Panasonic PT-EX16K Auditorium Projector Review

For an XGA resolution projector, the best-in-class Panasonic PT-EX16K boasts some powerful specs. Its quad-lamp design achieves 16,000 lumens of brightness – more than enough to provide bold, brilliant images in the largest venues. It’s capable of projecting an image up to 600 inches diagonally, and with Panasonic’s Pure Color Technology, the color saturation in these massive images is near-perfect. Plus, durable construction, flexible installation and long lamp life are other reasons this is a premium projector. So why isn’t this the world’s most popular XGA projector?

For starters, this Panasonic comes with a premium price tag. When it was launched in 2011, the PT-EX16K started at $28,999 MSRP. Since then, the price has dropped, with the average street price at about $10,000. That means this is a projector for larger organizations – corporate businesses, 1,000+ member churches, and museums – that have a budget for technology. Plus, at just over 100 pounds, this is a permanent installation projector. For these large venues and for organizations with the money to spend, the Panasonic PT-EX16K is powerful, provides impressive image quality, and with a range of lenses and lens shift, the installation possibilities are endless.

Panasonic PT-EX16K: Specs, Features and Pricing

• 16,000-Lumen Brightness: The Panasonic EX16 achieves such a bright image thanks to its quad-lamp design. The projector uses four 380-watt bulbs, thus it’s about four times as bright as standard single-lamp XGA projectors. That’s one reason it’s widely used in large venues: The image is bright enough to compete with ambient light, delivering an image that’s crisp, clear and vibrant.
• Color Performance, Image Quality: The 3-chip LCD EX16 is designed to provide impressive and detailed color. There’s a chip that maintains light intensity for each primary color, but in addition, the Pure Color Technology enhances and controls the yellows, adding another layer of color reproduction. Plus, the 16-bit processing delivers smooth skin tone coloring, and the 2,500:1 contrast ratio provides detail in dark areas of the image. In effect, the images jump off the screen with bold, accurate coloring. |
• Installation Flexibility: Even though the PT-EX16 is built for large venues, there’s a range of options for installation. For starters, vertical and horizontal lens shift make it possible to fit the projector to an existing ceiling mount. Plus, Panasonic offers a wide range of lens – from short or long zoom lenses, to fixed short, long and ultra-long options. So, even though portability is limited due to the sheer size of the projector, there are plenty of options for installation: from overhead to ceiling-mounted, to rear-projection.
• Rugged Construction: The PT-EX16K is built to last. From the durable outer shell, to long-lasting air filters and optical engines, there components of this projector are of the highest quality. Both the filter and the optical lens are rated at 10,000 hours of use, and the optical engine is designed to regulate and maintain the LCD panels over time to prevent degradation. Additionally, there’s an iron base plate to protect the bottom of the projector.
• Screen Size: The Panasonic is designed to project an image between 40 and 600 inches diagonally, and yet, the technology helps it achieve constant color saturation and image quality. What’s more: There’s a multi-screen support system, enabling the projector to connect across more than one screen. The support includes edge blend – to blend the edges of different screens – as well as color match.
  

  

The Panasonic PT-EX16K: A Powerful, Quality Large-Venue Projector
Panasonic has a reputation for developing high-quality projectors, and the PT-EX16K certainly carries on the tradition. The EX16K is a special piece of hardware. It’s one of the brightest XGA resolution projectors available, and it delivers powerful, impressive images. Plus, with the ability to cast a 600-inch screen, the projector is ideal for auditoriums, larger venues.
The Panasonic is widely used as a corporate presentation tools, as well as in museums for delivering multimedia. If it’s in the budget, this is a particularly useful piece of hardware. The projector is extremely useful for data projection – it can display 1080p video, but it doesn’t specialize in video – and if you’re on the market for an auditorium projector, the EX16K should be on your short list.
MyProjectorLamps is your source for a Panasonic PT-EX16K replacement lamp. We carry only quality, original parts, and for the PT-EX16K we offer the lamp and housing module. If you’re on the market for this replacement part (part No. ET-LAE16), give us a call or browse our inventory today.