Panasonic PT-VMZ50 Laser Projector Review

The Panasonic PT-VMZ50 is a business class 3LCD laser projector with WUXGA (1920 x 1200), resolution and rated brightness of 5,000 lumens. It offers a lot of performance and features for its current street price of $2499.

The PT-VMZ50 is the smallest and lightest 3LCD laser projector rated for 5000 lumens. Lifting the PT-VMZ50 to mount it on the ceiling would easy since it weighs less than 16 pounds. Anyone that spends their days manhandling projectors will appreciate the compact size and light weight of the PT-VMZ50.

In addition to being bright and compact, the PT-VMZ50’s picture quality is very good. It also includes several features that make it a great solution for many meeting and classrooms.

The PT-VMZ50 uses a laser/phosphor wheel light engine rated at 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation. The PT-VMZ50 utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in many smaller laser projectors so it reproduces bright rich colors.

The PT-VMZ50 has all the features you would expect from a business class projector at its price point. These features include horizontal and vertical lens shift plus a decent amount of image zoom, lots of inputs along with wireless control and connectivity. While this is a business class projector, it is also suitable for use in a classroom.

We wish to thank Epson America for sponsoring this year’s Best Classroom Projectors Report. 

The Panasonic PT-VMZ50U is a small footprint 5,000 lumen WUXGA business projector with a laser/phosphor light engine which is rated for 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation.

The PT-VMZ50U fits right in the middle of Panasonic’s lineup of WUXGA portable laser projectors which range from the 4500 lumens PT-VMZ40U all the way up to 6000 lumens PT-VMZ60U. All three models utilize the same compact chassis (16”W x 5”H x 14”D) and they each weigh just under 16 pounds.

In addition to the three PT-VMZ60 series WUXGA projectors, Panasonic also offers two WXGA resolution projectors which utilize the same chassis and laser light engine. These projectors are the 5000 lumens PT-VMW50U and the 6000 lumens PT-VMW60U.

Panasonic claims that the PT-VMZ50U is the world's smallest and lightest 3LCD projector rated for 5000 lumens. I have yet to find a lighter and more compact ultra-bright 3LCD Laser projector. The PT-VMZ50U’s compact size and lightweight makes it easy to haul from location to location.

The PT-VMZ50U utilizes a 3LCD imager instead of the single DLP chip found in many business projectors for improved color reproduction. Also by precisely modulating the PT-VMZ50U laser light output, Panasonic claims the PT-VMZ50U can deliver a dynamic contrast ratio of 3,000,000;1.

The PT-VMZ50U has manual horizontal and vertical lens shift, 1.6x zoom lens, dual HDMI inputs as well as a DIGITAL LINK/LAN (HDBaseT) input. While the PT-VMZ50U is a WUXGA projector, it can accept 4K@30P content via its HDMI inputs or DIGITAL LINK terminals (HDBaseT) for increased clarity and detail.

It has a USB input which makes it easy to display photos stored on a USB memory stick. You can also plug the optional AJ-WM50P Wireless module into this USB port which would allow you to wirelessly project images from a laptop or mobile device.