OK, I've just read the test on the Panasonic PT-AX100E & well 10/10 ain't that bad I suppose ha! ha! ;-),
My question is....I understand that AV will never sit still & "it shouldn't" but I am on the verge of divorcing my trusty Sony CRT to HD so can any one give me there thoughts on using this projector as my main viewing unit instead of say a high end Plasma/LCD 50" TV,
As I see it my only drawback is my through of around 4mtr from wall to wall with me sitting with my back to the end wall.........& maybe the frequent bulb cost's ??,
You will pick up this projector for around £800 if you shop around. I have now bought three of them as I bought one to play with and was that impressed I have put them in for a couple of other people. I have bought quite a few projectors in the past and cannot recommend it enough, even at full retail. I use it as my main viewing device as it makes a good job of whatever your throw at it. I usually feed it with sky high def and a HD DVD ( Tosh HD XE1 ) Distances and throw ratios are one of the most flexible around so don't worry about it. As for bulbs though.. I have never kept a projector longer than a year before wanting to change it, with prices constantly falling and products improving, you may find the same!! Just get one!! ( or possibly the true high def model up from it as they can be found at the right money also, and I would really like to know how much better it could be!!
I agree with carle bennett, the Panasonic PT AX100E is amazing. In a dimly lit room it is sensational, in a partly lit room it is very good and in a sun lit room (Day Time) it is reasonable but if the sun is very bright a bit washy. Now my question is similar to others, where as the AX 100 is 720p the new upgraded AX1000 is 1080p, what will the difference be and from what TV sources can you receive the full 1080p signals. Or is it only available via Blue Ray or similar DVD player. I have a Dennon 2930 DVD player will this be any use or does it become redundant
Just read your question. I am led to believe that Sky HD is only either 720p or 1080i. I'm sure this can be checked on their website/other sources. I also understand that 1080p requires hugely more processing than 1080i and may be a long time coming. I've used 720p (Panasonic AE900 - HD ready) and 1080p (Panasonic A2000E - full HD) projectors. Blue Ray and HD DVD look stunning on full HD (benefits of HD are more obvious over about 37inches of diagonal, generally, IMHO).
However, DVDs upscaled can be a different proposition. In the film Aliens (scene where marines land in rain on planet LV426), the picture looks better in many ways (from memory) on 720p DIRECT from Denon 1930 to the AE900 rather than via Onkyo 875 AV amp upscaling the signal from the same player and sending it to the AE2000. This was on a 65inch diagonal screen in each instance. The 1080p upscaling "overstretches the elastic" and the full upscaling is twice the amount of upscaling than the 720p upscaling, ie, up to 2 million pixels rather than up to 1 million pixels. So, the answer seems to be - decide on how much upscaling is to be applied based on the quality of the source picture. I didn't test whether the Onkyo's intervening upscaling was detrimental and I might have needed to limit the Denon player's HDMI output to Standard Definition of 576p and avoid possible duplicate upscaling by the Denon and then again by the Onkyo all the way up to HD. Something worthwhile for me to check, very soon. I've seen a Sony LCD TV do a better job of upscaling than the Denon plyer (I reduced the Denon to SD output of 576p and this gave the best result).
Finally, as HD takes over, it seems to me that "Standard Definition" DVDs often look better now, as they may have originated from a "master" HD souce (ie, from a Blue Ray copy downmastered to a DVD copy), so upscaling is less prone to noise and poor images when taken up to 1080p.
Would appreciate any observations from out there from you/other experts/enthusiasts.
