OWNERS Thread for the Panasonic PT-AE7000U 3D Projector - Page 144

Check out my earlier post on prev page where I do a ton of 3D tests resulting in, what I call, "White Screen of Death (WSOD)".

Purchased in December.

Amazon was cool enough to let me return it full price even though it was outside the refund window, and the box was missing.

They earned a customer for life on that one.

Chet, did you get a chance to see if the settings changes eliminate the cross talk?

Not yet, but I will.

Ok. I just tried those settings and I am sorry to say that this only worsened the crosstalk. Big time. For some reason, switching to Normal mode introduces some REALLY bad "stuff" to the image. I call it "stuff" because I don't even know what you call it. It is literally adding things to the picture that was never there in the first place. I have found this to be true in every mode with the exception of D-Cinema.

I will take photos and post what I mean. This "stuff" that I am referring to can be seen with or without the glasses on. I am using the 3rd gen Panasonic glasses BTW.

After returning my ae7000u just got done hooking up my ae8000u and ran through the WOW disc.

Tested on 3D and so far so good..

I never saw any crosstalk issues with my 7000, and to be honest, I haven't noticed a huge massive improvement with the 8000 (but I've only viewed about 1 hour on it).

Ok, here is normal mode:


Now here is D-Cinema mode:


This is The Polar Express 3D Blu-ray at 00:06:20.

Notice the ghosted image of the boy in Normal mode is really off color (like using the "burn" mode of a layer in Photoshop. The image of the boy in D-Cinema mode, however is not weird.

The next thing for me to try is to use your other settings, while staying in D-Cinema mode. I will report my findings.

Chet, I don't have that particular 3D movie. Would you happen to have Transformers 3D? WilliamG and I posted pictures of this movie on this thread at this page.

I have these 3D movies to compare with you:
Transformers
Tangled
Tintin
Monsters vs Aliens
Avatar
Despicable Me
The Lion King
Rio 3D

If you have none of these I can order The Polar Express 3D so we have something to compare.

I have almost every 3D movie out there including all in your list. When I have time (probably tomorrow - running a small business is time consuming ) I will throw in Transformers and see what I can find. I'll post screenshots again too.

Also, we may want to post ALL of our settings and not just a few of them. For example, when switching to 'Normal' mode, I am leaving all of the settings at default other than those you listed. This may have something to do with the weird color ghosting I'm seeing in Normal mode.

I fully expect that you should be able to get the same performance that WilliamG and I attained. If it gets too much to post back and forth you can PM me and we could exchange phone numbers to walk through the differences. That accelerated the troubleshooting for me and William.

As it turns out, wgf_bean and I spoke on the phone tonight regarding my crosstalk issues. We shared settings, allowed for temperatures to adjust, etc. and the final outcome is that we were NOT able to get rid of my crosstalk issues. Apparently, the only two modes that come close to removing crosstalk, for me, are REC709 & D-Cinema. When switching from either of those two modes to any of the remaining 4 modes, there are either some color processing issues, or lens alignment issues, or something within the projector that causes the colors to become really out of wack. The final decision has been made to call Panasonic. I will report back as I learn more.

Alright, so I spoke with Brian at Panasonic Technical Support. It was his goal to convince me that there was nothing wrong with my projector. From the very beginning, it was everything EXCEPT the projector's fault. I was using the wrong HDMI cable. The HDMI cable was too long. It's the BD player. If it works in D-Cinema and REC709, there's nothing wrong with the projector. Bull Butter!!! For everything he told me, I had an answer:

1. I was using the wrong HDMI cable. "You have to be using an HDMI 1.4 cable and not an HDMI 1.3 cable." My answer: "HDMI.org is no longer allowing cable manufactures to put a version number on the cables. They have to put 'High Speed' or '3D Compatible' now. All of my cables are from Monoprice and they are 1.4 compliant. The only difference between 1.3 and 1.4 is that 1.4 allows for ethernet connection. 1.3 is 3D compliant."
2. The HDMI cable was too long. "20 feet is too long for an HDMI cable to do 3D." My answer: "I have used a shorter cable to try it and I get the same results. Besides, why would it work better in D-Cinema and REC709, but not in the other modes?"
3. It's the BD player. "Actually, I tried the Oppo BDP-93 and the PS3 with the exact same 3D results."
4. He says, "If it works in D-Cinema and REC709, there's nothing wrong with the projector." Wrong, I spoke with wgf_bean last night and he doesn't have these issues.

So, he finally gave me a case number and said I could send pictures into their support e-mail. He said I would hear back within 24 to 48 hours. So, I went through the painstaking process of doing that for him. I even put it into "pdf form" so they could easily attach it to my case in their system. I sent it in shortly after the call and I haven't heard anything from them yet, but I thought I would post the pictures here. Let me know what you think.

All examples from Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon 3D BD are at time code 02:26:15 (After credits start to roll at end of movie).
All examples from Despicable Me 3D BD are at time code 01:12:56 (after Gru shrinks the moon and surfer loses waves and slams into reef).

