. And if you've been using the thing for 7 hours a day (1300hrs in 6 months--I thought getting to 500hrs in 5 months was going some) then you can hardly say you've not had your money's worth. It ain't a TV, and I'm sure you went into this with your eyes open having researched bulb life and realized that 1000-1500 is good going with this lamp and 500hrs is quite a common fail time. You'll be lucky if your next bulb lasts that long.

Dave

I thought i had a good lamp but at barely 1300 hours its now dimmed to such a degree as to be unwatchable and the red light flicked on today and the projector switched down.... a sign that the bulb needs changing....... barely 6 months worth of use and way below the manufacturers supposed 3000+ hours bulb usage ( i always had low lamp on and high fan and never played the system for more than 6 hours at a time - mostly 4 hours )

Bulbs are so expensive too...... gotta say the manufacturers need to make these bulbs last longer...... i can't afford to replace every 6 months or less..... not economical to do so and i'm annoyed that the stated bulb life was nowhere near reached and now i buy a new bulb and the same thing could happen again.

I feel your pain. It is disappointing when your bulb goes out prematurely, but you did get almost triple what many of us got out of our first bulb. It is expensive but I am hopeful that the premature bulb failure problem was isolated to the factory bulbs included with the pjs.

Good luck,

Stace

There is so much stuff on this thread and others about premature bulb failure. You should be dancing a jig if you got it past 1000hrs. And if you've been using the thing for 7 hours a day (1300hrs in 6 months--I thought getting to 500hrs in 5 months was going some) then you can hardly say you've not had your money's worth. It ain't a TV, and I'm sure you went into this with your eyes open having researched bulb life and realized that 1000-1500 is good going with this lamp and 500hrs is quite a common fail time. You'll be lucky if your next bulb lasts that long.

Dave

Unfortunately, by the time all this 'stuff' on premature bulb failure came out many of us had already purchased the projector. At the time, all we had to go on was the 2000 to 3000 hr average lamp life. So while some may think that people should dance a jig if they get 1300 hours, I think we ought to be demanding that Panny either change their stated bulb life figures, or replace lamps that fall far short of those numbers. If the majority of people can't even get1/3 to 1/4 the stated average lamp life, then it seems to be false advertising to me. If the majority of people are getting the stated 2000 + hrs, then an occassional 500 hr failure is to be expected. Perhaps we are just not hearing from those that are reaching those sort of hours.

Unfortunately, by the time all this 'stuff' on premature bulb failure came out many of us had already purchased the projector. At the time, all we had to go on was the 2000 to 3000 hr average lamp life. So while some may think that people should dance a jig if they get 1300 hours, I think we ought to be demanding that Panny either change their stated bulb life figures, or replace lamps that fall far short of those numbers. If the majority of people can't even get1/3 to 1/4 the stated average lamp life, then it seems to be false advertising to me. If the majority of people are gsetting the stated 2000 + hrs, then an occassional 500 hr failure is to be expected. Perhaps we are just not hearing from those that are reaching those sort of hours.

My heart tell me you are right. My head (thinks it) remembers that in June/July, when I was researching pjs, the ae700 bulb life was very well known--if yours is 6 months old and you were using this thread I reckon the info was there. I certainly bought in hope that I'd get 1500hrs and immediately set up a replacement fund (£10 for every 50hrs).

However, you are completely right, the initial information put out by panasonic was massively--maybe even actionably--inflated. They probably should have specified 1500hrs as a best guess not 3000.

Also, as you sensibly imply, the sample on this site is skewed to those whose bulbs have failed. Those who had enough time to get past 3000 hours in the 18 months this pj has been out must be few are far between. (and they're probably to busy jigging to post).

Dave

I'll add my two cents worth (and hopefully save some cents) without reading all of the many posts on this specific thread. And, hopefully I'm not violating any posting protocols. Projector Central has several posts of lamp failures for the AE700U. I've read similar posts from our Aussie friends. However, our Aussie friends cited an outlet for AE700U lamps, including for the U.S. The vendor is located in Japan -- today's quote (after Yen conversion) for an AE700U replacement lamp was $276 (U.S. shipping and insurance included).
Other websites recommend an uninteruptible power supply since surges and spikes can wreak havoc on lamp life, let alone instant failure. I recently purchased the highly rated APC Smart-UPS 750VA; it will buy several minutes of run time in case of a power outage and it also offers surge protection and filtering/power conditioning. I use it strictly for the AE700U. I picked up a new one on eBay for about $125 (shipping included) (a great deal because of nominal damaged packaging). It works perfectly.
In other words, I've done everything but hang chicken bones and/or rabbits feet over my AE700U. After 304 hours to date, the lamp is still fine and the images are still awesome.
Lastly, hopefully it's the lamp itself and not the projector circuitry that's causing premature lamp failures. If so, let's hope that the newer lamps have been modified in design and/or the manufacturing process.

When i get my new bulb i'm going to just use the projector for movies and limit it to probably fifteen hours maximum a week. Before i install i plan on opening the projector up and cleaning the insides as i know some dust will be in there as i saw it on the red panel for the last 6 weeks when viewing it...... I wonder if dust build up inside the projector can lead to premature bulb failure.......... I just wish we could all get a proper discount when lamps fail as we are showing commitment to Panasonic by buying their projectors so maybe they could give us a large discount for the bulb if it fails within 6 months or under 2000 hours...... They were selling this bulb for £99 4 months ago on a UK site ( $170 ) I didn't know about it but apparently people were snapping them up like hot cakes ...... how i wish id bought a few back then.

I don't expect full bulb life when i buy my new one but i would like at least 2000 hours on low lamp mode and preferably 2500 since the manual states 3000 hours expected lamp life on high lamp mode ...... as to bulb life it doesn't really seem to make a difference the high and low modes so when i get a new one i might well just stick it on high mode ( not that the difference was huge since i have zero light getting into the room )

I had turned mine off and on about 580 times and i think thats contributed to the lamp failure...... I have learned my lesson though and will probably limit switch on and off to once a day maximum ( I used to switch on and off upto 3 times a day but would always give an hours cool down before switching on again )

I hope these new LED projectors they're working on get better within the next few years as it could save us all a fortune on bulbs.

I notice in the secret menu the temperature controls are 189 and 190ish ( don't think they have ever been that before when just switching the projector on although i could be wrong ) Lamp OK is highlighted in red so obviously there is a problem there and i'm wondering is it the lamp or a circuit in the projector ? I would hate to buy a new lamp and see the same thing if its not the lamp..... although bulb dimming suggests the lamp needs replaced. Anyone else noticed these things ? What worries me is the bulb was fine one day then switched on the next day and suddenly its very dim.... i thought these things happened gradually not suddenly.

Dear all

I have bought the AE 700 a couple of months ago and spent some time just marvelling at the overall image quality. What a blast!! No more going out to the movie theater.

Now, I am ready to start some tweaks on the image color to get best results. Can anyone send me some tips/links? I use the projector mostly on DVD movies, sometimes shows as well.

Out of the standard options, I end up using mostly Cinema 1 and natural, which seem to best reproduce a real movie experience. I was very disappointed with the Dynamic option. I am not sure if this the only option in which the Dynamic iris is varying its setting (maybe this is just the name, I am new in the metier) but the result is very artificial, totally unreal.

Any suggestions will be welcome on how to get the most out of this already awesome product.


Cheers

Ayala

.

I notice in the secret menu the temperature controls are 189 and 190ish ( don't think they have ever been that before when just switching the projector on although i could be wrong ) .

Be aware that Panasonic's temp readings are counter-intuitive. The *higher* the reading the *lower* the actual temperature.

ted

I was very disappointed with the Dynamic option. I am not sure if this the only option in which the Dynamic iris is varying its setting (maybe this is just the name, I am new in the metier) but the result is very artificial, totally unreal.

Any suggestions will be welcome on how to get the most out of this already awesome product.

Cheers

Ayala

The Dynamic Iris is operating as long as it is selcted as ON in the menu.

The "DYNAMIC" mode is simply the name that Panasonic has called that setting and is not related to the IRIS. I think they wanted to convey the feeling of "impressive". I think it really means "uncontrollable" because gamma is "wack" and impossible to tame.

