Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Panasonic’s new PT 3000 projector

Just saw this today. http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=816193

If this thing performs as well as they are claiming, it will be pretty tough to beat this projector, regardless of price.

I think this is going to an interesting season for projectors as the new ones get announced over the next week or so.

Nice.... It seems that every year Panasonic and Sanyo battle it out for those of us wanting very nice projectors, but without the big bucks... Each model gets better and better.

Looks like the new Panny is boasting 60,000:1 contrast and a neat 2.35:1 picture format feature, with no need to add an anamorphic lens.

That is very sweet. Pretty soon, the contrast ratios and brightness of these PJs will be so good, you won't even need a light-controlled environment. If that happens, plasmas and lcds may go out of style...

Can anyone commment on how much softer the picture will be if you zoom in to get a 2.35:1 size rather than using an anamorphic lens so that all the pixels are being used in the display? Will this kind of take a 1080p picture down to a 720p picture by doing this?

- Nick

I don't see how it could make a difference whether you zoom or use a lense and V=stretch. You're still working with the same amount of information and making it larger. I've seen this argued back and forth for a few years now, but still can't get past the basic fundimentals. I think this is a very clever function.

Another thing to consider with using a lens, unless the optics of that lens are very good (RE: costly), the lens will degrade image quality. By zooming, you eliminate that possibility.

Wow, buying a projector seems worse than getting any other type of equipment, before you could get one home there would be a better cheaper model out.
I'm a few years away from going in that direction, so they should be good and cheap when I'm ready.

Yeah, but the image quality is getting to be SO good, that just about any of these types of models will knock your socks off for years to come.

I mean, I really like my Sanyo Z3, and it impresses anyone that comes over to watch a flick. Here are its specs, and compair that to the latest models... These new ones make mine sound like it'd be crap, but it isn't.

These are just the main 3 specs that people look at.

Sanyo Z3:
720p resolution
2,000:1 contrast
800 ANSI lumens

For the same price as I bought that one a couple of years ago, you can get a:

Sanyo Z2000:
1080p resolution
15,000:1 contrast
1,200 ANSI lumens

or
Panasonic AE2000U:
1080p resolution
16,000:1 contrast
1,500 ANSI lumens

When this new one starts getting towards the end of its first year run, it should be about the same cost plus a little premium for the 2.35:1 feature (which is rally cool)

Panasonic AE3000:
1080p resolution
60,000:1 contrast (holy crap)
1,600 ANSI lumens (twice what I have now!)

Like I said, I am still impressed with what I have now, but man, these new ones are such a leap ahead I can't imagine how they are going to make them much better besides adding extra bells and whistles like the 2.35:1 feature, making them quieter, and having them run cooler...

I guess, at some point they will hit 1440p resolution, but until there is something that can feed it that signal, it is pointless, plus at the resolution, you'd never notice a boost in quality (kind of like how 720p and 1080p look the same for a display under about 50" at about a 15 foot viewing distance). Maybe it'll they do 3D for your home, or Smell-O-Vision?
Mmmmmm..... Smell-O-Vision. Maybe then I'd like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...

Just a note on the ANSI front, even when my proj was in the light bleeding living room it was still always set to cinema black, which is probably 300-500 lumens. As JohnK is fond of reminding us unused headroom is unused.