EXCLUSIVE! Panasonic PT-AE4000 LCD Projector Review

**The News Bot** · 22-10-2009, 11:05 PM

Reviewed by Phil Hinton
With its exclusive lens functions for cinemascope fans, along with an excellent calibrated performance combined with very decent black levels and image contrast, the PT-AE4000 offers exceptionally good images that defy its price point
Read the full review...

HiHoStevo · 23-10-2009, 6:22 AM

Phil,

Thank you for the excellent review!!

Did you happen to take any measurements at Colour 1, Normal, and after Calibration?

I would be very interested in what you had for lumens at the various settings as well as on/off and ansi contrast.

thanks again

madshi · 23-10-2009, 7:07 AM

Thanks, Phil.

Have I missed the contrast measurements or are they simply not there?

Paul_Blythe · 23-10-2009, 9:58 AM

An excellent review Phil. Seems like the CMS needs a little patience to use correctly.

It'd be interesting to know what the measured On/Off and ANSI contrast ratios were for the unit.

Pecker · 23-10-2009, 11:21 AM

Well done again, Phil.

This may be a first, though. For the first time you may have...

...drum roll...

...actually sold me a product through the review.

It'll certainly be getting a demo.

Nice one.

Steve W

logan_ross · 23-10-2009, 12:03 PM

Hi Phil,
A couple of questions:

1) You indicated an improved Lens. I found that the lens on the AE3000 showed very poor uniformity with substantial blurring from center to edge (but not very visible from normal viewing distances when watching material). Can you speak to lens improvement in actual use?

2) You rated contrast/black level as only good but did not speak to those characteristics in the review. What were your measured contrast ratios (to be consistent with your other reviews and compare to the AE3000)?

3) Can you describe what one can expect to gain if choosing the JVD-550 over the AE4000 (is there anything other than black level)?

4) Will you be reviewing the Sony HW-15 which should be a great direct competitor to the AE4000?

**Phil Hinton** · 23-10-2009, 12:24 PM

I'm on the road again this weekend, but some quick answers to some questions.

1, Contrast on/off calibrated was 4998:1 (will add to review when I get 5 minutes as I forgot to add it.)
2, No issues with focus or uniformity, no bright corners and generally good image brightness uniformity.
3, Blacks - improved on last year, generally good. Not as deep or fluid as our reference projector - but half the price.
4. Unclear on colour gamut and accuracy on HD550 until I test it.
5. HW15 will be reviewed and should compete well with the Panny, but until I get hold of one for testing here, hard to say for sure.

I'll answer any other questions after the weekend.

madshi · 23-10-2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

1, Contrast on/off calibrated was 4998:1 (will add to review when I get 5 minutes as I forgot to ad it.)

Is that with the dynamic iris enabled (= dynamic contrast) or disabled (= native contrast)? For native contrast 5k:1 is quite respectable, but not great. For dynamic contrast 5k:1 would be really bad.

Would be great to have both numbers (native + dynamic). Thanks!

**Phil Hinton** · 23-10-2009, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madshi

Is that with the dynamic iris enabled (= dynamic contrast) or disabled (= native contrast)? For native contrast 5k:1 is quite respectable, but not great. For dynamic contrast 5k:1 would be really bad.

Would be great to have both numbers (native + dynamic). Thanks!

no dynamic iris used. Figures are so you can compare against projectors we have reviewed in this same room, thats the only way to get an idea of consistancy of results.

fowl3r · 23-10-2009, 3:37 PM

how does it compare to the infocus in80/x10 for overall picture quality? in your opinion is it worth £400 more than the ae3000 ? thanks phil!

SIK · 23-10-2009, 3:44 PM

Hi Phil,
Great review as ever, but if I could ask for one thing to be added to all future reviews it would be a quick measure of image lag for us gamers. It's becoming harder and harder for those of us who game on our projectors (and there are lots of us!) to find a new machine with low image lag (particularly with the increasing sophistication of video processing in the new projectors coming out.)