You might look for "filter" tweaks in the various threads.
If your room is "bright" a consideration for darkening your space will reap many benefits in PQ.

ted

I fitted the new bulb today........ very easy to do.... whats not easy to do is clean the panels of dust and i was unable to get into them to do that as i didn't want to remove circuit boards as i'm not that experienced.

Interesting thing...... Playing certain clips from Titanic and adjusting sharpness.... using Component cable and at -6 all evidence of edge enhancement vanishes ( Cinema 2 Setting with contrast at +6 and Brightness at +1 and advanced menu settings of Contrast G at -3 and Brightness G at -3 )..... at any other sharpness setting there is mild edge enhancement .... my preferred setting is 0..... at -6 its way too soft looking but i froze the picture and adjusted sharpness and definately signs of edge enhancement ....... S-Video input adds edge enhancement at least on my setup... The cleanest connection is probably VGA but unfortunately i don't use my computer to view movies but i have occasionally moved it in to the living room to check it out ( i like the fact there is no overscan when using VGA )

Certainly on Normal or Cinema 2 anything above zero adds very noticeable edge enhancement and i also noted turning cinema reality off added a jerkiness almost unstable although i should add a mild unstable look to moving titles ( used Star Wars as reference for this ) turning it back on produced very stable moving titles and you can do this as the titles scroll and clearly see the effect it has.

I was able to get rid of the problem by setting at -6...... strange and it would seem to suggest the projector is at fault and not the dvd player or cables especially since many people are claiming they cannot see edge enhancement on Titanic so i would rule out the dvd itself.

I wish there was an easy way of cleaning the dust off the panels.

Dear all

I have bought the AE 700 a couple of months ago and spent some time just marvelling at the overall image quality. What a blast!! No more going out to the movie theater.

Now, I am ready to start some tweaks on the image color to get best results. Can anyone send me some tips/links? I use the projector mostly on DVD movies, sometimes shows as well.

Out of the standard options, I end up using mostly Cinema 1 and natural, which seem to best reproduce a real movie experience. I was very disappointed with the Dynamic option. I am not sure if this the only option in which the Dynamic iris is varying its setting (maybe this is just the name, I am new in the metier) but the result is very artificial, totally unreal.

Any suggestions will be welcome on how to get the most out of this already awesome product.


Cheers

Ayala


Some basic advice: make sure sharpness is turned all the way down, as far as it will go. As to other settings, the picture mode Natural can obliterate white levels, and cinema 2 has IMO the best contrast ratio so I use it rather than cinema 1. Have the dynamic iris on. The picture mode 'dynamic' is really for playing something in a light room when pq doesn't matter. Also, as this pj is uses LCD panel you can set the contrast quite high, which really improves the pq. If you look about 8 or 10 posts back you'll see my settings (they are for HDMI, you can lower the sharpness further on component input).

The last catch all piece of advice: get a calibration DVD, either DVE or Avia then you have everything you need.

Dave

Just wanna chime in here. I've had my Panny 700 since launch in October of 04. I have about 1200 hours on the bulb. Knock on wood it's till doing ok but I have noticed some flickering here and there while on Low Lamp mode (which is what I run it on). Switching to High eliminates this problem. The picture is definitely getting dimmer.

Anyone that's sent it into the service center, what was the turn around time like?

Just wanna chime in here. I've had my Panny 700 since launch in October of 04. I have about 1200 hours on the bulb. Knock on wood it's till doing ok but I have noticed some flickering here and there while on Low Lamp mode (which is what I run it on). Switching to High eliminates this problem. The picture is definitely getting dimmer.

Anyone that's sent it into the service center, what was the turn around time like?


I sent mine in right before the 1 yr warranty ran out (last fall). I sent it by air (as they are a bit more gentle than ground), and they called me as soon as they received it. They had it a couple of days while they upgraded the firmware. They told me at the time that the lamp needed to be replaced (it is getting very dim), but they didn't have any in stock and were not sure when they would get them in. I chose to have it returned and buy the lamp on my own. Total turnaround time was about 10 days. Make sure you double box it if you don't have the original packaging.

I sent mine in right before the 1 yr warranty ran out (last fall). I sent it by air (as they are a bit more gentle than ground), and they called me as soon as they received it. They had it a couple of days while they upgraded the firmware. They told me at the time that the lamp needed to be replaced (it is getting very dim), but they didn't have any in stock and were not sure when they would get them in. I chose to have it returned and buy the lamp on my own. Total turnaround time was about 10 days. Make sure you double box it if you don't have the original packaging.

10 days without my projector. Dear god I don't think I could handle it.

10 days without my projector. Dear god I don't think I could handle it.

That is why it is best to do it while you are away on vacation. :)

I need a recommendation on how to clean the B&W 81ef filter (there is a fingerprint smudge - not mine!). What do you guys use?

For those keeping track my original lamp is at 2600 hours and is starting to get dim.

I need a recommendation on how to clean the B&W 81ef filter (there is a fingerprint smudge - not mine!). What do you guys use?

For those keeping track my original lamp is at 2600 hours and is starting to get dim.
I just use camera lens paper to clean mine.

I have a problem myself. I tried to replace my bulb, but I can't for the life of me get my original one out. It seems to be held in by something other than the 2 screws, put there is nothing else mentioned in the instructions. In fact thet make it seem like it should be easy to remove once you loosen the screws. Can someone whos done it give me a hint?

I need some help from all the experts here. I was able to display proper wide screen picture using my laptop (RADEON 7500 video card) with my AE700. But after I upgraded XP to SP2, 16x9 format can no longer be displayed properly. It looks stretched horizontally and only partially fit into the display area. 4x3 format is still ok. Remove SP2 still no luck. I use Powerstrip. Even after I select custom resolution of 1280x720, it always come back to 960x720. Not sure what I broke here.

I just use camera lens paper to clean mine.

I have a problem myself. I tried to replace my bulb, but I can't for the life of me get my original one out. It seems to be held in by something other than the 2 screws, put there is nothing else mentioned in the instructions. In fact thet make it seem like it should be easy to remove once you loosen the screws. Can someone whos done it give me a hint?

It is easy to remove, but it doesn't fall out. Makes sure the two srews are fully release, as I recall they don't come all the way out. If you are sure the screws are fully released you might need to very gently increase the force you're using.

Dave

It is easy to remove, but it doesn't fall out. Makes sure the two srews are fully release, as I recall they don't come all the way out. If you are sure the screws are fully released you might need to very gently increase the force you're using.

DaveI was pretty sure the screws were released because I can pull on them with my fingers. You are correct, they don't come out, but my problem is not on that end of the bulb, it seems like something is holding it on the opposite end. However when I look at the new bulb, there is nothing on that end except for the two prongs that power the bulb.

I'm not sure if I can pull on it anymore that I did, because I pulled as hard as I could, but I can only hold the handles with 2 fingers. I was deathly afraid that it would fly out like I was playing tug of war with it, and that it would break. It didn't move though. I'll try again tonight.

I need some help from all the experts here. I was able to display proper wide screen picture using my laptop (RADEON 7500 video card) with my AE700. But after I upgraded XP to SP2, 16x9 format can no longer be displayed properly. It looks stretched horizontally and only partially fit into the display area. 4x3 format is still ok. Remove SP2 still no luck. I use Powerstrip. Even after I select custom resolution of 1280x720, it always come back to 960x720. Not sure what I broke here.

Are you using recent ATI drivers? Recent drivers allow for forcing 720p. Is the 700 your primary display? Is there a monitor driver other than the normal Widows Plug and Play?

I recommend you take some of your concerns to the HTPC Forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=26) where you will find much expertise.

ted

I opened my projector up tonight and did what i should have done last week..... removed the ribbon cable and put the circuit board to one side and cleaned the glass parts and the part which the glass parts all point at which has the projector panels housed ( don't ask me what its called ) I was getting blotches on red and slightly on green...... well there certainly was dust in there and after cleaning i am no longer getting the blotches..... only concern i had was that i did not place one of the glass parts exactly back in the position it originally was in...... although it does not appear to have affected the picture and the colors and brightness remain the same..... there was dust on the red and green panels but none on the blue panel..... cleaned it off and interestingly enough it was the red panel which had the most dust on and the red in which all the blotches appeared so maybe it was the panel and not the glass causing the blotchy problem......... wasn't as hard a job as i originally feared but i wouldn't wanna do it everyday.

