[dancingmatt]

Hi

I'm choosing between a Z3, TX100 and AE700 - and would appreciate any comments you've got on the quality of their upscaling abilities. Basically I'm going to be mainly watching PAL DVDs and PC games on it at native 1280x720 resolution, and I've read good stuff on that - but I know I'll want to try other sources and get asked to take it around a mate's for gaming!

So what are any of these 3 PJs like for upscaling-

-Set-top Freeview i.e. not through an HTPC
-Gamecube
-Non-hidef unchipped Xbox
-Older consoles like SNES, Dreamcast etc.

(What resolution are all these anyway?)

Would really appreciate anyone who's got one of these PJs quickly letting me know what it's like with the above HD sources. Thinking of finally just getting one right now for next-best-to-being-there Live 8 on Saturday...!

Ta
DM

I am thinking of one of these 3 pjs also and would love some advice.

[sainthalo]

Originally Posted by dancingmatt

Hi

I'm choosing between a Z3, TX100 and AE700 - and would appreciate any comments you've got on the quality of their upscaling abilities. Basically I'm going to be mainly watching PAL DVDs and PC games on it at native 1280x720 resolution, and I've read good stuff on that - but I know I'll want to try other sources and get asked to take it around a mate's for gaming!

So what are any of these 3 PJs like for upscaling-

-Set-top Freeview i.e. not through an HTPC
-Gamecube
-Non-hidef unchipped Xbox
-Older consoles like SNES, Dreamcast etc.

(What resolution are all these anyway?)

Would really appreciate anyone who's got one of these PJs quickly letting me know what it's like with the above HD sources. Thinking of finally just getting one right now for next-best-to-being-there Live 8 on Saturday...!

Ta
DM

There are not many HD sources at present. Of the above only some PC games (check individual games) and some XBOX games (on a modded or ntsc console with hidef component pack) will ever be hidef. Also you can find some hidef movies etc on bittorrent or newsgroups.

Of the three projectors the Sanyo Z3 is my personal favourite. Search around for the features but no other one had 3 year warranty and dust removal. Also with the new filtered settings in the tweak thread it has the best picture too that I have seen (have demoed all three but only tweaked the Z3).

[scumball]

It seems more people have the Panasonic but all three projectors are universally liked on the forums for their price and performace.

You will get varying replies saying the pros for each.

I use mine with an XBox (hi-def mode), and when it kicks back to 525i it's a BIG drop off in quality, but it's still very impressive on an 8ft screen and it really only looks bad because you know how good it can look when fed a 720p image (like Soul Calibur II or THUG 2).

Either demo them, or read through the forum and make a decision on what you need (price, inputs, throw distance v screen sixe etc.) All three of these models have been covered in great detail over the last few months - get searching the threads.

[dancingmatt]

SD!

SD!!

I meant standard definition sources!!! That was a typo cos I sent it late last night from my phone...

Cheers sainthalo - I know all about the features and about the HD sources - what I want to know is how good any of these 3 PJs are with non-HD stuff like the Gamecube, Freeview, etc. I'm drawn to the Z3 for the same features but if someone says it's upscaling is poor, or the TX100 or AE700 are simply much much better at upscaling Freeview (for example) then that will change my mind...

That explains why I haven't got any other replies - I want to know the quality of STANDARD def please!!

Help please
DM

[dancingmatt]

Originally Posted by scumball

Either demo them, or read through the forum and make a decision on what you need (price, inputs, throw distance v screen sixe etc.) All three of these models have been covered in great detail over the last few months - get searching the threads.

Hi scumball

Yeah I know, I've done loads of searching and read loads on all of them over months - and I'm drawn to the Z3 more than the others because of the cleaning the dust blobs and the warranty - but can be sold on either of the others. For example I just noticed I can get the TX100 for £130 less than a Z3... which is a big saving!

They'll all do for price, inputs, throw etc. I can't demo them as I've posted in other threads. I just want some user opinions on what they're like when not viewing the best sources they can... Freeview for example.

Ta

DM

[sainthalo]

I often view cable tv on my Z3 using scart to svideo connection on the Z3. Picture is fine, not as good as via my HTPC but very good and watchable for footy, films, tv etc

[spickee]

Got my Z3 a couple of weeks ago and fed composite from an xbox or dvd player (only got a cheapie at the minute) it is fine. Got the HD pack for the xbox and that blew me away, and I've not even got any 720p games only a few 480 ones, PGR2 and Forza look real purty. Can't wait to get a decent DVD player.

With the setting mods from Rone that are floating around on here as well it has really improved the brightness and contrast making this a much friendlier ambient light projector.

[sainthalo]

Have to agree, with spickee, with the latest powerful start settings from the thread below it really "pops" the Z3 picture off the wall!

http://www.avforums.com/forums/projectors/163330-z3-test-review-htpc-smart-iii-follow-post1771920.html

[dancingmatt]

Thanks everyone so far... no chance of getting it at the best price in time for Live8, shame, but please keep opinions coming...

I'm not planning on wasting bulb life by using it as a tv, but it seems the Z3 is good for it when I do? What about the others? Probably last chance for Pan and Hitachi users to get me to join their camps!

DM

[PJTX100]

I've never watched anything other than DVD on the TX. Watched I-Robot on it last night. The detail was completely awesome. Better than the 32" Pixel Plus TV I previously owned. As for the pic popping off the wall, I run mine IRIS 4 which gives great blacks but an amazingly snappy image. IRIS 10 is the brightest but you'd need sunglasses for that setting. Have you looked at the head-to-head between these machines on cine4home.de? In German but it can be translated...PJ

[dancingmatt]

I've tried and tried and tried again to read that head-to-head. Got some of it but there's always a point where the translation stops and the rest of the page is in German. I've tried Babelfish, online-translator (which just times out) and another one too...

Ah well. I think my mind is made up...

[dancingmatt]

On a similar note, are there any sources for which a PLV-Z3, TX100 or Panny AE700 doesn't work? Either they won't display at all, or the resolution is awful?

[Kopite4Ever]

right will give my little say. for your last question ive tried near enough all Res's and Video sizes under the sun and my Tx takes all of them with no fuss at different refresh rates. 1080p scaled down nearly well did get me wet

now onto xbox : i find the xbox image to be acceptable but not amazing. let me explain why. firstly i will say 480p is 10x that of 576i. but the problem lies in scaling up 480p to 720p. there are countless 'jaggies' for lack of a better word on the image due to this scaling. i know ive had my friends round and they dont even see it they see a 100" halo 2 image. now the reason i say i find it acceptable is my standards are very very high being a pc gamer. you can see by my Sig i run my pc games at 1280x720 with all the bell's & whistles with loads of AA so the image is truely 2nd to none. dont get me wrong xbox is ok but i probably expect to much. the plus point is if your into the game and dont look for the image deficiencies you will not notice them what so ever !!!! xbox games that ouput HD are truly superb !!!

also got a freeview usb2 on my pc and again find it acceptable but not great due to the fact ive got in excess of 500Gb worth of High Def material inc CL final and tv shows.

hope my droning on helps will be happy to answer more Q's