I`m convinced Panny v. Others

K

karl

Guest
I had the chance to see a Panny Ae100 and Runco Reflection CL-500 (DLP - £5,500) at my local dealers. They were displayed one after the other - same size (7ft) screen, DVD player, software & progressive v. non-progressive.

The Runco was undeniably better - brighter and improved contrast but not (for me) £4000 better.

A 7ft screen but no screen door was evident with the Panny - at about same distance I would be sitting in my setup.

The internal processing of the Runco was very good with region 2 discs - effectively turned them into progressive like quality.

The panny noticebly benefitted from progressive input - they could show me both PAL & NTSC.

Well I`m convinced on a Panasonic - my dealer is charging £1,500. I know I can get it for approx £1280 online but I appreciate the time and effort they have put in - If they can do it for approx £1400 - I`ll be happy & they have stock.

I was very impressed with the big screen experience. It was far better brightness / contrast than I was expecting for the money.

I will be purchasing a Pal progressive player Philips Q50/962SA via Hivizone or Austrailia - see AE100 DVD player posts.

I will probably get a ProV unit to tidy up SKY digital - using a SKY+ box.

I need a good quality 7ft screen (manual is fine) - Any suggestions ?

Ideally I would like to be able to reverse the screen on the roller. I will be mounting it on the far side of a square archway. So when the screen is pulled down it is effectively projecting onto the "back" of the screen. I want to do it this way to hide the screen mechanism from the main part of the room - I always do it the hard way !

I also saw a Sim200 at Sevenoaks in Leicester - I thought the Runco was better. A little unfair the Sim200 was £4k perhaps a better comparison would be the Sim200DM at about same price as the Runco.

Any views / tips on any of the above.

Thanks
 
Yes, have you tried a Sanyo PLV30 ( won the wot hi fi group test this month, if you trust that sort of thing ).

The thing about the Sanyo is its been going for some time and is ultra reliable and handles virtually any input, Pal prog etc etc.

The only real downside is a noisy fan, but given that my PJ is mounted about a foot from my ear ( that sounds a bit strange ) it is only intrusive in the quiet parts, but less than pop corn munching, which my wife encourages.

The picture quality is great, if you look real hard you can see the famed screen door, I tend to watch the film as thats where everything is happening.

I have had legions of people round, all with views about how poor PJ are, but after a film they are all asking prices and looking to buy.

962 is great, nothing I can add, its just great, gets on with its job, pictures look stunning and sound is clear, no difficulties with any discs as yet.
 
Just to add, the Sanyo is now 1700 pounds through a dealer not 2000 as usualy advertised.
 
Yes try the Sanyo plv-30 as well, I tested it against the panny, sony and sim and found it best value for money.

Especially as you mentioned that you want to watch Sky (a lot of 4:3 material) you can still watch it BIG especially if you clean-up the signal as you said......

Cheers,

JP
 
Originally posted by karl

I need a good quality 7ft screen (manual is fine) - Any suggestions ?

Ideally I would like to be able to reverse the screen on the roller. I will be mounting it on the far side of a square archway. So when the screen is pulled down it is effectively projecting onto the "back" of the screen. I want to do it this way to hide the screen mechanism from the main part of the room - I always do it the hard way !


Thanks


I got an owl electric screen. seems ok to me.
The owl scren can be mounted on the wall or to the ceiling so it doesnt make any difference if you reversed the mechanism, so should not be a prob. Not sure about other screens .
 
I use the Owl electric screen as well and can confirm that you can use it 'reversed' when ceiling mounted.

Just make certain the joists are in the right place to hang it where you want it as it is a lot of weight and a lot of pulling when you use a manually operated screen.

Cheers,

Jean-Paul
 
I thought I had made my mind up re: the PJ - well it looks like back to the drawing board.

I have not seen much about the Sanyo - I`ll dig around a bit.

Any more views re: Panny v Sanyo ?

Any suggestions regarding screens ?
Which screen / material / gain best suits Panny (or similar) in terms of price to performance ?

I don`t really need electric but if it is the right price I`ll consider it.

Just when I thought it was safe to go shopping !
 
Any more views re: Panny v Sanyo ?

I own the AE100 my Brother has the plv-30, the plv-30 has a better scaler but it has a 4:3 panel :( , go for the AE100, its 16:9 and looks great from progressive scan, it also does 5000 hours in eco mode (price about £260, the plv-30 does 2000 and the lamp is more expensive about £350, I think.
The plv-30 is just to noisy for my liking.

Have a demo of the plv-30 also, you may like it.
 
Just because you will be feeding sky, doesn't automatically mean you'll watch a lot of 4:3. Sky one are supposed to be going widescreen by the end of the year, and a lot of their stuff is US imports, the new seasons of which are often widescreen.

Plus don't forget most output of the terrestrial channels is widescreen now too.

So there are already clear benefits of having a 16:9 panel, and this can only grow.

Your original post sounded like you had made up your mind, and had everything sorted. Pretty much the same line up as me - AE100, ProV, Philips 962 (maybe 963 by the time I buy)

Just go for it.
 

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