Panasonic PTAX200U - LCD PROJECTOR User manual

Panasonic PT-AX200U Home Theater
Projector Review: Overview
10-27-2007 - Art Feierman
ProjectorReviews.com
Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector
Highlights:
•Brightest projector in its class
•Excellent color, film-like quality, after minor adjustments
•Enhanced modes for gamers, for superior performance with game machines like Sony
PS3, PS2, X-box 360, X-box, and Nintendo Wii
•Wide range zoom lens, and lens shift for easy placement on tabletop, shelf or ceiling
•Invisible pixels thanks to Panasonic's Smooth Screen technology
•Overall, image is slightly softer than many 720p projectors
•Value proposition (price/performance) is excellent
•$1299 MAP, should represent the high, online pricing.
Reviewing the latest Panasonic 720p projector is a bit of deju vu, it seems. Every fall,
Panasonic rolls out a new 720p projector, and the PT-AX200U is simply the latest. Last year it
was the PT-AX100U, and before that... PT-AE900U, PT-AE700U...
PT-AX200U - This year's best seller?
I'm going to devote a few paragraphs here, on the nature of this segment of the home theater
projector market, in terms of what is popular. If this bores you, just skip down to the next
heading.
Every year I have to listen to Panasonic remind me that the model they are replacing has been
the best selling home theater projector in the market. Every year, they proclaim that they
expect the newly released Panasonic home theater projector to become the new best selling
projector on the market. And, it seems, every year they are right.
So, what gives? With competition out there from plenty of major players, from the likes of
Sanyo, Sony, Optoma, and Mitsubishi (to name just a few), you would think that sooner or
later, a more popular projector would show up from someone else.
So before we figure out in this review, whether the Panasonic PT-AX200U should be the best
seller this coming year, let's spend a few more seconds exploring why Panasonic has been
dominant.

It really is fairly straightforward. Until last year, Panasonic and Sanyo seemed to be in a
perpetual duel for best sales, but with the launch of the PT-AX100U and the Sanyo PLV-Z5 a
year ago, finally there was a major difference separating these two LCD home theater
projectors. The PT-AX100U is simply far, far brighter than the Sanyo, and that alone gave
Panasonic a huge edge (which should continues with the new PT-AX200U, since Sanyo has not
replaced the PLV-Z5).
As to the rest - well, brands like Optoma, BenQ and Mitsubishi, normally build DLP projectors
for this low cost 720p resolution market. Since LCD models like those from Panasonic, Epson
and Sanyo have far more placement flexibility, they are much easier for most people to install,
or just generally "fit" into their rooms, this gives a huge selling advantage to the LCD models.
And as a direct result, LCD projectors dominate sales.
Two other major players on the LCD home theater projector side, are Sony and Epson. Sony
however, seems to focus most of its marketing push on its much more expensive, higher end,
1080p projectors using LCoS technology (Sony calls it SXRD), and not their more affordable
LCD products.
Epson, on the other hand, has kept their sales channel for home theater projectors very
limited the past few years, but recently has dramatically expanded their lineup, and has been
altering distribution. So, of the competitors, I see Epson as the most likely threat, but, it may
take another year before Epson has the marketing and dealer network in place to slug it out
with Panasonic, for sheer volume sales.
PT-AX200U - What's new?
Ok enough of the marketing hype, let's get back to the PT-AX200U. Talk about deja vu, the
PT-AX200U is almost identical to last year's PT-AX100U projector. In fact, there are few

changes changes of note, except in the support of game machines. Other than that there are
subtle improvements in areas like contrast.
In fact, Panasonic has definitely focused much of its advertising at the gamers, touting the PT-
AX200U as the first and best projector for video game playing. While I'm not much of a game
player. I do have a Sony PS3 - mostly to play Blu-ray discs, and an old Dreamcast, but no X-
Box 360. I pop in a PS3 game every month or two, although I prefer to play my pinball
machine. At the CEDIA show, I listened and saw Panasonic's demonstrations as to how they
have enhanced the PT-AX200U to tremendously improve the game playing experience, but not
being a hard core player, I'll have to take their word (and the testamonials of top game
players like Tsquared) as to the full benefits. I'll comment more on the PT-AX200U's gaming
skills for game machines like the PS3, Wii, and X-Box 360, in the General Performance page.
After saying all that, the PT-AX200U has been slightly improved as both a projector for movie
watchers, and TV/HDTV/sports, and it remains the brightest home theater projector on the
market under $15,000! It also features Light Harmonizer 2, an adaptation from earlier
business projectors, that automatically adjusts most aspects of the image to compensate for
varying room lighting conditions.
Let's take a look at the basic specs. For more detailed specs, click here.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector: Basic
Specs
MAP $1299
Technology: 3LCD
Native Resolution: 720p (1280x720)
Brightness: 2000 lumens
Contrast: 6000:1
Zoom Lens ratio: 2:1
Lens shift: Vertical and horizontal (manual)
Lamp life: 2000 hours full power

