LG PA70G LED 1280x800 700 Lumens. - Page 7

just cause they dont carry it at your wallmart dont mean it dont exist,the runco has been around for awhile
http://runco.businesscatalyst.com/home-theater-products/runco-plasmawall-xp-103dhd-display http://gizmodo.com/341909/panasonic-150+inch-plasma-next-to-that-tiny-103+incher-from-last-year

Saw a PA70G at Fry's this evening in their demo room. The wife was there so I didn't have much time to really mess with it, but it was pretty impressive at what I assume are default settings.

There were two Benq W6000's there, which were very sharp, but the colors were a bit dull and there was a lot of digital noise in the image (could be the calibration). There was an Epson 710HD there that was bright, but had horrid contrast even with not complete controlled lighting (room was partially open to the storefloor).

The PA70G had much better color saturation than those two, and I thought the blacks and contrast was at least equal to the W6000 and 710HD.

Brightness of the PA70G seemed fairly in line with the W6000, but I think the better color saturation (from the LEDs?) might have had a pretty big affect on that.



No idea what lamp mode the PA70G was in, but it was pretty quiet even a few inches away from it and having it on for a few minutes. No whistling or other odd sounds like I've heard reported here.


Overall I was pretty impressed with it. Can't wait to see some professional reviews of it to see what sort of lumen output it's actually delivering.

Which location did you go? I hope it is one near me, so I can go check it out first thing in the morning

Not unless you're taking a trip to TX today. It's the store in SW Houston, TX.


Even the wife, who doesn't know much about HT stuff came in the demo room and picked the PA70G as having the best colors by far. I guess that's what people talk about when they say the move to LED DLPs give really vibrant colors. It wasn't something that I think a calibration can change, as the W6000 had good color balance, it just wasn't near as vibrant (almost like the color space was just smaller).

RPS13, I sincerely thank you for posting your opinion about what you personally observed from viewing an LG PA70G projector at Fry's!
You wrote specifically about the quality of the image that you actually perceived from the product for yourself : an apparently intelligently expressive human being, evaluating the light quality, contrast, color saturation, and just overall quality of the experience, and willing to allow other users to benefit from your post. How refreshing that you did not at all simply quote, nor copy, nor paste the manufacturer’s own specifications, which informed posters will know are extremely biased by nature (largely true of virtually all manufacturer’s specifications).
I will be in Atlanta this coming Labor Day 2012 weekend, and will make it a point to visit the Fry’s Electronics there, to see if they have the LG PA70G on display.

