had to make it an even 2000 replies to this thread
;)

Time honoured tradition. ;)

bakpakva,

If I buy that there is such code,
Any word on what the Iris upgrade is supposed to do?

ted

This unit was shipped late October, lending some credence to the theory that they shipped early units with either shorter life or defective bulbs.

This is a 'theory' propagated by owners badly stung by their initial purchase and is not based from industry sourced comment.

Be careful that such theories don't become 'fact' in abscence of any official statement from Panasonic that they have discovered lemon lamps in the PTAE-700.

Anyone buying a PTAE-700 would be well advised to prepare for similar lamp life as has been experienced by others worldwide.

Check with your seller, understand your warranty cover/consumer law in your state.

Do not assume that this theory is fact and that you are any safer with the newer version of the PTAE-700 than those with the early version.

Caveat Emptor.

I have R1.07 A1.03 P1.05 firmware and so far after 215 hrs use no problems which i consider bad to report.

Don't listen to "BP". He's a troll and lives on response. It is really amazing how he thinks he might get anyone on his side trying to beat up on someone like tvted, who is a very helpful and positive member. It is fine if you have an ae700 and are unhappy, but you have given no details about anything personal, just bland, uncorrelated bashings of a pj you don't seem to have any knowledge of. Thinking you are a plant from some other pj mfgrs makes me want to just stick with panasonic. Then again, no pj manufacturer would be stupid enough to hire such inept representation.

Which part of my advice suggesting anyone purchasing the PTAE-700 should be informed with correct industry sourced information do you object to?

I have R1.07 A1.03 P1.05 firmware and so far after 215 hrs use no problems which i consider bad to report.

Mine is R1.03 A1.03 P1.04, so I guess there are a couple of firmware updates I need to catch up on.

ted, I read 18 pages of the french site, and no one knows for sure, but the best guess is that the P number relates to the firmware that controls the iris. Only Panny knows for sure.

And for pete's sake, stop feeding the troll!

As to a meter?
What do you want to do and how much do you wish to spend?

All I want to do is chart the brightness (in whatever units) over time relative to the first measurement I will take after replacing the bulb. I don't imagine I need anything super-sophisticated. If my next bulb doesn't make at least 1500 hours, I want to be armed with as much "evidence" as possible when I go complaining to Panny. As for price, less than $100 maybe, but I have no idea what these things cost.

All I want to do is chart the brightness (in whatever units) over time relative to the first measurement I will take after replacing the bulb. I don't imagine I need anything super-sophisticated. If my next bulb doesn't make at least 1500 hours, I want to be armed with as much "evidence" as possible when I go complaining to Panny. As for price, less than $100 maybe, but I have no idea what these things cost.

Since you don't need something that works for Photography, it is best to get a device that measures the bulb directly - leaving the screen out of the equation. This would be a device that measures Lux preferably, or Foot Candles.

The Smart III calibration system utilizes Extech meters.
http://www.extech.com/instrument/categories/light/light.html
Specifically, http://www.extech.com/instrument/products/400_450/403125.html

It is basic and easy to use. Any comparable meter should be adequate.

ted

Mine is R1.03 A1.03 P1.04, so I guess there are a couple of firmware updates I need to catch up on.

ted, I read 18 pages of the french site, and no one knows for sure, but the best guess is that the P number relates to the firmware that controls the iris. Only Panny knows for sure.

And for pete's sake, stop feeding the troll!

Thanks again. - Post if you learn anything re the Iris - since its intimately linked to the PQ I like to know if possible.
Perhaps I could interest my 10 year old since she is being educated in French. ;)

As to the foodstuffs - I just find it difficult to grit my teeth when its not a friend who is insulting me. ;) I just feel I've got to defend myself, since I poke my nose into places perhaps I shouldn't, I hate my credibility being attacked.

ted

That "rumor" regarding a dud set of bulbs in early issues of the AE700 is not entirely rumor.

When my own bulb croaked at 750 hours the call centre guy at Panasonic Australia distinctly and unambiguously said that he had heard the same thing. When I asked him if he had received his information from customers he said, "No. The information was internal."

This is only one swallow and doth not make a summer, but he definitely said this to me.

Re. pro-rata lamp replacement costs: the spare parts manager of Panasonic Australia said there was such a policy. If your bulb croaked early on in the expected life cycle, assuming there had been no misuse or that it was not of faulty manufacture, he said the local policy was to charge a pro-rata cost for replacing it.

He also said there had not been very many lamp replacements in Australia since the product's inception in October 2004. Between a dozen and two dozen. My replacement lamp was from a "new shipment" that arrived only a few days before my old lamp blew.

The dealer who originally sold me the unit (Aim Digital, Melbourne) said that he had heard of no failures from the batch of units he had been allocated back in October (the first shipment to this country).

I'm going to try to find someone to talk to that is above my regional rep or, if that's not possible, I'll harass him some more to try to get some kind of deal worked out. It sounds like the reps in Australia are much more informed than this guy.

Does anyone have a definitive answer on the dynamic iris noise issue I asked about?

Does anyone have a definitive answer on the dynamic iris noise issue I asked about?

Definitive?
Tall order. ;)

I believe in the extreme example you cited this is likely normal, as it is rapidly transitioning between high APL and low APL shots.
If it is apparent during the normal course of a movie with average sequences or is associated with flickering then there is likely a problem.
I rarely hear mine except at startup, of course.

No harm in asking Panasonic though, if you are concerned.

ted

mine's in for service for the iris (among other issues). they didn't get to it before the holiday weekend, so i won't hear from them until probably mid week. i can't wait to hear what he has to say. my guess is, he'll say "there's nothing wrong with this, you need to replace your bulb". and at that point. i'll be extremly dissapointed and upset. we'll see.

Have a AE700 that has started to intermittently display three images across the screen. The only way to return to a single picture is to either turn unit on/off ot to change the picture mode and return it to how it was. The unit was bought in Nov 2004 and is only 250 hours old and has great picture quality when its a single picture. This problem has occured about 8 times over two months and is not limited to any one input device. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Have a AE700 that has started to intermittently display three images across the screen. The only way to return to a single picture is to either turn unit on/off ot to change the picture mode and return it to how it was. The unit was bought in Nov 2004 and is only 250 hours old and has great picture quality when its a single picture. This problem has occured about 8 times over two months and is not limited to any one input device. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


Dave, I had the same problem a couple of times - no need to turn if off, simply move modes (from hdmi to pc and back again for example) and itll go away.

If it persists continously, get it checked out, but check it out for a while longer...

Interestingly, mine is an aussie unit too.

<--- New guy 1st post (noob)

I apologize in advance for going off topic but do you guys think the panny ae700 is sufficient for business presentations as well? Or is the 1000ansi too low? The usual powerpoint/laptop shows.

Its always nice to know your not the only one with an unusal fault. Panasonic know nothing of the problem but recommended it be checked out. Will take the opportunity to get lense checked out and new firmware installed. Will advise outcome in a week or two.

huh, turns out the tech working on my pj has ordered parts for it. receptionist couldn't tell me what is wrong with it, and the tech is out. but hey, that's good news i think. that's better than what i was expecting, "yeah we turned it on, took it home over the holiday weekend and put about 40 hours on it, and we couldn't find anything wrong with it!"

could there be light at the end of the tunnel? no pun intended--okay well, a little :p

:D

could there be light at the end of the tunnel? no pun intended--okay well, a little :p

:D

Watch out for the VB when you get it back. :eek:

Paranoia strikes deep.....

ted

Be hopefull, billymac, at least he ordered parts. Who knows, maybe you'll get a new iris, and bulb out of the deal. Then again, he could have accidently dropped it, thus the new parts...

That three-picture thingy happened to me too. Another Aussie AE700. I put it down to sync problems with my old Toshiba DVD Player. It hasn't happened since I bought my Sony.

Try another player.

Got my projector back from service with 1.07 firmware installed (up from 1.03) and have been informed the VB and globe dulling are 'both characteristics and not defects'. As for the three pictures, the upgrade is meant to have fixed this.

We'll soon see.

Also is there any documented method of calibration or configuring a projector to get the best out of it. These forums have given me snipets but nothing complete. Any leads would be appreciated.

MrClown, I had the exact same problem you had: a clicking sound during alternating light/dark scenes. When I turned off the dynamic iris, the sound went away. I only have 78 hours on the counter. What should I do?

MrClown,

I have the same sound you are experiencing. I too live in Denver, but the clicking (at least to my perception) seems to be more tame and has not been a bother.

Now that being said, I will probably notice it all the time now!

Jeffmcc

well, i'm afraid all the excitement was for not. the "parts" the tech ordered was a new bulb. :(

he popped in a bulb from another projector that had about 300 hours on it and it was much brighter. mine has 800 hours on it. he put my bulb in another 700 he had in the shop and it made it flicker like it did in mine. so he thinks the probem lies in the bulb itself. which totally f'ing sucks becuase it has 800 hours on it. he was going to talk to the rep today about it and see if he could help me out but you know he's not going to budge. he said he thought it would be 50 to 50, i'd say 100 to none. he's going to give me his number if he says no and i'm going to bitch and moan. probably to no avail.

"he thinks the probem lies in the bulb itself"
Well isn't he going to replace it "for free"? It sounds like a manufacturing defect not "wear and tear". If it were just dimmer that would be one thing, but "flickering"? I have around 800 hours and mine sure isn't flickering. I'd be pissed if it were.

What was the consensus on using the 72MM B+W KR-6 81EF Filter with the 72 to 77MM adapter? It appears that this is the only one that I can ever find in stock anywhere. I read through this thread and searched for it, but I only saw 2 responses, both of which stated that they had ordered it. I never saw a reply stating if it worked or not.

TIA

Randyman
There were posts, hard to search for.
Shouldn't be a problem.

What was the consensus on using the 72MM B+W KR-6 81EF Filter with the 72 to 77MM adapter? It appears that this is the only one that I can ever find in stock anywhere. I read through this thread and searched for it, but I only saw 2 responses, both of which stated that they had ordered it. I never saw a reply stating if it worked or not.

TIA

Works great. Some people go down to 67mm and have no problems.

What was the consensus on using the 72MM B+W KR-6 81EF Filter with the 72 to 77MM adapter? It appears that this is the only one that I can ever find in stock anywhere. I read through this thread and searched for it, but I only saw 2 responses, both of which stated that they had ordered it. I never saw a reply stating if it worked or not.

TIA

There are several on here that have the 62mm with no problems as well.
(check the filter thread)

I have an extra 62 with 77MM adaptor still in the box if anyone wants it, pm me.

I feel your pain billymac.

I went through a very similar thing myself, with my lamp. Different symptoms, but similar hours.

When I started getting stonewalled by the service company I "whinged and bitched" like a banshee from Projector Hell to Panasonic corporate.

Found out all sorts of interesting things along the way (pro-rata lamp replacement policy, batch of dud lamps in early models etc.) and finally got the lamp replaced for free. I made sure I eyeballed the old one to see the damage for myself (put a big finger mark on it too, for fun).

WHINGE and BITCH. 800 hours and it's already flickering is WAY too early for anything but warranty replacement. The service tech has proved beyond doubt that there's something VERY wrong with your lamp, and always has been. Hold on to that and repeat whenever you get the chance to whoever will listen (and even some who won't). It'll eventually sink in that you're The Customer From Hell.

Works (almost) every time.

What was the consensus on using the 72MM B+W KR-6 81EF Filter with the 72 to 77MM adapter? It appears that this is the only one that I can ever find in stock anywhere. I read through this thread and searched for it, but I only saw 2 responses, both of which stated that they had ordered it. I never saw a reply stating if it worked or not.

TIA

I have one and it works fine. Only downside is that the lens cap doesn't fit.

--Joachim

I have one and it works fine. Only downside is that the lens cap doesn't fit.

--Joachim

I'm suprised that it doesn't fit. I have seen some others on here state that it does still fit (the 72mm + adapter). Can anyone else verify if the lens cap is still usable/unusable when using the 72mm + adapter?

I just stopped using the cap on mine. It is too easy to "bump" the focus ring while putting it on and off. I can always unscrew and clean the filter if needed, but after a couple months of usage, there really isn't much dust to clean.

Same here. Never use the cap anyway, because it always messes with the focus ring.

Set the projector back on its ceiling bracket and searched the advanced service menu to confirm an upgrade was done. Projector has gone from 1.03 to 1.07 firmware and I must say the picture quality has improved from what I originally thought was a great picture. 'Fly screen' effect seems even less pronounced. VB seem to have disappeared.

Thought I was kidding myself about the improvement in picture quality but even wife and No1 son thought quality was better. So far the three picture problem has not occured after 10 hours watching. Will keep fingers crossed.

Good work dave, who did it and how long did it take!

cheers.

If anyone is interested I have an extra 77MM B+W KR-6 81EF Filter with MRC coating (no need for the adapter). PM me if interested.
Rob

gijoela

The "search" function is your friend.

gijoela

I agree with JimP but I will try and confuse you some. ;)

1) Not the PJ's fault. Poor source. Most titles are Video, hence Interlace - likely artifacting you are seeing.

2) OPTIONS menu. Select OSD - Press the ENTER for about 3 or 4 seconds. A not so "secret" menu will be revealed. Its in one of those choices - I ain't home right now so I can't be definitive. Someone else will chime in - but it is in this thread somewhere.

3) 2.35 and 1.85 sources will have black bars top and bottom as they are not 1.78 which is 16:9. They better be this way, or Original Aspect Ratio types like me would scream. I believe ZOOM still works in HDMI if you insist on losing some of the picture.

4) Why are you tweaking? Once calibrated to your taste with AVIA or DVE or further if you want to go to D65 with a filter, there should be no reason to tweak as that is how it is coming off the DVD. Most issues are source related in this case.

I don't know why you would expect Panasonic to answer these questions for you frankly.

ted

I just purchased the AE700 from ProjectorPeople.com 2 weeks ago. Can I assume that it will have the most recent firmware update? Thanks.

I just purchased the AE700 from ProjectorPeople.com 2 weeks ago. Can I assume that it will have the most recent firmware update? Thanks.

That would be a safe bet. I purchased mine from the same location and within the same time frame as you and I have verified that it is indeed version 1.07.

With no disrespect to "gijoela", I'd have to say that the ae700, with all its report oddities is a great projector for the price. $1900+ is a lot of money to me, but no where near the high end of the price range for a projector. If you do have to spend 2-3 weeks without the unit because Heartland or some other repair shop is upgrading something, so what? Its summer (at least in the US), take a walk each night with the family, read a book, volunteer at a charitable organization. At the same time your projector is wigging out, someone in the world was told they have cancer. That is a problem. Us AE700 owners, trying to get perfect skin tones on our movies is not a problem. Anyway, I do defend your right to voice your opinions, but unless your projector is totally mucked up, enjoy it. A crappy movie is still a crappy movie whether its on the .7 or .9 version of firmware. As for suptitles, I'm not cultured enough to enjoy foreign films, so I don't have to put up with that issue. Hmmm, I guess in my case "Ignorance is Bliss!".

Well put, dapdrums....as an owner of an AE-700, I'm floored at the amount of tweaking and bitching about this projector. Life is sure good for everyone if their biggest concern is firmware and filters.

I also have had my panny 700 for 2 months. A good portion of my dvd collection (in the 100's) are non-US films with subtitles as an option. I must say that most are clear and very readable compared to watching them on my RPTV. The only time it is of inferior quality and very objectionable is when they are imbedded on the film transfer. I try never to buy those. Find it hard to belive that Gigoela's problem came from his pj. As stated previously from members, it probably has to to with bad dvd encoding i.e: downconverted from a region 2 master, interlace, bad cables, inadequate dvd player ..etc. We sometimes also forget to have our eyesight checked often enough.

All you guys made your points, and after a day of venting some built up frustration, I do also admit that I am happy with my 700 even with my perfectionist mentality. Hey, I am in the creative world here in Hollywood and my expectations get the best of me.

In any case --

The question remains...In what menu can I confirm the version of firmware?

Thanks for the remarks about the subtitles..But it's happening on films like Return of the Jedi, Traffic, as well as on foreign films...in HDMI mode.

Someone at Panasonic suggested this...

"No need to use an upscaling DVD player output of 720p or 1080i (My player is a Panasonic S77S), hook the DVD player back up to the component inputs, send the 480p signal and let the 700 handle the upscaling since the content is 480p anyway"

This person admitted that he is not knowledgeable about the unit but his experience with other Pany's influenced his thinking. His thought was the upscaling was causing the distortion of the subtitles since the image was being re-scaled by the DVD player then re-scaled again by the 700. That does not make sense since you cannot change the aspect ratio's in HDMI mode, zoom features do not work.

