Panasonic PT-AE4000 MSRP $1999 - Page 173

So here's someone else who had the same problem as me back in January, - or should I say - someone else who NOTICED the same problem as me...

Here's my image from last week... See the similarities?



I really think there are more of these types of color issues with the Panasonic, but maybe people either don't care or don't notice...

In any case, we'll see what Panasonic does with my 4000 when they get it back tomorrow.

You didn't specify the Chief mount but they do make a lateral shift bracket (LSB100) that would help to correct the "off center" but not 20 cm. Is it possible to move the screen or ceiling mount to bring the lens/screen axis into more of an alignment? May not make any difference but I guess my OCD likes things to be aligned without using the lens shift to that degree. :>)

Steve

William
You are right. Your Panasonic PJ has a bad color uniformity. But I read that many people with the Epson had to exchange up to 5 PJs to get a good one. Good warranty, bad QC. So if you now have a good one, maybe you're lucky
I don't have the AE4000 (maybe I'll wait for the AE5000 ) but my Panasonic AE3000 and my older AE2000 both have an almost perfect color uniformity.

Yea I've read the entire epson thread too, its no picnic over there by any means. I own the AE4000 and i fixed the focus issue with only partial screen in focus at a time, it was not exactly parallel to the screen. Even a 1/4 inch or less made huge focus difference across the screen.

I do clearly also have a red hue to the screen on white , its plain as day if you ask me. What to do about it I don't know.

We've researched WilliamG's complaint, and we appreciate his frustration. However, this is a DOA issue, and not a return issue. Panasonic allows 30 days or 5 hours (whichever comes first) to DOA home theater units, and 30 days or 10 hours to DOA business units. They are very strict about this time frame. We are no longer able to contact Heartland to set up service - Panasonic is filtering everything through their tech support department, therefore we have to instruct customers to call them directly when they have an issue that requires repair. We try to make it as painless as possible, but must follow the manufacturer's policies, especially on DOA's.

After rereading some of WilliamG's post things seem sketchy

One post says he has 27 hours on it.


Then in another post he has just over 4 hours on it and doesn't even have a screen on it........


So how many hours are on it and how did you do any good comparison with out a screen. If you have 27 hours on it how could you possibly expect them to take it back...

Just wondering.

Hi again folks!

As promised, I would get back on this thread to update on my problem posted on page 166. As lastly stated, I sent back my projector to get-it replaced by the seller. It took some time to get my replacement as they were on back order for this item.

So, I just got my replacement unit today. To make it short, I was not hallucinating when I was complaining about the smearing problem on my out-of-the-box unit. Check this out when compared! It is as sharp as it can get.

So, for everyone experiencing the same problem, this it not normal and you should have it checked-out by Panasonic.

Now, I will start to enjoy my purchase...

I appreciate the email, but I do still take issue that the first person I spoke to at Projectorpeople told me that despite being just outside the 30 days it should be fine to get a replacement. This got my hopes up until I was transferred to customer service that basically told me to bog off. I won't push it, since the return policy is explicitly stated on your site, but, I suppose, I was hoping for some "customer service," since essentially you don't have such a thing after 30 days. If the first rep hadn't "misled" me, I'd have been less bothered.



Not sure where the confusion or "sketchiness" is.

Here's my first post from April 5, the day I got the projector delivered, and IMMEDIATELY bring up the color uniformity after projecting it against a white wall in my apartment to test for the size screen I wanted to order. At that point, I had ZERO hours on the lamp.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=#post18439384


And then here's a post from May 11, where I STILL mention the issues after having moved to my house and JUST received my SeymourAV screen that day, and mounted it. (I had 4 hours on the lamp by the end of the day of testing it)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=#post18618538

Now, as of June 3, I have 27 hours on it after using it in the hope the uniformity issues would disappear. They didn't, got worse, and now I have dust blobs, too! I never tried to return the unit to Projectorpeople after 27 hours. Not sure where you got that from? The only reason Projectorpeople reps turned up in this thread is because I expressed displeasure over my experience with them a month ago after they emailed me this week to see how my Panasonic was doing, (because I was just outside the 30-day return policy, despite having less than 5 hours on the lamp - see above response).

But feel free to keep calling it "sketchy." Obviously I'm a noob and troll, and a shill for Epson.

It was confusing because you posted your problems with PP after you posted that you had 27 hours on it. It wasn't stated that it was when you first got the projector with only 4 hours on it that you tried to return it. As far as PP goes rules are rules and they have to follow them too.