Users here in various forums post links to, make references to, and generally promote the relative advantages of, very large screen flatpanel displays, over projectors, but
. . . . does any user here actually personally own and regularly watch a 100 inch or larger flatscreen (plasma, or LCD), or is it just talk about what display would be better to have?
I ask this honestly, because I sincerely would like to read here on the posts, about in-person experiences evaluating equipment, especially in a home environment. I personally own and use an LED DLP HD projector (Acer K330), and I'm interested in the LG PA70G (the topic of this thread).
In a previous post, I did make a mistake of oversimplification when I posted, “please inform me when flatscreens are available at 120 inches or larger . . .”, when of course, such large models do already exist in certain applications.
Like many here in the forum, I have for a long time now, seen and read online reports from consumer electronics shows and other sources, wherein manufacturers showcase their latest flatscreens of 100”, 103”, 108”, and even larger. The well-known television program, “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”, uses a Sharp 108 inch LCD on stage on the show.
One user, (eat meat), in a characteristically pretentious response, posted a link to a 103” Runco plasma. (Though 103” is well short of 120” now, isn’t it?) Then again, this same poster I refer to spells “Wal-Mart” as “wallmart” (wall + mart?) Of course, Wal-Mart does not stock LED projectors, nor higher-end electronics, but it is after all, a multi-billion dollar, publicly-traded corporation; and in fact, the largest retailer and private employer in the United States, and thus worth knowing how to spell its name.
(Then again, throughout most posts, the user herein referred to, does use poor grammar, plus little to no capitalization or punctuation, making what he posts, harder to read and interpret. Additionally, generally, said poster seems to make product quality judgments based on published manufacturer’s specifications, even to the point of copying, pasting, and citing specs to “prove” a point.
Now to be sure; anyone may make typographical errors, even a great many of them, especially if posting from a mobile device, such as a smart phone (i.e. an iPhone, Android, etc). Typos are not a huge deal in such case, and I agree that small devices such as phone screens are difficult to work with.
On another matter entirely, if the referred-to poster’s native language is not English, then I here and now, sincerely apologize for being unduly harsh on that user’s use of language, I really do; such certain user being a non-native speaker would if true, explain a great deal.
I continually strive to improve my mastery of the Spanish language, and I am in awe of the disparity of languages, as regards meaning.)
Relevantly, I take it as overtly obvious that all of us posters on the forum are implicitly proficient in using the Internet to find published specifications on products (how else would users be able to post in an online forum, after all, if not proficient in Internet use).
In any of these forums, on all these posts, I’m interested in reading about the real-world opinions, experiences, and human observations of posters, not restatements of specifications. I, and any other human being can easily be incorrect about any specific fact (i.e. the “measured’ output of lumens, or whatever), but each person is correct about what their own opinion is.
To clarify: for images larger than about 60 inches, I do personally prefer projectors over any current flat panel display, whereas no doubt, many who may be reading this prefer direct-view, flat panels displays. I am curious about what observations and opinions posters herein have for themselves seen and heard, and how they feel about it. No one is wrong about his or her own opinion.
Edited by RonKnox - 7/29/12 at 5:18pm

I've got many many years of viewing on my Panny TH58-PX600U (top of the line 58" from way back in '06). It still looks great to me, and doesn't give up much except resolution to the new sets IMO. And while flat panels have their place, and enable significant ambient light viewing, IMO a front projector offers a different experience. I wouldn't say one is better or worse than the other, they're just different and have their own advantages.

As for a 120" flat panel - even if it does exist, it's not something that's anywhere near affordable in the near future, while a $500-700 projector puts up a pretty darn good image at a size around that. $500 doesn't buy you a ton in the flat panel world, so it's not even a discussion worth starting now.



As for the LG PA70G, I didn't give it what I'd call a really thorough viewing, but in a few minutes it definitely held its own around projectors in its price range and even above IMO. I'll probably stop back by to check it out in more detail sometime this week.


I do wish they put at least a minor zoom lens on these pocket projectors. A 1.2 zoom lens couldn't add THAT much to the price and would make the positioning much more flexible.



I am most curious to see if the PA70G is putting out appreciably more lumens than its 500 lumen competitors. If it does, I'd say the ~$250 price premium over the 500 lumen examples is worth it. If it's just a small output increase, I don't think it'll be worth the price premium.

Sure would be nice to get at least one professional review of the PA70G. It seems odd the projector is already release several weeks ago, and yet no reviews.

I agree, it would be really nice to see a professional review on this unit.

Unfortunately the smaller LED projectors don't really seem to get much of a review by the professional outlets. Usually dismissed with some vague comments about "being ok for video, but not great." Then going on to not really have any major negative things about them.

Given the low lumen output, it seems more likely people are putting these in home theaters than trying to project a reasonably sized presentation in a bright room.

i think i'm gonna wait for 2013 releases, it looks like next gen are gonna have this chipset(not a lot of info for now) which is full hd and 3d(hopefully HDMI 1.4 so no more dlp link BS)
http://led-projectors.net/?p=346

- well its true-cheap pico chip -diamond pixels whaa?the evolution to ht has been brighter-700-900 lumen was the norm 10 or so years ago-it wasent enough for a lot of shoppers(most?)

the pico dlp chip will be the bottleneck.