I have tried other DVD players I own, like my Toshiba, same problem. So...

I have tried other DVD players I own, like my Toshiba, same problem. So...

I have a Toshiba 5980 that I run at 720p over HDMI. I find that the DVD quality is primarily based on the quality of the DVD. LOTR, SWI-II excellent, older movies like Jurassic Park, not so good. I find that HDMI at any resolution is better that component at 480p (haven't tried 480i).

Subtitles are never a problem, in fact sometimes I use them to focus the picture,
since they are the sharpest part of the screen. Although most if not all DVDs I own have the subtitles as features of the disc rather than encoded in the video transfer.

--Joachim

In any case --

The question remains...In what menu can I confirm the version of firmware?

Thanks for the remarks about the subtitles..But it's happening on films like Return of the Jedi, Traffic, as well as on foreign films...in HDMI mode.


"No need to use an upscaling DVD player output of 720p or 1080i (My player is a Panasonic S77S), hook the DVD player back up to the component inputs, send the 480p signal and let the 700 handle the upscaling since the content is 480p anyway"

I have tried other DVD players I own, like my Toshiba, same problem. So...


Err ... did you read my response?

OPTIONS menu. Select OSD and hold ENTER button down. A new menu will appear. It's one of the revealed sources. - I ain't doing all the work for you.

Again, most titles are done in Video and then mixed with film in the final DVD build. So essentially you are seeing combined Video/Film source which have different deinterlacing protocols. So its an MPEG issue - some players handle it better than others.

As to scaling if you are truly looking for answers, try this thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=477740

btw - you're in Hollywood and still needed to ask about black bars at the top and bottom? :eek:

ted

The question remains...In what menu can I confirm the version of firmware?

Tried other DVD players I own, like my Toshiba, same problem. So...[/QUOTE]

Looked up the info at the beginning of this thread for you:
Firmware info is in the SERVICE MENU.
Press MENU=OPTION
Highlight "OSD"
Hold "ENTER" down for 3 seconds
You can then check your firmware version in the service menu under "SELF CHECK"
The display on your screen will read as such:
R1.03
A1.03
P1.04

R1.03 IS the version of the firmware. If you have the latest version, then it will read R1.07

AS far as you pixelation problem, since you have tested 2 dvd players and it does not seem to originate there, I would suggest to now see if your DVI/HDMI cable is not at fault. First make sure your connections are tight and pushed fully in. I use the same setting as joachimm and love the results. FYI my DVI/HDMI cable is Monster Series 400 (4m-12ft).Maybe if you tell us what cable you are using, someone with a similar set-up would be able to help. Hope this helps you somewhat.

Hey thanks for all the info. Looks like my firmware version is 1.03. So, possibly, the issues I am having may be related to the firmware...

As far as not knowing the library of differences in DVD's with various aspect ratio's while I work in the industry here in Hollywood, I just believed that certain DVD players could in fact adjust the aspect ratio to fit the screen, hence, no black bars.

I've learned that is not the case. A certain DVD will play with black bars (A true 16X9 formatted DVD) on my MAC G5 but will appear full screen 16X9 on my 700, hence causing me to ask the question... Make sense..Yeah, I do know a thing or two about aspect.
:)

On to my next quest...Any one here running an input to the AE700 from their MAC G5...Am wondering what's better, DVI out to HDMI in on the 700, or DVI out convert to VGA, VGA in on 700. Anyone with results? Cable lengths, etc.>?

gijoela
I am still on 1.03 and do not have your problems. The 1.07 is certainly going to help overall, and I plan on it, but it sounds like you might still have problems until you get things set up right. What dvd player do you use?

I use a mini mac with mine and I use a DVI VGA adapter with a vga cable. Looks very good, I really cant say if it is worse than going dvi-hdmi which I used to do with a DVI switcher. If I was using my mac for my main dvd player I'm sure I'd go DVI to HDMI, though.

On to my next quest...Any one here running an input to the AE700 from their MAC G5...Am wondering what's better, DVI out to HDMI in on the 700, or DVI out convert to VGA, VGA in on 700. Anyone with results? Cable lengths, etc.>?

VGA is Analog wherein the DVI to HDMI is digital so the choice is yours. Saying that though, some still prefer the VGA input over the HDMI one.

I currently have an HTPC DVI output converted to VGA over a 7 metre run and am quite happy with it.

ted

I am also still running version 1.03 and do not have any picture issues apart for ocassional white flashes with HDMI. Otherwise, great pj! I'm also editing on macs (Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro) and like "tsteves" would use direct DVI/HDMI.Great to see many of us enjoying our macs for multi-media! :)

Looks like the vendor I bought my unit from is going to exchange it for a new one with 1.07 software. So I get a brand new unit.

The DVD player I am currently running is PANASONIC S77S. Am running at 1080i upconvert set at 4-4-4 color.

It makes sense about the artifacts on subtitles as they are dropped on the DVD separately as mentioned by another post-er. Tried componet connects, rescaled it back to 480p, same problem. And as I mentioned, I see these on all films, from Star Wars series to foreign films. So no one else is having this issue? I did read about this problem in a post on another board a while ago but cant find out how the guy resolved it.

Also...Anyone running the 700 off a DISH 811 HD receiver? The channel info bars etc are also full of pixelations, artifacts, in other words, the menus are not clean. Typical? Could dust in the lense be causing this issue?

Does anyone think the THX calibration menus are worth a try for color corrections?

gijoela
glad you're getting the updated model without a lot of pain.
I watch a LOT of subtitled movies and have no issues.

The DVD player I am currently running is PANASONIC S77S. Am running at 1080i upconvert set at 4-4-4 color.?

I wonder what good 4.4.4 is since there isn't a DVD in the world that has that kind of colour sampling - t'aint capable of it - bandwidth required is enormous. Guess I'll have to read a bit as to why Panasonic thinks that has value.


Does anyone think the THX calibration menus are worth a try for color corrections?

Its Ok if its a temporary solution, but not recommended for long term, consistent results. For that you will need AVIA and/or DVE.
See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=494606) for excellent reference.

ted

I've had the AE700 for about 6 months now. I have it hooked up to a HTPC and projecting onto a Stewart Grayhawk and the picture is nothing short of stunning but....

The picture seems to have a purple caste to it.

I'm running Normal Mode with the following specs:

Contrast -4
Brightness -12
Sharpness +3
Color temp -1
Dnyamic Iris On

All gammas at 0
Contrast R 0
Contrast G +6
Contrast B 0
Brightness R -6
Brightness G -3
Brightness B -6

No amount of tweaking seems to eliminate the purple caste, especially in white areas of the picture.

Any suggestions for a filter or any other tweaks to my settings with be much appreciated.

I've played around with it a lot but I'm an amateur when it comes to correcting the color balance

Allow me to join the AE700 club!

I've been using a Dwin TV3 for the past 2 years and it finally needed to go in for repair/overhaul/update. Rumor has it that it will be gone for about 3 weeks or so for the work plus shipping. Anyway, too long a down time for me so I decided to research the low cost possibilities. Well, the decision narrowed pretty fast, looking for a PJ with HDMI and component with 720x1280, lens shift, low cost and goot overall reviews from you all.

The Panasonic seemed to be just the thing, especially since it will fit right where the Dwin sat. Making installation easy.

Just have it up and running for a couple of hours and here's my evaluation-

After some tweaking of the menus for good color rendition, I can say that this little PJ is quite adequate as a backup for downtime of a more expensive, supposedly better projector.

I settled on cinema1 setting with the brightness down to -8 and the contrast up to +4 That seems to take away some of the out of the box harshness of the image. I think the Dwin has had an excellent color accuracy out of the box that this projector doesn't have. If it were my primary HT PJ I would highly recommend going with a professional calibration. There is just something not accurate about the colors that make it look like seeing life on a computer screen vs. the Dwin which had a life through a window transparent quality. I made these judgements using HDMI and Discovery HD channel.
The DVD playback connected via component leaves me disappointed as the PQ is more muddy and the blacks difficult to achieve without ending up with a really dark look. I don't have a HDMI to HDMI cable long enough to connect to my DVD player so this opinion may be different with HDMI.

Basically, the overall quality while obviously not the image of the TV3 certainly will offer days of enjoyment while the TV3 is in for it's overhaul and then will serve well as a portable PJ for presentations later on.

The other indicator of a better but more expensive system was the AE700 mechanics. The lens offset was very crude, adjustable feet had a cheap feel compared to the machine quality of the bigger Dwin. However, after getting the PJ adjusted for height and lens settings, It stayed put and I didn't notice much drift. I did see some shift in picture geometry between the component DVD and the E* 921 DVItoHDMI source. Fortunately, I have the memories to set to aid in switching between them. I had to do the same thing with the Dwin when I first got it.

I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of screendoor artifact which always annoyed me with the LCDs. They seem to have really gotten this under control on a 92" wide screen.

Some here complained about artifacts around CC on the text. I see this too up close but at normal viewing distance it doesn't bother me.

Oh, there seems to be concern in the thread about firmware version, mine reports to be 1.05. I suppose the 1.07 is the latest but I'm not going to worry that I didn't get the latest rev. Overall, my worst fears, re screendoor, and really bad color shifts were not realized in this unit. While not 100% natural, it is good enough to allow me to get lost in the entertainment and not be annoyed that it isn't what I'm used to. Basically, it's 90% of the Dwin PQ. Not bad for a $10K difference. :)

Oh, and it's considerably quieter and has much less light spill than the Dwin too. :)

jayfsee007
"Contrast G +6"
Why is green contrast set so high? mix blue/red and you get purple, so could there be a relation of some kind?
Don
nice review, but why cinema1?

jayfsee007
"Contrast G +6"
Why is green contrast set so high? mix blue/red and you get purple, so could there be a relation of some kind?
Don
nice review, but why cinema1?


I just ran through the menu of presets and liked the look. Took the edge off the program, especially the HDTV live camera programs on Discovery HD. That edge I have so often seen on these lower end HT PJ/s particular those of the LCD build. BTW- I didn't mention but I use a matte white screen. ( gain of 1.0. :) I look for the most natural looking image I can get but I understand many feel brighter and higher contrast is better and choose to go with high gain screens, sometimes at the loss of a natural look, including hotspotting, or sweet spotting. While the Cinema1 helped naturalize the program for me it did nothing to improve the look of the menus and other graphics coming from the E*921 program guide as well as the DVD player menus. Those still looked pasty and more like it came from a $500 presentation projector. Not going to worry about it as long as the program looks fine. Might need to play around with the gamma curves to find a happy compromise though.

I think he increased green contrast to reduce the red/blue balance that was resulting in his complaint of purple cast on whites. He may have better results reducing the red / blue contrast and leave green at 0. At least try both ways. Green can have a greater influence in the luminance of the image and result in reduced black level. It's real tricky without a meter used by ISF techs. That's why I don't like to mess much with color balance. Sometimes you fix one problem and create three others in the pastels.

Could someone please quickly cover the basics around filters for me? I've seen dozens of posts here about them, but it's hard to get a sense of what to do/get.

- Am I really only a few minutes and $50-75 away from a noticeably better picture (black-level)?

- Which filter (if any) is an easy-choice for someone like me that can't spend days tweaking for the perfect picture afterword?

- Do they reduce light output at all or significantly?

- Do they all just screw on?


Background: I have my AE700 in a room with a little ambient light projecting onto a 106" da-lite "matte white" (light grey) screen, though I usually watch at night when the room is quite dark. I have an Avia Guide to Home Theater calibration DVD, but that's all in the way of tools.

Avia is all you need to calibrate.

B&W KR6 81EF is THE filter- 77mm is the size (you can go larger or smaller, but then you'll also need a step-down or step-up adaptor).

It screws right into the lens.

Yes, the blacks and contrast WILL be substantially, noticeably better, with a marginal loss in brightness. Best $70 you can spend, IMO.

Start w/ Brad Bissell's settings (search here in this thread - they've been posted MANY times), then use Avia - in less than 30 minutes of calibrating, you'll be amazed.

AVWH or anyone:

I have the b+w filter and started with Brads settings via the Video mode. I then calibrated with AVIA and while the blacks are definitely a lot darker, has anyone else noticed a diminished amount of shadow detail?

Don Landis
Still this high gain screen thing while it can contribute to hot spotting , etc, should not cause color problems.

AVWH or anyone:

I have the b+w filter and started with Brads settings via the Video mode. I then calibrated with AVIA and while the blacks are definitely a lot darker, has anyone else noticed a diminished amount of shadow detail?

I find an *increase* in shadow detail, which I attribute to the greater On/Off providing more headroom in low APL scenes.

Is your room under good light control? Is the decor dark?

Are you sure you have calibrated your Master Black (Brightness) and Master White (Contrast) for Video rather than PC levels?

See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=494606) as a reference.

If you have, you might consider *increasing* your LOW GAMMA settings to taste. (This in fact *decreases* Gamma level such that low IREs are not as clumped together.

ted

I know this has been asked many times but there doesn't seem to be a definite answer. Do you guys know if the Heliopan 81EF filter is the same as B+W 81EF? The salesman who sold me the Heliopan claimed that these are infact the one and same filter, both filters use the exact same glass material and are manufactured at the same factory. If this is the case then why the settings using heliopan and B+W differ so much?
Has anyone with a Smart III calibrator measured the on/off contrast using Heliopan?

Well, I have one answer for the convergence prob I've been having. It's been months, so the recap: The test pattern revealed convergence off by > a pixel. In fact the red had gotten separated from the other line - there was a space between them. Flesh tones take on a nasty dull green, and there are drop shadows on light objects, corresponding to the test pattern.

After a wasted trip to a local, authorized fixer who was unable to locate a tech manual, it was off to Heartland.

Heartland's experts said that the problem was just dirt.

They cleaned the optical block and lcd panels but not the lenses.

The improvement was good, tho there was still some significant bleed on the test pattern. I'll blame it on the lens.

NOW, it would appear that a small spider has taken up residence in the lense. Yes, Charlotte, there's a web in there.

More importantly, the picture has degraded again, considerably.

This is looking like what will be a regular maintenance routine, and it's expensive, ~$250.

Is anyone expert in cleaning? Tools, potions, and techniques?

Also, my search before post revealed that a manual is now available, and that convergence can be adjusted. Any details here?

(I am experienced in the repair of electronics, computers, and other devices, tho not pjs. I have a strong pref for working with a shop manual, if possible.)

I know this has been asked many times but there doesn't seem to be a definite answer. Do you guys know if the Heliopan 81EF filter is the same as B+W 81EF? The salesman who sold me the Heliopan claimed that these are infact the one and same filter, both filters use the exact same glass material and are manufactured at the same factory. If this is the case then why the settings using heliopan and B+W differ so much?
Has anyone with a Smart III calibrator measured the on/off contrast using Heliopan?

I'm not an expert on filters, but the 81EF is a specification (generally called a warming filter, IIRC), which means they should be essentially the same.

You will get great variety in settings, even with the same identical filter, between projectors - the Bissell settings are just a starting point to calibrate from.

I'm not an expert on filters, but the 81EF is a specification (generally called a warming filter, IIRC), which means they should be essentially the same.

You will get great variety in settings, even with the same identical filter, between projectors - the Bissell settings are just a starting point to calibrate from.


Exactly my thoughts, except there seems to be some indication that heliopan gives lower on/off contrast than b+w. That's why I asked if anyone with smart III has measured the value. But I'll just have to try, Heliopan filters are very hard to get here in Finland, my filter should arrive next week so I'll post results here.

1080i vs. 480i

Geez, after very exhaustive testing with three different DVD players on various settings, here is my results...

I recently purchased a new Panasonic S77S upconversion DVD player. So far, I have not be impressed with running the unit on HDMI and 1080i output.

I also recently had an intelligent conversation with a Panasonic Engineer based here in Los Angele to pick his brain about these upconversion signals being fed into the AE700U.

He made a very good argument that...using upconversion devices only cause the 700 to "upconvert" an upconverted signal, meaning the unit already does upscaling on it's own...

So, one issue that I noted was the INABILITY to change the aspect of product being fed through the HDMI input. The projector will NOT change the aspect ratio in this setting...A flaw? The manual backs up this issue.

In any case, I unplugged the PanaS77S DVD player and connected my SONY DVD player and connected it to the projector via componet input at 480i as the engineer suggested, allowing the projector to do it's scaling.

I was amazed at viewing Attack of the Clones (for reference) using the ZOOM (blowing the widescreen version to full screen) feature on the 700, the picture looked amazing strong (at 480i). I was able to switch the unit into progessive mode (480p) and the picture began to get distorted.

Also, color and clairity were BETTER represented at 480i via componet.

