Panasonic PT-AR100 MSRP$ 1,999 - 4000U replacement... kind of - Page 30

I'll admit I didn't any math on this and if the tech says it will work then you've at least got a shot. I've never had a projector installed right side up. Guess you'll know soon enough.

^ I hear ya...

My basic deal:

If I have anywhere near 65% of image height for vertical shift, I should have at least a couple of feet to shift it down. And judging from your diagram (thanks, btw) it appears that it is indeed measured from the center of the screen).

This is all new to me, of course. All I can do is jam the numbers. It sounds a bit ridiculous(that I could move the image so significantly), but after reading enough about the nearly absurd versatility of lens shift from others and convincing myself that I need it, I suppose I'll believe it until I learn otherwise. I can always lower the shelf, I just liked the idea of it being 6+' off the floor as to negate a lot of folks obstructing the image getting off my sectional.

BTW: Ordered the PJ from costco yesterday and it's already at my door!

I just wanted to mount the damn shelf...I figured I'd be waiting for the PJ!

James
Edited by mastermaybe - 2/14/13 at 8:35am

Replaced an Epson EX71 720p projector with the PT-AR100U.

Shipping and Delivery
B&H had the product in stock and unit was delivered within the estimated arrival date (4 days before the Super Bowl ). They did a verification via phone before shipping and required a signature upon delivery, both of which I appreciate (from a fraud point of view).

PS If you haven't signed up for a UPS My Choice account yet I highly recommend it. I was able to have the package held at will call before a failed delivery attempt occurred while I was not home.

Screen and Setup
I have a 145" Silver Fire 4.0 painted wall screen in my living room. You can see pictures of the screen and how I installed it at the following link at AVS Forum...

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1355192/advice-on-156-painted-wall-screen-18-throw-2500-lumens-lots-of-ambient-light

The AR100U just "happened" to need the exact same distance as my EX71 (14' 2") to fill the screen at max wide, providing the maximum lumens
The built in test patterns and lens shift feature made it easy to setup with no keystoning at all. Very happy with the projected image.

Performance and features
As you might expect, the AR100U is vastly superior to the EX71 it replaced.


My first use was for the Super Bowl (using dynamic mode) and my guests were amazed at the picture (plenty of ambient light in the room). After the game I put on a Blu-ray of The Empire Strikes Back (using Vivid Cinema) to test 1080p. Astonished at the picture at night with no ambient light to worry about. My blacks are back!

I have no complaints at all. Worth every penny.

Very nice review. Looking at your screen thread I can see that the AR100U is tailor made for your home theater environment. Your words of praise for this projector would be echoed by just about all owners. I've had mine for just over a year now and still marvel at the picture and how much of an upgrade it is over my older Panasonic PT-AE900U. Nice DIY screen by the way. Perhaps you'll add some photos of the AR100U in action to your screen thread. If someday you have an extra $300 in your budget seriously consider purchasing the DarbeeVision Darblet DVP5000. It's a worthy addition and brings added clarity to the AR100U. It has to be seen to be believed.

I'm glad to hear that. If I can find a deal out there I am planning on replacing my 900 with this.

Beautiful. Congrats and thanks. Mine is sitting in my garage while I finish my hanging screen and I was honestly getting a bit of cold feet over "just" going from a 60" Kuro to 84" (actually DOUBLING screen size, lol) but these reviews- especially re brightness and good black levels- have recharged my batteries in the excitement dept.

I still feel I made the best decision possible for my scenario.

James

Not a great deal on raw price, I suppose, but I ended up going with Costco for (2) reasons:

1. They double the warranty from one year to two at no cost.

2. They have a 90 day return policy which also pretty much includes price matching...especially if THEY lower the price. And whle I don't think I'd return it if I found it elsewhere for less a couple months down the road, I realize some would AND that costco would likely match it anyway before taking a return of a used PJ.

Just something to think about...I searched and SEARCHED for a deal and simply gave up, you can get a few bucks under $1300, shipped from a reputable source, but it wasn't enough for me to give up the extra year of warranty and "price protection" from costco.

My 2/100th's of a $.

James

I've been waiting for a price drop while my older projector fades away. Too old to buy a new bulb. I need the brightness of the AR100U for a 120 inch wide screen with 20 foot throw. Also need the lens shift. Best I can tell the only similar priced option out there is the Epson 3020 and it doesn't have the lens shift. Not much reason for Panasonic to drop the price of their unit unless Epson drops the price of the 3020 and/or the 8350. Interesting to learn that Costco has this projector. All my price searching didn't yield any Costco hits. 2 year warranty and 90 day return is good added value. I've been worried about the brightness (I need a lot for the large screen and throw) but everything I read here makes it sound like plenty of brightness. Will report back once I make the move.

