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By Kevin Miller, CNET.com
Dec 11, 2005

Like other digital televisions, truly big-screen front-projection systems are coming down in price. Unfortunately, when manufacturers build to very low price points, they have to cut corners which invariably cause picture-performance issues. That said, Panasonic's relatively inexpensive PT-AE900 is a surprisingly strong performer. This three-panel LCD projector has true HDTV resolution and can produce a good picture for the money. It has especially accurate color reproduction for an LCD projector, but its black-level performance is still relatively weak compared with that of DLP models. DLP projectors of this resolution are significantly more expensive, however, and for the price, the Panasonic PT-AE900 is one of the best performers available today.

Design
The design of the Panasonic PT-AE900 is relatively basic. The chassis has a metallic, dark-silver finish and a rectangular shape that's wider than it is deep. It measures about 335 x 270 x 95mm and weighs a slight 3.6kg. Just to the side of the lens assembly is a toggle that allows you to shift the image horizontally and vertically in relation to the projector. That gives you more flexibility placing the little unit than you would have with many projectors in this class. The deep 2x zoom increases your placement options even further.

Panasonic's remote is well-designed and, to our delight, nearly completely backlit. This universal-learning model offers direct-access keys for input selection--another feature we applaud since it makes switching inputs much simpler and also helps with programming a universal remote. The PT-AE900 has direct-access keys for the picture mode, the aspect ratio, and the advanced menu, where the grayscale and gamma menus are located.

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