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Panasonic PT-AX200U 720p 3LCD Home Theater Projector | 
 enlarge | Brand: Panasonic
Category: CE
Buy New: See price in cart
New (11)
Rating:  15 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 10.8
Dimensions (in): 11.8 x 15.5 x 4.5
Warranty: 2 years warranty
MPN: PTAX200UCIRCUIT
Model: PTAX200UCIRCUIT
UPC: 791871111543
EAN: 0791871111543
ASIN: B000WZO9ZU
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 1280 x 720, 720p HD Resolution and 6,000:1 Contrast Ratio | | • | 2000 Lumens Brightness via a 220 W UHM lamp | | • | LCD x 3 R, G, B | | • | 2 HDMI, 1 Component, 1 S-Video, 1 Video Inputs | | • | Comes with power cord, wireless remote control and batteries for remote |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The PT-AX200 is ideal for watching sports events or playing video games in daylight conditions and surely for viewing movies in a dark room. Powerful 2,000-lumen brightness and new Light Harmonizer 2 technology make it easy for people to enjoy vibrant, dynamic images even if they don't have a special theater room. Together with the 2,000-lumens brightness, Panasonic's Light Harmonizer 2 technology produces vivid and easy-to-see images even in the kind of bright lighting that makes images from other projectors look whitish, faded or lacking in detail. The Light Harmonizer 2 circuit not only adjusts the gamma curve, but also controls the iris setting, lamp power, and picture sharpness to maintain easy, comfortable viewing at all times. The PT-AX200 features a Game mode that improves signal processing for better response, allowing you to play games with minimal stress. It also reveals gradation in saturated areas to show details that are otherwise lost in very dark areas. The Pure Color Filter was born from Panasonic's pursuit of optical technology that delivers true Hollywood picture quality. The light spectrum is adjusted to produce a level of light that maximizes the performance of the LCD panels, which expands the color range and produces truer blacks. The high definition picture of the PT-AX200 is remarkably smooth and film-like, while remaining amazingly sharp and detailed. Dynamic Iris has been refined to provide deeper, richer blacks for true image reproduction with stunning smoothness. This technology adjusts the lamp power, iris, and gamma curve according to data obtained from frame-by-frame histogram analysis of the image brightness level. The new Advanced Dynamic Sharpness Control determines image areas that need to be sharpened at varying degrees by examining small changes in brightness levels within the image. This greatly reduces noise amplification and delivers clear and natural looking images.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Great Value in Home Theater January 1, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I purchased the PT-AX200U for my dedicated home theater room in Aug 2007 after much reading and reviewing all options. Projectorcentral dot com is one of the best sources of information such as placement as well as reviews (both professional and consumer).
About the projector: Sharp, clear and bright (2000 lumens is really bright). While this PJ is 'only' 720p several professional reviewers have dubbed this the 'poor-mans' 1080p. Panasonic has developed a technology called smooth screen that effectively minimizes screen door effect and it really works. I have my viewing area exactly 1.8x the diagonal (105" screen) and there is NO pixel distinction.
Setup: This was a snap. I used the much debated Avia setup DVD and the "Cinema 1" Mode was spot on out of the box. Looked great.
Gaming: While we are not a gaming family, we do have a Wii hooked up with great results. We also have the Fisher Price Smart Cycle and it looks awful - terrible resolution a la 1985. The PJ just exacerbates the lousy FP technology in the Smart Cycle - Don't misunderstand - the Smart Cycle is great - just needs real graphics.
Placement: This PJ has phenomenal flexibility with incredible lens shift and 2.0x zoom. To make a 106" picture unit can be from about 10 feet to about 20 feet away. Look carefully at zoom and lens shift before you buy.
Compatibility: This PJ accepts nearly all inputs (i.e. 1080p/24) and does not have to put the picture through 2:3 pull down. If you are considering a Blu-Ray or HD DVD be sure to check the signal compatibility of the PJ you are considering.
Noise: I sit under and just behind the PJ installed on the ceiling and it's barley audible with no other sound in the room. Very good dB rating.
Summary: Great value. Great picture. Easy installation. 2 HDMI ports. Highly recommended!
Why and Why Not, To Buy This Projector. April 27, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I am the lead installer for a company that installs RealHomeTheaters, so hopefully my experience can be of some help. This projector has some great features not found on all projectors in it's class.
1. Great throw ratio. ( the zoom lens on this projector allows you to throw a 120" image from as close as 11' and from as far from the screen as 22'.)
2. Brightness. ( at 2000 lumens it is one of the brightest 720p 16:9 home theater projectors in it's class. This allows you to overcome ambient light that would "washout" dimmer projectors.)
3. Lens Shift. ( give you the ability to mount the projector off camber to the screen and in most cases higher or lower than normally possible with other projectors.)
