I'm upgrading from the Mits HC3000U 720p DLP, a first-rate projector even by today's standards. Before that I had a Panny AE700U. I never thought I'd be going back to an LCD, but boy is the AE3000U miles ahead from the AE700U! Anyway, I connected the AE3000U to my PS3 via the Onkyo SR705. HDMI cables of course. My current screen is a 106" 16:9 Da-Lite High Power, which I love. I plan to go 2.35:1, just don't know what screen yet. My room is fully light controlled.
Fired up the PJ and adjusted focus and zoom, then centered the image. Right away I could see the image pop off the screen. Great detail just looking at the PS3 XMB and background. Sharpness is not a problem with this PJ. It compares favorably with what I'm used to with my 720p DLP.
I tried the following Blu-rays: Iron Man, DVE, Cars, and some 1080p trailers. I'm blown away by the PQ; just awesome. Rich colors, great shadow detail, great contrast, excellent blacks, and great detail. The image has a real depth to it, almost 3D for a lack of a better term. I could only make the pixel structure out from when I walked up to the screen, about a foot away.
I tried Dynamic and found it pretty useless, even for gaming. The picture is too bright and washed out. I agree with those who've said Cinema 1 is a little dim. And I have a High Power screen. However, Cinema 2 looked perfect to me as far as accurate colors and greyscale. I'm no expert, but know what an accurate image should look like. Normal mode is bright and punchy w/o being washed out; good for screens with lower gain.
The focus, zoom, and lens shift controls are easy to use. I only wish the focus and zoom were available via the remote. It's great to have the long zoom and lens shift with the AE3000U as I had to live with a short zoom and no lens shift on my Mits HC3000U.
Next I checked for issues. There are minor convergence issues in the bottom left and bottom right, some blue fringing ...
see pics below. You see them up close only, about 2ft away from the screen. I don't see any convergence issues with any actual movie/program, even when I walk to the screen. Not sure if this is a problem to worry about or not as this is my first 3LCD. No dust blobs, so that's a relief.
The only issue of real concern is I
may have is a dead pixel, which would bother me. When I had 'Iron Man' on, I could see the bluish speck, but I couldn't see any speck with anything else.
Anyone have a suggestion on how I can check if there really is a dead pixel or not. I tried the PJ's blue and black blackgrounds, but don't see anything with those.
