PT-AX200U Basic Setup and Installation

The 2x zoom and 25% horizontal and 63% vertical lens shift means that you can place this projector at any position except the extremes of the screen boundaries. I like nice zoom lenses since they allow for both longer and shorter throws and can be used in a variety of rooms and with large variances of screen sizes. Take, for example a 120-inch screen (a common but large size). You can hit that size screen from a little as 12 feet away (smaller room) or as far as 24.5 feet away (a rather nice sized theater room.) The 16:9 throw chart (which hasn’t changed from the prior two models) looks like this:

Throw Chart for Distancing the Projector from a 16:9 Projection Screen

We did our visual evaluations, measurements and benchmark testing on a 100” Stewart Studiotek 130 screen with Luxus Deluxe screenwall system. This is a nice screen and the felt lining ensures that any overshoot is not apparent to the eye. We used datacolor ColorFacts Professional software to measure this system and with 2000 lumens you have a lot to work with in terms of screen size and ambient light use. Want to play video games during the day with the windows open? That is probably not a major problem provided you don't have the sun hitting directly on the screen. I found that only the darkest scenes created difficulty with light entering the room.

As is typical, we utilized an adjustable-height projector stand that elevated the projector to the appropriate position so that we minimized the amount of horizontal and vertical lens shift required to get a nice square image to the screen.

Connections

As we mentioned, the new PT-AX200U has the identical inputs as its predecessor, save for an additional HDMI input. This HDMI input has its own associated memory so you can truly store picture and calibration settings for it without interfering with the other source component. The AC plug is still proprietary (grrr) and there is no IR input or trigger output, meaning that while this projector has TS-232C control capabilities, it's not completely installer-friendly depending upon the particular situation and requirements.

HDMI Quirkiness

We utilized SHR HDMI cables (from DVIGear) for all of our testing and sent signal from our reference Denon DVD-3930CI DVD player, an Xbox 360, a Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player and a Sony Playstation3 console. The HDMI connection went through a PureLink HDMI switcher and, in the case of the Xbox 360 and Toshiba HD DVD player, also passed through a Denon AVR-4306 AV receiver.

Sound confusing? Well it isn't, but since HDCP, the content protection scheme behind HDMI, was not, until recently, included in the detailed HDMI spec, there are still compatibility issues in the marketplace. Panasonic seems to suffer from some of these compatibility issues. I can say this with a reasonable amount of confidence due to the number of projectors I've had through this theater which have not, under the same setup had issues.

The “quirkiness” I ran into involved video dropping out from the HD DVR provided by my cable company (a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD) and audio dropping out of the tracks from my Denon DVD-3930CI. To help troubleshoot the situation, I replaced the switcher with another but the problem persisted. I have not encountered HDCP-related dropouts on any other projector in this system that I can recall save, coincidentally, the PT-AX100U. I had no difficulties with either the Xbox 360 (running through the receiver AND switch), PS3 (receiver AND switch) or the HD DVD player (receiver AND switch). Both the DVD player and the cable box bypassed the Denon AV receiver and simply routed through the external HDMI switch. All I can say is check your return policy and make sure you have some options for how you might want to connect the Panasonic in your system. You may have no problems at all, but it's something to note.

Initial Setup

Like its predecessor, we recommend you set the Picture Mode to Cinema1, leave Dynamic Iris On, and set Lamp Power to Low. At this point you’ll be in great shape to watch the unit in a light-controlled room. I actually enjoyed using the Light Harmonizer this time around as it controlled not only Gamma, but lamp power, Iris and image Sharpness. The effect was well-received by me and I think the system is now suitable for use in most cases. If you only intend to use this projector in a theater setting, then you can crank down the Iris, disable the Light Harmonizer and ensure the lamp stays in Low power mode. This will also extend the life of your bulb.

Sharpness was left at -2. Increasing it any further simply accentuates any poor edge enhancement or compression artifacts that may be on the screen. I also noted that the Overscan default was +7 on my unit. I pulled this back to 0 as I rarely encounter any edge artifacts on my source signals. Popping this back to even +1 will eliminate most lines that may show up on the side of various cableTV transmissions.

The all-important Brightness and Contrast were spot-on for Cinema1 mode. I found that I could tweak the Contrast to +1 however, while that satisfied my test pattern, I noticed a significant color shift towards green. I opted to leave it as it was.

The Menu System

With the exception of the Function button, where you can designate one of the many options for its use on the remote control, the Menu system is pretty much unchanged in the PT-AX200U. For a more exhaustive breakdown of the menu system you can read the review of the PT-AE900U projector, on which this system is based.