Panasonic PT-AR100U Projector Preview

Panasonic had the PT-AR100U on hand at CEDIA, touting it as their "Full High-Definition" LCD Home Theater Projector with 1080p resolution. While 1,920 x 1,080 pixels doesn't win you any awards of late, the projector boasts 2,800 lumens of brightness and a 50,000:1 contrast ratio, the PT-AR100U lets home-theater enthusiasts enjoy Full-HD large screen entertainment – from movies, sports to games – in various lighting conditions.

The PT-AR100U projector produces bright, sharp images by employing a new, high-power 280-watt Red-Rich Lamp and optical unit that generates 2,800 lumens of brightness - which is enough to overcome a significant amount of ambient light. In addition, Panasonic included its advanced Light Harmonizer 3 feature which will automatically adjust the output of the projector to match the ambient light levels. The Light Harmonizer 3 system uses built-in ambient light and color sensors to adjust the white balance, gamma curve (and even sharpness settings) to maintain bright, crisp pictures which match the viewing environment.

The PT-AR100U comes with many picture-enhancement functions, like Dynamic Iris Pro and Pure Color Filter Pro which help reproduce the projector's impressive (but highly dubious) 50,000:1 contrast ratio and exceptional color accuracy. The intelligent Dynamic Iris Pro adjusts the PT-AR100U optical iris, the Red-Rich Lamp and gamma curve at 60Hz (60 times per second) to give you a contrast and black level that is true to the picture content. The PT-AR100U includes the company's Pure Color Filter Pro which is a filter system that allows you to perfectly dial in the color, while simultaneously displaying deeper blacks, and an extended color gamut. And if that weren't enough, the PT-AR100U uses a proprietary Detail Clarity Processor 3 engine to adjust the crispness of the image on-screen.

The PT-AR100U has seven different picture modes including, Sports, Game, Cinema1, Vivid Cinema, Normal, REC709 and Dynamic mode. Conspicuously absent is ISF day/night. A built-in Waveform monitor means you can view waveforms on the screen and adjust the settings accordingly, but honestly this seems like more of an option for video editors and photographers unless Panasonic is planning to include a reference source disc for calibration. One thing we saw that we liked was the Split Adjust Mode that lets you see what you are adjusting and the effect it has on the current (frozen-in-place) picture.

Setup is easy and the 2x zoom means you can hit a 120-inch screen from just over 11 feet away (or as far as 23 feet away). Panasonic continues to include lens shift, so you get 68% vertical adjustment and 26% horizontal adjustment - basically throw the projector anywhere in the room and you're bound to hit the screen square-on. The PT-AR100U comes with 2 HDMI 1.4a inputs and there are two programmable 12-volt triggers as well as VIERA Link.

The PT-AR100U has a low standby power consumption of just 0.08 watts and the projector's new Eco Management function reduces power consumption through time-out functions, off-timers, and varying light output based on the picture content. This advanced analysis process is said to reduce power consumption by as much as 10% in Dynamic Iris Pro mode.

The PT-AR100U will be available in October and will have an MSRP of $1999. For more information please visit www.panasonic.com/business-solutions.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.