Early thoughts on the Panny PT-L200u LCD FP (1 Viewer)

[Robert James Clark]

It's a shame the 200u doesn't share the smoothscreen technology with the 300u as the number of pixels isn't great on this LCD model.


Can't beat the price, though...

 

[Robert James Clark]

Also Ron,

Don't rule out HDTV as we are in a pretty fortunate situation here in OC as we have more local HD channels than almost anywhere and DigitalConnection is right here in Huntington Beach.
They have a nice deal on the MyHD card for well under $300...

Just talk to Kei Clark (no relation)...

 

[John Welch]

You can find inexpensive component cable atwww.svideo.com I purchased a 50 foot cable from them a week ago for 80 bucks and do not have any issues with. It ships free and was sent by Priority mail though the website says it will ship Airmail for free. They are based in Wyoming and I received the cable in 2 days.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

Ron, I don't know if this would work with the L200u but it works with the L300u. Maybe you don't have to lose a seat after all. Sorry if it doesn't help. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...threadid=267090

I don't think I would pay another $400 to increase the throw distance by a factor of 1.2. Besides, for a table-mounted configuration, I don't know if the throw distance is as much of a problem as the fact that you have to line the projector with the center of the screen (horizontally).

BTW my L300U arrived this afternoon and I am totally unprepared for it. I have to go out and get some cables, mount my screen, move some furniture around, and so on. So I won't get a chance to test the projector out until later this weekend.

 

[teapot2001]

Deepak, how much was shipping from Ritz and did they charge tax?

~T

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

Thi,

I am in PA and they did not charge tax. The shipping was $12 and on top of that there is a $10 insurance charge and $36 handling charge. I did not realize this until I started checking out, but it is still a good deal. They open the box and inspect the projector for dead pixels before shipping (I think Panasonic authorizes them to do this, but other manufacturers like Sony don't) and that is the reason for the handling charge.

 

[Brian Schucher]

"I don't think I would pay another $400 to increase the throw distance by a factor of 1.2"

You might if you dont want the PJ hanging over your head in front of you or right above your seating area. I think it would be worth it to me to get it behind me..

 

[teapot2001]

Well, I managed to afford the purchase of the 300u. Thanks Deepak for the mention of the deal. I think I'll be more unprepared for it than you. I just wanted to get in on the deal, and now I'll have to wait until I could purchase the cables, mount, screen, progressive DVD player, etc.

~T

 

[JakeCo]

Thi:
You can always build a DIY screen and save yourself some big money. I am by no means good with tools and I managed to build a 48" x 85.5" 16:9 screen with blackout cloth and it looks really good on a 4:3 pj that I use at work. Now, I just have to decide if I want the Sanyo Z1 ($1200) or the Panny L300u ($1750).

 

[Ron-P]

Spent some time tweaking this weekend, but most of the time putting my audio back together, building new audio racks for all the components and a stand for the PJ.

A little more on the Panny 200u.


Dislikes:

First off, I am unable to add a breakout cable to this unit. It only has a PC in, no DVI (only on the 300u). Unless I purchase something called a transcoder box for about $150 I am stuck with a single color slide bar for color. What you get via the component input is; Brightness, Contrast, Color, Tint, Sharpness, Color Temp., plus the 7 factory settings of Cinema 1 or 2, Normal, Sports, Concert...and so on. More than enough to achieve a beautiful picture.

Secondly, the short throw distance. A pain, yes, workable, yes. To get my max screen size of 82" (16:9), the PJ had to be mounted about 8' from lens to screen. I had to remove my center seat in the front row and build a stand to house the PJ and DVD player. I plan to buy a longer component cable so I can move the DVD player to the front of the room with all the other components. I cannot ceiling mount.

Likes:

The out of the box impression you can read in this thread. After spending some time tweaking, I could not be happier. I set the PJ in 'Cinema 1' mode and adjusted the brightness and contract slightly to achieve a better black level. I did not need to adjust the colors at all.

I also replaced the Da-Lite matte white screen with my home-grown Valspar gray screen and was impressed even more. Black levels increased and the screendoor effect greatly decreased. No other colors were affected. Sitting at 1.5 the screens width (my front row) slight screendoor is noticeable in only certain scenes. At 2x's (my back row) there is no screendoor noticeable at all. As with the X1, a gray screen is a must. Screendoor is one of those things that if you know about it and are looking for it, you'll see it. People that came over to see the 200u set up did not even notice it standing 6' from the screen.

Overall, I feel this is a better deal than the X1. They both have faults, but for roughly 1k, you can't get perfection. The X1 is $100 less, but you do get the free Da-Lite with the 200u which I plan to sell on ebay.

I also found the black level to be better on the 200u than with the X1. Colors were nearly identical between both units, very vibrant and natural, excellent flesh tones. The fan noise on the 200u is much quieter and the build quality is better.

For the $1,099 I don't think you can do better. No matter which display type you have, they all have faults, dislikes and likes. Pick your poison and go. For me, the small sacrifice in video quality is well worth the 82" of screen I now have. My Mits 46" is now up for sale as is the Da-lite screen. Selling the Da-Lite should bring the price for the 200u down right about what the X1 cost.