Weight: 10.8 lbs. (4.9kg)
Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor
Click here for more complete Panasonic PT-AX200U specifications and brochure.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Home Theater
Projector: Physical Tour
We'll begin facing the front of the Panasonic PT-AX200U. The
manual zoom lens is offset to the right side. It has a 2:1 zoom
ratio, providing tremendous, front to back placement flexibility. To fill a 100" 16:9 screen, the
front of the Panasonic PT-AX200U, can be as close to the screen as 10.2 feet, or as far back as
20.4 feet. This makes shelf mounting the PT-AX200U practical in almost any room. Focus and
zoom are effected by rotating their respective trim rings around the lens. Just to the right of
the lens is the joystick control for adjusting both vertical and horizontal lens shift. Twisting the
joystick will lock your setting in place. The range of the lens shift allows the projector to be
placed anywhere from below the bottom of the projector screen's surface, to above the top.
Primary exhaust vents are on the front left, and blow the air out diagonally, so that hot air
does not pass in front of the lens, where it could distort the projected image.
An infra-red sensor for the remote control is located in the center of the front, near the top.
There are two adjustable front feet, at the far left and far right bottom.
Moving to the top of the PT-AX200U home theater projector, it is virtually identical to the older
PT-AX100U. As on the older Panasonic home theater projector, the PT-AX200U has a large
power button (press once for on, twice for off), in the center near the front of the projector. To
its immediate right (looking at the top, from behind the projector) is the Input selector button
that toggles you through the various inputs. Next is the Menu button and to its right, four
arrow keys in a diamond configuration, with an Enter button in the middle of them. Near the
Input and Menu buttons are three indicator lights (power, lamp, temp, etc.), and the Light
Harmonizer 2 sensor, which reads room ambient light so the projector can compensate. That
takes care of everything on the top of this Panasonic home theater projector.
Moving to the back, you'll find the input panel. The PT-AX200U is typically endowed, for a low
cost (but not "entry level) home theater projector. There are, most importantly, two HDMI
inputs and they are 1.3 compatible.

In addition, there is one other "high resolution" input, the component video input, which has
the usual three color coordinated RCA jacks. You'll also find both a standard composite video,
and an S-video input. There's also the traditional HD15 connector for a standard "VGA" analog
computer input, and an RS-232 connector for command and control of the PT-AX200U
projector from a computer, or a room control system.
Please note, additional images from HDTV sources, along with commentary, and a section on
the PT-AX200U's performance under varying ambient light, will be added over the next couple
of days.
The Panasonic PT-AX200U Home Theater Projector: Skin
Tones
This PT-AX200U, when set to Cinema 1 mode, arrived, out-of-the-box, with slightly too cool a
color temperature. Once corrected (really easy), the PT-AX200U produces excellent skin tones,
natural looking and I'll subjectively describe it as being rather film-like.
Quicktip: Before we start looking at photos, first, my usual warning: The photos of screen
scenes are here to support the commentary, not the other way around. There is so much lost
and altered info trying to get from what is projected on the screen by a projector, to your
computer monitor, that everything needs to be taken with a "pound" of salt (or at least more
than a few grains of salt).
Neither of my digital cameras, nor your computer monitor can begin to match the dynamic
range the projector offers. The camera and displays lose a lot of info (shadow detail, create
non-representative black levels, and crush whites and blacks) and also are not perfect in
terms of color accuracy. Still they can be helpful when taken with the comments. Certainly,
they make the review prettier, if nothing else. In the case of this Panasonic review, as with the
older PT-AX100U, for some reason, I encounter difficulties with the color balance captured on
my camera. Again, there is a visible shift to red. I'm not sure why, but I did something I
normally shun, which is to make a minor adjustment to the images to better reflect what the
projector actually projects. Enjoy!
Also, I should note, that on some displays, these images all appear too contrasty. If that's the
case, adjust your monitor, or graphics card controls. On the screen, these images definitely do
not look too contrasty.
We'll start with my two favorite images from standard DVD; Gandalf, and Arwen, from Lord of
the Rings - Return of the King, extended edition.

