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Panasonic releases 1080p projector
Author: Brett ThomasPublished: 9th January 2007
The 1080p projector by Panasonic is an impressive display. It should be, at $4,000 USD.
The big news of the day was the launch of the company's behemoth, the 1080p (model PT-AE1000U) projector. I got to sit down with the product manager, David Wiswell, to discuss the technology behind it. It sports a 1,100 lumen lamp (made by Panasonic itself) as well as an 11,000:1 contrast ratio. To see the unit in action is marvelous - but it comes with the downside of a $4,000 price tag.
Of course, for that you're getting something designed from the ground up - the system even uses a prism rather than mirrors to enhance fidelity. The projector is designed to replicate the experience of a theatre, and quite a bit of the technology used in the projector is meant to turn the sharp lines of digital content into the smooth look of a film. I would say it definitely succeeds - but it also looks like it would play a great round of FEAR...
For those of us who balk at spending $4,000 on a projector, there is a model more towards the mainstream. The 720p projector is $2,000 USD, so much more along the lines of what someone might spend on an expensive HDTV. Of course, the beauty of a projector is its size - you can make it look a lot bigger than a TV of equal cost. The 720p also sports a 2,000 lumen lamp, making it very watchable in a room that has lighting in it (though not bright lighting).
All in all, there are a couple nice options for the true Home Theatre enthusiast this year. We'll look forward to seeing if any of you are going the route of an HD projector setup - let us know in our forums!
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Comments (9)Stats: 0.032 seconds
Must be depressing for the people who did though. For instance, the Sony Qualia 004 projector that was considered the balls a couple years ago and put a $25000 dent in your wallet (and still sells for that, oddly enough) is now matched/minced by these new ones for a few grand - noice :D
My tv-watching habits are perfect for a projector - limited to films, big sporting events and a select programs a week. So it is nice to know that by the time I'm ready to replace my TV, I can do so with a beast like that panasonic :)
Luckily it's one more thing I'd love that I stand no chance of affording anytime soon.
Not finalised? I'm pretty sure it's in use right now, the 360 can do 1080i and now has the upscaler chip activated so it now kinda does 1080p. PS3 can also upscale to 1080p but lacks an actual specialised chip for it, so might not be quite as good as the 360s. Pretty sure BD and HD-DVD do 1080p as well, as so does possibly stuff like sky HD.
It is starting to get here, slowly admittedly, but theres a lot more HD content than before.
That is what I have with the AE700 got a nice 73" scree fron abot 2m ish
The 700 can do upto 300" which is mamoth and have done that at a village hall playing halo on that was well creamy goodness
Kimbie
Ever since Sony came out with the F900 and F950 HD cameras (and earlier elsewhere in esotheric situations) people have been capable of and have been shooting 1080P. I shot 1080P last night at CBS Studio Center.
The Sony cameras capture 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, which represents a 16:9 widescreen image with 1920 pixels across each of 1080 interlaced OR progressive scan lines. The Panasonic AJ-HDC27 Varicam shoots 1,280 x 720 pixels, 720 lines progressively scanned with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. Panasonic had no interest in an developing an interlaced camera. These are the only two High Definition formats defined by the HDTV standard. All network broadcasters use one or the other for their HD programs. For instance, ABC and Fox broadcast in 720p, while CBS, NBC, and PBS use 1080i.
The Sony's are programable to shoot either progressive or interlaced by menu setting. We shoot 24Psf (segmented frame) 1920X1080 pixels.
Thus, if we set for progessive we are shooting 24P 1080 lines which IS 1080P. We just don't call it that.
Why interlaced you may ask? Two reasons at least. 1) It cuts bandwidth in half as each frame is painted in two separate odd or even "fields". 2) It inherently doubles the flicker rate of a display to 48Hz. This replicates the flicker rate of film projection, where the projector has a two-bladed half-speed shutter. That is to say, every movie you have ever seen in a theater projected from a positive print has flashed each frame twice on the screen before advacing the next frame to double the flicker rate to 48Hz.
So-1080P is shot every day out here and around the world, is just is not broadcast in 1080P-yet. Remember how interlaced cuts bandwidth in half? That is the hurdle and it can be done, they just don't want to yet. But-like the old dog joke-they will, because they can.