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Panasonic PT-LC56U Projectors Review

Model: Panasonic PT-LC56U
Review Date: 07-2-2003
By: Kevin Olsen

Highlights: Portable Projector weighs just 4.9 lbs, outputs 1600 ANSI lumens, and projects images as small as 33 inches and large as 300 inches (viewable area measured diagonally), RGB 1 IN (D-sub HD 15-pin x 1), VIDEO IN (RCA x 1) S-VIDEO IN (Mini DIN 4-pin x 1) AUDIO IN (RCA, L/R x 1) RGB2 IN/RGB1 OUT (D-sub HD 15-pin x 1) Video Inputs, RS-232C Serial Control, Up to ±30° vertically digital keystone.

Chassis Color: Silver
Resolution: 800 x 600 SVGA
Projection System:Three 0.70" LCD panels. Lens: 1-1.3 manual zoom lens.
Lens: 1.3x manual zoom lens.
Lamp Life: 2000 hrs typical replaced with 160W UHM (ET-LAC80) Lamp.
Model Inception Date:April 2003
Warranty: 3 Years Limited Parts and Labor


panasonic projector

INTRODUCTION

This is an excellent economical projector for business use. It is a projector that incorporates one-touch setup with digital keystone correction, it has an automatic signal detector function this allows a user to connect a different PC during the presentation without any adjustment. There are a lot of anti-theft features that tend to be intended for the educational market more thieves in that arena of use. An above-the-projector lens offset and a super-short focal length are also of note.

Measuring just 8.2'' (209 mm) long by 11.7'' (297 mm) wide and 2.6'' (65 mm) high, the slim, compact body won't block the audience's view and can easily be put into a case along side your laptop computer or this portable unit can slip easily into a carrying bag or a drawer in your desk.

The stylish design makes a good impression even before the presentation begins. This is a high-performance projector that's easy enough for anyone to use. As I mentioned its unique one-touch auto setup with digital keystone correction lets the projector practically set itself up. One can just watch for the power indicator on the top panel to turn green and that's your "action" signal to start the show.




The top of the projector includes the following indicators and controls:
RGB Input indicator that shows whether a signal is being input to the RGB input connectors which illuminates when signal is present. The controls on the top of the projector give you access to the input select and auto setup Keystone controls, Auto sync and volume. There is no access to the menu system from the top of the projector. The menu is accessed on the back close to the media inputs. The OSD (On-Screen Display) for projector control is available in 7 languages - English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.

Other features I noticed was an extremely quiet fan function only 30dB in low lamp mode, the quiet fan will ensure that whether it is placed on a meeting room table or mounted from a conference room ceiling it will allow participants to engage in normal voice level conversations., Auto Power Off, 3X digital zoom and focus, built-in 2-watt speaker (who really ever uses this?), advanced shutter function for image muting, discrete S-video and video inputs for connecting two DVD/video sources at the same time, fan control for high elevations (above 4,600 feet) in case your doing a presentation in the mountains, and card-type remote control.

As with any projector, you need to minimize any internal heat buildup. The cooling fan exhausts the air on the side and could be an annoyance to someone sitting on that side of the projector.

All the inputs are accessed on the rear of the projector. In the menu system there are setup features for Dynamic, Standard, and Natural. I liked this feature and will touch more on this later.

The panel in the rear allows for the following connections:

Home Theater Use 82

As I was setting this projector up to do my reviews I wondered how such a compact box could do much for a home theater. The high brightness despite the compact size is impressive. The picture was crisp and clear I did not need to make any color adjustments it exceeded my expectations for the price and case size quite a lot. Watching a movie with the PT-LC56U produced good skin tones and vibrant colors. Good quality, high-contrast images can be projected even in high ambient light conditions. No adjustment was needed out of the box to have the colors were I needed them. Black levels, gray scaling, and contrast are all good. I would consider the PT-LC56U if I was on a tight budget for my entertainment set up.

The PT-LC56U does not have an infra red receiver on the front of the projector so you can not point at the screen and control it with the remote. This could be cumbersome if used on a ceiling mount for theater type presentations.

The user can select from Standard and Low lamp power modes. Designed for use in dark rooms, Low mode uses a lower lamp power that minimizes energy consumption and lengthens the lamp life up to 3,000 hours 1,000 more hours than the 2,000 hours in Standard mode.

The projector can automatically resize 1080i and 720p images for 16:9 wide-aspect display; 480p, 480i and 625i component video signals and S-Video can also be displayed in either 4:3 or 16:9. The projector delivers broad compatibility by supporting various video formats such as: NTSC, M-NTSC, PAL, PAL-M, PAL-N, PAL60, and SECAM. The unit is also sRGB compatible to ensure uniform, accurate color reproduction with other sRGB-compatible imaging devices. The PT-LC56U is HDTV compatible but does not have a DVI-D Input, for my home theater use this is a must.

With the picture mode you can select what matches the image source and source and room environment. The mode that works best in dark rooms is Natural. For rooms having regular lighting conditions use standard. For extra bright rooms use Dynamic. You would think that the Natural setting looks best for home theater but it did not, I preferred the Standard setting for watching a movie. For a PC output Dynamic had the best picture

Computer Presentation Use - 85
The PT-LC56U will add style to any presentation; it is a nice looking package with its sleek and elegant chassis.

