Panasonic claims its PT-AX100E boasts class-leading brightness for a home cinema projector. This means it's just as comfortable displaying images when it's light as in dim environments, which is ideal if you have a bright living room or want to watch sporting events during the day.
Panasonic PT-AX100E
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
The feature list also includes high-definition compatibility, all-inclusive video connectivity and exceptionally simple installation and operation. For less than the price of a 42-inch flat-screen TV (you can find it for under £1,000 online) you could be watching equally impressive pictures at least twice the size -- maybe it's time to take a look at the bigger picture.
Design
The design isn't especially compact but it is surprisingly lightweight and easy to carry around. An off-white colour scheme has been used to match typical room interiors, especially if you want to inconspicuously wall- or ceiling-mount the projector.
There are several primary controls arranged at the top that correspond to the layout of the small remote, which means you can get used to the controls quickly. From the projector you can turn the power on, select different input sources and navigate the main menu system.
The silver-styled remote carries only a few more controls including quick-access keys for selecting various picture modes and entering picture, colour and aspect ratio menus. The small number of spaciously arranged keys and a backlight function make it extremely easy to use, even in the dark.
At the front, the lens is set on the right-hand side and accompanied by a clever joystick control that can flexibly adjust the position of the image, while you can alter the height using two adjustable feet at the front.
Single input options for all video connections are tightly arranged across the rear panel. These include all standard AV inputs except Scart, while high-definition signals are supported by both component connections and an HDMI digital input. There's also a standard VGA input that can be used to display images directly from your PC.
Features
The PT-AX100E features 3LCD technology, which can outperform its DLP counterparts, especially ones in this price range.
The 1,280x720-pixel resolution will display 720p and 1080i high-definition images as well as accepting 1080p signals (via HDMI only), although these are downscaled to fit.
The unusually high brightness rating (2,000 ANSI lumens) means it's versatile enough to use during the day and at night. This is supported by so-called 'Light Harmoniser' technology, which automatically detects ambient light and adjusts brightness and black levels accordingly.
Setting up the system is a breeze. The relatively short-throw lenslets you display large-scale images (50-200 inches) from between around2 and 6m away, so it's good for both small and large rooms. The frontjoystick controls horizontal and vertical lens shift as you move it andit only takes a few minutes to size, centre and focus the image.
There's also a 2x optical zoom and horizontal keystonecorrection, but no vertical correction. This means the projector has tobe placed either in front or behind the screen to get a straight-cutimage, which doesn't suit irregular shaped rooms.
The menu system is beautifully presented using crisp graphicsand an uncomplicated navigation system. There are several presetpicture modes dedicated to either light or dark conditions as well as acomplete range of standard and advanced customised settings, which canbe stored and easily accessed.
Performance
This is the best picture quality we'veseen from an LCD projector so far. Images are brightly coloured andprecisely detailed with impressive contrast and cohesive movement, nomatter what source you use.
Although you can still see the picture in fairly high lightlevels, images struggle in extreme daylight. But reducing contrastlevels accordingly allows you to watch solidly defined images with thelights on or off. It helps if you're using a dedicated projectorscreen, but even against a white wall, the distinct black levels carryenough contrast to produce realistic images.
Playing the opening scene of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ringoffers a fine example of the projector's insightful detail -- you candistinguish the bark patterns of the surrounding trees and separateindividual strands of hair in Gandalf's beard. Colours are equallyadept at displaying the earthy tones of the Hobbit's landscape and thevibrant special effects that explode during the fireworks display. Andthere's no loss of detail or perspective in dark scenes such as thecave troll battle in the Mines of Moria.
Earlier LCD projector designs have been afflicted by staggeredmovement but action-fuelled fight scenes against the Crazy 88 gangduring Kill Bill are beautifully smooth and smear-free, although slow scrolling text does stutter.
Images are consistently clean and even the so-called'chickenwire effect' -- a superimposed lattice mesh created by the gapsbetween pixels -- is virtually indistinguishable. If you sit closeenough you can occasionally notice it in the backgrounds of brightscenes using the same colour, such as the blue sky in Superman Returns, but it never distracts from the sensational image quality elsewhere.
Conclusion
Whether you're watching in a bright or dark room, Panasonic's PT-AX100Eputs in a stunning performance. Its flexibility is supported by adecent high-definition specification and user-friendly functionality.
If you enjoy films then nothing comes closer to a cinematicexperience than watching them on a big screen -- and that option ismore affordable than ever.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Kate Macefield