OWNERS Thread for the Panasonic PT-AE7000U 3D Projector - Page 2

How good is the 2D to 3D conversion?

Anyone use a BOC screen?

Good is relative. You might want to read the latest issue of Wide Screen Review which has a long interview with the head of a company that does 2D to 3D conversions for the film industry. If you think some chip in a 3K class projector, or for that matter an $85K class projector, can do a good job of 2D to 3D, then we are using the word good incorrectly. If you like 3D and wish there was someway to convert your 2D sources to 3D, having a down and dirty gizmo built in to your projector is better than nothing, but there really is no way for an object to be translated into 3D without a pretty good knowledge base of objects for which you want to generate an alternative eye view, On some material a conversion by a projector can look OK, on others it has to suck, A conversion box would do it somewhat better but even that would suck on much material. I would like to have it an a 3D projector, but I just wouldn't expect it to meet a definition of good. Maybe OK for somethings.

ok thanks for confirming.

How good is the 2D to 3D conversion? I guess there's the good, the bad and the ugly and I suspect the Panny fits in somewhere in the middle. The Mits on the other hand...."Second, the 2D to 3D conversion is remarkable. This is the first time we've seen 2D to 3D conversion that was worth the bother. Normally that conversion provides just enough increase in depth perspective to be noticeable but not enough to be impressive. As is true of all 2D to 3D conversions, the depth remains entirely behind the plane of the screen. But on the HC7800D, so much depth perspective is achieved that it begins to resemble authentic 3D rather than a conversion. We'd need to spend more time exercising it before making any final assessment, but from what we saw, this may be the first implementation of 2D to 3D conversion that I would actually use in my own theater." The above quote is from the quick look that Projector Central did for the Mits 7800 3D DLP projector. So it seems there's good conversion and not so good conversion. I'd rather have the "good" conversion. PC had already seen the Panny and made no comment on its conversion so I would guess it would be one PC wouldn't bother with. Surprisingly the reviewers at PC are not the only ones to report this about the 2D to 3D conversion of the Mits. I've read this from other sources too!

Does the 7000 still flash "PROCESSING" on the screen when changing aspect ratios using the lens memory feature?

Just spent 4 hrs watching directv 3d really good pop to the various shows ...and thankfully no headaches etc... whew!

I have a pre-order slot for the RS45 but my theater is coming along quickly so I might need a projector in a month. I might have to get a panny! Glad to hear you are all enjoying it so far!

Yes but so what - you can't do anything else while it's processing anyway so no big deal.

Watched Avatar tonight. I set frame creation to 2, in 3D it looked like they were in the room. I love this machine!

The problem (at least with the 3000, 4000 models) is that after flashing processing for a few seconds, the damn thing goes back to the lens memory menu, rather than just dismissing the menus as it should.

That would eliminate the machine for me. Thank God I didn't buy one. Who the hell do they think they are making me have to press the menu clear on the remote, I ain't their slave.

You AVS guys are getting mighty smerky of late, should help the bottom line eh?

If anyone is a former owner of a 720p DLP 3D ready projector can you please comment on the difference between the quality of the 3D presentation on your new Ae7000 and the DLP?
Cheers

Snark all you want, but the fact is that I am not the only one annoyed by this. I have seen posts from quite a few people who are annoyed by it. Since the "processing" time is fairly long and somewhat variable, it makes it difficult to create a macro to change the aspect ratio with just one button press.

The ironic thing is that the lens memory feature is supposed to be a convenience feature. And it is nice, but it is odd that they take two steps forward and one step back with the implementation. Would it really be so difficult to make it a one-button press and done? Even better, they should have dedicated buttons on the remote for each lens memory slot.

If I use the lens shift extensively, especially towards the limit of its range; does this have any effect on picture quality? Also, is there an optimal projection distance? I have heard that using the limits of the throw range could affect image quality, so is there a set projection distance where the picture and image would look its best? I have a 106" projection screen.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated and I apologize if these are stupid questions.