Reading the service manual it seems to say that if any of the glass parts (reflectors) are not aligned correctly you will get color uniformity problems....... I must have been lucky with the one i thought i tightened down in the wrong position.

Finally got around to switching from a rear shelf mount to a ceiling mount. While doing this, I experimented with the now wide-open range of throw distances, and am flat-out blown away by the brightness increase created by substantially decreasing the throw distance. Last year, there was quite a bit of talk about this phenomenon, and of how counter-intuitive it seemed to anyone familiar with the notion of reducing the angle of scattered light (thus directing more of it back to the central viewing area) by increasing the throw distance. As AussieBob explained, the correspondingly zoomed-down image with a long throw distance was actually less bright, and his measurements confirmed this.

Well, I don't need any meter to tell me there's a difference, and that he was right. What really surprised me is the degree. For fun, I (temporarily) positioned my 700 as far forward as possible in an overhead position by maxing out my lens shift downward. This cut my throw distance in half. Now, I crave a bright image, but this actually hurt my eyeballs to watch. I have a screen with some gain, so I'm not desperate for every last lumen, but anyone yearning for more brightness might look at ways to decrease their throw distance. Also, and I'm hesitant to assert this, I simply cannot perceive ANY image degradation at the vertical lens shift extremes, despite the warnings in the 700 literature and the prevailing wisdom. I didn't, come to think of it, look carefully for focus variations throughout the image, but if any were present, they were far too subtle to perceive at even an uncomfortably close viewing distance. I mention it because, for anyone being conservative about their lens shift, and thus feeling restrained to a longer throw distance because of the related placement/lens shift issues, the disadvantages may be less than feared, if present at all. I also found, significantly, that this brought some of the darker picture modes (CINEMA 1, etc) out of their "uselessly dim" status.

I'm a dork for not trying this sooner. A dresser and some stacked boxes were all I needed for some very revealing placement experiments.

By the way, I've built my own ceiling mount, despite what appear to be Panasonic's design strategies to prevent it. Not the least of these is the "exotic" thread in the mounting holes, which was patently unnecessary and only conceivably chosen to stymie DIY efforts. Maybe I'm paranoid. I've got a great (and often lucky) source in the Portland area called General Threaded Products, and they took care of me.

Hope none of this was redundant of recent material. I haven't been keeping up.

KongFan

Does anyone else who using a upconverting player (im using sony ns90 via hdmi) think they get a better pic upscaling to 1080i as apposed to 720p with this projector??

Ive got the pana projector, and when the dvd player is set to 720p, you get jaggie lines around some faces especially lips and chins in alot of movies.
But when i put the player to 1080i, these jaggies are almost gone?
Anyone know why, considering the projector is a 720p display

Does anyone else who using a upconverting player (im using sony ns90 via hdmi) think they get a better pic upscaling to 1080i as apposed to 720p with this projector??

Ive got the pana projector, and when the dvd player is set to 720p, you get jaggie lines around some faces especially lips and chins in alot of movies.
But when i put the player to 1080i, these jaggies are almost gone?
Anyone know why, considering the projector is a 720p display

I have a Denon 1910 upscaling DVD player and do not notice any difference between 720p and 1080i.

Does anyone else who using a upconverting player (im using sony ns90 via hdmi) think they get a better pic upscaling to 1080i as apposed to 720p with this projector??

Ive got the pana projector, and when the dvd player is set to 720p, you get jaggie lines around some faces especially lips and chins in alot of movies.
But when i put the player to 1080i, these jaggies are almost gone?
Anyone know why, considering the projector is a 720p display

The obvious--though not necessarily correct--solution is that the ae700 has a better de-interlacer than your DVD player, it removes the jaggies that the DVD player introduces.

I use an oppo with my AE700--jaggies are entirely absent on all but the most intractable scenes at both 720p and 1080i. However, 720p is clearly the better choice as the oppo isn't really configured to send an interlaced image.

Dave

i just picked up this projector and couldn't find an option anywhere to adjust the convergence like I could on my Z2. Is there a way to do this? Thanks.

I'm a frayed knot unless you want to crack the case and do it the hard way.

Can someone tell me how to reset the Bulb hours to regain brightness? I"m at 1500 hours now and I'd like to gain some brightness back! :)

I"m at 1500 hours now and I'd like to gain some brightness back! :)
Change the bulb :D

Can someone tell me how to reset the Bulb hours to regain brightness? I"m at 1500 hours now and I'd like to gain some brightness back! :)

Lamp RESET is covered on page 52 of your manual as follows:

Press the MENU button to display the “MAIN MENU”, and then press the F or G button to select “OPTION”. Press the ENTER button to display the “OPTION” menu, and then press the F or G button to select “LAMP RUNTIME”.

Press and hold the ENTER button for approximately 3 seconds.
If the MENU button is pressed, the lamp time resetting screen will be cancelled.


Resetting Cumulative time is covered on page 27 of the manual.

Now you owe me this: :p
If you've a meter, source 100IRE and measure before and after.

ted

Lamp RESET is covered on page 52 of your manual as follows:



Resetting Cumulative time is covered on page 27 of the manual.

Now you owe me this: :p
If you've a meter, source 100IRE and measure before and after.

ted

Thanks. I actually don't have a meter. I'll try taking before and after pics with a digital cam and use a histogram on it.

Thanks. I actually don't have a meter. I'll try taking before and after pics with a digital cam and use a histogram on it.

Be sure exposure is manual and the same for both or else you will not get relative differences.

ted

tvted - set the exposure to manual. Let the projector run for 5 mintues and did the first service menu white screen. Reset the bulb, (that turns the projector off) then let it run for 5 minutes again.

Here are the before and after histograms:
http://www.happyapplefarm.net/images/bulb/hist.png

You can find the source images here: http://www.happyapplefarm.net/images/bulb/

Everything is definitley noticably brighter and whiter. I'm happy. I was at 1450 in hours. HOpefully it'll last me another 750 to 1000.

tvted - set the exposure to manual. Let the projector run for 5 mintues and did the first service menu white screen. Reset the bulb, (that turns the projector off) then let it run for 5 minutes again.

Here are the before and after histograms:
http://www.happyapplefarm.net/images/bulb/hist.png

You can find the source images here: http://www.happyapplefarm.net/images/bulb/

Everything is definitley noticably brighter and whiter. I'm happy. I was at 1450 in hours. HOpefully it'll last me another 750 to 1000.
I'm glad you're happy, but how are these not basically identical?

Dave

I'm glad you're happy, but how are these not basically identical?

Dave

More or less they appear to be. With the after having a slight bump. But, and it may be a placebo effect, it appears to be quite a bit of difference when looking at actual material on the screen.

More or less they appear to be. With the after having a slight bump. But, and it may be a placebo effect, it appears to be quite a bit of difference when looking at actual material on the screen.

Unfortunately, a histogram is only going to tell us how the tones are distributed throughout the image and with a flat field there are no "tones to speak of. I'm assuming you used auto exposure which would provide essentially the same tonal scale with a flat field , since the exposure places its measure point at 18% on the tonal scale - essentially the same for each image. Thus it is difficult to measure relative brightness in this situation.

I believe that this has worked - in fact I'm paranoid enough to believe this is what Panasonic *really* did with my bulb when I was complaining about greater than expected lumens loss about 400 hrs into its lifetime.

A way around this would be to compare exposure readings - do you have access to the IPTC (EXIF) header information - http://www.iptc.org/IIM/ - for each file? With that we could get an accurate measure of brightness change.

I don't believe this is placebo or kool-aid, so my question would be, why would this work? Anyone have a theory?

ted

A way around this would be to compare exposure readings - do you have access to the IPTC (EXIF) header information - http://www.iptc.org/IIM/ - for each file? With that we could get an accurate measure of brightness change.

