My New HD Projector!!!

Villain · 23-12-2006 7:38pm #1

WOW

Thats what I thought after setting up my new Projector yesterday, just to give you a little history almost 3 years ago I setup my first projector a Panasonic AE100 I was blown away by the size and picture quality it cost €1300 at a time when 42" plasma's were around €3,000 or €4,000. It has never given a days trouble and got over 1000 hours up and the orignal bulb is still working.

My Sky+ box packed in a few months ago so I replaced it with a HD box, I wasn't planning on going HD for another year or so because decent HD projectors just seemed too expensive. However the Panasonic AX100 dropped in price about 2 months ago to €1,400 so I thought I'd take the plunge and purchase one after watching Sky Sports HD on a relatives 42" Hitachi Plasma.

So my projector arrived yesterday and my first impression was it's a lot bigger than the AE100 about twice the size its nice and white though compared to the old grey of the AE100. So it was time to connect it to my Sky box via a 7.5m Component cable and turn it on and honestly I was blown away, I have a 30" LCD TV in the corner of the room and when you had it on at the same time as the AE100 it became obvious how much brighter the LCD was however it was the other way round now, the AX100 made the LCD look dark.

So SD channels looked excellent but it was time to call Sky and get HD channels turned on, the first channel I watched was Discovery HD and I was just sitting there speechless looking at some nature program on about a 80" image and it was so so clear I can't really describe it.

However the real test for me was watching a Sky Sports HD for Chelsea and Wigan and OMG the picture is so clear its scary. I thought my AE100 was good but the picture from HD is amazing truly amazing.

If anyone is thinking of going the projector route I would 100% say get the AX100 the picture is bright and crystal clear and also the unit is almost silent you won't hear it all.

At the moment the projector is sitting on a table but I'm going to ceiling mount it over the next week and I'll try and post some pics up if anyone is interested.

Villain · 01-01-2007 10:10pm

Just to give a brief update after watching quite a bit of TV in the past week.

There is a known issue that affects some AX100's where some flickering is noticable when running in eco mode, I have noticed it a few times the recommended fix is to clock up about 50 hours in standard mode or return the PJ for a software upgrade. I'm running in normal mode for the moment.

I have to say I am still very much blown away with the display, watching King Kong on SKY HD and the picture is stunning. I have the image at about 7 feet wide and its excellent, the PJ along with my Marantz amp and Mission speakers really gives a cinema experience and all for under €3000.

Villain · 02-01-2007 2:44pm

Well I'll post up some pics this evening and I'll have a quick look and see if I can somewhere for you to demo a PJ.

Villain · 02-01-2007 10:19pm

Heres the first 5 pics, not great quality but it may show easy it is to get a great picture, the PJ is still not ceiling mounted that should happen before the weekend.

Villain · 02-01-2007 10:20pm

Heres a few more

Sparky · 03-01-2007 6:42pm

Just so nobody gets freaked out!

This is a copy of a thread in displays.
You can add more pics to this thread on your planned system build.

Villain · 03-01-2007 10:39pm

Cheers for the new thread Spanky-s.

A mate has made the mount tonight and we'll adjust and fit it tomorrow then remove it and paint it white so it will blend in with the ceiling. I know some people will probably ask why I didn't just buy a mount, but I didn't want a steel mount on the ceiling once the wooden one my mate has made is painted white it should blend in well.

I have attached pics of the mount so far, pretty impressive bit of work he turned the round piece and made it all in within 90 minutes. The pole will stick up in the ceiling through a flat piece of timber and a pin will hold it in place once I get the height I want. I'll post more pics when its done.

Oh I have also attached a pic of my component cable which is 7.5m long, I got it from a UK shop on Ebay for €27 including delivery.

PS. Comments welcome negative or positive

SouperComputer · 04-01-2007 5:46pm

I do have a complaint

All those piccies and no example of HD-Goodness for the people out there

Skatedude · 04-01-2007 5:59pm

I have the same projector and it is stunning, especialy for the price.
Xbox360 games are incredible on a 10' screen in hd.
The only issue is that i'll have to start saving for the 1080p player when they become available as i think the image does appear a little smoother then 1080i.

Villain · 04-01-2007 10:40pm

Any ideas how I can take a decent image with a cannon S2 IS without having the flash on or having the room too dark.

The mount is up now, I'll take pics tomorrow and I'll paint it at the weekend.

Ghost Train · 04-01-2007 11:34pm

irish1 wrote:

Any ideas how I can take a decent image with a cannon S2 IS without having the flash on or having the room too dark.

The mount is up now, I'll take pics tomorrow and I'll paint it at the weekend.

Just find somewhere to rest the camera, like a tripod, and maybe use the timer on it so you don't get any shake from pressing the shutter

very neat mount, and projected picture looks great

Villain · 05-01-2007 12:13am

Well still not getting great pics but I have attached 2 photos along with a photo of the mount.

