Reviewed by : Karel Kntel, Director of rental, AV Media, Czech Republic.
The Product
Panasonic PT-D10000U projector.
What I use it for:
For rentals - wide projection / edge-blending and multi-projection at conferences and congresses, social events, shows, product launches, etc.
What I like about it:
The high brightness (10 000 ANSI lm) of this Panasonic projector ensures very clear and professional image, even in large congress halls or at places with not very suitable light conditions. These projectors are often used for multi-projection purposes.
However, what we like about Panasonic PT-D10000 is the possibility of edge-blending. We create unique projections, for example 20 by 5 m or even wider.
Up to 100 units (10 by 10) could be edge-blended at a time. We have not tried to use 100 units yet…
Panasonic offers wide range zoom lenses from 1.0 - 8.0:1. But long zoom lens with 7.9 – 15:1 ratio is unique and really higher than standard from other producers. Together with special LANG Audiovision AG frames, this projector ensures a flexible rental usage.
What I would change:
Panasonic PT-D10000U is a very good projector with no big issues to complain about. However, we would change the power cord – the present one is atypical. When your technician looses it, and in rental business this happens easily, you are in trouble.
Also, we would recommend adding more important functions / features such as brightness, contrast or colour adjustments directly on the remote control. If you have functions directly on the remote control (you need these functions quite often during the image adjustment and event set-up), such direct access makes your life easier. You do not need to go through several menus to adjust the brightness or colour of image, etc.
Where I recently used it:
During the spring season, we used the Panasonic projectors for several multi-projections, for example at the world dealer conference of Škoda (new Škoda Fabia launch) or for large edge-blended projection at L’Oréal Color Trophy show.
Nevertheless, one of the most interesting applications was the launch of the new Toyota Auris at the HILTON Prague hotel. It was a great show in drive-in cinema style. The hotel congress hall was filled with approx. 40 brand new cars and the guests (journalists, VIP clients) watched the show from the car interior. Using ceiling-mounted Panasonic projectors, we created an imposing large edge-blended projection of 65 sq,m (13 by 5 m) and 2 side projections. An interesting detail (a technical finesse) was the sound distribution – we used car radios exactly like in a drive-in cinema.