Panasonic PT-AE4000 MSRP $1999 - Page 209

I guess my ears are too sensitive. I live at 6200 ft so have the high altitude mode on and find that the fan noise is quite noticable. It's white noise and is better in Eco mode, but can still be heard very clearly. What is the danger/risk if I turn off the high altitude mode? Does it matter if I use a lower lumen output mode?

would you still purchase it now that the HD250 by JVC is out? I am back in the market for a new projector and am undecided between these two. If you've had the chance to demo the JVC vs. the Panny please give your impressions too...

Your help is greatly appreciated.

I would simply for that fact that the Panny has lense memory, that is the one feature that sold me on it. I know the specs are pretty meaningless compared to real testing but it look like the Panny is brighter then the JVC also.

I can't belive that no one else is jumping on the lense memory deal, Panny must have some dirt on all the other players in the game

The hi altitude mode causes the fan to run faster to compensate for the thinner air and to create an equivalent amount of cooling the PJ would receive at lower altitudes. Probably shorten lamp life.

What's your priority? Does the letter boxes botther you? Or you want the best possible black level?

I'm the same way as Mopar_Mudder. Between the two, I would still purchase the Panny 4K. Excellent picture quality and easy scope setup with lens memory offer a great overall value. If I cared the most about black level rather than letter boxes, I may consider the JVC after professional reviews confirm this entry level JVC model preserves its class leading advantage in black levels and is worth $1,000 more.

I do admit Epson's new line with motorized lens memory and lens shift is a serious contender to Panny 4K, as its previous models appear to have better black level and brighter images.

Another possibility is use the high power fan mode to help protect the longevity of your lamp but put the projector in a hush box.

Another is to ignore the high altitude mode suggestion and just accept that you need to swap +$300 bulbs more often than most people. Running a bulb till it pops, instead of by the schedule of the internal 2000 hr count down timer, is risky and may cause damage, not always but sometimes. [The 4000 has internal thermometers to override your selection if things are running too hot, by the way.]

Instead of ceiling mount could you convert to mounting it under a three sided, open front only "coffee table"? I was amazed how much (perceptually) quieter my desktop computer was once I simply moved it to a little wheeled tray under my desk. Night and day difference from a cheap easy purchase!

Has anyone opened one of these up and looked at the fan? Just wondering if it would be possible to replace it with a quieter case fan? I put noctura fans in my computer case and am impressed with the noise level and the amount of air they move. Of course the noise could be coming from the air flowing over the internal components of the projector rather than the fan blades. Just thinking out loud here.

BTW my 4000 will be here the 6th. Too bad I have to wait until the 7th for the ceiling mount to get here. I will be shooting a 111" diagonal onto a Wilson Art laminate. I'm hoping I can get that done at a throw distance of 10'6".... Projector Central doesn't think it will happen.

I'm upgrading from a Toshiba TLP-ET1 that is currently doing an ok job on the WA DW laminate... but the bulb is on it's last leg with ~3800 hours on it. Rather than another new bulb I decided it was time to go from EDTV to HDTV. I can't wait!!!

I would say go for the 250 if FI is not needed.

If you are happy with dark grey blacks and decent brightness on an average sized screen (106") in a light controlled room then the features and build quality of the AE4000 can't be beat for the price.
After two days with the Panasonic I realized that I needed dark, dark grey blacks and great brightness and am willing to wait two months and pay an extra $1500 for a JVC X3, despite it's uncertain 3D ability. It is always a matter of compromise but unfortunately with very few good projector demo rooms and virtually no way to compare one machine against another you won't know what level of compromise is acceptable until you bring something home. (Regardless of how many reviews you read or how many opinions you hear.) I'm really hoping I can live with the JVC because there are not any vastly superior consumer options out there.

Hi all,

I have had my PT4000 for 11 months or so and really love it. Have just added blackened walls and ceilings to half my room and on my home made 118 inch screen I think the image is fabulous.