I work in the entertainment arena here in L.A. and with my experience, here is something that baffles me about "upscaling images" to better clairity and definition.
Here is my two cents...If you have an original image that has a standard resolution of 480 and are adding resolution to data or in this case pixels that simply are NOT there via "upscaling", then how do you get a better picture, meaning the content has to be created at the target resolution to really look like what you are seeking, HD level bliss.
What "upscaling" in my line of work is really doing is downsizing, because if you take a standard image set at 480 then add resolution, the image then really shrinks in scale to then get better definition of the original at a much smaller size. So these so called scaling devices must then scale down the image then scale it back up to output size to blast it onto your screen. But, the bottom line is...data or pixels are still NOT there. So, anything that supposedly adds pixels is just filling in adsent data, hence distorting the image...

Bottom line...with this projector, is a scaling DVD player or upconversion units like Iscan's etc really accomplishing anything...meaning how are they adding to data that simply does not exist? HD TV looks amazing on this unit with NO scalers involved, my guess is because it is shot and fed via a signal in it's NATIVE resolution format.

Just my thoughts.

Man, I put my hand up to the exhaust area of my AE700 yesterday. Oh my god does that get hot. It had been on for about 3 hours. Even after the cool down cycle finished, it was still extremely hot. Is it built to widthstand that? or would a tiny clip on fan help to disapate the heat a bit more?

Interesting post gijoela ...

I also have the Panny S77 hooked to the AE700. Generally I've been pretty satisfied sending a 720p signal over HDMI, but I'd be open to trying a different arrangement.

Can the S77 can also do a 480i format over component cables? I'd be curious to hear how you think the resulting 480i image from the S77 (rather than the Sony) compares to your original upconverted 1080i set-up.

(I'd play around with it myself, but alas I don't have component cables handy.)

Is there no one out there that can advise on cleaning the optics or at least point to something?

Is it any different than cleaning camera lenses, in terms of cleaners, wipes, or techniques?

I need this BAD, the picture sucks with that spider web in there. (yeah, really)

The manual had adequate info on dis/re-assembly, but nada on cleaning.

Thanks in advance,
ken

Hi all!

After lots been said and tried I decided to try something myself. As I said a while ago I don't own PTAE700,
but my company services and installs hundreds of them. Many, many people are not 100% happy with the
picture "straight out of the box". I tried all of the filters mentioned quite a bit on this forum. In my opinion
filters are waste of time and money. I did my own testing whith help of Meridian 800 DVD player and on a
110" Stewart Firehawk 1:1 widescreen, THX test disc and with lots of help from 3 guys who work with me.
We managed to get this PJ quite well into past 95% of THX standards, which not even some PJ's 3 times
the price can't come even close. And yes... we didn't use any filters. If anybody cares to try and especialy
if you use 1:1 and around 100" screen and with (recommended) component connection here are results:

PICTURE MODE : VIDEO
CONTRAST : +2
BRIGHT : -2
COLOUR : -11
TINT : -3
SHARPNESS : -1
COLOUR TEMP. : 0
DYNAMIC IRIS : ON

ADVANCE MENU
GAMMA HIGH : -1
GAMMA MID : 0
GAMMA LOW : 0
CONTRAST R : +2
CONTRAST G : -6
CONTRAST B : -6
BRIGHT R : +2
BRIGHT G : -6
BRIGHT B : -6

OPTION
OSD : ON
NR : ON (highly recommended)
CINEMA REALITY : OFF (highly recommended)
LAMP POWER : LOW (highly recommended)

See how you like it.......... Cheers!

I have cinema reality switched on and my settings are
Normal Mode

Contrast +5
Brightness +4
Color +2
Sharpness 0
Dynamic Iris On
Lamp Power Low
Fan Power High

every other setting is left alone and i find the picture looks beautiful ( to my eyes )

Can you explain why Cinema Reality should be set to off ?

I allow the projector to do all the scaling and do not have progressive on the dvd player.

[QUOTE=JohnfromQueensNY]Interesting post gijoela ...

I also have the Panny S77 hooked to the AE700. Generally I've been pretty satisfied sending a 720p signal over HDMI, but I'd be open to trying a different arrangement.

Can the S77 can also do a 480i format over component cables? I'd be curious to hear how you think the resulting 480i image from the S77 (rather than the Sony) compares to your original upconverted 1080i set-up.

(I'd play around with it myself, but alas I don't have component cables handy.)[/
QUOTE]

Good point, I will try the componet output from the S77S at 480i to the 700U and allow the projector to do the scaling.

Buying this S77S is now the third DVD player I have sampled seeking picture bliss and I have still not found it (720p or 1080i)

I may buy the Samsung HD-950 and give it a try. Just is shipping this week.

But, I am really begginning to think the HDMI input on the Panasonic as of yet proved itself in terms of providing superiority to quality.

Even a sales rep at DVDO said if I bought the ISCAN, he would recommend sending a 480i out of your DVD player via componet to the ISCAN then scaling it and sending it out to the 700. Maybe if someone has this setup we can see what this unit brings to Picture Quality seekers.

gijoela
It is all about what does the deinterlacing and scaling best. It has to get from 480i to 720p somehow! The ae-700 may do this better than some dvd players, but a very good dvd player or scaler (or a combination of both!) is certainly likely to do a better job than the ae-700.
A scaler gives the added ability to clean up your standard def TV channels.

Just a note, I was able to remove a projected unfocused dust blob the size of a thumb on my 84" I had inside my PTAE700 by setting "FAN CONTROL" to full speeding up the fan and then setting "DESK/CEILING" to "CEILING" for a few seconds. Overall the fan was quite loud. Then reverting back to normal fan and desk mode after a few seconds. I probably got lucky, but the dust blob was sucked/blown away with the increased fan speed, and is nowhere to be found. Screen is all nice and black again :cool:

The spider must be dead by now right?
Try kboye's suggestion. Maybe you can get it and its dried up arachnid stuff to move to a corner.
I sure ain't opinin' mine!

I think he increased green contrast to reduce the red/blue balance that was resulting in his complaint of purple cast on whites. He may have better results reducing the red / blue contrast and leave green at 0. At least try both ways. Green can have a greater influence in the luminance of the image and result in reduced black level. It's real tricky without a meter used by ISF techs. That's why I don't like to mess much with color balance. Sometimes you fix one problem and create three others in the pastels.

Don and Tsteve, thanks for the input. I took your suggestions andreduced blue and red but left green at zero. This has helped reduce the purple caste by a huge amount but it is still pretty visible.

Is there anything else you'd suggest? Is there a filter I should be trying? Have you heard of anyone else having this kind of problem.

I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the PJ.

I have to say, took your settings, threw on Attack of the Clones, picture was TIT's!!
Beautiful, awesome, perfect. The only change I forgot to make, changing the lamp power to low.

Thanks!

Always want to try something new so I printed out those settings (from 3D) and will try them on for size tonight. Thanks for them and the feedback.

Yup, another post about them dreaded Vertical Bands ... (cue Grand Funk Railroad).

I'm 85 hours into my Panny and for the most part have been having a lot of fun with it.

The one flaw I've been struggling with is the VB issue. These are localized areas, not too noticable during a majority of viewing. However it's very obvious when a plain gray field is thrown (for example, a cable channel that is not broadcasting), and it shows itself during broadcasts especially in areas of sky, water, and stretches of desert. It likes the elements, huh? :)

The main suggested fixes for VB seem to be (1) time, (2) flipping the main power switch on shutdown, (3) a flicker tweak.

Two questions: Am I doing the flicker tweak correctly? and What's with the Green screen?

When doing the flicker tweak, I wait 30 minutes into viewing. Then adjust each field to the lowest number that is essentially flicker-free. For Red and Blue, this number proves to be around 25 or 26. But for Green, the setting is noticably higher, more like 29 or 2A or 2B (I forget exactly -- the alphabetical ones above 29). In fact it really seems that the Green is the color with issues: where Blue and Red look reasonably nice and smooth, Green exhibits whatever banding appears in the final resulting image.

I realize Green seems to be the troubled color for some other people. To those people, has your Green improved? Does it settle down over time? When adjusting it for the tweak, should it be left at a lower number despite the flicker? Is this an irregularity that should be turned over to Panasonic to look at?

Thanks for any light you can shed on this tired issue.

Was it something I said?

Or no one likes Grandfunk Railroad?

I use one of the tricks someone else mentioned on here a while ago. (Forget who). If you use a piece of white paper held in front of the projector when doing the flicker test, you can adjust much easier. I find when holding the piece of paper a foot or so in front of the projector I can tell which 'setting' is best for each of the 3 fields. Someone mentioned you need to adjust for the ceiling option as well, but I haven't figured out why that would make any difference if you are using it in shelf mode. I was able to reduce my VB to a point where it is rarely noticeable using this technique. The green was the most difficult to judge, but I picked the lowest number. I also turn the power off after each use. No idea why that works, but it seems to give me peace of mind regardless.

200 hours here, 81EF filter, HCCV screen, if that makes any difference.

That was me who suggested the paper trick to check for flicker.

JohnfromQueensNY
I use a similar method. I don't adjust so often as I used to, just when I know I'm watching something that may have some vb that might bother me.
Don't worry about the different colors being above or below the others or by how much. Just adjust for the lowest amount of flicker on each of the colors. Look to the left and right sides of the image as you make the flicker adjustment and notice how the flicker moves from one side to the other (subtle, and it may appear more like just "there" or "not there", especially with green) and try to "center" it.
Green is naturally the most sensitive setting for anything video. There's just generally more information there.
(e) Do the ceiling settings the same as the other.

gijoela
It is all about what does the deinterlacing and scaling best. It has to get from 480i to 720p somehow! The ae-700 may do this better than some dvd players, but a very good dvd player or scaler (or a combination of both!) is certainly likely to do a better job than the ae-700.
A scaler gives the added ability to clean up your standard def TV channels.

I am in the same boat as gijoela, and will be testing your theory here.

I've had a Denon 1910 for about 6 months and have been UNIMPRESSED with its upconverted images on the 700. As I've mentioned in a few previous posts, I've also found that basic 480i component output from the Denon produces a better, more natural and filmlike picture than any of the 1910's upscaled images. Another set of eyes (a film/transfer buff) agreed.

Unhappy with the Denon, I just got an S77 and will be doing some A-B comparisons this weekend. Will report back.

I still see artifacts in all movies in all resolutions.
Just wondering if anyone else is having this issue.

Artifacts are broken jagged edges that surround letters and numbers below the widescreen presentation.

The issue occurs on two projectors, on all dvd players that have been tried.

Wondering if this is just an issue from the authoring resolution of the titles themselves.

Maybe a post in a more specific thread would address this with other projector owners.?? Any reccomendations> ?

I still see artifacts in all movies in all resolutions.
Just wondering if anyone else is having this issue.

Artifacts are broken jagged edges that surround letters and numbers below the widescreen presentation.

The issue occurs on two projectors, on all dvd players that have been tried.

Wondering if this is just an issue from the authoring resolution of the titles themselves.

Maybe a post in a more specific thread would address this with other projector owners.?? Any reccomendations> ?

That isn't artifacts. Those are the anti-alias edges blown up big. Either the source or just the text isn't at a high enough resolution for the image/viewing distance. They didn't take into an eight foot image when authoring the source. This will change with time.

gijoela
give us an example movie, format, etc.
I suspect dzmiller is probably right.
Subtitle quality varies wildly, but it's not something I think the ae700 has any specific problem with when a good dvd player gives it a good 480p , etc.

Hi guys,

I'm gonna take a risk of being repetitive but I have to do it. Here it goes: if you want to make the most out this projector and run a "film like" projection from your DVD's (not oversampled digitalised), get yourself a DVD player with 540 lines output of non-progressive stream through component cables.

Cheers

gijoela
give us an example movie, format, etc.
I suspect dzmiller is probably right.
Subtitle quality varies wildly, but it's not something I think the ae700 has any specific problem with when a good dvd player gives it a good 480p , etc.

Guys, I don't actually spend a lot of time tuning things. Most of the artifacts we see (if not almost all) come from the source. If you have seen a good HD signal (which I saw with the chap selling me the AE700) then I am sure that like me all of the potential artifacts which I thought were shortcomings of the projector had disappeared.

From the few moments I watched 5th Element and Shrek in HD I was absolutely blown away. VERY few dvds whether or not they are being upsampled come ANYWHERE near such a signal. Remember even though upsampling can be very good, it is not possible to really restore something that has already been thrown away.

So for all who have not seen what their AE700 can do (but dosn't normaly do with DVDs) try to once connect up a D-VHS player with a good HD movie.

After a week of tinkering with the settings, plusthe assistance in these threads, I have the AE700 looking very pleasing on both DVI signal from my 921 with both HBO and the live video HDTV as well as SD programming. Never saw VB here and I have settled in on the low bulb setting since I use in completely light controlled room. I also use the Cinema1 mode as it takes the edge off all the films in HDTV. I did not evaluate the Sanyo but bought the Panasonic based on installation specs and price. Keep in mind, I will be using this as a backup to my Dwin. When the Dwin returns, I do plan to keep it here for that purpose. I'm hoping to drive the AE700 with the Dwin scaler which will be an interesting experiment in itself.
Thanks to everyone for their posting of settings.

CONTRAST : +8
BRIGHT : -6
COLOUR : -13
TINT : 0
SHARPNESS : -1
COLOUR TEMP. : 0
DYNAMIC IRIS : ON

ADVANCE MENU
GAMMA HIGH : 0
GAMMA MID : 0
GAMMA LOW : 0
CONTRAST R : +1
CONTRAST G : -6
CONTRAST B : -2
BRIGHT R : +0
BRIGHT G : -6
BRIGHT B : -2
OPTION

NR : ON
CINEMA 1
LAMP POWER : LOW


I believe the key factor in seeing real improvement was the reduction of the color setting and the green. The color was still quite saturated and I felt more film like. The green look was especially present in snow live HDTV travel shows on Equator channel.

I slight improvement is seen when watching some Live video HDTV by switching the Cinema1 to Dynamic but mostly not worth the effort. I can watch film and HDTV video as well as SD channels using the Cinema1 which takes the edge off.

Hi guys,

I'm gonna take a risk of being repetitive but I have to do it. Here it goes: if you want to make the most out this projector and run a "film like" projection from your DVD's (not oversampled digitalised), get yourself a DVD player with 540 lines output of non-progressive stream through component cables.

Cheers


While I liked what you posted earlier with your settings as it put me on the right track to getting my AE700 tweaked to my satisfaction, I can't agree with the above. "non-progressive" is interlaced. Interlaced is optimized for displays that use scan line interlaced imaging, a.k.a. CRT analog displays. digital displays are best when fed with a progressive fast frame rate such as 60fps. Maybe what you posted is a typo and you meant "progressive" If so, then we agree. However, today, I think even better options should be investigated. I'm referring to HDMI/DVI connection better than Y,Pr,Pb and the latest HDTV upconvert players. I recently upgraded to an LG DVD Player that has a really nice image with it's HDMI and 720p upconverted output. The cost was $139 on sale!

Is anyone using the B&W KR6 81EF filter and Panny S77 DVD player with their 700?

If so, could you please PM me your calibrated settings for both the S77 and 700?

Would like to compare with mine. Thanks!!

Don Landis,

Re:While I liked what you posted earlier with your settings as it put me on the right track to getting my AE700 tweaked to my satisfaction, I can't agree with the above. "non-progressive" is interlaced. Interlaced is optimized for displays that use scan line interlaced imaging, a.k.a. CRT analog displays. digital displays are best when fed with a progressive fast frame rate such as 60fps. Maybe what you posted is a typo and you meant "progressive" If so, then we agree. However, today, I think even better options should be investigated. I'm referring to HDMI/DVI connection better than Y,Pr,Pb and the latest HDTV upconvert players. I recently upgraded to an LG DVD Player that has a really nice image with it's HDMI and 720p upconverted output. The cost was $139 on sale!

There is one thing I think you didn't take in consideration... All of your DVD's have their own amount of written information that is delivered to the laser assembly at certain period of time. One way we can understand this is in the amount of lines of resoultion. Now, if your DVD can give you 480, 540, 625, 720......... and you are using a HD projector, you have to recognize the fact that upconversion has to happen somewhere between your disc and the projector optical asembly. The big question here is WHERE is the better place for that to happen. My answer to that is let Panasonics internal dedicated circuitry that is specificaly designed for this machine do its work. Otherwise your PJ is dealing with already upconverted signal and in most of situations it doesn't like it. Some PJ's like it and they do improve picture saturation and quality when fed progressive and othervise upconverted signal, but in Panasonics case the best you can do is let machine do it for you.

Cheers,

First of all, thanks to every one for your interest, your good work, and your generous sharing of your knowledge. This thread has made a big difference in viewing pleasure for me and my family.