Given the sometimes snail pace of LED projector advancement, I wouldn't count on anything at this point. I have been disappointed too many times waiting.

I wonder what is the revenue from traditional projector bulbs? I imagine some manufacturers with a stake in bulb sales, aren't all that thrilled with the prospect of losing the after-sale bulb revenue stream, any more than printer makers would be thrilled with losing after-sale revenue from ink, if it were made obsolete. If I am a projector maker, I am keeping a close eye on LED tech for the future so as not to be left behind, while also dragging out the current projector tech as long as possible.

Perhaps that is part of the problem. LED tech isn't simply a step change in projector tech - it is a paradigm shift in terms of the achillies heal of all projector tech to date, namely the dang bulbs. 20 years ago I recall the dang bulb burning out on my parents 8mm projector, and having to baby it in terms of on/off and the like - and yet here today we are still largely stuck with relatively fragile bulb tech.

there hasnt been any new(brighter) leds in 5 years,pt 120 being the best in use,afaik.led/laser was the answer(using a blue laser with a filter for green) i think on of the hybreds is at 4500 lumens-that and zoom and fullsize dlp chips(not the pico dlp)......
Brightness (Lumens) : 3000 ANSI
Contrast (Full On/Off) : 20000:1
Variable Iris: **
Audible Noise: **
Weight: 22.1 lbs
Size (inches) (HxWxD) : 4.9 x 17.9 x 16.3
Std. Lens: Focus:
Manual
Zoom: Manual, 2.00:1
Throw Dist (feet) : 9.0 - 32.7
Image Size (inches) : 42.7 - 300.2
Optional Lenses: **
Digital Zoom: **
Digital Keystone: Vertical
Lens Shift: Horz & Vert
Warranty: 3 Years
Performance:
H-Sync Range: **
V-Sync Range: **

3D Projector: PC 3D Ready
Compatibility:
HDTV: 720p, 1080i, 1080p/60
EDTV/480p: Yes
SDTV/480i: Yes
Component Video: Yes
Video: Yes
Digital Input: HDMI
Computers: Yes
Display: Type:
0.7" DLP (1)
Color Wheel Segs: **
Color Wheel Speed: **
Native: 1920x1080 Pixels
Maximum: **
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 (HD)
Light Source: Type:
Laser & LED
Life: 20000 hours
Quantity: 1
http://www.projectorcentral.com/Panasonic-PT-RZ470KU.htm

While my local Fry's only has the W6000 in the demo room, I think they finally found the right price point ($629).

I agree it's not going to give the performance of a Darkchip 3 1080P DLP projector, and it's unrealistic to expect it to do so, but I think the professional reviewers have been a bit quick to dismiss the little LED units.

In comparison the cheap 720P "living room" light canons are getting tons of press now with full blown reviews, and from what I've seen, they're pretty weak in picture quality. The only thing they have going for them over the small LED projectors is light output IMO.

Actual calibrated or "best mode" output for a great many projectors has been around the 500-700 lumen range for a long time. Only recently have a few projectors offering good PQ and significantly besting that. In fact, the really nice HT stuff usually ends up in that 500-700 lumen range for the sake of PQ. So these little LED buggers aren't really that far behind in brightness IMO. Especially considering that they actually get close to their rated lumens in most cases, and don't have that optimistic "marketing number" that even a blown out torch mode doesn't come close to reaching.

Yeah, I noticed that $630 price at Frys the other day - much better than the $800 price. What has thrown me for a bit of a loop though, are the claims by persons around here that there is little difference in noticeable light output between the PA70G and HW350T. I realize a significant increase in lumens is required for the human eye to perceive a difference, but the 700 lumens of the PA70G is more than double the 300 lumens of the HW350T. So I would have expected a significant noticeable increase in light output with the PA70G. Odd that people so far who have compared the two, have not noticed much of an increase. I would be ok spending the extra $240 on the PA70G over the HW350T - if I knew for sure the light output would be noticeably improved, but so far can't say that. Of course, it doesn't help we have zero professional reviews of the new projector so far, and most retailers do not have it setup for the consumer to evaluate. My local Frys did not have it on display yet, and doesn't have a dedicated projector room anyway.

