Official AX-200 Owners Thread - Page 3

no because it sacrifices black levels to bring out those shadow details, the ax200 has much better modes for movie viewing

it does a great job, especially with an upscaling player, but be warned, you will find out how badly compressed some of your dvd's are (a big budget movie like spiderman 2 looks great, whereas an indie film like waking life shows all it's flaws)

The ax200 does vertical strech for CH setup.In vivid cinema mode which is killer it is about 750 lumen.I myself like using normal for movies which is about 1000 lumen.Do not compare the aw15 dim sony to the ax200.I have seen both.The sony looks fine on a 90in screen,But if one has 100in or larger the ax200 will blow it out of the water.Also the ax200 can be used for Sports such as HDTV NFL FOOTBALL with lights on and put out a plasma like pic.The sony would be totally washed out and look like crap.The aw15 sony is not even in the same ballpark.Do not let these poor saps that wasted their money on the sony tell you different.bob

Paints if you use one of the hddvd players that can be had now for $299 it does great,The player is what is needed and the hddvd players are great at doing it.Get the new Tosh A30 it does 1080p 24fps which the ax200 excepts.This provides a pic about as good as it gets.Some of my sdvds look allmost as good as hddvds do.BOB

Is the a30/a35 better than the xa2?

I heard it's not the same processor...I want the best SD/DVD/HD pic along with 5.1 analog outs...

I would really like to buy this pj but I made very bad experiences with the ae700 and ae900.

Both machines had defective blue lcd panels after ~ 3000 hours (or 15 month) which was not covered by warrenty (1 year) and I had to replace both.

I`m a very heavy user and use them for almost everything (sdtv, gaming, dvds, hd-dvds, blu-rays.. etc).

Has this problem been solved or are they still using the old organic panels ??

..2 years warrenty would be perfect..

edit.: I really loved both panny`s because of the smoothscreen thing, which is perfect for me (very close viewing distance), but 15 month lifespan is poor.

Not to be a ******* here chaostm but FP are really not design for heavy use.It says that in the manual.If you get 3000 hours on your projector in 18 months then How can you complain.I have 300 hours on my 14 month old ax100.I only use it for movies.Hell for what the ax200 sells for replace it every year or buy 2.BOB

I'd love to know someones impressions of text readablility connected via HDMI to a PC?

So far, looks great. This would give me that plasma-like pop in a dark room, and hold me over 'till 1080+ LASER comes out!

Dr V

What a crap review. It doesn't even mention the projectors black level and contrast performance.

you are right.. I will have to live with that and replace the pj every 18 month..(or switch to an anorganic 1080p lcd/lcos next year)

But there is absolutely NO WAY to go back to `normal` tv/hd viewing on those small plasmas or lcds

I will order the ax200u this or next week.

Hold on, am I to understand that the LCD projectors have a service life of only 2 years or so before they are no good (not even after bulb replacement). Is this a non issue with DLP projectors (ofcourse given that you replace the bulbs)???

only if you abuse them, as I did.. 12 hours viewing on a row -> felt asleep and the pj ran all night = 20 hours in a row .. thats not good for the blue lcd panel

Ahh, ok. Wouldn't be an issue for me, 4400 watts of sound tends to keep one awake, ha ha

You really like to go to extreme bashing when it comes to Sony! Don't you?!!
Sony is brighter than panny when everything is said and done with movies with higher ansi and on/off. I own one and it is no dim with my 98"wide (not diagonal) but I am in the market for a pj with CH capability.

I had the AW15 for a while and I loved the deep rich blacks. I am having trouble moving to the Panny for this reason. The only reason I am thinking about the Panny is I may move out of my dark theater room with a 92" (diag) and into my basement living room area(with bar and lots of lights) and a 110" (diag.).

I need to see the AX200.

A couple of things are really worrying me.

"No because it sacrifices black levels to bring out those shadow details, the ax200 has much better modes for movie viewing"

and

The whole 10 hours in a row thing.

I see advertising for the Epson HC720 on this site but can't find out anything about it or the TW680.

I don't know what to do.

The "No, b/c it sacrifices black levels to bring out those shadow details" is in reference to the GAME mode of the AX200u.

I understand. I don't like the idea of less shadow detail in movie modes. I guess I want the best of both worlds. Maybe asking too much for the price.

For $1300, maybe...but he's referring to less shadow detail in GAME mode vs. it's own MOVIE mode (I imagine). So movie mode will still have shadow detail (i.e. contrast ratio) - but from what I read - not as good as the sony...

Do anyone know what's the HDMI version? Is it 1.0 or 1.3. Thanks.

Rod

Where do you all read all "not as good" about Sony?
AX200 only advanage is top lumen and CH. What is the warranty on ax200?
I don't mind to have a brighter pj but there is not such thing as free lunch and there are some compromises in PQ with bright pj's. As long as it is understood I have no problem with choosing one over the other.

I don't know, where'd you read that?

In cinema mode it is. Check out the pjc for panny and sony cinema mode lumen reading.

what does this mean? i'm confused, since it's a 720p projector.

It accepts 1080p/24, but downscales it to its native 1280x720p resolution. PJC is saying the Panny AX200 does this well.

For those interested...

No direct reply yet from Panasonic, however I also sent an email to PJC in regards to their 2 year reference in their review. I received the following reply..

Panasonic product management confirmed it with me today prior to the posting of the review. It was a late change to the product that the dealers probably hadn't heard about yet.

evan

3000 hours in 15 months??!! That is an average of over 6 hours a day.........EVERY day, like 365 days per year. You really should get out more!!

The warranty papers on mine say 1 year. Two years would be nice.

so, what's the benefit of accepting 1080/24?

Just hook it up to your PC, pull up a picture of a stream running through the woods and presto! You're outside!

Probably not much. Instead of the HD DVD or BD player doing the downscaling, it's the PJ doing it. It's possible the PJ may do a better job.