Panasonic launching new full HD projector with built-in 2.35:1 lens adjustment

The eternal struggle between DLP and LCD technology for supremacy at the affordable end of the projection market arguably ebbs back in LCD's direction today with the launch of Panasonic's PT-AE3000.

This is a full HD LCD model boasting a huge claimed contrast ratio of 60,000:1 and an innovative Lens Memory Feature that lets you watch 2.35:1 movies on a suitable screen without any black bars at the top and bottom.

The important thing to stress about this 2.35:1 capability is that it's not just done using video processing - something which would potentially spoil the quality of the image. It's actually done completely optically, by adjustments in the lens, thus delivering the sort of optical flexibility you would normally only be able to get by adding a separate anamorphic lens to a projector every time you wanted to watch a 2.35:1 film.

In fact, the AE3000 allows you to store up to three different aspect ratios, so you could, say, add 1.75:1 and 1.85:1 to the adjustment mix.

Other key features of the AE3000 include a 2.0x zoom, 100% vertical lens shift adjustment, 40% horizontal lens shift, Panasonic's Smooth Screen feature for removing the grid-like image artefact sometimes seen with LCD projectors, three v1.3 HDMI inputs, 100Hz processing, frame interpolation, and a new Detailed Clarity Processor designed to better reproduce fine details, such as film grain.

The price for all this intriguing sounding stuff is set to be around £2,200.