Home Projectors - Physical Tour
Here we provide brief information regarding how the home projectors are physically laid out, placement flexibility, and more.
April 2010 - Art Feierman
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Projector Physical Appearance
I'll tackle two areas in the Physical Appearance section, first, general layout. We can assume, unless otherwise noted, that all these projectors have adjustable feet (at least one pair), control panels on the top, and inputs on the rear. The lenses are typically mounted offset to one side or the other, so I will only mention it if it is a centered lens (easier for installation). Some have motorized zoom and focus, some have lens shift (manual or motorized), etc. All this is documented in each review, so in this section, a short paragraph, and a link to the appropriate page in the original review.
Speaking of appearances, the image above is a "beauty shot" of the LG CF181D.
The projectors in this report vary a great deal in styling, anywhere from ugly box to highly stylish. Most of us don't care what a projector physically looks like with the lights on, but some do. Then there's the "wife factor" - "that thing's too big and ugly to go in my room". I'm not a judge of esthetic beauty, so I'll just make a brief comment or two about each projector:
1080p Projectors under $2000
BenQ W1000 projector: This DLP projector is one of the smaller projectors in this review, with only Optoma's HD20 being signficantly smaller. The W1000 is virtually identical to the Vivitek H1080FD. The two are basically the same projector with minor cosmetic differences and a different color wheel. Small enough to be portable.
Epson Home Cinema 8100 projector: The HC8100 uses the same case as the HC6100 used last year - primarily white, slightly darker side panels, silver trim. Not bad looking, but very plain compared to the older Epson 1080 series, which was very curvy and stylish.
Mitsubishi HC3800 projector: Medium sized, it is styled with a dark finish, a protruding lens with hood far to one side. Some say it looks really cool, but doesn't do that much for me.
Optoma HD20 projector: The HD20 is finished in white. It is the smallest home theater projector in this review, which means it's also very portable, if need be.
Panasonic PT-AE4000 projector: Sorry Panasonic, from a styling standpoint, the only award this projector could earn is "most industrial looking box". (Well, that's what I wrote last year. To be fair, the Panasonic has some real competition for industrial look - from the new InFocus SP8602. The Panasonic is a medium-large projector finished in a dark gray. Of note, the Panasonic has a centered lens, and its control panel hides behind a door on the right side (if looking from the front). Hey, considering the PT-AE4000 is probably the best selling 1080p projector out there, what does that say about our taste? Or perhaps many of us have learned that what matters is the image coming out of the projector, not what the projector looks like when turned off.
Samsung SP-A600: Samung's SP-A600 is a nicely sculpted projector, with lots of soft round curves, and finished in a shiny piano black. While it's hardly a large projector, it is a size up from the BenQ, Vivitek and Mitsubishi projectors. Definitely a nice looking projector, for those who worry about looks, with the lights on.
Sanyo PLV-Z700 projector: It's white, has rounded corners, and is fairly small. A motorized door covers the lens when power is off. Not bad looking for a box!
Sharp XV-Z15000 projector: This Sharp projector's case comes from the business side, as one could guess by some of the features (a recessed handle, and Auto keystone correction - turn that one off!). The Sharp XV-Z15000 has a shiny black case. the lens barrel is silver, for contrast. The projector is wider than deep and most noticeable, it's not very tall, The lens is protected when not in use, by a manual door. Too bad it's manual, which means very inconvenient if mounted (nice if you are portable though). As a result few will close the door. Sanyo and JVC motorize their lens covers, which makes more sense. But remember, this projector case was originally designed for portable business projectors.
Vivitek H1080FD: Another small DLP projector finished in white, it is a good size larger than the Optoma HD20, and almost identical to the BenQ W1000 it is similar to.
$2100 - $3500 1080p Home Theater Projectors
BenQ W6000 projector:
Cinetron HD700 projector: The Cinetron is an industrial looking tank of a projector. The case, first of all, is heavy metal, not the lightweight plastic, or aluminum alloys typically used. This seems to be solid steel. The grating is almost sharp to the touch. Two things: 1) Do not, under any circumstances, drop this projector on your foot. and 2) Figure that, in a head to head collision with a Prius, at 60 mph, the Cinetron would likely destroy the Prius.