My one issue is the projector never keeps focus when I switch from 16:9 to 235:1 and back - it always needs tweaking. Have I got a faulty unit or is this common to them all? The adjustment required is never loads but it almost always needs something. Apologies if this was discussed elsewhere - I tried searching but this thread is BIG

thanks

I had the same problem about a three weeks after I got mine. I called the LOCAL repair depot (Obtained their name from Panasonic's online site) and made arrangements to ship it to them. (I opted to deal directly with the local warranty place because I couldn't get connected to a person at Panasonic's CS!!!) I got the projector back in less than ten days and it was worked without a problem for the past eleven months. It did cost me one way shipping to get it there but that was cheaper than making a 300 mile round trip to personally drop it off.

As I recall, the repair ticket said something about tightening up the mechanical assemble.

I would suggest getting your projector in quickly before your warranty runs out!

drilloav, the optical parts of the projector will drift as the projector heats up, so the focus may drift as well. Make sure you let the projector run for 30 minutes before you do your initial adjustments and memory saves. Afterward, when recalling the stored settings, the intended saved focus may not totally happen unless some heating period has elapsed.

About the contrast and black level discussion, I would like to get an answer to this : it appears that the film media, as shown in a film cinema (not digital), have a 1:1000 contrast ratio. Countless sources on the net agrees on this. Now, I'm curious to know why people think that projectors with more than an order of magnitude more contrast ratio find them lacking. Do we are seeking something that is not needed in the first places?

I can see that my Panny 4k blacks aren't totally black... so are my local cinema blacks...

You ask about black levels. I worked underground in a lead and zinc mine for two summers while going to school. The darkness there is so absolute that it crushes you. One day I'm sure a home theater sized video display will be able to convey that feeling, until then it is a matter of compromise. The contrast between light and dark on the AE4000 is great, but on predominatly dark scenes it is anything but black.

[quote=deromax;19587226]drilloav, the optical parts of the projector will drift as the projector heats up, so the focus may drift as well. Make sure you let the projector run for 30 minutes before you do your initial adjustments and memory saves. Afterward, when recalling the stored settings, the intended saved focus may not totally happen unless some heating period has elapsed.

I NEVER thought of that - I will retry on a warm projector

Thanks

[quote=drilloav;19588001]
So with this Focus shift... are you talking a good amount out of focus, or only the tiniest bit?

Once working properly... should it be the exact focus it was when saving?

Thanks!

[quote=Vaggeto;19590863]
My experience is that the shift (or drift) in 'warm-up' focus is rather minimal but it is observable if you are on the focus screen and actually adjusting it. Twenty minutes is more than enough for the optics to reach their final steady-state position. While watching content, you should never notice the drift.

It should return to the exact zoom-and-focus position after you store the setting. Mine has not been reset in more than six months and I checked it about a week ago and it was dead on. I think that this must be the case for most of the AE4000's out there or this thread would be filled with complaints. AVS members, who are owners of any piece of equipment, are very quick to point out ANY perceived defect or problem!

i don't know if the optics are improved with the 4000, but on my old AE900, if you get a good focus on the center, the edges/corners will be slightly out of focus. fwiw

My AE4000 does this as well. The corners are noticeably more out of focus compared to the center.

Does anyone have exact audio delays for the Frame creation modes? (Mode 1, 2, and 3)

i have had mine since sept and am loving it. the blacks are great and it looks wonderful - i am in a light controlled room with a 106 in screen

I did finally get to writing a serial driver for Control4 for the AE4000. Just PM me if you need it and I can send it along.

Bragging rights. "My projector is darker than yours."



Yes, but we don't watch movies (either from film or disc) in a lead and zinc mine.

For mode 3 I have mine set at 115ms

....it wasnt actually dark- just the lead poisining making him black out....

