Panasonic PT-AE4000 HD projector

Pansonic HD Projector PT-AE4000

Panasonic PT-AE4000. LCD projector with 16:9 full HD resolution. Stunning High Definition images with cinema like colour and detail. Smooth, detailed picture with 100Hz frame creation 2 and a new processor to optimise the performance. RS232 control and in depth adjustments for the perfect install.

As yet we have no evidence the PT-AE4000 is alive but point 2 and the general gist is very true. Natural selection has played a part, all the parts that are good have stayed and... and.... there are not really any parts that were bad but improvements have been made nonetheless.

The full HD resolution stays and the 100Hz Frame Creation system stays. The processing however has changed.

Detail Clarity Processor 3 inspects each image and applies correction only to those bits that need it. Other systems use a blanket adjustment and not each section may need it. By applying only to the inferior sections detail is enhanced overall with a very natural feel. Colour is also vitally important as the human eye easily picks up on colour problems, especially where skin tones are in evidence. The lamp section plays a part here with its Rich Red source. The new lamp assembly increases cinema mode image brightness by 150%. Red is usually lacking in light sources for projectors but this unit has a specially developed lamp and colour filter to ensure the light used is able to attain the purity and balanced demanded by HD source material. The colour space achieved goes beyond the HDTV standard (colour1*) and meets that laid down by the controlling body for digital cinema (colour2**).

• 1 A setting that supports the 6,500K colour temperature recommended in the HDTV standard (ITU-R BT.709)
• 2 Specifications put forth by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) DC28 Digital Cinema committees.

Contrast has also improved thanks to the Pure Contrast Plate and an improved iris system. Light coming off the LCD panels has a slight twist or polarisation that after passing through the rest of the optical system can lead to slightly washed out images. The PCP re polarises this light ready for the rest of the system. Light leakage is thus reduced colours improve, black is deepened and detail in the dark areas appears instead of being crushed out. The iris system controls the light level overall depending on the incoming signals. The aperture is continually adjusted based on the incoming signal almost frame by frame. Smooth, silent voice coil motors are used for their efficient and quick response to provide immediate adjustment further improving performance in light and dark scenes.

The range of adjustments available for an installer has increased as well. Gamma is adjustable at a 16-bit level with a 9 point gamma curve provided to carefully adjust the images. Each colour can be adjusted for each point on the curve. RGB components can be adjusted individually or as an image whole, a waveform monitor allows you to manually or automatically adjust for any changes to a signal on its route to the projector with an on screen display of the waveform. Colour control is available for spot adjustments or adjust the 6 colour components as a whole.

With all these settings available - and more - the optical system needs to be able to meet the demands of the rest of the machine. Thankfully the 16 lens system is made in the factory that make the Panasonic Lecia lenses for their cameras. Each one being professionally aligned for perfect images before it gets to the projector. Once there you are provided with a 100% vertical lens shift and 40% horizontal. Placing the projector is made a lot easier by this.

Lovers of movies will be pleased to know the lens zoom facility is still available with 6 memories for zoom and focus. This enables the system to zoom the image producing screen filling 2.35:1 pictures by effectively over projecting the black bars outside the screen area. Two 12v triggers are available to help here but they just as easily can be inputs to trigger projector events instead.