Consolidated AE700 thread- Ban is lifted

[dvdjan]

*Edit* Since this is the official thread, please make sure the rules are followed. DO NOT POST PRICING. DO NOT POST DEALER LINKS. DO NOT PM OR ASK FOR PMs REGARDING THE ABOVE.

For the official Tweaks thread start here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=465849


For Daniel's post regarding his experiences with the AE700, see this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...postid=4407288

-MP




This site is in German but it says that the Panasonic 700 will be released in September 2004.


http://www.meinheimkino.com/wbb2/thr...b1b6635f7c20d1



http://www.produkte.panasonic.de/pro...N&upper=&prop=






Auflösung : 1280 x 720
Helligkeit : 1000 Ansi Lumen
Kontrast : 2000 : 1

Smooth Screen
Lens Shift : ja
H/V Keystone : ja
Eingänge: YUV, HDMI, ...

[dvdjan]

Rear :

[bjamez05]

Estimated- How much will this projector cost in the US???

[madpoet]

Somewhere close to the current L500U price.

[bjamez05]

Awesome, i am not going to purchase the sanyo z2 then, i will wait to see how good the Panasonic ae700 is, wow!

so what is it suppose to be like, how does it differ from the ae500?

what are the upgrades? (maybe lens shift??)

when will it be in production in the usa???

thanx

[madpoet]

Don't expect to see it in the US for 4-5 months, unless you import it or they drastically change how they release projectors. If you sift through the info about you can see the differences (lens shift, better contrast and lumens on paper anyway)

[Ericbres]

Originally posted by bjamez05
what are the upgrades? (maybe lens shift??)

thanx

That is what the little knob is next to the lens ... a lens-shift joystick like on the Sharp B10S ... very nicely done Panasonic!

Pass along the 3 year warranty that we see recently and this thing is a winner.

[edwardr132]

This one could make me switch to LCD! I love all those inputs in the back and 2000:1 contrast ratio and hopefully great bulb life.

[bjamez05]

oh ok,

well i am then prolly going to purchase the sanyo Z2 and then in the future i will upgrade when there are really good pjs for $2000 and under!

thanx guys for the information!

[madpoet]

Edward... there's no way on god's green earth this thing will have a legitimate 2000:1 CR you know . Look at the Panny 500's published vs real world specs. If this thing manages to top 1000cr without cheating I'll be happy, but surprised.

[edwardr132]

I know..... I wish they wouldn't fudge (a lot!) with those stats. I am not in a hurry to upgrade, but you have to admit that those specs made you blink!

[Kamus]

man, why would they ditch DVI? i'd rather see them ditch the VGA input, afterall, most new computers have DVI.
i know DVI is no longer intended for HT, but i don't know a single person that has a computer with both DVI and VGA that would rather use VGA, period.

[madpoet]

They have HDMI, and the adapter is about $30.

[Ericbres]

Originally posted by Kamus
man, why would they ditch DVI? i'd rather see them ditch the VGA input, afterall, most new computers have DVI.
i know DVI is no longer intended for HT, but i don't know a single person that has a computer with both DVI and VGA that would rather use VGA, period.

They didn't ditch DVI ... the Scart is an input only put on the European models. The back of the L700U which will be released in America will look a little different.

[Monkey_Man]

Funny the D5 panel has 50% more contrast then the D4. It would be nearly impossible to jump 70% in contrast.

Anyone having deja vu from last year right now? All the happy speculation to be later met with so many problems.

Are the D5 panels smaller then the D4?

[madpoet]

I don't think they are using the D5 panels anyway. I thought it was still the D4s. That aside, keep in mind that the CR level that the D4 CAN achieve is at least 1000 based on the Epson 500's measured CR. So if this unit could top that, then outstanding.

[Monkey_Man]

2000 CR is a mighty claim for D4. If it were D5 it might be worth it. I do like the slick design.

MP
Did you ever work your problem out yet with the Cinema 500?

[Robert Clark]

If Panasonic can produce a projector with twice the contrast of the AE500 and lens shift for the same money, then they will really have a winner, despite the skepticism here.


Now about that vertical banding...

[madpoet]

I think I've got it traced to my cables. Once I fired up my PC and started running DVI as opposed to component, everything looked superb. It is definately a step up from the Z2 and L500. I would probably not pay much more than what I paid for it, but at the price I got it I'm content.

[empire_dnh]

Man, I hope it would come out late (like begin of next year) but not sooner.

