Panasonic PT-AX100U Home Theater Projector

After setting up a screen (size of your choosing), position the unit at the optimal distance from the screen, to fill it. I chose to place the unit on a mobile cart to make this easier, but the PT-AX100U can be ceiling mounted with an accessory mount.

To start the projector: First, plug in your source (such as a DVD player) to the proper Video Input. Then, plug in the power and turn on the main power switch on the projectors rear panel. All you have to do now is turn on the single Power Button on the top of the projector or the Remote Control. When the Panasonic logo appears on the screen, you are set.

You can then raise or lower the front of the projector using the adjustable feet, and adjust the lens angle using the Lens Shift Lever (see above photo). The Lens Shift lever can adjust the Lens angle either up or down, or from side to side.

By using the Remote Control or Menu Navigation buttons on the projector, you can also access the Keystone Correction function (this adjusts image "squareness"), and/or Zoom the lens to fill the screen properly. After this, use the manual focus to sharpen your image. The Zoom and Focus rings on on the lens assembly.

When you turn on your source, such as a DVD player, the PT-AX100U will automatically search for the input and project the image on to the screen. You also have the option to manually select the input you want via the remote or the projector's buttons.

Video Performance

With 2,000 lumens output, the AX100U projects a very bright image, with excellent contrast, black levels, and color rendition.

The PT-AX100U passed most of the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark DVD Tests, especially in terms of video noise reduction and the ability to remain stable with mixed video and film elements. The PT-AX100U also showed good performance on jaggie elimination, motion tracking, and moire pattern elimination. In addition, the PT-AX100U did an excellent job rendering the 3:2 Pulldown film cadence.

With regards to Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD true 1080i and 1080p source material, the ability to accept input resolutions up to 1080p, accurately scale those resolutions to the native 720p resolution of the projector, and maintain excellent image quality, is a real plus for the PT-AX100U. The PT-AX100U's built-in video processors and scaler deliver excellent images on the screen.

For more details on how I tested the PT-AX100U, as well as additional technical information, check out my Full Review.