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post #91 of 103
7/15/07 at 5:26pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

To mount it right side up (sitting on a shelf) you have to be at a vertical level even w/ the center of the screen (or a little below actually). That won't work in my room (and probably in most, as you don't want someone to be able to walk in front of the image).

I think I have a good solution now though.
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post #92 of 103
7/16/07 at 10:39am

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisClearman
To mount it right side up (sitting on a shelf) you have to be at a vertical level even w/ the center of the screen (or a little below actually). That won't work in my room (and probably in most, as you don't want someone to be able to walk in front of the image). I think I have a good solution now though.

You don't need the projector mounted at the vertical middle of the screen for right side up mounting. Mine is mounted a few inches above the top of the screen and the optical adjust lets me lower the image into my screen.

If you are going to put it on a shelf or cube, it is nice having the adjustable feet (right side up) to help you level it out... instead of laying it on its lid.

Matt
525x525px-LL-vbattach469.jpg
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post #93 of 103
7/16/07 at 7:30pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Do you have the PT-AX100U?

Mine is being shipped, so I guess I'll test it out. If I can do it sitting up I'll just do that. MUCH easier than the little box I was constructing.
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post #94 of 103
7/16/07 at 10:49pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisClearman
Do you have the PT-AX100U? Mine is being shipped, so I guess I'll test it out. If I can do it sitting up I'll just do that. MUCH easier than the little box I was constructing.
Yes, the PT-AX100U is what I have (shown in the picture of my last post). I have been loving it ever since I got it (about two weeks ago). I already have 60+ hours on it!

Enjoy,
Matt
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post #95 of 103
7/22/07 at 5:07pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Mine came yesterday. Looks fantastic! And the lens shift is great.

It does have a bit of keystone on the upper right vertical though. I'm hoping I can get it to disappear into the black sides of a screen.
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post #96 of 103
7/22/07 at 6:03pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

I am not happy with this upgrade from the 500 model.
Sharpness is just not there.
Does it have to be totally keystone (currently -2) free to be impressive?
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post #97 of 103
7/23/07 at 6:48am

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yumbo
I am not happy with this upgrade from the 500 model.
Sharpness is just not there.
Does it have to be totally keystone (currently -2) free to be impressive?

If you mean the Panasonic PT-AE500U, I have that one and just got the Panasonic PT-AE900U. I haven't gotten the AE900U to be as sharp in my opinion, but overall with calibration of both, I prefer the AE900U and consider it a nice upgrade to the 500U. I have been following the threads at the AVSForum for this projector, both the master thread and a specific thread for problems. Here is a link to the problem thread, more praise and some issues are discussed in the master thread there.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&#post10819804

I am going to hang on to both of my Panasonic projectors until the excellent PT-AE1000U 1080p projector is proven and affordable. It sounds like a winner, but the AX100U is a question mark at this point in my opinion.

Chris
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post #98 of 103
8/11/07 at 1:21pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Projector looks awesome, even just against the beige wall. Waiting on a Carada screen.

I have it mounted on top of some cabinets and am experiencing some keystone though. What's strange is using the keystone settings seems to change the keystone of the source (like the outside edges of the DVD image) but the actual light cast from the projector remains the same.

So the outside edge doesn't change, but the DVD image will "square up" inside this box. Kind of strange.

I'm hoping that the screen with black borders will be able to smooth some of this out.
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post #99 of 103
8/11/07 at 7:30pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

She will look really nice when your screen comes.
I originally thought I had some keystone problems. One side seemed slanted slightly, the other wasn't. I tried moving (rotating) the projector slightly left/right to get the lens perfectly parallel with the front wall and I played with the feet height.... dropping one side a turn at a time to see how it effected the picture. Eventually I was able to get very close to a perfect rectangle.

Have fun!

Matt
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post #100 of 103
9/4/07 at 11:43am

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

I have learned a lot reading here.
I do have a couple of questions for you guys who would know.
About half of what I want to watch with his projector is full screen 4:3 and I am not sure what screen to get?
My latest idea was to get a large 4:3 (120") and mask off the the top and bottom when I watch widescreen. ??
I cant afford the dual format screens I have seen and I am not thrilled with the idea of having to mask off a screen half the time.
Have any of you with the projector put a 4:3 signal in it on a widescreen screen?
Does the projector have a feature to deal with this issue?
Or is it just a matter of zooming to avoid cutting off the top and bottom of the 4:3 picture?
I am pretty well sold on this projector other than the sticking iris issue has anybody heard if the current production is totally rid of the issue?
From reading other forums I see most of the posts regarding this issue were from 4 to 11 months ago.
Thanks for any help
John
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post #101 of 103
9/5/07 at 2:39pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Quote:
Originally Posted by jetzler
My latest idea was to get a large 4:3 (120") and mask off the the top and bottom when I watch widescreen. ??
Have any of you with the projector put a 4:3 signal in it on a widescreen screen?

Or is it just a matter of zooming to avoid cutting off the top and bottom of the 4:3 picture?
....other than the sticking iris issue has anybody heard if the current production is totally rid of the issue?
Thanks for any help
John

You could mask the top/bottom of a 4:3 screen to make it 16:9, but when you switched to 4:3 material and removed the top/bottom masking (that I think is what you were asking about) you would have readjust your zoom on the projector if you want the picture to fill the screen.

I (and I think many others) buy a 16:9 (1.78:1) screen. When watching 16:9 content, the screen is of course filled. When you watch 4:3 material you have bars on the side of the screen, but top to bottom is filled. You don't have to adjust the zoom on the projector. If you really wanted to, you could put some black material on the sides of the screen while watching 4:3.

When watching wider movies (2.35:1 for example) you get small "black bars" on the top and bottom of the screen. Some people will add black material to cover those bars, but I am too lazy for that.

Matt
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post #102 of 103
12/12/07 at 6:10am

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

I bought an AX100U in July of 2007. Now I have the iris problem, and Panasonic even though they know it's a manufacturing defect won't send me a replacement unit, and they want me to pay to ship it to them (about $50). I've seen several users reporting that they've had to ship their unit to Panasonic several times (every 400-800 hours). It seems the SOP is to require the customer to pay to ship it every time until it's out of warranty at which point Panasonic will wash their hands of you. Supposedly the AX200U does not have the issue. I'm currently trying to work with their support department to send me one of these new units, and a return shipping label for the old unit. It's absolute nonsense that they're even arguing with me about it.

The other problem I had with this unit is that the HDMI is not compatible with my Dish ViP 622 DVR. The picture blinks on and off at any resolution higher than 480p. I've heard that this can be fixed on the DVR by reverting to a previous software version, but I've also heard it can be fixed by Panasonic upgrading the firmware in the projector. I would guess this issue is resolved with the new unit, but until I get one I cannot comment.

I'll post with another update once I get this resolved. If Panasonic refuses to replace the unit I'm pretty confident that I can get the retailer I bought it from to take it back considering the problems I've had and the poor customer service from Panasonic. Stay tuned.
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post #103 of 103
5/24/08 at 3:58pm

Re: OFFICIAL HTF REVIEW: PANASONIC PT-AX100U 720p FRONT PROJECTOR

Hi all,

About to sell my AX100 (which replaced the AE500). Intend to buy the AE2000.

I felt while the AX100 is brighter, it did not have the pop of the AE500 in terms of an upgrade.

I am expecting the AE2000 to produce that feeling.

Anyway, my specs are:

185" 16x9 High Gain Da-lite, to purchase from Amazon/J&R at $2,699.
Will then ship to Fiji - just anxious about the reported issues.

Anyone with similar circumstances?
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