Moving to hi-definition, the rest of the images on this page, (except from Sin City) are all from
Blu-ray disk, using my Sony PS3. (My HD-DVD player is on vacation.)

Impressed? You should be, I certainly am. I spent a good many hours watching various
movies on the PT-AX200U in the Cinema 1 mode. The AX200U never disappointed when it
came to producing natural looking, film-like skin tones.
The PT-AX200U also performed well on "black and white" and sepia type tonal scenes, such as
these two. The first from the beginning of Phantom of the Opera, and the second from Sin City
(SD-DVD), which is basically a black and white film, sometimes looking black and white,
sometimes sepia or other shades, with spot colors added for effect.

Bottom line: The Panasonic does a great job when it comes to reproducing skin tones, to
provide natural realistic colors, and shades.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Black Levels and
Shadow Detail
As is typical for LCD home theater projectors, the PT-AX200U cannot match the black level
performance of the better DLP projectors it competes with. The PT-AX200U, however does a
very good job overall, one rivaling the best under $10,000 projectors - DLP or otherwise, of
just, say 3 years ago, when technology improvements such as the DLP Darkchip3, took hold.
This resulted in black level performance that reached acceptable levels, so that it no longer is
the most important performance criteria. I used to write that "black levels are the holy grail"
of projector performance. Today, though, even low cost projectors like the PT-AX200U do a
sufficiently good job at producing "blacker blacks" (blacks that come out very dark gray). As a
result, other aspects of projector performance now equal or exceed the importance of black
levels.
The PT-AX200U does a very respectable job on black levels, but more impressive, is its
handling of shadow details. Now these two are typically closely related. If a projector can't
begin to produce really dark blacks - as was typical of projectors just a few years ago, it can't
reveal the dark details that are supposed to be darker than the blacks it produces. Panasonic,
though, like many other projectors, deals with this electronically. The end result, is that the
Panasonic happens to be excellent at shadow details, rivaling most of the far more expensive
1080p projectors out there.

Let's look:
I'll start with this image from Aeon Flux. An excellent night scene with some bright areas
(which severely limit what the Panasonic's dynamic iris can do to lower black levels), the
blacks come out fairly black, easy enough to watch. The shadow detail, though is really very
good, with really no dark areas where all the detail is lost.
Below is a closeup of the building above. Look in the dark areas to the left of the bushes, and
the lowest part of the roof, the far right, and also the darkest area between the wall and the
ground in front. You'll find some details in all these very dark areas. Now, for comparison,
below that image, is a similar one from the lower cost BenQ W500, which, is definitely not a
good performer when it comes to shadow detail. The amount of difference between these two
projectors, is nothing short of stunning.
Above is the Panasonic, below, the BenQ:

Nothing like some good deep space scenes to show off black level performance. On these
images from Space Cowboys, the blacks, overall were good, but not that ideal "inky" or "jet"
black, that is ideal. There's always that awareness of a bit of gray, instead of pure black,
unless the screen is extremely large, and high contrast, to lower the visibility of the blacks.
The satellite photo above looks very good, but blacks are not quite as dark - "inky black" as
more expensive projectors, but do come very close to the comparably priced DLP projectors.
Most of the dim stars are easily visible.

Because the PT-AX200U relies on a dynamic irs, as do almost all LCD home theater projectors,
they can do a really great job of producing the "blackest blacks" on very dark scenes. Where
the DLP projectors have the advantage, is on mixed scenes, where there are some very bright
areas as well as very dark ones. The bright areas prevent the projector from closing down the
iris to lower black levels. In all fairness, if a scene has a fair amount of those bright areas,
first, the eye is drawn to, and adjusts to the bright area, and second, because of that, you are
less likely to notice the slightly lighter blacks.
Time to concentrate more on the shadow area details, than the black levels of the PT-AX200U.
From Phantom of the Opera, this cavern scene is a good test of shadow details. You can also
find these images on almost all reviews done in the last year, for comparison purposes. Click
on the thumbnail image for a large version that is seriously (intentionally) overexposed to
reveal the details that the camera loses at normal exposure. This will allow you to look at all
the details in the dark areas in the walls, and ground. The frescos on the walls are easily
visible, the structure of the various ducts in the walls, which are very dark, are
distinguishable, which is more than a number of other projectors can claim.
Another good image is this extremely dark scene from Space Cowboys. In a room illuminated
by only a single table lamp, this truly is a dark scene.
This overexposed (above) image of Clint Eastwood in Space Cowboys, reveals a respectable
amount of shadow information in the wall on the right half of the image, but the blacks don't
get black enough to bring out all the information. In this case, although the blacks were never
inky black, the detail is excellent, rivaling far more expensive projectors. In fact, you can
make out on the back wall, that you are looking at mini-blinds, and there is plenty of other
detail visible.
Most impressive!
Next is an image frequently used, from Lord of the Rings. This image below is badly
overexposed so you can see the details that the projector captures in the shed on the right,
along the ground and the structure on the left. This image is available in most reviews done in
the last couple of years. Click on the thumbnail, for an overexposed image. You can clearly
see details in the shed on the right, on the posts of the open structure on the left, and along
the bottom of the image.

