Los Angeles – Panasonic Solutions, supplier of projectors to government, education, and corporate channels, introduced Friday its first Full HD 3D home projector.
The PT-AE7000U, shipping in September at a $3,500 suggested retail, offers Full HD 1920 by 1080 pixel resolution using a new transparent LCD panel technology driven at 480Hz.
Combined with Panasonic’s original overdrive technology, the system is said to significantly lower crosstalk in 3D applications.
The AE7000U also features a newly-developed optical engine, which Panasonic said delivers a 300,000:1 contrast ratio and 2,000 lumens of brightness.
The system is said to produce both high quality 2D and 3D HD images, the latter requiring active shutter glasses to realize the 3D effect.
“When we create our projectors, our goal is to produce images that mirror movie directors’ artistic vision and intent,” said Art Rankin, Panasonic Solutions projectors and higher education sector director.
He said the PT-AE7000U’s was developed with the collaboration of Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory engineers who are heavily engaged in the authoring and mastering of 3D Blu-ray Discs.
“They have taken key roles in establishing the industry standards for 3D and bringing the experience from large screens to homes,” Rankin said. “Through this joint effort, the PT-AE7000U has been redesigned from the ground up to achieve higher basic 2D performance and is packed with unique 3D features to deliver studio-grade 3D content to the consumer.”
The optical system features a 200-watt “Red-Rich” lamp and new LCD panels with larger aperture ratio for increased red luminance and brightness output.
The combination of fully-optimized Pure Contrast Plates, Pure Color Filter Pro and Dynamic Iris Pro yields the higher contrast and brightness performance.
Frame sequential technology is used for 3D image projection and a dual-core processing engine enables processing 3D signals that are said to have all of the benefits of 2D image enhancements, including frame creation and detail clarity.
Viewing comfort for 3D can also be adjusted using 3D viewing monitor and 3D picture balance features. Because the 3D effect changes with varying screen sizes, the 3D viewing monitor keeps the stereoscopic effect within the safety zone set forth by the 3D Consortium Committee, Panasonic said.
The left and right eye images can be displayed side by side on the PT-AE7000U with the individual waveform monitor to adjust 3D picture balance.
Other 3D features include 2D-3D conversion, which converts 2D content into 3D images for 3D projection with five different 3D effect modes.
The projector includes a built-in 3D IR transmitter to send signals to the active-shutter glasses, which are sold separately.
Eyewear models, TY-EW3D10U, TY-EW3D2LU, TY-EW3D2MU and TY-EW3D2SU, which are also used for the Panasonic Viera 3DTVs, will work with the new projector. An optional IR transmitter (ET-TRM110) is available for extended transmission distance.
To accommodate 2.35:1 aspect ratio source material, an Intelligent Lens Memory feature enables programming up to six different zoom/focus positions.
Automatic switching between 16:9 and 2.35:1 video content is supported by the unit’s signal aspect detection capability.
Other features include two programmable 12-volt trigger terminals; Viera Link, one remote system operation; three HDMI inputs (supporting x.v.Color and Deep Color); 2x zoom for up to 120-inch diagonal image from as close as 3.6 meters (about 11 feet) to 7 meters (24 feet) from the screen; lens shift capability that enables 100 percent vertical adjustment and 26 percent horizontal adjustment, and an intelligent power management system that reduces the lamp power to the required level of brightness for the content being displayed.
