If you own a projector or have viewed / audition them before, come share your thoughts. I'll start off...

I auditioned the Panny AX100E project last Saturday morning. This model is a replacement of the AE900 projector. The shop arranged to do the audition in my theatre. So bright and early Saturday morning, there was a knock on my door and Mr.Projector Man was at my doorstep with a smile and 2 boxes in hand. One BIG box containing the Panny, an unopened set (with 0 hours on the bulb) and another smaller box containg ceiling mounts. A word about my setup, its situated in the 'attic', the 3rd floor of my house. Fully light controlled, rectangle in shape with a size of L20' x W15' x H10'.

So Mr.Projector Man had to lug everything up 2 flights of steps. Set up was quick and in no time we had the picture on the wall. The projector is physically larger than I expected. I do not have a screen and Mr.Projector Man did not bring one. Out of the Box the projector's picture just blew me away. We cycled through the varios aspect ratios, colour modes and quickly settled in on Theatre 1 and Theatre 2 modes. At this point my theatre had some ambient light and was not fully darkened. I popped in various DVDs and sampled the beautiful film like quality of the projected image. The projected image was about 120 inch wide. Other settings.... dynamic iris ON, light harmoniser Off, bulb Normal. Eating was at about 15' from the wall/screen. The project was quiet throughtout, i.e. could not hear the fan or iris in operation.

However after awhile, once I have had some time for the initial euphoria to subside, I found myself nitpicking. I found myself trying to constantly focus and refocus the image. While the image was bright and colourful and film like, it just was not sharp. My dad and wife who was sitting in the sidelines echoed this finding. Don't read this the wrong way.... in reality the picture is sharp enough, however there is the feeling that the focus ring just needs a 1 mm of turn to either side. I went into the menu and selected the test pattern and got it as sharp as I could. When we returned to the movie, the result was the same. (reported issue on AV forums). This is due to the smooth screen technology that is used to mask the pixel structure... which works rather well. I did not notice any pixel structure until I was 5feet from the wall/screen.

At this point the projector was projecting a white picture, I noticed a red band (1.5cm wide) running the full length of the left side (reported issue on AV forums). I went right up to the screen/wall and noticed that there is a misconvergence of 2 pixels upwards by red... and down 1 pixel by a greenish tinge (reported issue on AV forums). Note that none of this is noticeable on movies at my sitting position.

There were no stuck or dead pixels.

I also noticed a lot of detials lost in the darker images and shadows. I guess I need a good screen... high contrast gray you say!!!

On fast moving scenes there was a lot of 'noise' and pixelisation, however this could be my player or the source (ahem DVD)... do not know, I have never noticed this on my 34inch TV before.

Could I live with the Panny, a most definite YES, at this price point it will crush any wide screen LCD/Plasma TVs. Despite my nitpicking, I was really sad when Mr. Projector Man packed everything up. However, I would like to see what the competition has to offer before handing over my credit card . My next stop is the Epson TW700. It appears, none of the dealers have a demo unit, but Epson is helping me arrange for a demo at one of their distributors. Failing which, at their HO/service center.

Other projectors that I have reviewed are the Sony VPL-HS60, VPL-VW50 and VPL-VW100. I did not find either of these outstanding. They projected a dull image and was not film like at all. They may have the best colour and contrast, but th picture just put me to sleep. Plus they could only work in a fully darkened room, thereby reducing their flexibility. The Panny is miles ahead on this note.

Anyone for a 120inch plasma like bright and colourful picture (that does not need a darkened room)!!! Contact me if you are interested to know more about this. Plus I have access to special pricing too!

Cheers.

This post has been edited by jasonlky: Nov 17 2007, 03:35 AM

Nice review. LEt us know the price la. So that some of us can think of getting it...

Hi J,

Any chance of trying out de Optoma Hd70 dlp. Heard that it is a decent performer too.

Cheers
Dirtrun

I have heard many good things about the Optoma. Good picture quality, good warranty and best of all good price. However, I am one of those that can see the flicker/rainbow effect. Annoys me to no end. So I'll stick with the LCDs. So far I have also been approached to audition the Misubishi HD1000 and Sanyo Z5. While these 2 are good projectors, they are not bright enough for me. Read my comments about dull 1200lumen projectors in the first post.

Update on the audition with the Epson TW700. After a 2 week wait, the Epson TW700 is proving as elusive as the Yeti. Apparently there is only one demo unit in the whole of Malaysia. And right now it is with some newspaper for review. The earliest I can get my grubby little hands on it is next week Monday 26/01 or Tuesday27/01. Funny that none of Epson's distributors have their own demo unit..... Are they going to loan the demo unit from Epson HQ everytime a customer wants to audition. Or is Epson projector sales just 'so so' that dealers are not willing to invest in a unit!! Something must be wrong. Anyway I am a small fry customer and have to wait.

