Official Panasonic PT-AE3000U OWNERS Thread. - Page 9

Sorry, just found some info on the 6500 & 7500.... gonna go read now...

It seems like a lot of people are talking about having a good or bad unit regarding focus and convergence.

Without ever owning a projector before, what's the best way to determine these type of issues?

When I bring up the initial pattern for adjusting zoom and focus, I don't see any other colors on the fringe of the pattern but I also can never quite get the fuzziness to go away on the pattern either. If I stand right in front of the screen and adjust the focus, the slight blur at the edges of the + in the middle will never totally go away. I'm able to get fairly good separation between the more tightly spaced lines that surround the + but not perfect.

The edges look about as clear as the middle with a very slight bluish ghosting around them (which isn't there in the middle cross). I can only see that bluish color if I stand about 2 feet from the screen.

Like I said in an earlier post, I keep tweaking the focus on the projector but I'm not really sure about the focus of my eyes either so I may work on those next.

Anyone else have the same experience, if you stand a couple of feet from the screen, how sharp are the default test patterns?

-Aaron

I have a 1000U mounted to my ceiling and I am about to pull the trigger on an upgrade to the 3000U. Will my existing ceiling mount work on the 3000U?

There have been no issues with focus (just some folks who didn't realize that when you put the lense cap on and off it will move the focus ring and cause it to unfocus...I never put my cap on so it is not an issue. As far as convergence, that is a unit by unit factor. Mine is fine. The focus is perfectly clear. I owned the 2000U and I can tell you that this unit is sharper than the 2000U. Alot of the focus is really related to source material. King Kong is RAZOR sharp on HD-DVD...The Incredible Hulk is really, really sharp, but there are some blu-rays that will look soft on "any" projector. It goes for broadcast tv as well. Last night I was watching a movie on StarZ channel on Directv and it was really sharp, and then I changed channels and the other StarZ channel looked soft and almost blurry. Guess it's the way they compress some channels and not others. The Panny 3000U is as sharp as any 1080P and has incredible black levels. For the price I honestly don't think it can be beat. When I focus mine I stand right next to the screen and look at the R on the lettering and if you look close you will see tiny steps on the leg of the R...Just make it to where the steps are razor sharp and that is as good as it will get.

The case is virtually identical so I don't see why not.

It might depend on the mount somewhat, but I can vouch (going from a 1000u to a 3000u) that the cases of each are identical. I use a Peerless "universal" mount on an extension pole, and it was literally an issue of taking down the 1000u, unscrewing the three screws attaching the mounting plate from the 1000u, and transferring it with only a very, very slight adjustment of one of the arms to the 3000u (and the adjustment could/should have been done when it was on the 1000u, as the mounting plate wasn't centered as well as it should have been). With the plate put on the 3000u, and making the adjustment to center it better, I just had to slide it back in the pole mount, adjust pitch and roll slightly, and fine tune the rest with the PJ's adjustments.

So, long way to say, yes, at least 99% sure it will work.

You'd be surprised how often this is not the case. The mount I have is from Chief's RPA series and the bracket is two pieces. One the mounts to the ceiling and the other that is specific to the projector. Of course, Chief hasn't updated their website to say if the mount will work but if the mounting holes are the same in the 3000U then I should be ok.

Did you have to adjust the mounting points on the bracket that attaches to the projector when you moved it from the 1000u to the 3000u? If not, then my mount should work fine. Mine is specific to the 1000u back when I bought it.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep playing with the focus and keep in mind that the source is more of a factor in many cases than anything else.

I guess all that matters is that I'm happy and so far, I'm pretty much blown away by it. Since this is my first projector, I think I may be spoiled from now on.

-Aaron

No, it was pretty much a point for point transfer with the mounting screws to the PJ case. One hole was off about 25%, but I think it was primarily due to the way the mounting plate was attached (imperfectly) to the 1000u. It's now attached and centered perfectly on the 3000u, and I haven't had any problems. With the 1000u, over time, the projector would roll slightly and would need to be adjusted on the mounting pole (I was too lazy to adjust the mounting plate to the 1000u).

Before ordering the AE3000 I had a Epson 720p projector. Do you think the mountdirect.com's NPL mount will work with the AE3000?

I just got word back that the NPL series does work.

So are people saying that it isn't a good idea to mount this projector far back? I was planning to mount at 18 feet from the screen.