Epson Home and Pro Cinema 8500UB, 9500UB projectors: Two more Epsons all in the same box as described above. A box with a bit of trim attempting to dress it up. The good news is that the Pro version come finished in a black, and definitely have more class than the home version. Guys, that's your angle with the wife, if you want the Pro for whatever reason. The lens is not recessed.
Epson Pro Cinema 9100 projector: See the comments immediately above. It's the same pretty much everything, and like the 9500UB, the 9100 is finished in black.
LG CF181D projector: Like all the other LCoS projectors in this report, it's fairly large, and a bit massive looking, especially compared to some of the smaller DLP projectors. It's finished in black, with a sort of split level look due to a "trim ring" that's recessed that goes around the front and sides. It is one of the tallest projectors in this review. The LG's front is curved from side to side, giving it a little style, but it's still a box, if a nicer looking one than most.
Mitsubishi HC6800, HC7000 projectors: This is a new look for Mitsubishi, and it looks good. An almost black "metallic" finish and a some nice sculpting, both of these models "look fast". The lens hood is large and sticks out quite a bit.
Optoma HD8200 projector: Finally Optoma has a new design for their projectors (a couple of 720p's are in biz projector boxes). This Optoma looks good! A nice medium sized projector, longer than wider. The lens is centered and not quite recessed. The cable connection area in the back is deeply recessed. The HD8200 lacks a control panel, there's just a power switch on one side. For the rest, grab the remote.
Sanyo PLV-Z3000 projector: This Sanyo is the same smaller box as the lower cost Z700, with the key difference being a dark gray finish. Again, the lens has a motorized cover when the projector is not in use. A decent looking projector for a box!
Sony VPL-HW15 projector: The Sony looks good. It's similar looking to the Optoma HD8200, being moderately large, narrow and deep. The front has angles moving back to the sides, with the center area dropping back. The centered lens isn't recessed per se, but is recessed to the parts of the front that come out the most. The black piano finish and light sculpting of lines gives it some style. The HW10 has a very small control panel on one side, and the inputs on the other. You'll either like or hate the inputs on the side, depending on which side is visible to the people in your room.
Viewsonic Pro8100 projector: The Viewsonic is a classy looking projector, mostly black piano finish with a tasteful amount of gray trim around the center mounted, recessed lens, and on the top behind the lens. It is a medium-large projector, but a bit less bulky, than say the Sony. You can order different color and style finishes for the interchangeable top panel, to dress up the Pro8100 to match your room.
$3500 - $10,000 Home Theater Projectors
InFocus SP8602 projector: InFocus used to put a lot of effort into designing home theater projectors that looked cool. With new management, at least so far, InFocus has relegated styling to the back burner, with the SP8602 sharing the same industrial looking box as their 7000 lumen commercial projector. Finished in a flat very dark gray, the styling is limited to vertical ribbiing all the way around, a top and bottom that look like "lids" as they extend slightly beyond the front and sides. There' is also some silver trim around the lens and around the top and bottom plates. Lens controls are hidden behind a slide removable top panel.
JVC DLA-RS15, RS25, RS35 projectors: Medium large, moderately narrow and long, with just a little gold trim and a bit of sculpting, make it clean and good looking. The center mounted lens is not only recessed, but a door slides to protect it when powered off. These models feature the cable connections on the right side (looking from the front). I should note that the RS15, RS25, and RS35 are JVC Pro products. Essentially identical projectors are sold by JVC's consumer division. Sadly for those that opt for the HD550, HD950, and HD990, the classy gold trim is replaced by silver. Tsk, tsk, I have an RS!
Optoma HD8600 projector:
Planar 8150 projector: Definitely the most unusual projector in the whole group. The projector is basically round! It's a bit wider around the top than the bottom so the sides slope inward. The black piano finish looks good. If it weren't for the slightly protruding centered lens, and the cables, you might not figure out it's a projector. For me the verdict is still out on the styling.
