Panasonic PT-AX100 - Page 17

I just purchased an AX100 late last night and this morning and I tried it with cheapo composite cables and there was noise. Tried it again tonight with Component and no noise at all. Excellent picture.

Composite is not a very good input my friend. Definitely use component or HDMI, DVI etc...

Could it have caused the noise? Anyway, the best outputs that my Pioneer DVR-520H has is Component video, so I can only use that at the moment.

I was just saying that using a composite input would not be anyone choice to show off the best resolution. Going component allows you to squeeze the most of of SD-DVD and getting excellent resolution from HD as well.

I finally got my Panasonic AX100U. What an incredible experience! I can't really give a very good review because I've only one projector to base it on-this one!

I put on "The Terminator", with no sound, BTW, and was just floored-blacks, greys, colors were just beautiful. Is it like this for eveyone?!?!?!

Put it this way-when Mrs Chinaclipper came down to take a look at my bequest, she about tripped on her jaw!

I had to make up a jury rigged screen. The slightly grey 4x8' drywall panel I just happen to have lying around (now what are you going to do with that ONE sheet of ½ drywall hun?) made for a great trial screen, placed up on the not even drywall-ed wall.

I have an old Sony DVD (480i), and set the PJ up on a workbench. I didn't even have sound! Who needs it?!?!?!

Once again, all I can say is wow!

I think this Home Theater thing is gonna be pretty cool!
Now I FINALLY see why you are recommended NOT to purchase a PJ before you have finished the build!

Oh well, time for more mundane things, finish speaker wires runs, insulation, etc
Best,
Tom
Chinaclipper

Wow what a great review!

Greetings all,

Just a point I wanted to make, which I will also add to the review in the next couple of days, regarding brightness and measurements.

I was commincating with another reviewer, who came up with significantly lower lumen measurements than I did. I think we know the reason.

As you all know, the Panny has a 2:1 zoom lens. When I measured, my unit was in wide angle, projecting the largest image from the shortest distance. Zoom lenses vary in brightness, letting less light through the lens in telephoto use.

Since the Panny lens is rated f1.9 to f3.1, this is significant. I couldn't find a formula to give you an accurate number, but I believe the difference between the extremes is somewhere around 30%. thus 2000 in widest angle may only be 1400 lumens in full out telephoto. The other reviewer said his was set pretty much in the middle, so that could explain the roughly 20% difference.

Of course, just as confirmed by all of you who "pulled the trigger" and are now getting the hang of yours, the Panasonic is still extremely bright compared almost all of the competition, so don't worry about the numbers. Bottom line - really bright!

Still. felt the lumen measurements needed a little clarification, since the lens setting does have significant impact. -art

Actually, the difference is much greater!

f-stop is derived by dividing the focal length of a lens by the diameter of the lens opening. There are a series of f-stops defined as full stops. Each f-stop would allow either half as much or twice as much light compare to the next f-stop.

The range of the Panny lens is f1.9 to f3.1 - more than a full stop! I believe that the difference between f1.9 and f3.1 is 166% brighter or 62.4% dimmer. [(f1/f2) squared]

Hello Art.

I'm a reader of your review-site for over a year now.
Most of the time I compare the reviews with Projector Central.
The specs. are easier to find there at ones, because it's short and compact.
Than, when a beamer is interesting, I want to know all the details and go to your site.
The pictures are very pleasing.
I know it's not that accurate but we understand you are witnessing the real thing there and use only the pictures that gives us the best impression of what you see there.
Go ahead with what you do best.

PS, I have a BIG luxe problemo here, can you help me?

I want to buy the AX100U too, because of the brightness and the possibility to project a big picture thats still beautiful.
My room is not that big, but just like you,I want to sit in the movie too.
So iff I use the lens at the widest point I can fill up a 120'' screen.
I know it's best to use a lens in the middle of his range but my room is not that big.
Is this a bad thing?
Is it better to use a 106'' screen than, or is the picture still very good with the lens in the widest point?
I don't know if you have done this.

Another thing is this.
The 120'' screen is white, gain 1.0.
The 106'' screen can be delivered with High contrast Grey, gain 1.0
I think that the picture will be more beautiful and deeper on the grey one,... but it is not that big and overwhelming.
I can also buy a 120'' High contrast grey screen, but the gain will be 0,8 than, and I think this will dim the picture too much.
Or is the AX100U powerful enough to make this a very beautiful combination, better than using the 120'' white?