Our last image is from Space Cowboys, and is an overexposed image of the re-entry scene.
Click on the left thumbnail image. Look for subtle detail in the right side of the earth. The
image on the right is from the $3300 1080p DLP projector - Optoma's HD8000, which was
recently reviewed. Look to the dark areas on the right for differences in details. The exposures
are obviously different enough that you'll have to "interpolate" a little.
OK, one last comparison. And an excellent one at that. Here is a scene that starts with both
very bright and very dark areas. I've cropped it significantly, but you can still see part of the
astronaut, whose suit is bathed in sunlight. The satellite on the left side of the frame is very
dark. By overexposing the frame, and not worrying about the exposure of the astronaut or the
Earth below, you can see how much detail there is in the dark components on the satellite.
Click on the thumbnail image below left for the PT-AX200U image The right image is a similar
frame, shot with of the competing (DLP) Mitsubishi HC1500. Unfortunately, the level of
overxposure isn't identical (never is), but you can still understand which projector makes it
easier to make out these shadow details.
Just to put all this in perspective, the enlargement from the third thumbnail (below), is the
same scene from the JVC RS1, the best projector under $10,000 at black levels, and with
excellent shadow detail to boot.
Below a pair of "dark" images from Sin City:

Our last image, is the table scene from Aeon Flux (Blu-ray Dvd): The detail of the table
surface itself and the shadows, are good indicators of shadow detail. The Panasonic does a
good job on this image as well:

Panasonic PT-AX200U home theater
projector: Sharpness
Last year, Panasonic introduced their Smooth Screen technology. Without getting into the
technical aspects, the end result is that the pixel structure of the LCD panels, normally
definitely more visible than that of DLP projectors, tends to cause some "screendoor effect" for
those sitting on the close side of normal to their screens. You can almost always see the pixel
structure on titling, credits, and signage, as well as large bright stationary areas, like cloulds.
With the PT-AX200U, pixels are noticeably far less visible than even DLP projectors. In solving
this one problem, however, there is a price, and that is a slight softness to the PT-AX200U's
image. How soft is it?
Not bad at all, in fact, comparable to many of the DLP projectors out there. By comparison,
other LCD projectors seem sharper, but many of us acknowledge that that perceived
sharpness, isn't revealing more detail, but is an impression associated with the pixel structure
being slightly visible or just below visibility with other LCD projectors.
Let's see what I'm talking about. Three very close-up crops of this DTS disk start screen. The
one of the left, is the Panasonic, the middle is the Mitsubishi HC1500 (DLP), and the right, the
BenQ W500 (LCD).
Our next image is from Aeon Flux, Blu-Ray. Please note the sharpness in her eyes, and in the
strands of her hair:
Our last sharpness image is a close-up of this computer monitor from Space Cowboys on Blu-
ray. You can click for larger images to compare the readability,
Click on the left thumbnail for a large, cropped version of the original frame on the PT-
AX200U, and the middle for the BenQ W500 projector. On the right, is a 1080p projector, the
Mitsubishi HC6000 (LCD):

When you are viewing 1080 sources, none of the 720p projectors can match the detail and
sharpness of a 1080p projector, but then, that's why 1080p projectors start at over double the
price of the PT-AX200U.
Bottom line: The Panasonic PT-AX200U is on the soft side for a 720p projector, but not much
different than the typical DLP competitor. The LCD competition definitely looks a bit sharper,
most notably the Sanyo PLV-Z5 and the Epson Home Cinema 400, but there is a major trade-
off.
Both of the LCD competitors mentioned, do have slightly visible pixels, detectable on some
scenes, such as those with signage. By comparison, the Panasonic never reveals any pixels or
screendoor effect, giving the Panasonic a less hard looking, and more film-like image.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Overall Picture
Quality
The Panasonic just tends to look really good, and rather film-like on most normal scenes. The
combination of the brightness, natural colors and smoothness of the image creates picture
quality, which I believe, is greater than the sum of its parts. Personally, despite the slight
softness, I consider the Panasonic PT-AX200U, the 720p projector to beat.
Let's look at some images:

