Panasonic PT-AE4000 MSRP $1999 - Page 257

Can someone link me to the throw measurements? I am mounting my 4000 @ 13' 6" roughly and I am trying to see what screen sizes I can pull off from that distance. Thanks.

I always use the Projector Central calculator.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/proj...ulator-pro.com

Typed this on my phone so hope I got it right...

There is a link to the manuals in the first post of this thread. Download both manuals as they contain the information that you need to calculate the exact picture sizes for any throw distance for both the 16:9 and 2.35:1 aspect ratios.

I got mine from about 15 feet to throw onto 120 inch 16x9

Alex

Can the AE4000 be manually focussed and zoomed, or do you just have to use the power focus and zoom?

^Power zoom and focus only.

They work pretty well, once you get the technique down. To make small precise adjustments you quickly tap the buttons on the remote like a Morse code telegraph thingy.

I find it best to focus once the pj has thermally stabilized (say after 20-30 minutes or so) and I stand right up next to the screen so I can focus so precisely I can even see the sub-pixel elements, almost, however the smooth screen technology, true to its name, does a splendid job of obscuring them. With manual focus this procedure would of course be impossible unless you have very long arms () or view your screen surface from the pj position using a tripod mounted telescope or very strong binoculars.

Can someone specifically tell me my options of a 2.35 screen from a 13.5' throw? I tried to look at the manual and I am a bit lost. The calculator @ projector central isnt helping much either. Basically I want to know the largest 2.35 screen I can use from that throw distance.

Shame you can't get the calculator to work for you, Steve.

For 13.5' throw, it says you can get a width of 119". For a 2.35, that's 129" diagonal. For 16:9, that's a 136" diagonal.


For what it's worth, my current plan is to use the AE4000 at ~13.5' to project a 117" wide 2.39 image which will be the base for a 49" CIH screen.


Cory

Hi,

Just set up my room yesterday with the 4000- wow! So I'm a little confused with the focus zoom screen- to zoom what am I lining up- I have he focus screen up with the 4 "90 degree grids" for lack of a better term in each corner.
Do I align the horizontal/vertical lines with the edges of my screen or the points?

Sorry- dumb question 1 of not too many hopefully
Thanks

Quick question. When mounting this unit I failed to take into account the fact that the mount I used will hang the projector offset slightly. I centered the part of the mount that secures to the ceiling (which lines up offset on the top of the projector). When I hang the projector to this piece the center of my lens is to the left.

When facing the unit......left wall to lens center=74.5" and right wall to lens center=77". Which if my math is accurate 77-74.5=2.5 divided by = 1.25"?!?!

What do you guys think?

IUsteve,

The projctor has lens shift- both vertical and horizontal so if you want to center the 1.5" you can

I dont understand this response?

I know it has lens shift just not sure if my measurements/situation will force me to move the mount over or if the lens shift can compensate enough to center the picture for both 2.35:1 and 16:9?

Quick answer that assumes that you are using a 2.35:1 screen. Since your lens is SLIGHTLY offcenter, you will use the horizontal manual lens shift to center the 2.35:1 image so that it is centered on the screen. (You would do the same thing if the lens were on the screen centerline.) The result of this is that the 16:9 image will not be exactly centered in the screen. It will be slightly offset to one side. There is nothing you can do about this condition because the laws of optics and physics still apply. You will probably never notice when you are actually watching a movie unless you completely anal about such things. If you can't live with this condition, you will have to remount your mount.

Ok so first do my measurements seem to be correct?

When facing the unit......left wall to lens center=74.5" and right wall to lens center=77". Which if my math is accurate 77-74.5=2.5 divided by = 1.25"?!?!

If so then do I just need to move the mount over 1.25" and all aspect ratios will be centered? Is it really that simple/difficult?

Your math seems correct. Whether it is simple or difficult demands on what is involved in moving the mount 1.25 inches If you are screwed into a stud that is perpendicular to your screen, you will move off the stud... And that will make for difficulties to securing mounting the mount.

I haven't laid out your situation using a scaled drawing but intuition tells me that the offset error will be less than 1.25" When you are actually watching a movie, it is very difficult to see the black pillar bars let alone tell if they are exactly the same width. You will be able to measure the difference but you will need to have some ancillary lighting in the room to do so.

My suggestion is to setup the screen and projector and see exactly what your situation is. I found that there are a lot of adjustments that are involved in getting things setup as close as possible to ideal. One of the most difficult items is getting the front of the projector parallel to the screen. A small error that adjustment and the problems it can cause will make that 1.25" lens offset an insignificant issue.

I assume that moving the screen is not an option.

If you do move the mount 1.25" and that moves you off the ceiling joist, there are a lot of sheetrock anchors that you can use that will support the PJ.

