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

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.

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

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!!

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.

Epson TW700

Well I finally go the chance to go see the Epson TW700 at the Epson HQ in Subang Jaya. Unfortunately I was not free, so my Dad went instead. The viewing was done in a conference room that could not be light controlled. So my Dad could not really make a good comparison with the Panny AX100E. He said that the Epson was slightly sharper than the Panny and pixel was visible at about 0.8 x screen width. Bulb mode could not be controlled and was automatically switched by the colour mode that was chosen. He could not comment on the colours as the room was too bright.

I am making plans to view the TW700 at an Epson Distributor's AV room. I hope that to make a final decision then.

Actually the Epson TW700 does one better with the zoom.... or should I say 0.1 better, it has 2.1x zoom, and it comes with its own well renowned Fujinon lenses that are used in the very much higher priced JVC projectors

I have also read that there is difference in picture quality between full telephoto and full wide angle. The differences is in the brightness and contrast. Apparently the middle of tele and wide seems to give the best of both worlds. Of course your room constrains will ultimately determine your zoom. TImothyy, where is your zoom sitting?

By the wat HT is not really klas kambing. Just because no other seats in front of you does not qualify. To put it into perspective, you'd need to be 3-5' from a 120" screen to be klas kambing. And should be sitting on the floor so you strain your neck to look up at the screen. In HT you would usually sit 10-15' from a 120" screen.... which would put you in the sweet spot... around Row J or K in a modern cinema. . And you are in this sweet spot all the time for every movie!!! Now isn't it all worth the effort.... Now, someone, please pass the popcorn!

Timothyy,
I envy you. Char kuey teow with extra chilli and kerang (if you dare, extra "chee yau cha" fried pig skin.... while watching the latest blockbuster or cosying up to the significant other with a chick flick... priceless. Do not regret your panny AX100 purchase. From what I have seen you have one of the best 720p projectors available. Epson has issues which I will elaborate later once I get to see it in person. As such don't fret.

If I may make a request... can you check for discoloration when your panny is projecting a white picture. You can use the function that provides the white background and cross hairs to help focus the projector. When I viewed the unit, there was a 2cm red band that ran up and down the left edge of the screen.

Can you also check if there is misconvergence of the 3 lcd panels. Using the focusing images from the projector, walk right up to the screen and check if the cross hairs clearly occupies 1 pixel or merges into the next row of pixels. If so how many pixels.

Thanks and Cheers

This post has been edited by jasonlky: Jan 24 2007, 05:40 PM

Timothyy, thanks for checking it out and taking the pictures.

Firstly the flicker is due to the eco mode that is used. You can do either of these 3 things:
1. Use Normal bulb mode all the time
2. Use normal bulb mode for the next 50-100 hrs then switch back to eco bulb mode
3. Get a firmware upgrade to v1.08 by the service center.

Secondly, this show the colour uniformity issue that is similar to the red bar that I saw during my demo. Apparently nothing much you can do. The service center may beable to realign the lcd panels or something. But at present I do not think it should affect your normal viewing as it does not seem serious. B the way most LCDs have this issue to a certain extent.... panasonic has decidedly more of its share. If you notice it during bright scenes or scenes of the bright sky in a movie then its time to send it in for a service.

Thirdly, I cannot tell from the pictures if there is a misconvergence of the panels. Not enuf resolution from the camera. If you want you can take a slose up pic of the lines in the center of the screen using the macro function.

Else the you should visually check if the lines correcly occupy its pixel or it blurs into the pixles next to it. Dunno else how to explain.

I am in the same boat. It has been a process of elimination. and now it is down to the Epson TW700 and Panny AX100 for me.

Have you seen other LCDs in this price range for 720p native resolution. If not then I encourage you to see as many as you can, then you will be able to make an informed decision. No projector is perfect for everyone, but there is one that is perfect for you. Its out there, calling your name....can you hear it....

I think the new 720p range of LCDs that just came out in the past 2-3 months have exceeded DLP stranglehold. I find the LCD blacks to be better than DLP. A lot is attributed to the better LCD panels and most importantly the dynamic irises. By the way I am in the 5%, so I may be biased.

I have come to know that some new generation DLPs with more mirrors on the colour wheel has almost eliminated the rainbow effect. Better technology and more options can only be better for us the consumer.

I feel for you bro. Hang in there

If its any consolation, I still don't have a confirmed date for the audition of the Epson TW700 at the distributors prper AV room. Frus only.

Aiyo, how did I become Big J? (Unless you tokking about my brader )

The Epson TW700 is also know as the Cinema 810 in the US model but it is has a black case while we have a white case. The RRP is RM6699.... or sumthing like that. Street price is about 2-300 below your AX100 price..... u know the one you told me about.