Indeed, I'm interested in the consensus on this issue. I was hoping to shelf-mount whatever projector I get about 18 to 19 feet from the screen - not a requirement, but a nice-to-have characteristic. I'd trying to avoid ceiling mounting, due mostly to laziness in running wire, etc. (I actually would place the projector on top of a tall AV rack.)

If a sharp image-wide focus is not possible with this projector at 18', then my positioning options are reduced. I won't let this issue stop me from buying a particular projector, but it could sway me to a different make/model given everything else is in balance.

Inquiring minds want to know...

shinksma

My AE2000 is 19.5 feet away from an 118" screen. I find the picture nice and sharp. In a darkend room, the image is quite nice--so I imagine the AE3000 would be even better.

If you want more brightness mount it closer, if you want darker blacks mount it further back.
Warren.

I just wanted to give a quick thought as the EPSON 1080ub is being said to be comparable or the same as the 3000.

I had a 1080 ub in my theater before I got the 3000. In my opinion the 3000 puts up a MUCH better picture. The colors and picture in general produce a better picture with more of a wow factor. I really think that Panasonic does a excellent job on colors. Also those 120 hz is really cool for standard tv (football is awesome). For movies I kind of like running it in mode 1 and it seems to add a little but isn't overwhelming like mode 2 is were it takes away and looks fake.

My wife, who always asks why we would need to upgrade. We currently have a Ax100. When I got the Epson 1080 she was not that impressed and stated it wasn't that much of an improvement over the AX100. When I fired up the 3000, she really excited and told me we have to keep this projector. To her there was a big difference.

I am still testing the 3000 and am a little worried about how bright it is. It is nice and bright right (normal mode on 133" hipower) now but I am worried with the dimming of the bulb I may not be satisfied.

I am going to be testing some more tonight.

Anyone know if Jason got his AE3000 review sample and when the review is supposed to be posted...I don't want to PM him as I'm sure he's swamped. I wonder if the review/measurements will make him change his mind about the whole RS1 comment?

Its a great time to be shopping for pjs...

Shinksma - I'm planning on shelf mounting mine in the same way, although at about 13' from the screen. What tall AV rack are you using? I was looking at a Sanus NF-206, but it is only 55" high.

I have mine shelf mounted on an Ethan Allen Bookshelf
(http://www.ethanallen.com/jsp/univer...ageName=249811)

The lens sits aprox 50" high. Perfect for a HP Screen.

Can any of you that are using this projector in a 2.35 - 1 set up comment on the offset required for ceiling mounting. I will be mounting this projector 15 feet from a 133 diag. 2.35 - 1 screen. I heard that I can't mount it above the top edge of the screen. Is this correct? I have about 29 inches from the edge of the screen material to the ceiling. I was hoping to be able to mount it above the screen closer to the ceiling.

Thanks,
CSMAB

Where do you get service menu information? I got a service manual for my old CRT Panasonic from SAMS. Is there a better source?

~Ken

My AE3000 is shelf mounted approx 19 feet back from the screen, viewed at 13 feet on a 9 foot wide 2.35:1 Greywolf screen. I still use an ND2 filter with it as I have for my previous AE1000/2000 PJs.


The AE3000 service menu looks very similar to the AE2000, so nothing apart from flicker adjustment (not needed on any AE1000/2000 or 3000 I've owned) to fiddle with. There are extra temperatures displayed in the 'self check' menu which refer to filter temp drop or similar, so this might back up the theory that the 3000 has extra filters then the 1000/2000.

CSMAB This projector has a 1.5 screen height lens shift so you can mount it anywhere you please pretty much.
Warren.

I posted this review over on the UK forums, but I thought it might be worth copying here too:

I have only had a short time to try my new AE3000, but I’d like to post my conclusions so far about the differences between my previous AE1000 and AE2000.

For background information, my setup is a long throw (6 metres) onto a faux 2.35:1 106” wide screen ( a 16:9 Greywolf II electric gain 1.8 that is set to stop before full drop, with a top ‘pelmet’ that acts as the top masking), viewing distance approx 13 feet/ 4 metres. The projector is shelf mounted at exactly dead centre to the screen, so no lens shift is needed. My screen wall is dark brown, but the ceiling is white and the side walls are light grey. I use a black material ‘tent’ over the first 5 foot from the screen when watching and attach some black velvet to the bottom of the screen to mask the bottom black bar overspill. With a dark rug and a dark throw on an adjacent sofa, the room has pretty good reflection control and no ambient light during viewing. Although nothing like as good as PJ Hifi’s demo room (for those that have been there), it is much better than a typical magnolia living room. I’m at minimum zoom (i.e. best contrast, but lowest brightness) for 16:9. For 2.35:1 I have to zoom to x1.33 so still very near the best contrast end of the range.