My $.02:

I've done a lot of comparing with the various setups for DVD output signal, and the best setup has consistently been HDMI/1080i/Noise Reduction on - every time, for several very different films. It gives noticeably better contrast, richer colors, and way less noise (especially the gnats in black).

The biggest drawback has been that the optimization for HDMI is not so good for the SD/HD component signal from the tuner. For that, I saved a separate setup made with component signal/Avia disc from the player, and that will have to do. SD signals in my area are so crappy, settings would have to be tuned for every show, but HDTV does benefit.

The 1080i signal is what the review at Projector Central recommended, citing the very good processing of the AE700u projector, but I tested it anyway using all output combinations possible of resolution, progressive or interlaced, component or HDMI, and noise reduction or not - all coming from a Panny S97 DVD player.

All of this testing was done as "side-by-side" as possible, because quick switching adds a lot to one's ability to compare. For example, running the film and switching between Component and HDMI wherever poss. When that wasn't viable, same clips in the film were used, and the settings were changed quickly. 1080i over HDMI was a clear winner every time.

I don't know if having both sets of cables present on the S97 made a difference, but they had to be for quicker comparisons.

Best,
ken

Don Landis,

. My answer to that is let Panasonics internal dedicated circuitry that is specificaly designed for this machine do its work. Otherwise your PJ is dealing with already upconverted signal and in most of situations it doesn't like it. Some PJ's like it and they do improve picture saturation and quality when fed progressive and othervise upconverted signal, but in Panasonics case the best you can do is let machine do it for you.

Cheers,

*Your* answer suggests that the 700's scaler is better than any out there. I doubt this. I will personally take my HTPC with ZoomPlayer + ffdshow + DScaler5 over the 700's internals any day, and I'd bet there are many others out there that would do the same.

ted

First of all, THANKS to 3-D on his recommended settings using the VIDEO mode. The only difference in his set-ups are that I am using DVD input via HDMI and not componet as recommended.

For all you guys racing to buy fixed 16x9 screens, take this into account if interested.

I just bought the IMAX DVD Blue Planet. I am using a large 4:3 screen in my theater with 5.1 digital.

After adjusting the lense on my project to open it all the way to fit the large screen perfectly, all I could say is WOOOOOOOW!

IMAX at home on your PANASONIC AE700U! AWESOME.

I did the same config with HDTV and the NBA playoff game last night, switched the Screen format on my DISH 811 to "Grey Bars" HD format and was watching the game in EYE POPPING HD IMAX size. Needless to say, my house full of buddies jaw's dropped and loved every minute of it.

My plan now is to buy a Carada Fixed 16x9 110" Widescreen for the wall, and keep my large size 4:3 for IMAX movies and Sports HD programming.

Am loving HD bliss. After the IMAX movie, threw on LOTR Return of the King, reduced the lense size back to 16x9 and the picture was SPECTACULAR.

Now for my Two Cents on scaling issue brought up by YZURDIAGA.

He mentioned trying everything "side by side" comparisons via HDMI vs. Component.

I also conducted the same experiment. The thing I thought I encountered was that my THREE upconversion DVD players would only output 480i and 480p via componet, 720p and 1080i were not available options and if they were, they would not affect any change on screen.

I also mentioned in a previous post that a Iscan Tech who is trying to convince to spend the $1000 on his scaler, assuring me of picture bliss, BUT, he noted that he would have me use a good DVD player with 480i or 480p, send to the ISCAN via COMPONENT then send that signal to the projector via COMPONENT again. That was his suggestion. There must be a method to the madness.

What I have found is exactly what others here have said repeatedly, ALOT comes down to the quality or lack of, on the DVD itself. Some of us are trained to believe that all DVD's are created equal, and I have learned that is not the case.

Star Wars Attack of the Clones, supposedly digitally mastered should by all accounts look spectacular (digital to digital) but after throwing on LOTR Return of the King, using the same settings recommended here, Return of the King looked PERFECT, perfect color, prestine clairity, nice clean clear shine's on the king's crown, etc.

The issue of subtitles looking jagged and unclean has got to do with the fact the subtitles that are ADDED to DVD's are obviously done in a low res. process of some kind. Man, I wish they would just master the original subtitled films as shown in theatres. Very distracting. Oh, someone asked, what films have I watched with distorted Subtitles...Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Return of the Jedi, Amores Perros, Motorcycle Diaries, The Sea Inside...

After almost a year of research I finally got an AE700. I wanted to share my settings with anyone who may be interested. I have a dedicated theater room with full light control. My room is about 13'x17' and the screen is about 54"x96" blackout cloth on black felt. I set up the unit untouched out of the box just to see how it would look, and I was surprised at how good the picture quality was. I knew it could be much better though so I read through this thread and others to learn all I could.

I got out my Avia disc and set contrast, brightness, sharpness and color to see what improvements I could make. I was impressed but the blacks were still not that great. I realized that I had to do something about the white ceiling so I painted it black. Wow, what an improvement, but I still wasn't satisfied.

I ended up using Brad Bisells settings with the KR6 81EF color filter, but at first was disappointed with the results. That's when I realized that I had to go back to Avia and reset contrast, brightness, color, sharpness. Now I am truly impressed with what this projector can do. I'm comparing to my Mitsubishi 73" Diamond HDTV which is behind the screen. The AE700's blacks are not that good but they are very nice none the less.

Here are my settings:
Picture Normal
Lamp High
Gamma High 0
Gamma Mid 0
Gamma Low 0
Contrast R 0
Contrast G +5
Contrast B +4
Bright R -2
Bright G -2
Bright B -1
Contrast -4
Brightness +2
Sharpness -6
Color -11
Tint +2
Color Temp -2
Dynamic Iris On

I set all my levels with the Dynamic Iris off, and then turned it on.

I hope this is useful to someone. I'm just excited that I finally got my projector!!!

Stace

Anyone know the best way to tweak out the blueish blacks a little bit without a filter?

Stace,

Thanks for posting your settings - I have a question for you.

I too just received and mounted my AE700 - I have the KR-6 filter as well. Do I need to run AVIA for myself (I don't own it) or is it likely that I could use your settings with similarly good results?! Anyone know?

(96x54 painted screen - UltraPureWhite Eggshell, Velvet border, 100% light controlled room with dark walls/ceiling)

mab45,

You should get Avia and run it for yourself. It is doubtful that my contrast and brightness settings would be exactly the same for you. Maybe a starting point though.

I was trying to point out that you have to run Avia after the Brad Bisell settings to get good results.

Good luck and enjoy your new AE700!

Stace

Anybody know what deinterlacing chips are in the ae700?
I don't think they are bad, but certainly not as good as the usual suspects in the new good dvd's or scalers.

Got my Heliopan KR6 filter yesterday, and I have to confirm that B+W and Heliopan are identical when it comes using BradBissel's settings. I inputted the settings and had to do only minor tweaks to get the gray scale in balance. Green contrast was spot on to begin with, only blue contrast needed 1 click lower value. Brightness values didn't need any adjustments. Then I adjusted the contrast and brightness values using avia and yay off to watch some movies :)

I have the say that this filter is a must for panny ae700, it really gives the picture a lot more punch. The awful gray haze is almost completely gone and picture has a lot more 3D feeling in it. Of course my previous projector which was a 7" CRT had a lot more 3D'ish picture but this little proj comes quite a long way with the filter.
Note though that this filter softens the picture a little bit, but that's only good because the picture is alot more film like than before.

Pana700 + Heliopan + Dalite HC + NewConfig Color + NewConfig HTPC:

http://img291.echo.cx/img291/3553/img04042ix.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/img291/277/img03722aq.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/img291/7793/img03539yj.jpg

http://img291.echo.cx/img291/9887/img03901fl.jpg



Regards

tvted,

With all due respect to your waste knowledge I'm quite sure you wouldn't be going on and on about your HTPC + blah + blah + blah ... if you ever tried what I posted in the two last occasions. I can only wish that I can show you setup in our showroom with Stewart Firehawk 110", Meridian 800, Panasonic PTAE700 and "super plain, boring and oldfashion" component connection. It looks like looking through a perfectly clear window with very accurate colours sharp detail and no artifacts.

Cheers

Anybody get the new Forceware drivers yet for their NVidia cards? it's supposed to hvae a whole HDTV settings area now where you can totally tweak up overscan, etc. Wondering how this works with the Panny.

Before this thread dies, I'd like to pose a wish list (except for the last two, mostly software):

1. In addition to fixed ZOOM settings, a USER ZOOM mode where separate H and V zooms can be set by the user. Useful to adapt projected image to specific screen sizes (especially with anamorphic adapter attachments). This is not rocket science, and has been done on many other display units (principally plasma screen devices from SONY).

2. The SHUTTER function to be turned off without "MENU 1, 2, 3... etc." all over the screen. The SHUTTER off mode should go straight to picture, not a screen with menu text all over it.

3. MEMORY presets should remember EVERYTHING: H and V position, LAMP settings, the LOT.

4. Further to 3., MEMORY settings accessible directly, not via a menu. Probably by having separate MEMORY 1, 2 and 3 buttons on the remote control handheld unit. That way different parts of films (titles vs.scenes etc.) can be set up and then accessed transparently by simply switching from one MEMORY setting to another, without having to splash menu lists and options all over the screen in the process.

5. A smoother joystick for the positional offset projection lens.

6. A brighter, more reliable lamp that can cope with filters (among other things). Users would pay more for one that was bright and didn't fade after a few hundred hours. THESE EXIST. Why not in the AE700?

There you have it. I'm sure many others have their own pet peeves.

Good list Bob,
I would be very happy with aspect control.
To this I would add

1) user selectable GAMMA curves.

2) the ability to move the menu off to the side for those of us who like to stick meters in the light path and would like to keep the menu on screen.

3) a service manual that doesn't require an act of goverment or an unlimited supply of cash to own.

ted

tvted,

With all due respect to your waste knowledge I'm quite sure you wouldn't be going on and on about your HTPC + blah + blah + blah ... if you ever tried what I posted in the two last occasions. I can only wish that I can show you setup in our showroom with Stewart Firehawk 110", Meridian 800, Panasonic PTAE700 and "super plain, boring and oldfashion" component connection. It looks like looking through a perfectly clear window with very accurate colours sharp detail and no artifacts.

Cheers

Feeling frustrated?

With all due respect to your settings - any comments I've recently made have been referenced to your insistence that the 700's internal scaler presents the best scaling option. All your settings will not impact on this as they set greyscale and colour balance.

Note that what I've said with respect to my "blah + blah + blah" :rolleyes: the software / hardware combo I mentioned is simply addressing MPEG decode and image scaling. If you wish for me to comment on your greyscale/colour settings, I can always run them through SMART III if you want to give me a week or two. Though I usually take anything said by someone who offhandedly dismisses the use of filters without saying why, with a large grain of salt.

btw, I'm sure your English is considerably better than my French so if "waste" was meant to read as "vast", I'm nothing more than a dabbler and have never claimed my knowledge was encyclopedic and hence resent the use of an adjective which I suspect is being used derisively.

ted

Not to harp but to reiterate...

I used 3-D's exact color settings, etc in VIDEO mode as he suggested, and the color and pictures I am now getting are PERFECT and stunning without the use of a $14,000 DVD player. He did his recommendations using Componet in's on the 700, I stuck with the HDMI input from DVD at 1080i, and am loving it. LOTR Return of the King looked absolutely THE BEST I have seen it by far with his settings in VIDEO mode. Let's face it, EVERYTHING being input into the 700 is VIDEO content. This is not a machine that takes 70MM film signals, does it? :(

One thing i have to wonder out loud. Why people use the video mode without any filter? Seriously, all of you who use 3d's settings, put up a grayscale pattern and show me that the pattern is GRAY?
I really don't think it is, it will have a tremendous green and blue push to it. Red will be very lacking color, and it cannot be corrected with any settings. And that means that the overall color balance is out the window. Well, if you like 9000k picture, then go ahead :)

Let's face it, EVERYTHING being input into the 700 is VIDEO content. This is not a machine that takes 70MM film signals, does it? :(

If this is not a joke, you misunderstand what the MODE settings are.
What these settings reflect is greyscale/colour balance *not* what source is. Without going too deeply into it (I've given you links in the past) DVD is *not* all Video source but has different requirements depending on whether the original was Film or Video 24/25/30 fps. as it impacts on the way in which the MPEG codec deals with the file.

ted

Part joke. What I am serious about is the beautiful near perfect picture I am getting on DVD material using 3-D's settings in Video mode. It is by far the best picture I have been able to get trying 5 different upconvert DVD players at various upconvert levels (480-1080) in component or HDMI mode.

What pleases me is the consistancy in the picture color from DVD to DVD as I have spent my beloved time trying to tweak myself into insanity ;) well not really. Being in the creative business here makes me a creative prefectionist in search of presentation bliss at an unbeatable price. My point also was that great color can be achieved with no filters and without much adjustment and no $14,000 DVD player.

I certainly hope that $14,000 would bring you a perfect picture, and do I mean perfect.

On another note, I am really enjoying the IMAX movies with the lense open 4:3 wide, just still is knocking off my socks as well as my next door neighboors when the Space Shuttle launches in a scene from BLUE PLANET.

Any advise on cable makers? I need to run a DVI to HDMI cable from my G5 editing studio to my theatre, distance around 65 feet?? Suggestions? Apple recommended DVI to VGA, VGA to projector - I tried it with an old G3 and best resolution the MAC would output was 800X600 vga. help! :)

Oh, and a suggestion that a paper in front of the lense helps refine VB and PQ in the flicker mode works very well, I recommend a foam core or bright white poster board about 5 feet from the lense. :p

can we make sure we add "more bright" or "got brightness" or "calibrated video high brightness mode" in bold caps to the wish list please ;)

new bulb just not doing it for me :(

i borrowed a friends new HP 6320 for a few days, and holy cow! talk about a shocker
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/382087-236094-236093-76244-f28-437805-437807-437809.html

granted it's a business class projector, but it's got a video mode that kills the white segment and it lets you mess with the gamma. a steal for $1300. just make sure you sell it before you need a bulb, they're $400+ :D

i was really very impressed though. it throws a whopping nice bright picture with WAY more accurate colors than this 700 has ever seen.

Part joke. What I am serious about is the beautiful near perfect picture I am getting on DVD material using 3-D's settings in Video mode. It is by far the best picture I have been able to get trying 5 different upconvert DVD players at various upconvert levels (480-1080) in component or HDMI mode.

What pleases me is the consistancy in the picture color from DVD to DVD as I have spent my beloved time trying to tweak myself into insanity ;) well not really. Being in the creative business here makes me a creative prefectionist in search of presentation bliss at an unbeatable price.

I'm glad it works for you, Looking at the settings, I'm not convinced that the blacks will not be crushed and that colour temp sits at D65, so like DwNtE I'm sceptical as to the accuracy of the colour balance. I may dial it in and put my colour temperature meter on it, if I can find the time. A true measurement would take more effort. Frankly its not that important to me, as I doubt it achieves the kind of CR values that are possible with a CC filter.


Any advise on cable makers? I need to run a DVI to HDMI cable from my G5 editing studio to my theatre, distance around 65 feet?? Suggestions? Apple recommended DVI to VGA, VGA to projector - I tried it with an old G3 and best resolution the MAC would output was 800X600 vga. help! :)

Any of the forum sponsors should be fine but others have reported good results from elsewhere though the run length is daunting. I've a good VGA from RAM that provides a good signal, though a recently aquired HDMI to DVI run is giving me some issues. At any rate, with that kind of run, a repeater is likely to be a good idea.

Here are a couple of threads you might follow - to see how things develop.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=552312
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=552574

You could always stick a box in your theatre and stream over a network which is what I would do.

ted

EDIT to add links

[QUOTE=Aussie Bob]Before this thread dies, I'd like to pose a wish list (except for the last two, mostly software):


6. A brighter, more reliable lamp that can cope with filters (among other things). Users would pay more for one that was bright and didn't fade after a few hundred hours. THESE EXIST. Why not in the AE700?

Can one take this statement to mean that with the use of a filter, it makes the lamp more unreliable? Or just for the wish that the lamp was brighter to accomodate the use of more filters?

3D Quadrium
"With all due respect to your waste knowledge I'm quite sure you wouldn't be going on and on about your HTPC + blah + blah + blah ..."
"Meridian 800"

bring it down a bit, there, dude. I doubt tvted's htpc is exactly apples to apples with a meridian 800. Maybe an ae700 does a nice job deinterlacing and scaling if given an immaculate signal. Not a lot of us are going to have the opportunity to compare at this level, though. My current htpc is a mini mac, and it is not anywhere as good as tvteds,s htpc, I'm betting. Since I use my 3910 for dvd's this is not a problem. I do think my 3910 deinterlaces better than my ae700. As does my dvdo hd+. It's possible I'm wrong, just seemed that way when comparing.