I have a confirmed audition on Sunday afternoon at the dealers AV Room.... at last.

precsmo, thanks for the very good review. Please do not take my personnel comments as overly critical of the projector of your choice. You have a wonderful projector and I am glad you like it. Regardless of its price point, it just was not right for me. The pearl and the ruby that I auditioned was in proper darkened AV room using licensed DVDs over HDMI.... etc. The setup for the pearl and ruby was indeed best of the best of the best. Somehow it did not click with me.

---

Added on January 28, 2007, 5:33 pmEpson TW700 First look/review

I finally got to see the Epson TW700. It was setup in a smallish AV room projecting a 80" diag screen. It was an unbranded matt white manual pull down screen. I viewed material from DTS and dolby test DVDs. The room was not completely dark, there was some light filtering in from the front of the store. I'll just call the lighting condition as "dim". The owner of the shop was very friendly and cordial, although the room shop was literally pack up to ceiling with AV gear, no sound was setup for my audition.... just video .

First off, the picture quality in terms of colour was very similar to the Panny, bright, vibrant and plenty of pop. I struggle to find the difference of the 2000lumen Panny against the 1600lumen of the Epson in their brightest modes.

The picture of the Epson is slightly sharper, and because of that the pixels are clearly visible from my seating position which is about 8ft from the screen, it was annoying. I am not sure if I can live with it. Just mske it less film like!!

During very bright scenes of the sky and snow I noticed that there was a colour uniformity issue with the LCD.... ie the snow was not uniformly white across the screen. Similar issue with Panny has been observed. I could not find a test pattern on the Epson in order to verify this over a white picture... its prolly there but hidden deep in the menu.

There was no bulb flicker. And the mode of the bulb is automatically switched between eco and normal by the colour mode you select. I thought this was a little inflexible. And in the most dynamic / brightest mode....the fan was noticebly noisy, not so for the Panny.

Finally, I found that on very fast moving scenes, the projected picture gets very choppy. While the Panny also exhibited some of this, it was slightly smoother than the Epson.

I thought that I would have been able to make a decision very quickly, in reality I have a lot of pros and cons to weigh between these 2 super projectors. I need to think about it and get back to you guys on which is the better projector for me. I'll do a pros and cons piece later on.

For people that have bought either of these projectors.... just enjoy what you have coz they are the best 720p for the money.

This post has been edited by jasonlky: Jan 28 2007, 05:39 PM

Fusion, so which porojector are you getting? As for the setup, have you considered having on a shelf on the back wall? Either use a cabinet with shelves or hang a shelf on the wall. I think I shall do it this way, so I dun have the hassle of man handling the projector and the ceiling mount when I have to clean the lense, air filter or change bulb. The setup should be just as neat. Plus the added mobility has its advantages.

By the way you may want to check out computer shops as their prices are much lower than the electrical/electronics shops.

Good Luck

How about projecting from under the coffee table in the middle of the room. Need to see if the lense shift can bring the image to the correct viewing height. You'd want to avoid using the keystone function at all costs!! I have seen plenty of CRT (3 guns) projectors using this setup as those units are a real hassle to mount on the ceiling.

Maybe you can get your carpenter to custom build a coffee table a bit higher than the standard height, then have a nice "hole" at the front of the table for the projector. The Panny and Epson has the exhaust fan at the front of the usnit so that should not be an issue. Then have a door so that you can close it to protect the unit from curious fingers.

I have 2 DIY speakers,
Full range BLH = currently in purgatory, coz dunno how to make the curve of the horn nicely.
ESL = no update yet coz too busy, check my ESL thread for updates next week. I will work on it this weekend.

Bro still haven't told me which projector u decided to get? I think I am leaning towards the Epson.

Sharing AV content.... I am also unsure as to what is the can and cannots of using the various methods... whether the company is legal or not does not change the action of the individual... who will be judged according to the laws of his/her country.... or where the deed was done. Jury is still out... so in the interim, I just continue sharinglah. Sharing brings the world closer together .

HTPC is a very good idea for the HT due to its flexibility of being an all in one solution. Currently I am researching the different automation features so that accessing the various HTPC functions is easier.

Panasonic AX100E or Epson EMP TW700?

If you are looking for a 720p LCD Front Projector then look no further than these two units. I have had the good fortune to audition these 2 recently and have finally decided to purchase one of them. This is not to say one is necessary better than the other. Each have their strengths and weaknesses.

I think it is fair to state my objectives here. I am building a Home Theatre for cinema type viewing. Occasionnally I would play some games or watch the occasional astro movie on the projector. As such the theatre experience is the first objective. The projector chosen should have exceptional quality and proven history. Absolute picture fidelity and most up to date technology use is secondary.