Normal Mode No Glasses:

Notice how the crosstalk is a bright yellowish green color? This makes them completely visible even with the glasses on as seen in the next two screenshots.


Normal Mode Left Eye Open:



Normal Mode Right Eye Open:



D-Cinema Mode No Glasses:

This is the actual color the crosstalk should be.


D-Cinema Mode Left Eye Open:



D-Cinema Mode Right Eye Open:

Chet,

You gotta love tech support, don't you? he he

These images are helpful. The symptoms strongly suggest the green panel is responding too slowly. If fact it's so slow that it just doesn't make sense. I'm trying to think of a logical reason why this might happen. Let me think a little while before you send it back.

The performance is most definitely unacceptable. I've never seen this on mine but I think others might have.

So after think about this a bit...

First off I said the green panel. I'm not sure in this projector which set of three colors they use. It can be done with any 3 colors that are spectrally about 120 degrees (rotation) apart. So it could be the opposite of green creating the effect of green by subtraction. For example the color where it's green should be closer to white. The missing color (the one lagging and causing the cross talk) would be the one that if you remove from white would result in green. But this isn't what's important.

When I change between operating modes, like Normal to REC709, etc. I get crosstalk for a few brief seconds. This is not enough time that the temperature would have moved. Temperature for sure affects cross talk if not properly compensated for, but there are other things that affect it such as applied voltage, etc. I believe that when the unit changes modes it has to change it's compensation so that 3D works correctly across them all. Also realize that there's 3 panels, not one. So it's entirely possible for 2 of the panels to be correctly compensated for and for one not to be for whatever reason.

So my best guess is that something is wrong on your unit with the compensation, most likely on one of the panel/color channels. This could be from a number of things, for example an incorrect factory calibration of the tracking between operating modes. Whatever the reason is, it seems logical that the fault is in the projector because (1) non 3D viewing is fine and the colors are correct. (2) The cross talk isn't the same color as the original image, or the image next to it. This points to a compensation fault on one panel done in the projector which you have no control over it.

So honestly I think it needs to go back. This could also be why they came out with the 8000 so quickly - because they know it's an issue but don't want to admit it. If they fixed it in the 7000 after a certain date then people would put 2 and 2 together and demand their's be upgraded (if they were one of the unlucky ones). I'm not saying that every 7000 has this problem, as clearly mine and Williams is fine. But they may have a quality control issue which results in some being a lot worse than others. One would think the quality issue has been fixed in the 8000. Panasonic (like every other manufacture) will not admit a design or production error because it would result in a lot of repairs costing them tons of money. That unfortunately is how the corporate world works. If it costs the company money, the answer is no.

Anyway that's a lot of conjecture but it's my best plausible explanation.

Update: I received shipping instructions in my email today from Panasonic. I will be sending it in.

Too late to return it for a refund from wherever you purchased it? Where'd you buy it?

That's what I did about 60 days after purchase. Didn't want to fuss around with sending it back to Panasonic, although they did promise 10 business day turnaround..

I got a ae7000u in last night and hooked it up.when I hooked it up the picture was pretty much all green ( I was using HDMI slot #1) I htought oh no the LCD panel has gone bad, I bypassed all my switches recievers everything and It was still green, I hooked it back up and switched to my bluray player and it was a perfect picture, however both the 360 and directv gave a green picture, I trouble shooted and elminated all my cables and machines and plugged the Hdmi into HDMI #2 port and boom perfect picture, anyone have any ideas of what would cause this? HDMI port 1 when hooked to directv and xbox 360 gives a green picture (blacks are green instead of black, and it is like looking through green glasses) but when hooked up to my panasonic bluray player works perfect, HDMI port #2 on the other hand seems to work for everything (well directv box for sure and bluray I didnt check the 360, wife wanted to watch survivor), thanks guys.

Might it be a marginal HDMI #1 connector on the back of the projector?

Did you try wiggling the connector slightly on the back while viewing (and showing green) in case of a marginal pin?

It was fine on HDMI #1 with it connected to your bluray player. But nothing else worked on HDMI #1. Did you try leaving the same cable that worked when on HDMI #1 and the bluray, and unplug the bluray end and then connect it to a different source still using HDMI #1? The point is if the connector on the back of the projector is marginal, then maybe one of your cables (the one that was connected to the bluray) might be slightly more forgiving. If this turned out to be true then at least you know it has to go back for repair and you can tell them the connector is marginal and needs replacing.

How about a setting? I only connect through HDMI #1 on mine because it comes from my AVR which takes care of source selection. But when you change to HDMI #2 does that invoke a different set of settings that might be the answer? I've never had a reason to know the answer to that since as I said only use HDMI #1.

Did you ask Panasonic support for help?

I never thought of the moving the HDMI plug to see if it was a bad connection. I will say that I run all my HDMI to the audio reciever and then one to the projector, and its the same one that I am using in HDMI #2 so its not cables or anything. When I did the straight run to the projector from the directv and 360 I did use the blu ray hdmi as I knew it was good, but as I stated earlier everything works when plugged into hdmi #2.