I appreciate for most people image quality is king, but to us gamers, noticeable lag is a deal-breaker. Any chance of hooking a PS3 or 360 up to the units and doing a calibration with Rock Band in future?

Cheers
SIK

rmerlano · 23-10-2009, 4:34 PM

Hi Phil, thank you for your review, GREAT!

I would like you help me with 1 question.
I want to get this projector, I have a doubt:

The PT-AE4000 will do a great job (1080p of course) on screen size of 150" gain 1.1? I can control totally the light, come, I can get total darkness. I don´t have problem mounting the PJ any place in ceiling.

Thank you very much for you help, I´ll aprecciate a lot

HiHoStevo · 23-10-2009, 5:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

I'm on the road again this weekend, but some quick answers to some questions.

1, Contrast on/off calibrated was 4998:1 (will add to review when I get 5 minutes as I forgot to ad it.)
2, No issues with focus or uniformity, no bright corners and generally good image brightness uniformity.
3, Blacks - improved on last year, generally good. Not as deep or fluid as our reference projector - but half the price.
4. Unclear on colour gamut and accuracy on HD550 until I test it.
5. HW15 will be reviewed and should compete well with the Panny, but until I get hold of one for testing here, hard to say for sure.

I'll answer any other questions after the weekend.

Lumens?

darinp2 · 23-10-2009, 6:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

1, Contrast on/off calibrated was 4998:1 (will add to review when I get 5 minutes as I forgot to ad it.)

Thanks Phil. I see that in your AE3000 review you got 4228:1. I'm assuming that was with the dynamic iris disabled also.

--Darin

DVDIT · 23-10-2009, 11:49 PM

Thanks for the review Phil. I see that the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level scored lower than the AE3000. Does this mean the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level of the AE4000 not as good as the AE3000s ?

logan_ross · 24-10-2009, 12:17 AM

Hi, clarification requested:

Early in the review you indicated that the Color 1 and Color 2 presets could not be calibrated. Can you indicate which preset mode you calibrated to get the reported calibrated results?

Thank you in advance.

Paul_Blythe · 24-10-2009, 3:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVDIT

Thanks for the review Phil. I see that the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level scored lower than the AE3000. Does this mean the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level of the AE4000 not as good as the AE3000s ?

I thought that also. A re-read of Phil's review says that the AE4000 is an improvement over last years model, in both black levels and dynamic range / contrast ratio. The AE4000's score is based against the new reference model, JVC's 950 PJ.

Phil's also posted the new pj's CR in this thread; just short of the 5000 mark. IMHO, unless Sony's HW15 or JVC's 550 offer the same level of image calibration as the Panasonic, I'm more than willing to take a hit on the dynamic range front, to get a correctly calibrated image

Navnut · 24-10-2009, 3:37 PM

Hi Phil

How does the AE4000 on/off contrast ratio compare to the old JVC HD1?

thanks

**Phil Hinton** · 24-10-2009, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DVDIT

Thanks for the review Phil. I see that the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level scored lower than the AE3000. Does this mean the Contrast ratio/dynamic range and black level of the AE4000 not as good as the AE3000s ?

No, it just means we are 12 months or more on from last years projectors and the scores reflect the fact that the goal posts of what the competition does have moved from last year. Plus it is also scored against our reference point projector but not as heavinly weighted as to where the rest of market has moved to. Hope that makes sense.

**Phil Hinton** · 24-10-2009, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by logan_ross

Hi, clarification requested:

Early in the review you indicated that the Color 1 and Color 2 presets could not be calibrated. Can you indicate which preset mode you calibrated to get the reported calibrated results?

Thank you in advance.

You cannot use the CMS system in the colour 1 & 2 modes as they are pre-calibrated by Panasonic. I used Cinema 1 as my starting point for the calibration as all controls are available in this mode. Hope that helps.

**Phil Hinton** · 24-10-2009, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by darinp2

Thanks Phil. I see that in your AE3000 review you got 4228:1. I'm assuming that was with the dynamic iris disabled also.

