[miketheman2k]

Been a big Panasonic fan in the last few years having owned an AE100 then my current AE700...the question is now, is it worth upgrading to the AX100? Will I notice the same difference again that I did with the AE100 to AE700 upgrade (with SD material).

I've thought long and hard about waiting for the AE1000 but at £1000 more it just seems a bit too much for 1080 when 720 will look almost as good.

So has anyone seen both, or made the switch themselves?

Thanks.

[miketheman2k]

Well this thread got over 100 views but no responses, since I changed the AE700 to an AX100 I thought I'd give some rather amatuer comparisons.

First difference I noticed was the mounting plate for the ceiling mount - they've changed it , so I visited LMP who immediately sorted me out with a universal plate (very well made!).

Second difference - its even quieter than the '700 even in normal mode.

Thirdly - it looks better on the ceiling thanks to it being white and even though its quite a lot bigger than the '700, the AX100 looks pretty good...not that anyone should buy a projector for that reason

So I set about taking some comparison shots - I know they're not absolutely identical (although all within less than a second of each other) but the camera's settings where left exactly the same - so the differences you see are the real deal....

AE700 on the left ------- AX100 on the right

To be honest, I thought the initial difference when I first set it up would be more obvious. However the more I watch it, the more I appreciate the subtle improvements (better contrast, better in ambient light, quieter, slightly brighter, better colour balance and no vertical banding ). I still think I'll take the 1080 route in the next 18 months, but for now I'm content.

Oh and my x360 HD DVD drive turned up after I'd taken the ae700 down, so I couldn't compare the differences, but King Kong on the ax100 is simply amazing. Shame it's such a poor film

[PH001]

Great post Mike, you hardly ever see back to back comparisons like this so it is very useful to see the differences. As far as I can tell they are pretty subtle, but I can definitely notice slightly better colour saturation and contrast with the PTAX100E. You could probably tweak the settings of the AE700 and get similar saturation, it's only when you sit down and watch the thing when you realise the improvements - a lack of VB is definitely a major plus for me.

I'm setting my AX100 up this weekend

[phillfyspoon]

The big difference is on the lamborghini shot, the white is more white and has alot more pop. The ae700 to me is abit dim in cinema1 which is the only mode worth using for best colour.

[PH001]

Yeh, that is noticeable. There is also quite a marked differewnce on the Xbox360 logo highlights.

[Zone]

MOD COMMENT

As the images are comparison shots then I'll leave them (bigger the better usually but camera's do lie ) but for future can you make sure any embedded images are kept to 800pixels max against the longest edge

[pmc]

Is it just me or does the AX100 look a bit softer?

The colours do look a bit better though, it does seem to have a bit more oomph.

[phillfyspoon]

Originally Posted by pmc

Is it just me or does the AX100 look a bit softer?

The colours do look a bit better though, it does seem to have a bit more oomph.

hard to tell but alot of people are saying the sharpness is a massive leap from the older panasonics.

[miketheman2k]

Originally Posted by pmc

Is it just me or does the AX100 look a bit softer?

The colours do look a bit better though, it does seem to have a bit more oomph.

Ah, that may be down to my half-hearted setting up - not sure if the focus was 100% spot on at that stage

[calibos]

Originally Posted by miketheman2k

Been a big Panasonic fan in the last few years having owned an AE100 then my current AE700...the question is now, is it worth upgrading to the AX100? Will I notice the same difference again that I did with the AE100 to AE700 upgrade (with SD material).

I've thought long and hard about waiting for the AE1000 but at £1000 more it just seems a bit too much for 1080 when 720 will look almost as good.

So has anyone seen both, or made the switch themselves?

Thanks.

Arguably 1080p will look exactly the same as 720p unless you have a screen size of 130in+ sitting 1.5 screen height ratio away or on an average screen of 90in but sitting stupidly close. ie 5 or 6 ft away.

Point being until I move into a mansion and can fit a huge screen, 720p will serve all my needs. As such, if it was me I would wait till next year when 720p version of the in-organic high contrast D6 panels (The panel moniker escapes me!) of the AE1000 makes it into the latest Panny AX200.

Never really noticed much of a contrast jump when I switched generations as it was incremental. ie AE100-AE300-AE900. Sure I would going from AE100 straight to AE900 skipping AE300, AE500 and AE700. the AE700 was decent enough by all accounts. While you would undoubtably notice a difference I can't help bu feel you should wait till the jump is 5000:1 to 11000:1+ rather than 5000:1 (was this the AE700 C. Ratio?) to 6000:1.

In short I would upgrade to an AX100 if I had an AE500 or less but with an AE700 or AE900 I would wait till next year for the AX200

[miketheman2k]

Originally Posted by calibos

Never really noticed much of a contrast jump when I switched generations as it was incremental. ie AE100-AE300-AE900. Sure I would going from AE100 straight to AE900 skipping AE300, AE500 and AE700. the AE700 was decent enough by all accounts. While you would undoubtably notice a difference I can't help bu feel you should wait till the jump is 5000:1 to 11000:1+ rather than 5000:1 (was this the AE700 C. Ratio?) to 6000:1.

That's a valid point, and I think you're right to not upgrade to the next release rather wait 18+ months for some real ground-breaking features.

Having said that, the AE700 is 2000:1 and the AX100 is 6000:1.

[samhain]

When do Panasonic refresh their projectors then with an AX200 version?

For me the AX100 images are so much better than the 700. Night and day as far as I can see

[Onyxia]

Originally Posted by miketheman2k

That's a valid point, and I think you're right to not upgrade to the next release rather wait 18+ months for some real ground-breaking features.

Having said that, the AE700 is 2000:1 and the AX100 is 6000:1.

Maybe but the specs of all LCD projector contrast levels are with the aid of a dynamic iris, so you'll never get the really bright objects and deep black levels at the same time like the RS1. It had a pretty good example showing what a high brightness image would look like on the pearl and a low brightness image. As you can imagine contrast compression occurs so you'll never really have both bright and dark on the screen at the same time, it's either one or the other. Native contrast ratio is ~1000:1 even with the latest LCD panels. Calibos is right however, when lcd panels do come out with higher contrast without the aid of an iris then it would definitely be a good time to purchase.

I saw a thread on avsforum, from a guy who upgraded from a ae300 to a sanyo Z5, and he wasn't even that impressed. The black level is slightly better but you expect a lot better for a 5 generation jump, don't you think.

The RS1 seems to be the next big thing, but again the 1080p vs 720p raises it head. I'm with calibos on this one, high native contrast & 720p @ a cheap price will do perfectly. I'll hang onto my HS20 for now.