I don't believe this is placebo or kool-aid, so my question would be, why would this work? Anyone have a theory?

ted

What software would I use to read the EXIF info? I imagine the source files contain this. If I look in photoshop I can see info. I'm not sure what info there though would contain brightness.

My guess would be if they do a gradual decrease in input voltage the user wouldn't notice it, and it would increase the bulb life.

What software would I use to read the EXIF info? I imagine the source files contain this. If I look in photoshop I can see info. I'm not sure what info there though would contain brightness.

I downloaded the files and managed to read them with my Canon Fileviewer utility. The way to determine any brightness change would be to compare the exposure. In the case of your two files - again I'm assuming auto exposure - the Tv (shutter speed) for each is 1/3 second and the Av (Aperture) is 3.5 with !SO of 200, Since there is no difference in exposure and the histogram is essentially the same, I would have to conclude there is no real brightness increase. This is not to say what you perceive is not real. Can you confirm the data?

My guess would be if they do a gradual decrease in input voltage the user wouldn't notice it, and it would increase the bulb life.

That would be cheating on the manufacturers part - particularly since they have already given us High and Low modes for lamp operation and if true I wish they would piss off.

I will likely buy a new bulb within the next few weeks (the old one becomes my backup) so I may try this before I swap out the lamp.

ted

Well I thought my bulb went out after having used it since October 18, 2004 when the projector all of a sudden shutdown. So, I purchased the replacement bulb and followed manual instruction to replace it but didn't fire up. Reading the ae700 threads, I found out it could be the ballast or the circuit itself although later is rare. Without having to see actual hours on the unit, I estimate about 1,400 hrs of use at full dynamic mode with normal fan setting. So, I took it to Panasonic authorized service center and needless to say they told me my projector is out of warranty(1 year for unit and 90 day bulb warranty). Technician told me that they get lot of these units and to prolong life technician recommended to use low lamp output with high fan mode. Also, technician told me that the unit could have failed due to ballast or the circuit. I followed up after 10 days and the service center told me that the ballast is the culprit and they are waiting for it to arrive on March 19th which would make me out of the projector for 4 agonizing weeks. Due to this experience I went and bought 42" 1080P LCD panel that lasts for 60,000 hours. I'll use projector sparingly from now on.

I downloaded the files and managed to read them with my Canon Fileviewer utility. The way to determine any brightness change would be to compare the exposure. In the case of your two files - again I'm assuming auto exposure - the Tv (shutter speed) for each is 1/3 second and the Av (Aperture) is 3.5 with !SO of 200, Since there is no difference in exposure and the histogram is essentially the same, I would have to conclude there is no real brightness increase. This is not to say what you perceive is not real. Can you confirm the data?



Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what it was set at.

I have the DVE and went through the first few chapters. I noticed that since it is circa 1997, many of the tests are not relevant for projectors. I did use the brightness and the color matching (using their paper filter). For me, in the normal mode, the default settings were fine! My projector has 86 hours mostly on high. I have a Panny upconverting DVD player connected via HDMI and a Motorola/Comcast HD box connected via component. I have a DIY acoustically transparent roll down screen using Phifer Sheerweave 2000 which has 5% transparency. The room has limited ambient light control.

I would like to know which of the DVE chapters are being used to tune the projector further? Is there a standard cheat sheet I could follow?

Another basic question: I noticed that you can save different settings for the same mode (USER1, USER 2 etc.). Is that Panny's way of allowing you to store different settings for different sources? Or are the memory specific to each input source?

Also, how do people calibrate the component input which I am using for my HD TV feed? I can use the component out of the DVD player but it will have different characteristics than the HD Box. Is the tweaking done just specific to the connection without regards to the source?

I created a Poll thread for Lamp Life... it would be nice to see all the AE-700 owners vote.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=656161

Thanks,
Brendin

I have exactly the same reaction to the fast moving scenes and background object being blurry. I have only had the AE-900U for a couple days so it might take a while for me to get used to it. How are you feeling towards it now?

Just got my Panny 700 after reading the posts here and the things that everyone had 2 say abt this PJ.. I did not do any tweaks but I am really happy with the picture quality..
One gripe I have is, in heavy action scenes when the camera pans a lot, I somehow feel dizzy in my stomach..Also in the movie when the camera shows a distant shot of 3 or more people, the image is not that clear, whereas when a single person is all over the screen, the picture looks flawless..
Why is this? Can anyone explain..

bapenguin
I did the RESET dance with my bulb and have listed the change as follows. All measurements are in LUX for a projected area of 54 x 96 or 36 square feet.

BULB HRs 816

VIDEO NORMAL CINEMA 1

HIGH 58.8, 59.3, 17.6
Reset 63.6, 64.7, 18.7

LOW 45.5, 46.4, 12.4
Reset 51.6, 52.4, 15.4

With a screen with a gain of 1.0 using the VIDEO MODE set to HIGH this amounts to 5.5 Ft.L before vs. 5.9 FT.L after. This *might* be noticeable but in the case of my bulb its not enough to satisfy.

Sorry about the formatting of the list - I obviously need more experience with the AVS post editor. :o I hope it is still decipherable.

ted

For you gents who are crying "burry", this is too ambiguous a term to actually help you troubleshoot. The D4 panels in the 700 and the D5 panels in the 900 are plenty fast enough (rise + fall time) for the 24 fps of film source and the 30 fps of video without exhibiting lcd lag. Fast motion from both these sources are inherently "blurred" as frame rates for either source are not able to capture "sharp" edges without blurring. On top of that you add compression artifacts and it gets confusing as to what you are referring.

Is this blurriness from video or film source (each source type is handled differently)? What are the various transports you are using? S-Video, Component, HDMI?

If you find the picture too "blurry' is it possible this is because of the greater size that FP has availed you? You might compare this same source on a Z3/Z4 as these units are based on the same LCD panels that the 700/900 are but are implemented differently.

ted

In my case, the source is from a progressive scan dvd player playing star wars III, connected to AE-900 via component. I don't think the dizziness I felt is due to the source. My guess is I'm not used to the size of the picture and the viewing distance combination yet. I will see how my reaction progresses in the next couple of weeks.


For you gents who are crying "burry", this is too ambiguous a term to actually help you troubleshoot. The D4 panels in the 700 and the D5 panels in the 900 are plenty fast enough (rise + fall time) for the 24 fps of film source and the 30 fps of video without exhibiting lcd lag. Fast motion from both these sources are inherently "blurred" as frame rates for either source are not able to capture "sharp" edges without blurring. On top of that you add compression artifacts and it gets confusing as to what you are referring.

Is this blurriness from video or film source (each source type is handled differently)? What are the various transports you are using? S-Video, Component, HDMI?

If you find the picture too "blurry' is it possible this is because of the greater size that FP has availed you? You might compare this same source on a Z3/Z4 as these units are based on the same LCD panels that the 700/900 are but are implemented differently.

ted

I have exactly the same reaction to the fast moving scenes and background object being blurry. I have only had the AE-900U for a couple days so it might take a while for me to get used to it. How are you feeling towards it now?

With respect to blurring, if you pause the DVD is the image still blurred? If so it's probably actually on the DVD, recording a fast camera move. It might also be a de-interlacing error as much as it's a problem with the LCD panels.

I get plenty of background blurs on pans, etc. on the ae700. I've taken it to be a limit of SD technology designed to be shown on a 32" screen and being blown up to 72" +

Dave

In my case, the source is from a progressive scan dvd player playing star wars III, connected to AE-900 via component. I don't think the dizziness I felt is due to the source. My guess is I'm not used to the size of the picture and the viewing distance combination yet. I will see how my reaction progresses in the next couple of weeks.

My apologies, I should have been clearer. I did not mean to lump a physiological reaction with perceived focus / artifacts.

It is possible that you are one of those rare folk who suffer motion sickness with fast moving imagery. I've suffered some of this myself with some video games, but this has usually required some sort of mind altering substance. ;)

If you have difficulty adjusting you could decrease your viewing angle - how close do you sit? A better alternative would be to reduce screen brightness by using one of the darker modes or utilizing a filter. If you *do* go the filter route I would recommend a CC filter over an ND one as you get more bang for your buck with regards to PQ.

ted

What is the trigger jack for on the back of the projector. I am running wiring to the projector for all the inputs and am wondering if I need to plan for this.

