Panasonic PT-AE500

Get great wall-filling images for less wonga

Over the last few years, Panasonic has been on something of a roll with its range of home cinema projectors. The PT-AE100 was the first true widescreen LCD model for under £2,000 and last year's PT-AE300 (T3 86,5/5) improved on it by upping the resolution and using the company's Smooth Screen technology to greatly reduce the chicken-wire effect that plagues all budget LCD machines.

It's natural then that we were expecting great things from this latest NEC projector - the PTAE500. Thankfully, it doesn't disappoint. In fact, it offers a whole heap of improvements over its predecessor while still managing to cost £100 less.

In terms of looks, the previous model's mirrored front panel has been replaced by a brushed aluminium version, but pretty much everything else has been left unchanged. The set-up process also remains as easy as it ever was, largely because the projector sports a standard Scart socket on the rear and offers vertical as well as horizontal keystone correction, so you can project straight images even if the light box is placed off to one side.

A projector lives and dies on its image quality, and thankfully here is where this product really delivers. The Smooth Screen technology has been improved to the point where you struggle to make out any chicken-wire lines at all on the projected image. It really is that good.

Even better is the unit's ability to draw out more detail in darker scenes than its predecessor - not surprising, given that it boasts an impressive 1,300:1 contrast ratio. The resolution has also been boosted to 1,280 x 720 pixels, and you now have more control over picture set-up because it supports gamma correction. Thankfully, when the lamp power is set to low, the projector is just as quiet as the whispering PT-AE300.

There really isn't a lot to complain about with this projector,except maybe that the brightness isn't amazingly high, so you're not going to be able to use it with the curtains open unless you've blacked up your windows like on a gangster's BMW. Other than that, this is a bit of a bargain.
Niall Magennis

KEY FEATURES:
LCD projector, maximum resolution: 1,280 x 720, 1,300:1 contrast ratio, 850 ANSI Lumens brightness, 27dB (low mode) noise rating, connections: 1 x S-Video in, 1 x component (RCA x3) in, 1 x composite in, 1 x DVI (HDCP compliant), dimensions: 280 x 85 x 269mm, weight: 2.9kg