Picture
Out of the box both projectors were exceptional. Both projectors made me go WOW!. They had vibrant colours with plenty of 3D pop. However the AX100E's colours have a slightly more manufactured feel to it compared to the Epson's more natural and soothing picture. Advantage - TW700


Brightness
At the most dynamic setting, I struggle to see advantage of the AX100E's 2000lumens over the TW700's 1600lumens. However that said, my Home Theatre will be setup in a dedicated room, that will be fully light controlled. As such, I would only ever need the brightest modes for the occasional viewing with lights on... probably sports programming with the boys. There is probably an advantage to the AX100E but its a case of diminishing returns. Advantage - AX100E


Bulb Modes
The AX100E allows the users to switch between the Ecomony or Normal bulb settings in whichever colour setting that is chosen. This makes it very flexible in adjusting the picture to suit your situation. The TW700 on the other hand preselects the bulb setting depending on the colour mode chosen... e.g. theatre = eco, living room = normal. Advantage - AX100E


Colour uniformity
Both projectors exhibited colour uniformity issues. On the AX100E there was a red bar running the entire vertical left hand edge of the projected screen. On the TW700 there was a subtle grey horixontal bar just above the centre line. That said, colour uniformity issues have been synonymous with LCDs for ages.

The AX100E's colour uniformity issues have been reported to get worse over time especially when the bulb hits 80hrs and above. While the TW700's colour unifirmity has not been widely reported as an issue of any importance. Both projectors equal on this count.


Pixel Structure
The AX100E picture is very film like, ie it is very smooth without any pixel structure. The TW700 on the otherhand is very sharp and uses superior optics compared to the AX100E. The AX100E eliminstes the pixel structure by employing the Smooth Screen technology, which is really a defocussing of the picture. As such the picture is ever so slightly out of focus. If you can live with this then great. However, it had me reaching for the focus ring every now and then. It feels like it needs just a 1mm turn of the ring to bring it into absolute focus. In the end this really got to me. Because the TW700 is so sharp.... at close range, the pixel structure is highly visible, but seated at the correct distance of say a 1x screenwidth seating distance, the pixel should no longer be visible. Advantage - TW700


LCD Panel Convergence
The LCD panel is made up of 3 screens, and in order to get a sharp image the 3 panels must be aligned precisely to the individual pixel. Else you will end up with a blur picture. Cinema have no such issues as the image is projected thru 1 layer of film. The AX100E had a misconvergence of 2 pixels upwards and down 1 pixel. This issue was not noticed on the Epson. Advantage - TW700.


Noise and artifacts
Both projectors again exhibited noise in the projected picture. Epson does a bit better in eliminating noise. However in really fast action scenes, the Panasonic seems to smoother than the Epson. The Epson here exhibits some juddering and pixelisation. Advantage AX100E


Blacks
Both projectors come with an iris function that cuts down the light output to improve the blacks and contrasts. Both systems worked flawlessly. Blacks were good but not great. Both still exbited loss of details in the shadows. Both projectors even on this count.

Build quality
Both projectors are solidly manufactured. The lense and its focussing mechanism had a nice weight to it. No issues for either projectors here.


Warranty
AX100E - 1 year, TW700 - 2 years, with bulb warranty for first 500hrs. Advantage TW700


Proven History based on owner feedback
Both projectors have been in the International market since October of 2006. A quick visit to that various Home Theatre forums and you will quickly discover ardent followers for each projector. Each group worshiping the projector of their choice and denoucing the other. But it is a fact that the AX100E has more than its fair share of issues, ranging from misconvergence of the lcd panels, to bulb flicker, extreme issues with colour uniformity and also LCD degradation due to over heating. For the LCD degradation issue, Panasonic has advised that the unit should not be used for more that 4 hours a day.

Whether the TW700 will start exhibiting these problems or others has yet to be seen. There is no guarantee that the Epson will remain problem free as it has been in the marke for less than 4 months. Advantage TW700.

Summary
From my point of view, the TW700 is the projector for my Home Theatre. The AX100E has a 2x zoom lense and the TW700, a 2.1x zoom. This together with the vertical and horizontal shift should give me the most flexibility in placements. Hopefull this will hold me till HD and 1080p becomes more mainstream in our local market.

And now on to Pricing.... both projectors sit in a similar price bracket, RM7000. But with patience you can get close to 15% off the retail price, going into the sub RM6000 region. Not bad eh for a 120" plasma like bright screen.

Pass me the popcorn and coke..... or should I say Pass me the char kuey teow with extra chili and kerang !!!!

Timothy/Fusion,
I can still be ur fren. Dun penalise me because I join the Epson camp. For what its worth, I really wanted the AX100E to work for me.

Cheers all,
Jason

Now the bad news, my dealer has said that my order will take 2 to 3 weeks to fulfill. A quick call to my contact in Epson HQ reveals that Epson Malaysia has no stock... so are they selling vaporware? . They will have to order the stock from Singapore. But my dealer has assured me that I will have in before CNY..... but I will be outstation during CNY . Potong Stim.

This post has been edited by jasonlky: Feb 1 2007, 05:55 PM

Now that I have made my decision, I sleep easier at night!!

Good luck on your search.