Official Panasonic AE2000 thread - Page 109

Thanks. Called my vendor and he concurred. Shipping out asap.

Appreciate the consult!

I want to have a spare standing by

After calibrating my unit using DVE, I watched S.W.A.T on blu-ray and the scenes during the main criminal transport, which are at night and in the SUVs are quite dark. The only thing that really shows are the character's faces when the light passes over them during their dialog. It has an artistic look to it (as each character speaks, they come out of the dark via lighting), but am not sure if it's the way it's supposed to look. It just seems overly dark as you literally can't see the other characters in the SUVs than the ones with the light on them.

Anyone else who has calibrated their AE2000 seen this movie and knows what I'm talking about?

My projector is about 15 feet from the screen, directly behind/above the viewers. Casting the image directly to the center of the screen. I use a Da-Lite Manual 106 inch Diagonal HDTV HT HCMW Screen.

what is the gain on your screen?
what color preset did you start with on your calibration?

My screen is 120 wide (90 in 16x9) and it's a really low 1.16 gain. I originally started calibrating using the "cinema" or "color" presets but I decided the picture was too dark for my tastes so I have switched to "normal". You sacrifice a little color accuracy and saturation but dark scenes don't disappear anymore. my throw is also about 15'.

What is the difference between all the modes?
If I calibrate both Color 1 and Cinema 1, why are they still different?
In other words, what is in the base settings for each mode that makes them look different even though they have both been calibrated correctly.

as I understand it, color 1 is the most accurate as it is pre-calibrated to conform to whatever spec color space they use (this is a little beyond my technical expertise in this area but that's what I read somewhere). the cinema modes use the least amount of raw light and are set to be, I think, slightly warmer to more accurately reproduce film sources. normal mode moves some filter out of the way allowing more raw light through at the expense of color accuracy and saturation. dynamic is the "light cannon" mode that basically drowns the screen in light. mainly for use in a not completely dark room.

that's not a full explanation but that's my understanding after reading reviews and such from all over.

is this info correct? doesn't this projector use more of the panel by not displaying the black bars when used with an anamorphic lens?

it's kinda right. but it assumes several things.

basically, if you display a picture at 16x9, the full panel and full brightness is being used, even if part of the panel is doing nothing but displaying black bars. if you use a scaler to vertically stretch the picture, you are then taking whatever brightness you were applying to just displaying black, and spreading it out over the rest of the picture. if you displayed this at 16x9, it wouldn't look right because it is vertically stretched so you would then use an anamorphic lens to stretch it out taking the greater brightness you gained from losing the black bars and spreading it out over a larger surface. so essentially, you get MORE lumens per "section" of picture (thanks to losing the black bars) but then you lose some by stretching those sections out over a greater area (thanks to the anamorphic lens).

the counterpoint to this would be watching scope movies by simply zooming the projector way up where up to 1/3 of the panel ends up projecting light as black bars above and below the scope area of the screen.

when he says "compared to equivalent 16x9 image on the same screen" he is basically saying, an anamorphic lens uses the same amount light to cover, in my case for instance, a 90"x51" screen in 16x9 as it does to cover a 120"x51" screen in 2.35:1. so the scope picture will be slightly less bright as the same amount of lumen output is covering a larger area. however, this is not a slight against an anamorphic setup. it's simply a stating of the realities of using the same projector to cover different size/aspect screens.

First post, I am new to this forum and new to home theatre but I am learning. I bought this projector recently and love it. I need help on an extended warranty. The warranty I am looking at is NSI Protection Plus, it seems like a great deal, 5 years for around $450 and you get unlimited bulbs. As pricey as bulbs are it seems like a steal, but I would like to hear from someone here who has this warranty to help me with any information on it. Also, if there is a better place to post this question please let me know. Thanks.

It's a Model C with 1.1 gain. I have two calibrated settings that I've saved. One starting with the Normal base and one with the Color1 base. Like you, I found Color1 too dark for my tastes.

All this stuff is new to me, so I basically go with what I like to actually see. Using the color filter, what I see through the blue filter looks the same in both Normal and Color1. Also, what I see through the Red filter looks the same. The green is way off per one of my previous posts, but I'm not the only one with that problem.

Do you use the normal or expanded HDMI signal level? I tried using normal, but went to expanded.

I would start a new thread on this topic. Also, you may want to post it in the sub $3000 projector forum as you'll get more hits there...

BTW - welcome to AVS!

thanks for the very detailed explanation.

does anyone know if i can use an isco2 anamorphic lens with this projector? i have this lens and paired it with a jvc g11.

the opening of the isco2 lens was just enough for the projector but i still had a teeny bit of vignetting at the corners. if this projector has a wider lens than the g11 i may not be compatible.

I sometimes use this disc to check settings on my AE2000 as it's one of only two BluRay discs I own. I'm not sure of the scene you mean....is it towards the end where they are running through the tunnels/sewers? I find that adding a little extra low gamma +1 or +2 max brings up a bit of the shadow detail, while still allowing any 'true' blacks to stay black (as long as your brightness level is set correctly - use the waveform monitor to check).

Hope this helps.

I'm glad you brought this up, does anyone have a link to how to read the waveform stuff? I tried playing with it for a minute but I wasn't sure what I was looking for.

??

Good idea. I'll give the gamma settings a try and see how it looks. The scenes are just prior to the tunnel chase. In the tunnels is after they escaped the vehicles transporting them. The dialog is all inside the SUVs while communicating with the chopper and the other SUV.


You and me both. Not sure what to look for either.

