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Panny AE900 Official Thread- Please post here! - Page 19

post #541 of 6443
10/14/05 at 4:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oriphus View Post

Cant believe it....release date for my panasonic has been put back until November 4th 05. Trying to find someone in the Uk who has it in stock....



Yeah, their plasmas are on back order too! This seems to be pattern with Panasonic
and their popular items.

Can wait to do a shoot out here in santa monica with the AE900

Tico
TVA
tico@tvauthority.com
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post #542 of 6443
10/14/05 at 4:22pm
Quote:


PC Review: ...Yet we were puzzled by the subtle softness, and were left wishing it were a bit sharper...

This is disappointing to me. When I upgraded from a Sony HS10 to the Panasonic AE500 this softness was very apparent. Although bothering my quite a bit at first, I've become used to this softness over time, but I'm still longing for that sharp image that the HS10 provided back then. I would have hoped that the softness would have disappeared 2 generations later... I'm not so sure about upgrading to the AE900 now.
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post #543 of 6443
10/14/05 at 4:37pm
Could someone who owns the 900 (or 700) tell me how the lens shift joystick moves? Is it like a video game controller thumb stick that moves around in any direction? Or does it only move vertically or horizontally? And is it analog in that the farther from center you move it the faster the lens shift moves? Would it be easy to move the image up exactly 3 inches or would it take 5 minutes of back and forth to get the image positioned where you want it?

Thanks!
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post #544 of 6443
10/14/05 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rhys View Post

Could someone who owns the 900 (or 700) tell me how the lens shift joystick moves? Is it like a video game controller thumb stick that moves around in any direction? Or does it only move vertically or horizontally? And is it analog in that the farther from center you move it the faster the lens shift moves? Would it be easy to move the image up exactly 3 inches or would it take 5 minutes of back and forth to get the image positioned where you want it?

Thanks!

I think someone already posted their findings from CEDIA which indicate the newer AE900 lens shift stick would be easier moving and less jerky when adjusting.

Personally speaking (as a current AE700 owner), I find the lens shift stick a little to loose to adjust. I hope the newer stick on the AE900 is a little more stiff in movement.

The good thing is, once you find your sweet spot all you do is tighten the stick and never look back.
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post #545 of 6443
10/14/05 at 5:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by stephenvv View Post

However, I did not see any scientific lumens and rez chart tests in the forum comparing various setups and would only consider it if someone has done those.

Are there detailed tests out there?

Stephen, if you want to take the discussion offline I'm happy to. There have been reviews of the Panamorph series in the past, as well as other anamorphic lenses. I'm not sure why you think there would be quality loss, and the increase in brightness is pretty evident
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post #546 of 6443
10/14/05 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rieper View Post


The good thing is, once you find your sweet spot all you do is tighten the stick and never look back.


That's EXACTLY what I DON"T want. I want to use the zoom and lens shift to creat a constant height setup. So I'd need to adjust the vertical shift all the time. Is it easy to ONLY adjust the vertical or does the slightest movement left or right move it horizontally?
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post #547 of 6443
10/14/05 at 6:14pm
I use the AE900 in a CH setup. Although I don't have to make adjustments once things are correct (I'm using a prismasonic lens), I have played around with the lens shift.

The mechanism is a lot better than the one on the AE700. I am able to position the image precisely without too much effort. The AE700 was impossible in that you had to keep going back and forth until you happened to land on the right spot. Bad!

You cannot easily make a .5" adjustment, but you should be able to get within an inch of your destination I think.
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post #548 of 6443
10/14/05 at 6:35pm
If you wanted to project a 100" image on a Z4, you could place it anywhere from 9.3 to 20 feet away from the screen.