I don't see why the lamp should be affected by use of a filter. What I was asking for was a brighter lamp, so that the dimming effect of filters wouldn't dim the screen image too much. Maybe, with the brighter lamp, they should just install the filter inside or behind the lens and be done with it?

Still very pleased with the picture I get from the AE700. Soon my Dwin will be back from the factory and I will return to using that most of the time.

But I do find it fascinating that so many here are not able to adjust their AE700's for propler color balance. The pictures posted in this thread earlier were obviously too blue and need to be adjusted unless it was a function of the camera used not being properly white balanced for the use of pictures off the screen. Also, one should keep in mind that any screen other than matte white 1.0 gain will do something to the colors of the projected image. Even Don Stewart admits this with the grayhawk and firehawk series and for perfect color one needs to do an ISF calibration.
The AE700 offers a very nice compliment of adjustments with gamma so I fail to understand why so many want to add optical filters on their system unless they just don't know how to achieve proper balance and decide after having spent the money for a filter that it is justified.

What I do see in the AE700 that I don't believe is up to par with the more expensive projectors is the geometry and ease of achieving perfect rectangle on the screen. With my Dwin I dial it in and with the AE700 it was a chore of tinkering with the joystick and lens and then it never remained set from one day to the next. Additionally, there was a change from 5 minutes after turn on to 30 minutes after warmup where both the color balance and the geometry shifted.

Someone mentioned the jaggies on certain text with DVD's. I have seen this too but it may be that those DVD's were just not done properly in how the text was integrated into the image. I've seen some editors who port a font into Photoshop for their project and then scale the image before it is used in the edit. This is a technical error in the way fonts were handled at that level. Fonts should always be handled as a vector until the final render so the edges are scalable in the production until the project is redered at delivery resolution. If the text is added in a graphic and that graphic is used and later scaled. no amount of antialiasing will prevent jaggies, only blur and that degrades the resolution as a side effect. Anyway, I believe that most of what one sees from these DVD's is more to do with low quality DVD than the AE700.
One exception I found. With all these projectors, including my Dwin and other highend CRT's, if you are too close to the screen you will suffer the pixel recognition problem. I prefer to sit back far enough so that these pixels do not display themselves as much. No, I'm not immersed in the screen but I'd rather not watch that way. That choice helps me not suffer the pixel issues like those who make the choice to sit up close.

My apologies in bringing up an old(er) thread, but I could use some help with color calibration on the Panny AE700. Unfortunately I do not have access to ISF color calibration equipment. Thus, I've read just about all of the tweak thread (it's overwhelming) and have found some good settings (Brad and 3D's to name a couple). But I was wondering if anyone is completely satisfied with their image without using a filter at the low-lamp setting?

I have used Avia and DVE but after calibrating, the video (typically DVD) doesn't quite look right. Basically, I'm frustrated right now but know that the projector is capable of beautiful images. Would someone mind posting their current color settings (basic and advanced menu) so I could gove them a try?

Btw, I am using a Da-Lite HCCV screen. Brightness and contrast are not really issues, nor sharpness (but feel free to post your settings)... it's basically the color correction that I need help with. TIA!

Im also interested in the filter (brads settins what i currently use) vs no filter (and 3D's settings) which people preferred.

Im also still trying to fix my vb issues but have learned a few new tricks to try (the paper thing) etc so well see how that goes.

Im also interested in the filter (brads settins what i currently use) vs no filter (and 3D's settings) which people preferred.


I tried yesterday for fun 3D settings for Video mode (they were posted 1-2 pages ago) and compared them during viewing "Appleseed" DVD/WinXP dekstop with Natural (-1)/Cinema1 settings - i didnt liked them.
Colors are washed away and seems like there is some color clipping - didnt run AVIA/DVE dvds to confirm that.

My B+W 81EF filter is on the way - when it arrives i will compare Video mode + filter against settings posted by 3D (calibrated using AVIA/DVE).

Guys,

There is one thing that I forgot to mention when I posted settings... I live in the PAL country and my test THX disc was PAL too. I don't have any NTSC discs to try.
Maybe that could be the reason you are not getting same results as me. Another thing I need to say is that I am not suggesting you should buy a $14.000 DVD player (eg. Meridian 800), but what I'm trying to say is that with this PJ you will get the best result if you use good quality DVD player that outputs 540 lines of non-progressive signal. There are lots of them out there and some (eg. Pioneer, Toshiba, Sony) are very good and not expensive. What I am trying to say is if you are not getting excellent picture, don't blame this PJ. Mainly the reason for poor picture is what you are feeding it with.

Cheers

3D Quadrium,

I tried feeding this projector from HTPC different resolutions using Component/VGA/HDMI and to me best picture i get is when using HDMI and native resolution 720p (and HDMI + 720p is a must when viewing 720p/1080i/1080p HDTV movies).
Yes - there is cropping, but its very minor and only visible with WinXp desktop.
When viewing movies it non-issue.

I have no problems with projector image - only CR/brightness are not so "hot" when using Cinema1/Natural modes. Thats why i'm still waiting for 81EF filter to tweak Video mode.

As for DVD/HDTV playback - (TheaterTek 2.11/ZP + Dscaler 5) + ffdshow resize/tweaks gives very good results.

I've had my ae700 for about 6 or 7 months now but only have 300+ hours on it and it has recently started doing an odd thing. You'll be watching it and all is fine then it suddenly comes up with what I can only describe as a kind of ghost image which looks to lag about a second behind the current picture. It's hard to describe exactly but it looks very surreal. I'm using component input and if I momentarily switch to say PC input then back, the problem is gone. It can happen anytime during a typical 2 hour movie but so far has never happened twice in the same sitting and sometimes doesn't happen at all. My firmware is version 1.03. Could this have anything to do with it? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

I've had my ae700 for about 6 or 7 months now but only have 300+ hours on it and it has recently started doing an odd thing. You'll be watching it and all is fine then it suddenly comes up with what I can only describe as a kind of ghost image which looks to lag about a second behind the current picture. It's hard to describe exactly but it looks very surreal. I'm using component input and if I momentarily switch to say PC input then back, the problem is gone. It can happen anytime during a typical 2 hour movie but so far has never happened twice in the same sitting and sometimes doesn't happen at all. My firmware is version 1.03. Could this have anything to do with it? Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Does it happen on PC and then you switch to Component and it clears up? In other words does it start on other sources as well as YPbPr? Is there a colour shift
when this happens?

It sounds like bad connection/contact to me if it is only Component. I'm pretty sure this is an Analog error. Try giving your cables a wiggle at each connector and watch what happens.

ted

barnie
ghosting is usually cable oriented. tvted is right , wiggle or replace connections.
The momentary "fix" does not mean that the cabling is good.

Hi all,

I finally got the B&W lens, but don't have any idea what my settings should be at. I will be using AVIA, but could someone please post their settings with the B&W filter? I would like a "starting point" or "end point" so I know!

Thx,

Stieger

Hi all,

I finally got the B&W lens, but don't have any idea what my settings should be at. I will be using AVIA, but could someone please post their settings with the B&W filter? I would like a "starting point" or "end point" so I know!

Thx,

Stieger

This has been posted in this very thread at least a half dozen times. Do a search for Brad Bissell's settings, or a search of Brad Bissell's posts.

Originally Posted by barnie I've had my ae700 for about 6 or 7 months now but only have 300+ hours on it and it has recently started doing an odd thing. You'll be watching it and all is fine then it suddenly comes up with what I can only describe as a kind of ghost image which looks to lag about a second behind the current picture. It's hard to describe exactly but it looks very surreal. I'm using component input and if I momentarily switch to say PC input then back, the problem is gone. It can happen anytime during a typical 2 hour movie but so far has never happened twice in the same sitting and sometimes doesn't happen at all. My firmware is version 1.03. Could this have anything to do with it? Has anyone else encountered this problem?


Hi, same(i call it "Greasing" from now) happens here (AE700 from first badge ~ 9 months; now at ~600hours). Seems for me that the problem is: AE700 is to HOT. My AE700 shows Greasing only when Temp1(look in Menu Selfcheck) is under the Value of ~ 125

The Solution is simple then: Fan-Mode to Setting "High" and when Temp1 is over ~ 128 it should be "Greasing-free"
(Last cleaning of the filter?)

Hth Fazz

I searched for an answer but found none...

I wanted to try the settings in this thread, but how in the world are you setting your COLOR and TINT settings? These are greyed out for me. My firmware is R1.03. I am feeding VGA from HTPC, 1280x720p @ 60 Hz. Is COLOR and TINT only available for HDMI? Should I try to adjust on the HTPC side instead?

You don't have to be in HDMI mode to adjust the color/tint settings. You have something else amiss.

You don't have to be in HDMI mode to adjust the color/tint settings. You have something else amiss.
I think I remember now. What is "amiss" is that I'm feeding in 720p. So the projector is in "WIDE720" mode. And as I recall the manual says you are hosed in that mode and cannot adjust COLOR or TINT, and lose some other features as well. Does a later firmware fix this?

I have a B+W 81EF KR-6 77mm filter for sale ($60 shipped). PM me if you are interested.

Mfr # 65045090 • B&H # BWKR6MC77

You don't have to be in HDMI mode to adjust the color/tint settings. You have something else amiss.

So your input to the 700 is VGA as well? And you get colour and tint settings?

Is that what your saying?

'Cause I use VGA and the colour/tint is greyed out, which means that when I get my filter i'll have to adjust it at the HTPC.

Here's a tip for people using the VGA feed with a HTPC.

Yesterday I upgraded my ATI video card drivers and afterwards the pixel mapping was off - letters of text were blurred across pixels. I went into the panny menu and did the auto-align and everything went back to perfect mapping again!

This weekend I began using a Belkin Power purifier with all my A/V equipment, and I must say, they are a MUST for use with this projector, better picture quality, the low lamp mode with low power fan makes the fan noise NILL, you literally cannot hear that the projector is even on at all, amazing. So, bottom line, you absolutely need to provide this unit with clean power, period. I echo what has been said previously. As I mentioned, all my equipment is now run through it and the audio is also nice and clean, big difference. All that is left now is to run my satellite HD 811 signal through it as well, remember that your satellite signals need grounding.

I've had my ae700 for about 6 or 7 months now but only have 300+ hours on it and it has recently started doing an odd thing. You'll be watching it and all is fine then it suddenly comes up with what I can only describe as a kind of ghost image which looks to lag about a second behind the current picture. It's hard to describe exactly but it looks very surreal. I'm using component input and if I momentarily switch to say PC input then back, the problem is gone. It can happen anytime during a typical 2 hour movie but so far has never happened twice in the same sitting and sometimes doesn't happen at all. My firmware is version 1.03. Could this have anything to do with it? Has anyone else encountered this problem?
I have this exact same problem - which just started up again 3 days ago.
I also have owned my projector for 7 months and have approx 360 hours on it. I still have the 1.03 firmware as well. I use RAM component cables. I turn the main power off every night.

I bought my machine in December. Watched 8 movies on it perfectly - then this problem surfaced in January. I watched 5 movies in a row and all had this problem. So I mailed my unit in for repair. No fault was found. I plugged it back in - and to my surprise - I then watched (over the next 6 months) 78 movies perfectly. Now suddenly the last 3 films I’ve watched have this ghostly lag (split-second) image again. It occurs only 2-3 times during a movie. Never in the same place. It happens so fast my wife doesn’t see it. It usually happens once within 15 minutes of the start of the movie - and once during the credits. Sometimes once in the middle. Weird. Never happens more than 3 times. Very weird.

My thoughts:
Maybe upgrading to 1.07 firmware will help. Can’t hurt ...right?
Maybe unplugging - and then re-plugging the cables into the unit helps (re-seats the connections)

I will jiggle the cables tonight (as TV Ted suggested) to see what I see. Then unplug - and re-plug the cables in at both the projector and DVD player.

If this fails - I’ll send my unit in for the firmware upgrade. And hope for the best.
Otherwise - I simply LOVE this machine.

Barnie - how is your unit doing now???

Re: Ghost image

Of course since I posted my "ghost" problem my projector hasn't done it since. I'm waiting for it to happen again so I can jump up and give the cable connections a wiggle to see if it clears it up. (a la TVTED) I'm paranoid to touch anything beforehand in case I inadvertently fix it and never realize what the problem was. The over temp possibility posted by FAZZ sounds interesting but that doesn't make sense that it would clear up by briefly switching inputs. Will post if I figure out anything :)

I'm looking into getting a UPS for my 700, would 350va(210w?) be enough?

I figure that when the power goes out, if we are using the pj, we would shut it down pretty much straight away. So the ups is really only going to go into battery mode for less than a minute at full pj power then the cooling cycle for a proper shutdown.

We do suffer from the occasional blackout and brownout and a $110au ups to protect a $600au bulb seems reasonable.

Re: Ghost image

Of course since I posted my "ghost" problem my projector hasn't done it since. I'm waiting for it to happen again so I can jump up and give the cable connections a wiggle to see if it clears it up. (a la TVTED) I'm paranoid to touch anything beforehand in case I inadvertently fix it and never realize what the problem was. The over temp possibility posted by FAZZ sounds interesting but that doesn't make sense that it would clear up by briefly switching inputs. Will post if I figure out anything :)

Speaking for me, I think you should shake it, regardless; but then, that's just me. :eek:

ted
;)

I'm looking into getting a UPS for my 700, would 350va(210w?) be enough?

I figure that when the power goes out, if we are using the pj, we would shut it down pretty much straight away. So the ups is really only going to go into battery mode for less than a minute at full pj power then the cooling cycle for a proper shutdown.

We do suffer from the occasional blackout and brownout and a $110au ups to protect a $600au bulb seems reasonable.



Most lower end ups's put out a pretty vicious square wave, not a sine wave by a long shot. I have to wonder if that might not be harmful to a projector? I've personally damaged a power supply by feeding it from a cheap ups.

Barnie

Does anyone running this pj with firmware version 1.07 experience VB? Panasonic Canada told me today that the new firmware fixes the VB issues. I'll have to see it to believe it.

I just purchased an AE700U with firmware 1.07 . . . and I was totally amazed at the picture right out of the box. And the best part . . . zero VB . . . none whatsoever. I haven't even begun tweaking my image, and I would be very happy with it just like it is. It can only get better when calibrated.
Lee

Does anyone running this pj with firmware version 1.07 experience VB? Panasonic Canada told me today that the new firmware fixes the VB issues. I'll have to see it to believe it.

I have a pj with v1.07 firmware and yes it still suffers from VB. Altough it's not distracting but it's still there.

My AE700 v1.07 and yes light VB. My L500U - Zero VB

Does anyone running this pj with firmware version 1.07 experience VB? Panasonic Canada told me today that the new firmware fixes the VB issues. I'll have to see it to believe it.

Didn't change mine. In fact, for a while I thought it might have made it worse.

I highly doubt this issue can be fixed in firmware, so I would be interested in an explanation from P. Canada as to how this is possible.

ted

I am jus wondering if the VB issue is not related to power supply.. As I mentioned in earlier posts, all my issues involving color and picture cleared up completely once I connected all my components to a power purifier i.e. Belkin Pure A.V.

The picture I am watching is through Dynamic Mode, 1080i DVD's with perfect picture, (i.e. SW Episode II Attack of the Clones), stunning picture.

As I mentioned in my previous post, even though I run the 700 in low lamp mode and low fan, I used to be able to hear the fan running, now with the power purifier, I swear that I cannot now tell the unit is even on, a BIG difference!

Other posters have indicated Picture Quality changes when using a power cleaner, and I am able to say that yes in fact in my case it made a HUGE difference.

DVD's are running off a Panasonic S77s player through HDMI.

I have not yet tried to process my satellite signal through the power purifier but believe me, I will. I am anxious to see what improvements in HD it could maybe make. BTW, satellite receiver signals need to be grounded like everything else and to my knowlegde, my dish system is not grounded anywhere in my house.

I am jus wondering if the VB issue is not related to power supply.. As I mentioned in earlier posts, all my issues involving color and picture cleared up completely once I connected all my components to a power purifier i.e. Belkin Pure A.V.

You might be onto something. My AE700U has never exhibited VB issues. But, I purchased the Belkin Pure AV Home Theater Battery Backup with AVR technology. It claims clean picture, clean sound. My AE700 has always been connected to it, and I have never seen the VB issues . . . interesting.
Lee

VB is a result of the columnar nature of the panels' addressing scheme. There is also the fact that the LCD imager is an Analog voltage controlled device. Variations in the way the device responds to these voltages as well as the small variations in the D to A conversion across the address lines result in brightness differences in the columns.

