Official Panasonic PT-AE3000U OWNERS Thread. - Page 149

I think there will have to be some significant feature upgrades to warrant me to upgrade my 3000. I love it a lot. Wasn't there some talk about lamp-less projectors coming down the line? Now that would make me take the plunge.

Very, very creative m. zillch...

Thanks for your thoughts on the two projectors.

I still haven't upgraded from my ae2000. I am really hoping for a 3D laser projector next. I started working from home more and use my theater room. I am typing this on my 120" screen now. Then I play World of Warcraft for 4 or 5 hours at night. Putting lots of hours on this thing.

wnielsenbb: how many hours?
m.zillch: thanks! I have the AE3000 (800 hs - no dust blobs) and love it. I think that I'll wait for the AE5000.

I have around 6k hours. I just started working from home though. Still no dust blobs. Cleaned the filter once.

surely not on the same bulb?

no I am on my second. Ready to order a third.

6K wow i just went past the 2K mark on my 3000. I just put in a new panasonic bulb and the picture looks like new again. Nice to know it will last that long. I to am waiting for the 5000 to be released if the reviews say it is a significant upgrade to the 3000 i just may get one.

+1!

Do you notice a decrease in contrast when your bulb starts to get older?

My 3000's bulb is up to about 900 hours, and maybe it's just my imagination but it seems like in the last 100 hours or so the contrast has just gotten a lot worse. I've already turned off eco mode and might have to start using "normal" mode instead of "cinema 1" as well.

The overall brightness seems fine, but darker areas and shadows seem more washed out than I remember. The only other thing I've changed recently is I went from using Arcsoft TMT2 to TMT3, so maybe it is a software issue.

I think i'm going to wait until the LED or Laser projectors get better and affordable. I love my 3000, but would love it more if i didn't have to change the bulb...

Pion
Are you sending video levels (normal) or PC levels (expand) to your PJ? Is Your PJ set accordingly? See page 43 of the AE3000's manual: HDMI signal level.
When the bulb is getting older, it will loose brightness (blacks will be blacker but whites will be also less bright). You can recalibrate your PJ using the Waveform Monitor built in.
This is better explained in the AE4000's Functional Instructions Manual that you can download here:
https://eww.pavc.panasonic.co.jp/pro...E4000U_Eng.pdf
see page 21.
Download a gray scale here:
http://tirnanog.fate.jp/tmp/scan/8.4...0HD%20vmr9.png
Remember:
Brightness = black level. Too low and you'll loose shadow detail; too high and blacks will be (more) gray.
Contrast = white level. If it's too high you'll crush detail in bright images (i.e. clouds, snow, etc.).

^Thanks for that however my Norton anti virus system warns of a trojan from that png file site:

http://safeweb.norton.com/report/show?url=fate.jp

Also wouldn't this only allow calibration to one's computer only? Shouldn't the test pattern be generated from one's bluray deck or other HD video source for best results?

each input should have it's own calibration. The projector should save them per input, iirc.

My ESET NOD32 AV did not!
As wnielsenbb said, you'll have to calibrate each input.
Pion was talking about calibrating a software player.

Yes, to clarify it is the shadows and dark areas that look crushed, so I guess it is a brightness problem, not a contrast problem.

I forgot about the waveform monitor, I never messed with it before. I guess I will give that a try and see if I can improve things, thanks!

As for my input source, I am using a HTPC over a DVI cable (with HDMI adaptor). IIRC I did not set the HDMI level to expand because I remember that making the image look worse. I may have set the color mode in Windows (nvidia control panel) to the non-hdmi color mode, I can't recall off the top of my head since I haven't messed with it in a while.

Does the focus shift slightly if you turn it on and then turn it off before the lamp is full warmed up?

