[opieie]

Hello everyone, I received the AE500 yesterday and I must say the picture is stunning except for one thing, Im not sure how to describe this but when I move my eyes from one part of the screen to another I can see these lines that run horizontally across the screen kind of like the lines I see when watching my old Toshiba big screen, also the picture does not fit the screen if I adjust it to fit the width it is to short or if I adjust it to fit the height it is to wide the screen is 104" x 58"


So to get to the point right now I have enough money to return the Panasonic and purchase the Sony HS20 so I guess my question is, if anyone knows what I described above is and will the Sony address this problem and will the Sony have an overall better picture than the Panasonic if it matters I have a DaLite 119" Hi Power screen and seating distance is approx. 16 feet from the screen, I watch about 60% DVD and 40% HDTV, this will be one of the few chances I will have to spend this much money on something this frivolous and would really like to get it right.


Thank You for any help.

 

[jkurto]

opieie,


I can't answer your vertical line problem, but for the screen issue, it's because the aspect ratio of your screen is not 16:9, like your projector is.


16:9 = 1.778


AE500 1280/720 = 1.778


Your screen 104/58 = 1.793


So the result should be that your screen is either too wide for the image, or too short for the image, depending on your zoom. Not nescessary bad because people often watch content greater than 16:9 aspect ratio.


Hope that helps.

 

[ShagnWagon]

horizontal line on an LCD projector -> scanlines

 

[jacksonian]

opieie,

I have the 300 and my 500 is coming tomorrow. I think I can answer your questions.


1) I believe the horizontal line problem you are seeing is what we Panny/Sanyo owners refer to as the horizontal peakaboo scanline artifact. I see it mostly when a scene pans up or down vertically, they appear for a split second and then are gone.


This can be significantly improved by doing the flicker tweak. Go to the menu, options, OSD, hold down enter until a sub menu pops up. Go down to Flicker Adj, and you can adjust the flicker of each of 6 panels, desk & ceiling, red, green, and blue. If you'll adjust the settings until the panel doesn't flicker (hard to do with the green). That improves it about 80% on the 300. Note, you need to wait until the pj is warm, maybe 30 mins. because the flicker seems to settle in and change for the first 30 mins. If you do the adjustment when it's warm, from then on, every time you fire it up, you'll notice that the artifact is worse for the 1st 30 mins then it will go away. If you do it cold, it will be the opposite.


2) The screen not being filled. If you're talking about with HDTV, this is a known issue with the Panny. Mine leaves a 2" border around the screen when it locks into the HD signal. I don't think anyone has found a fix for this and it seems to be irrespective of cable/STB HD receiver.


3) As for overall satisfaction with the Panny 500 vs. the Sony HS20, only you can decide that. The HS20 has its own issues, just like all pjs. I believe sample uniformity, brightness, and other stuff are the issues with the HS20. Check those threads to see how those guys are satisfied. I haven't seen the HS20 so I can't give you a comparison.


If you have the money and the Panny doesn't satisfy you, then you probably want to give the Sony a try. It may answer all of your needs. But overall, these 2 pjs are extremely competitive performance wise. Panny owners will tell you that you're wasting your money. Sony owners will tell you the Panny doesn't even compare. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. If you're not satisfied though, that's all that really matters.

 

[Andre Milbradt]

I returned my AE500 after a couple of days and got the HS20 instead. The one and only reason was VB (Vertical Banding). I applied the flicker tweak and while it reduced VB quite a bit it still bothered me enough to not enjoy the picture. Visual Apex took the unit back, confirmed the VB and gave me a full refund (great people to deal with!).


Once I got the HS20 this was no longer an issue. If you try really hard you can still see VB in extremely bright scenes (like the shot of the snow covered Alps in the Italian Job). However, it is so subdue that it does not have any real impact on the picture quality. You have to look for it where with the AE500 it was always present.


I also feel that the HS picture is a bit more film like than the AE500 picture, which you might like or not (most do). I have one stuck pixel (blue) and my panels are misaligned by one pixel. Both have no impact on the picture quality and are not visible from > 5ft. My AE500 had no dead pixels.


If you read the forum you'll notice that a bunch of people have returned the AE500 and instead got an HS20 or a BenQ 8700. Virtually all of them did it because of VB.


Cheers,

Andre

 

[opieie]

Thanks everyone for your reply's I think I will try the HS20 hopefully I will like it better and maybe it will fit the screen better, my AE100 fit my screen almost perfectly and I thought the AE500 would be the same anyway thanks again for the reply's.

 

[jacksonian]

opieie,

Please let us know what you do and what your thoughts are about the HS20 vs. the 500.