Its been a long time since I stuck a metal object into an electronic box but I would think that the D to A chip would have chip level regulation to maintain a proper reference. I also assume that the 700's supply is reasonably well regulated, which is the ultimate source for the A to D reference - but the variations would have to be large for there to be any real impact, and you are likely to notice it elsewhere.

I've never had a great deal of VB to begin with - but I *can* find it with the right source. I do plan to get UPS for the PJ at some point and will report back if I remember. What would be an interesting experiment for those with UPS's would be to remove it and see if VB occurs and then try it the next day with UPS on using the same source.

I really do think this is a panel issue though.


I disavow any claim to accuracy in the above, and will deny any knowledge of it when criticized. ;)

ted

My ups has no effect on vb. It is plugged into a power conditioner as well, so the power should be pretty good. I have not gotten the 1.07 update yet.

I've noticed that my cordless phone causes a herringbone pattern across the image, but I only get VB when I've left the AE700 on standby. If I turn it off for a while I eliminate VB and peek-s-boo scan lines. Totally.

On the "ghost" image. I had been using progressive scan 100Hz. But, just for fun (because I noticed the picture was a little brighter) I started running 50hz PAL RGB into my projector recently. As soon as I switched to 50Hz I started getting ghost images. Switching back to 100Hz progressive eliminated this problem.

So.... try running progressive scan to eliminate ghost images.

Now have 390 hours on the new bulb and brightness is down 25%.

anyone has experience of using AE700 with centerstage's cs hd? I heard that it's not support HDCP. So, is it ok to use with AE700?

Aussie Bob, are you still using your filter?

I remember you posting about using an animorphic lens but do you use the Lee filter as well?

25% percent you say? Wow. My globe is at 200 odd hours but I can't say if there has been any change. My dedicated room STILL isn't finished so all my use has been in 'unfriendly environments', lounge room wall, mates place etc.

I wanted to buy the B&W filter that plenty of others are getting but I'm a bit concerned about using it if the light output drops by a quarter.

So how much difference does that make in real world use?

Also if you could post details of that filter again and how I can aquire one myself, maybe here in Adelaide, I would appreciate it.

Thanks......(Rowan Atkinson voice) Bob.

Posted July 15th


"Personal Experience

Bulb burned out at 450 hours, 4 months.

Service from Panasonic was not very good.
Service from the Panasonic Rep was even worse.

*

Problems

At the service center they said this was the 15th (or so) PT-AE700U projector they had seen with the bulb burning out at under 600 hours in the 4th month."

I have recently experienced the lamp or brightness flicker on my 700. I have 480 hours on the bulb, some on low, mostly on high since getting the filter. I recently tried some viewing in low as it seemed a waste to use high on standard television. That is when I noticed the flicker, it was on a white background from the htpc over dvi. Projector is upright on a shelf with good ventilation in a pretty cool basement.

After searching through many posts, I have collected the few facts listed.
1. The problem may be a temporary uneven wearing of the electrodes in the bulb, and the arc will smooth it back out. Just run it on high for a while.
2. The problem may be aggravated by running the projector inverted, perhaps related to higher temperatures and cooling problems.
3. Some people seem to report bulb failure soon afterwards, some of which is catastrophic failure.
4. Those who sent it in for service did not seem to get only a lot of statements to the effect of "Brightness variations are within acceptable tolerances"

What I didn't see was many suggestions on what to do about it.

I am asking if some of you can confirm any above statements, or have some other concrete suggestions. Please keep the arm waving to a minimum.....

I am trying out option number 1 right now, flicker was not noticable on high. My main concern would be bulb failure, especially bulb failure that takes just enough hours to make it really difficult to get some warranty love.

Thanks,
Nate

yipchunyu
If the cs is not hdcp it will depend on your source. If the source has hdcp, you're out of luck.

I wish someone would do a poll on bulb problems and viewing modes and related settings.
Not that you should not be able to use any setting provided without fear of bulb problems.

Smegger,

No, I'm not using the filter any more, as the anamorphic lens allows me to employ the full resolution of the LCD panels inside the AE700. This means no letterbox bars (or side bars, if the anamorpgic adapter is rotated 90 degrees for 4:3 presentations). I've found that letterbox and side bars really interfere with my perception of contrast. Once I got rid of them (using the projector's ZOOM modes plus the anamorphic adapter) the contrast, in my subjective perception, improved. Since it's a visual medium, perception is everything.

The adapter also delivers an approximately 30% brighter picture compared to the traditional viewing method, which entails simply zooming bigger to make the letterbox bars slip off the screen. The adapter allows me to reduce the zoom size (increasing brightness by 78%) and then widen the picture from there (reducing the 178% increase to 133%).

The filter I used was a Lee Filters "Light Salmon". This is a "gel" designed for placing over lights on a movie set, but it's pretty clear and OK for projection, except that the image dims by about 45% (similar to any color correction filter e.g. the 81EF that most now seem to use). You can purchase a large sheet of this gel from Panavision Australia (in Sydney) for A$19. Pretty cheap, actually. It comes tightly-rolled, so you'll have to flatten it out some before you can use it (I used a low heat clothes iron with NO STEAM between two sheets of paper and then put inside a heavy book while it cooled). Alternatively, you can ask Panavision for their "Lee Filters Sample Swatch" for free. It has a piece of Light Salmon (and hundreds of others) of sufficient size to experiment with on your AE700.

On lamps...

My first one died at 750 hours and Panasonic told me that I was the first to present with a dud lamp. It's interesting to see that dud lamps are common in other areas of the world. Perhaps my problem came from my having a low serial number unit? My AE700 came from a special early shipment, which was actually held up because the power cords were the Japanese standard form and had to be converted to Australian form. That's how early my unit was (October 2004). The lamp died a comprehansive death, going from operating brightness to about 20%, literally in-between one power off and the next power on. A total crash. Someone at Panasonic's help desk told me that there had been an issue with a dud batch of lamps, but I wasn't able to pin him down and he soon started denying he'd ever said it (he did say it).

It took three and a half weeks to get it replaced and I got a lot of stories about stocking issues and complexity of the task etc. before I rang Panasonic direct, spoke to the parts manager and found that the repair company had had stock all the time and just kept forgetting about my job. Magically, the unit was back in my hands 24 hours later with a new warranty-replaced bulb and no questions asked (at least none that was privy too).

I have experienced flashing, double-imaging (called "ghost" imaging elsewhere on this thread), and some flickering. I can usually fix all of these by flicking the display mode switch (e.g. from "compenent" to "composite" and back again) and have just accepted this as the price of owning a cheap projector that really tests the envelope of current technology, but which generally (99.99% of the time) works pretty well and gives me reasonable value for money.

When the next Panasonic projector comes out (whenever that is) I'll definitely consider buying one to replace the AE700. Or, then again, DLP may have come down sufficiently in price (and up in brightness) for me to consider that technology. It will definitely have to be a full 1960x1080 dpi device to get my money, though. A revolution is coming with the advent of consumer HD-DVD or Blu-Ray media and I want to have something that can cope with either of the new medias' full potential for a reasonably long term.

I've accepted that I'll probably have to replace the bulb (at my own expense) one more time, but that still works out to only about 50 cents an hour, so I'm not too fussed about this prospect.

What I do take issue with is projector manufacturers' vagueness about bulb life, as VornHune reports above. Panasonic aren't the only guilty parties here. I don't know whether it's because bulb technology is so flaky that vagueness is the best policy, or whether its because projector manufacturers a relying on a certain gullibility out here in Consumerland. Whatever the reason, it's certainly possible to find many conflicting statements about bulb life in the published literature. I suspect that there's some deliberate obfuscation here, designed to give an "out" to recalcitrant suppliers if they think the customer complaining about a dud bulb is trying to pull the wool over their eyes on issues of misuse or maltreatment.

What I'd like to see are bulbs that aren't stressed too much (and I don't know if this is possible). I'd like to see "beefier" bulbs that may cost a bit more, but which don't dim over time too much and which don't cause so much consternation to users like many here with bulb issues. Users having to stuff around with warranty repair applications and flicker problems, and all the other seemingly bulb-related issues we read about here only serves to reduce confidence in the technology. It's counter-productive. Maybe this is all a pipe-dream, and it will always be ever thus: sales and marketing treading a very fine path between bulls**t and performance with the engineers kept very far in the background, while the mugs willingly fork out good money for edgy technology.

Bob,

Have you any further info on the availability of the lens you are using?
Does it have a larger aperture hence smaller lens to screen ratio than the Prismasonic?

With my tidbit of a theatre I'm throw deprived, yet would like to go larger. Unfortunately I'm close to the limit of my lens and suffer some light loss at the edges as the Prismasonic's housing begins to encroach on the image.

ted

Just sent in my AE700 for service after numeral flicker issues (started at 280 hours), clicking from iris, IRIS=NG, and dust.

Lamp was replaced, the insides gone through cleaning etc. Watching TV on the 32" Sony WEGA is nice, but I hate seing the empty 84" screen 90' to my left :)

PS: UPS, I also haven't noticed any difference whatsoever in image/audio/fan etc. To me though, the primary reason for the battery was to avoid sudden powerouts/light flashes that occur during summer. And I'm beginning to like it, alot - power generally "glitches" a few times a week now, but the computer etc. doesn't care :) No hardware errors, no disk errors, it just works. Clean output as well, an APC Smart-UPS 1000. Highly recommended, virtually silent during operation (there's the typical electical Bzzzzzzzzz coming from the box though, if you are sensitive to that, but nothing like a CRT television set or a computer PSU coil buzzing).

Tvted,

As mentioned before the lens is a prototype that I was asked to evaluate (someone thought I was an expert on Home Theatre.... haha!).

I use it 4.8m (190 inches) from the screen and the final image is 3.1m (122 inches) wide. The projector is above and to the left of the center of the screen, meaning the image is thrown down (8.9 degrees) and to the right (4.3 degrees). Without the adapter the joystick lens (the "lens shift" function) keeps the image pretty rectangular, but at the bottom right of the screen (furthest from the projector) there is a slight sag (i.e keystoning) due to the increased projection distance to that corner. With the anamorphic adapter this keystoning is slightly exacerbated, but not unduly so, about what you'd expect from a system that magnifies 1.33 in the horizontal direction. I now have a mayy black mask on my screen and this squares everything up anyway (by clipping off the inch or so of sag). It's a matter of aligning the adapter with the projector's lens at exactly the right angle and tilt to minimise this sag. Straight-on there is no problem. The adapter has no focus mechanism. All focusing is done with the projector's lens.

The front element is 90mm in diameter and, at the screen width and distance listed above, the projected image just squeaks through. Too much off-axis placement and I get vignetting. They are making a new prototype (which inexplicably they want me to test also). This one will be out of glass, not machined plastic. The focal lengths will be a little longer, necessitating bigger diameter elements (maximum 120mm) and longer overall length (about 150mm... still not very long in my book). However, the longer focal lengths mean less thru-lens distortion, so the joystick "lens shift" function of the Panasonic should pass through better (incidentally, I also own a Panavision prism system, salvaged from an old cinema second hand shoppe, and it doesn't handle the joytick lens bending either. I guess it's pretty severe in my case).

Compared to the Panavision "anamorphotic" prism system, the cylindrical anamorphic prototype I am now using is a clear 25% brighter. The prism system seems to lose a lot of brightness from internal reflection (despite the surfaces being AR coated). At my angle of projection there was quite a lot of reflection from the surfaces of the Panavision prisms (e.g. images on the back wall, reflected off the prisms), but there is none from the current cylindrical system, which is AR coated as well. The theoretical ioncrease in brightness using an anamorphic system should be about 33%. Mine is around 30%, so it's not falling too far short of the ideal. And of course it is about one fifth the weight of the prism system and one fifth the bulk.

I position my cylindrical adapter about 45mm in front of the projection lens. Any further and vignetting starts. Any closer and it starts to have trouble handling the extreme joystick position (right up against the "diamond" shaped limits) I have to use to center the image on-screen. At first I complained about this, until it was explained to me that a "passive" anamorphic adapter, especially one that has to handle such relatively wide beam angles as are usual in Home theatre, can't be expected to accommodate every possible yaw, tilt and joystick lens design used in individual HT rooms as well.

I share your enthusiasm for anamorphic lenses. They're so bright and sharp. A real "cinema" wide screen experience. You never go back once you've used one. I routinely watch 16:9 movies in Cinemascope, simply by cropping them conveniently with the POSITION function. As many 16:9 movies are made with Cinemascope presentation in mind, this usually works quite dramatically (except for end credits, which sometimes are cropped off the screen, at least partially).

So, keep in mind a 190 inch projection distance for a 122 inch wide screen (about 1.5:1), plus add in (or subtract) something for the tilt and yaw of my system compared to yours, and this should tell you whether my lens outperforms your current Prismasonic one.

Hey all... I'm a long time reader and new member that just wants to say thanks for all the great information, tweaks and advice offered here. I recently purchased my first pj in the AE700 and am very pleased. Under 10 hours and no VB, and I'm very impressed with the PQ; it can only get better from here, once I get my HCCV screen going.

Im looking forward to completing my HT plan this summer so I can be ready for lots of winter viewing. I'll definitely be following the tweaks in this thread and possibly using the 81EF filter from that thread once my 'eye' becomes trained.

These things (the AE700) are great! Thanks again.

Please Help!!!!


I've had my AE700 for about 7 months now and it has about 320 hours on it. I have a totally light controlled room, a HCCV screen, using DVI from my Oppo dvd player.

I have tried numerous times to calibrate this projector with Avia and SMART III but the picture always comes out with a heavy green push with poor color saturation. I end up tweaking this projector by eye with actual video material but different light intensity scenes are from decent to horrible in color accuracy (green and pink dominate). I end up setting green contrast to -11 and green brightness to -10. Even after reducing green this low shadows on peoples faces still have a drab olive tint, something that has been there since day one.

Ive tried a smart III calibration but the results are not much better than Avia and far worse than if I do it by eye. The only way I can get an OK picture is when I crank up the saturation to +3 on my Oppo Dvd palyer. I don't believe I should have to do this.

When I look at a 90-100 IRE patern on my screen there is a pinkish red color on the left side of the screen and a bluish cyan color in the middle with varying degrees of these colors plastered about the screen.

I am wondering if there is something wrong with my projector and that I should send it in. I've read about so many very satisfied owners I am wondering if I have a lemon that needs to be sent in for service.

Is anyone out there, two days and no replies.

When I look at a 90-100 IRE patern on my screen there is a pinkish red color on the left side of the screen and a bluish cyan color in the middle with varying degrees of these colors plastered about the screen.

Something is definatly not right here - have you tried to use different DVD player to see if you will have same color problems?
If its the same with other DVD player then i think you have convergence problems with LCD panels :(

I have tried the Bravo D2 and the Zenith DVB318 and both displayed the same pattern. This problem has been present from day one so it is a flaw from the factory. I guess I will send it in to panasonic and hopefully they will take a look at it and see what can be done.

scheuled
How did you go 7 months without complaining?

Please Help!!!!


I've had my AE700 for about 7 months now and it has about 320 hours on it. I have a totally light controlled room, a HCCV screen, using DVI from my Oppo dvd player.

I have tried numerous times to calibrate this projector with Avia and SMART III but the picture always comes out with a heavy green push with poor color saturation. I end up tweaking this projector by eye with actual video material but different light intensity scenes are from decent to horrible in color accuracy (green and pink dominate). I end up setting green contrast to -11 and green brightness to -10. Even after reducing green this low shadows on peoples faces still have a drab olive tint, something that has been there since day one.

Ive tried a smart III calibration but the results are not much better than Avia and far worse than if I do it by eye. The only way I can get an OK picture is when I crank up the saturation to +3 on my Oppo Dvd palyer. I don't believe I should have to do this.

When I look at a 90-100 IRE patern on my screen there is a pinkish red color on the left side of the screen and a bluish cyan color in the middle with varying degrees of these colors plastered about the screen.

I am wondering if there is something wrong with my projector and that I should send it in. I've read about so many very satisfied owners I am wondering if I have a lemon that needs to be sent in for service.

I certainly don't seem to have the same extent of green tinting that you do, but I did notice some green in fleshtones-(expecially in million dollar baby), then I started to notice them everywhere...minor green tinting in facial highlights...it started to bug me, then I looked at my crt and noticed similar tinting, and I even noticed it in some photos in magazines. I consulted a friend of mine who runs his own commercial photography business..He told me that green tinting should not be that common, anyways I showed him a magazine with green flesh tinting, and he did acknowledge that I wasn't crazy and what I was seeing was green. He said there were a number of factors taht could be causing this, but we didn't have the time to get into it. I'll be discussing this further with him, and although I don't think it'll solve your problem, it may be related...

btw got your filter in the mail yesterday, thanks....

scheuled
How did you go 7 months without complaining?

