Greetings all,
I promised images from my testing of the defocusing issue. Due to the narrow width of the blog, and my images all being resized, I have created a page on our website, that you can link to from here. It has three sequences of images, plus commentary:
First batch: The
6500UB
I have images shot at powerup (actually plus 5 minutes, +10, +20, +30, and +35 minutes. Note, I have previously sent Evan these images, he confirms that the shift (I've seen his images) on the 6500UB he has, is definitely, noticeably more than on mine. (His has about 60 hours on it, I believe he said, vs the 190+ hours on this one.
Next Batch:
Epson Home Cinema 6100
For the 6100, I have first, two images. Before shutting down the other night, I made sure that the 6100 which was on for quite a while was properly focused. Then, yesterday morning, right after powering up, I took a photo of the menu. It was slightly out of focus. I then refocused. Thus, you have a shot that shows what, once you have your projector permanently focused (done after it's been on for 30+ minutes) would look like at power-up next time.
That is followed by a full sequence of photos taken over 40 minutes, after that refocusing at powerup.
Last Batch:
Sanyo PLV-Z3000
For good measure, late last night, I set up a Sanyo PLV-Z3000. I only took two images: One right after power-up, after focusing, and a 2nd one about 45+ minutes later. Hmm, it too, defocuses.
So tonight, I'll also try the same with the
PT-AE3000. And I will add images of the Panny to the same file.
Bottom line?
Well, the Epson 6100 has more defocusing going on than the 6500UB that I have here. This 6500UB's defocusing (it now has over 190 hours on it) is so slight as to be a non-issue. The 6100 has a bit more and may be a problem for some of you, if yours performs like this one. (It had 38 hours on it at the end of the photo shoot).
We will reshoot at 100 hours, and if need be, again somewhere between 150 - 200 hours, to see if things have changed.
The Sanyo PLV-Z3000 pair of images also shows some defocusing. Note, that the text size on the Sanyo menus is much smaller than the Epson menus. I shot in different rooms. Couldn't get the camera quite as close to the screen for the Sanyo, so the magnification is a bit less (probably about half), still you can see the change between those two images. This confirms that other projectors are doing this as well. I've already received one email, one blog about folks with the Panasonic, stating that they too see a little defocusing.
BTW, best line of the day, comes from a comment posted on the avs forum, regarding the defocusing issue. It cracked me up. The writer (an Epson owner no doubt), said basically, that since the Epson goes slightly out of focus after 30 minutes, that it behaves as if the Epson turns on Panasonic's SmoothScreen Technology after 30 minutes. (The reference is to the Panasonic's slightly softer image, due to their SST making the pixel structure less visible. Most amusing!
OK, here's your link:
Defocusing images
Knock yourselves out! -art