Thanks,
Brendin

What is the trigger jack for on the back of the projector. I am running wiring to the projector for all the inputs and am wondering if I need to plan for this.

Thanks,
Brendin
If you have an electric roll down screen or similar then the thing can be lowered when you turn on the pj--so it's to connect to such a screen.

Nice for the man/woman who has everything.

Dave

I have exactly the same reaction to the fast moving scenes and background object being blurry. I have only had the AE-900U for a couple days so it might take a while for me to get used to it. How are you feeling towards it now?
It's been a while since I posted. Unfortunately in the past months, I haven't had much time to use the Panny 700, but the observations I made way back when (seems like eons ago anyway ;) ) about latency still hold true.

Despite what the stats might be for the rise and fall rate of the LCD panels, and that they might be considered 'fast enough' for some, I for one noticed motion blurring when I started using the 700. This phenomenon may be more noticeable (as someone at the time mentioned) to 'gamers' who play things like first-person-shooters such as Quake and Doom, using LCD monitors. On the slower monitors, you'll notice the LCD rise and fall rates are not fast enough to keep up with the fast motion, causing ghosting (not the same as ringing that we see from crappy DVD's etc). I however do NOT, and have never played FPS games, but I AM on my 2nd LCD monitor.

I first noticed the latency on my first LCD monitor BECAUSE of this forum. Scrolling through the posts on the default page/color settings allowed me to see the latency between the alternating light and dark panels of alternating posts. It became so sickening, I returned the first LCD monitor and replaced it with my current Dell 2001FP with a fast rate suitable for gamers.

All the above may seem a little OT, but is posted just as a reference to where I'm coming from. It also may or may not matter to note that I've been practicing striking arts (where quick reflexes and quick reactions to movement are critical) for nearly 30 years.

Now when it comes to the Panny's lag, I realized that once I was aware of what was causing the blurring, I could see it in a lot of scenes that coupled some contrast with movement , even without fast movement.

If you wish to see what I'm talking about, to understand why things look 'blurry' here are some examples:

WARNING: If you have never had a problem with blurriness or motion-induced dissatisfaction with your Panny, DO NOT read further to go looking for them. It has been noted many times by owners that once made aware of a shortcoming in their equipment that they were previously oblivious to, they will then be constantly aware of it reducing the enjoyment of said product. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

That said, if you're still reading, especially because you noted some blurring and are wondering why, here are a couple of scenes from movies where what I'm talking about may be more apparent and easier to see/identify.

'Chronicles of Riddick' - can't remember the timestamp, but it is the scene where the Necromongers are invading the planet and the holy man is trying to guide his family to safety through the city. At the point where he is momentarily separated from his family, Riddick pops round a corner dragging him into the safety of the shadows. Watch the holy man (especially his head) as he is yanked into the shadows and you will see the panels' latency in the form of several shadowy afterimages trailing behind the movement. This is the effect that FPS players call 'ghosting' caused by slower LCD panels leaving shadowy 'ghosts' that trail after the moving object.

'Lord Of The Rings - Fellowship Of The Ring' - In the Mines of Moria scene, when they are moving through the 'Great Hall' with the gigantic pillars. As the camera pans to follow the group from afar and pans past the pillars, the pillars leave 3-4 trailing afterimages ('ghosting' of the pillars).

The scenes above are examples that should be easily seen by anyone looking for it (and in my case, when I wasn't looking for it because no one else had mentioned it yet). The problem is not as easily seen/noticed in brighter images, but it is there, and is what (for me) primarily causes the 'blurriness' in fast movement.

Sometime in the future, unless something better comes about, I'll probably look into SXRD or 3-chip DLP, unless they start producing LCD projectors at these pricepoints that have far lower latency.


Max

I just checked the ghosting you were talking about in LOTR, the scene you mentioned and I see no ghosting whatsoever.

I did go over it quite a few times.

Could it possibly be source related?

I just checked the ghosting you were talking about in LOTR, the scene you mentioned and I see no ghosting whatsoever.

I did go over it quite a few times.

Could it possibly be source related?
That is a possibility I suppose although I'm wondering how the source would cause ghosting. My source was the DVD's through a Denon 2910 via HDMI and Component.


Max

djbluemax1
What is your source device?

Side note: The term "ghosting" as is commonly used to describe a problem that is commonly caused by a cable problems. That is maybe a part of the confusion.

That is a possibility I suppose although I'm wondering how the source would cause ghosting. My source was the DVD's through a Denon 2910 via HDMI and Component.


Max

It strikes me that if the 'ghosting' problem you were taliking about was a 'latency' issue then you's see it all the time as it would be invariable.

Personally I see some kind of background blurring on all pans with the Panny 700 and an oppo player through HDMI--it's just what happens with this pj. It's no different if I run it with my Sony progressive player or my PC. I put this down to the LCD panels not being quick enough and also the fact that SD DVD isn't designed to be seen an 72"+.

Other things your problem might be: a fault recorded on to the disc, a de-interlacing error, some kind of noise reduction trace.

Dave

djbluemax1
What is your source device?

Side note: The term "ghosting" as is commonly used to describe a problem that is commonly caused by a cable problems. That is maybe a part of the confusion.
My usage of the term 'ghosting' is as used by FPS gamers and differs (as mentioned in my post) from 'ringing' which is a problem associated with piss poor cables (I'm using Monster HDMI400) or crappily encoded DVD's with overly exagerrated frequency filtering and edge enhancement.

The source is listed in the post just above yours.

It strikes me that if the 'ghosting' problem you were taliking about was a 'latency' issue then you's see it all the time as it would be invariable.

Personally I see some kind of background blurring on all pans with the Panny 700 and an oppo player through HDMI--it's just what happens with this pj. It's no different if I run it with my Sony progressive player or my PC. I put this down to the LCD panels not being quick enough and also the fact that SD DVD isn't designed to be seen an 72"+.

Other things your problem might be: a fault recorded on to the disc, a de-interlacing error, some kind of noise reduction trace.

Dave
Yes, it is there all the time, however certain scenes with particular contrast between various levels of gray and darker gray tend to make it much more visible to me.

I am familiar with deinterlacing errors. This is NOT any form of combing/jaggies. I also have noise reduction OFF.




As for why I believe what I saw to be latency and not something else. Simply put, it was the exact same thing (albeit on a much larger scale due to screen size) as what was bothering me with my first LCD monitor that had a slower response time. I noticed it with the LCD monitor first while scrolling through this forum (since it was one of the first things I did after hooking up the monitor) with the alternating bands of blue and gray. Scrolling up or down would trail 'ghosts' of the darker band over the lighter for fractions of a second.

I then discovered that this 'ghosting' effect of trailing afterimages was also evident while using photoshop and scanning/scrolling through large pictures while editing. The trailing 'ghosts' started giving me a headache especially since I tend to move things fast while editing/scrolling and that just exacerbates the effect. I realized this was why reviews of LCD monitors mentioned latency and response times and gamers' opinions of them. I returned that first monitor and replaced it with my current monitor that has a 16ms response time and found the issue much less apparent/annoying/distracting.

Is it still there on the 16ms monitor? Yes. Because I was exposed to it with the slower monitor, I now know what it is and what it looks like and I can see it even with the faster monitor. Had I gotten my current faster monitor first, I might be oblivious to it on this monitor, but being exposed to it and knowing what it is, what it looks like and thus how to see it, has robbed me of the bliss of ignorance. Having been exposed to it and knowing what it looks like thus made it more apparent when I saw it on the Panny.

I envy the blissfull ignorance of those who first step into an entertainment room and have their first exposure to FP on a 92" wide screen and are simply awestruck and enraptured with watching a movie on a screen that size, while remaining blissfully unaware of peekaboo scanlines, VB and other artifacts. There are those who even after explaining what these are and told how to identify and see them are still unable to do so because they're so much more engrossed with watching the movie in a home 'theater'. Woe to those of us who go looking for what we learn we really don't want to see or find.