^ Yes, the stores do not carry it so you need to order it online. You'll get hit with the sales tax of course, but again, the increase in warranty and built-in price protection makes it easily worth it, imo.

The elite calc is showing darn near 40 ftl's for me in rec 709 calibrated mode, so I'm fully anticipating to have all the brightness I'll need.

Should have me screen done today and ready to hang tomorrow!





James

Well, I couldn't wait so before I affixed my final piece of trim, I HAD to fire this bliss-factory up.

Now, while I'm sure a bit of this is "first projector hype" I have to say I was picking my jaw up off the floor.

The first thing I noticed was how razor sharp the image was as soon as I twisted the focus ring. Man, if DLP is sharper it's hard to imagine how it's done/what it looks like. I walked right to the screen on a 100" image and while you could of course see a pixel grid, I was shocked at the cohesiveness of the image itself.

Second, and prolly obviously, the brightness. Jesus, I had this down in a shop room with EIGHT large, overhead, fluorescent lights that just pump out a $hit-ton of white light. And while of course the image was washed to all get out, I was not expecting it to be half a s watchable as it was. I seriously doubt my living room will EVER see this kind of abuse, so that's more than comforting.

I'm going to mount the projector shelf and screen hooks tonight and will have it up tomorrow.

thanks to Mr G and all others who pointed me in the right direction with this. Perhaps with a dedicated room (and bigger budget) I may end up with a something else down the road, but thus far, this seems to be the perfect selection.

James

Hola all:

Well, got the shelf up that I built, it's same color as the wall ("toasted grey"). With that and the unchangeable white ceiling I think it looks ok...not much I can do about the black speakers, lol:



I popped on the PJ to check if I had the lens shift I calculated and even though the image STARTED half way down my ceiling (gulp) I had plenty of shift to get it into position.

Jacked up to get the screen up tonight.

First movie: Skyfall!

James
Edited by mastermaybe - 2/22/13 at 7:09am

Side note: and although a bit large, the PJ itself looks pretty good IMO, aesthetically: appears ready to get down to business.

And just for a laugh I zoomed in the lens and projected directly onto my 60" Kuro (off of course). Was actually shocked at how decent the image appeared, lol.

James

Good to see you are enjoying the new PJ James!

^ thanks, we'll see what happens tonight when all is finally set up and complete.

James

James, I am fairly impressed with the shelf you built for the projector. I'm assuming that's a cable run going down from the shelf. It is also good to hear that the large lens shift advertised for the AR100U is the real deal. All my Panasonic projectors have been ceiling mounted so I've never had to utilize the lens shift as much as you have managed. How high is the top of the screen and how high is the lens center? Thanks.

^ Just "fairly impressed"? lol, just kidding, thanks...amazing what you can accomplish with $5 worth of plywood, titebond and 30 minutes. And yes it's a cable run and although the PVC is larger at 1 1/2" I'm glad I went with it as the retention clips for the power cord need every bit of the width to make it through...although I suppose I could have pushed the wall plug end through instead, lmao.

Re the projector, the image shift seems immense...between the zoom and LS, it's hard to imagine an application you couldn't pull off, honestly.

Right now the center of the lens is nearly exactly 12" from the ceiling. The middle of the screen is about ~25" down from the ceiling (~41" screen height, so half that at ~20", plus a 2 1/2" border and 2" from the top of the frame to the ceiling).

Basically I've shifted the screen center down 13" and have plenty left in the tank...although again, it was a bit scary when I first saw most of the image projected halfway "down" the ceiling.


James
Edited by mastermaybe - 2/22/13 at 7:28am

Nice. An added benefit to using a shelf mount is that it's level (usually). A common mistake some people make who use ceiling mounts is that they tilt the projector in addition to using the lens shift which can produce an image with a trapezoid shape, wider at the bottom than at the top.

Have you had a chance to watch a Blu-ray on this projector yet?

^ I threw in Forrest Gump yesterday for a minute and it looked pretty good...20 year-old movie that only so much re-mastering can help, you know? Toy Story 3 was of course sick, lol. Still going to dial it in a bit more before running Sky Fall tonight which I've heard is fantastic in the audio/video dept.