I’ve just sold my AE2000, but before delivering it I borrowed the lamp to confirm that I wasn’t just being influenced by a new brighter lamp. I used only Colour 1 mode for these initial observations as that’s what I’m familiar with on my AE2000 and I wanted to highlight any differences, whilst keeping as many variables out of the equation. Sources used were a Sony BDP-S350 BluRay player and a HTPC connected via a DVI to HDMI adaptor. Contrast and brightness set using DVE BluRay edition and the built in waveform monitor, no adjustments to RGB levels, colour, tint or colour temperature were done at this time. Hopefully a full calibration using an Eye-One sensor plus HFCR software at some later stage will be done.

Positives:

The black level seems lower on a fade to black and blacks within a brighter scene really do have much more depth, so these scenes have more ‘punch’ than before. :thumbsup: I couldn’t really say that the image was noticeably brighter than before (using the same lamp remember). The specifications claim maximum lumens up from 1500 to 1600, so that percentage increase would be hard to see with the naked eye anyway.

Motion smoothness using the ‘Mode 1’ of the frame creation seemed a nice improvement and the image seems to stay sharper during movement. I wasn’t taken by ‘Mode 2’ as the audio delay was noticeable and I hadn’t time to adjust my receiver to match. ‘Mode 2’ seemed a bit too artificial for my taste judging by my brief viewing with it on though.

Colours in ‘Colour 1’ mode seemed as good as the AE2000, plenty of brightness in my setup (with a 1.8 gain screen).

The lens memory feature is one of the main attractions for me: I saved three settings for the most common ARs that I watch, 1.85:1, 2.35:1 and 1.78:1. It seems to keep the focus well between memories, but I recommend only setting the memories after the PJ has warmed up for an hour or so. In common with the AE2000 and most other projectors, the focus drifts a little from switch on, plus it is easy to disturb the focus when removing the lens cap. It is a shame that it isn’t possible to program three buttons on the remote for these three memories. You can program the one ‘function’ button to bring up the memory menu, then use the up/down buttons and then ‘enter’ to select the required memory. It then takes approx 10 seconds to zoom, shift and refocus whilst displaying a ‘Processing’ window on the screen centre. When completed you then have to press ‘return’ to exit the lens menu again. Perhaps some clever macro with my Harmony 525 using a blanking screen might provide a classier result. It’s still quicker than messing about zooming, shifting and refocusing manually though.

For anamorphic lens use there is the same ‘V stretch’ mode, but in addition there is now a 4:3 mode (or ‘squeeze’ mode) that would allow a HE lens to be left in place for 16:9 use. The AE2000 didn’t have this mode, so it seems Panasonic are paying attention to the increase in 2.35:1 screen owners.

I never had a problem with DVD up scaling on the AE2000 and the AE3000 doesn’t change that view. Although I am using my BDP-S350 to do the up scaling, so feeding the projector with 576i/p isn’t my typical mode. The improved image depth and better blacks has an obvious effect even on DVDs, so that seems more pertinent to me.

General:

The overall sharpness I find no better than the AE2000 and any of the reported ‘tweaks’ to the smooth screen don’t seem to make any difference to me. If you find the AE2000 ‘soft’ then buying an AE3000 will not change your impression. Personally I found only the AE1000 was soft and my AE2000 and now AE3000 both sharp enough for my taste and the pixels can be seen when about 2 foot away from the screen, though a slight texture on the Greywolf screen makes it harder to see them. Note: See further comments below on focus/sharpness.

Noise level in both Eco and Normal lamp modes seems the same as the AE2000, i.e. I can just hear it with the sound muted with the projector mounted 5 feet behind me. High altitude mode is more audible, so I wouldn’t plan on using it unless you really do live in a high altitude area.

There seems to be a slightly more noticeable difference between Eco and Normal lamp modes, though still not a massive change. It might help balance lumens between zoomed 2.35:1 mode and 16:9 mode.