Could someone tell me what the corresponding distances on the 900 would be?
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post #549 of 6443
10/14/05 at 8:05pm
10 to 20 is what I have read
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post #550 of 6443
10/14/05 at 8:11pm
I'm a little confused. My local Epson rep is saying that their latest TW600 pj is based on 3LCD D5 panel, and that Sanyo Z4 and Pansonic AE900 is still based on the older D4 panel. According to him, the only other upcoming pj with D5 panel is Sony's HS60. Anything official from Sanyo or Panasonic to the contrary?
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post #551 of 6443
10/14/05 at 9:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckong View Post

I'm a little confused. My local Epson rep is saying that their latest TW600 pj is based on 3LCD D5 panel, and that Sanyo Z4 and Pansonic AE900 is still based on the older D4 panel. According to him, the only other upcoming pj with D5 panel is Sony's HS60. Anything official from Sanyo or Panasonic to the contrary?

No confusion. All Epson D5 panel. If he doesn't know this info, he should not be working for Epson anymore.
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post #552 of 6443
10/14/05 at 9:23pm
The rep seems to be confused. The Z4 and AE900 both use the new D5 panels. Sony use their own panels altogether.
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post #553 of 6443
10/14/05 at 10:45pm
Just got my 900. It looks fantastic.

Was wondering if anybody else was having a problem getting higher than a 480p signal.

I'm using an Oppo OPDV971H DVD player via DVI->HDMI and no matter what I try, I can't go above 480p. Any ideas?
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post #554 of 6443
10/15/05 at 3:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oriphus View Post


Just one concern about the Da-Lite and that is that all 3 of the samples showed evidence of very faint lines across them. Not sure if it is packaging related, but id be a tad concerned about it on a screen that id purchased. Has anyone noticed this on any of their Da-Lite screens? Hopefully,its just because its a sample and doesnt reflect the finished article.

Just my thoughts...

Chris

I'm using Da-Lite HCCV over stretcher bars. I don't notice any faint lines at all, although you do get "sparkles" which if I'm not mistaken are present on almost any grey/silver screen.
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post #555 of 6443
10/15/05 at 5:05am
Thats good to know that. The horizontal lines across the screens, Da-Mat, HCCV and CV must be some sort of packaging problem then on these samples, or they have sent some lesser quality stuff for the samples, just to give me an idea of the viewing image?

What do you mean by stretcher bars?
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post #556 of 6443
10/15/05 at 5:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostgoth View Post

although you do get "sparkles" which if I'm not mistaken are present on almost any grey/silver screen.


In my experience, I have used high contrast screens with both Sanyo-PLV60 and Yamaha LPX-510 proj. and have never seen "sparkles." I have seen sparkles, so I know what they look like....but that was assoicated with a friend using a poor quality cable. Once we switched out the cable, the sparkles went away.

But, as you can read a couple of examples below of members that have experienced sparkles with HCCV at certain angles during rare occurances.

Ron
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post #557 of 6443
10/15/05 at 5:51am
Hey Dogllama,

To change the output of your Oppo:

When you have it turned on and stopped, press the DVI button on the lower left corner of the remote. It will change and the AE900 will flash blue on the screen and then you'll see the Oppo logo and the output mode in the top left corner of the screen. Hit the DVI button again to go to the next mode.

The player does have to be stopped. It cannot change output modes while playing a disc.

Herb
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post #558 of 6443
10/15/05 at 7:12am
I believe Robster is correct that Sparkles come from poor transmission of a digital signal through a DVI or HDMI cable. I had the problem once at 720p & 1080i with a DVI cable that was 30'. I replaced the cable and the problem was resolved. I have never heard of sparkles coming from a screen.
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post #559 of 6443
10/15/05 at 8:09am
On the quick topic of lens shift on the AE900...

When you use the lens shift to precisely position your picture, does this cause the picture to distort in a way that would required keystone correction or does it manage to preserve the squareness of the image? I want to avoid digital keystone correction at all costs.

This will have weight on my decision to hang it from the ceiling or put it on a shelf.


Thanks

Dennis
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post #560 of 6443
10/15/05 at 8:23am
It retains the squareness of the image. To me, it's better than keystoning, even at the extremes.

