the Panasonic AE4000U 3-lcd video projector be the second projector I have own and the 4th I have use more than once or twice . after four and a half year of use my old Panasonic L300U video projector , I buy this new projector plus a Blu-Ray player . the old projector look great on high definition tv broadcast and very good on dvd as long as they be brightly light and colorful . high-def football and other sport look fabulous project onto my 64 inch beaded glass screen , even when the room be not really dark and even though it be not really a true high definition projector . 1080us and 720p downreze to my 1\/4hd projector 's native 540p -lrb- 540x960 -rrb- look great and much better than dvd 's native 480p . and with my eyeball 11-12 foot from the screen or even 9 foot , I could not see pixel , and more pixel and detail would actually probably not have be visible -lrb- I think -rrb- . but I do not watch much sport and mostly use it for movie and high def tv . the major problem it have be with black level . in black and white or color program where there be very little black ever in the image there be no problem . in film noir , or Orson Welles film , or even the Buffy or Angel tv show which have lot of dark and night scene , the absence of black be a quite annoying problem . and my major criterion for a new projector be that it have black level that actually look black , that it display 1080p signal , and also that it be able to display 24 frame per second -lrb- movie -rrb- signal at 24 fp . other information I can get from review , but to see if black level be good enough for me , I have to see it . unfortunately , store basically do not have display model so it be hard to actually see what a picture look like , as I find out when I take my copy of Citizen Kane and Star Wars episode ii out to try to see some . only a local high end dealer have a $ 6000 DLP projector which be very good but way out of my price range . finally I find a online dealer which have a return policy that would have allow I to return a projector for my money back if I do not like it and have put less than four hour on the lamp . among other , they have the Panasonic AE4000U , which sound very promising base on review and I already have a Panasonic which , with certain reservation , I like a lot . so I order it . the black level be not perfect but they be very impressive , as good , I think , as the $ 6000 dlp I have see . I project a little bit of my blu-ray Blade Runner and my wife see a little of it and comment that it look beautiful even think she do not like the movie . after a hour or so of make adjustment and check out some video material , but not directly compare it to the old projector , I be pretty sure it be good enough and want to keep it and set up a test to show my wife , and myself . I cover the right half of the new projector lens and the left half of the old projector lens and in normal bright room light adjust the picture to the same size and to a smooth transition between side when both projector be be feed the same signal . then I darken the room , invite my wife in for a comparison of the old and new without yet know myself how they would look side by side in the dark and bring up a few scene from the Star Wars episode ii dvd . between the OPPO blu-ray player feed a better quality signal via hdmus -lrb- vs component for the older projector -rrb- and the quality difference between the 6 year old projector and the new one , the difference be astonishing in term of black level , color quality , brightness -lrb- in eco mode , yet -rrb- , sharpness , you name it . it take my wife less than 30 seconds to say that we be keep the new projector ; not only that , but the blu-ray player , about which she have be quite dubious , be indeed , she now agree , also a worthwhile purchase . we shut the old projector off , remove the lens cover , and look at more of Star Wars , some of Citizen Kane , and on blu-ray , a bit of Blade Runner and a couple other odds and end . we both come away very happy . the color be much more natural and beautiful and the increase in detail be amazing . in isolation , the old projector still look very good , except for black level . but I be a little surprised at how much sharper the new one look from 11-12 foot away . I think a good bit of it have to do with the improvement in apparent sharpness due to the better black level performance . there be 4 time as many pixel , but from 12 foot away , lot of extra pixel just be not really visible , though the increase in pixel undoubtedly get extra information to you brain even though you do not consciously see a increase . with the old projector , from 5 foot away , I could see pixel on on the 64 inch -lrb- diagonal -rrb- screen . from less than a foot away , I still can not see pixel with the ae4000u except sometimes on some test pattern , but not on any program material . it be like look at film and very sharp even when view up close . a few day later , think about the very good but not perfect black level , it strike I that film do not have perfect black either . the black level with the projector be not as good as the black on my old ProScan 27 '' CRT . but the black with this projector seem to I to be as good as I have ever see in any color film with the possible exception of some -- not all -- 3-strip technicolor -lrb- tm -rrb- ib print and as good as any black and white film I have see in a print less than 50 year old . this projector be mostly for view film . so that be good enough . I go to see the Princess and the frog with the family when it be out and the theater just do not put enough light up on the screen which seriously degrade the experience . while the end credit be roll , white text on a black screen , I walk up to the front and put my hand in front of the screen and could see my shadow clearly in the black . if they have be use adequate light it would have be even clearer . image be much brighter at home and the shadow be not much different . my default set for all thing video be now 1080p60 , with 24fp enable on my Oppo bdp-83se . Fed to the ae4000u project onto a 64 inch diagonal 9x16 screen , excellent dvd material , like Star Wars , episode ii -lrb- specifically scene 15 return to Naboo , which I have use as a test scene -rrb- , really do look near hd . it be not as sharp as blu-ray or 1080i or 720p broadcast , but it really do look very good , enough so that I be not highly motivate to