Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-2 Posted on November 29, 2006 By Art Feierman 1. Panasonic PT-AE1000U 1080p Home Theater Projector Review2. Panasonic PT-AE1000U 1080p Home Theater Projector Review: Overview-23. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality4. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-25. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-47. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-58. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-69. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance10. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-211. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-312. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-413. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-514. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Warranty15. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons16. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-217. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-318. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-419. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Specifications Now, using the exact same exposure, I re-photographed the same frame, but with Panasonic’s menu open. Since the Menu has very bright areas, the dynamic iris can no longer close down – resulting in blacks that are slightly lighter gray than the image above. Overall, the black levels are very good on the PT-AE1000U home theater projector. When comparing to my own BenQ PE-8720 a Darkchip3 DLP projector, the Panasonic, when it is able to fully engage the dynamic iris, produces blacker blacks than my BenQ. On other scenes, where there is a lot of bright, along with the dark, the BenQ – relying on the native advantage of DLP (especially Darkchip3), then produces the blacker blacks. PT-AE1000U 5thElement blacklevelsPT-AE1000U 5thElement blacklevelsmenuPreviousNext Click to enlarge. SO close Since the Panasonic PT-AE1000U does a very good job on blacks, the next question is, how does it do in terms of shadow detail? The answer is extremely well, in fact one of the best I have seen to date. I refer you first to the same image below from Phantom of the Opera, off of HD-DVD. Note all the detail in the dark areas to the left. Again, you can click to enlarge, and the same image is used in a number of other reviews, including the Panasonic’s most direct competitor, the Mitsubishi HC5000. Click Image to EnlargePT-AE1000U LOTR watchfireLargePT-AE1000U LOTR watchfireoverLargePreviousNext 1. Panasonic PT-AE1000U 1080p Home Theater Projector Review2. Panasonic PT-AE1000U 1080p Home Theater Projector Review: Overview-23. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality4. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-25. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-47. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-58. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-69. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance10. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-211. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-312. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-413. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – General Performance-514. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Warranty15. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons16. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-217. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-318. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review: Summary, Pros, Cons-419. Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Specifications Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality Panasonic PT-AE1000U Projector Review – Image Quality-3