At least u get your chance to see demo...

For me, I only able to test Panny and Optoma.

Not others.

sadly you're prone to the rainbow effects..if not there are loads of choices out there...

there's a Sanyo Z5 already? oh my god! it seems that i've been leaving the projector world a bit too long...hehe. Used to be a regular at AVSforum those days when infocus x1 ruled.

Anyways - i'm not your average rich guy - i only use a data projector for my dvd viewing (an old Dell 2200mp) which i got there years ago and i'm actually kinda happy with it...haha...(i know it's kinda sad)

have fun auditioning guys!

This post has been edited by silbii: Jan 18 2007, 05:13 PM

How about de Benq7700?

Anybody using it here?

Cheers
Dirtrun

Well, for the 720p class, Z5 got really low lumens compared to Panny.

Guess what, I kinda hope my panny can be brighter.
That is why I am waiting for my calibration DVD to arrive.

Jason, I've tested Optoma H72 and H70... both look good. No rainbow effect for me. But I hate the distributor. Even if I get 2 years warranty... I had bad experience with their sales guy.

Yesterday NST (Tech&U) has an article on the new Hitachi PJ-TX300 projector. Not many here are aware of projectors from Hitachi but it is one of the best for the price range. Just a year ago I bought my PJ-TX200 in HK as I can't find it affordable locally.

I started to research and audition many projectors in late 2005 (such as AE900, Z4, TW600, and many DLPs). At that time the most affordable projector to my budget (<$6.5K) is the AE900 but it has its share of cons (as discuss in AVS forum). Sanyo, Epson, and Hitachi are price at >$8K locally. In the end I choose Hitachi for its superior quality and flexibility as well as its price (I got for <$6K in HK). Now the prices have drop tremendously.

Timothyy, htkaki is doing a bulk for the HD70 in the bulk section, pretty good price.

Red, Thanks for the information. BTW 720P projectors are as cheap as HK... I have recently checked. Do not believe the Retail price that is advertised. You can almost get 20% off the retail price if you are persistent. How about giving us your take on the Hitachi?

This post has been edited by jasonlky: Jan 19 2007, 05:55 PM

AS mentioned, I can't accept the local distributor... Vismart... They are terrible.

jasonlky, I've not seen any demos but your review seems a little iffy. Firstly, you were using a wall and ahem dvds?!

What about the other brand demos? Same scenarios?

Based on WHAT HIFI 2006 awards, seems like INFOCUS is the winner for the lowest and 2nd lowest price categories.

InFocus with 720p? I didn't hear about this before.

Well, there are many projectors in the market but you got to compare apple to apple to appreciate.

And on top of that, projector is a delicate electronics, to me, warranty is so important and getting from a reliable source or brand is important too.

when can we get 1080p projectors at below RM10K?

1080p? wow...With a hi-end display like this - can we get enough hi-def dvds to fully utilise what the machine has to offer...coz it'd be a waste of pixels if we just use it to feed 480i sources...

and i don't think we'd gonna get load of HD dvd titles that soon here...(or will there?) I wonder what the price would be like. And don't bother about waiting for HD transmission to be available in M'sia soon - ppl up ther are still thinking about it. Maybe it's because of the upgrade costs...a whole infrastructure would need to be rebuilt to cater for HDef i think...

the fact that some manufacturers are already coming out with multi-playing dvd format players that could do both blu ray and hd dvd is a good sign...if now the old betamax vs vhs war will resurface again...duh!

and the part i'm pondering now is this - once more titles are available - would you guys be buying the same titles that you already have in your regular dvd collection?

btw ...would HD easily be prone to 'piracy' when it's out? i don't think i would want to underestimate the spirit of malaysia boleh in this context...

cheers

gaijin,
Thanks for your take on my review. Please choose to ignore it if my ancillary equipment does not measure up to your minimum standards. Just sharing a personnal experience. Its my take on the projector in a real world environment, in my own AV room. I indicated all the conditions when I viewed the projector so that everyone can takeaway whatever is relevant to them. I have viewed:
1. Infocus & Sanyo (in Sunway, but it was a forgettable experience)
2. Sonys (HS60, VW50, VW100 in KLCC, blacks were good, but pics put me to sleep)
3. Benq (another forgettable experience)
I did not fancy any of these projectors ... even if they were setup in the "proper environments", where there was full light control, a dedicated screen and licensed DVD. The Panny is still up on top of my list... which was viewed in my AV room with "a wall and ahem dvds". If you are in the market for a front projector, I would encourage you to visit any of these AV rooms to experience it for your self.