I thought it was a calibration issue or possibly the DVD player. But when I got the Oppo and the same issues were still present I decided to ask for opinions to see if this is something many users see or if there is a defect in my projector. I am still under warranty but I will need to act soon if it is a defect.


BTW, glad to see you got the filter, are you getting favorable results?

Million Dollar Baby was green for me too.

It's the fluoro lights in the gym. And the sky. And the outdoor shots.

Oh, don't worry about it.

The telecine op must have been deuteranopic.

deuteranopic?
Where do I get one of those?!!!
scheuled
Take action soon then! It's understandable. I hate returning things without making sure it's not somehow my fault. Unfortunately this can take years for me...

I thought it was a calibration issue or possibly the DVD player. But when I got the Oppo and the same issues were still present I decided to ask for opinions to see if this is something many users see or if there is a defect in my projector. I am still under warranty but I will need to act soon if it is a defect.


BTW, glad to see you got the filter, are you getting favorable results?

I've set up video mode with BB's settings, and tweaaked with the sound and vision dvd. I like what I'm seeing, but I have yet to watch a movie with it. I'm gonna watch Constantine tonight, and I'll let you know what I think.

Aussie Bob: I'm gonna have to look up "deuteranopic: before I can reply :)

deuteranopic - inability to see the color green or to distinguish green and purplish-red
Synonyms: green-blind

I saw "Million Dollar Baby" in a theatre when it came it and I vewed it again on
my AE700. The problem is with the picture not your setup.

"deuteranopia" = "green blind" = "the telecine operator puts too much green in the scan because he can't see it with his own lyin' eyes".

However, I think Million Dollar Baby had a lot of fluoro scenes. Then again, some of the exteriors were wierd also. Maybe Clint Eastwood is into the "dream sequence" phase of his life?

Whatever, it was certainly an excellent film. Actually quite brilliant (I must advise, however, that this comes from a a reviewer, Yours Truly, who, despite a Life Long aversion to anything with Leonardo di Caprio in it, actually liked The Aviator... so take the aforementioned assessment of the aforementioned film with the proverbial grain of salt).

I am mildly deuteranopic. Yet I still detected the green caste in MDB.

Glad to hear it wasn't just me.

P.S. To tsteves: I have a used deuteranopic filter. No scratches. Still with original box. Improves contrast by making everything pink. Not so wonderful for your buddies around for a movie, but nirvana for the Color Blind. Yours for $999 no questions asked (cost me $1450 at a Disneyworld souvenir stand).

But at this marked-down price it's a steal.

Please send cash only. No cards. No checks. And NO credit cards.

I watched yesterday "11:14" movie - same issue with green there.

Just wanted to reiterate that awesomeness of the 'hold a piece of paper a foot or two infront of the lens' flicker adjustment trick. I was a little sceptical when I first read it but it worked brilliantly. Turns out my previous setting were significantly off because I had a hard time seeing flicker on the large screen.

Aussie Bob
"P.S. To tsteves: I have a used deuteranopic filter.
... Please send cash only. No cards. No checks. And NO credit cards."
Truely funy. Also, I do agree on Leo and MDB.
RE: MDB, I don't know why people get upset when some movies have this or that problem. "Artistic vision". Similar colorations are available on audio material. Naturally, if you see the same problem on the majority of material with the same source, it would seem to be a definate issue.
iolaus
I am no sceptic of the white paper technique, myself. I just don't seem to have any problem seeing the flicker while adjusting. I do only have a 92" screen, so that could explain why I don't need this technique.

The 1080i signal is what the review at Projector Central recommended, citing the very good processing of the AE700u projector, but I tested it anyway using all output combinations possible of resolution, progressive or interlaced, component or HDMI, and noise reduction or not - all coming from a Panny S97 DVD player.

All of this testing was done as "side-by-side" as possible, because quick switching adds a lot to one's ability to compare. For example, running the film and switching between Component and HDMI wherever poss. When that wasn't viable, same clips in the film were used, and the settings were changed quickly. 1080i over HDMI was a clear winner every time.

ken

I have been doing alot of testing on my AE700 with B+W 81EF and Bissell's settings, and Avia, and then switching to my HDTivo with HDMI.
So I know excatly what you mean!

I was looking for a way to stream .ts files that are in 1080i, off my network, and couldn't find anything out yet with DVi or HDMI, so I picked up a I-O DATA AVeL LinkPlayer2 network player, which I am using through D4 to component connection.

Any AE-700 owners have this player ?
I wonder what has the better scaler, the 700 or the LP2, which has the Sigma Designs EM8620L chip.

Thanks in advance

Dear Aussie Bob, Why don't you put your used deuteranopic filter on Ebay. They take Pay Pal. As you know people will bid for nearly anything on Ebay. You might find a home for that used filter.

I do find it amazing that people find problems with films where there are none. I saw MDB in a theatre and I have watched it again at home. The filters used were the ones the director cinematographer wanted to use. The cinematographer who did Million Dollar Baby and Mistic River is Tom Stern. He has worked with Eastwood since 1982. When I saw MDB in a theatre I remarked to a friend that there would be many complaints about the color when it hit DVD.

snook789,

I just ordered the LP2. I have a LG up-converting DVD player with HDMI so I really didn't want to go back to component (with D4 converter to make it worse) but there really isn't a better choice that I could find right now. The new JVC SRDVD-100U will have HDMI but that is at least a couple month away and it is an extra $150 for basically just the HDMI connection. The Zensonic z500 keeps getting delayed and it will be $150-$250 more than the LP2. I just decided to try the LP2 and move it to my sons room when the next generation of the sigma chip players get released and support .264 codec.

I would like to hear how the LP2 works with your AE700.

On MDB a serious comment. Being slightly deuteranopic, I DID have some worries about the film until I read that others here were experiencing the same. Tried lots of things to get it right, and - surprisingly - my settings came pretty close to making MDB look "normal".

It's just that any other film looked pink on the same settings.

All the razzamatazz here about the AE700's lamp gradually failing - some of it quite accurate - led me to consider whether Lamp #2 of mine was dying.

I have to say that the lamp horror stories around this place have diminished my affection for the projector. Some of it is, admittedly, paranoia, but some of it is the Real Thing as well.

Panasonic would do well to try and make a more reliable box in their next model issue to avoid these problems. With Blu-Ray or HDDVD (or both) around the next corner, methinks the projector market will just go "boom!" in the coming years. Whoever is to the forefront with a dependable, reliable, bug-free projector that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to maintain will wipe the floor with their competition.

A lot of people I know don't want to go to cinemas anymore because of security, cost and convenience reasons (I should say lack of convenience). At home you can get up, go to the loo, talk during the film, rustle chip wrappers, pat the dog, answer the phone and a host of other things that are either impossible or frowned upon at the cinema. And you don't have to find parking at your own home, either.

Projectors are the way of the future for that true cinema experience. Someone ought to get this idea in their head and DO something with it for once and for all.

End of sermon.

Aussie Bob, out.

been blessed with an always functioning hdmi port on my directv hd tivo :)

send the ae700 in after a almost a year of the white flashes..... to get rid of em with firmware 1.07

the thing arrives back today (still alot of dust inside but the big dust blobs i think are gone... wont know till its dark here for sure :) and the hdmi input no longer gets a signal from my directtivo :(

sending hdmi from my hdmi dvd player works fine...... but the hdmi tivo out NADA zilch.......

anyone else find this after a 1.07 flash at the heartland?

Does anyone know why I am seeing pinkish red that is pretty heavy on the left side and especially the left corner of my screen from say 50-100 ire. It is also on the right side of the screen but not to the same extent. It is very noticable in movies and give a pinkish red color to anything that is from a mid gray to white in color. I almost have to take Red Contrast down to -15 to get rid of 80% of it but that screws up the rest of the grayscale.

Does anyone know what is causing this and is this correctable?

Should I send it in for repairs or is there a tweak I have not tried yet? Would the repair center consider this a warranty issue or expect me to live with it?

scheuled
That does not sound like a "tweakable" problem.

Does anyone know why I am seeing pinkish red that is pretty heavy on the left side and especially the left corner of my screen from say 50-100 ire. It is also on the right side of the screen but not to the same extent. It is very noticable in movies and give a pinkish red color to anything that is from a mid gray to white in color. I almost have to take Red Contrast down to -15 to get rid of 80% of it but that screws up the rest of the grayscale.

Does anyone know what is causing this and is this correctable?

Should I send it in for repairs or is there a tweak I have not tried yet? Would the repair center consider this a warranty issue or expect me to live with it?

Sounds like optical path problem, one of the rear dichroic mirrows shifted and needs alignment, not DIY, had the unit been knocked/dropped ?, or always been there ?

If it was dropped it had to be during shipping, I will look at sending it in for repairs.

I will reference opinions from knowledgable members of this site.

After doing this and doing that and then some I have really found that picture quality really really comes down to the DVD themselves. We all have to get over the mistification that they are all perfectly created because they are not. It is well known that the way many many DVD's are transferred and compressed and compressed again ruins the transfer.

I just this week rented some Critieron DVD's of some classic's and the transfers and the prints looked PERFECT on the 700, absoulutely flawless, filmlike, bright, rich colors, perfect sound mixes, etc.

Many DVD new releases have gotten worse in quality instead of better as more crap is crammed on them. I always prefer two DVD's, one with JUST the main title and the bonus with all the crap. Save the trailers for the bonus CD's hollywood! Give us better transfers with less compression, hence higher quality DVD's.

That does not sound like a "tweakable" problem.
one of the rear dichroic mirrows shifted and needs alignment, not DIY
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

dlarson
Yes you are right. How about "not recommended to tweak" with an under warranty new projector?
I can't imagine they would tell him it is "within limits" or whatever.
Playing with things like that may void the warranty.

Hi all,

I would like to ask all of you guys who use HDMI connection, first the lenght of cable and second brand of cable you use. I would like to know for sure what is the longest run someone did without problems. In our showroom we have big dramas when we try anything more than 7-8 metres. That is one of the reasons we still use only component in our installations. I had a few installs with over 30 metres of cable run with component and when we used good quality stuff picture we got "on the other side" was still impressive. Thanks in forward to any replies,

Cheers! :)

I'm using a 25 ft HDMI cable from monoprice.com. Works great. I tried and failed with a 50 foot cable from pccables.com. I rearranged a few things in the room to allow for the shorter cable length.

Tom


Hi all,

I would like to ask all of you guys who use HDMI connection, first the lenght of cable and second brand of cable you use. I would like to know for sure what is the longest run someone did without problems. In our showroom we have big dramas when we try anything more than 7-8 metres. That is one of the reasons we still use only component in our installations. I had a few installs with over 30 metres of cable run with component and when we used good quality stuff picture we got "on the other side" was still impressive. Thanks in forward to any replies,

Cheers! :)

30' HDMI purchased from bluejeanscables - no problems

After doing this and doing that and then some I have really found that picture quality really really comes down to the DVD themselves. We all have to get over the mistification that they are all perfectly created because they are not. It is well known that the way many many DVD's are transferred and compressed and compressed again ruins the transfer.

I just this week rented some Critieron DVD's of some classic's and the transfers and the prints looked PERFECT on the 700, absoulutely flawless, filmlike, bright, rich colors, perfect sound mixes, etc.

Many DVD new releases have gotten worse in quality instead of better as more crap is crammed on them. I always prefer two DVD's, one with JUST the main title and the bonus with all the crap. Save the trailers for the bonus CD's hollywood! Give us better transfers with less compression, hence higher quality DVD's.


When I back up my DVD's I notice that some 1h 45m DVD's easily fit on one 4.5GB DVD-R without compression and other 1h 45m DVD's need to be split in two DVD-R's to keep from compressing the movie. Is that because the first movie is compressed down. I do remove all extras and keep just one soundtrack so I am only backing up the main movie.

And as far as my projector, I dropped it off at a service center that is less than 30 miles from my house. I instructed them to look at the mirror adjustment and I will reference the service manual and the above mentioned pages.

50' HDMI purchased from bluejeanscables - no problems

40' dvi with HDMI adapter. Bluejeanscables. No problems.

snook789,

I just ordered the LP2. I have a LG up-converting DVD player with HDMI so I really didn't want to go back to component (with D4 converter to make it worse) but there really isn't a better choice that I could find right now. The new JVC SRDVD-100U will have HDMI but that is at least a couple month away and it is an extra $150 for basically just the HDMI connection. The Zensonic z500 keeps getting delayed and it will be $150-$250 more than the LP2. I just decided to try the LP2 and move it to my sons room when the next generation of the sigma chip players get released and support .264 codec.

I would like to hear how the LP2 works with your AE700.

Was in same boat as you.
When a DVI or HDMI network player comes out, I will wait for others comparison, and if it turns out to be a better picture, I wil get one.
Before I got the LP2 last week, all of my HD was through my HDTivo, via HDMI.
Now I use the LP2 players to stream .ts HD Movies.
The picture is studding.
It looks like the 1080i content that was on DirecTv, before they started compressing it. And looks like the ota HD network.

Like to her your empressions when you receive yours, and what you watch on it..

dlarson
Yes you are right. How about "not recommended to tweak" with an under warranty new projector?
I can't imagine they would tell him it is "within limits" or whatever.
Playing with things like that may void the warranty.

Well put :D

When I back up my DVD's I notice that some 1h 45m DVD's easily fit on one 4.5GB DVD-R without compression and other 1h 45m DVD's need to be split in two DVD-R's to keep from compressing the movie. Is that because the first movie is compressed down. I do remove all extras and keep just one soundtrack so I am only backing up the main movie.


Dvd's that have the same length movie can vary in size. It depends on how much other stuff there is on the disc, whether it's single or dual layer, some movies have more fast moving scenes and require more data etc.

An observation on hdmi cropping......

I use a pc for all sources in my ht, ati9600 pro video card.

I recently finished the room(well as finished as they get...) and started mucking about with things(as you do). I had been using my 700, from my htpc, on a variety of walls and surfaces(300 hours all up). I used VGA and was very happy with the picture.

Now to the crux of the matter. I purchased a Lindy HDMI cable, short run 3 meters, just to see the difference for myself.

It was pretty much a waste of money, except it satisfied my need to know. ;)

With both connected and sharpness adjusted to be the same on both(hdmi is oversharpened on the 700 for some reason) there is no difference on a-b tests.
With the sharpness unbalanced there is a difference...in sharpness. :rolleyes:

Well, apart from the cropping on hdmi and thats a shocker, I see why people are so pissed off about it now. Especially if you use a htpc.

But here is the REALLY interesting bit. While I was mucking about in the ati drivers, I unchecked "force720p"(i love that checkbox btw) and checked "force 1080i". The screen changed and BANG there it was. Cropping. ON VGA!

If you have a htpc try it for yourselves, on vga, change res to 1080i and checkout the cropping. It's EXACTLY the same as the cropping on hdmi.

I'm sure it means something, I just dunno what......but I'm sticking with vga at 720p. I like being able to see ALL of my desktop.

STILL HAVING WHITE FLASHES. I have a brand new AE700 made in June05, shipped with R1.07. I am using a Samsung HD-841 with DVI out, a 25 foot cable and Monster DVI-HDMI converter. DVDs play with White Flashes. Lots in the first few minutes from startup, then intermittently every couple of minutes. I have read all posts on white flashes from both AE700 threads, and they seem to show this was solved with 1.05. So why do I still have it with 1.07? The 25 foot DVI cable worked flawlessly with this player on the AE500 I upgraded from, so I doubt the cable is a contributing factor. No problems with component connections at all. No VB problems. Any recommendations appreciated.

8foootxbox, your problem does not seem to be the same one that people had with the original firmware. The flash were random and only a few times an hour. I would try to place the HD-841 very near the AE700 and try it with a short cable to see if you still see the flashes. The problem could also be an HDCP handshake issue with the Samsung.

8footxbox
I agree with rwestley, this is not the "normal" wite flash issue. I still have 1.05 and only get a white flash every hour or so at most.

I sent my projector in for repair due to severe color non-uniformity. The reply by the technician is that he had to order an analysis block from Panasonic. Does anyone know what that is and is it used to correct the color non-uniformity problem I told him about?

When I back up my DVD's I notice that some 1h 45m DVD's easily fit on one 4.5GB DVD-R without compression and other 1h 45m DVD's need to be split in two DVD-R's to keep from compressing the movie. Is that because the first movie is compressed down. I do remove all extras and keep just one soundtrack so I am only backing up the main movie.

