PANASONIC PT-AE8000U (US VERSION) PT-AT6000E (EUROPEAN VERSION) IFA BERLIN 2012 New LCD 1080p 3D... - Page 2

http://www.avforums.com/forums/avforums-news-notices/1671690-panasonic-launches-pt-at6000e-their-new-3d-full-hd-home-cinema-projector.html

Detailed Preview with first measuring results:

http://www.cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/Panasonic_PTAT6000/AT6000_Test_A.htm

(German Language as usual)

Regards,
Ekki

Thanks for the preview Ekki and nice job! One question I had was with ghosting. It was hard to tell in the translation if there was any noticeable improvement in ghosting between the 5000 and 6000. Could you comment on this?

Thanks!

The million dollar question!

Many of the improvements are very welcome:

• Brighter image
• Lens memory functions while in 3-D mode
• Ability to disable "processing" message when switching lens memory

All very nice to have, but none critical enough to me to warrant an upgrade after a year. The only thing that could make me seriously consider an upgrade would be significantly reduced crosstalk.

Higher wattage = Higher Heat = Louder fan noise?

Arg.
My theater is currently being built and the end of September is when I thought I would be pulling the trigger on a projector (I was going to buy an AE7000). This news certainly complicates things: I hope this projector is on-time...

Info is up on Panasonic's website: link

If the 8000/6000 does have less crosstalk than the 7000/5000, they don't seem to be bragging about it.

IF it actually had ANY significant crosstalk reduction, they would certainly be talking it up. Of course if they were talking it up we would still have to wait and get some good hands on reports to see how much real world improvement if any there actually was, but the fact that they are saying very little would suggest that there has been VERY little if any improvement in this area.

I've been doing a bit of researching the past week or so because I think I want to get a projector, and I have been lead to the Panasonic AE7000U, partially because I hear the input lag on it is some of the lower input lag you get on projectors, and I'm going to be gaming on mine. I am going to actually be testing out gaming on an AE7000U before I do decide if I want to purchase it or not.

I'm going to be using the projector primarily for movies, watching sports, primetime TV, and gaming. So basically everything that you can do with one lol.

That said, since I don't own a projector yet, and the AE8000U is supposed to be an upgrade over that, would it make sense to get the AE8000U instead?

When looking at the link that JamesN posted, there is A TON of information on there that I simply do not understand, so a lot of the improvements I probably won't "get" unless they were in layman's term.

That said, I had a couple questions, that I'm not sure if people can answer or not.

1. Is there an MSRP of the AE8000U and an official release date?

2. Will history dictate that the price of the AE7000U will probably be going down once the AE8000U comes out?

3. Has there been any talk of the input lag on this projector, or would it most likely be the same as the AE7000U, or could it be worse?

Thanks.

1. No MSRP yet that I've heard. I would expect it to be around what the 7000 was at time of release, which was about $3200 USD, but discounted to around $2800 USD by most retailers. No release date either, but "late September" has been rumored. I don't see anyone taking pre-orders yet, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that date slide.
2. Retail on the 7000 is already down. Based on what happened with the 4000 when the 7000 came out, I wouldn't expect it to drop much further. However, you should see a bunch of used 7000s around from those who upgrade.
3. AFAIK, the lamp and cooling engine are the only major component overhauls on the new model. I would NOT expect input lag to change for the worse.

Thanks for the reply.

One of the things I have read about the AE7000U is that when watching 3D it is kind of darker. Now I haven't seen this myself yet but I am going to be sampling one in the near future. Since the 8000 is spec'ed at being 400 lumens more, should that mean that the 3D picture is going to be brighter in the 8000?

One thing that I dislike in general about 3D movies in the theatre is how the color is darker than regular 2D pics, which is a reason I see most movies in 2D in the theater. Granted, if I had 3D at home I'm sure I'd watch it though.

Also, when you say the 7000 price is already down, do you mean around the $2500 price? That is about the range I'm seeing it for right now. So if the 8000 has a tad extra features and is $300 more, I may end up going with that, as long as the input lag is not worse.

Are there any chain B&M stores that sell these Panasonic projectors that let you sample them? The only store I've been to locally to sample some stuff doesn't carry Panasonic, and it's not a chain store either.

