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Panasonic Announces PT-AE3000 LCD Projector

by Thomas Houston on September 3, 2008 at 04:00 PM



Panasonic just announced its brand new PT-AE3000 LCD Home Theater Projector at the CEDIA Expo (the annual convention of the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association, if you were wondering). According to Panasonic, this projector pumps out images at a full native 1080p HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), 60,000:1 contrast ratio, and 1,600 lumen brightness. The projector includes several tools that let users customize the image to their liking, whether it be color, brightness, sharpness, or aspect ratio (the proportion of the horizontal length to the vertical height of the image).

We're intrigued by the Frame Creation Technology, which enables quick and easy switching between various widescreen formats -- most projectors on the market that allow aspect ratio changes force you to refocus the lens each time. This means the PT-AE3000 will let you switch from the 16:9 aspect ratio to others. The projector also features an aspect ratio of 21:9, which comes close to simulating the movie theater experience. As for inputs, the PT-AE3000 comes with a generous three HDMI 1.3 inputs and two component inputs.

With some high-end projectors pushing upwards of $50,000, the $3,499 retail price is a steal -- for a projector. Expect the PT-AE3000 to hit stores in Japan in October, and hopefully soon thereafter in the states. Given that it was announced at CEDIA, though, it's likely you'll have to have it professionally installed -- then again, if you can afford this projector, you can probably afford a custom installed home theater system.

Tags: breaking news, BreakingNews, cedia, panasonic, projector, projectors, upcoming

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