There are traditional large-venue projectors that send an image across a room, as well as innovative short-throw ones that can create a large image just a few feet from the screen, but Panasonic's PT-DZ13K can do both. It is unique in that the PT-DZ13K is just as good at short-throw duties as long-throw uses and has the power to light up just about any house of worship.
The key is Panasonic's assortment of lenses. Along with seven traditional lenses that cover the gamut of traditional church set ups, the ET-D75LE90 lens changes the projector into an ultrashort-throw powerhouse. Able to create a nine-foot image with the back of the projector just a couple inches from the screen, it can fill a 25-foot screen from less than five feet away. It may sound like magic, but the ET-D75LE90 turns the projector world on its head by changing the orientation of the PT-DZ13K's optics. Rather than coming straight out of the lens, the projector's light beam exits off a small mirror at the end of the ET-D75LE90 lens and travels over the projector's top before heading to the screen. This allows the projector to be mounted very close to the screen, hidden under a choir riser, a lectern, or even in an open-ended box in plain sight. While this projector and lens combination are not cheap, they could save a church a lot of money when compared to the construction costs of doing rear projection with a traditional-style, short-throw lens.
The PT-DZ13K projector's black plastic case is super-sized at 7.9- by 20.9- by 21.6-inches and weighs a hefty 54 pounds. In other words, have two or three strong people on hand to install it. While it does without the NEC NP-PH1400U's handle, its base has six thoughtfully placed hand-sized indents for carrying it. LED lights up front that show the projector is turned on, that each of the PT-DZ13K's two lamps are firing, that it isn't overheating, and that its air filter isn't clogged. Underneath, it has four mounting points for attaching the projector to ceiling hardware, as well as adjustable feet for use on the floor or a projector nook. Unlike many of its peers, the projector can be set up at any vertical angle, including straight up or down, without risking it overheating.
Inside the Projector
The PT-DZ13K has three 0.96-inch Digital Light Processing imaging chips for projecting the primary colors, which are combined in a set of sophisticated internal optics. Like the NP-PH1400U, the Panasonic projector tops out at 1,920 by 1,200 resolution in a sharp 16:10 image.
With two 380-watt traditional high-pressure lamps, the PT-DZ13K has the advantage of being able to continue through a lamp failure, although at half brightness. On the downside, its fans have to dissipate more than 3,000 BTUs of heat to prevent overheating, making it seem as much a space heater as projector. It can use either 110- or 220-volt electrical service, but the projector consumes so much power it should have a dedicated line. Figure on spending about five minutes to install the 17-inch long short-throw lens. It's important to be careful because at nearly $25,000 there's a lot at stake if you drop the cumbersome 14-pound lens. When it's properly seated, the lens makes a satisfying click to indicate that you can breathe easy. While most conventional lenses have powered zoom and focus that can be adjusted with the remote control, the D75LE90 lens lacks any optical zooming and must be manually focused at the lens base. Luckily, the PT-DZ13K projector has a nice built-in test pattern that can help get through this chore quickly.
With two $575 lamps that have an expected lifetime of 2,000 hours, the PT-DZ13K is surprisingly economical to operate.
It has an easy setup routine for correcting horizontal and vertical keystone distortion and the image can be shifted slightly up-and-down or right-and-left. The projector can even be used on oddly shaped screens, like cylindrical and spherical ones.
Simple Control Panel
For such a complicated piece of hardware, the PT-DZ13K has a remarkably simple control panel on its side. While it isn't backlit, the switches are clearly labeled. In addition to on and off, the projector has buttons for its inputs, Menu, Shutter and Auto Setup, as well as four arrow keys.
The remote control uses a pair of AA batteries and has backlit keys for working in the dark. If its 35-foot range falls short, you can create a wired connection to the projector using an audio patch cable. There's a large Enter button that doubles as arrow keys. In addition to turning the projector on and off, you can choose its input, go to the Menu, show the test pattern and display its current status. By using its built-in edge-blending processor, you can combine the output of several PT-DZ13K projectors to create a monster montage image. It lets you mix and match other Panasonic models with different lenses, but lacks the NP-PH1400U's built-in corner stacking brackets. The projector's connectors are on the side and cover lots of different scenarios. In addition to HDMI, VGA and DVI connections, the PT-DZ13K has ports for SDI and Y-PB-PR sources. There are connections for 3-D synchronization plugs and RS-232 serial connections into and out of the projector for remotely controlling it.
While it has a LAN connection, there's no way to directly link the PT-DZ13K to a house of worship's Wi-Fi network. The projector also lacks the Epson PowerLite Pro Z8455WUNL's handy cable cover and the NP-PH1400U's ability to use add-in processing boards for broadcast-quality video.
The PT-DZ13K Put to the Test
I gave the ultrashort-throw lens and projector combo a workout with a series of real world tests, using everything from a tablet to a Blu-ray player to a video distribution amp.
The PT-DZ13K takes 43 seconds to start up and you can have it project the church's logo while it is warming up; it takes at least two minutes to shut its fans off when you're done. As far as ultra-shorties go, the PT-DZ13K is the king with the ability to put 13,100 lumens of light onto a screen in its high-output Dynamic mode. It had very sharp focus and good uniformity across the screen, but the color balance was a little harsh. The projector also has modes for Standard, Cinema, Natural, Dicom Simulation, [and] Graphic, as well as one that you can set by adjusting its major imaging parameters. In addition to tweaking the color temperature, you can adjust its tint, color intensity, brightness, and contrast. On the downside, when it's being used, the PT-DZ13K's fans blast out an annoying 56.4 dBA of noise at three feet, making it much louder than NEC's NP-PH1400U. Still, its exhaust was a sedate 124-degrees Fahrenheit, so it likely won't need any extra cooling.
The PT-DZ13K has an air filter, but rather than periodically replacing it, you can just rinse and dry it before reinstalling it. Replacing the lamps is a little involved, but easier than with the NP-PH1400U. All told, expect it to take about 10 minutes. With two $575 lamps that have an expected lifetime of 2,000 hours, the PT-DZ13K is surprisingly economical to operate. With both firing, the projector used 927 watts, but only one watt in sleep mode. Based on the national average cost of 12 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity, the projector has estimated operating expenses of $536 per year. That's about 40% less than the NP-PH1400U's expected expenses under the same conditions.
The projector comes with a three-year warranty, although its fans are covered for only a year and the lamps for three months.
While its list price of $39,999 plus $24,499 for the ultrashort-throw lens may make you drop your Bible, if you shop around, you're likely to find it for much less. As mentioned earlier, this is not a cheap combination, but the short throw flexibility offers a myriad of new options for churches. And compared to building projector rooms for rear projection, the PT-DZ13K projector with ET-D75LE90 ultra short-throw lens could be an absolute bargain.