Sony VPL-VW85 projector: Very nice looking for one of the largest projectors covered in this report The top is finished in a shiny black with tiny blue speckles (that just add a touch of blue to the color when hit by a lot of light). The front is nicely curved back toward the sides. As I mentioned when reviewing it, the styling is wife friendly, or should be if the size isn't a concern.
Vivitek H9080FD projector: I like what I said, in the review: "It's BIG, it's mostly black - with a large silver plate running down the center of the top, from almost the front, to the back. The manual zoom lens is recessed. It reminds me a bit of the older big BenQ's but none of them are still around for this report. Not bad looking.
OK, the beauty pagent is over, time to get back to some important aspects of these projectors.
Projector Control Panels
No point into going into the control panels here. They are well documented in the individual reviews. The only key point to mention here, is that the InFocus projectors, as well as the Optoma HD8200, lack control panels. Instead, they are dependent on their remote (so don't lose the remote and keep a spare set of batteries around). Amost all projectors have their control panels on the top. There are exceptions, including the Sony projectors and the Panasonic PT-AE3000, which put them on the side.
Input/Output
All the projectors in this review have a number of things in common. All, but those mentioned in the first section, have their control panels in the back (the ones with the input section - cable connections - on the side, are the Sonys, and the JVCs).
All of these projectors have at least two HDMI inputs. All the HDMI inputs are HDMI 1.3 (support for Deep Color) except the BenQ W5000, and I believe, the Sharp XV-Z20000.
All have at least one component video input. Today we all tend to use HDMI, but for those replacing older projectors who only have component cable run, it's good to know they are still able to use their cabling.
All the projectors but one, have an analog computer input. That exception is the JVC RS10. Why it lacks it, is beyond my grasp. Perhaps it's just to differentiate it from the RS20, but omitting it is a silly thing to do. There are work arounds, but, why make us suffer. Those of us with Mac's all have HDMI, as do many PC's and PC laptops these days. Those without, will have to use a work-around if they want to hook up their PC.
Screen Triggers: Most projectors have one, some have two (two lets you raise/lower a motorized screen with one, and control an anamorphic lens sled or screen masking system with the other). Today, however, screens and sleds and masking systems can be controlled with IR or RF remotes in most cases, so screen triggers aren't critical.
RS232 (service port) All the projectors have one. This allows your projector to interface to a room control system or PC for control. In some cases, the port can be used to download firmware upgrades. Sorry, I haven't followed which can/can't do downloads, but very few manufacturers ever offer firmware downloads.
Menus
Please see the individual reviews for details and screen shots of various menu pages. Some projectors have great menu layouts, some have type small enough to be a problem for some to read, but, the bottom line is that you almost certainly wouldn't change your mind about which projector you will by, based on the menu system! For that reason, while it's a very minor factor in deciding award winners, we won't take your time up comparing the menus.
Remote Controls
Remote controls have several attributes worthy of discussion. Basically: The layout and ergonomic considerations (large small, one handed use, or two), and especially, effective range.
Each remote is discussed in the individual reviews. While you may or may not like a projector's remote, I seriously doubt anyone will change their purchase decision because of a remote's abilities. Hey, if you love your projector, but hate your remote, it's just one more excuse to go out and buy a nice universal, programmable remote to control all your equipment! For example, last year I write that I loved the layout of my new JVC projector's remote control, but its range is a real problem. This year, the JVC remotes have tons of range, nice to see an improvement. Ultimately, remote control issues aren't a big deal in the selection of your next projector.
Lens Throw and Lens Shift
Some projectors have a lot of placement range, while others are severely limited. With few exceptions, 3LCD projectors and LCoS projectors are extremely flexible, with zoom lenses with plenty of zoom, and all of these two groups of projectors have lens shift. By comparison, the DLP projectors consistently have very little zoom range. Some of the DLP projectors have lens shift others do not. Even when they do have lens shift, they don't have as much as the other types.
Let's discuss the issues, then get into the individual projector's abilities.
