Panasonic PT-AE4000 MSRP $1999 - Page 100

Originally Posted by kicks

Man what screen are you using? That looks amazing.

Originally Posted by kjoy064

I'm running a 92" Australian Elite screen (not sure if it's the same as the US versions) and from 3m 10ft and i know it's huge and thinking the people going the 110" may find it to big.

Originally Posted by Big Picture

This leaves me rethinking what size screen to get for the 4000 as most of our HT viewing is Netflix SD DVD's. Bummer.

I really like the AE4000U. I don’t have the HC3000 for a side-by-side, so take that for what it’s worth. Also, I’m using a 50’ HDMI cable and 100" slightly grey screen.

When watching Blu-Rays in Cinema 1 Mode (all lights off), there is a great sense of depth to the image that I’m not used to seeing in projection (front or rear). Also, the black levels (which I am really picky about) are superb – I was watching Blade Runner, and not only was there much more clarity to the image than I’ve ever seen, the levels of shadow detail were incredible.

One thing I really like about it is the feature set – I have image quality memory saves called Game (high brightness, iris off), THX (Cinema 1, no enhancements) and Netflix (Cinema 2, MPEG NR, Frame Creation 1). I can easily call up these presets from the remote without having to go through any extra menus. The dynamic iris is very responsive and almost unnoticeable. The only time I can notice it so far is during credits, when I can perceive the brightness change from the amount of white text on the screen causing the iris to step down.

Whoever said there’s no “fine” mode on the focus is wrong – if you “tap” the button, the lens steps a very minute amount. If you press and hold it, it shoots out of focus. Smooth Screen makes it a little hard to focus – the pixels don’t line up the way I’m used to. They almost look rectangular and staggered – and they’re very tiny, even standing right on top of the screen. The lens shift (horizontal and vertical) is handy and has a huge range. I have no keystone whatsoever even though I didn’t mount it perfectly centered. It’s a manual dial on the projector, though, so you can’t do it while standing at the screen. Also, the lens cap is permanently attached to the projector, so I have it kind of sitting on top.

The AE4000U is much larger than the HC3000. My eBay ceiling mount barely fits and took some fiddling to get to work properly. New screws are required, too, and none come with the projector. I found a close match at HD. It’s not perfect, but the projector isn’t going anywhere. Weight is similar, but more centered on the AE4000U. Aesthetically, the AE4000U is prettier. Not a big deal, but for those of us with the projector in the middle of the room, it’s nice. It produces probably a similar amount of heat as the HC3000, and a little less noise.

Brightness is probably similar. I have a hard time seeing a lot of difference in overall brightness between good HT projectors. I think there’s no comparison in black level detail when using Cinema 1 mode. I’m so used to objects like suits merging into a dark background that it’s very cool to actually be able to make out very subtle shadow detail. The sharpness is also superior – both because of the 1080p and the Smooth Screen.

All advantages are lost when playing an Xbox game, and the projectors are probably close to identical there, most likely due to limitations in the Xbox or game itself. I haven’t played very many to know if it’s device or game specific. Frame response is fast – RB2 reports 40ms delay in “fast mode”. I never tested the HC3000, but it’s faster than the RX-V663 which reports 90ms delay.

Originally Posted by neverfaithful

I ordered a Carada 110" BW, waiting for delivery. I think that will be perfect size, for me at least without losing any detail in DVD or blu-ray.

I just found my CD that came with the 4000. I thought I didn't get one with my projector. Do I need this CD for anything important or is it just for testing the projector?

I was also surprised that my 4000 came double boxed. I thought that was interesting.

Originally Posted by adpayne

Is the misalignment only visible on test patterns, and viewing close up? Is it more than one pixel wide? Can you see any issues when just watching the PJ from normal distances?

There is no such thing as a perfectly aligned 3 panel PJ. I'm not saying there is nothing wrong with yours, but if it isn't noticable when actually watching movies, it isn't a big deal.

Art

Originally Posted by capnkirk52

Man, there are a lot of posts on this thread! I have 80 hrs on my bulb shooting to a VAPEX screen and I love this baby!

Can someone help me understand the function of the auto adjust on the Waveform monitor? I usually use Color 1 mode with eco lamp on and I like to adjust the picture if I change from sports to a movie or vice versa. Does this pretty much replace all the need to calibrate your settings? Is it that good or do I still need to do some fine adjusting?

Originally Posted by Big Picture

I watched some SD DVD's on the 4000 on a 134" wide 2.35 Scope screen today, the DVD player is an Oppo 83 outputing 10824/p. ... There is too much deatil lost on the 134" wide screen for my tastes. The Oppo 83 is one of the finest upscaling DVD players available.... Bummer.

Originally Posted by Cpt. Jack

My AE4000U arrived Saturday, and a friend of mine asked my opinion specifically vs. the HC3000 since that's what we both had before. He suggested I post my write-up so here it is. Hopefully it will be helpful to some.


