Panasonic Launches PT-LM2U

Panasonic recently announced the launch of its brand new PT-LM2U model projector. The projector is portable, measuring approximately 10 inches by 9 inches, making the surface area it covers a little larger than your average piece of paper. The projector weighs 3 and a half pounds and outputs 1400 ANSI Lumens. The Panasonic PT-LM2U uses a new technology when it comes to projector lamps, employing a “high-efficiency� 130W UHM bulb.

This projector lamp, which currently has an unknown lamp ID# (if you know the lamp ID for this model email myprojectorlamps@shaw.ca ) is dubbed “high-efficiency� because rather than taking the traditional 30 seconds to warm-up, Panasonic claims that the projector will display a picture in 5 seconds.

The PT-LM2U utilizes an 800x600 native SVGA resolution and also has the capability of running HDTV quality streams from S-Video cables. These images can either be displayed at 4:3 or 16:9 modes. The projector can also display an image from 35 inches to 250 inches diagonally and has a 3x power zoom built into it.

The Panasonic PT-LM2U features a tiny 2-watt speaker and is programmed to display up to 7 languages, making it a global product. Panasonic plans to retail this projector for around $800 USD and it will be available for direct purchase from the Panasonic website in the coming months. My musings about this projector are as follows. The PT-LM2U and the new technology it is helping to introduce will inevitably help projectors replace traditional television in the coming decade. It is hard not to imagine a world where projectors are the norm for every household in America. This particular projector with its displayable image in 5 seconds instead of 30 is a step in the right direction. Personally I feel as though projectors need to go beyond 800x600 pixel resolution and offer resolutions that TV can’t compete with. The resolution it converts to would be my only knock against the PT-LM2U. However, I also think this particular projector is meant to be used for Microsoft PowerPoint type work in offices and broad rooms and so it doesn’t matter too much. But, then, taking the argument one step further, why does Panasonic have HDTV compatibility at all on this model? I think they should either go away the way or not at all. To quote Yoda from Star Wars Episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back “There is no try, only do�.