What do you recommend?
I think we both want the same thing if it comes to built a cinema at your home.
A bit of IMAX experience. hahaha

I know,... here in Holland we do not have that many choices for screens.
The gain 1.0 is not that bad compared with the 2.8 because you can view movies from a wider angle, and there is no spotlight in the middle, I hope.




Thank you very much

If you're right, that's an amazing light range. Art measured around 700 lumens in cinema 1 mode. He estimated a 27% drop in low power mode, which would give 511 lumens at full open. Going to full zoom would mean this could drop to 327 lumens. So, you'd have a range of 327-511 lumens, which is a huge range. For instance, on a relatively large screen (110") with low gain (near 1.0), 327 isn't enough light. (I don't have my screen calculator program here, so I can't tell you exactly the ftL.) That range would mean that it's best to place the projector as close as possible to the screen.

These numbers are all over the page. I've seen a couple of published measurements at slightly over 2000 lumens, which is consistent with what a friend just measured in his own home. All of those measurements were taken in "dynamic" as I recall, and I'm guessing that the zooms were all in full wide. As soon as someone starts zooming in, it is hard to measure the level of zoom in use, and we can't compare apples to apples, regardless of the setting.

anyone have any pictures yet of xbox 360 running on this projector? please?

I can give you some information based on my own setup.

Screen is 2.35:1, 132"x56", Firehawk, microperf, curved.
AX100 throw is 23' through Isco II anamorphic lens.

I use the 'Living room' setup, but 'Normal'.
I haven't measured actual light output in this situation, but I can tell you this is the best looking picture I've tried on this screen, at this distance, and is certainly very bright.

I compare this to an older JVC-G15 which rated at 1500 lumens pre-calibration (this was calibrated so that figure is somewhat less) which was much dimmer, and a Sony Ruby that was unworkable in this room. Simply too dim and totally lacking in punch. The Ruby worked exceptionally well on a slightly smaller white screen with a much smaller throw BTW.

The observations about light output dropping as you close down the lens (for longer throw) mimic the same reports from Ruby owners, however the AX100 is the first projector I've mounted that truly works in my environment.

Could you post some pics of your setup if possible.Sure sounds like a great HT.BUDDA

Art-

It doesn't appear to be any 4805 upgraders yet. How would you say the 4805 compares to the ax100? If it "blows it away in every regard" that one comment would suffice. However if there are only subtle differences that would be good to know as well. What I'm looking for specifically is black level, contrast, brightness and sharpness. I'm sure SDE is a no brainer.

Thanks Art, always enjoy your reviews.

Dean

P.S. I'm debating between the HD7100 and the AX100. Which one would be your choice for an upgrade from the 4805?

Cavu is correct in his assessment of what is happening to light transmission with zoom lenses as they are applied in the pj universe - unless the lens is constant aperture (a rarity).

Wikepedia provides a reasonable illustration of what f stop is and how it affects light transmission for a given lens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_stop

These two links are more photo oriented.
http://www.uscoles.com/fstop.htm
http://www.paragon-press.com/lens/lenchart.htm

In my experience (too many years with lighting and cameras) the untrained eye doesn't usually notice a brightness change unless it is about 2/3 of a stop (2/3 of 50%) or 33% change.

ted

For me, the brightness change isn't that big of a deal, other than it modifies where I would put the projector. In other words, I'll now try to place the projector closer to the screen than I may have.

I've recently become interested in this unit due to it's brightness and placement flexibility. I'm in the process of redoing my theater and may be needing to shelf mount the next unit I buy.

I've read many posts about the Panny series over the years. One thing I think I remember is that the VGA input has overscan on it. Is this right? I would require a pixel mapped image via VGA (or HDMI) for my HTPC. Is this possible on the AX100?

I'm also worried about moving from DLP to LCD (no superiority debates please ). Specifically, I've read many posts about failing polarizers on previous Panny units. I'm also concerned about VB. How serious are these issues on Pannys? What about the AX100 in particular?

Thanks in advance!