There was an LG HW350-T in the demo room where I saw the PA70G. The HW350-T was noticeably dimmer, even with a smaller image (the PA70G has a higher throw ratio I guess).

The HW350-T looked like it was roughly 1/4-1/3 the brightness of the Benq W6000 next to it, projecting roughly the same sized image on the same screen.

Well I am completely confused now, lol. Seeing the projectors in action would clear up things, but alas not an option at my Frys.

see the problem is there are 27 very expensive, very heavy( Weight: 36.0 lbs,49.4 lbs, 27.8 lbs, 65.0 lbs some water cooled http://www.projectorcentral.com/projectors.cfm?g=1&hide=0&st=1&mfg=&p=&w=&r=13&br=&ll=&t=&db=&dt=&c=&ar=&dvi=&led=1&pjl=&pjw=&pjh=&td=&i=d&is=&sort=pop&sz=15)led(same pt120 i asume) pjs ekking out those lumens-uh how does 2.98 pounds worth of pj do that 700 lumens-wacko cartoon mode?

The Vivitek H9080FD was $15k MSRP in '09, and put out brightness right in line with what an Optoma ML500 can do (~360-460 lumens real output). I'm sure the Vivitek has better optics, cooling, and pre-processing, but we've already reached the brightness level of some of the dimmer 1080P stuff from a few years back.

One of the ways LED output is growing is just by working on the driver circuit. By switching faster, and ramping up the current faster, the LED is driven harder on a time averaged basis. Same LED tech (which is also improving), but just the upstream circuitry is providing tangible improvements by using it more efficiently.

Plus as far as cost, most of those LED projectors are 2-3 years old now. How much have 1080P bulb projectors fallen in price over that time period? 30%? 40%? Maybe even 50%?



I know this might come to shock to you, but electronics technology DOES improve fairly rapidly.

I cannot wait until they move to a traditional square pixel structure again before I purchase another LED PJ.

To get back on topic, I stopped by my local Fry's last even to check the projector out a bit more. I ended up playing a .xvid file I had on a USB thumb drive I happened to have on me since they didn't have any signal going to the projectors.

With the PA70G about 12' from the wall, giving roughly a 120" 16:9 image, brightness was perfectly viewing in moderate ambient light (I'd say just enough to read a newspaper or magazine, definitely not 100% light control). I put the unit in "minimum energy saving" mode, which is max brightness. Even on the vivid preset and max bulb brightness the fan noise wasn't that loud. I'd put it right around the same volume as the Epson 705HD above it in normal bulb mode. The pitch was a bit higher on the PA70G, but with the background noise of Fry's it was honestly hard to hear it more than about a foot away. In a quiet theater I can see how you'd hear it, but I was expecting much worse.

I watched about 10 minutes at max brightness and didn't notice any focus drifting. The screen was probably only 80" or so, with the rest spilling out on the carpet covered walls of the demo room, so focus uniformity wasn't easy to ascertain, but it seemed good to me as far as I could tell when looking closeup. There were no problems focusing at 120", and there was quite a bit of adjustment to either side of the sweet spot for this throw distance.

I couldn't tell if the PA70G was stretching the image to fill a 16:10 screen vs. it's native format of 1.85:1 since it wasn't on a fixed screen and the black levels of the PA70G were far below that ambient light level (no grey bars to notice). Nothing looked stretched to my eyes But this was on its native file format player, so probably not indicitive of what you'd see feeding it a 720P or 1080P HDMI signal.