And as far as my projector, I dropped it off at a service center that is less than 30 miles from my house. I instructed them to look at the mirror adjustment and I will reference the service manual and the above mentioned pages.

Each movie is differant is why you see unconstant movie sizes. I have seen some 90minute movies take up 8GB of space, while i have seen some 2.5hour movies take up 4GB. Each movie really depends on how the studios do them. You have to take into account the audio tracks as well, since they can not be compressed at all. Some movies just have higher Bit--Rates than others.

I got my new Carada Screen, it is awesome.

Now, I have spent other posts talking about tweaking this and that to get a better picture and after purchasing my first SUPERBIT DVD this weekend, my feelings that Picture quality or the lack of really starts with the material itself.

I mentioned that I rented some Criterion DVD's of some classic films and both looked absolutely without a doubt STUNNING bright and clear as day, just with my Panasonic S77s player connected to my projector.

No VB banding whatsoever. I will say that Picture Quality does really fall on one thing and one thing only, the transfer itself, the company making the transfer, the bit rate, the compression of the product, etc.

Before any of you spend tons of time tweaking this and that, go out and rent or buy a QUALITY dvd, use it to check your picture and I think, at least in my case, you will be loving your projector. Get your minds out of the ALL DVD's are created equal BS, because that is exactly what it is, BS.

I am going to invest in a DVDO scaler to eliminate the black bars and sharpen my 2.35-1 pictures. So far, I am loving my AE700.. Dust is the only thing that is bothering me. I literally bought a air puriefier for my theater to kept it to a minimum.

But gijoela, the Pundits have told us: "The DVD presentation is the expression of the vision of the Director". How can you now contradict this. Are you seriously saying we don't need calibration disks, colorimetry meters and suchlike? Are you trying to tell us that some DVDs are just crappy transfers and that some are dim, some are bright and some have too much contrast?

I'm all confused.

I think gijoela is missing critical point, as Aussia Bob mentioned - to enjoy even best transfers you must have your projector calibrated right, so you get D65 color at different levels and proper gamma.
Without it you are not seeing image "right", as it was intended.

And if you think Criterion DVD have good picture - watch some movies/programs in HDTV :)

snook789

I got my LP2 and it works pretty well. Component looks really soft and not near as bright as my LG with HDMI. I had to turn up brightness from -5 to +5 on my VIDEO setting with filter. The remote response is terrible as everyone knows but the Harmony remote I just bought helps. I wish you could play the DVD's more normally over the network with menus and chapter skips. Except for the DVD auto play the Wife factor is a -10. She doesn't understand or like it and she just watches DVDs and SD Tivo. Overall for $250 it is a good product to play HD content and it is really nice being able to download TV programs we missed and stream them to the projector in Low Res HDTV Divx format.

The first 720P movie that finished downloading was WM9 so there was no sound over digital optical and I haven't tried in over analog yet. Yesterday two 1080i Xvid movies finished downloading and they both looked and sounded awesome on the AE700. I only have 640k DSL and it takes way to long to DL movies so I just ordered a Directv HR10-250. For $475 shipped off ebay and $300 account credit from Directv along with some free programing it was a no brainer decision even with the pending MPEG4 conversion coming. Now I just have to buy an extra 400 GB drive and learn how to hack the TIVO so I can transfer and archive the files to my computer and play them on the LP2.

I would also like to thank everyone for their research and input to this forum. I have learned so much about projectors, filters, network DVD players and HDTV that I would have never known without this resource.

-James-

gijoela
I'm pretty sure a LOT of us have 5th element superbit.... etc
As well as avia, dve, and numerous THX disks.
Maybe your criterions and superbits could look even better?

Well, my projector has arrived - and so far so good. I've ordered a filter which is going to take about a month to show up.

Can anybody advise starting HDMI set-up figures WITHOUT to filter - Thanks.

Also - although the projector is on a level surface, the image still has to be set to minus 1 in the keystone menu to get a even image. The screen is certainly flat, so the projector can't be, but with a -1 setting, do I need to lean it forwards or backwards...?

Thanks folks - both really dumb questions... sorry!

Well, my projector has arrived - and so far so good. I've ordered a filter which is going to take about a month to show up.

Can anybody advise starting HDMI set-up figures WITHOUT to filter - Thanks.

Also - although the projector is on a level surface, the image still has to be set to minus 1 in the keystone menu to get a even image. The screen is certainly flat, so the projector can't be, but with a -1 setting, do I need to lean it forwards or backwards...?

Thanks folks - both really dumb questions... sorry!

Best settings without filter is Cinema 1/2 modes - tweak contrast/brightness with AVIA/DVE discs.

As for keystone - your projector is not perpendicular to screen. Adjust that and you will not need keystone corrections.

After I just watched SIN CITY, a DVD rich in BLACK, the projector and the DVD's image on the screen looked FLAWLESS. As some here contend, tweaking is the only way to go, but here again is a perfect dvd transfer done right and a beautiful dvd. Sorry fellas, I will stick to my guns that all dvd's are not created, burn, compressed equal...bottom line, a well made dvd will look GREAT on this projector.

I agree 100 % Sin City looked amazing on my AE-700 using a DVD-S97 with the latest 541 firmware. There was no edge enhancement or any other problems. I think it is the best looking DVD I have seen yet.

Some more well-made DVDS that scrub up well on the AE-700:

Band Of Brothers (any episode), Under The Tuscan Sun, Hotel Rwanda, The Aviator, Casablanca, Bandits, The Cooler, The Good Thief, The Last Waltz, The Pianist, Schindler's List, Three Days Of The Condor, Wag The Dog, West Side Story, Alien (remastered theatrical release), Assassination Tango, Broadway Danny Rose, De Lovely, Dr. Zhivago, Enemy At The Gates, Gettysburg, Get Shorty, Goodfellas (recent dual layer remaster), The Fog Of War, Where Eagles Dare, Kelly's Heroes, Shall We Dance, Taxi (appalling film, good transfer), E.T., North By Northwest, Out Of Africa, Mississippi Burning, Betty Blue, One Two Three, His Girl Friday, Arsenic And Old Lace, 13 Days, Cool Hand Luke, Catch Me If You Can, Cape Fear, Dr. Strangelove, Gosford Park, The Dancer Upstairs.... to name a few.

"Well made" = sharp, little or no edge enhancement, minimal grain, rich tonality, high bit rate, few MPEG artefacts, extra PAL vertical lines.

Sin City - Wow! "Mickey Rourke is a psychotic outcast"
Hmmm...... sounds believable!

Aussie Bob
Yeah, just "a few"...
Nice taste!

gijoela
Um, who is arguing?

Yep - Sin City DVD has great transfer. Sad that my wife didnt liked it, so i will need to pickup time to rewatch it carefully ;)

now #1 in my netflix cue!

after getting my projector back from the heartland after the firmware flash to fix hdmi (and my hd tivo hdmi no longer working with the projector, tho it had flawlessly before sending it out..... not counting the hourly or so white flashes we all learned to live with pre 1.07)
i've noticed something more troubling...... what appears to be a faint yellow cast over the center of the screen (like maybe 15-20% of the screen) really only noticeable on white or off white backgrounds) anyone know what this is/means?? see it on hdmi dvd and pc and component hdtv,

thanks..

Backpakva, I understand where you're coming from and yes you're rihgt I don't own this PJ but unfortunately I have to deal with more and more of unhappy customers on daily bases, so I think I have every reason to express my worries. There just seems to be a little bit too many problems with this PJ than usual. There are othere PJ's that are even cheaper than this one with much less problems (eg. Sanyo, Toshiba, Hitachi, Sharp...). I'm not so sure about recomending this one any more... sorry.

Cheers :confused


After lots been said and tried I decided to try something myself. As I said a while ago I don't own PTAE700, but my company services and installs hundreds of them. Many, many people are not 100% happy with the picture "straight out of the box". I tried all of the filters mentioned quite a bit on this forum. In my opinion filters are waste of time and money. I did my own testing whith help of Meridian 800 DVD player and on a 110" Stewart Firehawk 1:1 widescreen, THX test disc and with lots of help from 3 guys who work with me. We managed to get this PJ quite well into past 95% of THX standards, which not even some PJ's 3 times the price can't come even close. And yes... we didn't use any filters. If anybody cares to try and especialy if you use 1:1 and around 100" screen and with (recommended) component connection here are results:

:


It seems you changed your mind over those few weeks. Is that a correct assumption? My AE700 has been great since getting the firmware upgrade. The HD content from HBO is just amazing.

Jim

after getting my projector back from the heartland after the firmware flash to fix hdmi (and my hd tivo hdmi no longer working with the projector, tho it had flawlessly before sending it out..... not counting the hourly or so white flashes we all learned to live with pre 1.07)
i've noticed something more troubling...... what appears to be a faint yellow cast over the center of the screen (like maybe 15-20% of the screen) really only noticeable on white or off white backgrounds) anyone know what this is/means?? see it on hdmi dvd and pc and component hdtv,

thanks..

Something like that is exactly what has me spooked about sending mine in for firmware update. Why couldn't they have made it easier to flash like a dvd player? :confused: I only have a couple more months under warranty, but I am so nervous about something getting damaged in shipment.

My firmware upgrade went extremely well, and the outcome is fantastic.

Jim

My firmware upgrade went extremely well, and the outcome is fantastic.

Jim

Jim, (or anyone else that has had the upgrade)
Can you expand on what made the outcome fantastic? I thought there were minor tweaks to the out of the box color balance and a fix for the HDMI white flashes. Is there something else I am missing that an upgrade from 1.05 to 1.07 would provide? If it truly is fantastic, perhaps I will reconsider the shipping risks.

According to Panasonic the 1.07 upgrade solves the white flash problem with HDMI.

tho it seems to have killed my hdmi (well at least anythin that is hdcp)

called today for service finally...... have other issues like blue polarizer goin bad and yellowness in the center of the image now :(

ps- they said for me to call the local service center...... anyone else had polarizers replaced anywhere besides heartland? is this something service centers can do?

jaquestati
You are freaking me out. I need to send mine in really soon (football coming and october end of warranty)

well its entirely possible that the hdmi hdcp issue is an unrelated but EXTREMELY coincidental simultanious failure of my hd tivo hdmi (they are known to be very high in failure ..... but mine was 100% great until i got the ae700 107 flashed back.... so who knows.)

and i doubt the blue polarizer issue was from the shipping to the heartland as i understand it that is a mainly heat related failure..... and unless they ran it in an oven i doubt the single day they had it could have caused the failure :)

jaquestati
You are freaking me out. I need to send mine in really soon (football coming and october end of warranty)I thought you were one of the early buyers. Get with it, or you will be paying for the upgrade.

1.0.7 Fixed my VB problems. I dont use HDMI, but use the Component video.

It actually took 50 hours or so after the upgrade for the VB to go completely away. That may sound weird but I was initially disappointed but find myself very impressed with the picture lately.

I do the flicker tweak, but that is about it. I cant set the brightness, contrast etc on my own.

Jim

According to Panasonic the 1.07 firmware has nothing to do with VB. The reason for the firmware was to fix the problem with white flashes on HDMI. Many people including,including myself, have had the VB go away after some use.

Never sent my 700 in for the firmware upgrade.
My VB went away naturally after about 100 hours of use.

muadib
Get with it, or you will be paying for the upgrade.
I am king of procrastenators!
My 1 year is around the 20th of October? (I'd better check!) So I'm looking at shipping it off on the 10th, after the Eagles last game before their bye week. I may even "drive it in". Philly location for upgrade is not too far. It is hard to go a week or so without it, I use it every day.

I personally am not concerned about the white flash thing, but like to have the latest firmware under warranty I can get. If that firmware negatively effects things I would say I have recourse for more work done under warranty later? (yeah, free lawyer help - that's going to happen...)

I personally am not concerned about the white flash thing, but like to have the latest firmware under warranty I can get. If that firmware negatively effects things I would say I have recourse for more work done under warranty later? (yeah, free lawyer help - that's going to happen...)

If you are planning on getting a new DVD player in the course of your 700 ownership you will be facing purchasing players with HDMI/HDCP outputs. I think it is worth the upgrade alone. (Might help with resale headaches as well). Do tell them you plan on purchasing a HDMI player so no questions are asked.

It will not improve VB as some have suggested and any of the problems I've seen mentioned after the great adventure could only be ascribed to mechanical problems brought about by the necessity to open or transport the unit. As to incompatibilities that occurred with HDCP post upgrade I'm betting its source issues.

ted

well its entirely possible that the hdmi hdcp issue is an unrelated but EXTREMELY coincidental simultanious failure of my hd tivo hdmi (they are known to be very high in failure ..... but mine was 100% great until i got the ae700 107 flashed back.... so who knows.)

and i doubt the blue polarizer issue was from the shipping to the heartland as i understand it that is a mainly heat related failure..... and unless they ran it in an oven i doubt the single day they had it could have caused the failure :)
I also had a similar EXTREMELY coincidental experience. And it really WAS a coincidence.

As soon as I got my Panny back from the upgrade, I hooked it up to my Scientific Atlanta HD cable box via the HDMI connection and it just couldn't hold onto the signal. Couple days later the cable techniciian shows up and tests the box and signal with his own equipment...and I had a defective set top box. It had been fine before I sent my Panny out. He switched it out and I haven't had a problem since.

Before he tested it and switched out the STB, I refused to believe it actually was a coincidence and didn't have something to do with the upgrade. But it didn't.

Weird.

Otherwise, the upgrade process went fine without a glitch.

I wonder if Panasonic would fix the Lens Shift if it was sent in? I know the the recent ones
work better?

tvted
you will be facing purchasing players with HDMI/HDCP outputs
I am using a 3910 connected via hdmi. I doubt I'll have any problems at all. I haven't so far. I agree on all you say and it would certainly help with the resale value.

hitchfan
Scientific Atlanta HD cable box via the HDMI connection
Mine has hdcp problems as well. I just don't want to lose all my deadwood hd recordings yet!

I just don't want to lose all my deadwood hd recordings yet!

Definitely don't do *that*.
Fabulous series - amazing look to the DVDs. I envy that you have it in Hi Def. (I see TV inside out - just have Rabbit Ears at home. :o )

ted

Ack! tvted - they are out on dvd? Great, that will help the pain when I finally replace the box. It will be hard since I have the entire series in HD!
I still use antennas but for only local HD content.

Ack! tvted - they are out on dvd? Great, that will help the pain when I finally replace the box. It will be hard since I have the entire series in HD!
I still use antennas but for only local HD content.

If you can keep them as HD - do so, the box set here in Canada t'ain't inexpensive. If you know anything about DVD authouring, it might be worth a try.
Exceptional quality can be achieved at low bit rates with modern codecs. See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=565872) if your interest is peaked.

ted

Ok, n00b AE700 owner here.

Details:

Dalite High Power 133" 16:9 screen
Brand new AE700, v1.07 firmware
Oppo DVD player, latest firmware

Problem:

[Edit: Deleted part about lens shift problem, solved]

I can see the horizontal scan lines at times, say on Mike in Monsters, Inc at any time and in even mildly fast action scenes I can see what looks like interlacing?!?

The Oppo is putting out 720p over a DVD -> HDMI cable, I wasn't expecting this horizontal banding at all.

I've tried it with a 480p signal from the Oppo over DVI, but haven't gotten a chance to test a true 480i signal and allowing the Panny AE700 to do the upscaling.

Thanks guys.

My AE700 is about 2 feet to the right of center of the screen. Of course I'm using the horizontal lens shift to center the picture. This of course results in the left side being larger vertically than the right side.

I see keystone correction to correct vertical shift, where is the correction for horizontal? If it doesn't have any correction, WTH is the point of advertising so much horizontal shift if it's going to pooch the image?


I dont know. Maybe I'm thinking about it wrong but I don't think one side should be larger. This to me means the projector isn't parallel with the screen. As in, the lens isn't the same angle as the screen. Like this: /--->| If it isn't parallel the picture will arrive at one side of the screen quicker or shorter distance.

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.

The picture quality overall is just amazing, I haven't even gotten light limiting done in the room and Monsters Inc. is totally watchable even mid-day. =)

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.

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.

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..

One gripe I have is, in heavy action scenes when the camera pans a lot, I somehow feel dizzy in my stomach..

If you have being using conventional sized Tv's then it'll take abit of getting used to the big size of the projector. Could even be your sitting too close? 1.5x screen widths?

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..

Source material varies. To get the best out of this and any projector is to feed it the best possible signal. This means either an upconverting DVD player or a HTPC. HDTV looks killer on this machine.

Tukkis,
thanks for the reply
Here's my configuration and tell me what you think..
My projector is sitting 15ft away from the wall..I am sitting 14 ft away..The screen size that I am projecting is 100" diagonal..
So based on this the seating distance is OK right?