Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour 2 Posted on July 18, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Panasonic PT-AE8000U Home Theater Projector Review - Panasonic PT-AE8000U Projector Highlights - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Overview2. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features - PT-AE8000 Lens Memory and Lens Features - PT-AE8000 Projector: 3D - PT-AE8000 Projector 3D Glasses and Control - PT-AE8000 Gaming Abilities - PT-AE8000 Creative Frame Interpolation3. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features 2 - PT-AE8000 Waveform Generator and Side By Side - PT-AE8000 Dynamic Iris - Viera-Link4. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features 3 - PT-AE8000 2D to 3D Conversion - PT-AE8000 Lamp Life - Other Dynamic Controls5. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Appearance - PT-AE8000 Control Panel - PT-AE8000 Projector - Input/Output6. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour 2 - PT-AE8000 Menus - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Remote Control - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Lens Throw - PT-AE8000 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen7. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Flesh Tones8. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Image Quality - Black Levels Comparison - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: PT-AE8000 Projector - Bottom Line9. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality10. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports, including 3D - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports, and also 3D HDTV content11. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Brightness - Post Calibration: Best Mode = REC 709 - Post Calibration: Brightest Mode = Dynamic12. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 2 - 3D Brightness of the Panasonic PT-AE8000 - PT-AE8000 Eco-Mode vs. Full Power - PT-AE8000, Post Calibration, Best Mode (REC 709)13. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 3 - Comparing Picture Modes of the PT-AE8000: - Panasonic PT-AE8000 3D Brightness - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Bottom Line Brightness:14. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 4 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Sharpness - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise15. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Color Temperature - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Basic Settings16. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - PT-AE8000 Greyscale Calibration REC 709 Mode - PT-AE8000 RGB Settings17. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - CMS Adjustment Basics - Calibration Charts (Before and After)18. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Projector Screens - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Screen Recommendations - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Projector Screen - Cave / Home Theater - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Projector Screen - Family Room19. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. HD830020. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors 2 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. Sharp XV-Z3000021. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 5010 - Panasonic PT-AE4000 vs. Panasonic PT-AE800022. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Warranty23. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - The Bottom Line24. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line on the PT-AE8000 projector25. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Pros and Cons - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Pros - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Cons26. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Full Specifications PT-AE8000 MenusFor the time being, our menus photos of the PT-AE8000 are not edited yet. Below find the PT-AE7000’s menus, which are essentially identical PT-AE8000 Menu Slideshow Picture Mode First is the all important Picture Mode, almost all the controls affecting picture quality are found CMS Here are the all the color controls for adjusting the grayscale balance, as well as control for CFI (Frame Creation), dynamic sharpening (Detail Clarity), and the full CMS (color management system) Picture submenu Here's a sub-menu from Picture, showing the extensive, and sophisticated gamma control options Lens Memory Lens Memory controls let you save settings for one button operation to go from an anamorphic widescreen (ie. 2.35:1), to displaying conventional HDTV (16:9). A great feature for the hard core movie fans that want to elimate letter boxing when movie watching (but get letterboxing with HDTV), by using Lens Memory and a "Cinemascope" shaped screen. 3D menu The main 3D menu, with the appropriate options, which include converting 2D to 3D, selecting the type of 3D format (or auto), and more. On Screen Display menu Positioning the On Screen Display menu Options menu Onscreen Display, Lamp Power, and many other features are controlled by this Options menu Remote Control You can control other Panasonic HDMI devices, using Viera-Link, from this Panasonic's remote control Panasonic PT-AE8000 Remote ControlPanasonic remotes seem to look a lot a like from year to year, cosmetically, but Panasonic provides more basic features in some years, less in others. The PT-AE8000’s remote is smaller but, by no means tiny. It’s approximately 6 inches long, has good weight and is pretty well balanced. Nice sized buttons, plenty of space. Not a whole lot of individual controls (less than 20 buttons – some remotes have 30+). Mostly that means you don’t have one touch access to features like Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and instead go through the menus. That’s hardly a issue. Myself, I like good menus, and find having two dozen direct controls on a remote, to be more of a distraction, making it harder to find what I’m looking for on the remote. In the case of the PT-AE8000 remote, yes it has those basic features, and a few more. (BTW, note that the power button is once for on, twice for off – as is typical). Also of note, there’s the Lens button at the top right. That lets you set focus and zoom. Below it, is the Memory Load button which lets you switch back and forth between aspect ratios for that wide screen, if you went that route. Remotes should at minimum have a Source Button (direct sources, is nice though), one to select different Picture and User modes, Power (of course), and full navigation controls (Menu, arrows, Enter, etc.) Everything else, I figure, normally is fine on menus. In this Panasonic’s case, on the remote (2nd row) are both Picture Mode (select Cinema, Dynamic…), and Picture Adjust. Picture Adjust is Panasonic’s alternative to a lot of buttons. Each time you hit the up or down arrows, it scrolls you though each of those adjustments, such as Brightness…right and left arrow keys let you adjust each. The third row has Viera Link (which talks to other Panasonic products), and Panasonic’s very cool Waveform Generator (discussed on the first page). Also the 3D button is on that third row. Below that are the usual navigation controls, and further down a Sub-Menu button. The bottom row, has only Input Select (sources), and