replace many dvd with blu-ray disc . I may change my mind when I get a 92 inch screen , but have stand up close to the screen and compare blu-ray and dvd upscale and at 24fp with the Oppo blu-ray player -lrb- bdp-83se , which I have also review -rrb- and the ae4000u , I suspect that I will not . I should also note that view on other upscale dvd player , dvd do not look as good as they do on Oppo bdp-83 or bdp-83se . Make no mistake , blu-ray look better , but with this system , blu-ray 's biggest advantage be high definition sound instead of Dolby Digital 's lossy compression . I do plan to buy most new disc in blu-ray , but I do not plan to replace many old one unless for its for soundtrack upgrade . that say , I do upgrade North by Northwest , with its wonderful Bernard Herrmann score , and there be a handful of other I would jump at the opportunity to buy on blu-ray for a sound upgrade . I also show virtually everything I watch with dynamic iris off and at the standard Cinema 1 set for 6500k color temperature -lrb- for black and white or color -rrb- , and I find that in general the color be gorgeous and very evocative of the experience of view movie in a good theater where the management be really dedicate to a quality view experience -lrb- a attitude that be all too rare in movie theater -rrb- . and dvd from Technicolor -lrb- tm -rrb- original source , like the classic Warner Brothers Adventures of Robin Hood , really do approximate the experience of 3-strip technicolor -lrb- tm -rrb- nitrate original . so movie at my house often look better than in theater . I think that have a player capable of output 24fp be very important and significantly upgrade the experience watch film base material . some recommend it only for blu-ray and `` very well author dvd . '' I use it on all dvd and and infrequently -lrb- not at all on many movie and , usually not more than 1-4 time per movie -rrb- I get a black frame at 24fp . I suspect this occur when the player or projector loose cadence momentarily because of a improper edit point on the dvd . but the overall increase in how realistic movie look be well worth a occasional black frame . if the room be brightly light and what I have on be ordinary tv that I be not much interested in , I will occasionally use the Dynamic setting , which throw more apparent light on the screen , instead of Cinema 1 . but if it be something I care about , I 'll darken the room and watch it in Cinema 1 . this be a excellent projector . buy this and and Oppo bdp 83 together at list price be a incredible bargain and will keep you happy watch and listen to movie on dvd and blu-ray for a long time . and over-the-air high definition broadcast in 720p or 1080i both look better than upscaled dvd . Update 6-29-10 : for a while I have be conscious of this but I think I would write it up fresh tonight . I just watch a Netflix dvd of Blindside tonight and on the Oppo use upscale to 1080p through hdmus with 24 hz dvd playback enable and through the Panasonic AE-4000 set to frame creation mode 1 -lrb- the least processing above no processing -rrb- on a 65 inch screen at 10 foot , I really be not conscious that I be watch a dvd rather than a blu-ray disc . during the credit it be easier to tell , but watch the movie it be not . this be the same setup I use for virtually all dvd playback , and as usual there be a small number of black frame , a very small price to pay for such high quality view through this incredibly synergistic pair of instrument . with these 2 component , watch all of Blindside , a few minute of the Searchers blu-ray and 2010 blu-ray and then a few minute of the Blindside dvd again , there be not a lot of difference in image quality . I suspect with more magnification , for example with 2.35-2 .4:1 scope\/panavision movie blow up to the same vertical size , the difference will be much more apparent , because of the much higher resolution of blu-ray . but dvd look awfully good on this pair . that say , watch part of the same 3 movie 5 foot from the screen -- the equivalent of watch on a 130 inch screen from 10 foot , the Searchers clearly look better , as well it should , have be shoot in VistaVision -lrb- essentially 70 mm -rrb- . the difference between 2010 and Blindside be more subtle , slightly in favor of 2010 , perhaps not as much as it should be with real 1080p instead of 480p upscale to 1080p . but most significantly , the difference be subtle , not blatant . 6\/25\/11 update I receive two comment recently , to which this update be a reply . since write the review , I have have the projector well over a year and have upgrade to a 92 inch ceiling mount motorized screen . I still mostly view television about the same size as I use to -- 65 inch -- but for movie on dvd or blu-ray I use the full screen . the improvement of blu-ray over dvd upscale to 1080p 24 be considerably more noticeable on a 92 inch screen than on a 65 inch screen , but good dvd still look remarkably good . at 92 inch pixel on content be still invisible , but on test pattern still , you can see they if you get up close -- that be how I fine tune focus when I change screen size back and forth between tv and movie size . if I get a larger screen , I would have to move my Magneplanar 1.7 s out of they sweet spot and I would have to find a new place to put the projector . so my screen be stay . but , I be sure it would do a very nice job on a still larger screen . the Panasonic be such a fine and versatile projector that one would think that with a software upgrade , and perhaps a outboard infrare transmitter for either the projector or the blu-ray and a pair of glass , this ought to be a fine 3d projector , and I hope that someone at Panasonic be think along those line . but otherwise I have no immediate plan to replace my trusty old Oppo bdp-83se , which still put out remarkable quality sound and picture or this projector . but maybe someday I will get a bdp-95 if I become convinced it sound significantly better . I recently have some friend over to watch the blu-ray of Fantasia 2000 . the picture be not as big , but it look and sound better than when I see it a decade ago in a real IMAX theater -lrb- not one of the phony little one that pass for IMAX these day . -rrb- sound and picture both be less distorted , better focus , and clearer , more detailed , and more natural . this be still a very fine projector .  oppo bdp-83se - Blu-Ray disc player - upscaling - black