Secrets Product Review
 

Panasonic PT-AX100U Three-Panel 16:9 720p LCD Digital Projector

Part III

November, 2006

Darin Perrigo

 

Viewing

The projector includes noise reduction settings. I tried them at times and found a reduction in some fine noise, but preferred to leave them off.

I was happy with the shadow detail of this projector. Some past Panasonic LCD projectors I have owned have been lacking in this area, but this one did very well in the Cinema 1 mode with some of the more difficult scenes I use, including the one from The Two Towers shown under More Test Scenes here:

The dynamic iris operation was also much improved from last year's model to my eyes. I mainly used the projector in Eco-Mode for the lamp when the dynamic iris was on so that the projector would not modulate the lamp, as well as moving the iris. During normal viewing, I hardly noticed the dynamic iris in action. It even did well in one difficult scene where the AE900U had a very noticeable jump.

While I did notice a little bit of vertical banding with this projector, it was better than the AE900U I own. I am sensitive to vertical banding, and with this projector it was slight enough that I think few would notice it even if they were looking for it. However, those who don't know what it is are probably best off not looking for it anyway. At times I also saw some Fixed Pattern Noise (FPN), where it looked like there was a layer on the screen that didn't move with the images. This is one area where DLPs tend to do better than LCDs.

I was impressed with the images for the price point of this projector and all that it provides. When comparing to much more expensive models, the latter showed more 3-dimensionality, but I still consider the images from the AX100U to be very nice for the money.

For images like standard definition content on high definition channels where there can be visible garbage at the top of the images, the AX100U includes both adjustable overscan and the ability to shift the vertical position of the images digitally (this is separate from the lens shift). It also includes the ability to shift the images digitally in the horizontal direction a small amount, which could be useful for some channels that end up with a solid line on one side or the other (a vertical green line like this has been common with ABC-HD on the west coast in the past).

Using a DVDO iScan VP50 video processor I was able to feed 720p24, 720p48, 1080p24, and 1080p48 into the HDMI input of the AX100U. However, all of them had problems. With a judder test pattern, there was tearing of the image and none of those modes worked well enough to be useful for normal viewing. The 1080p60 mode looked good with the test pattern, but I would use 720p60 given that the native resolution of the projector is 720p.

Conclusions

Of all of the projectors I have owned or seen, the PT-AX100U is the one that I would be most comfortable recommending to first time projector owners. There are multiple reasons for this, including its price point, but largely the flexibility that Panasonic has designed into this particular model. From the vertical and horizontal lens shift and large throw range that allow it to work in many environments, to the ability to go bright when needed, while also providing a good color balanced mode with good contrast ratio for dark room viewing, this is just a really good unit. When I get a call from a friend of a friend or a relative telling me that they are thinking about getting a front projector and asking me for a recommendation, I expect the PT-AX100U to be the first projector to come to mind for a while, even if I do end up recommending something else after finding out their budget and other factors.

There are still reasons to spend more money (like higher resolution, having a personal preference for the look of DLP or LCOS over the look of LCD, etc.), but for those who don't want to do a large amount of research and want good value for their money, the PT-AX100U can be an easy choice that will more than satisfy most people and blow away their friends. I expect that even many of those who do a lot of research will come back and buy the PT-AX100U, either as a holdover while they wait for technology improvements, or as a top price/performer that they will keep for some time.

One thing to keep in mind is that the warranty is on the shorter end here at 1 year for the projector and 90 days for the lamp, although extended warranties may be available.
 

- Darin Perrigo -

Associated Equipment:

- Colorfacts with Eye-One Beamer color sensor
- AEMC CA813 light meter
- 96"x54" StudioTek 130 screen
- 128"x72" Da-Lite High Power screen
- AccuPel HDG-3000 Calibration Generator
- DVDO iScan VP50 Video Processor
- Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player
- Samsung BDP-1000 Blu-ray player

© Copyright 2006 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity

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