[ First shipment of Panasonic PT-AE4000U's are here! ]
If you aren’t already following us on Twitter, or Facebook, then you may not know that our first shipment of the new Panasonic PT-AE4000U has just arrived!
We’ve got a couple truckloads full of them, so we are happy to report that all of our customers who pre-ordered their AE4000U should have theirs on the way to them before the end of the week – aka today or tomorrow.
One of our Facebook fans is already planning his first movie night with new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie (available November 17th on Blu-Ray and DVD)!
If you don’t already know about the new Panasonic PT-AE4000U, then we have some stuff for you to read. Just a few weeks ago we didn’t even know if it would be available in the U.S. Then, we found out it would be coming here, and we dropped the price on the old AE3000U and sold through our remaining inventory in short order.
Alright, so now you are up to speed on the Panasonic PT-AE4000U. Now all you have to do is wait a few days for yours to roll in – or upgrade your shipping ASAP and have it for Halloween.
And just for fun… here is some video of the unloading – because we have iPhones, a Flickr account (we won’t bother YouTube with this one), and are very excited
We recently received a shipment of Optoma HD20 projectors. We’re blogging this just to let you know since we’ve had some folks that were surprised to know we had it in stock already.
If you aren’t familiar with the Optoma HD20, it’s one of a few new $999 1080p home theater projectors available this year. It’s been very popular because it uses DLP technology, and offers true HD1080p for super cheap. And since it’s a projector, you can also have a very big image (as big as 300-inches in a space with controlled lighting) in a portable box.
[ Click here for the most current inventory status and pricing information : Optoma HD20 ]
Are you ready for a quick look at the Vivitek H1080FD?
Vivitek representative Jeff Miller was here at ProjectorPeople.com last week to show us the new $999 1080p home theater projector. We had him do a quick video for you so you can see it in action, and get a run down on the features. Here’s the video :
Video Timeline : Vivitek H1080FD
0:00 – 0:22 : Introduction to Vivitek
0:22 – 1:10 : Overview of the Vivitek H1080FD features and inputs
1:40 – 2:40 : Inputs panel, speaker
2:45 – 3:00 : Side panel, cooling
3:10 – 4:00 : Video “Fifth Element” in lights on environment (full lumen mode – 1800 lumens)
4:00 – 4:30 : Projector in “movie mode” with some ambient light – lights dimmed.
4:30 – 5:00 : Projector in “movie mode” with lights off. (5000:1 contrast ratio)
5:05 – end : Sign off
We hope to have this projector in soon. Estimate at the time of this post is early November 2009. But please check the Projector People website for current pricing and availability on the Vivitek H1080FD.
What’s the latest in 1080p HD home theater projectors? The biggest news to date has been the introduction of the $999 true HD home theater projectors. But recently big players like Epson and Panasonic have announced new, upgraded products coming out soon. The new products have higher-than-ever contrast ratios, some improvements on cool features, and very aggressive pricing.
New $999 Entry Level Projectors
We have already done some comparison of new entry level $999 1080p projectors (here and here). We haven’t had a chance to put together any hands on comparison of the projectors because there is limited availability on most of the popular models. We have had some inventory of the Optoma HD20 projector recently, but they sell very quickly. The Vivitek H1080FD and BenQ W1000 models have not come into stock yet, so we have only seen the pre-production models in person as of the date of this story. So, for now, let’s focus on the more recent news from the higher-end of the home theater projector spectrum.
New Higher End Home Theater Projectors
To start, we will compare the initial specifications of what we think will be the most popular new high end 1080p projectors; the BenQ W6000, Panasonic PT-AE4000U and Epson Home Cinema 8500 UB. I say initial specifications because there are sometimes technical tweaks made before their final releases and those changes can alter the specifications. So, here’s a chart of the initial specs for what we suspect will be the big players in high end home theater.
Comparison Chart : New 1080p Home Theater Projectors
As you can see, much like last year (and the year before that) we are seeing dramatically higher contrast ratios, lower introductory prices, and more high performance features.
Lower Projector Prices: More Hollar for Your Dollar
Every year we write a sentence like this; “Last year you would have paid $$$ for a projector of this quality,” and this year is no different. The Panasonic PT-AE3000U and Epson Home Cinema 6500 UB came in at an aggressive (at the time) $2999 price point last year. This year, you’ll pay $1000 less than last year for a projector with higher contrast, better video processing, and some cool new features.
However, with this aggressive introductory pricing, we don’t expect to see these prices dropping again anytime soon. The fact that these came in this cheaply initially is probably due in part to pressure from the release of the $999 1080p DLP projectors.