Negatives:

The new remote is smaller and has fewer features than the AE2000. It has no learning buttons that allow the control of my amp and basic player functions. Luckily I have a Harmony 525 that does what I want, but I’ll miss the ‘old’ remote. There is now only one programmable ‘function’ button instead of three, which would have been useful for the three lens memory function as I mentioned above or even just for your three favourite colour modes, like I had my old AE2000 remote set to do.

Focus is sharp in the centre and right side of the screen, but initially mine seemed slightly softer on the left hand side. When viewing a Windows desktop, the icon names weren’t as clear as any text in the middle of the screen. My old AE2000 was sharp all over the screen and I even rechecked it after replacing the lamp at the end of my testing to confirm it wasn’t my imagination. However, with the AE3000 I found that by using a little horizontal lens shift to the right and then slightly turning the PJ to get the image back in line with the screen, it seemed to resolve this left edge softness. I now have a sharp image all over the screen. From my long throw, the slight twist of the PJ doesn’t seem to cause noticeable keystone, so it seems to be the best compromise. I’ll try to take some photos and add them to this post later. I should point out that this slight softening was only visible with text and test patterns, but not noticeable when watching BluRay films. Now it is hardly visible even close to the screen with text.

I’m not entirely happy that I should need to do this ‘fiddle’, but given that there are no dead pixels or colour spots/clouds when showing a white background, maybe it is better to have an issue that can be resolved without having the hassle and risk of a swap. Other owners may be luckier with overall focus, or perhaps try out my ‘tweak’. Tolerances of a machine built down to a price I guess. Perhaps I’m being overly critical….

Conclusion:

Was it really worth the cost of upgrading from an already good AE2000? In my case the answer is ‘Yes’, mostly due to the DLP like ‘punch’ in the medium to brighter scenes (which was unexpected, as I never thought my AE2000 was lacking in this area), better blacks and of course the lens memory feature. It is the first time that I’ve seen an image on my home setup that has the depth of some DLP demos I had a year or two back, but rainbows prevented me from buying. However, if I hadn’t improved my room with the dark cloth, velvet, etc then I think most of the black level improvements would be lost. I tried it briefly with the room as it is normally, cream sofa exposed near the screen and the white ceiling lighting up and it could easily have still been my AE2000 I was watching. I think we are approaching the point where an average living room will not really benefit from anything better than the AE2000 or similar. To see an improved image is not just a question of throwing money at a newer projector, but the room itself should be treated accordingly.

I’ve seen the JVC HD350 and HD750 at PJ Hifi in a fantastic room. The 750 was too far above budget, but I did consider the 350 for a while, but the ‘off’ colours would probably have got to me eventually and it doesn’t seem like there is an easy fix without even more money spent. Another £1,300 or so would be better used elsewhere in my house….it was hard enough to justify the £1,100 it has cost me to change to the AE3000 as it is. In my less than perfect room, then the contrast improvements are going to be less apparent, so I’ll stick to my choice, but YMMV as they say. I believe (certainly I hope ) that I've reached a similar level with my visual setup as I have with the audio side; I no longer analyse it and just enjoy it. Time will tell. :devil:

Tweaks:

I plan to add the Cine4home filter to mine once they become available and a Christmas present of the Eye-one sensor. This will help to recalibrate the off colour but better contrast ratio ‘Dynamic’ mode into something very near to D65 if previous Cine4home versions of the AEXXXX range is anything to go by. But this is mainly to allow a higher lumen output that I can filter down with an ND2 filter until the lamp ages, the improved CR may not be noticeable in my setup anyway, but I’ll no doubt report back later.

A final tweak is that, as reported over on one of the German forums, using HDMI in expanded mode and recalibrating the contrast and brightness to match, does seem to increase maximum brightness without crushing whites. Until I get my Eye-one I can’t measure it to confirm, but it certainly seems brighter, though the black level will remain the same. It may allow the use of an ND2 filter to improve blacks whilst maintaining a bright enough image as the German forum claimed a 20% increase in 100IRE output using this method.

If there are any specific questions re the AE3000, I’ll be happy to try to answer them, in the meantime I hope this helps.

Can you sync the HTPC at 120Hz? That would surely be nice.
Warren.

Nope.

Hmmmm.....two pixels stuck at blue on my 3000U. Anyone know what Visual Apex's policy is on dead pixels?

I'm trying to get my Panny exhanged w/proviewdigital cuz mine has one stuck pixel. Damn annoying. Easily visible when shooting black or a dark picture. I can live w/minor convergence issues, but not this.