--Darin

Yes, I don't use dynamic iris functions on most projectors as I go for the more consistant image over one being changed by a function. All measurements are with the Iris off. I hope that helps.

rmerlano · 25-10-2009, 4:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmerlano

Hi Phil, thank you for your review, GREAT!

I would like you help me with 1 question.
I want to get this projector, I have a doubt:

The PT-AE4000 will do a great job (1080p of course) on screen size of 150" gain 1.1? I can control totally the light, come, I can get total darkness. I don´t have problem mounting the PJ any place in ceiling.

Thank you very much for you help, I´ll aprecciate a lot

Phil, could you help me?

pierreye · 25-10-2009, 10:24 AM

I had a demo of JVC RS10 in my theater room and I'm not very impress with it. The reason is I'm used to DLP higher ANSI contrast picture which have a kind of 3D feeling to it. Does AE4000 picture produce a kind of 3D feeling to it? That's the only thing that hold me back from getting a LCOS or LCD projector.

**Phil Hinton** · 25-10-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmerlano

Phil, could you help me?

I think you would be pushing things in terms of lumens and ftl on such a large screen. I would say that anything over 115" -120" would be the maximum I would want to go to after using this projector. Hope that helps.

**Phil Hinton** · 25-10-2009, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pierreye

I had a demo of JVC RS10 in my theater room and I'm not very impress with it. The reason is I'm used to DLP higher ANSI contrast picture which have a kind of 3D feeling to it. Does AE4000 picture produce a kind of 3D feeling to it? That's the only thing that hold me back from getting a LCOS or LCD projector.

The Panasonic is like the JVC's in that the image does not look as digital as some DLPs and other projectors. There is plenty of depth on offer on the JVC and Panasonics when set up correctly. Only your eyes and set up can determine if the Panasonic is for you so I would recommend a demo and see it for yourself. Hope that helps.

fowl3r · 25-10-2009, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fowl3r

how does it compare to the infocus in80/x10 for overall picture quality? in your opinion is it worth £400 more than the ae3000 ? thanks phil!

any advice would be appreciated cheers m8

**Phil Hinton** · 25-10-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fowl3r

any advice would be appreciated cheers m8

The Panasonic in my opinion offers more than the models you list. However, you need to go and demo it yourself to see what you personally think (there are a few forum supporting dealers who will have demo units - if you can, try and get a home demo). In my opinion the PT-AE4000 offers enough in terms of performance to suggest you look at it over the PT-AE3000. Hope that helps.

rmerlano · 25-10-2009, 2:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

I I would say that anything over 115" -120" would be the maximum I would want to go to after using this projector. Hope that helps.

I didn´t understand at all

Do you think so that AE400o won´t be a great projector for this image size?
Do you think the maximum screen size should be 120"?

Thank´s a lot and apologize my understanding, I´m new in this subject...

logan_ross · 25-10-2009, 9:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmerlano

I didn´t understand at all

Do you think so that AE400o won´t be a great projector for this image size?
Do you think the maximum screen size should be 120"?

Thank´s a lot and apologize my understanding, I´m new in this subject...

I am currently demo-ing the Sony HW15 and the Panny 3000 (can't get the 4000 yet) with a Carada 128" 2.35:1 screen (1.4 gain). I calibrate both modes using a Colorvision Spyder (I use an HTPC).

I am quite happy with movies in Cinema 3 mode on the Panny at this size. I think the picture looks great although if I want more pop I run it in normal mode. I suspect I will not need to run movies in normal mode with the ae4000 due to the higher output.

mickg007 · 02-11-2009, 4:16 PM

Phil - thanks for the detailed review

How would you compare the new 4000 to the JVC HD350? I am looking for my first projector but just cant decide between these 2. I am going to be using it for movies/ps3/sport.

Too many people are saying that the JVC 350 outshines the old Panasonic AE3000 model - does the new AE4000 step up to the 350 performance heights

Thanks

Mick