Panasonic PT-AR100 MSRP$ 1,999 - 4000U replacement... kind of - Page 19

CAD drawing of AR100U.

ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasoni...-AR100_CAD.pdf

That sounds like a poor excuse for not getting a new projector I have my AX100U mounted on a 12" shelf. When I put the projector on the shelf, I realized that it was a little too shallow for the AX100U since there needed to be a few inches behind the projector to clear the HDMI and AC cables. My solution was to keep the brackets where they were, but move the shelf a few inches forward (so there is about a 2" gap between the shelf and the wall). I was just looking at the shelf yesterday to see if I would need to move to a deeper shelf or if I could still use my 12" for the AR100U. A 14" or 15" should be no problem if you can do something similar.

The AX100U with a 12" shelf.

Thanks...still hard to tell how far the lens extends from the front of the unit though. Guessing it's a little over an inch.

I know it sounds lame...but I really would prefer not to have to replace the entire shelf. I'll end up with holes in the wall since the screws that hold the cables supporting the shelf are above the electric outlet. I could try moving up to a 16" shelf. Allowing for 2" of rear clearance I'd have 14" of usable space...which would mean that only the front inch of the unit (basically the lens) would hang over. I might also need a right angle AC plug adapter to minimize the distance the power cord plug extends from my outlet, which is directly behind the projector. I'm sure that can be purchased for a few bucks somewhere....like here.

The CAD drawing shows 1 3/8" but with my zoom/focus it comes out to 1 1/2". My AR100U is a tight fit with the back being 4 1/2" from the wall. I bring in my HDMI, component cables and power cable into the back of the projector with a fairly sharp bend and there is still a little room to spare. I would estimate you will need a minimum 3" clearance on the back in order to install with regular cables (ie. not right angle). Also the AC power cord has a special clip design to keep it from coming loose.

Thanks. Do you think it would work with 2", perhaps 2.5" rear clearance if I were to go with right angle adapters for the HDMI and Power connections?

Yes, I think so. Monoprice has some HDMI right angle adapters under 2".

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

And the right angle power cables.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...t=1#largeimage

Yes indeed, a very thorough report. I think the Projector Reviews report and the Projector Central report have come to similar conclusions:

1. The fan noise is quite high

2. Contrast is not as good as dedicated 'bat cave' projectors

3. So bright it will scorch your screen.

4. No vertical stretch = zooming only for 2.35 CIH.

5. Fantastic value.

Well, I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones.

Bought my Panny ar 100 from B&H February 26...for $1499.

I sent in for my my rebate to Panasonic upon receiving the projector March 1
WITH the $1499 receipt

I saw that B&H had dropped the price March 1 to to $999. OUCH!

I called B&H and they quickly and very nicely refunded $500 credit to my Card.

I Called Panasonic, at their Refund headquartes listed on their web site, and spoke with a representative. She stated, " all sales prior to March 1 and before February listed date start of rebate will be credited."

COOL!
It was kinda fairly priced at $1499, The $300 rebate is what pushed me toward it and not the 8350. And now at $999 it's a great buy. But, at $699, no tax or shipping....it was killer.

This is a VERY nice projector. Issues about fan noise are a non-issue. Fact is, it's rated better than the 8350 @ 28db

Ceiling Mounted 13 ft from a 133" diag. 1.1 gain screen makes it just about as close as it can get for that screen size at wide angle. Windows on either side of the roll up screen and windows to the rear allow LOTs of light.
This thing over powers that light for a fine picture. But, with light control, it's really pristeen in Cinema 1 on eco.

Vertical and horizonal shift is also a non-issue. This thing should be mountable in any setup you could throw at in a residential structure.

http://photos1.zillow.com/p_e/IS-1ttjcha0crhi5.jpg

The above picture was taken with flash....so of course their will be wash out.
But, it gives you an idea. This is a 26 x 38 ft second story family room that I built over an existing cathedral ceiling first floor livingroom
ChaZ

thanks for the heads-up here, this is exactly how I was planning to mount my projector (using a shelf with brackets). Now I know I need to provide at least 14in to 15in depth. Will look around at various shelf products

Just to clarify, since the AR100U is over 13.5" deep you will want at least 2" over that. A 14" shelf mounted up against the wall probably wouldn't do it unless you space the shelf a few inches from the wall (like I did with my 12" shelf and the smaller AX100U) effectively giving you 16+ inches of depth...... or you could just go with a shelf 16" or 17" deep and not have to bother spacing it away from the wall.

I called some "people" that sell projectors this evening to see if they still offered free 2-day shipping for AVS members (they volunteered that when I ordered my AX100U five years ago and mentioned that I was an AVS member). Maybe that was a temporary thing. I'm calling back in the morning to see if they do. Either way..... I'm ordering mine tomorrow. Yay!!

Close enough.... they gave me free third day shipping so it should arrive Monday. If the Onkyo receiver I ordered will come back in stock soon, next week will be a awesome week for home theater at my house.

I think I'm about to get this unit. Will probably have to revise the underhanging "shelf" mount I made for my SP4805 as this unit is twice as wide!

Going from 480 lines to 1080 should be an incredible improvement!

yeah no kidding, can't wait! I heard it will be much quieter as compared to the 4805's fan noise.

