PT-AX200U Features & Comparisons

I experienced a sense of deja vu when I opened up the PT-AX200U projector, took some photos and set it up in my theater room. The chassis and feel of the unit was nearly identical to the PT-AX100U I had reviewed last year. In fact, the only physical difference I noted immediately was the presence of an additional HDMI input on the connector panel – a welcome addition, but was there more under the hood of this LCD projector? As I knew from this year's demo at CEDIA there were indeed several new features of Panasonic's incremental but impressive projector update – not the least of which involved some tantalizing gaming-centric features.

Features and Favorites

While the Panasonic PT-AX200U isn't exactly a “from the ground up” rewrite of the prior AX100U model, there are several features worth noting, both old and new:

• Light Harmonizer 2 with Ambient Light Sensor
  Instead of the “gamma jump” which occurred in the original Light Harmonizer system, the second iteration of this technology also configures Lamp Power output, Iris setting and even Sharpness to get the best possible results in ambient light conditions.
• Smooth Screen Technology
  Smooth Screen makes this 720p projector look very much like 1080p, especially when viewed from close distances as is the case in my room (I like a BIG screen). Image softness doesn't seem to be an issue and the technology really is impressive, given the fact that any time you think about defocusing the edges of pixels you assume there will be a downside.
• Dynamic Iris
  Finally, a Dynamic Iris system that doesn't sound like the final scene of the Terminator when he's reaching through the bars to get at Linda Hamilton. I can't stand noisy Iris systems and typically turn them off. Panasonic has solved this issue and they did it just for me... er, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
• Vertical and Horizontal Lens Shift
  Lens shift on LCD projectors? That's old news. Yeah, tell that to DLP projectors at this price. It's cool, offers an incredible flexibility for installations and deserves to continue to be mentioned until all projection technologies incorporate it in products costing less than $2000.
• Game Mode
  Saving the best for last, the PT-AX200U features a special “Game” mode which adjusts the internal processing (presumably bypassing some of the unneeded video processing) to improve video response (up to 3x) and reduce lag times during game play. We think this is a real propeller-head feature, but for those of you who game more than you sleep this is likely going to be a welcome addition. Tom Taylor, or Tsquared as he's known in the Major League Gaming community, demoed this feature at CEDIA this year. Being a professional gamer, I'll take it that it's significant to people who take their Xbox very seriously. According to Tom, the lag was all but gone and the system made gaming much more enjoyable.

Using the New Features

The most stand-out feature is the addition of Game mode. Not only does it reduce game lag time, but it also alters the gamma so that darker scenes (you know the ones that are very annoying to play when you don't have your room completely blacked out) are more revealing. I tested this out with Halo3 and the Game mode became my best friend almost instantly. Suddenly, I could see where I was going, even when there was a small amount of ambient light leaking into my theater room. The other notable addition is the presence of two HDMI inputs. While I must admit that I only run a single line to my projector (who wants to pay for dual 25-foot runs of HDMI?) this may be a nice thing for anyone looking to have discrete sources and unique calibration settings for each. I left Light Harmonizer off on the PT-AX100U, simply because it was more of a gimmick with only the ability to adjust Gamma settings. With the new version I actually enjoyed using it and the feature becomes much more practical.

Comparing the Panasonic PT-AX100U and the PT-AX200U

When we first reviewed this model's predecessor we did a comparison and it only seems fair to keep up the tradition. This time around the differences are much more difficult to spot, as this really is just an incremental change. Here’s a quick overview of differences:

The remote controls are almost identical, except that the PT-AX200U replaces the Sleep button with a dynamic Function button that can be assigned to any number of functions, depending on your preference (I set mine to activate Game mode):

 
PT-AX100U remote (left) and PT-AX200U remote (right)