Panasonic PT-AE4000 upgrade...

(GTV)Chris

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Hi
Not been on here for a while.
I have a Panasonic PT-AE4000, which is nearly at 4000 hours on the original bulb!! It still looks very impressive. I love the contrast and the colour.
I demo'd the Epson TW9400 and although it has more resolution at 4K (Which is what I am looking for), It wasn't as dynamic as the Panasonic. It was a lot flatter in my opinion, and dark scenes were a little washed out. The room I saw it in did let some light in and it may have been that, but my room at home isn't exactly blacked out, but the PT-AE4000 seemed to have a better contrast?
Do you think it was just a bad demo of the epson?
If I buy a projector for 2.5K and it isn't as pleasing to look at, I'll throw up.
Is there a great upgrade out there to this projector that is 4K. Everything seems well out of my price range so I may have to look for a second hand JVC or Sony?
By the way, I can't do DLP as I see the dreaded rainbows. I just want that lovely black that the panasonic seems to deliver.
Cheers all

Chris
 
If you felt the blacks didn’t do it for you with the Epson then I seriously doubt you’ll be bowled over by the basic 4K Sonys either. Your sole option is getting a JVC at £5K or look secondhand for a JVC X7??? which like the Epson is an e-shifter and take to gamble that always comes with buying used.
 
I thought that may be the case :( I may just stick with what I have until I can afford a proper upgrade.
 
I'd say that the Epson EH-TW9400 is a vastly superior projector to the old PT-AE4000. If you'd have said you had a AT5000/AT6000 then I would have understood your comments as this was a much bigger step forward in overall quality over your AE4000. I did feel that most Panasonic did produce a slightly over saturated colouring effect (not that I didn't like it either - but once you saw a Panasonic professionally calibrated - you certainly saw how terrible it really was) compared to where LCD colour reproductions are today

As for everything else other than excluding one area (which you'll get to below), sadly your old Panasonic will be left in the dark ages. The Epson is a significant step up with contrast, black detail not to mention sharpness plus the colours are more accurate in the real world. As AE4000 was based on Epson's own 1080p LCD 3LCD technology with Panasonic adding their smoothscreen tech (which removed the screen door effect) you should see some similarities between yours and it.

One area where I don't think anyone can dispute was Panasonic's tweaks which made it seriously good with most difficult panning shots (A feat even Epson with their own tech haven't managed to replicate yet (This is still true for many older Panasonic projectors and its not only Epson today who struggle to better Panasonic's ability based on price, but almost every competing brand within a four figure price point band)).

With the exception of movement, your AE4000 shouldn't have come out anywhere near it. So my guessing is you have had a poor demonstration of this beast or maybe it was poorly configured
 
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Hi,
I think you may be right. The ambient light wasn't well controlled at the time of seeing the Epson.
I just watched John Wick 3 on my Panasonic and it looked stunning. As you rightly pointed out, it is very colour saturated and maybe I have become accustomed to this look.
there was certainly detail in the blacks and didn't appear too crushed.
I am awaiting another demo when the shop has updated their viewing room and I will hopefully get a much better opinion.
I am also looking into perhaps a grey projector screen over the white I currently have :)
Cheers
 
With the 9400, you will not need a grey screen unless you are going to watch the projector in poor conditions.

One thing I can tell you is that the 9400 produces black detail at the highest standard compared to any other LCD projector before it. As you have noticed, it doesn't crush the black detail either. Now I'm not saying its upto JVC standards, that would be silly as they are naturally good in this arena compared to other technologies in the same way the laser light projectors produces great black detail too, but beside those, for the money, they are almost impossible to ignore for quality
 

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