Any out there try Rear projection yet? If so, how was the 3D effect?

You guys are making me Jealous!! Mine has not come in yet

Glad to hear the 3D is nice. I would love to have Avatar 3D but guess I'll have to wait for the release. To bad they did not bundle it with the projector.

Just bought my new Yamaha receiver (A1010). My old Panasonic 900 projector is sad, but will find a new home with my sister.

I think the 2D to 3D is a nice feature, but I wont be using it. I will test it to see how it performs though.

Did any of you do any calibration yet on the Panasonic 7000? If so, did you see a big difference from out of the box?

Although it doesn't remedy the flashing "processing" message, you can get around the other issue by using the RS-232 interface. I do this with my 4000 and it gives me one-button-access to each of the six memory banks. I actually use all six and have discrete codes programmed into my Harmony One:



There is a thread here that details how to go about this.

I can't comment in comparison to a DLP projector, but my main television is a 73" Mitsubishi DLP and the Panasonic picture quality seems to be much better. This is partially due to the size of the picture, but also the picture has a bit more pop to it. It also rivals DLP in terms of ghosting, because I have yet to really see any. I've watched a lot of the IMAX underwater documentaries, which have a lot of details in them and large schools of fish and the Panny handles them all beautifully. It's like being at an aquarium.

That is WHY I bought a Panasonic 3D Player first and the PJ second.

3D Avatar is FREE when you buy a 3D Player.

Is it as good as watching at 3D cinemas ?

How bout some pics?!

I think it's better. I saw the last Harry Potter on an IMAX screen and it was full of ghosting.

A lot of people agree on this. You hear it all around. A lot of people who dislike 3D at the theater fall in love with it when they get a good quality projector demo.

As for the "processing" issue, they mentioned it would still be there at CEDIA, which annoyed a lot of people since they hated it before, but it didn't stop anyone from getting the projector. I'm actually surprised it hasn't been fixed this go around after all the negativity in the last model. For anything other than projectors, which are a niche product, people around the world would have done a firmware jailbreak on it to remove it. It shouldn't even be that difficult to do, for one who has the knowledge of such things.

As far as Avatar goes, I didn't see it in the theatre. I will say that everything looked like it had a believable dimension to it. It almost looked like they were right there. Play around with frame creation in the advanced menu when you get it in conjunction with 3D. I also like the Cinema 2 setting with this, at least on my screen. I wouldn't use frame creation for everything but for some 3D and maybe some live events I could see this being an interesting tool.

Thanks Larryad. Is there anything you wish the projector could do better ? How's the sharpness of pictures ?

Honestly! No! I really love it, and the few people who have seen it so far have all gone WOW. I'm sure there are better projectors but unless you have them side by side, you'll never notice the difference. The question is, how big are the differences and at what cost? Is it really better or just different? There are also more things to consider than just black levels. This projector so far has given me what I was looking for and it fit my space. I have no regrets on my purchase so far. I just have to see how the unit holds up over time.

Sorry, you asked about sharpness. You have lots of options here. The picture is very vivid and very "sharp" without being overly enhanced looking. You can go from a very flat looking image to a very dimensional looking image depending on what setting you choose. I'm rather liking Cinema 2 on my low gain screen. It gives a dimensional quality but at the same time retains the color grading used to give the film it's look and tone. Yet, it doesn't have too much of the video look of frame creation.

Well, I got mine yesterday and I have a weird issue with it. Right in the center of the screen slightly off to the right there is a blue ghosting about 2 inches by 4 inches, almost like a blotch. I have tried different sources and cables so its not a source issue rather the PJ. I called Panny but all they said was send it in for repair which really pissed me off yesterday....

I replaced my epson 8350 with this one and to tell the truth I liked the PQ better with the Epson but it lacked the 3D aspect which is why I went with this one.

Anyone have any ideas? I will take a picture later today and post it.

Sounds like it could be a dust spot. When I had my Panasonic 4000 I had this issue often. Hopefully its just a bad panel though. Either way its getting replaced, but I feel your pain! Good luck.