  In the PANDA experiment at the FAIR facility at GSI two DIRC (Detection of
Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) detectors will be used for $\pi$/K
separation up to 4 GeV/c. Due to their location in a high magnetic field and
other stringent requirements like high detection efficiency, low dark count
rate, radiation hardness, long lifetime and good timing, MCP-PMTs
(microchannel-plate photomultiplier) were the best choice of photon sensors for
the DIRC detectors in the PANDA experiment. This paper will present the
performance of some of the latest 2$\times$2 inch$^2$ MCP-PMTs from Photek and
Photonis, including the first mass production tubes for the PANDA Barrel DIRC
from Photonis. Performance parameters like the collection efficiency (CE),
quantum efficiency (QE), and gain homogeneity were determined. The effect of
magnetic fields on some properties like gain and charge cloud width was
investigated as well. Apart from that the spatial distribution of many internal
parameters like time resolution, dark count rate, afterpulse ratio, charge
sharing crosstalk and recoil electrons were measured simultaneously with a
multihit capable DAQ system. The latest generation of Photonis MCP-PMTs shows
an unexpected "escalation" effect where the MCP-PMT itself produces photons.