But, if you have a normal room with controlled lighting and are able to install the projector at a normal height (7 to 10' off the floor) and centered on the screen. You will not benefit from this projector. Consider the Mitsubishi HC1500 and be sure to read my review on it as well. It will give you just as strong of an end result and save you some money. Provided you do not need any of the three features above.
Hope this helps get your RealHomeTheaters off the ground!
Fantastic Home Theater Experience March 17, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This projector is simply fantastic. DVD's look great and HD sources look even better. While very similar to last years model, this one has an additional HDMI input and, more importantly, is about $700 cheaper. Some benefits:
- Amazingly versatile placement options with wide zoom range and lens shift. I have this projector mounted on a shelf above my couch. This is perferable to a coffee table, and much less invasive than a ceiling mount. It's also very quiet - especially in eco mode.
- Extremely film-like "Cinema" mode right out of the box. I felt no need to calibrate this thing beyond the factory preset, although you can use a calibration DVD with color bars and adjust it yourself.
- LCD. It spite of what you might hear about DLP being more film-like, the image from the PT-AX200U is awesome. DLP projectors in this price range use a spinning color wheel which is usually louder and prone to requiring repairs. Worst DLP projectors can leave a rainbow trail / after-image detectable in a percentage of the population. Even if you can't see the rainbows, do your guests a favor and go LCD.
- Larger image and more flexible than a TV. If you're considering a plasma or LCD TV and enjoy watching movies (but don't necessarily leave the TV all the time), consider this projector. It's smaller, much easier to move, less expensive, and casts an amazing 106" image. If you have a room where you can control the light level (it doesn't have to have dark walls) this is the way to go for watching movies.
-This projector works very well hooked up to a computer. I have a Mac Mini that I use thru a DVI to HDMI converter and it works great, but you can also use a standard VGA connector. In the summer you can take it in the backyard, connect it to a laptop and project movies outside your BBQ or pool party.
I like it. July 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Bought this over a year ago and use it quiet regularly to watch movies on. No complaints, no issue. Operates great, never had any problems. Easy to setup and arrange.
Only the 'energy saving' feature sacrifices quality of picture, but what do you expect for less light to the bulb I suppose...
Haven't been this satisfied with an electronics purchase in over a decade. November 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'd been shopping around for a new gaming display for Wii, PS3, Laptop through DVI, and movies, for a very long time, to replace my monster 36" 300lb CRT. First I went with a 46" LCD that just had too much lag, GHOSTING, grayish blacks, banding on the image, all these problems, and ended up returning it. Then a friend recommended I try the projector route. I was at first skeptical but eventually read a bunch of very helpful reviews on projectorreviews.com, and decided to go with this one, as it is marketed by Panasonic as a "gaming projector"
4 months of owning it and now I would never go back to anything else. Ever. Every one of my friends who sees this thing in action says the same thing - even one who has a massive 1080p 70" Sony rear projection set. This thing is just stellar, the image is sharp, very bright - even in a dimly lit room, and vibrant with great contrast and colors, no lag or ghosting, perfectly complements the high gain 100" gray glass beaded screen I bought for it (I recommend these over a plain white any day - see pictures)
There is no rainbow effect since it is a 3LCD projector, it is fairly quiet and does not have any sort of screen door effect, and ghosting is very very minimal - no more than a CRT or any other display. It also has a crazy amount of advanced image tweaking options that I've never seen on even the most expensive sony XBR LCD's.
The short throw lens is very flexible and can easily fill a 100" screen from less than 24 feet. I place mine in front of the viewers, on a table, angled slightly up with its adjustable feet, and found it gave a better picture than putting it behind and high above viewers. The viewing angle is very good - much better than the LCD it replaced, and is best achieved by placing it with the lens closer to the level of your head. The lens can be shifted all over the place with the little joystick and locked into place by twisting it, and the focal and zoom rings are very precise and have a nice feel.
Sure, it's not 1080p, and I wrestled with this issue a lot before buying it, but now I see that it really wouldn't matter unless i was trying to push this thing past maybe 150" or more. Also, most ps3 games only support 720p anyway, and the wii is only 480p - and taking into account the great value to performance ratio of this thing, I don't miss 1080p at all.
Even taking into account the bulb replacement costs (about $250 for each ~2000 hour bulb), I still feel it's worth it and cannot stress how much I love this thing. I beat Metal Gear Solid 4 on it and it was a transcendental experience to play through it on such a huge and beautiful display.
The only bad thing I can think of about this projector is that the lens cap is manual - you have to clip it on when you're done. I would have preferred a nice automatic one that shuts over the lens when you switch it off.
One final note - this projector is MADE IN JAPAN! How often do you see that any more? All the LCDs and Plasmas I looked at were all made in china, taiwan, mexico and all these other places that I feel have much much lower quality control standards than Japan. Made me feel very good about this product.
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