Thanks for clearing it up. I am just interested is all because I plan on buying a 4000 in the near future. I look forward to seeing how your 4000 looks after being serviced. Looking at bfrancoeur post it made a huge diffrence, hopeful that you will see the same.

No worries. My apologies for being so defensive. I've just been through a lot of trouble with this projector nonsense.. *sigh*

In any case, yes - rules are rules, and technically speaking projectorpeople did no wrong in terms of following their explicit rules. I was just hoping they'd be able to make an exception (i.e. do some *real* customer service), and what I was led to believe initially when I called them ended up not being the case. At the point I made the call, I had ZERO hours on the projector (OK, maybe 1 hour), but was just a few days out of the 30-day return policy... *sigh* You'd think an exception could be made to that?

Blah, no point crying over spilt milk.

I will report back when my 4000 comes back to me. Panasonic received it today..

Wow, what a difference!

I question that you had the Panasonic focus'd perfectly or even close. Again its a 2 step process, and if done correctly it is pretty darn easy. You focus the center lines first, then the corner crosshairs 2nd, by tapping the focus buttom one tap at a time. If you don't do it this specific way, you will never get it focused to its potential.

As for color uniformity or dust blobs, never experienced any of that. I have perfect uniformity on mine and no dust blobs. Exactly what is this "dust blob" problem? SOunds to me like the majority of people who have issues with it could be due to not cleaning the filter enough? Just because the directions say 100 hours, doesnt mean you should wait that long, it depends on the environment the pj is in. If you have a house with thats loaded with airborne dust, you should be vacuuming that filter much, much sooner. In my house with central air it needs to be done every 30-40 hours tops.

I mean, if your having issues with color uniformity, and shut down issues(mine shuts down within 10 seconds)? Then I question if the unit was sound when you got it originally.

Dust blobs are an inherent problem with this type of projector that can happen occasionally....even if you clean everything by the book. This PJ throws a really nice image, and it throws a great image for the price. The features and flexibility of setup is second to none. At this price point you can't expect perfect color uniformity out of the box....but you can expect Panasonic to fix it if you are a videophile that cares (like most of us.) Mine is away for service, and will be back early next week. Let's see if they fixed the color uniformity issue and the dust blob. BTW, I noticed the snow while watching 7 years in Tibet to be slightly reddish on one side of the screen and slightly greenish on the other side....so you can see the color uniformity issue with real world content. So I am definitely going to see this process through to the proper conclusion.

Yours shuts down within 10 seconds? Seriously? My power light goes yellow, and it takes over a minute - I'd guess - to shut down. Maybe longer. The bulb shuts off immediately, but I can hear the fan whirring etc for quite a bit of time.

gamelover360, let us know how you get on.

As an addendum, not all is happy in Epson 8500UB land. Finally got it mounted in its proper position, and while it's sharp and bright and contrasty, the fan noise is starting to really drive me nuts. It's not the fan itself, but what the fan noise does to the rest of the unit. If I lift the rear of the projector off the shelf, the "reverberation" through the plastic goes away, but as soon as I let go of it, it comes back. Sounds like Epson didn't plan its design around acoustics... *sigh*...

William I'm just thinking off the top of my head here. I believe the reason others don't see the problem if it exist is because they rarely see a white background. Being that I use an HTPC with my projectors as well. I can understand why it would be such an issue for you.

The people that only use cable boxes, DVD players and such will most likely be oblivious to the issues you've found. While those of us that use computers with our PJs 99% of the time will beam in on issues like you've stated. Color uniformity and sharpness issues stick out like a sore thumb on a desktop. Glad you've found a projector that works for you...even if its not a Panasonic! Enjoy

I thought the Epson was a fairly quiet PJ? Is it running in low lamp mode?

I've tried ECO mode and Normal mode on the Epson. Normal is quite audible, but less "vibrate-y", and ECO mode is really "grindy" because of something going on in the unit.

Color uniformity was an issue for me with the Panasonic even before I even loaded my desktop, as I could see it in sky scenes, and solid objects in video games etc.

Hah. I might be back to my Panasonic very soon if this keeps up.. *sigh*.... I feel like Epson cheaped out with their fans and especially their casing. Very plastic!

So what projector do I buy next, lol!

LOL...well..shoot, don't know what to tell you there William. There are some others out there.

So have you considered putting a rubber mat under the PJ to absorb the vibration?

Yes I tried that. Doesn't help. It appears you need to exert many pounds of pressure on the projector to lessen the vibration, but it's still there..