Lens shift is a requirement if you want to shelf mount a projector in the rear of your room. It allows the projector to maintain a proper, rectangular image on the screen from different heights, and for a projector placed higher than the mid-point on the screen, without lens shift, the projector must be inverted, so, essentially, ceiling mounted.
The other thing you need to shelf mount, is a projector that can be placed far enough back to sit on a rear shelf. Of course your room length and screen size come into play. Let's say that those projectors without lens shift normally also have lenses with very little zoom range, so their throw distance range is normally kept fairly short, figuring that ceiling mounting is easier, closer to the screen.
Here's a chart organized by our three Classes. For each projector, it provides placement information in terms of distance and height, for a 100 inch 16:9 screen. Using these numbers, you can determine the ranges for any sized screen just with a simple calculation.
All of these projectors can be ceiling mounted. The ones in Italic can be shelf mounted:
Closest |
Furthest |
Adj |
Shift max |
|
in feet |
in feet |
Lens shift |
Ht. (inches) |
|
| Under $2100 | ||||
| BenQ W1000 | 11.5 | 13.8 | N |
7.4 |
| Epson HC8100 | 9.8 | 20.9 | Y |
22.7 |
| Mitsubishi HC3800 | 11.1 | 16.4 | N |
16.5 |
| Optoma HD20 | 10.9 | 13.1 | N |
8 |
| Panasonic PT-AE4000U | 9.9 | 19.8 | Y |
24.5 |
| Samsung SP-A600 | 11.1 | 14.4 | N |
12 |
| Sanyo PLV-Z700 | 9.8 | 20 | Y |
24.5 |
| Sharp XV-Z15000 | 10.3 | 11.9 | N |
7.9 |
| Vivitek H1080FD | 10.9 | 13.1 | N |
7.9 |
| $2100-$3500 | ||||
| BenQ W6000 | 11.8 | 17.7 | Y |
0 |
| Cinetron HD700 | 12.8 | 18.4 | Y |
6.9 |
| Epson HC8500UB | 9.8 | 20.9 | Y |
22.7 |
| Epson HC9100 | 9.8 | 20.9 | Y |
22.7 |
| Epson HC9500UB | 9.8 | 20.9 | Y |
22.7 |
| LG CF181D | 9.8 | 17.8 | Y |
9.9 |
| Mitsubishi HC6800 | 10.2 | 16.4 | Y |
12.3 |
| Mitsubishi HC7000 | 10.2 | 16.4 | Y |
12.3 |
| Optoma HD8200 | 10.9 | 16.6 | Y |
17 |
| Sanyo PLV-Z3000 | 9.8 | 20 | Y |
24.5 |
| Sony VPL-HW15 | 10.1 | 16.3 | Y |
7.5 |
| $3500 - $10,000 | ||||
| InFocus SP8602*** | 10.9 | 16.8 | Y |
14.9 |
| JVC RS15 | 9.9 | 20.1 | Y |
15 |
| JVC RS25 | 9.9 | 20.1 | Y |
15 |
| JVC RS35 | 9.9 | 20.1 | Y |
15 |
| Optoma HD8600** | 11.2 | 14 | Y |
4.9 |
| Planar PD8150* | 13.4 | 17.4 | Y |
29 |
| Sony VPL-VW85 | 10.1 | 16.3 | Y |
7.5 |
| Vivitek H9080FD | 13.4 | 17.4 | Y |
9.8 |
* Planar PD8150 - is interesting in that the lens shift is unequal. It can be placed higher above the screen top, than it can be lower, below the bottom.
** The Optoma HD8600 can be placed up to 4.9 inches above the top of the screen surface, but only down to 14.9 inches above the bottom of the screen.
*** The InFocus SP8602 has the most unusual lens shift. The top number shown is correct, the SP8602 can be placed that far above the top of the screen. What is weird is that the lens can only be placed from that height, down to the top of the screen surface, but not below. So you can not have the InFocus SP8602 mounted, say a foot below the top of the screen. All the other projectors with lens shift would work there.
