Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector
Review: Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector New highs in 1080p performance
June 2007 By Greg RobinsonWhen FedEx delivered my review sample, my first thought upon seeing the driver exit the truck was, “Why is that box so big?” The past few models in the series have been roughly the same size: 12-13 inches wide, less than 4 inches tall and weighing no more than 7 or 8 pounds. When I finished unpacking, I realized this was an entirely different animal. Boasting a new all-black housing, the PT-AE1000U is monstrous, measuring more than 18 inches wide and over 5 inches tall while weighing in at a hefty 16 pounds. Thankfully, my Vogel’s universal ceiling mount is rated for 20 pounds.
Once I had the projector mounted on the ceiling, I set about making my connections. As expected, the PT-AE1000U offers component video, RGB and HDMI as a means for inputting your video signals; most impressive is the fact that you get not one but two HDMI ports. Other inputs include composite and S-video, but if you’re using one of those as your primary connection to this projector you should really consider having your head examined.
Three features work together to make the PT-AE1000U a snap to install. The first is lens shift—the ability to shift the projected image without physically moving the projector. On the projector’s underside (when ceiling-mounted), you’ll find two dials that control lens shift—one for vertical and the other for horizontal. The dials work great and they’re a huge improvement over the front-mounted joystick on last year’s model. The second feature to note here is the PT-AE1000U’s generous 2.0x zoom lens. Most projectors offer a zoom of less than 1.5x. With a 2.0x zoom, you can create a 100-inch diagonal image from anywhere between 9.7-19.6 feet; this provides tremendous flexibility when choosing your mount location. The third and final installer-friendly feature is the unit’s ventilation system. On the PT-AE1000U, the air exhaust is located on the front of the projector. Front venting coupled with the 2.0x zoom and lens shift means that, in most rooms, you could place the PT-AE1000U on a shelf on the rear wall of your theater, potentially eliminating the need for a ceiling mount.
After letting it run for a few hours, I started my evaluation by looking at some standard definition material from my off-air antenna and Oppo DVD player. Generally speaking, the PT-AE1000U did an excellent job making low resolution content look as good as it can. Visual artifacts such as “jaggies” were at a minimum and LCD’s notorious “screen door effect” (a visible pixel grid) was virtually nonexistent even at a close distance.
Looking at scenes from a few of my favorite high def reference discs, namely The Departed on HD DVD and The Prestige on Blu-ray, I was extremely impressed with the PT-AE1000U. Blacks were the deepest I’ve seen yet from an LCD machine. Colors using the “Cinema1” preset were natural and vibrant. There were a few times during my evaluation that I detected a slight softness to the image, but that was mainly when reading text on the projector’s on-screen menu. Film content consistently looked crisp and gorgeous. Having watched The Departed HD DVD on both my 720p Panasonic and its new 1080p sibling, there was definitely a noticeable increase in overall image detail with 1080p. While it isn’t what I would call a “night and day” difference, it was enough to make my wife notice it—and that’s saying something.
Isn’t there anything wrong with it? I have one gripe. While making the remote more elaborate and capable than previous models, Panasonic did away with direct access input buttons. This means you have to repeatedly press “Input” until you reach the one you want. Yes, it’s annoying, but it’s hardly a deal-breaker. There’s just no other way to say it: the PT-AE1000U is a homerun.
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