All in all, it seems like a pretty impressive projector with just a short demo in non-optimal ambient conditions. I'll wait for a professional review, and if it's belting out significantly more lumens than the Optoma ML500, pick it up.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by Frys and post your comments. The ability to project a decent quality large image even with some ambient light, would certainly be a plus for my usage, and particularly for the wife acceptance factor. Keeping some mild dimmed backlighting on would go over much better than having to watch all the time in the pitch black basement.

On another note, seems like for every product I have purchased the last several years, the online opinions vary widely. For example, somehow my pocket HD camcorder is both the worst and the best at the same time, lol. I guess people key in on different aspects of a product, depending on their needs.

The image on the pico PJ is definitely not as sharp as a nice 1080P DLP unit. It reminds me almost of LCOS units in how it "smooths" out the image, and to some extend Plasmas. Some people prefer laser sharp images, others are perfectly fine with a slightly smoother image.


Online opinions do vary all over the place, but I was honestly expecting MUCH worse (noise, focus, brightness etc.) than what I saw from the few opinions of people in this thread. I think it's all about having reasonable expectations. Where some people have a hard time stepping back and saying, "yea, that Epson 5100 DOES look better, but it's also 3-4x the cost." That said, I thought the image was perfectly acceptable for the ~$630 it seems the street price is going to end up hovering around, and not having to worry about a bulb is a big benefit for me after knowing two people with JVC and Epson projectors throw multiple pricey bulbs at their projector with light usage.


I am wondering why there isn't anything more than press releases out there for this projector. You'd think something touted as "brightest projector in it's fast growing segment" would be getting a little more interest at this point.

Yes it is odd the lack of marketing, having to dig for online comments or watch YouTube videos from consumers in German, lol. LG needs to get their act together in terms of marketing.

For my part, 95% of my media material is not HD, and some rather bad in quality. (Always been more interested in max content quality and access to varied media, rather than technical quality.) I think some people would find what I watch in terms of technical quality unacceptable. In fact, the only HD content I have are vacation videos made with my 720P pocket camcorder!

Recalling the last few times at the movie theater, sitting up close and thinking about the image imperfections, there were some dancing pixels and rather low resolution. Compared to HD sources viewed from over the air broadcasts, the image quality at the theater was lacking. (At the theater I could not see the pimples on the persons faces, like the newscasters on HD TV, lol.) But you know - the large screen size trumped the resolution/image quality issues. Simply put - watching on the big screen was a lot of fun. So for my needs, I think a big decent bright screen provided by a projector should reach the goal, even if some other things are not perfect.

Is anyone using this projector as a replacement to a regular bulbed projector? I have a Mits 1000U that's is nearing end of bulb life and this new LED stuff looks interesting.

OK here's more of HS201 vs PA70G comparison. I didn't bother making a video of fan noise comparison bec. they're almost exactly the same. BTW, my HS201 is more than 3yrs old now.

Left Side is the LG HS201(Max Brightness) and LG PA70G(Normal Brightness) on the right.
















Edited by kennl66 - 8/2/12 at 6:00pm

Thanks for the photos. At least compared to your HW201, the PA70G seems decently brighter, especially considering you have the HS201 set to max brighness and the PA70G only on medium.

Some persons have reported focus issues with the PA70G. Have you noticed any out of focus sections of the screen, or do the images stay reasonably in focus?

Just received the LG PA70G. I also have Vivitek qumi g2 and the Qumi is like a joke compared to the LG. I had Sharp Z3000 before and I find the LG to be better. You would not be disappointed with the LG. My focus is perfect, no focs problems after period of time like the qumi. The only negative is maybe the fan noise. I find it distracting at Medium and Minimum settings. Fortunately the Max. energy savings mode works for me and the fan noise is not that bad.
The other nice feature is that it plays all of my video files from portable HDD.

PARDON THE CAPS. BUT I WANT TO LET EVERYBODY KNOW THAT THE PA70G IS ON SALE @ FRYS FOR 549.00 IN CASE ANYONE HAS MISSED IT