Jamis' theater thread! - Page 32

UPDATE!!

With well over 4000 hours of use over 4 years, we are retiring the Panasonic AE3000 projector from active duty. The new Panasonic AE8000 should be arriving this week! The AE3000 may either go up on ebay/craigslist/videogon or be reserved for outdoor use come next summer.

Updates to come.


(Sam Adams Octoberfest is currently on tap, though I've mostly just been drinking my stock of Founders Breakfast Stout).

It's coming today. Hopefully I can set it up tonight and have some feedback by the weekend.


Anyone interested in a well loved AE3000 assuming the new addition is a keeper?

First indication is that this projector.... is AWESOME. Had a scare when the video would keep cutting out... turns out that it was either my cable box or receiver, and things were OK after unplugging and plugging each of them back in.

For now, I am using NORMAL mode with the lamp set for ECO. Besides turning up the sharpness a little, I have not adjusted any of the other color, contrast, or brightness settings.

As for the projector, compared to the AE3000, I can immediately say:

The good (so far):

• It's much brighter, even in ECO mode. That said, I am comparing this to a bulb with 2300+ hours on it.
• Excellent picture out of the box. Good color, good clarity...
• Much deeper blacks. I put a bit of LoTR on and those dark scenes looked fantastic.
• The Lens memory, oh yes, this is how it should have been from the start
  
  • It is MUCH faster when switching between saved settings.
  • Auto switch works perfectly (so far). I had it in 2.35 mode on a Bluray, switched to TV and it automatically adjusted to 16:9.
  • You can turn off the 'Processing' box for a much cleaner transition.
  • It will be interesting to see how the Batman movies are handled. That will be the true test. Between the increased speed and the lack of the processing dialog box popping up, I think it will be pretty good.

The neutral (so far):

• The frame interpolation seems more aggressive. The AE3000 has three modes, OFF/MODE1/MODE2. We used OFF for video games, MODE1 for TV and movies, and MODE2 for sports. The AE8000 has OFF/MODE1/MODE2/MODE3 and MODE1 on the AE8000 is 'smoother' than MODE1 on the AE3000. It might take a little getting used to.

The bad (so far):

• The frame adjust joystick kind of sucks. I much prefer the two dials (vertical and horizontal) on the AE3000 which were much more precise.
• The lens of the projector is offset to the side instead of centered like the AE3000. I had to do some creative adjustments to my universal mount to get it as close to centered as possible so I wouldn't have to unbolt the top ceiling mounted plate. It's not perfectly centered, but I would say that it's 'good enough'.
• Upgraditis is probably going to set in soon, requiring me to upgrade the Bluray player and/or receiver to models that support 3D. At the very least, I will need to run a high speed HDMI cable to the projector (thankfully I have my conduit) which I have already purchased.

It's supposed to change whenever it detects a format change. You basically assign a lens memory to when the projector detects something in 16:9 and another for 2.35:1.

Did some more adjustments this weekend (mostly to get the alignment better), watched a couple of blurays (Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition) , and some HDTV.

I am definitely impressed with this projector. The picture quality is fantastic out of the box to me.

I continue to be impressed with the lens memory speed and auto switching, though it can get a little annoying while watching TV and having it zooming in and out when movie trailers or matted commercials come on. It usually takes 5-10 seconds for the projector to detect the aspect change, so it's really the delay that gets me. The switch is quite fast, however.

My only wish is that the MODE1 frame interpolation was less aggressive (more similar to the MODE1 on the AE3000). I loved the motion of MODE1 on the old AE3000; just enough smoothing to take some of the jitter out, but absolutely no 'soap opera' effect at all... but it's just a bit too much for me on the AE8000. I'll probably never use MODE2 or 3 on this projector.

Yeah, wearing it out would be my primary concern at this point.

The switch between aspect ratios itself (not counting the delay for detection) seems like it takes less than 2 seconds total to zoom and focus. It's VERY fast compared to the AE3000.

My in-laws didn't even notice it happen when we put on LoTR this weekend. Whereas with the AE3000, it's almost a feature watching the screen zoom to fill the screen (kind of like when I dim the lights by remote at the beginning and then gently raise them when the credits come on).

Inside dimensions are approximately 5' x 5'6"

Update:

Retired the Denon 3808ci receiver and Sony N460 bluray player.

New additions include a Pioneer SC-1522-K 9.2 receiver and Sony S5100 bluray. Costco is currently selling this receiver at an amazing price. I also ran a new HDMI 1.4 cable from the closet to the projector. Score one for the 2.5" PVC conduit!

My transition to 3D support is complete. Not that I have any 3D media yet. My two free pairs of glasses arrived several weeks ago from Panasonic (mail in rebate with the AE8000).

Keg update: Weihenstephaner Original is currently on tap, though I've been stocking up on Founder's Breakfast Stout in bottles as well as other good stouts (mostly imperials).

The deal was good enough that I signed up just to get the receiver.

More than likely, I'll never make it back to a Costco this year.

It's actually not LED rope... it's 1/2" incandescent which means the graphik eye handles it perfectly.