Panasonic has bumped up the brightness for a new series of short-throw projectors. Billed as the company's most powerful fixed, short-throw LCD laser projectors to date, one model puts out 7,000 lumens and the other manages 6,200 lumens.
The VMZ7ST Series models come from Panasonic Connect, which is the company's business-focused division, and both family members are destined to brighten up "corporate and immersive museum environments."
Both models are essentially the same, with the only appreciable difference being the brightness output. As such we'll overview the features and specs of the VMZ7ST model, starting with the throw ratio of 0.797-1.01:1 – which means that users can expect 100-diagonal-inch visuals from around 5.6 ft (1.72 m) away from the display surface.
They'll likely be ceiling mounted in museums, where the wide-range vertical/horizontal lens shift will come in handy to minimize visitor shadows. Whatever the setting, the 1.2x optical zoom with powered focus should make for sharp WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) imagery. The projection tilt can be viewed remotely thanks to an Angle Monitor feature, while geometric correction functions cater for projection onto various shapes.
The laser light source is reckoned good for 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation. And as well as those impressive brightness figures during standard operation, there are less intense eco and quiet modes too. Panasonic has also included Daylight View Basic technology for image quality tweaks based on ambient lighting. The hue, saturation and color value can be adjusted to match the setting as well.
This is not a smart projector, so operators will need to connect to a computer over 15-pin D-sub, a network via Ethernet or wirelessly with the help of an optional dongle.
Nods to sustainable design include a chassis partly fashioned from recycled resins, an energy-saving auto power-on feature that starts the projection engine when a signal is detected, and an overall boost in power efficiency of almost 53% "compared to competitor models." The dust filter can also be washed and reused twice.
The latest VMZ projectors are pegged for availability in Europe from the first quarter of 2025, pricing has not been revealed.
Source: Panasonic Connect