Anyone want an ISF'd Mits 46" RPTV. It's going up for sale

 

[Curtis H]

ever since the price drop on the x1, this front projector thing has been so enticing to me that it occupies most of my thoughts every day. i nearly sprung for the X1 but then missed the $100 off rebate deadline and didn't buy it. i was feeling really bad until some people on this forum and avsforum couldn't tolerate the "rainbow" problem which i have noticed with other dlp projectors (but funny enough i don't see rainbows on dlp-based rptv). my mind then rested easy as i was glad i didn't make the purchase after all. until... ron finds this awesome deal on the panasonic and now i can't stop thinking about whether or not to buy this.
i have so many thoughts racing through my head. should i just save more money to get a dlp or lcd rptv where i won't have to worry much about ambient light and throw distance and long cables (i live in an apartment)? is front projection practical since i don't have a dedicated hometheater room? sure the movie experience will be awesome but will it be better than my 36" tv for regular tv programming? these are really only questions i have to answer for myself
i never should have stumbled on this forum. i was better off living in ignorance.

 

[Tim Glover]

Thanks Ron. You've been very, very helpful in my decision!

I'll keep you all posted...

 

[RANDY FISHER]

Curtis, The rainbow effect is not only for FP. You can experience them on any DLP display device. There are posts over at the AVS RPTV forum about it. Chances are if you don't see them on the RPTV you won't see them on the X1.

Randy

 

[Ron-P]

Curtis Sorry to laugh, but your thread is very funny, plus I can relate, epically to this:

ever since the price drop on the x1, this front projector thing has been so enticing to me that it occupies most of my thoughts every day

Been there, oh wait....I'm still there.

Tim, glad to help out. Are you planning on ordering one?

I almost went to the Sanyo Z1, but many factors steered me away. The price, at several Franklin's more, many more threads over at AVS with problems with it and no free screen to sell to help reduce the price of the PJ. I am seriously on the cheap right now as I was not even planning on going FP for another couple years. At least for the next couple years I can enjoy a large FP image, very inexpensively and then upgrade.

I figure in two years, prices on this things will drop radically and the technology will have increased greatly.


Peace Out~

 

[Brian Schucher]

Ron, dont know if you mentioned it here or or HTT but how do you compare image quality to your RPTV not taing size into consideration (if poss)?

 

[Ron-P]

We are dealing with two vary different animals and it really isn't fair to compare the two. Also, my RPTV was ISF'd, where I have not even put in AVIA with the PJ yet. So, I may improve the PQ even more over the next couple weeks.

But, the RPTV is better and will most likely always be so, how much, maybe 15%, if that. Mainly due to black levels. With the RPTV there was more detail in the dark scenes and the dark scenes were darker. Both DLP and LCD still have a hard time with black, but it is getting better, fast. It's also not near as drastic as some make it out to be. I am very pleased with the black level of the 200u, but then again, I'm not as picky with video as some may be. Other than that, all colors were very comparable between the two.

Images were also a bit sharper on the RPTV, espically with background and distant objects. But, I have slightly defocused the 200u to help hide the screendoor.

Overall, the differences are minor. Take into consider the cost, I've gained almost an additional 3' in the room plus the image is almost twice that of my RPTV. It's a great, great deal. If I were to buy a Mits 73", it'd still be 9" smaller and cost would be 4x's as much.


Peace Out~

 

[Brian Schucher]

Thanx for the input Ron. My plan is to replace my Toshiba 65" RPTV with th3 L300. It'll be nice to get that cpl feet back and the big ol' box out from between my speaks..

 

[Holadem]

Is the clearance at the back of this thing that big a deal? Could I get away with less than 1ft clearance? My room is only 10' wide... that would make the throw distance 8ft ==> 83in diag max. Better than my 32 incher but still

All this talk about inches is making me nervous.

--
Holadem

 

[Neil Joseph]

All of this raises a question for me about specs - How is it that the X1 @ 2000:1 does not have the black level of the 200U @ 700:1. I suspect that the colours are more accurate right out of the box on the 200U and that with the X1 you may lose some of that with required calibration. Most curious though.

Screen images?

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Neil:

I think the contrast ratio for the X1 is quoted for its "presentation mode". Also, it's a "Full on/off" spec as opposed to an ansi spec.

As discussed in the review over at ProjectorCentral.com

The X1 uses a four-segment RGBW color wheel rotating at 2x speed. However, InFocus has done something unique here. In film and video mode, the white segment is set to off, or black, in order to reduce light output and improve color saturation. In presentation mode, the white segment is on and the X1 delivers more brightness and punch. The 1000 ANSI lumen rating applies only to the unit's output in presentation mode. Eliminating the white segment cuts lumen output by more than 50%.

Here's the link to the full review:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/infocus_x1.htm

You would think that reducing the lumens in this fashion would help the contrast ratio as well, but instead it just seems to increase the "rainbow effect".

I really believe that if Infocus would speed up the color wheel to 3X or even 5X, and manufacture the wheel initially without the white segment, they would have a nice little projector here. It would probably cost closer to $1500 than $1000 but it would still be more versatile and provide an inherently larger image than any comparable RPTV at that price.

Edited:

BTW, my co-worker who purchased the projector was happy with the picture provided in the "film" mode; he, like Ron, simply couldn't handle the "rainbows". His wife noticed them as well. The bottom line is that with the white segment off, the end user isn't really deriving a full 2x speed out of the wheel. It's not all that surprising then that people are seeing rainbows on this unit as currently configured.