Note: All numbers above are approximate. Throw distances should be accurate within about one inch. In terms of Maximum shift, and especially the amount of shift (offset) on projectors without adjustable lens shift, we have found that manufacturers often make errors!
We recommend you double check the numbers with the manufacturer's tech support, for accurate lens shift numbers. (At least two of these manufacturers show conflicting information in their brochures, compared to their manuals, on at least one model.
For your convenience, below, the home theater projectors are organized first by price class, then by amount of placement flexibility. The four categories are:
Greatest Placement Flexibility (excellent zoom range, lens shift)
Good Placement Flexibility (moderately good zoom range, lens shift)
Fair Placement Flexibility (typically limited zoom range, lens shift, there are exceptions)
Poor Placement Flexibility (limited zoom range, no lens shift)
None of the projectors listed as Poor can be shelf mounted. Those rated Fair can be shelf mounted, but have very limited range and may not work out in most rooms.
Keep in mind that if you plan to ceiling mount, there isn't that much difference between the four groups, unless ceiling height is an issue, in which case Poor Placement Flexibility projectors may still be a problem as they lack any lens shift.
The key benefit of ceiling mounting is that you can place the projector closer to the screen which often means a brighter image.
Key benefits of shelf mounting include usually easier to get power to the projector (installation time and cost), less audible noise, easier access, generally simpler to install and align.
Entry Level 1080p Projectors - Under $2000
Greatest Placement Flexibility: Epson Home Cinema 8100, Panasonic PT-AE4000, Sanyo PLV-Z700 - All have at least 2:1 zoom lenses and extensive lens shift
Good Placement Flexibility: None
Fair Placement Flexibility: Mitsubishi HC3800 (1.5:1 zoom, no lens shift),
Poor Placement Flexibility: BenQ W1000, Optoma HD20, Samsung SP-A600, Sharp XV-Z15000, Vivitek H1080FD
Mid-Priced 1080p Projectors - $2000 - $3500
Greatest Placement Flexibility: All Epson projectors, Sanyo PLV-Z3000 (all with at least 2:1 zoom, lens shift)
Good Placement Flexibility: BenQ W6000, LG CF181D, Mitsubishi HC6800, HC7000, Optoma HD8200, Sony VPL-HW15, Viewsonic Pro8100
Yes, this year, every projector in this mid-priced class offers lens shift! All of them have at least a 1.5:1 zoom ratio as well. In other words every projector we reviewed in this price range had at least good placement flexibility. The most signficant difference between "Greatest" and "Good" placement flexibility is that most of the "good" ones may not work rear shelf mounted, if your room is moderately deep, or your screen relatively small for the room size. those with 2:1 zooms normally can be shelf mounted in all but very unusual (read very deep) rooms, even these "greatest" projectors won't be rear shelf mountable (with a 100" diagonal screen) in rooms deeper than about 22 feet.
Premium Priced 1080p Projectors - $3500 - $10,000
Greatest Placement Flexibility: JVC DLA-RS15, DLA-RS25, DLA-RS35
Good Placement Flexibility: Planar PD8150, Sharp XV-Z20000, Sony VPL-VW85
Fair Placement Flexibility: Vivitek H9080FD (1.3:1 zoom, but has lens shift)
All projectors in this class have lens shift as well! This year every projector without lens shift, sells for under $2000. Last year, we had some projectors without lens shift, in all three price classes. What has changed? Primarily the DLP projector manufacturers have been getting tired of losing sales to the LCD camp, because of placement flexibility.
Ceiling Height Issues: These projectors are less likely to work in your home theater if your ceiling height is low, or if ceiling height is average, but screen size is rather large. This is due to a lack of lens shift, combined with a signficant amount of fixed lens offset, that requires them to be mounted well above the top of your screen. All of these must be mounted at least 7.5 inches (measured from the center of the lens) and up to 16.5 inches above the top of the screen.