To be more specific I used a piece of pine from a big box store and secured that to the ceiling/floor joists above with several screws. This gave me a sold support base to then secure my mount to.

I do not have a screen yet and am only projecting on the screen wall. Today I took the mount down and moved it over 1.25 inches (roughly). It now is within 1/4"-1/2" so I think we are good. I have found that getting the darn thing parallel to the screen can and will be a problem but we will get to that later.

My current problem appears to be with the mount I bought. I got from Monorpice (click me) is giving me fits. I cant seem to get the picture to "level". One side is higher than the other, its like the darn thing wont stay level. Maybe its the parallel thing you mentioned but I dont think that would cause one corner of the screen to be higher than the other?!

Is the left side of the image longer than the right side or vice versa? Basically, this is a horizontal keystone condition and is caused by the front of the projector not being parallel with the screen. If both sides have the same length, the projector is not level --- right to left.

If the top and bottom of the image are not the same length, then the projector is not level front to rear.

I know nothing about the mount that you got but sometimes the less expensive mounts have an irritating tendency not to hold the adjusted position when the clamping screws are tightened. (I actually built my mount using the ideas of an AVS poster. It uses two plates. One plate is connected to the mount and the second plate is attached to the projector. the plates are connected together with four screws, springs and toggle nuts. This allows for very precise adjustment to level the projector. After all of the adjustments are complete, you put a bit of nail polish on the toggle nuts to lock them in place.)

Steve,

I have the same issue with that mount. I have tightened it as tight as I dare and every once in a while, I will have "tweak" the projector by hand so that it is "square" again with the screen. I simply move the projector by hand back to its previous position.

I think part of the issue is the quality of the mount, but for me it is also having a 10 year old son that sometimes plays pretty hard in the living room above.

I'm generally pretty anal about things, but for the price paid, I am willing to live with it since tweaking it by hand only takes 2 seconds and in the past 1-1/2 years, I only had to do it about 3-4 times.

Another thing to consider is that I am not using any of the extensions that came with the mount so it is very close to the ceiling. It's very possible that having the extensions in the mix may make the issue worse.

Currently I am using a 16:9 screen, but my next one will be a scope screen at which time I will be forced lower the projector to use the momory feature and will probably be forced to upgrade to a more sturdy mount such as Chief mount that many people seem to like.

^ Yea I am also using it without any extensions which "should" make it more stable but yesterday (first day I installed it)I was having one helluva time keeping it square. When you mention tweaking it by hand do you loosed the set screws to tweak it or just grab the unit and tweak a bit?

I am not super happy about this mount so far as it is really causing me issues. I may have to invest in a more sturdy mount but I dont want to spend $100 or more for one.

You get what you pay for. Ive had a Chief mount for years and its rock solid

I literally grab the left and right side of the Panny and move it. I must say, when I have done this, it was a very small amount.

Yikes, I bought the same mount after reading positive reviews for it on monoprice (for the AE4000). I haven't hung it yet, probably will in the next week or two but I for one NEED to use the extension kit for it... sigh.

I agree 100% and if my having to tweak it becomes an occurrence of more than 3-4 times a year, I will order up a Chief mount.
I was planning on buying a Chief mount originally but since I had an order going in to MonoPrice at the time and figured I would give it a chance.

Have the Chief on a 24" pole and never an issue. Also love the way the Chief adjusts with a screw driver and gears rather then just grab it and move.

Any links to a "good" yet fairly well priced Chief or other manufacturer that I should consider? Again I dont want to spend a fortune but want something a little more sturdy. I think the issue with this particular mount is that this unit is quite hefty. The mount lists max of 44lbs and I dont think the weight is an issue but the top of the mount is very narrow and with the weight of the pj causes it to pull down on the right side slightly.

I have a concern about the projector lamp on this model. Everything I read about replacements for the lamps seems like a hassle -- too many fake lamps being sold, expensive replacements. Anyone have any thoughts on how long the lamp will last on this model?

^Guaranteed? 90 days. [Like with any light bulb , you never know for sure, you only know statistically what's likely.]

Most likely until the "Replace Lamp" suggestion comes on? A little over 2000hrs. [Your likelihood of popping the bulb, which is potentially dangerous for the product, starts to grow significantly after that, I guess.]

If you run it on Eco mode (dimmed) with High fan speed (called "high altitude in some years) around 3000 hrs. [although in some earlier Panny pjs of the past, they even claimed 5000 hrs, for a short while, but then retracted that claim and said merely "We don't know for sure"]

Steve, I've seen the Chief RPA and the Peerless PRG both used with the AE4000u. They both get rave reviews ("set it and forget it") but they're both around $100.

^ Do you have actual links or model #s? I know the Peerless lists several "PRG" models and the Chief the same. Which do you like better? I need something with a 5-6" drop and nothing more due to head clearance.