I've been exposed to latency and 'ghosting' due to low-end LCD displays. I now know what it is and what it looks like and can see it even in displays with faster response times. What I see with the Panny is this very same thing. :( Could it possibly be a source artifact? I won't discount that possibility. Is it the exact same artifact known as 'ghosting' in the LCD gaming world seen on slower response time monitors? Yes, it looks exactly like it to me since I've now seen firsthand what 'ghosting' on slower LCD monitors looks like. Could it be possible that I'm more sensitive to it than others to the point that others may not be able to see it even when they look for it? Absolutely. As I've pointed out, there are plenty of folks who've watched movies on 700's who don't know what VB is, cant see peekaboo scanlines even if shown how to see them, have no idea what FPN is, don't notice that many 700's seem to have a color cast from one side of the image to the other. If you keep looking for these artifacts to see what people are talking about though and finally see it, you may find yourself wishing you could 'un-see' it.

The only reason I posted and mentioned my experiences with my 700 is for those who are already experiencing problems due to fast motion blurring but aren't sure why and are wondering if it's just in their head or from not being used to watching an image that large. I'm just providing my take on what they might be noticing that is causing the distress.


Max

Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere. Has anyone else had problems with a slow optical "shimmer" or swirling pattern in the lower right area of the projected image? I have about 800 hours on my AE700 and this has become an issue over the last 100 hours.

The cause appears to be internal, as changing airflow around the unit has no effect. Movement of the pattern is slower than a typical atmospheric heat shimmer. The patterns are most noticeable during light, uniform colored scenes.

Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere. Has anyone else had problems with a slow optical "shimmer" or swirling pattern in the lower right area of the projected image? I have about 800 hours on my AE700 and this has become an issue over the last 100 hours.

The cause appears to be internal, as changing airflow around the unit has no effect. Movement of the pattern is slower than a typical atmospheric heat shimmer. The patterns are most noticeable during light, uniform colored scenes.

Sounds like you are seeing image structure. No guarantees but when this happens check your flicker settings - use a white card close to the pj and refocus. This allows for more accurate flicker adjustment which has a strong impact on similar artifacts.

Is your enviroment thermally stable, or is it in seasonal flux like mine (locally heated basement)?

ted

Thanks for the reply Ted.

I do use forced air heating, but I've checked it with the ventilation static. Blowing air (warm or cold) across the projector has no effect on the motion of the pattern. I've just recently done a flicker tweak, and it's pretty much bang on.

Not sure what you mean by image structure. This is a local, fluid diffraction that is most pronounce on a white, still frame. It is about 1/3 screen width at the bottom (right side), tapering off to almost nothing at top right. The boundary is also variable and fluid. (Kind of looks like shining a light through a slightly warmed saturated solution of salt or sugar in water).

Thanks for the reply Ted.

I do use forced air heating, but I've checked it with the ventilation static. Blowing air (warm or cold) across the projector has no effect on the motion of the pattern. I've just recently done a flicker tweak, and it's pretty much bang on.

Not sure what you mean by image structure. This is a local, fluid diffraction that is most pronounce on a white, still frame. It is about 1/3 screen width at the bottom (right side), tapering off to almost nothing at top right. The boundary is also variable and fluid. (Kind of looks like shining a light through a slightly warmed saturated solution of salt or sugar in water).

Just to make you aware - my observations with my 700 are that many things can be thermally dependent - even focus.

Lets assume that flicker is not your issue. Have you looked at a white field - say 60 to 80 IRE to determine if there is some panel discolouration? This *is* an artifact that can occur with LCD's - particularly at this price point. I would also look at the individual channels that are available to you in your service menu (I'm assuming here, as some things have moved on the 900) to determine whether there are areas of brightness difference?

Is this artifact true for all sources? What are they btw?

Image (panel) structure is the pixel structure. Are you seeing "pixels when this happens? This is why I mentioned flicker as it can impact on pixel visibility/sharpness perception.

ted

Just to make you aware - my observations with my 700 are that many things can be thermally dependent - even focus.


Indeed, Ted.
To the point where I cool the room before I fire up the pj(in summer it can be over 40C here).
If I don't, the bottom of the image has an arc and the focus is out quite considerably.

This happens on both sources (DVD, HDTV via component) and is independent of media motion (i.e. when picture is paused, pattern continues to move). It is a moving, swirling, shadow pattern. There is no tint and it is not affected by environment. I have now tried room temperatures from 15 to 23 deg C. It is not pixel structure. It looks like slow heat shimmers and is becoming quite pronounced. Strange huh?

This happens on both sources (DVD, HDTV via component) and is independent of media motion (i.e. when picture is paused, pattern continues to move). It is a moving, swirling, shadow pattern. There is no tint and it is not affected by environment. I have now tried room temperatures from 15 to 23 deg C. It is not pixel structure. It looks like slow heat shimmers and is becoming quite pronounced. Strange huh?

Indeed.

Assuming its the exhaust:
Is there a chance that the heat exhausted from the from the front is being deflected back towards the lens?
Why not try using a piece of cardboard beside the lens to see if that is somehow happening? It's difficult to conceive of it happening internally unless there is some obstruction in the exhaust.

Have you tried changing fan speeds or inverting the unit?
What happens when you zoom the image? Does the pattern remain constant in size relative to the image change? That would suggest it is happening internally, before the lens.

I must confess a paucity of ideas and the fact that it continues to swirl on a stilled image is a stumper.

ted

Well, Ted:

I went down to the theatre to try zooming my swirling pattern and there it was: gone!

It's been there for weeks, but today: nothing!

I'll try zooming if it returns. Once again, thanks for your input.

Geoff

Well, Ted:

I went down to the theatre to try zooming my swirling pattern and there it was: gone!

Geoff

This usually happens to me after a night of bending my brain every which way but Sunday. ;)

Lets hope it stays that way because it is a puzzler.

Other than perhaps sharing my naughty habits (see a sentence above) did anything change in your environment?

btw welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy your pj.
ted

Geoff
Are you sure it wasn't a dust bunny?

I'm quite sure. I think a dust bunny would either remain static or flutter. This was a fluid, relatively slow-swirling pattern of random waves.

This is the wierdest image problem I have heard about in my several years on the forum.
I hope it doesn't come back, for your sake, but it is soooo interesting. If Tvted can't be sure what it is, it is a really strange problem!

If Tvted can't be sure what it is, it is a really strange problem!

:D
I guess the subtext to this, is that I *am* familiar with strange problems - just not the "really" strange ones? ;)

Oh!.................
There are those moments spent in front of a mirror.

ted

Ha!!!!
Ted, you are very good at stepping people through troubleshooting their display problems.
I'm sure the same techniques can be applied to your mirrors. Let me know if they can, I need a lot of work on mine.

These are interesting.....

http://kristahl.design.free.fr/index.php?lang=en&root=articles&file=VideoAdvancedUsexx2dPTAE700xx2dENcc46stf

http://kristahl.design.free.fr/index.php?lang=en&root=personnal&file=InterfacePTAE700xx2dENcc46stf

Now if only I could find the software for the AE900.....

Shawn

These are interesting.....

http://kristahl.design.free.fr/index.php?lang=en&root=articles&file=VideoAdvancedUsexx2dPTAE700xx2dENcc46stf

http://kristahl.design.free.fr/index.php?lang=en&root=personnal&file=InterfacePTAE700xx2dENcc46stf

Now if only I could find the software for the AE900.....

Shawn

Good find - now if only the damn port would allow me Gamma control and the abilty to set the way in which the Iris and Gamma/Max Whites (CONTRAST) interact.

ted

Ha!!!!
I need a lot of work on mine.

Substance abuse.

btw :o

but Thanks
ted

Hi guys

I'm wondering if anyones AE700 unit has suffered from the same issue as mine does. My problem relates to an overbearing amount of green colouration in its image and uneven, patchy, colour uniformity. The problem arose after the unit had its LCD block replaced by Panasonic due to panel misconvergence.

I have tried to calibrate the green out of my image but haven't been able to eliminate it entirely. The patchiness I've mentioned seems to be heightened with calibration, there appear to be cyan/blue blotches eating through parts of the image when I try to tame the green. If you look at Frodo's hand and lower forearm in the first image I've attached you'll see what I mean. 'ptae700vid1' is the only non calibrated image I've added.