THE BACKGROUND:
--no kids
--extremely clean house
--dedicated home theater that is kept as dust-free as humanly possible
--professional cinematographer who knows how to calibrate and maintain my gear

THE EXPERIENCE:
--PANNY AE900: multiple dust blobs develop after 400 hours; I ultimately sell projector 'cuz I can't get rid of them and I can't ignore them

--PANNY AE1000: single dust blob develops after 150 hours, but I can ignore it since it's light green and faint; however, projector flickers after a couple hundred more hours and keeps flickering for 200 hours despite trying to change from ECO to NORMAL mode.

--PANNY AE4000: first unit comes straight from factory with red dust blob and is immediately returned for new unit. New unit develops dust blob after 18 hours. I send it to Kansas Heartland facility, because I am unable to blow it out using methods found on this forum. It comes back totally clean, and I'm happy with Heartland's customer service.

NOW:
--New green dust blob after 120 hours. I couldn't be more pissed off. I have no intention of ever buying another Panasonic projector and am kicking myself for buying as many as I have. I have greatly enjoyed the image, but the dust blob situation is completely out of control.

Total disappointment. Consider this a word of caution if you are considering buying this unit.

Could this be an environmental problem at your location?

No.

I tried to make this abundantly clear in my description.

It's a normal house in a normal neighborhood, with no kids making a mess and kept very clean. No clutter to collect dust, a dedicated room for the home theater with the door often kept closed from the rest of the house, vents and air conditioning either new or kept clean with regular maintenance. If dust blobs developed for us at this rate in our careful environment, then it literally could happen to anyone.

And I understand that some people have probably owned this projector for years without a problem. I'm honestly very happy for them. Talk about lucky. But I think it's just that... "luck". And when you buy this projector, you're rolling those dice.

Environment, "No"? Funny how how your home has a history of recurring dustblobs for some years now and instead of blaming the actual culprit, dust, which is largely invisible to the unaided human eye (and you'd be in no position of knowing how much there is flying around in that room without scientific instrumentation, "kids" and keeping the door closed means nothing) you instead see it as "Panasonic's fault". Also funny how in a thread of over 6000 posts only a handful of people have complained about this being a recurring issue.

You obviously need to buy a projector with a sealed optics light path, not another Panasonic. Yes, they cost a bit more, but for a very good reason: they are carefully built for environments exactly like yours.

The Panasonic line of projectors is notorious for this "dust blob" problem. The repeated occurrences of dust issues in these 6000 posts bears that out. I invite you to do a search and see for yourself how often it pops up. It adds up to a mighty big handful.

Anyway, I didn't post my experience to engage in any of the back-and-forth sniping that typically occurs on these AVS forums. I was simply stating my very real and very rational experience as a word of caution for those many people who peruse these pages before "taking the plunge" and buying a projector for themselves.

I'm usually a very positive person... but I've been extremely frustrated by my love/hate relationship with these Panasonic projectors--and I'm pretty angry about it, to tell you the truth.

They are also usually the number one selling projectors, year after year, at least at their given price point, so one should expect to read more reports about dust blob problems from them than any other brand.

Says who? Let's pretend for the moment that the 121 found instances for "dust blob" in a search of this thread [before this post went up, that is] are each an individual post of a testimony of an owner saying, effectively, "My unit has a dust blob problem that I can see on my projected image". This is a bit of a stretch because in truth many of these instances come repeatedly from within one post and also certain individuals, for example William G., having a legitimate back and forth discussion about it, and a good many are also posts from some others responding, essentially with, "There is a good solution for dust blobs given in this other post if you don't want to send your unit in for service.", etc.

121 / 6268 posts = 1.9% of owners have a visible dust blob issue, 98.1% don't.

I personally wouldn't call that "notorious", but YMMV. I also see it as a "dust" problem, not a "Panasonic" problem. All non-sealed optics light path projectors are potentially susceptible to dust blobs, not just Panasonic. If this is a known issue where you live, don't buy another.