Your best bet is to get your Panny serviced. They will clean the dust blob and align the panels so you have good color uniforminty. Then be sure that the Panny is perfectly level in every direction and square with the screen. Then use the single button press focus method. Then set detial clarity on +3. Then put up a sharp blu ray with a close up of someone face where you can see the pores. Now focus the projector again. I was able to get my Panny plenty sharp with that method....and the best part is that as long as the Blu ray pciture is nice and sharp, who cares about text when you are three feet from the screen. I can also confirm that text did sharpen up for me once I got the projector leveled and square to the screen...so its not like text will be blurry from your viewing distance.

If you want to know my method for getting the projector square to the screen it is as follows. Measure the height of the far edges of the image, and they should be the same. If they are not then twist your PJ either way until they are.

The Panny has better placement flexibility, and the zoom memory save feature will make an OCD like you (and me) happy. You do not want to try and get the image right for all different aspect ratios with the Epson all the time. Trust me. Also, once your Panny is calibrated, take a look at the Casino Royale scene wher they are playing cards, and check out the great ansi contrast on this PJ!

William: The noise may come from the low frequency sound made by dynamic iris. Try turning it off. The following is from the audible noise section of Art's review (http://www.projectorreviews.com/epso...erformance.php)

"Epson's dynamic iris makes a low rumbling noise that isn't very loud or noticeable in my opinion, but I do know that it bothers some folks. I rarely, if ever notice it when the Epson is in the main theater - about 4 feet behind my seat. In some cases, I believe mounts or a rear shelf can resonate a bit with the low frequencies. I've noticed that by putting some soft drink coasters between the projector and the table it sits on, helps reduce the rumbling. Again, however, it is low frequency and to me definitely a lot less noticeable than the fan noise."

Actually thats about what mine does too for shutdown, bulb powers off immedietly, then the fan shuts off about 30-45 seconds after. The fan is dead silent on mine though, I had to put my hand in front of the exhaust vent to tell.

Not sure if this is the same issue (see attached). This is what I'm seeing on my AE3000. It isn't as pronounced as yours was but there is clearly an issue. Seems to me like the separate LCD images just aren't lined up.

Is this something that would be fixed under warranty? I'm way past the point where I could get an exchange. I've had the unit since September.

I also included a white screen for you color uniformity fans. Clearly my projector has issues there too.

Thank you. I already had it off. The more I've used the Epson in its proper place, the more I've come to dislike the sounds it makes. The whirring/grinding sound is unpleasant and is definitely not the iris. It's the fan. Also, when you turn the projector on, aside from the grinding of a bad fan bearing, the sound is nice. It's jut when the bulb kicks in that you get the awful high-pitched sound which I don't recall the Panasonic having. Gah!


You must be less sensitive to sound, or not sit as close to your projector as some of us. I can hear the Panasonic easily, though apparently not as easily as I hear the Epson!



I'd warranty it.

I have a 16:9 screen! I don't have to make any adjustments to the Epson for different ARs. Not sure why this argument comes up. It's not a feature I used on the Panasonic, either.

Hard to tell. In my case, I simply emailed my photo to the seller and this was enough for him to issue an RMA, no questions asked. As for your case, you can bring-it to the Panasonic service center nearest to you and have it verified.

So far I'm impressed with the picture quality on my new replacement unit.

I need a ceiling mount that can put the top of my projector 20" to 23" from the ceiling. This will put my lens below the top of the screen. My current mount isn't long enough. Anyone have leads on good ceiling mounts of this length? I think the pole would have to be around 15" or so.

Thanks.

Bill

Hi again,

I've run the projector for a few hours now and when I play a wide screen format film (2.35:1) through my blu-ray player, I have noticed that the top and bottom black bars are not as black as the black produced by the background menu which overlaps them. This is confirmed through the waveform monitor when I choose a line running over one of the black bars and then the graph monitor shows a blue line which is slightly over 0%. I think this is telling me that my blacks levels could be improved.

Can someone teach me a way to adjust my blacks outputted by my blu-ray player to the projector?

Sounds like the black bar in the bluray is not encoded as tru black. Have you tried setting the electronic masking in the projector to cover the balck bars. This should make the projector show them as black as possible.

My AE4000, is used in my bedroom system. The PJ sits exactly 2 feet away from my ears up on a shelf on the back wall. Its dead silent. I can only hear it if I put my ear right up to the exhaust vent and thats with the audio off. Heck the vents from my central heaiting/air are significantly louder.

sorry guys, stupid question here...

Is 4K a 120HZ projector or not?