Hi,

I just set up mine last night (upgrade from AX100).
Seems ok, not dramatically better. Installation was easier, but the FAN is LOUD. Is that normal?

I recall someone mentioning making it quieter somehow - ideas?

Thanks

Loud, really? When I did my research, before buying this, it was mentioned as one of the quietest. Mine sits right behind my couch at a 15' throw and my view is at 14'. It's about 1-1/2' above my head so you see how close the unit is physically and I've never had the noise be an issue.

I've very sensitive to noises interfering with the movie, especially since I use an HTPC which can be, if not built right, noisy. You must have even more sensitive hearing. I'm sorry I can't help you with making it quieter. Good luck.

Compared to the AX100, it is a jet engine.

A rumbling noise - someone else reported the same.

Sitting 1m away at same height.

How does the brightness compare between the two PJs?

Thanks,

Yumbo! I Concur!

About the NOISE, that is. I have experience, but short of a hush box (which I
am not willing to design and build), I have no solution to the noise. The noise is the ONLY thing I object to about this projector (well, maybe the black level). And I have seen, as you are now seeing from other posters here, "What's the problem - mine has no problematic noise."

I have forgotten what Panasonic advertises, I think its something like 23 dB noise in low mode. Nobody on all these boards seemed to have anything but the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter to measure the noise - and that was all I had for years. And of course nothing showed up on the meter, because at a distance of six or seven feet from the projector, the noise was below 50 dB, the lower limit of the meter.

So I spent several hundred dollars on a laboratory, calibrated sound level meter, and measured the noise at head height, six feet from where my Panasonic was mounted, and sure enough, low fan speed, C Weighting, the
noise varied between 43 dB and 47 dB - so much for Panasonic's advertised!

And I sent the projector back to Panasonic for repair, regarding what I considered the high noise level - and they sent it back saying that "it checked out fine on the test bench, it passed". So I called them, and they said they turned it on, and the fan ran, and they "didn't notice too much noise."

So there it hangs on my ceiling, whirring away. We spend tens of thousands of dollars (well, I have) to purchase and install all of the wonderful speakers, receivers, and players, to have a noise floor 80 or 90 dB down, and then there is something like this, that "Passed".

Brightness seems to be equal.
I've only just calibrated with AVIA, with iris off. DVE still seems crappy to use.
Haven't played with waveform yet either.

Black level is not the best. I'd say our first AE500 is better for that.

Tried again last night, and while noise is still there (seems like fan is not straight and hitting edges), I guess my ears filtered it out (or the rain and air-con) suppressed it somewhat.

Thought about moving it 1m lower, since the lens shoots upwards slightly (improving geometry along the way) like the AE500, but that means having to rewire everything on rack etc. Could also put a cover around on the lower level, reducing dust proximity as well.

As for 1080p, am happier, but not $1,500 so. It is better than fixed LCD (Philips, Sharp) in terms of realism though.

I doubt you'd find a quieter projector at the same price point. I've had mine since November mounted 4 ft. above my head and I've never once been bothered by, or even noticed the fan running while watching it....even during quiet scenes. It's definitely the quietest of other projectors I've owned/seen.

For you to be the only one complaining about the noise on a thread that's 100 pages long points to something being wrong with your projector...or you. And yes, many of the other people who own this projector have tens of thousands invested in their system as well.

In the end, let's be honest, this isn't a "high-end" projector. You may be suffering from a case of unrealistic expectations.

Simple question:

Should it be as quiet as the AX100,200?

If not, then ok.

Mine is quieter than my former AX100 in same location, and very acceptable noise level (on a wall shelf, 1 foot behind and 3 feet above ears.)

has anyone found a good source for bulbs for this projector?

I sent my Panny in for service (cleaning of dust blobs and colored bar issue due to filter in front of lens). I sent it overnight to Heartland (after great service from Projector People-they stayed on the phone with me until everything was set for return) on Monday. I had it back on Thursday. Great Service!! I haven't reinstalled it yet to see if everything is fixed, but I have no reason to think it isn't.

Sounds like those guys are getting really good at cleaning the dust out of these vacuums. Once again I need to take mine down, open it up, and clean it out.

hmm?

I finally hooked my AE2000 up and PS3 last night just to check things out. I've had the PJ since February but am nearing completion of the room so I decided to turn those 2 items on. Now I know I need to spend some time setting everything up and calibrating but one thing I noticed was the image from the movie I had planning was bleeding off onto the right frame of the screen and a little on the wall. No biggie, I played around with the zoom and the lens shift to get everything on the white part of the screen.

Now when I stopped the DVD and turned the PS3 off, I was left with a blue screen on the wall from the PJ. Well it looked like since I adjusted the lens shift for the DVD that it didn't fill up the "movie screen" 100% like it did before I adjusted it....you follow me?

Like I said I still have to go through the menus and set the PJ up so it could be that something is slightly off thats all.

Also another question. For my test last night I just had my PJ plugged into the nearest wall outlet. However I do already have installed in the ceiling a PANAMAX POWER KIT PRO outlet and another outlet over where the rack will be. (see my thread for pics) When I have my PJ hooked up this way, will it always be in Standby mode? All of my components will be going through a APC J10 Surge Protector/Line conditioner that is in the rack. So the panamax for the PJ will also be protected with everything else.

After I am done watching a movie or playing a game and want to shut everything down, I didn't know if you could completely turn everything off or will certain things including the projector be in standby mode until you manually reached up and turned off the main power switch.

As for the calibration of the PJ, should I just follow the manual or is there a special DVD you all recommend for set ups?

Thanks!!!