Panasonic PT-AE1000U vs. Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 (pro's and con's help)

I have neither, but reviews tend to lean toward the Panny.

I own the Epson and basically consider both machines the same. Panasonic is a bit quieter but has smoothscreen with a potentially softer pic. Some say yes and some say no. You can split hairs on brightness, black level/contrast, and color. I value sharpness and went with the Epson with this as the deciding factor. Epson also has better warranty 2 yr vs. 1 yr through them directly with direct overnight exchange to another unit if you have a problem. Yeah, you can get free extended warranties thrown in but then you have to deal with 3rd parties.

Actually, the warranty on the Panasonic is 3 years. It's a 2 year addition in conjunction with the rebate, and through Panasonic directly.

The waveform monitor is cool, but I expect I'm in a very special class of user that finds this compelling.

Bill

The epson doesn't display 108p/24 while i'm fairly sure the AE1000 does.

Actually, its still going until 6/30 says VA...and after that, the rebate will just get extended or get better...time is on your side.

I've spent a good amount of time with both and preferred the panny.

The Epson is a bit sharper which isn't noticeable on movies but is helpful for pc use.

On the other hand, the colors on the panasonic are far and away better out of the box... and I'm not a color purist at all; the panny just plain looks a lot better in this regard.

If you know how to calibrate the Epson properly (I don't) it may be just as good.

Black levels are essentially the same.

Of course ultimately I'm passing on both for an RS1!

Hope that helps.

The Panny I believe had a famous Hollywood color person do so consulting when they designed it. I believe it was David Bernstein, a leading Hollywood colorist that did the Cinema1 mode.

From the brochure:
Technology that Captures the Artistry of a Top Hollywood Colourist
Panasonic worked with leading Hollywood colourist David Bernstein and
photography directors to achieve the most accurate image reproduction
possible. This collaboration resulted in new integrated circuitry and core
image optimisers that help the PT-AE1000E deliver true Hollywood picture
qualityimages that faithfully convey the director's artistic intent.

Made by Panasonic, Tuned by Hollywood
David Bernstein is a top Hollywood colourist whose expertise is evident in the telecine*
process for numerous successful films.
* Telecine process: How film is transferred to video.



Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory (PHL)Where Hollywood picture quality begins
For the past decade, PHL has conducted research into digital cinema, DVD video
compression, and digital conversion of film stock.
Now it is working to create standards for nextgeneration
optical media using Blu-ray Disc and
projection technology based on HD image
compression. PHL's close relations with leading
Hollywood studio technicians, directors,
cinematographers and colourists played a key role
in developing the PT-AE1000E.

Color1 is your more accurate mode. Cinema1 has a gamut that approximates film, but the problem is that no digital content is mastered to the equivalent of film. Instead, it is cranked in to the HD or SD gamut. Wider gamut would be a good thing to have, but we need content that takes advantage of it. Otherwise, you end up with the same problem the RS1 owners are having with their oversaturated primaries.

Bill

Brian,

I'm very interested in your experience with the Panny. Like many lurkers to this forum, I'm trying to decide whether to pick up a Panny, or save up more money and get the RS1.

Your last post implies that you bought one, but not for yourself. Did you steal one for a friend?

My real question is when you say it looks amazing, what are you comparing it against? IE, my Sanyo PLV-60HT looks amazing to anyone who hasn't seen a high def picture projected at 110 inches. But, then I hold my hand up in front of the picture and say, "Yeah, but look, THIS is what black is supposed to look like!"

At this point, the Panny is at the top of my short list of replacement projectors, so the more comments you can give us, the better! The Epson is also on the list, but it FEELs like the general consensus of the group is that the Panny is a tad better.

Congrats on your projector! May you find much happiness with it!!!

I got my Panasonic today....

It's a used / demo / refubished.

I got a good deal, I am anxious to make the change from my HC5000 and see the difference. The HC5000 is just to sharp for some of my legacy sources.

I should have some impressions formed by Monday.

Hi everyone, I am one unconvinced wife away from getting the panasonic ptae1000u. My only question, does anyone know for sure that this machine does 24 fps? I have a ps3 for bluray movies and since it support 24fps, I sure would like a projector that does as well. Also, any advice at to the EASIEST mount to use. I am NOT a good handy man when it comes to installations. I am great with the wires, not so great with engineering.

My impressions?