Just for reference this is how I have my system setup Directv, 360 and Panasonic 3d bluray player run to my pioneer reciever via hdmi, hdmi out run to a switch as I have a LCD also hooked up behind the screen for when We dont need the projector, and then the 2 outs on the switch run through single HDMI to my projector. works on #2, green picture on #1 when using directv and 360, and perfect picture with bluray.

I did call Panasonic support and they have never heard of anything like this at all, especially with HDMI port #1 working on the bluray player but not DIRECTV or 360, but yet port 2 works fine with all same HDMI cables and everything...lol I was just worried something was there that could spread to my other ports or what not. Like I said very happy with this projector!

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and projectors in general. I purchased the pt7000 approx 2 months ago and with only 98 hrs on the lamp it died. The Power Indicator is a solid red with the Lamp Indicator flashing red. I removed and inserted the lamp to ensure a proper fit, but same issue.

The troubleshooting portion of the owners manual suggest that it maybe be an issue with the lamp circuit. Is this a common occurance?
I have installed a new lamp and the projector is working fine for now. I'm just wondering if i should return the projector to the store i purchased it from ( instore 2 year warranty) or keep it and hope this lamp does not burn out also. Is there some sort of warranty on the lamp. Customer service at Panasonic was no help.

I love the projector, just worried i have a lemon and should return it to the store demanding an exchange.

Anyone got their rebate check but no free glasses? I got my check last week for PJ purchased in December, but I have not gotten the glasses yet.
Thanks.

Can you reproduce this stuttering when watching video content from the Xbox 360? For quite a while I have been trying to get this resolved. I have a considerable number of HD-DVD's that I use the 360 to play. It is impossible for me to enjoy watching them because of frame dropping. I notice the same thing happens when I watch a DVD with it though it may not happen as often. The majority of the time the source for this projector is my 360 so I would really like to resolve this. When I watch Blu Ray from my PS3 I do not have this issue. I have used my 360 with a lot of other projectors and this is the only one that does this. Panasonic essentially says it isn't the projector but I have eliminated everything else. If you can confirm that you see this issue while watching DVD's (or HD-DVD's if you have any) on the 360 that would be appreciated.

I too encounter "stuttering" issues with the 7000. But for me, it's only my Directv HD-DVR. My Xbox360 is an original and it's outputting via component, not HDMI. The Directv dvr is outputting via a HDMI cable. With directv I only see issues on certain channels (ESPN & ABC the most).

Hyper_Eye - remind me how you Xbox360 is connected to the PJ?

I have it hooked up to a Yamaha receiver with a 3ft. Monoprice 24AWG high-speed HDMI cable. The receiver is connected to the projector with a 6ft. Monoprice AWG high-speed HDMI cable. This same configuration works with other projectors without issue. I have also tried hooking the 360 directly into the PJ and different brands of HDMI cables. Today I tried hooking the 360 up to the PJ with a VGA cable at 1920x1080/60. I was both reminded of how bad VGA output from the 360 is and disappointed that the issue was unaffected. It still exhibited the "stuttering" frames every few minutes.

I'm very curious about what would happen if I put a Darbee between them. I suspect the issue would remain but it may be a good enough argument to convince my wife to let me buy one.

That VGA cable test would sure seem to eliminate the scenario where HDMI is the cause. To me, it seems that the projector has an issue with a particular video feed (ie - 1080/60i or 720/60p for me).

I never see the stuttering issue with blu-ray as the source.

I never see it with Blu-ray either. Have you talked to Panasonic about the issue at all? I was dealing with a ticket whenever I could but they were pretty much only available when I was at work and I didn't seem to be getting anywhere. I'm thinking about calling again soon. It shouldn't matter that it has been a few months because I have the 3 year warranty I would think. I agree that this projector seems to have an issue with a particular mode. Many people who have experienced this issue with HTPC saw it resolved when they changed the refresh rate to 59hz. Unfortunately that is not something we can experiment with when it comes to the Xbox.

I notice a lot of recent posts from folks with problems. Just wanted to chime in that I've had my PJ for 18 months and absolutely no problems. 1800 hours on the bulb and looks as bright as new. Prometheus is my favorite in 3D.

IMO the first BD one should buy is a calibration disk such as WOW. I'll check in again in a few months. Bye!

Here's an update on service I requested on my 7000U due to the crosstalk issues I was having:

There was ZERO communication from Panasonic throughout the process. In fact, I called them today to get a status and as I was speaking with him, UPS showed up with the projector. Huge coincidence. Anyway, the rep told me that they replaced the lamp, updated my firmware and repaired the ballast. (The repair form in the box confirmed the same thing.) I have no idea what a ballast is (if anyone wants to chime in here, I would love to learn more about it), but as soon as I get home tonight, I will plug her in, warm her up and check her out.

Don't worry, I will report my experience later on tonight after I've had a chance to calibrate and check crosstalk. It's gonna be a long night trying to set up all of my lens memories and picture memories.

The ballast is what powers the lamp