One dramatic improvement (I think so, at least) is that this year, most of the projectors lacking adjustable lens shift, have been redesigned compared to previous models, so that they have less fixed lens offset. Last year we had 5 projector with at least 15 inches of fixed offset. This year, that number has dropped to just one, (the Mitsubishi HC3800 at 16.5 inches offest) and only one other with at least 10 inches (that would be 12 inches for the Samsung SP-A600. The rest of the fixed lens offset projectors all have about 8 inches of offset, which is just about half of what most of last year's units offered!
The same chart we used above for throw distances has almost all the info you need for vertical positioning. It tells you if the projector has adjustable lens shift, and where the projector can be mounted, relative to screen height. Below is a list of projectors that do not have lens shift, and do have a lot of lens offset requiring them (if ceiling mounted) to be mounted higher than the top of the screen, by enough that they may not work in your room, if you don't have higher than average ceilings.
All of these units must be mounted approximately 17 inches above the top of your screen's surface. That 17 inches is the difference between the top of the screen's surface, and the center of the lens. Remember, that even mounting as close as flush to the ceiling as possible, the center of the lens is likely going to be at least 7 inches below the ceiling (and that's tight).
Below is a chart which gives several examples. It tells you how far off the floor the bottom of the screen surface (not the frame) would have to be, for four common screen sizes, and four different ceiling heights. Obviously, you can't have your screen starting just a few inches off the floor, especially if some folks sit behind others. To come up with these numbers we assume a projector without adjustable lens shift, fixed lens offset of 15 inches, and the center of the lens. We assume you can't mount the projector any higher than where the center of the lens would still be 7 inches below the ceiling (about as high as you can mount it, with a typical ceiling mount). Many mounts may require an even larger distance between ceiling and center of the lens:
| Diagonal | Screen Size | |||
| 100 | 110 | 118 | 128 | |
| Ceiling Ht. | ||||
| 7 feet | 12.5 | 7.55 | 3.59 | -1.36 |
| 8 feet | 24.5 | 19.55 | 15.59 | 10.64 |
| 9 feet | 36.5 | 31.55 | 27.59 | 22.64 |
| 10 feet | 48.5 | 33.55 | 39.59 | 34.64 |
Screen size (above) is diagonal screen size, measured in inches.
Measurements (inches) provided are distance from floor to bottom of screen surface (not screen frame).
As you can see from the chart above, if you have a projector like the Mitsubishi HC3800 (has 16.5 inches offset, the most of these projectors. For it, an 8 foot ceiling, and a 110 inch diagonal screen, the bottom of your screen surface is about 20 inches from the floor. That's certainly about as low as anyone would want. With the same 8 foot ceiling, and a 128" screen (like mine), you'd have to dig a hole, as the bottom of the screen would be below the floor level!
If your setup is going to be tight, you may want to start by figuring out how close to the ceiling, you can mount the projector. Then add the distance to the center of the lens which will vary depending on how far (vertically) from the top of the projector to the center of the lens.
Distance from ceiling to top (inverted) of the projector + Distance from top of projector to center of lens = Total distance from ceiling to lens center.
Bottom line: This year's projectors, as a group, are far better than last year's when it comes to vertical placement flexibility. For openers, not one over $2000 projector in our report lacks adjustable lens shift. Last year we had 3 higher priced projectors without lens shift. In fact, despite the addition of three new entry level $999 projectors without lens shift, this year's crop of projectors finds that lens shift is finding its way on to more and more DLP projectors (it's already standard on all LCD and LCoS projectors we reviewed.
Projectors with lens shift:
Since all the other projectors have adjustable lens shift, your only restriction to screen size is if it fits on your wall, with the minimum height off the floor that you find acceptable (without the top of the projector hitting the ceiling).
For example, with that 128 inch screen and a projector with lens shift, the screen height (excluding frame), is about 63 inches. Thus, even with an 8 foot ceiling height, you could have the screen surface bottom as high up as 33 inches (96 inch room height - 63 inches of screen height = 33 inches). Now that would have the top of the screen flush with the ceiling, and doesn't allow for the screen's frame, so if you have a four inch frame at top and bottom, the 33 inches becomes 29 inches.