Coming from a Kuro (no flames please) I knew my black levels were going to take a hit and motion would be "different", but really things are looking pretty darn good, thus far.

All this, PLUS the fact that this ~84" screen is TWICE the size of my kuro at the same resolution, so by law everything (flaws included) are going to be more pronounced and a touch less sharp. Just the way it is.

What will really be awesome will be the 100+" screen down the road when the size discrepancy REALLY takes over and starts to nullify the "kuro" effect.

James

My journey to getting this projector has been flippin crazy... I'm a bit bored so here's the yarn.

So about 3 years ago I start getting excited about the idea of having a projector set up in our living room... Problem is I earn jack squat, have a wife and two kids and this stuff isn't cheap. So I eventually save up, sell some stuff and buy a second hand pt-ar700 for NZ$700. I stick it on a bookshelf in the middle of the living room when I first get it before I ceiling mounted it.

So my sister comes round to visit my wife while I'm out. Leans back on her chair. Knocks the bookshelf and the projector falls back, lands on the power cable bending the whole back section of the projector where all the inputs etc are. I come home 5 minutes after this happen and they both look like someone has died, they know how much this thing means to me. Anyway, what can you do, I'm cool about it.
I turn it on expecting the worse but it's still working! Stoked!

Fast forward two years (and many happy hours of movies, gaming etc) and the bulb blows - a thousand hours early. Gutted. A couple of hours before it happens ive been talking to my trying to plant the idea of upgrading. I was thinking we could sell the pj, I could save up and maybe get a pj that's full 1080p.
There's that plan down the drain. I purchase a new bulb, and it starts flickering like mental from the begining. I'm gutted, what's going on here. I contact the dude that sold me the bulb - he suspects a dodgy power supply issue but installs a second bulb just in case it's a faulty bulb. That bulb blows within two minutes. Bugger.

The dude looks at the bulbs and is convinced it's a power supply issue. I open up the pj and can see how munted the power socket is, I have an electrician check the power supply from the wall and that's perfect. The pj is stuffed.

So now I've got no pj, only $100 in my savings and staring the barrel of a long savings mission, probably at least a year without pj.
(Also here in New Zealand prices for projectors are insanely expensive. That Epsom 8350 - that will be NZ$3500 please. That's US$2900)
Anyway I'm lying there at night and think, I should give the hundy dollars to the bulb dude, his bulbs weren't the problem and he gave me the second one free. Part of me doesn't want to, but I know it's the right thing to do. So I email him in the morning, say I want to give him the coin. He replies, and in his email suggests i contact my insurance and see if the pj is covered because of the knock it took from sister... I had never even thought about that as an option.
I ring up the insurance company, tell them the whole story leaving nothing out - and they accept my claim over the phone! I can't believe it.

I nervously wait to see what they all replace it with, expecting something pretty average... They come back and ask if I would be happy with a PT-AR100. Yeah!!! Full 1080p, light canon of goodness. Retails here for NZ$3700

I install it, but you wouldn't believe it, the thing is flickering away. What the?!
I work through my whole system trying to find the gremlin. Everything - I posted on this thread and everything. I resort to getting a professional home theater expert to have a look. He reckons the projector is faulty. When will this end.
It gets sent back to panny, they acknowledge its a processor issue and send me a new one.
Install that
You little beauty. Works perfectly. This projector is unbelievably good. I flippin am so stoked You guys know what I am talking about. This bad boy is sweet!

^^^ Thanks for relating your story. I appreciate the information that the flickering problem on the AR100U (in your case) was related to the processing unit. All the investigative work you did on the problem finally paid off with a happy ending.

Eastporters finally got in the replacement lamp and shipped it to me!
Cost was $450ish, which for Canada isn't bad. Hopefully a year from now they'll be cheap with more of them shipping.
FYI, I tried a "Compatible" bulb from Hong Kong and only got 900 hrs out of it (for my old PT-AX200) before it died... I've NEVER had problem getting more than full life out of actual Pana lamps.

Original lamp is at 3,387 hrs (yes, I had to reset the counter when it hit 3,000), all run in Eco mode. I'll keep it as a spare since it's still in great condition.

Questions about brightness? Here's a shot today, in our living room, Eco/Normal/TV, under the open skylight, with the original 3,387hr lamp before I changed it....



We still use the AR100 for TV, PS3, and movies on a daily basis. Working perfect for us!