a programmable function key! The PT-AE8000 remote control is nicely backlit with a yellowish-white light. It’s neither dim, nor excessively bright. It’s small, good weight, well balanced. The backlight comes on with the touch of any button. Bottom line: The Panasonic remote is a very good one. Good range, good backlight, key buttons, a couple of cool features, and small enough to be well balanced as you use it. And nothing, really, not to like! By my take a very nice remote with no real flaws! Panasonic PT-AE8000 Lens ThrowAs previously noted, the PT-AE8000 has a manual 2:1 zoom lens. That makes the placement range almost as good as it gets. For a 100 inch diagonal 16:9 screen the front of the PT-AE8000 can be as close as 9.9 feet, or as far back as 19.8 feet. The thing is, some folks are buying 2.35:1 or 2.40:1 (anamorphic or “Cinemascope”) shaped screens. Those result in different distances, and also effectively reduce the placement range of the projector, significantly (by about 50%). That’s because to use such a screen for both wide screen content, and 16:9, you have to change the zoom setting. That costs about half of the range. Basically you lose the closest distance, i.e., you can’t place the projector as far back. Keep that in mind, as it may well mean for some, that you can’t get the projector far enough back to place on a back wall (without using an extremely large screen for the room). But, also remember, there isn’t another projector anywhere near the price with a Lens Memory feature and this type of performance. Because of all the different specs, in the next section we provide a link to a P PT-AE8000 Lens ShiftThe PT-AE8000 has manual lens shift. The joystick control (been around in Panasonic HT projectors for about a decade), is hidden to the right of the lens by an easy snap off door. The PT-AE8000’s range on lens shift is rather excellent. Not the most we see, but definitely better than most projectors equipped with lens shift. The projector can be placed above the top of the screen, below the bottom of the screen, and anywhere in between. What is interesting, is that there are three sets of numbers relating to lens shift, instead of one. That’s because you have three possible choices when viewing: Viewing 16:9 content on an anamorphic screen, Viewing 2.35 (or 2.4) to 1 content on an anamorphic screen. As a result we’re not going to attempt to list all the distances and anamorphic as we usually do, instead here’s a link to a Panasonic chart that shows all the options in terms of distance to screen size, and lens shift: Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen The PT-AE8000 not only supports an anamorphic lens, but more importantly to many folks, is their Lens Memory feature discussed on the first page, and above. Although technically not as good as using an anamorphic lens (in most ways), their Lens Memory allows similar results for a couple thousand dollars less! That is to say, it lets you work well with a 2.35:1 (or 2.4:1) aspect ratio screen, (as does an anamorphic lens), but without the lens expense. That results in a larger image area when watching “Cinemascope” (widescreen) movies (which is most of them, except for animation). 1. Panasonic PT-AE8000U Home Theater Projector Review - Panasonic PT-AE8000U Projector Highlights - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Overview2. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features - PT-AE8000 Lens Memory and Lens Features - PT-AE8000 Projector: 3D - PT-AE8000 Projector 3D Glasses and Control - PT-AE8000 Gaming Abilities - PT-AE8000 Creative Frame Interpolation3. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features 2 - PT-AE8000 Waveform Generator and Side By Side - PT-AE8000 Dynamic Iris - Viera-Link4. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Special Features 3 - PT-AE8000 2D to 3D Conversion - PT-AE8000 Lamp Life - Other Dynamic Controls5. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Appearance - PT-AE8000 Control Panel - PT-AE8000 Projector - Input/Output6. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour 2 - PT-AE8000 Menus - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Remote Control - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Lens Throw - PT-AE8000 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen7. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Flesh Tones8. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - Image Quality - Black Levels Comparison - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Performance - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: PT-AE8000 Projector - Bottom Line9. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality10. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality 4 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports, including 3D - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports, and also 3D HDTV content11. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Brightness - Post Calibration: Best Mode = REC 709 - Post Calibration: Brightest Mode = Dynamic12. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 2 - 3D Brightness of the Panasonic PT-AE8000 - PT-AE8000 Eco-Mode vs. Full Power - PT-AE8000, Post Calibration, Best Mode (REC 709)13. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 3 - Comparing Picture Modes of the PT-AE8000: - Panasonic PT-AE8000 3D Brightness - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Bottom Line Brightness:14. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Performance 4 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Sharpness - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise15. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Color Temperature - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Basic Settings16. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - PT-AE8000 Greyscale Calibration REC 709 Mode - PT-AE8000 RGB Settings17. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - CMS Adjustment Basics - Calibration Charts (Before and After)18. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Projector Screens - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector Screen Recommendations - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Projector Screen - Cave / Home Theater - Panasonic PT-AE8000 - Projector Screen - Family Room19. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. HD830020. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors 2 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. Sharp XV-Z3000021. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Competitors 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 5010 - Panasonic PT-AE4000 vs. Panasonic PT-AE800022. Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Warranty23. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector - The Bottom Line24. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line on the PT-AE8000 projector25. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Review Summary 3 - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Pros and Cons - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Pros - Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector: Cons26. Panasonic PT-AE8000 – Full Specifications Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Physical Tour Panasonic PT-AE8000 Projector – Image Quality LnRiLWhlYWRpbmcuaGFzLWJhY2tncm91bmR7cGFkZGluZzowfQ==