I want to be able to enjoy mine new toy for couple of months

[exsodius]

Hmm. I am kinda interested in if it will do 1280*720 at 50hz!(pal) And do you see that they have moved the air intake to the front or back? Don't know which yet And if panasonic want to beat the z2 in the noise compartement, then the AE700 have to be only 23db!!!

Thanks to dvd jan, nice to see at least one norwegian here!
Do you have the link to the german site?

[Cine4Home]

Edward... there's no way on god's green earth this thing will have a legitimate 2000:1 CR you know . Look at the Panny 500's published vs real world specs. If this thing manages to top 1000cr without cheating I'll be happy, but surprised.

The AE500 actually reaches already a measured CR of 1200:1 . They didnt lie about the AE500, i dont expect them to lie about the 700 then...

Regards,
Ekkehart, www.cine4home.de

[madpoet]

Ekkehart, you've got more experience than me but where have you seen real world measurements of the AE500 at a 1200:1 CR? Are we talking high power with the AI on or something? Everything I've seen said they overbilled it... and then of course there is the lumens .

Even the Epson 500/Yammy 510X, in Cinema Black mode (which is about 75% iris and 315 lumens) only managed a CR of 1050:1 in the WSR review and they said it was the best they'd ever seen in an LCD projector.

[gwlaw99]

No way an ae500 gets 1200 CR when properly calibrated. An Epson 500 barely makes it over 1k.


See this review

After tweaking, I measured 365 ANSI lumens in Normal mode. Brightness ranged from 645 lumens in Dynamic mode to 120 lumens in Cinema 1 mode. The projector is not terribly bright; don’t expect it to blow you away under high ambient lighting. A plain matte screen is best with this projector, although a gray screen would pull those black levels down more.

Contrast performance was very good with readings of 242:1 ANSI (average) and 328:1 peak (checkerboard). Brightness uniformity on average to any corner was 55%, which isn’t anything to write home about. (The best LCD projectors can usually achieve 70% or better brightness uniformity.) Low brightness uniformity means you might see a hot spot if you used a high gain screen with the PT-AE500U.


http://www.hdtvexpert.com/Pages/ae500.htm

[trailergod]

wow.. and my ae500 is only 6 months old...

should i upgrade? or wait another year when they will release a 1080p pojector :-)... i think that will happen :-)

since i'm using HTPC via dvi, how will this then work? can i get an adaptor to connect my DVI ouput to HDMI ?

[Gibbah]

Originally posted by Robert Clark
Now about that vertical banding...

Exactly! This is my main concern right now. Do I dare to hope they have eliminated the VB-problem on this?

[Monkey_Man]

If the Ae700 uses the old D4 panel I personally say no if you have the 500u. However if it has the D5 panel then ys it will be an upgrade. I doubt the AE700 will be using the D5 panel.

[AmitPatel]

Originally posted by trailergod

since i'm using HTPC via dvi, how will this then work? can i get an adaptor to connect my DVI ouput to HDMI ?

Yes, DVI to HDMI cables are available and not too expensive.

[rlindo]

No way this thing will hit 2000:1 and I am sure everyone who has been in this game for a few years realizes that. I mean, most DLPs don't truly hit 2000:1 so this new LCD won't magically better them in CR when it has been proven over time that LCD is inferior to DLP with respect to CR. I say the 700 will hit 1000:1 if they are using the D4 panels and maybe 1200:1 if they are using the D5 panels. That is just my guesstimate

All I know is I won't be upgrading to the next batch of LCD pjs even if they do provide better CR than the Epson 500. I think my Epson 500 will be good enough for me for at least 2-3 generations. The next PJ I want to get is a 1080p pj (dlp, lcd, sxrd, whatever) that has great contrast and not many problems. Hopefully in 2-3 years that pj will become a reality and will be around 5 grand in price.


Ekkehart,

If the Panny L500 hits 1200:1 then the Epson must hit like 1600:1.

Seriously, you are the only person who has said the Panny can hit its rated spec when the thing is properly calibrated.

[Abstrakt]

They didn't ditch DVI ... the Scart is an input only put on the European models. The back of the L700U which will be released in America will look a little different.

Yes, they did. There’s no relation between an added SCART connector and missing DVI. Current European models have the same inputs as the North American ones (including DVI), with the addition of a SCART connector.

So I’m certain that the North American model will be missing the DVI input as well.

Cheers.