Contrast Ratios: Say “Hello” to Six Figure Contrast Ratios
How is a 60,000:1 contrast ratio different from a 100,000:1 contrast ratio? Not quite as dramatic as it sounds, but there is a visible (palatable) difference in the picture quality. A higher contrast image actually feels crisper than a lower contrast image. But in reality, both a 60,000:1 and 100,000:1 contrast ratios look very good. In three years we will compare the new 1,000,000:1 projector the 100,000:1 projector and see how dramatic the difference is.
For now, these high contrast ratios really separate the business “crossover” projectors from true home theater models. Unless you are a serious videophile, or visually particular, you’d most likely be happy with anything over 10,000:1 contrast in your home theater.
New Features: Panasonic PT-AE4000U
We’ve had the introduction from Panasonic on their new product, so we are more familiar with the new features of the PT-AE4000U than the new Epson’s. So we should have more information on the new Epson features coming soon.
Projector Central did a comprehensive review of all the new features on the PT-AE4000U (read here). We also took some video of our tech session with Panasonic and are including it below. Two interesting new features for videophiles are the automatic lens memory and new video adjustments.
This was recorded with a mini HD camera and without a tripod. There are shaky bits throughout. To save yourself time, click here for a breakdown of content by minute for this video.
The Unsung Midrange 1080p Projectors
While the new high-end projectors attract most of the press these days, there are also some interesting options available in the ‘mid-range.’ What keeps us from calling these high-end projectors? Essentially its lower contrast ratios, less advanced video processing (like no 120hz), and some missing features. So if you don’t have the funds for a $2k projector, but you want a little more than the $1k projectors have to offer, a mid-range projector might just have all you need and will save you a little cash.
Two new mid-range projectors coming soon are the Epson Home Cinema 8100 and the Mitsubishi HC3800. The HC3800 is getting ravereviews from Projector Reviews and Projector Central. And though we have yet to see the Epson Home Cinema 8100 in action, it’s likely to benefit from Epson’s technological strides in home theater and be a very nice low price alternative in 1080p. It’s also 3LCD which is preferred by some buyers – and most of the other low cost alternatives utilize DLP technology.
What’s Left in 720p Projectors?
Not a heck of a lot. And the price points are not really dropping because there just isn’t any more room to do so. Our Panasonic PT-AX200U started out at $999 when it was introduced, and has stayed consistently around that price. With features like lens shift and unique gaming mode – if it remains in production – it’s still a great projector. Its brightness and native 720p (much of broadcast HD’s native resolution) make it a great match for the football season and sports all year round. And it’s a great projector for gaming too. Epson also has a new “karaoke” projector in their MovieMate line with built-in DVD and speakers with native 720p resolution. Also available in 720p is the underdog Sanyo PLV-Z60.
That’s All for Now, But More to Come!
That’s about all we have to cover today, but there will be more to come on the Epson Home Cinema projectors, and on the Panasonic PT-AE4000U as well. We will keep you posted on any more projector related news, as always.
We have been eagerly waiting to find out the details of the new Panasonic PT-AE4000U. Will it come to America? (answer :yes) If it does, what price will it be released at? (answer : $1999) And how is it different from the PT-AE3000? (answer: according to Projector Central “the AE4000 is in fact a superior projector in almost every way”). So, now we have some answers to share… as well as a new low, low price on the PT-AE3000U.
Panasonic PT-AE4000U WILL Come to America
As we mentioned above, and as we all suspected, the Pansonic PT-AE4000U will indeed be released in the United States. We don’t have solid delivery dates yet, but we know it is coming soon. It could even be available as early as the end of October – we will keep you updated on shipping dates as the information comes in.
We will also have more technical information on the AE4000U and other new 1080p home theater projectors coming soon. You can also stay on top of things on the AVS Forum official Panasonic PT-AE4000U post.
And if you are ready to get pumped up about it, you can read the PT-AE4000U review from Projector Central. They highlight, the Red-Rich Lamp, Improved contrast (now 100,000:1), Improved Cinema mode brightness, Improved color accuracy, Improved Detail Clarity Processor, Improved Frame Interpolation, among other improvments. Here’s an excerpt :
“All of this adds up to a remarkable value proposition: at a street of $1,999, we’ve simply never seen this much performance at this price. Panasonic has been extremely tight-lipped about this product launch. Until now many thought the company was dropping out of the home theater projector market. Today’s announcement makes it clear that they are here to stay. The Panasonic PT-AE4000U will be one of the hottest selling home theater projectors of the fall season, and we enthusiastically give it our highest recommendation.”
And some good news for those who want a deal … the Panasonic PT-AE3000U has just dropped in price to a low, low $1699. Even if the AE4000U is better, the AE3000U is still a great projector, and it’s one of those limited time closeout deals that you can brag to your friends about.
If you’ve been holding out for the deal… now is the time to buy a PT-AE3000. If you’re an early adopter and you always want the best available, you’ll only have to wait a bit for the PT-AE4000U.
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Posted by Jennifer on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 | 
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