The 8000 will be brighter overall then the 7000. 2-D on the 8000 will be brighter than 2-D on the 7000, and 3-D on the 8000 will be brighter than 3-D on the 7000. But 3-D will still be darker than 2-D on either model. It's the active shutter glasses that make it so, not the pj.

And, yes, I meant that I would be surprised to see retail prices on the 7000 drop from what you are now seeing. I'm not saying it's not possible, just that I would be surprised. That is just opinion based on my observations on what happened with the 4000. When the 7000 was announced, prices on the 4000 dropped slightly and pretty much remained steady until all of the old stock was gone. There is a bottom line somewhere, and retailers cannot afford to take a loss. The stock will move eventually.

Hi guys,
I'm having the same debate between the 7000 now, the 8000 when it comes out, or the 7000 after the 8000 comes out. I'm leaning toward the 7000 either way since it doesn't seem they added much of importance, to me. The 400 lumens in my setup won't change anything while the extra $300+ (current 7000 price compared to the 8000's projected opening retail price) will afford me my screen (building it DIY) and the mounting hardware for my ceiling, at least. @JamesN, do you know exactly how much the price dropped on the 4000 when the 7000 came out? Do you think it's reasonable to expect it will at least be more than $160?

Here are the scenarios I'm weighing against one another in regards to cost for the projector & 2 pairs of 3D glasses:
A) get the 7000 right now ($2339) from non-authorized dealer and buy two pairs of 3d glasses on amazon ($120) = $2459 total
B) get the 7000 right now ($2499) from an authorized dealer and get two pairs of 3d glasses free via panasonic rebate ($120 value) = $2499 total
or wait for the 7000 to drop price in which case
C) if it drops in September, get it from an authorized dealer and still get the two free pairs of 3D glasses = $2499 - [priceDrop] total
D) it it drops in October, get it from an authorized dealer but buy the glasses myself ($120) = $2619 - [priceDrop] (The rebate expires 9/30)
E) regardless of when it drops, get it from an unauthorized dealer and buy the glasses on Amazon ($120) = $2569 - [priceDrop] total (Guessing the regular price at the store in A was about $2449)

So the best deal right now is A...to break even in the future scenarios, the price drop in C has to be > $40, the priceDrop in D > $160, or the priceDrop in E >$110.

I had a similar situation in May with my Onkyo receiver...the MSRP and retail price for it at the time were basically $1000 less than those prices for the AE7000, and it dropped $400 when the new model hit the shelves, but I'm getting the feeling that I shouldn't expect a $400 price drop with this projector. I'm also noticing that even the AE4000 is still $1800 right now...was that dropped to $1800 recently or has it been $1800 ever since the AE7000 came out?

-Steve

FYI about the rebate on the glasses, you have to go through a Panasonic Authorized Dealer and buy the AE7000 before the end of September...figuring out who is an authorized dealer is NOT easy, you have to call the rebate support number and ask them. Panasonic sales couldnt tell me for certain who was/wasn't. He pointed me to the dealer search tool, but it only locates brick and mortar stores and that is not a guarantee that they sell the projector you want. Also, the AE7000U product page on Panasonic's website says "Visit a panasonic reseller to get yours today" and links to 4 web merchants, but only two of them were confirmed by the rebate support rep as authorized resellers. Visual Apex and AGI (AudioGeneral.com) are both authorized. She couldn't find anything for ProjectorPoint (so presumably not authorized) and ProjectorPeople.com USED to be, but as of February is no longer.

That's a really good price on the 4000! When I google it, I still see it going for $2400 and up.

I don't remember exactly how much the 4000 dropped or when. You might want to peruse the old 4000 thread -- I'm sure it was discussed at the time. I do remember that folks seemed surprised that it didn't drop more than they expected.

Huh?



http://www.projectorpeople.com/customer-service/authorized-dealer.asp

I am not surprised Panasonic is unable to determine who is an authorized dealer and who isn't. Trying to get info from them is like trying to extract intel from the Pentagon.

I bought mine from Projector People in July and got the free glasses.