Does anybody have an idea as to what may be wrong with the unit? I can say that it has nothing to do with the source as I've tried multiple DVD players and input connections, all with the same issue.

At present I'm still waiting to hear back from Panasonic...

The non calibrated ptae700vid1.jpg is so green, it looks like you have a Yprpb/rgb setting wrong.
This kills all my other theories.

Does anybody have an idea as to what may be wrong with the unit? I can say that it has nothing to do with the source as I've tried multiple DVD players and input connections, all with the same issue.

At present I'm still waiting to hear back from Panasonic...

The colour uniformity should be addressed by Panasonic. There is a chance it can be ameliorated by proper alignment of the dichroic mirrors in the light path. This is a servicing issue. Its possible this was was not done when the block was swapped out. There is also the possibility the Polarizers need to be looked at. I don't think the lack of uniformity that you see is acceptable.

As to colour - this is likely tweakable. Is this the same source as your original unit? Is it an upscaling player over HDMI? There can be colour issues as the unit is expecting Rec. 709 colour space specs over HDMI which most upscaling players do not provide. HD colour space has a different primary weighting which adds more green than NTSC SD.

Personally I don't think you should give Panasonic much sleep until satisfied.

ted

Hi guys

I'm wondering if anyones AE700 unit has suffered from the same issue as mine does. My problem relates to an overbearing amount of green colouration in its image and uneven, patchy, colour uniformity. The problem arose after the unit had its LCD block replaced by Panasonic due to panel misconvergence.

I have tried to calibrate the green out of my image but haven't been able to eliminate it entirely. The patchiness I've mentioned seems to be heightened with calibration, there appear to be cyan/blue blotches eating through parts of the image when I try to tame the green. If you look at Frodo's hand and lower forearm in the first image I've attached you'll see what I mean. 'ptae700vid1' is the only non calibrated image I've added.


Does anybody have an idea as to what may be wrong with the unit? I can say that it has nothing to do with the source as I've tried multiple DVD players and input connections, all with the same issue.

At present I'm still waiting to hear back from Panasonic...

Not sure if you are using component inputs but if you are double check your cabling. Ihad an issue lke this on my tv when I had the red and blue mixed up.

Brendin

Thanks guys for the replies.



As to colour - this is likely tweakable. Is this the same source as your original unit? Is it an upscaling player over HDMI? There can be colour issues as the unit is expecting Rec. 709 colour space specs over HDMI which most upscaling players do not provide. HD colour space has a different primary weighting which adds more green than NTSC SD.




Yes indeed I'm using a Panasonic S97 upscaling player over HDMI but the colour issue remains even when using my Pioneer DV676 through component. Previous to the block replacement I had tried a Philips 5900 upscaling player and an older Samsung 747 player over HDMI without any issues regarding colour.

Last night I managed to tweak the colour so that things began to look pretty natural, however the blotches remain regardless of what I do.

At any rate I'll keep hounding Panasonic until they remedy the issue, I've been emailing the Panasonic engineer who performed the initial repair so hopefully he'll action something soon.

I think I would have preferred the slight panel mis-alignment over my current predicament.

I think I would have preferred the slight panel mis-alignment over my current predicament.

I've a 700 with poor convergence on its left side. What you say is the exact reason I've never pursued it as it likely is within "spec" and is only noticeable with my desktop/text. (Plus I sit close to a reasonably largish screen :) ). I'm used to sticking my hands in high voltage boxes and had hoped to address this issue myself. Unfortunately the cost of the cable kit to allow for hooking up the boards when the chassis is gutted is in the $300+ range here in the Northlands.

The level of discolouration you have is unacceptable. If you haven't already done so, send them the pictures of the crime scene - oh! that would be the tech's workbench. ;)

Good Luck,
ted

Nimoy,
It looks like the reflectors needs adjusting.
If they`re not adjusted correctly the can increase Magenta,Cyan and yellow uneveness.
Magenta
unevenness
G Reflector Adjustment
Cyan
unevenness
R Reflector Adjustment
Yellow
unevenness
B Reflector Adjustment

The colour uniformity should be addressed by Panasonic. There is a chance it can be ameliorated by proper alignment of the dichroic mirrors in the light path. This is a servicing issue. Its possible this was was not done when the block was swapped out. There is also the possibility the Polarizers need to be looked at. I don't think the lack of uniformity that you see is acceptable.
ted

Nimoy,
It looks like the reflectors needs adjusting.
If they`re not adjusted correctly the can increase Magenta,Cyan and yellow uneveness.


From what you guys have posited I'm hoping that the block doesn't need replacement (again). Currently I have very little vertical banding (in fact I don't notice any at all) and excellent panel alignment, in these respects the unit is far better than it was previous panel swap.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that the screendoor effect also appears minimised with the new panels inserted. Perhaps this is due to the improved panel alignment?

I painted my matte white screen with Glidden's Misty Evening Flat ( light gray ). This seems to take out the slight yellow push of the projector. I really like this setup.. Looks AWESOME...

Settings

Option Menu
NR off
Lamp Low

Picture
Picture Mode Normal
Contrast +1
Bright +11
Color -7
Tint -1
Sharpness +3
Color Temp 0
Dynamic Iris on

Advance Menu:
Gamma High 0
Gamma Mid 0
Gamma Low 0
Contrast R +1
Contrast G +1
Contrast B -4
Bright R -3
Bright G 0
Bright B -3

Looks Excellent!! You Panasonic PT-AE700U guys need to try this out.. :)

Could those who have the HD-AI (or HD-XAI) paired with the ae-700 post their impressions?

Also, could you list how it's connected and your settings?

Thanks!

I'll be sure to post mine when I receive my AI at the end of the week.

Chad G.

I've owned my AE-700 for about 6 months now. Frigging incredible projector for the $2200 I paid at Costco.

Everyone and their brother has been wowed nonstop by this puppy projected onto a Dalite HighPower 133" screen.

It just looks great.

A couple weeks ago, my buddy tried to one-up me and brought over his new AE-900 from Costco, and I must admit, it looked noticably better. The colors were much more vibrant, and you could see the improved contrast.

Now, I can take my AE-700 back to Costco anytime and get the new AE-900 for $200 less. (Costco let's you return almost anything forever). But it's just not a huge increase and I didn't run out and do it.

Then, this weekend, I was checking my NetFlix queue and noticed they had HD-DVDs listed?!? WTH? I didn't think HD-DVD players were out yet. Well, checking AVSFourms I found out the Toshi player was out, and I ordered it almost immediately.

Sunday was torture as BestBuy was closed for Easter.

Monday was torture, as I picked up the new HD-DVD player, but BestBuy wouldn't sell me the DVD's until Tuesday.

Tuesday (today) was heaven, as I had the HD-DVD player. I have the HD-DVDs, and OMFG it looks amazing on the AE-700.

My god this is what I've been waiting for. We watched Serenity tonight in HD-DVD and the resolution is just amazing. It's like your eyes can pick out any one portion of the image and zoom in and there's still magnificent resolution.

My system has been good. Very good, until today.

Now it's GREAT.

The AE-700 projected onto a Dalite High Power 133" screen in a properly dark room is superb. I've got it running into a Sherwood/Newcastle Preamp, and then to a wonderful Rotel 1077 digital amplifer, feeding an all Klipsch system, with buttkickers in the seats.

It's always been so good, so impressive. But watching Serenity tonight in HD-DVD just blew everything else away.

Now I wonder what's left on the table? The AE-700 is relatively primitive as it 'only' outputs 720p. How much better would it look if I upgraded to a projector that outputted 1080i?!? How much better would it be when they release HD-DVD players that output 1080p and I get a 1080p projector?!?

Life is good.

Live rich, don't die rich.

$499 is a paltry amount to spend on a new DVD player compared to what we've spent on the rest of our systems. If you don't like it, take it back.

The wonderful part is Netflix is carrying all HD-DVDs and I won't need to buy the movies unless I really want to have them available every second of every day (for showing off to friends, which I do fairly often).

I must admit, it has some 'defects'. It won't play my region 2 DVDs. (Blake's 7!!!). It won't play my DVD+Rs for some reason. It's remote is absolutely horrible.