The focus is in a constant state of flux, however this amount is quite minimal once the entire unit, not just the lamp, reaches a state of thermal equilibrium. Although this constant, equalized state of chassis temperature may be reached in even under 5 minutes of use, I like to wait for at least 20 minutes of usage before I attempt to focus, using an externally generated test pattern like SMPTE 133, and while I am standing up next to the screen, viewing the individual pixels from only a foot or so away, not from my viewing chair, that is.

How often do you re-focus?

Per season or so: spring, summer, fall, winter. If I owned AC and had a more regulated room temperature , probably less.

It is important to use the buttons on the remote by quickly tapping them,* tap, tap, tap*, and not holding them down continually, to achieve the very well designed, small increments the focus mechanism is capable of.

With careful attention you should be able to focus so precisely that even with the unit's clever use of smooth screen technology the individual sub-pixels of red, green, and blue start to be just barely visible.

[I have a good photo of this but for some reason AVS or Flickr isn't allowing me to link to my Flickr account. Seems only Flickr members are allowed to view stuff anymore, perhaps.]

Thanks, that's about the frequency I check it too. Was just curious about it while performing some experiments with the focus, seeing whether it was shifting a little during certain operations and such. When I find out about these little things I tend to get obsessive about it but it's not a huge deal.

more often if I use the lens cap so I don't

for some reason I have to re-focus every about 10 times I changed from 16:9 mode to zoomed 21:9 mode. What more strange is that the re-focus needs only to be done on the 16:9 mode. The 21:9 mode, in my 800-ish hours only needed to be redone once.

Has anyone enclosed their ae3000 in a box and ducted out the heat above into the attic? I am building my theater and would like any tips or advice in doing this, I am at the point that i am ready to do it immediately.

thanks

I did this for one of my customer's install. I don't recommend it due to the cost and headache. We ran a dedicated air inlet (with filter) into the box and an exhaust fan to force the hot air out of the box.

It's really not worth the time and effort (unless you get paid to do so).

PS: is it just me? I find that the lamp brightness drop quite noticably after around 800 hours. My clients' are experiencing similar situations. Even boosting the lamp to normal mode doesn't help.

Well i guess maybe a "box" is an incorrect term. i need to build a shelf for it to hang from my ceiling. i guess in a U shape but i wanted to funnel the heat from the exhaust port out a tube into the attic right above. just a simple way to keep the heat exhaust out of the room. i assumed it would need to be a tube going up and then curving over to point down so dust can not fall into it. i am not concerned with forcing air into it, it would just be the natural intake flow from the back which will not be enclosed. i figured i would just get something from home depot for this.

Aside from that i have like 2000 hours on my bulb now, with a 12 foot wide designer white laminate screen. to me the projector is TOO BRIGHT in eco mode on normal setting.

but i have always heard all bulbs dim after about 100 hours, maybe this one is delayed a bit longer? but that initial brightness is really way too bright anyways.

if that's the case, then all you need is an exhaust fan running at the lowest speed to suck the hot air out from the funnel/tubing. I'd use a 12V computer fan and run it at 5V.

Nice build thread, very exciting.

Why build a shelf, why not just use a $50 ceiling mount? That will give you much better airflow.

If you find you want a vent, you could still add it. But seems to me having a hole in the ceiling will mostly let in hot air from the attic in summer, and cold air in winter?

I assumed i would have a thin flap on the end of the tube to keep air from coming in when the fan isnt running, and the airflow should be enough to open the flap and let the air out. I have my shelf built and it seems to work perfect for my situation, i had the wood already from a desk i took apart so it seemed to be a perfect free solution instead of buying a mount. the air flows from the rear to the front so the sides dont restrict any airflow. I took pix, i will upload and post them tonight.

Having a problem with my AE3000... it's about 1.5 years old. I am seeing a couple of spots on the screen when the picture is black or very dark. They aren't any color, just brighter than the rest of the screen... just a fuzzy, brighter spot. It's not very severe and it's very indistinct. Should I take it apart and blow it out - assuming it's a dust blob? Or could it be something with the lens or something else entirely?