Read this over at Avsforum. Although you can't really judge a projector from these shows it made for an interesting read. Can't wait for a head to head betweem all these new D5 panel LCDs...
Will the panny come out on top???
Najeeb from Avsforum
' Along with a friend, I saw the AE900 at CEDIA and, first of all, both of us agree that it was among the best of the show. The other projectors that stood out were the Yamaha 1300 (720P DLP with HQV), and the Sony VPL-100 (1080P 15k:1) I'd even risk to step into the line of fire by saying that the picture on the AE900 was better than these other two.
The projector was shown on a 120" Stewart Greyhawk. The engineer was quite upset that they didn't get the matte white that they asked for to fully demo the unit's capabilities. The unit was shown in Cinema 1 mode with all controls set to default. We saw a run through the other modes but Cinema 1 was the most accurate. The sources were DVHS and a Panasonic DVD-S97 set to 480P on HDMI.
They now have a menu option to allow 1:1 pixel mapping for use with an external scaler, etc. i.e. no overscan with the option enabled.
The smoothscreen has been changed to offer less smoothing. The picture was very detailed as compared to the AE700. I've had many people comment that other projectors give a sharper image than the AE700 in direct comparison and I have to agree. The AE900 has a dead sharp image but still no screendoor. Finally, it has an image sharp enough to compare to DLP. (If not better since there's no screendoor.
Dynamic sharpness control. It is able to increase sharpness without inducing ringing in the picture.
The lens shift is the same as the in the units shipped within the last couple of months. Very smooth - no jerkiness or overshoot.
RS232 control - unfortunately, this replaces the trigger output.
There was NO
VB that could be seen in any case on the demo.
All things considered, I think we have a new benchmark projector. When a 720P LCD can offer a picture competitive with many 1st gen 1080P DLP projectors, you realize that in the end, the consumer wins.
Awesome projector Panasonic! I look forward to getting my hands on one for my personal use ASAP '
Linear Mode