Please remember, we calculate the lower number from the bottom of the screen surface, not from its frame, so the bottom of the frame would be at 25 inches (29 - 4) with a four inch wide frame.
Good luck!
Anamorphic Lens Support
Using an anamorphic lens lets you use a 2.35:1 aspect ratio screen, the same ratio as most movies (which we will refer to as Cinemascope movies) use. The combination of screen and lens means no letterboxing at the top and bottom when watching most movies.
By "anamorphic lens supprt" we mean that the projector has the built in (internal) stretch scaling to properly resize the image to work with an anamorphic lens. Any projector can work with an anamorphic lens, even without this, but it would require an outboard processor to handle the correct scaling. Consider those outboard processors to start at around $800, with products like the recently reviewed DVDO Edge.
All of the projectors in this report have internal support for an anamorphic lens, except the following:
Optoma HD20, BenQ W1000, Vivitek H1080FD, Epson Home Cinema 8100*, Home Cinema 8500UB*, Pro Cinema 9100, Sony VPL-HW15
Also of note, is that some projectors with recessed lenses do make it difficult to mount an anamorphic lens and sled in front of them. Still all of them do have a solution, at least from one manufacturer. The Sanyos and JVCs are examples of projectors, where your choices of anamorphic lens providers is at least a little limited.
* While these three Epson projectors do not have the internal support, the almost identical Pro Cinema 9500UB does support one. So if you want an Epson, and plan an anamorphic lens, and Cinemascope shaped screen, choose the Pro Cinema 9500UB. That will cost less than pairing one of the other Epson's with an $800+ outboard processor that can adjust of an anamorphic lens.
Emulating an Anamorphic Lens Setup
Panasonic is the only company to provide an anamorphic lens emulation solution. Simply stated, they allow you to change the zoom position (it is motorized) when working with a 2.35:1 screen. In the wider zoom position, a Cinemascope movie just fills the screen. When you need to watch 16:9 or 4:3, you zoom out, so that those sizes do not overshoot the top and bottom of the screen.
What makes it work, is that Panasonic lets you save the lens positions, so that it is easy to toggle back and forth - as easy as controlling a real anamorphic lens/sled.
It's not a perfect solution, but it's free, and that compares well to the typical $4000+ for a lens/sled combination from a major manufacturer. The limits - the reasons it isn't quite as good, are two fold. First, when filling the screen with Cinemascope content, the letterboxes are still there, but they exist above the top of your screen and below the bottom. If your walls are light colored, you will still see them, but if your walls are dark (or you have dark draping around the screen), the letterboxes will be invisible.
The second downside relates to brightness. Panasonic's emulation still produces those letterboxes, so you are only using about 80% of the pixels for the movie image. With a real setup, you use 100%. Thus, you get about a 25% brighter image with a real lens/sled combo.
Lastly, The Panasonic has a 2:1 zoom lens ratio - that's about as good as it gets. However to support the two lens positions, you give up about half of your placement flexibility, reducing the working range. You won't be able to place the projector as far back. As a result, in many rooms you will no longer be able to rear shelf mount.
By the way, any projector with at least a 1.5:1 zoom lens can do the same thing, but since projectors are typically mounted where its inconvenient to reach them, it's not practical for projectors without motorized zoom and focus. (Who wants to climb a ladder every time you want to switch from a movie to HDTV or back?) If the projector has enough range, and motorized zoom and focus, such as the Sanyo PLV-Z700 and PLV-Z3000, the JVC RS10 and RS20 to name a few, you can do the same thing as the Panasonic does.
The difference is you will be using your remote to make the zoom changes, and it will take a minute to get the size just right, and possibly refocus. By comparison, the Panasonic does it at the touch of a button, setting the zoom and refocusing. Nice touch! Keep in mind that adjusting the zoom repeatedly on any projector is likely to throw the focus off, at least a little. That's why Panasonic's Lens Memory, uses it's auto focus technology to refocus after each time you change the zoom setting with Lens Memory.
NEXT: Image Quality