My AV room has not yet been engineered to maximise the HT experience yet, although that is the intention. The cornerstone of the AV room is the projector. I want to get that first so that I can figure out its proper placement. Next I intend to put in a screen..... by this I mean I will test with various fabrics and paints until I am saticfied with it in my setup ..... not just the one that the projector distributor happens to carry. And then build the fixtures & fittings, panelling and seats around them.

Hopes this process makes sense...

Trying to get the Epson TW700 home for a few hours today or tomorrow so that I can view it in the same condition as I did with the Panny AX100E.

Timothyy, Infocus IN76 is a 720p projector and can be found in Sunway. But if do not like Vismart.... you may not like them there too. Just go for demo and dun have to tok to themlah.

g5sim, looking at my bola kristal, i can tell you that we will have sub RM10k 1080p projectors before the end of this year.... jes intime for krismas

Lets have more reviews and takes on projectors that you own or have seen!!

Hehehe,

Just to add to Bro Jason's take on PJ's

De Panny ae1000 which is a 1080p lcd(if not mistaken) is below 7k at last quote, how good dunno u hv to go check it out urself

Thanks
Dirtrun

I think so too... The prj prices are getting more reasonable nowadays compare to a year or more ago. Perhaps there are more awareness and popularity in the prj experience. Nowadays most night time mamak stalls sure have prj with some cheapo screen.

I'm very satisfy with my Hitachi as it never stop impress my friends with its picture quality. I have the whole systems setup in a medium size room with lights control. For me no matter how brighter the prj can be, it is still best to view in darkened room. Otherwise you won't view black as black.

Yo!!! Bro...!!! That is model AX100 la. If model AE1000, the RSP is RM14,999.00 Definitely is not below 10k.

OK. Now, my turn to give some of my opinion on the projector. I was installing my self made (not really self made but asked my contractor to fabricate for me,,, donno the price yet). Its a ceiling mount. None adjustable ceiling mount.

My goodness. My whole body is aching now. I was wondering why my arms felt heavy and thought must be I didn't do a lot of exercise (in fact, never) but later only realise its the drilling and installation that made me like this. My house now is a mess with all the wiring running here and there.

Anyway, if you gonna do ceiling mount with a fixed projector screen, get an installer to help you. Your RM1-200 installation fees is worth it. Kakaka... Just drilling 4 ceiling mount screws took my whole sunday away. Kakakaka. Why? Coz my Made in China drill couldn't get through so easily. At last, only 3 holes made.

When I put the projector up, I had to ask my wife, who is 4 months pregnant to climb on the table to hold the projector while I screw the projector tightly. Man, how cruel can I be asking a pregnant lady to help?

Anyway, when I was drilling the ceiling, she helped me pointing the vacuum hose direct to the drill point to avoid dust. She got neck pain too. Ha! HA!

OK, so, the projector was fixed onto the ceiling... guess what? even with a flexible lense shift on my Panny AX100, I still couldn't get the projection nicely onto my fixed screen. Heck!!! Its not as easy as you think. And imagine if I would have gotten an Optoma (no lense shift) or other brands. I'd cry....

So, at last, with some engineering mind (back land one), I managed to adjust the mounting using washer and loosening my wall mount. It was hell. At this point, the projection also not so good. If you adjust through the remote/soft adjust, you can't get the right position. At the end, I need to +1 keystone.

After installing, of course, I need to test the picture quality... when I put on the test screen, I notice 3 things...

1) Watching movie using different format --> HDMI, composite or S Video will give different positioning of your lense. So, I opted for HDMI to adjust the position of my projected picture.

2) If you concentrate the test screen, you will notice a short flicker. I am still trying to figure out what is the cause of this. Before this when it was on the table, it was ok. Hopefully it the electricity not good last night. Anyway, when watching movie, it was hardly noticeable. Just hope this won't cause my bulb to blow.

3) I also notice the top portion is brighter than the bottom portion. So, the top, you will see a bright bluish white and the bottom, a reddish dull white. Of course, when it comes to watching movie (was watching serenity last night), you can't notice the difference. I guess this is the distance between the lense and the screen.

So, here it is. My mini review.

What I suggest is... unless you are a contractor or hard "kuli" then may be you want to install your own projector. Its harder than you think. But doing it is half the fun. Today, after work, I'll be doing my cable laying. I am using 1 1/2 inch PVC cable casing to lay my power, HDMI and S Video cables. They are all about 20m long. Heck!!!

Its tiring. Really!!! May be I am getting old but every drop of my sweat is sweet!!

Where to find a 50% discount like dat? Please verify... or share the information so that others may verify.

I true then can consider..... only worry is the brightness.

Timothyy, thanks for the write up.