But so what, I'll just keep my old wonderful Oppo DVD player along side it and suffer.

I say: Buy it, try it in your own system, if you don't like it, return it.

You won't.

HD-DVD rocks. =)

Tuesday (today) was heaven, as I had the HD-DVD player. I have the HD-DVDs, and OMFG it looks amazing on the AE-700.

My god this is what I've been waiting for. We watched Serenity tonight in HD-DVD and the resolution is just amazing. It's like your eyes can pick out any one portion of the image and zoom in and there's still magnificent resolution.

My system has been good. Very good, until today.

Now it's GREAT.

Live rich, don't die rich.

HD-DVD rocks. =)

This is what I wanted to hear! Great post. Now, I wonder when these'll hit the UK--if the come in a roughly the same price c. £350 sterling, then I've got that in the HD fund already so one will be mine soon!

One question, did you have Serenity SD version? That was pretty good on my oppo/AE700 combo (much like yours)--just how much better is it?

Thanks again for the drool worthy post.

Dave

Hi Dozer!

You have me wanting to break my piggy bank! But, I'm going to have to wait a little longer. I have only one piggy bank and BD is right around the corner. Hmmm...

How does the picture quality of HD-DVD compare to OTA or cable hdtv? That may be my deciding factor. And waiting for more movies.

Need help in getting power supply and a service manual. Here is my horror story with an independent authorized repair company:

My ae700 went out about three months ago and took it to local service company who said would charge $150 just to take a look at it but would apply this charge towards fixing the projector. Well, after a month I called to follow up and they said they were waiting for ballast to come from Panasonic middle of March. 2 weeks later, again I had to follow up on my initiative and they said they got the ballast but the fan is out and waiting for the fan part from Panasonic. 4 weeks later I had to follow up again and service center said yes the projector is ready to pick up and bill would be $450. Wow, this is expensive. Asked if this includes bulb and they said NO. Day later, as I was going to get my projector, technician calls (which is last Friday) tells me the lights are now powering up properly and the faulty item is power supply and told me that my cost now is $560. Hell, the freaking projector is only worth $1K at most on ebay as used projector.

At this point, I want to just pay the $150 and get my projector back from service center as obviously I am getting royally screwed. The projector is out of warranty so what the heck, I can repair it myself. The only thing that is wrong with it is probably the power supply. So, I want to get the power supply and put it in myself using the service manual. The problem is where to get the power supply. Any suggestions from you or members seeing this post.

I don't see many new posts on this thread, so I don't know if I will get an answer, but here goes ...

I have noticed a problem with my AE-700 that I thought was fixed by my upgrade to the 1.07 software last year, but now it seems to be back:

I have noticed that the brightness of the picture will sometimes shift while I am watching a movie or TV program. In other words, the picture will suddenlty get slightly brighter or slightly dimmer.

This seems to happen at random times, typically a few times per hour, but sometimes it does not happen at all.

I have almost 900 hours on my projector, I run in VIDEO mode with HIGH lamp.

At first I thought it was a problem with my DISH Network 921 HD DVR, but then I noticed the same problem while watching a DVD.

Anybody else notice this random "brightness shift" on their PJ's?

If so, were you able to fix it?

Thanks,

Steve

I have the exact same problem, which started a couple months ago. I have ~1,300 hours on mine (running in HIGH mode as well). Does yours flicker quickly - or just once, then wait a few minutes, flickers again? Mine flickers quickly many times -- like a twitching. Then seems to go away for a while, then back.

I wonder if we need new bulbs already? Unfortunately, I think my warranty has expired -- it's only 1 yr on the AE700, right?

My AE700 is showing terrible vertical banding. It has become really obvious when I watch FIFA World Cup matches and most of the screen is green grass. I would like to get it fixed even if it costs me.

Is there a standard fix available to solve the problem, like replacing the LCD or the lighting mechanism? From what I understand the banding occurs because of uneven lighting of the LCD. From the regularlity of the pattern it looks like a design problem and not a field failure. The projector has less than 200 hours on it.

well to add to the issues I can't seem to get the Oppo DV971H to work over HDMI. The screen goes black and there is a blue and purple line that runs across the screen. It makes me so made. I was working for about 2 months and now it doesn't. I've tried changing the firmware on the DVD player.... nothing works. My guess is the HDMI port is gone on the projector.

My AE700 is showing terrible vertical banding. It has become really obvious when I watch FIFA World Cup matches and most of the screen is green grass. I would like to get it fixed even if it costs me.

Is there a standard fix available to solve the problem, like replacing the LCD or the lighting mechanism? From what I understand the banding occurs because of uneven lighting of the LCD. From the regularlity of the pattern it looks like a design problem and not a field failure. The projector has less than 200 hours on it.


You can fix it or at least reduce it. You need to do what is called the flicker fix. Go into the menu and hold enter when over OSD. Hold it for 3 secs and then you will go to a hidden menu. There you can go to flicker test. Then you adjust the settings until flicker is at a minimum. Green is the one that does the most.

Be aware that your projector should be all warmed up (30 mins ish) when you do the adjustments. Banding becomes less and less of a problem as you get more hours on your projector. I don't know why.

I have the exact same problem, which started a couple months ago. I have ~1,300 hours on mine (running in HIGH mode as well). Does yours flicker quickly - or just once, then wait a few minutes, flickers again? Mine flickers quickly many times -- like a twitching. Then seems to go away for a while, then back.

I wonder if we need new bulbs already? Unfortunately, I think my warranty has expired -- it's only 1 yr on the AE700, right?


That is similar to my problem.

The brightness "twitch" may happen 2 or 3 times in one scene, then go away for awhile. Later it happens again. It is unpredictable.

I was hoping somebody had found a "cure" for this by now.

Also, I did not have any VB when I first got my PJ, but it has been getting worse and worse as time goes by -- contrary to what others have found.

I turn off the power to my PJ after every use, which is supposed to reduce VB, but it is always very noticeable when I first turn the PJ on.

However, the VB fades away as the PJ warms up. Typically, the VB totally disappears after the PJ has been running for an hour or more.

So, whenever possible, I go down to my media room and preheat my projector for an hour or more before I watch a movie or HD TV show. I now that adds wasted hours to the lamp life, but it beats looking at VB.

Of course, mywife never notices the VB, it only bothers me. Like others have said on this forum, ignorance is bliss. You are often better off not knowing what to look for because I didn't notice the VB at first, but now that I know what it looks like, it drives me crazy until it goes away after an hour or so.

....I have noticed that the brightness of the picture will sometimes shift while I am watching a movie or TV program. In other words, the picture will suddenlty get slightly brighter or slightly dimmer.

This seems to happen at random times, typically a few times per hour, but sometimes it does not happen at all.

I have almost 900 hours on my projector, I run in VIDEO mode with HIGH lamp....I run with LOW lamp since the beginning.
At about 1200h (now at 1500h) I saw the brightness variations during medium-light scenes.
I put the lamp in HIGH mode for 15 minutes to "clean" the bulb (?), and then the problem disappeared.
Actually it didn't disappear 100%, as sometimes it still comes up again, but it is really less frequent.
Every month I repeat the HIGH-LAMP operation, if necessary.

Unfortunately, since you already run in HIGH mode, it's a different story......

Just finished de-dusting my AE700 and thought some of you on here might be interested as ive not seen anyone go into the lens before. Hope im allowed to link to AVForums where i posted?
Here (http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=165188&page=2)

I've recently gone through a number of dvd players- I'm not posting from home so I can't recall all the model numbers...anyways I've noticed that ghosting/jittery motion seems to vary between the dvd players that I've been trying lately. I've used an ancient 480i toshiba, that wasn't bad, a newer jvc that as middle of the road, an oppo 971h both with hdmi and component which was bad, a samsung dvd recorder that I got offa ebay for 70 bucks which was awesome, as well as my pc which was also excellent. Anyways here's my question, what glitch/artifact am I referring too? I don't often see this described in dvd player reviews, it doesn't appear to be dependent on digital/analog output, or interlaced/progressive...

Anybody know what I'm talking about? I'm finding that this is the most important aspect for me when determining the best standard def dvd player for my ae700.