I am not affiliated with PP but I doubt shopping around will be worth it. Projector People will match any legitimate price and their support is top notch.

Also, I'd be careful about waiting for the price to significantly decline from what you will be able to pay right now today. I watched and waited as prices dropped on the PT-AE2000 until it was no longer available at all. Oh you could still buy one, but its price jumped right back up as soon as the PT-AE3000 became available and the 2000 was discontinued. I had to wait for the 3000's prices to become reasonable before buying one.

In the long run it was good for the wallet but I spent several months without any projector at all, since I was unwilling to spend MSRP for the latest one and its predecessor was no longer an option.

This was linked on Panasonic's facebook, didn't see it posted yet:

I bought the 4000 right the end of its sales life. Prices were still around $1900 with a free lamp. About a month ago, I started looking into upgrading to the 7000 for mainly 3D. Sounds like (from reading the 7000 thread), there are unhappy users when its used for 3D. I think everyone is interested to know if the 8000 has properly addressed the crosstalk issue evident on the 7000. The other problem 7000 users have reported is a bulb flickering problem which seems to get resolved from replacing the bulb or the problem goes away over time.

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=de&to=en&a=http://cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/Panasonic_PTAT6000/AT6000_Test_A.htm

Thank you for that video.

Being a noob to projectors, that video kind of got me hype a little bit hah!

I just wish I knew when it was actually being released and at what price. I may consider that one over the 7000 as my first projector, based on some reviews and user feedback once they are in the wild.

PC posted this today:
"Our review of the AE8000 will be posted early next week."
"Panasonic will begin shipments in September."
www.projectorcentral.com

Cine4home's preview sums it up... wait for the 8000.. some noticeable improvements over the 7000.

who's going to be the first to run 'Giant's of Patagonia 3D' BD through it... it's not going to take long to see how the 3D performs this year.

Found this review: link

Two things of interest:

...and...

I hope that's not correct. That's about $5080 USD !

Usually the UK price is the same in pounds as you pay in dollars, so more likely around $3,200 to $3,500.

Hi,

another preview here from England :

http://www.trustedreviews.com/panasonic-pt-at6000e_Projector_review

and informations from the Panasonic global Website :

http://www.panasonic.net/avc/projector/products/ae8000/index.html

Man, this quote from the above preview gives me little to NO hope that crosstalk has made any significant improvement............


For all its improvements, though, while watching a particularly ‘busy’ 3D clip from Transformers 3 we did still notice a little crosstalk in places, as well as finding motion a bit flickery and unnatural. This latter issue could be down to the particular motion processing system Panasonic was using for the demo, though.

Transformers 3 was not a ghost heavy title on my RS45 even. If the Panny is struggling a bit with this one, how is Patagonia or Sammy's going to look? What about games?

Perhaps a REAL ghost pop up!

We are building a house with multipurpose HT at ground level with garden view. Lots of glass! Heavy black curtains are planned ofcourse. The room would be painted in matte black throughout and the floor will be black polyurethane. We already bought the AT screen from Seymour. It's 130" (W = 3m30) and 2.35:1 with a gain of 1.2. I would like to have a go at scope format without an anamorphic lens at first. I don't mind a less than perfext contrast for watching sports during daylight though and preserve earnest movie watching for after dark. But I always thought the Benq W7000 would be better than the Panasonic for our situation because the Benq is known as a light cannon.

Would 20% extra light make the new 8000/6000 a good option for me?
Can I do well without Anamorphic lens? BTW seating is 11'6" (345 cm) from screen. I know that's a big screen, but that's how we like it. Longest projector distance possible would be 19' (5m70).

Thanks!
Edited by erwinfrombelgium - 9/2/12 at 4:39pm

Until a complete and real review of this puppy is out, we don't know.

For what I read they said is really good until 120" (1.0 gain), above that I dunno.

Is it just me, or is the 8000/6000 not generating the same pre-release buzz and anticipation in the forums that the 7000/5000 did?

Okay, plenty of time for me to wait for a proper review. Thanks.

I was suprised to see the successor so soon. The very well reviewed PT-AE4000 lasted longer is my impression. So the anticipation of the successor of that one was heavier. Maybe it's the economics too.