It looks like Panasonic forgot to make an announcement at last week’s CEDIA Expo. OK—the company wasn’t there. Maybe that’s because they wanted to put a spotlight on the newly announced PT-AE8000U full-HD 3D home theater projector

This three-chip LCD 1080p projector boasts a full 1080p HD image (1,920 x 1,080 pixels), 2,400 lumens of brightness, and a 500,000:1 contrast ratio. It’s also designed to deliver both 2D and 3D content, but with a few improvements.

According to Panasonic, the PT-AE8000U promises less crosstalk and 20 percent brighter images. The projector also has a new 220-watt Red Rich Lamp and Panasonic’s Pure Contrast Plates, which match LCD panel characteristics to eliminate light leakage.

Other features include Pure Color Filter Pro and Dynamic Iris technologies, a Detail Clarity Processor 4, a Split-Adjust mode, a 2x zoom lens and a wide range of lens shift. Panasonic says that the unit can project a 120-inch image from as close as 11.8 feet or as far as 23.6 feet. It also has plenty of 3D perks, including 3D Motion Remaster, 3D Viewing Monitor and and 3D Picture Balance features.

The PT-AE8000U is equipped with three HDMI input terminals, which support DeepColor and x.v. Color, and two 12-volt triggers to pair it with automated lighting and a motorized screen.

“Panasonic engineers bring us in to make evaluations and listen to what we have to say, so that when they are doing the design work they take our considerations into effect,” said Steven Poster, an ASC cinematographer. “I don’t know of any other home theater projector manufacturers doing that at this point.”

Panasonic will start selling the PT-AE8000U home theater projector through authorized resellers sometime in late September or early October 2012. Pricing has yet to be announced.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.