If you do a lot of your presentations in offices, conference rooms and hotels you will need at least 1000-1500 lumens. The brightness of projectors is measured in units called ANSI lumens. The requirement for brightness is dependent on three factors: Throw distance, which is the distance between the projector and the display screen. The ambient light in the room, brighter rooms require a brighter projected image. Desired projected image size, the larger capacity rooms obviously require a larger image and hence a brighter projector. For up-close presentations, the PT-LC56U is equipped with a large-diameter, extra-short throw lens that shortens the necessary projection distance. For example, a user can project on a 32-inch wide screen from only four feet away.

The PT-LC56U delivers a high brightness of 1600 ANSI lumens, colorful images in true 800 x 600 native SVGA resolution, excellent contrast ratios 400:1, while providing advanced resizing technology to support SXGA resolution with 525i (480i), 625i (576i), 525p (480p), 750p (720p), and 1125i (1080i).

If most of the time you do not have a projection screen than this projector will do the job quite effectively. I put this on a brown colored wall with the lights on and it did a nice job. On a projection screen the PT-LC56U is wonderful. Mnemonics are crisp and clear with no blur white or black. Screening effect is more noticeable than in a higher priced, higher pixel projector which is why I gave it an 85. It is really most noticeable in the mnemonics of smaller text fonts.

The projector is equipped with two RGB inputs, which do away with the need to reconnect equipment when giving consecutive presentations. The RGB2 terminal also serve as a loop-through monitoring terminal for the RGB1 input, which is really beneficial for applications like education or business type presentations. For instance, the presenter can display a lecture using the projector, while the second output is displayed on a monitor in front of them. This allows the presenter to view the lesson and the group of people, with the projection screen behind them.

I do not like the door on the back covering the inputs of the projector. It seemed durable enough but how many really stay attached. Most equipment used in commercial applications that I have seen has had things such as this broken off eventually.

Panasonic's built-in gravity sensor determines the projectors' angle relative to the floor (up to 30 degrees) and corrects for keystone distortion accordingly. The projector handles all picture adjustments, from phasing and dot clocks to vertical and horizontal position. The lightness of the projector allows for easy movement between locations, from the office to the classroom, from a church setting to a training center.

One of the features I liked and is the ability to instantly freeze a moving image. Then you are able to use D.ZOOM (digital zoom) to enlarge the picture up to 3 times its original size. The projector also offers a unique Index Window, which allows any image in a presentation (RGB or video input) to be frozen, stored in memory and displayed on the left side of the screen, while display of subsequent images continues on the right. I called this a still store function in the broadcast industry. If you're a coach looking at a game film this would be a nice feature to focus on a great move by a player.

Screem Size Minimum Distance Maximum Distance
40" 3'11 4'7"
50" 4'11" 5'10"
60" 5'10" 6'10"
70" 6'10" 8'2"
80" 7'10" 9'8"
90" 9'2" 10'5"
100" 9'10" 11'9"
120" 12'1" 14'1"
150" 15'1" 17'8
200" 20' 23'11"
250" 24'11" 29'10"
300" 30'2" 36'1"

VALUE - 89

The Panasonic PT-LC56U is an outstanding value for those business people who are looking to impress at a cheap price. The PT-LC56U is offered at suggested list price of $1,599. I prefer this one over a lot of the comparable brands like the Sony VPL-CS5.

This is a very well built and durable projector. The PT-LC56U is one of the best projectors in this price range. The manual is very complete and concise I liked the detail that was given for setting up the RS232 computer control and the detailed menu explanations.

As far as maintenance this projector does not come with an extra air filter. This is odd considering it requires cleaning after only 100 hours of use. Be prepared to clean this often to prevent malfunction. When the lamp temperature indicator flashes red this could be the hint that it is time to clean! The air filter can be removed very easily and then cleaned with a vacuum.

Sometimes LCD projectors will have inactive pixels or dots on the picture screen. I noticed none on the projector I reviewed. As technology is improving this problem is going away.

Exceeding the bulb use time can cause some projector bulbs to explode to prevent this from happening this projector has a feature that will not allow the projector to function after the lamp use timer exceeds 2000 hours of coarse this varies with the power setting in the menu. Make sure you have a spare bulb on hand when you are getting close to the time limit. This could be a very irritating feature that can be fooled by pretending to replace the bulb. I do not recommend you to do this of course but for informational purposes it might be good to know. The lamp is a consumable product. Even when the full life of the bulb has not been exhausted, the brightness of the lamp will gradually decline. So periodic replacement of the lamp I would strongly recommend. Replacement of the lamp will set you back around $269 to $329.

I have always been one who values customer service and Panasonics warranty offers good service and support with a three-year or 2,000-hour limited warranty (whichever comes first) on the projector, a 90-day warranty on the user-replaceable lamp module and a 24-hour "Zip It" projector swap program. Customer service seems to be very responsive. I requested some information from the Panasonic web site on a Sunday and had a response the following Monday morning impressive!

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

OVERALL RATING 94

Model Number Home Theater Computer Presentation Value Overall
Panasonic PT-LC56U 92 89 96 94


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