I would suggest using a small flashlight to provide light. Shine the flashlight into the lens (projector OFF, you do NOT want to look into the projection lamp!). Move the flashlight around a bit trying to find visible problems within the lens. If the lens is contaminated, you should be able to see it as "fog" on lens elements. Generally, dirt on the lens is not much of an issue. There are cases when some materials used in making a lens could cause internal fogging of 1 or more lens elements. If that has happened, it's not anything that can be fixed and the only way to recover would be to get a new lens (not a used lens from another projector just as old as yours). That could cost more than the projector. The imagers may be degrading also... I'm not sure how long transmissive LCD imagers remain pinpoint sharp (assuming that's what is used in your Panasonic projector). LCD imagers are usually mounted vertically so they don't tend to collect dust. It takes a fairly obvious haze/fog in the lens for that to be visible in images.