Yeah Troy this is the only worry I have as well. Polarizer and LCD panel failure might be more marked on the AX100 with all the extra light and heat. Maybe Panasonic have addressed this though with the bigger chassis giving better airflow and heat dispersion.

maybe not the right forum for this...but this PJ has one HDMI input...

If I want to run HDMI from 2 sources (3 when it becomes available for the 360), what're my options...????

Some of you guys seem to have a good handle or idea on maximizing the light output on the AX100 based on it's zoom setting which is essentially based on distance from the screen.

What you suggest would be the best distance in ft for say a 100" -106" diag screen to acheive this max light output ?

Do a search for HDMI switchers. MonoPrice (see AVS Forum Alliance Members above) sells good remote controlled HDMI switchers for low prices.

Awesome! Thank you very much!!

According to this:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Pana...ulator-pro.htm

For a 106 inch screen, you can place the projector anywhere between 10.6 and 21.6 feet from the screen. Closer will yield higher lumen output. However, this might not be a problem. I'm considering projector placement because I will likely have a low gain (around 0.95 gain) screen and would like to use the lowest power setting to maximize bulb life. If you have a higher gain screen, or don't mind using a higher power setting, then the projector placement isn't critical. I will use a higher power setting for football games, etc., but would like to use the lowest power setting for most of my viewing (and I do have a light controlled room).

Just got mine this morning. Just used our tan wall for about 15 minutes and it looks amazing. I just hooked up the xbox 360 and used out of box setting. I havent owned a projector before but I thought it looked amazing. The Cars HD trailer was wow. I played Sonic demo and looked awesome. Put in sin city and Fantastic four DVDs and looked pretty good in 480p. The blacks were pretty good out of the box.

Hey Ted,
Sorry about your 700 being ill,

Build quality is on par with the past two AE series Panosonic's, but it seems they improved the lens shift toggle ... again. It's really smooth feeling now and it's center detent is easy to find.

No vertical stretch that I saw. There is something called "vert fill" in the aspect control but I don't think it will work for CH, I didn't fool with it. I will play with it and let you know. Anyway, I see a scaler is in your future Ted. No selection of color space either, RGB via HDMI is it. The AX100 may automatically detect correct space but I haven't read the manual. Correct color space is just one more reason to get a decent scaler. (and while your at it a 2:35 screen and a Anamorphic lens)

So far all the extremely positive reviews are dead on, but I'm sure we'll find something to kick about the AX100. It's a winner Ted, the only thing that will beat it is an 1080p 3 chip pj with at least 2000 real lumen's at $4000 street.

Jimmy

Ok now your teasing me. I am ready to buy a AX100 but need to sell my Sharp 10k first (its on ebay now). I was hoping the AX100 would work for CH with out a scaler... now your scaring me with your comment. Please test this a little more and get back with us soon!!!

please see the attached page from the usermanual.

Jerry

PJC states that this is based on "manufacturer supplied information". So I would assume that the calculated foot lamberts reflect the maximum brightness (maximum zoom, bright mode).

Does anyone know about this?

The 119" high power screen (52x92) for my new AX100, works out to a peak brightness of 49 ftl!!!

The center seat is on a couch with the sides of the couch reclining - those will be the most used seats at 13 degrees off axis, the brightness should be about 30ftl. Is that also considered too bright? For the remainder of the seats, (rarely used, and when so - for movies and probably at night) the brightness quickly drops to about 14ftl. How bad is that? Thoughts on this?


This courtesy of dalite gain chart

Throw distance on PJC calculator does not appear to affect calculated brightness, so I have not factored that in. I will be throwing from about 16.5 feet. From this discussion I gather there could be a significant decrease since I'm not shooting from the closest possible position.

The other option appears to be the 106' HCMW, which drops the brightnesses down to 25, 22 and 19 ftl for the different seating mentioned above.

I am guessing that I want at least 22 ftl, since this is the point at which the PJC says it's OK to have some ambient light.

How bad is 14ftl in a light controlled room. I really like the properties of the HP but want the option of sometimes having the "outside cone" seating..

Thanks!

Dan

When this streets for $1500 USD I will go for it. Right now the Mits HC3100U HD70 and tentative DC3 for $2k MSRP are very tentative deals. I think waiting a few months to see what happens would be a good idea. But don't get me wrong, this PJ is at the top of my list right now.