Panasonic PT-AE7000U Pro Reviews

With color performance being more about your calibration or settings, than differences between these two projectors. No question about it. when considering 2D, the Epson has to be my choice. It offers a huge boost in "best" mode brightness, comparable color, and it easily wins when it comes to black level performance, and more subtly regarding shadow detail. The extra black level performance, all by itself, gives the Epson more pop on darker scenes. If everything else is simply equal, that rates a real win for the Home Cinema 5010 when running in 2D. Conversely, Epson's decision not to activate the dynamic iris, as well as CFI and Super-Resolution (all dynamic features), gives the Panasonic the advantage in 3D, although if you want best color, and a small screen the Epson may well be your choice with its 630 measured lumens, for 3D (pre-glasses, etc.)

The primary consideration some of you should make, relates to 2D vs. 2D and 3D abilities. If you really have no interest in 3D, and figure that to remain true while you own your next projector, then you should evaluate the PT-AE7000 only for its regular 2D performance. In that case, you'll find some less expensive competition, that really is the equal, overall. The two such projectors that immediately come to mind, though, are Panasonic's own PT-AE4000 that the PT-AE7000 projector replaces, and that Panasonic's arch rival, the Epson 8700UB.

When all is said and done, the Panasonic PT-AE7000U is a projector for the true videophile. It certainly has a boatload of features and yes, it has remarkably clear, stable 3D performance. But even if the AE7000 did not have 3D or a wide assortment of features, it would still stand out as a major video engineering achievement based on the strength of its 2D picture quality alone.