Loobz · 16-01-2007 10:01am

Fair play, nice projector. Thumbs up to your mate - nice mount.

remoteboy · 16-01-2007 4:06pm

Nice setup! Whereabouts on eBay did you get the component cable? Been looking at upgrading my own setup and can't believe the price of interconnects.

Fazer6 · 17-01-2007 1:58pm

Nice set-up, what make & type of screen do you use?

Fazer6

Wolff · 22-02-2007 3:19pm

I think he is using a Dewall

Villain · 22-02-2007 4:10pm

Sorry lads just seen the posts now, Wolff is right, I don't use a screen, it projects onto a white wall.

Remoteboy the cable I got was from http://stores.ebay.ie/K1Connectivity-Store

Villain · 11-04-2007 9:52pm

Just to give an update, I have now added a Playstation 3 to my setup which I purchased in Hong Kong. I have also purchased a 10m HDMI cable which I have now connected from the SKY HD box to the projector, I was a little worried that the length might cause a problem but its perfect and cost less that €45, so I now have an XBOX360, Playstation3 and Sky HD box connected.

RuggieBear · 11-04-2007 9:53pm

irish1 wrote:

Just to give an update, I have now added a Playstation 3 to my setup which I purchased in Hong Kong. I have also purchased a 10m HDMI cable which I have now connected from the SKY HD box to the projector, I was a little worried that the length might cause a problem but its perfect and cost less that €45, so I now have an XBOX360, Playstation3 and Sky HD box connected.

i hate you

Villain · 11-04-2007 9:58pm

RuggieBear wrote:

i hate you

Jealous I take it Ruggie?

I just wish I had time to enjoy them, I'm still waiting to see a full Blu Ray movie just seen promo's so far but they looked unreal I have made the image a little bigger its now just over 95"!

RuggieBear · 11-04-2007 9:59pm

sick with jealousy.:D

i'd love that set up but just cannae afford it

tuxy · 11-04-2007 10:04pm

Very nice , would love to have a projector like that.
How long do the bulbs last?
And how expensive is it to replace it?

Villain · 11-04-2007 10:09pm

Should get anywhere between 1000 and 2000 hours from the bulb, the bulb's cost about €400 I believe. I'm using this projector a lot more than the previous one but even still I think it offers excellent value for money, the projector can be got for €1,350 when you compare that to the price of a 60" HD LCD or Plasma TV its great value, obviously projectors aren't for anyone you need the right type of room but I don't think many people can say they aren't blown away when they see the 95" HD picture on the wall. Worth every penny imo.

Loobz · 11-04-2007 11:29pm

irish1 wrote:

Just to give an update, I have now added a Playstation 3 to my setup which I purchased in Hong Kong. I have also purchased a 10m HDMI cable which I have now connected from the SKY HD box to the projector, I was a little worried that the length might cause a problem but its perfect and cost less that €45, so I now have an XBOX360, Playstation3 and Sky HD box connected.

Take a few high res pics. Wanna see that bad boy in action. Keep your hand steady now.

Villain · 12-04-2007 9:08am

I'll try loobz but haven't managed it very well to date

lfcfowlerlfc · 10-02-2008 9:54pm

Villain wrote: »

Just to give an update, I have now added a Playstation 3 to my setup which I purchased in Hong Kong. I have also purchased a 10m HDMI cable which I have now connected from the SKY HD box to the projector, I was a little worried that the length might cause a problem but its perfect and cost less that €45, so I now have an XBOX360, Playstation3 and Sky HD box connected.

hello, why did you not use a hdmi cable from day 1? Also, if i was to buy the hd box now what hd channels are available? bbc, chanel 4? what other channels?

johnnyflav · 11-02-2008 12:15am

lfcfowlerlfc wrote: »

hello, why did you not use a hdmi cable from day 1? Also, if i was to buy the hd box now what hd channels are available? bbc, chanel 4? what other channels?

There aren't a whole lot of HD channels out right now. C4 isn't available in Ireland and BBC HD is only a trial verion (you access it through 'other channels' as you do with BBC3&4).

You can get Sky HD (only a few shows on that are proper HD, Lost is one of them and looks the business), Discovery HD, History HD, two HD movie and a couple of other channels. There's not a whole lot of decent content there.

nodger · 15-02-2008 8:43am

Villain wrote: »

I have also purchased a 10m HDMI cable which I have now connected from the SKY HD box to the projector, I was a little worried that the length might cause a problem but its perfect and cost less that €45, so I now have an XBOX360, Playstation3 and Sky HD box connected.

Where'd you buy your cables?

TheDoc · 04-03-2008 12:46pm

and xbox's look the ****?

think i might look into this setup :0

Villain · 04-03-2008 1:28pm

nodger I found them on ebay.

Dm-TheDoc the Xbox 360 and PS3 look class on it. Its very hard to play anything on a TV after using a screen thats nearly 90" in HD.

nivek252 · 05-01-2010 5:30pm

Villian, quick question, how do you switch from one feed to another to the PJ. Do you have to physically plug one in and out when you want to change from say PS3 to Sky or is there a switch for this? Thanks