Needs updating, but more of my system's specs and pics here:
http://www.terrencewalters.com/wordpress/hi-fi/
Edited by mulpha - 2/23/13 at 5:28pm

Thanks. I just wanted to mention the features that made it great for my situation (large screen/high ambient light).


MississippiMan and pb_maxxx are "rock stars" on the DIY screen forum and helped tremendously


I will take some new photos with the PT-AR100U and add to my screen thread soon. Watching the Daytona 500 now!


I will check it out, does it add Frame Interpolation? If so I don't think I'll need another projector for several years
Edited by mostau - 2/25/13 at 6:38pm

That is awesome news. My Epson EX71 bulb was rated at 4,000 and died at 1,900. It's good to know the AR-100U has been the reverse of that for you

I don't think I will fair as well with my ambient light situation, but it's comforting to know that the bulb life stats they are quoting appear to be at full power.

James,

Great job on both the shelf and screen!!! I KNOW you will enjoy it. I hardly ever turn on my other TV's any more
Edited by mostau - 3/4/13 at 8:02pm

I am thinking of buying 2 of these for a passive 3D projection system. Any idea if there is any polarization and how this would affect circular and linear polarization set ups?

You might post in this 69 page thread for info if no one here can help? http://www.avsforum.com/t/1280393/the-ultimate-3d-projection-system-a-practical-discussion-thread

I'm considering buying this projector. Can someone comment on how much below the bottom of the screen the projector can be placed and what percentage of your image height that is?


Both Projector Reviews and Projector Central said that the Panasonic PT-AR100U has more lens shift than the Epson 8350, but the Panasonic manual says 65% and the Epson 8350 says 96%.


For example, Projector Reviews states that the AR100U has more lens shift, being able to move 32 inches below the bottom of the screen surface compared to 22.7 for the Epson.

PT-AR100U Lens Shift

This Panasonic has plenty of lens shift as well as lens flexibility ! For that same 100 inch screen, the PT-AR100U can be placed, (normal or inverted), anywhere from about 32 inches above the top of the screen surface, all the way down to 32 inches below the bottom of the screen surface. That is measured from the center of the lens. There is also a good amount of horizontal lens shift. Using horizontal lens shift will partially limit the range of the vertical lens shift (and vice versa).

The combination of the wide range zoom lens, plenty of lens shift, gives you the flexibility to ceiling mount or shelf mount the PT-AR100U in almost all room situations.


Epson 8350

This Epson has plenty of lens shift too! For that same 100 inch screen, the Epson can be placed, (normal or inverted), anywhere from 22.7 inches above the top of the screen surface, all the way down to 22.7 inches below the bottom of the screen surface. That is measured from the center of the lens. There is also a good amount of horizontal lens shift. Using horizontal lens shift will partially limit the range of the vertical lens shift (and vice versa).

The combination of the wide range zoom lens, and excellent lens shift, makes ceiling mounting, or shelf mounting practical, in almost any room situattion.

First, the AR 100 does NOT have more shift than the 8350. 65% vs 96 with the 8350. That of course doesn't mean it doesn't have plenty for 95+% of applications.

Second, you're best off simply ignoring unnecessarily convoluted explanations of lens shift (like the one you found as it's flat out wrong as to where the pj will be at its max shift relative to the top and bottom of the screen) and stick to these two items:

1. Look at lens shift as how far up, down, left or right you can move the center of the screen.

2. Simple math. My 84" screen is 41" high. 41 x .65 (the 65% max vertical lens shift the at 100 has) = 26.65 inches

And I can assure you that it has all of that as I checked.

Just keep in mind that any horizontal shift will affect the v shift max and vice versa.

BTW: just to correct your example: the AR 100 could be placed about SEVEN inches above or below the top or bottom of a 100" screen- his calcs- which are still a bit off- seem to be working from the screen CENTER, but he's referring to the top and bottom. Ugh.

James
Edited by mastermaybe - 3/9/13 at 8:21am

OK, as promised I got some new pics posted on my screen build thread with the PT-AR100U!

The pics were all taken at about noon today with plenty of ambient light

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1355192/advice-on-156-painted-wall-screen-18-throw-2500-lumens-lots-of-ambient-light/30#post_23061320

Hey mostau. Can you please tell me what mount you're using, how far down from the ceiling the projector hangs and the measurement from the ceiling to the top of the screen? Looking to get this projector and am curious to see if it will work in my room. Appreciate it.