Comments on: CEDIA 2009 – New Home Theater Projectors – Part 1

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:44:46 +0000

Ravi, I have no idea as to where to tell you to start. If you want to show 3D movies then you will need gear currently capable of showing them. Today, that’s probably limited to high end 3 chip DLP projectors, and there goes your first $100,000 – $1,000,000.

To do what you probably want to do, will require 3D movies to be home capable, such as watching Avatar in 3D off of a PS3… The Blu-ray and HDMI standards are brand new, and nothing out there for consumers, is capable yet.

Figure by the fall, there may be some sort of path for you. -art

By: Ravi Nikam

Ravi Nikam — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:43:23 +0000

I wnat start mini 3d theatre in my city.plz guide me yhe proper way..

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:53:35 +0000

It looks like a MAP of $1999. If that’s the case, yes, it’s well below the best competition. Certainly the Panny and Epson slug it out every year, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see some last minute price repositioning caused by this. A bold move by Panasonic. This is probably not great news for dealers, as they will probably be squeezed in margin, as it looks like a key price point will now change. $2500 – $3000 now becomes $2000 – $2500. And of course additional performance. Certainly the Panny has all the gadgets. Well they both have CFI. The Epson will probably still have the black level advantage, and the panasonic, nice things like their lens memory shift, for those that want to go 2.35:1 screen with no letterbox. I personally favored the Epson over the Panny last year, overall, as the one I would go with. This year, the Panny looks very formidable. We shall see. -art

By: John Thacker

John Thacker — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:35:39 +0000

It seems like, despite the no-show and the resultant speculation, Panasonic will be releasing the AE4000U in North America. And even better, the MSRP is only $2499. If the long-standing Panasonic tradition of having MAPs and street prices well below MSRP continues, then this could be around $2000. I dare say that would affect the Epson 8500U's "somewhere below $3000 but not decided yet" MSRP.

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:33:21 +0000

Hi Peter,

I agree that 3D has a lot to offer. I’m already paying attention, but it’s pre-mature, from the home theater side. I hope to get a shot at reviewing one of the Digital Projection 3D projectors later this year. Looks like I’ll be getting a 3D optimized screen from Da-lite or Stewart. I’m working on content, etc.

I’ve seen Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D in the theaters, and I thought that was pretty well done, not too “over the top”. I’ve seen a music video that was outstanding (not anyone I heard of, just they made the most out of 3D.

I believe, however, that 3D will likely be driven by the gamers at least to getting us to a standard. Just think about a true 3D Halo, or what about 3D Madden NFL football. The possibilities are staggering.

That said, we will need standards. My best guess is we are probably 2-3 years out, before we can expect anything practical in projectors and maybe longer. I could be wrong – keep an eye on LCDTV and Plasmas they will lead the projectors (as they do in many regards). -art

By: Peter Hodson

Peter Hodson — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:50:59 +0000

Art,

Just took the kids to a 3D movies last night. I thought it was going to make me sick and just be a waste of time but boy was I wrong.

3D enhanced the movie watching experience significantly. Prior to the movie start there was the regular bunch of trailers but there was a sequence of 3D trailers. There was CG as you would expect but also a couple with live characters in 3D. All I kept saying to myself was once this hits the market and a good projector hits the market I am putting it in my NY theater.

I think 3D will create a much improved movie experience and once folks get a taste of it in the movies they will start to desire it in their homes…

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:05:16 +0000

That’s my take Dave,

It’s very early on. Little content. I do think 3D will be more driven by the gamers than the movie people, but such standards are being discussed. Certainly things are fluid.

I’m figuring that it will be at least 3 years before all the basics are in place for 3D to START – to go mainstream. Until that point, even, there will be very little happening. The biggest push I’m hearing about to 3D, is on the biz and education side. Business have been interested and using for years for medical imaging, assorted scientific rendering, etc. I hear a lot of content is starting to be developed for K-12 schools. That could also be a big driving force, but that’s a separate class of products. Buy something today, don’t expect full 3D compatibility with what’s out there in 2-3 years. That doesn’t mean some content won’t become available, but, who knows what the real standards will be – might be 240hz for example, and I know of no projectors for the home at 240 hz yet, hey we’re just starting to get a fair number capable of 120fps.
-art

By: Dave D.

Dave D. — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:00:15 +0000

I wonder if it is possible, that some of the no shows are waiting on a standardization of the 3D format, before manufacturing new models.

By: Scott M

Scott M — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:27:08 +0000

Panasonic Projector Global site now has PT AE4000 manuals(they have both a user guide and functional manuals this year) and product brochures posted and includes reference to USA & Canada.

So it seem the 4000 is on its way, just not sure when…

http://www.panasonic.net/avc/projector/manual/

http://www.panasonic.net/avc/projector/catalog/

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:17:20 +0000

Other than trim, it seems that: The HD990 and RS35 are identical.
Same for the HD950 and RS25.
For the RS15 and HD550, there does seem to be one difference, besides trim. The RS15 has a 12 volt screen trigger the HD550 doesn’t. Oh, that’s right, the RS15 claims 32,000:1 vs. 30,000:1. I doubt there’s any real difference there. -a