[spylab]

After hours of isf calibration (7700 with previous calibration in the same room)
between LCDs winner is 900 by a small but obvious amount.
the diference from z4 was a bit more than expected

7700 better white and black and better contrast by 5-10 %(for me 5%) but with visible rainbow

900 with better sharpness not intrusive auto iris and we did not find the smooth screen to make the picture blur.
With color 900 a little bit better than 7700 or for some equall.
pixels were visible a bit less with 900.

From the new LCDs panasonic takes the lead

If rainbow is not an issue overall 7700 has a small margin

for me that i see rainbow 900 is the winner

The calibration was done by the only isf calibrator in Greece

dvd denon 3910 with dvimagic (spatz) to split in 2 dvi to hdmi cables

the test was side by side pana vs 7700 first,

pana vs z4

and pana vs hitachi at the end

the hitachi had a violet tint and maybe there was some problem with the unit

[n0s]

Was the Panasonic sharp enough compard to the Z4, i keep reading reviews saying that the panasonic isnt sharp enough, which really worries me.

[spylab]

It is comparable in sharpness.In HD maybe z4 was a click sharper for some of the guys
We did not expect to find 900 so sharp.I know about the reviews and i cant explain them.

[Anim]

the AE900 is my pick at the moment too. From research alone it has a better deinterlacer, less screen door and is a touch brighter after calibrated. Its also much better out the box and the Dynamic Iris seems to do a better job than the others.

Probably apples and oranges at the end of the day but we need a few more AE900 users in here :D Maybe they are here but they just dont need to tweak yet :P

[n0s]

Well thats pretty good news, im gonna go demo them both, then make my choice for purchase, if there is anyone out there that believes the 900 isnt sharp enough let me know, id love to hear some other opinions...

[spylab]

Make sure to see them side by side
If u pass by Athens Greece i will arrange the perfect demo.

[n0s]

Thats a very kind offer, i will bear it in mind...

[spylab]

Diagrams after basic DVE calibration

First 4 7700
second 4 pj 200
third 4 z4

soon i will post pana 900 too

[Gary Lightfoot]

Hi Spy,

Thanks for posting the info.

Were those measurments taken before D65 calibration and represent 'out of the box' readings? What calibration hardware were you using? I take it the software is Colorfacts?

None look really bad for 'out of the box' like some pjs can, and the 7700 has a typical DLP gamut (green a little towards yellow) that looks surprisingly better than the LCDs. I would normaly expect the LCD gamut to extend beyond the system gamut (I assume PAL?). Are you using the Colorfacts constrain feature for the gamut? Did you get them all to D65 and take lumen and contrast measurements as well? Those would be really useful numbers IMHO.

Thanks

Gary.

[bladerunner8801]

PC Format also does a projector review this month Hitachi TX200 Takes the honours closley followed by AE900, probably not much to choose between these models?

I am going for a demo of the AE900 and TX200 this morning. I will let you know how I get on and which one I end up going for.

[dazmd]

Originally Posted by redrider

I am going for a demo of the AE900 and TX200 this morning. I will let you know how I get on and which one I end up going for.

Can i ask where your going for the demo as i'm intersted in the outcome...

Originally Posted by dazmd

Can i ask where your going for the demo as i'm intersted in the outcome...

Went to Krish AV in Chiswick. They were very helpful and let me connect my XBOX 360 up as a test as well as using their DVD. Ending up coming up with the TX200 has I found it gave a brighter picture. I acutally found that there was not much difference between the two.

[spylab]

Gary in our little Greek forum we have a isf calibrator as a member that does
all that job for us before our side by side tests

He tell us that the pjs are not 100% calibrated but close enough

I believe he uses Colorfacts

For the 7700 he told us that is a bit dificult to get the last 5 -10 % out of it
and that it gives him a bit of hard time.....

unfortunately I cant answer your technical questions

I posted the diagrams to show that basic calibration was done but actually i am not sure i did not mix pre and after and i did not want to post many pictures

In very few days we are going to test a precalibrated Projectiondesign
Action model III 1080 (with crystalio2) and we try to get a Ruby for side by side
This time i will try be more specific

For the rest of the guys i should tell that they mast see optoma 72 too

[PJTX100]

Stroke of luck finding a 900 without VB though.

[spylab]

Yes VB was very slight .

Inrfact that inconsistency of lcds was one of the reasons for me to buy a dlp

[bladerunner8801]

TX200 Good choice i think it gives a great picture.

I went to demo the projectors yesterday, I must say Roy Jowwets/discount tv are excellent, anyway a break down,

The panasonic ae900:
using a hd demo of the paul mcartney super bowl concert, very good picture and blacks and colour,

Gladiator first war scene - again very good colours and blacks picture sharp.

Gladiator Colosium fight - very bright with good skin tones and colour.

Xbox 360 - demo of lost planet, and motogp 6 demo - amazing picture very vibrant colours and blacks.

The Hitachi tx200:
using a hd demo of the paul mcartney super bowl concert, very sharp image, blacks look abit hazy grey and colours a bit washed out.

Gladiator first war scene - again a very sharp picture but blacks look abit hazy grey, colours not as vibrant as the panny.

Gladiator Colosium fight - image sharp, very bright with o.k skin tones and colour.

Xbox 360 - demo of tigerwoods 06 , and motogp 6 demo - amazing sharp picture, colours not as good as panny.

To sum up:

panasonic ae900 , good picture, very good blacks and colours.

Hitachi tx200 , great sharp image, not bad colours and blacks

so which one, I cannot decide both same price as well

Anyone who has seen both projectors like to comment on my comments?

Thanks

by the way these babys are much better than a lcd tv or a plasma for the same money!!!!

[spylab]

I vote for Pany
But actually the difference is very small for my eyes

Is a DLP out of the question for you?

If not give a look at optoma 72 infocus 76