Projector Reviews

• $4,000 (MAP)
• 1920x1080 three-chip LCD
• Key Connections: Dual HDMI inputs

Panasonic has been making pro video projectors for years, but its first home theater projector to catch my eye was the PT-AE700U. Both that model and its follow-up, the PT-AE900U, were competent 720p LCD designs in deceptively small, businesslike black boxes that offered good value for the money.

The Features You Want, the Price You Need

Panasonic’s PT-AE3000U really ups the ante when it comes to features at this price point. Panasonic has consistently pushed the envelope on the budget side, and this LCD projector easily represents the company’s best effort to date. It offers solid performance and the most expansive feature set you could hope to find at or near this price point.

Back in the day (well, around 1999, to be exact), Sony's introduction of the VPL-VW10HT front LCD projector was big news. It was the first widescreen front LCD projector with true HD resolution—three 1.35-inch, 16:9 panels with 1366x768 pixels. It was a breakthrough product, one that Sony at first priced perhaps too low at just under $7000.

Panasonic's PT-AE500U made waves in fall 2003 with its low price and improved color rendering over previous Panasonic LCD projectors. Plenty of them were sold, and the model made many reviewers' "Best Of" lists for the year.

All videophiles are looking for the holy grail—a video projector that will blow everything else out of the water and cost next to nothing. Short of the industry adopting the business model used for computer printers (charging $100 for the projector and $4000 for a replacement lamp), that next-to-nothing price will likely remain a dream. But manufacturers are competing hard to make good home theater projectors much more affordable, if not exactly cheap.

Some of the most affordable front projectors are coming from the pro divisions of well-known companies. Want to pay around $2,000 for an LCD projector? Consider the Panasonic PT-L300U. It hails from the Presentation Systems Group of the Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems Company, but don't let that deter you. This projector is fully home-theater-worthy. Judging from the happy-android family pictured on the cover of the instruction manual (as opposed to happy-android executives), that must be intentional.