Whoever said there's no fine mode on the focus is wrong - if you tap the button, the lens steps a very minute amount. If you press and hold it, it shoots out of focus. Smooth Screen makes it a little hard to focus - the pixels don't line up the way I'm used to. They almost look rectangular and staggered - and they're very tiny, even standing right on top of the screen.

Originally Posted by Terminator840

I've been reading this thread for a long time now. My purchase time for the 4000 is getting close, about a month away. This will be my first projector and I am so excited.

I am planning on going with a 120+" CIH 2.35 AR "scope" screen. My throw distance will be about 15 ft. I am worried my about seating distance. Currently in my HT I have a 61" DLP and my seating distance is about 6-7 ft. After my move to the 4000 I will gain 2-3 ft. by removing the DLP and stand and projecting on the wall. That will put me in the 8-9 ft. range from screen to my first row of seats. Would that be too close? I can move the seating back a little but not much.

First time set up?

My plan is to mount the projector from the ceiling and throw the biggest/widest image I can get then mask off the area for the screen and use paint. For first time set up do I set up the 16:9 (1.78) AR first then zoom out to get the 2.35 AR? Or do you set up the 2.35 AR first?

Here is my current set up.

Originally Posted by Big Picture

I watched some SD DVD's on the 4000 on a 134" wide 2.35 Scope screen today, the DVD player is an Oppo 83 outputing 10824/p. I was used to watching these DVD's on a 16:9 105" wide screen and was always pleased with the results. There is too much deatil lost on the 134" wide screen for my tastes. The Oppo 83 is one of the finest upscaling DVD players available.

There is just so much pixel density available on SD DVD's, Blu-rays of course look great on the 134" screen.

This leaves me rethinking what size screen to get for the 4000 as most of our HT viewing is Netflix SD DVD's. Bummer.

Originally Posted by Terminator840

I was hoping that someone would post some pics/screenshots of SD DVDs on a 2.35 scope screen. I would like to get a feel for what they look like.

Originally Posted by Hughmc

I have been planning on purchasing from B&H and their price was 1999.00 like the thread title. Was and is again 1999.00, but yesterday when I checked they upped it 100.00 to 2099.00. It didn't last long at that price. Makes you wonder since it is selling good, yet they dropped the price back to where they had it.

Originally Posted by neverfaithful

I purchased from B&H on Sunday for 1999.00. So are you saying that it went up $100 now its back down $100, im confused with your post.

Originally Posted by Terminator840

Wow, I posted this right before Christmas. No responses.....Anybody with some thoughts?

Originally Posted by edfowler

I would highly recommend the Seymour Center Stage screen by Chris seymour

Originally Posted by Big Picture

I watched some SD DVD's on the 4000 on a 134" wide 2.35 Scope screen today, the DVD player is an Oppo 83 outputing 10824/p. I was used to watching these DVD's on a 16:9 105" wide screen and was always pleased with the results. There is too much deatil lost on the 134" wide screen for my tastes. The Oppo 83 is one of the finest upscaling DVD players available.

There is just so much pixel density available on SD DVD's, Blu-rays of course look great on the 134" screen.

This leaves me rethinking what size screen to get for the 4000 as most of our HT viewing is Netflix SD DVD's. Bummer.

Originally Posted by deromax

Here is a great primer and calculator for screen size :

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/v...alculator.html

Originally Posted by Terminator840

I was hoping that someone would post some pics/screenshots of SD DVDs on a 2.35 scope screen. I would like to get a feel for what they look like.

Originally Posted by Hughmc

Yes, Sunday evening the price on their site was 1999.00. Then all day yesterday it was listed at 2099.00.

Originally Posted by grubadub

could he zoom down to 100" while watching sd dvd's? i'm sure that's not a great solution but just want to know if it's doable w/ this projector.

Originally Posted by JHouse

Careful. Don't start tweaking on a perfect picture just because somebody is willing to post suggestions. You can screw it up and then get used to it, and ruin your brain and your judgment.

Originally Posted by Probe

Kongfan, I assume you didn’t pursue the issue with Panasonic? I thought it was convergence as well until I came across this old post in the “Attention LCD Owners: Fix Your Color Uniformity Problems by Cleaning!” thread.

by Gazzagazza

“Just for any of you who have a colour tinge top and bottom... blue along bottom edge and yelowish on top edge... I had this and had Panasonic here have a look at it. They had to "re-seat the PBS array". This completely fixed the problem. The PBS array is the "polarising beam splitter" and I understand it is the large lens thing that sits closest to the lamp. The light passes through this first. The tech said he had seen a few with this problem and the PBS seems to move out of alignment for some reason - maybe heat -. Any way it was fixed without needing parts.”