Big Picture Big Sound

At CEDIA Expo in Denver earlier this week, Panasonic announced the latest model in their 1080p front projector line, the PT-AE3000U. The most notable improvement over its predecessor, the PT-AE2000, is a native 24p mode with Frame Creation technology that displays native 24 frames/second material at 96 frames/second, interpolating the intermediate frames for smooth motion reproduction.

Like its predecessor, the new projector will feature full HD 1920x1080 (1080p) resolution, using Epson's D7 3LCD light engine. But the new projector features an improved brightness spec (up from 1500 to 1600 Lumens) and a vastly improved dynamic contrast rating (up from 16,000:1 to 60,000:1) through the use of Pure Contrast Plate technology. The PT-AE3000 also features a new lens memory so you can optimize the zoom for different aspect ratios with the touch of a button.

The PT-AE3000's new Frame Creation technology interpolates additional frames in both 60Hz and 24Hz signals by analyzing the characteristics of two adjacent frames. This should improve the reproduction of fast moving scenes, especially for large screen viewing. Users may set their frame count preference to 120 frames/sec from 60 frames/sec for 60Hz video signal input, while 24frames/sec (24p) signals are quadrupled to 96frames/sec by interpolating three additional frames, thereby smoothing frame to frame transitions.

For those who like to watch widescreen movies (2.35:1 or 2.4:1) in their correct aspect ratio on a cinemascope (ultra wide) projection screen, the new projector offers a "Lens Memory Load" function with three zoom memories. This allows you to switch between zoom modes to fill the screen with 2.35:1 content or zoom out for 16:9 or 4:3 content. While not advanced as an anamorphic lens attachment (and external processor), it's also appreciably less expensive and less complicated than adding an anamorphic lens and processor, and should give exceptional performance on all but the largest screens.

The projector features three HDMI 1.3 inputs and two component input terminals. The three HDMI 1.3 inputs are all Deep Color and x.v.Color compliant. The Deep Color supports 10 bit (over 1.07 billion) and 12 bit (over 68.7 billion) color depths for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors, while the x.v.Color compliance realizes accurate reproduction of actual, true-to-life images. Of course, at the moment, there is no software that exploits either of these features, but when there are, the PT-AE3000 will be ready!

The Panasonic PT-AE3000 LCD home theater projector will be made in Japan, available starting in October 2008 with an MSRP of $3,499.

More information: www.panasonic.com/projectors