Panasonic AE100 pixel count

[RedRose]

Are my maths correct?
The PDF document which was posted for the Panny AE100 states that there are 1,240,000 pixels. A bit of basic algebra revaled that at a ratio of 16:9 this means that the pixel resolution of this pj is approx. 1476x840 pixels.
This sounds like a lot; it's more than the Sony 11HT. Am I getting confused, or is pj very well specced?

[RedRose]

Ahh....

I read a bit more carefully. It says the LCD panel is "0.7 in. (diagonal) Polysilicon TFT Wide LCD Panel (x3)". This x3, is it a case of one panel for each RGB colour? If so, then the *effective* pixel count would be 413,333 or in other words, a resolution of 864x480. Is this closer to the truth?

Yes, the 3 LCD panels are for three RGB colors.
And each LCD has a fixed resolution of 864x480.

864*480= 414720 pixels. (roughly 0.4 mega pixels)

864*480*3(three LCD panels)= 1244160 pixels. (roughly 1.2 mega pixles)


And for SONY 11HT,

1366*768= 1049088 pixels. (roughly 1.0 mega pixels)

1366*768*3(three LCD panels)= 3147264 pixels (roughly 3.1 mega pixels)

Basically, the 11HT has 2.5 times more pixels than the AE-100.

Hope this helps to clear out your maths.

P.S. Of course this does not mean the AE-100 is 2.5 times worse than the 11HT. AE-100 is the best selling projector in Japan at the moment. Excellent value for money for sure!

[RedRose]

Thanks, I thought it sounded a bit high.
So, here's a follow on question; which would look better, a 480-line DVD source played on 480 lines of display machinery (ie a 480 pixel pj) or a 480 line source expanded and re-interpolated to fill a display with a higher resolution (ie a Sony 11, Sanyo 60 etc.) with 768 horizontal pixels? I suppose the latter as long as the expansion algorithms are up to the job, 'cos then you'll get less screendoor, right? If this is true, how does one compare the quality of scalers?

[RedRose]

Thanks, I thought it sounded a bit high.
So, here's a follow on question; which would look better, a 480-line DVD source played on 480 lines of display machinery (ie a 480 pixel pj) or a 480 line source expanded and re-interpolated to fill a display with a higher resolution (ie a Sony 11, Sanyo 60 etc.) with 768 horizontal pixels? I suppose the latter as long as the expansion algorithms are up to the job, 'cos then you'll get less screendoor, right? If this is true, how does one compare the quality of scalers?

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Well it depends on the quality of the two devices. More pixels doesn't mean better quality. Screen door effect is due to space between the pixels not the amount of them. Big gap makes the pixels more obvious. Small gap makes them seamless.

More pixels means less stairstepping on moving edges of things.

You compare scalers the same way you should compare projectors. By completely forgetting about the specifications and by looking at them with your chosen display device. Scalers do more than scale. External scalers have colour video decoders in them and de-interlacERS. They can crush black level and clip white's. They can cause de-interlacing artefacts with different types of material. IE The scaler that's good for video might not be the best for film based material or games.

Gordon

[tryingtimes]

Hi
There is an excellent thread on AVS that covers the theoretical benefits of scaling.
Look out for the post by Bjoern Roy halfway down the second page with the screenshots of the word 'building'.

It is very well written and gives very good examples

Here is the link.

Enjoy - and don't worry if it seems too technical - look out for that post from Bjoern

Regards
Alex

[RedRose]

Thanks for the replies chaps,
The scaling thread was very interesting. I understand what they are getting at with the oversampling arguments.
It looks like the best overall solution is:
Use a HTPC to obtain high quality MPEG decoding, scaling and anitaliasing (also, you can easily upgrade or patch your Software DVD player if a better one comes along) then pump it into the highest resolution pj (I'm talking digital not CRT) you can afford and don't ask the projector to do *any* scaling. Have the HTPC do all the signal processing and production of progressive scan output, the pj's job is just to display as finely pixelated an image as it can muster.
I still need to see a demo of this new Panasonic, though