Time to consider the PT-AX200U's menus, remote control, brightness, measurements and
adjustments, as well as projector screen recommendations. Click on the General Performance
link.
Before we get started with the various topics here, I want to discuss some of the PT-AX200U's
special features.
Dynamic Iris: Panasonic's Dynamic Iris, which you normally want on for movie watching, is
multi-function. It not only dynamically adjusts the lens' iris frame by frame, but also controls
lamp brightness dynamically, and according to the literature, adjusts the gamma on the fly, as
well.
Light Harmonizer 2: This will if engaged, adjust the image as room lighting changes. Someone
turns on a light, and the picture adapts. I barely spent any time with this, and didn't find it
annoying. Most of us won't have significant lighting changes while watching normally, so I
don't know how valuable it is to most people. It is an interesting feature that some may like.
Panasonic PT-AX200U Game Mode:
This is what Panasonic has been hyping about the PT-AX200U. It has been optimized for
gaming (in addition to movies and TV).
Thanks to special processing any lag time is minimized.
Equally important, gamma and color tables are in place to solve the problem of images being
way too dark. A great many of today's games, from the Halo to the Resident Evil, and
everything in between, are very dark. Since projectors aren't as bright as say a regular TV or
Plasma, the darker part of scenes tends to get way too dark, and detail is lost. Panasonic has
addressed this, and has demonstrated the difference at CEDIA. No question about it, those

game scenes
with
areas
too dark
to make
out, in
other
modes,
are very
watchab
le in Game mode.
Panasonic provides these images
to show their claimed
difference. The image on the left is
from the PT-AX200U, the one on the
right, typical of the competition:
Panasonic PT-AX200U Menus
The main image control menu is the Picture menu, shown here. The Picture Mode menu, lets
you select from a wide range of presets for movie viewing, TV, and dynamic modes designed
to cut through rather impressive amounts of ambient light. (Vivid Cinema, Cinema 1, Cinema
2, Natural, Normal, Game, and Dynamic.)
In addition, there are the usual brightness, contrast, color, tint, sharpness, and color
temperature. There are other color management options as well.
Of note, there is also the Light Harmonizer function, where the sensor on the top of the
projector adjusts many of the picture attributes to compensate for different ambient light
levels.
From the Picture menu, you can select the Advanced menu, shown here. This is the area
where we perform our grayscale adjustments.
There is the Position menu which handles adjustments to computer images if the auto sync
isn't perfect, and other functions as well. The Function menu lets you assign one function to
the programmable "Favorite" key on the PT-AX200U's remote control. When you select the
Function menu, you can choose from any of the seven Presets, for the Function button
(Cinema 1, Dynamic, etc, or any of about a dozen other functions including different sources,
light harmonizer, or a favorite saved setting).
There is also the usual Language menu for selecting your favorite language for the menus.

That brings us to our last menu, the Option menu, which, like the Picture Menu,
contains a number of important controls. It lets you control position of the
menus, and their translucency, the background color when there is no source
signal, and allows you to place a startup logo (Bob's Theater?) You can also set
whether the projector will start back up selecting the last source used, or to auto
scan for active sources.
But most importantly, you set the orientation (front, rear, ceiling, table), the
auto sleep function (shuts off the projector if no source), and, of course, lamp
power, either full power, or eco-mode. There is also a test pattern option.
PT-AX200U User Memory Settings
If there's one thing Panasonic does with plenty to spare, it is provide user
savable settings. The PT-AX200U offers 8 savable settings, which is more than
just about anyone will need. Better, though to have a couple to spare, than too
few. Generally I consider 3 to be just barely acceptable, 4 is better, and having
7,8, or 9, to be downright generous. You save your favorite settings from the
option on the Picture menu (which opens up the list of all of them), and retrieve
them the same way.
PT-AX200U Projector - Remote Control
Panasonic has changed the remote control, from the learning remote on previous models, to a
smaller, compact, and easy to use remote. It definitely has far less buttons. Despite missing a
few features, I really like this remote.
From the top: A red power button (press once to power up, and twice to shut down). Opposite
it, is the backlight button.
Please note, the backlight on the Panasonic PT-AX200U, is about the brightest I've ever seen,
and the labels on each button are large and easy to read. Almost all of the competition can
learn from Panasonic in this regard.
OK, the next two rows have lots of goodies, and an interesting scheme.