The fan noise is nothing compared to the 4805, which was my first projector. I replaced it with an ax-200u and literally could not hear the new projector. I installed the ar-100 two months ago and have not noticed any more fan noise. One of my son's friends asked if we got rid of the projector. He thought he was watching a 100" plasma, which shows the picture improvement with this new projector.

hmmm I went back and read the first several pages of this thread, and now am starting to wonder if this will be the right choice for my room. It's just a small bedroom in our house (shown in pic above), only 9' 8" x 10' 8". Throw distance is just over 9 feet onto a 73" diagonal 16:9 screen, and the room is completely light controlled - dark walls, window completely blacked out, though it does have light carpet and white ceiling. Hoping this thing won't be TOO bright in Econo mode.

Wondering if the Epson 8350 would be a better choice for my situation? Keep in mind I'm coming from an SP4805 with 600 ANSI lumens in low power mode and 2000:1 contrast.

*edit* actually some of the more recent pages have much more favorable reviews. Also read that the 8350 won't really do 2.35:1 while the AR100 will (sort of), and I may eventually try to get into 2.35 CIH.

IMO the AR100 is going to be WAY too bright for a 73 ins screen, even in ECO mode. In fact it might burn right thru it!

Seriously? Noooo don't blow my dreams now, I'm about to purchase this next week! It has the features I need at a price I can afford. I would LOVE an AE4000U but can't find one at a price I can afford, even refurb units.

I saw one post in this thread where someone mentioned lumens were only in the ~800 range on low power in Cinema mode, which is likely where it would stay. That's not much above the ~600 in lower power mode of the SP4805.

Screen is just a paint mixture that I got from here on AVS back in 2005 - PBMaxx or something like that? It's painted on the wall with 1x4 boards wrapped in black fleece for the border.

Very old picture, that table has been replaced by a low cabinet for DVD storage, with the center speaker on top of it. Screen is still the same, though. I will likely go larger on the screen in the future, and maybe some sort of CIH setup.


This screen size was the largest image I could get from the SP4805 at this throw distance. I believe I can get the image to nearly 100" at this distance on the AR100.

Patrick, you are correct. The cinema 1 mode is not really any brighter than the AX200 or many other PJs. this uinit just allows you to go up in lumens when you need them. I am confident that this unit will work in your situation.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. The projector is used with lights on sometimes when my 2-year old is watching some Pixar movie or something in there, so the increased light output of other modes will be nice.

I was a little concerned about it being too bright for my setup also (11 foot sitting distance, 84" white screen), but once I compared the lumen output to my old AX100U, I was confident it would be fine. As iolmaster points out, the cinema modes are very similar in brightness. I compared between my AX100U and the AR100U using data from Projectorreviews.com
PT-AR100U Cinema 1= 798 lumens
PT-AX10U Cinema 1 mode: 707 lumens

The amount of zoom you use will change light output, but the numbers show it should look fine in cinema or REC709 mode.

On a side note, I always ran my AX100U in high altitude mode which brings the fan speed up a bit. The AR100U manual shows it has high altitude mode also which could help keep things a little cooler. It is a trade off of noise VS cooling. Anybody run their AR100U in high altitude mode?

Woohoo just ordered an AR100U from Projector People this morning, opted for the additional $31 for 2-day shipping so I should have it Thursday/Friday! I plan on taking some comparison shots of the SP4805 and the AR100U. 480p vs. 1080p omg can't wait to see the difference.

One question about the lens shift, is there a UI that displays on the screen when shifting the lens so that you know where you are in the shift range, when you're in the middle with no shift, etc?

Exciting! Mine showed up yesterday and my new receiver came today. I think I may be (cough cough) sick tomorrow from work........

I haven't fired mine up yet, but I don't think the lens shift adjustment (it is a mechanical/optical adjustment done physically on the projector) shows up in the menu since it is just a mechanical adjustment. You can see how far you are into the lens shift by looking at the shift stick. It is inside an oval opening and as you move the stick you eventually hit the wall of the oval.

hmm I see, I knew focus and zoom were manual but thought maybe the lens shift function was powered.

Lens shift is manual. It is a set and forget situation. No need for motorized. Even though some have it.

Has anyone calibrated one of these yet and can offer some advice on settings? My AR100 arrives tomorrow!

There is a horizontal and vertical screen position setting in the menu, but you want to use the lens shift to get the picture centered on the screen. It is generally suggested to leave the electronic positioning at zero.


Projector reviews posted their settings http://www.projectorreviews.com/pana...alibration.php for the REC 709 mode (the chart near the bottom of the page). It is a little confusing as they say it is for REC 709, but the chart is labeled Cinema. I fired mine up last night for the first time. Looks nice. I will be using the Digital Video Essentials Bluray to dial in my settings.

Cool, have you used the DVE disc before? I've never done any sort of calibration before, ever. I was looking at the Spears & Munsil website for their Blu-Ray calibration disc, which looks like it's pretty good. Good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere. It has test patterns encoded in 1080p native resolution. http://www.spearsandmunsil.com/

I have used DVE many times on non-HD sets (using the DVE DVD). I bought DVE on Bluray a few years ago and used it once or twice. I am not sure it is "the standard" any more, but it seems to give good results. I have heard good things about Spears & Munsil disk too. I may buy the Disney WOW calibration/eye candy disk to try out.

This is the first day I have had a chance to really play with the AR100U. So far I am using the REC709 mode without adjustments and it looks great. Part of my liking it is probably the POP in brightness since I had a lot of hours on my AX100U bulb, but I especially see the sharpness difference on text in the PS3 menu.

I don't think I will be running high altitude mode in the AR100U to keep things cooler. The increase in fan speed seems much more compared to the AX100U. I decided to paint the back wall a darker color (warm caramel) while I had things apart (decided to go with larger shelf brackets). Thanks to the person that linked to the right-angle HDMI adapter and AC cord. I ordered those and it made it easier to fit on the shelf.