Well it's pretty awesome, the HC5000 did seem sharper over all. The Panasonic was a little better on my Laserdisc source which is what prompted me to try a different projector, but my color space seemed off with LD. (svideo) Basic calibration from DVD seemed close enough though.


I didn't mount it yet. I have decided to try yet a third projector. I'll be selling off the two I decide not to keep. Next up, a Sony Pearl.


I dunno if a good scaler will help with the old source or not.


It seemed a good bit brighter than my HC5000, but the HC5000 also has several months on the lamp. My room is pretty much a bat cave.

I don't post in this section a lot, because I am no videophile. I don't see near the difference others post about between any of these LCD 1080p projectors. But one thing I do know....

You cannot demo one of these in any theater but your own, with your own sources. Results vary widely from room to room, much much more than projector to projector.

It will take me a few weeks to get a Pearl in to try. I really don't want to un mount my current projector unless I am secure I will be replacing it.

For users of the Panasonic, Please aleast try the setting in post 1 in this thread, before making comparisons.

It will make the Panny look super amazing. (at least mine does)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=855320

Marnintim, the PT AE1000U will definitely do 1080 24p over HDMI - the projector shows it is receiving 24p in the menu and you can see the increased smoothness during pans/movement.

Dick Fogg

Just want to comment on screen door/smoothscreen.....I just finished mounting and assessing the Epson cinema 1080.....I was torn between the two but decided to give the Epson a try and hope I wouldn't miss the Panasonic smoothscreen.

The Epson has ZERO screen door. I'm sensitive to it as well, and I have to put my face up to the screen to see any pixels or screendoor, and even then it is dim. I couldn't believe the difference from other LCD projectors. (It's about 13.5' back from a 110" Dalite screen).

Read the fine print, please. The Panasonic 3 year extended warranty is capped by 3000 hours of use -- whichever comes first. Also, the Epson standard (included) warranty is 2 years including free overnight exchange. Panasonic is standard type of warranty -- no overnight exchange. For 299 more, you can extend the 2 year Epson exchange warranty into a 3 year exchange warranty. Given that even after the Panny 1000 rebate, there is still a 200 price difference between the two (Epson still cheaper), from a warranty/service standpoint, the Epson wins.

Re the extension on Epson warranty, is available right off the epson website. You just have to be still within your original warranty period.

Dear audiouser, can you clarify how close you have to be to notice screen door/pixelation with the Epson?

Also, the panny extended warranty to 3 years or 3000 hours is through GE, not manufacturer. The Epson extension is through Epson. Doesn't change anything re reviewed picture quality (Panny tends to win out), but might make difference if you are worried about long term reliability/use.

Question about Panny warranty, I don't remember getting anything on this yet. Does it come with the rebate check? How do I register for this GE warranty? Thanks.

I'm on the fence with this Panny. I like practically everything about it.

While I watch HD programming through the Dish. I also use the PC as a video source for playback of files and computer work. I'm a little concerned with this Smoothscreen technology. Seems to be some issues with it for sharpness. Of those interested, read THIS review particularity the 1:1 pixel mapping section.

"While the projector clearly does 1:1 pixel mapping, this test not only shows response errors but also provides clues as to why a full chip DLP, as an example, would outperform it for detail and sharpness. At the viewing position, you cannot clearly make out pixels or fill factor of the DLP any more than the LCD, yet the perceived difference in response for these patterns would be strikingly clear. With real images you would note a difference in sharpness and detail."

The Epson while it uses the same LCD panels, does not have the Smoothscreen and may yield a sharper image.

If anyone can point me to some Panny PC screenshots, I'd appreciate it, because I have yet to find any.

Thanx!
Dr V

I got mine installed this weekend in my dedicated 12 seat theater. Wow, what a difference, what an awesome projector. This thing makes Laserdiscs really shine, Old Black and white movies had an entire new life to them. I ran LD, SD-DVD, HD-DVD, and Blu-ray on this thing all weekend starting at about 3pm Saturday.

If your a film lover? I say get this projetcor hands down.

I tried 4 different projectors, before going for the Panny. You know reviews are reviews, but when it comes down to the summary of these reviews, you have to give it a little more weight than I had been giving it. The Panny gets low marks compared to others on individual tests, but often is the favorite of the reviewers in the summary for watching stuff shot of film.

I had always given Plasma a closest to film rating in general, no more. I now have officially found no other product period that to my eyes matching this projector in film presentation.

Sorry for the enthusiasm, but obviously this projector rocked my world this weekend.