Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Physical Tour Posted on October 1, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Panasonic PT-AE3000U Projector Review - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector Overview - PT-AE3000 Projector Highlights2. Menus - Menu - Remote Control - Lens Throw3. Special Features - PT-AE3000 Frame Interpolation - Anamorphic Lens Emulation Capabilities - Waveform Monitor and Split Adjust - Fast Frame Response4. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Physical Tour - Appearance - Control Panel - Input/Output5. Menu - Remote Control - Lens Throw - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens6. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Image Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones - Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels & Shadow Detail7. Black Levels & Shadow Detail 2 - Shadow Detail Performance8. Shadow Detail Performance 39. Shadow Detail Performance 4 - Panasonic PT-AE3000U projector:10. Overall Color & Picture Quality11. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Performance - Brightness - Sharpness12. Sharpness 2 - Panasonic PT-AE3000: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage13. Image Noise - Image Noise - Audible Noise14. Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector Calibration - Color Temperature - Basic Settings - Our settings (numbers in parens are the default numbers) - Gamma - the Panasonic has separate gamma settings for - Post Calibration Grayscale15. RGB Settings - Contrast - Brightness16. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Projector Screens - General Screen Recommendations: 16:9 Diagonal - Cinemascope Projector Screens17. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Competitors - PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 HC6500 and HC700018. Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. BenQ W5000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500 UB - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 610019. PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - PT-AE3000 vs. InFocus IN83 and IN82 - PT-AE3000 vs. JVC DLA-RS1x, DLA-RS10 and DLA-RS2020. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Warranty21. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Review Summary - Bottom Line - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Pros - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Cons - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Typical Capabilities22. Panasonic PT-AE3000U Projector Specifications AppearanceWhen it comes to touring the physical layout of the PT-AE3000, it’s pretty much a redo of the PT-AE2000U projector. There are very few differences between them. Overall, the projector is a larger, flat finished, dark gray, rectangular box. It won’t win any design awards, but then, in a dark room, you won’t be looking at the projector itself. True, it’s cool to have a sexy looking projector – like the new Mitsubishi HC6500 and HC7000, but what really counts for most of us, is what ends up on the screen! One cosmetic change is to a silver trim ring around the lens. The older Panasonic’s had gray trim. Here’s what we found: From the front, the PT-AE3000 has a centered 2:1 motorized zoom lens, which is almost completely recessed (except for the lens ring). Also in the front is an infra-red sensor for the remote control. Below are two screw thread adjustable front feet. Moving to the top of the Panasonic PT-AE3000U, all you will find are two recessed, manual lens throw adjustment “wheels”, one for vertical and one horizontal. Details on lens shift range will be found in the Lens shift section below. Looking from the rear of the PT-AE3000, there is a spring released door on the left side, which reveals, when open, the control panel of the PT-AE3000U. The control panel is a very standard affair. The projector vents hot air out the vents in the front, and takes in air from the vents in the rear. That takes us to the back of the Panasonic projector, where you will find all the computer’s inputs and outputs. Control PanelOpen the door on the side of the PT-AE3000U to access the Control Panel and here’s what you will find: There is a large power button (once for on, twice for off). Below it, is the Menu button. To the right is the usual menu navigation, in a round layout (up, down left right arrows), with a center Enter button. To the right of the navigation area, is an Input Select button, and below it, the Return button (moves the menu back up one level toward the main menu). Finally, there are two buttons to the right for focus adjust, and two below it for zoom in, zoom out. Separate from the control panel, in the lower back corner, is a “hard” power switch, which must be on, for the projector to be powered up by the remote control (or the control panel itself). Essentially all the basic power, source and menu navigation controls are found on the control panel, as well as the controls for the power zoom and focus. Click Image to EnlargeInput/OutputKudos, once again, for the PT-AE3000 having three HDMI inputs instead of the usual two. Most people won’t care, but some with more HDMI sources than their AV receiver or HTPC can support, need extra HDMI inputs, and the Panasonic’s three, should do the job, whereas most offer only two HDMI inputs. In addition to the HDMI 1.3 inputs there is a computer input to the immediate right. That is followed by a pair of color coded (separate R, G, B, RCA jacks) Component Video inputs. Then, of course, the usual S-Video and Composite video inputs (one each). Finally, there is an RS-232 port for controlling the projector from a computer or room control system. There is also a Kensington Lock slot, the rear infra-red sensor for the PT-AE3000U remote control, and the power cord receptacle. Click Image to Enlarge 1. Panasonic PT-AE3000U Projector Review - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector Overview - PT-AE3000 Projector Highlights2. Menus - Menu - Remote Control - Lens Throw3. Special Features - PT-AE3000 Frame Interpolation - Anamorphic Lens Emulation Capabilities - Waveform Monitor and Split Adjust - Fast Frame Response4. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Physical Tour - Appearance - Control Panel - Input/Output5. Menu - Remote Control - Lens Throw - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens6. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Image Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones - Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels & Shadow Detail7. Black Levels & Shadow Detail 2 - Shadow Detail Performance8. Shadow Detail Performance 39. Shadow Detail Performance 4 - Panasonic PT-AE3000U projector:10. Overall Color & Picture Quality11. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Performance - Brightness - Sharpness12. Sharpness 2 - Panasonic PT-AE3000: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage13. Image Noise - Image Noise - Audible Noise14. Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector Calibration - Color Temperature - Basic Settings - Our settings (numbers in parens are the default numbers) - Gamma - the Panasonic has separate gamma settings for - Post Calibration Grayscale15. RGB Settings - Contrast - Brightness16. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Projector Screens - General Screen Recommendations: 16:9 Diagonal - Cinemascope Projector Screens17. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Competitors - PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Mitsubishi HC5500 HC6500 and HC700018. Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. BenQ W5000 - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 6500 UB - Panasonic PT-AE3000 vs. Epson Home Cinema 610019. PT-AE3000 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z700 - PT-AE3000 vs. InFocus IN83 and IN82 - PT-AE3000 vs. JVC DLA-RS1x, DLA-RS10 and DLA-RS2020. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Warranty21. Panasonic PT-AE3000 – Review Summary - Bottom Line - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Pros - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Cons - Panasonic PT-AE3000 Projector: Typical Capabilities22. Panasonic PT-AE3000U Projector Specifications Special Features Menu