Quote:


This will have weight on my decision to hang it from the ceiling or put it on a shelf.

Since it starts out in the center of the image, it requires the same amount of vertical shift whether it's shelf or ceiling mounted.
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post #561 of 6443
10/15/05 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by almostgoth View Post

I'm using Da-Lite HCCV over stretcher bars. I don't notice any faint lines at all, although you do get "sparkles" which if I'm not mistaken are present on almost any grey/silver screen.

I concur with almostgoth. Certain screens can have the reflections which look like sparkles and the HCCV is one of them. You have to observe the reflected sparkle at just the right angle. If you move slightly, the screen sparkle goes away. This is different from the infamous too long DVI cable sparkles.

Don
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post #562 of 6443
10/15/05 at 9:50am
No probs with my HCCV screen with faint lines. Every few months I will catch the screen at an angle to see a sparklie/reflection off a pice in the screen material but as Don said, if you move just a teense the sparkle goes away.

I'd say I have seen this happen under 10 times in the 3 years I have owned the screen.
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post #563 of 6443
10/15/05 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by darinp2 View Post

In other words, I think at 1.3x and 1.5x a lot more people here would see SDE on the Z4 than the review would indicate. Especially if you count being aware of the SDE even if a person isn't able to focus on one line of it. In my experience there is a distance where being able to focus right on it goes away, but there is still an awareness of it overall, and then a little further distance where things actually smooth out and it is gone. It is true that I haven't sat down with a Z4 and don't recall seeing one at CEDIA, but based on all my experiences I will be pretty surprised if many people don't complain about SDE beyond his numbers.

--Darin

I definitely disagree. A wise person once said, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." For a lot of people who are in the market for a projector in the $2K - $2.5K range, Evan Powell's review is worth more than words can say. Where else can you get a honest review on competing products? If there is let me know. You can read this site for hours and come away more confused than when you started. What makes since about this statement , "but there is still an awareness of it overall, and then a little further distance where things actually smooth out and it is gone?" Is that not what Mr. Powell stated in his review?
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post #564 of 6443
10/15/05 at 12:59pm
I am a bit bewildered by the Projector Central review of the new Panasonic and the Sanyo Z4. Which one did they like better? Why don't they try to measure contrast ratio?

They have not listed either yet on their highly recommended projector list. When they do they will assign them stars for picture quality. Which will get more stars?

They mention the Sanyo as having newer LCD panels. Is it proven that both Sanyo and Panasonic are using the latest LCD chips?

IB
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post #565 of 6443
10/15/05 at 2:33pm
After reading both articles, it does appear that the Z4 got a few more pluses, both practical and in the comparison to more expensive DLPs. That's my take.

Both machines are using the new Epson panels as I understand it.
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post #566 of 6443
10/15/05 at 2:40pm
sounded to me that they prefer the Z4.
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post #567 of 6443
10/15/05 at 2:54pm
Which has the longer lasting bulb?

PS I just noticed that Projector Central has given both the Sanyo and the Panasonic 4 1/2 stars for "performance." The Optoma H79 still has 5 stars.

IB
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post #568 of 6443
10/15/05 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sailor06 View Post

Evan Powell's review is worth more than words can say. Where else can you get a honest review on competing products? If there is let me know.

Have you tried widescreenreview.com or guidetohometheater.com.

WSR and SGHT are two of the most respected HT journals!
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post #569 of 6443
10/15/05 at 4:52pm
It's true, I think Projector Central did prefer the Z4 slightly more, but they also said that the AE900's color was way better than the Z4.

I tweaked my settings today and my 900 looks brilliant. For me color is a bit more important than sharpness. Actually my 900 looks plenty sharp to me, but I don't have another PJ to do a side by side comparison too either.
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post #570 of 6443
10/15/05 at 5:09pm
I'd be curious to see someone's comparison between the sharpness of an AE500 and a AE900 as the smoothscreen on the AE500 is plenty sharp to me...
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