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Sanyo PLV-Z2 Home Theater Projector Review - Nov 23, 2003
Projector reviews: The SharpVision XV-Z90U and DT-200 Theago - Dec 4, 2002
Sanyo PLV-70: Pure Home Theater Satisfaction - Aug 10, 2002
Home Theater Booms at INFOCOMM 2002 - Jun 15, 2002
Recommended Home Theater Projectors - Feb 5, 2002
CES 2002: Report from Las Vegas - Jan 12, 2002
Sanyo XP21N vs. Sharpvision Z9000U - Nov 8, 2001
The Amazing SharpVision XV-Z9000U - Nov 5, 2001
New Home Theater Projectors Appear at CES - Jan 8, 2001
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Nick - Apr 8, 2002
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
With the right input source, this unit produces a beautiful image. Not as good as my old Sony CRT front projector for off air television, but quite superior with DVD material. The internal scaler does a great job, and the complete absence of scan lines vs my old projector is a revelation. Images from the last chapter of the "Video Essentials" DVD look like HD material. Moving from CRT to DLP takes some adjustment - the picture is different, but ultimately every bit as satisfying after a few days viewing. Set up and controls quite straight forward. Light output is excellent, but best to keep ambient light to absolute minimum unless projecting onto a small screen. Color rendition outstanding - have seen detail in DVD material that was absent with the old Sony. Lens shift control is a useful addition. Picture resizing function is clever. I'm finding all 4:3 material very watchable in "Smart Stretch" mode in 16:9, picture distortion almost impossible to detect. Virtually total absence of visible pixelation at normal viewing distances. |
| Suggestions: |
Greater range in the zoom lens to allow more options for projector placement, and power zoom also would be good. Fan noise is acceptable, but takes a day or 2 to get used to after years of a water cooled CRT projector. Instruction manual is below average... controls are pointed out but there is little explanation of some of the more complex adjustments. Rainbow patterns are sometimes noticeable particularly around white fast moving vertical objects, but are essentially subliminal. You really have to be looking very hard to see them. A naive audience would never pick them up. |
| Comments: |
I bought this unit for HDTV, which is a couple of months away in my area. I'm expecting an absolute knock out result when it arrives. In the mean time it is fine for analog TV and superb for DVD. I can thoroughly recommend it for home theater use where ambient light is at a minimum, even at it's low power 600 lumen mode. The 800 lumen mode can stand one or 2 lights in the room, but certainly no daylight. I won't be buying another projector until a 3 chip DLP unit is available at a reasonable price. The Z-9000 is a superior buy if you have the right room for it; much better value than plasma or rear projection systems. |
Denis Downey - Feb 14, 2002
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
Relatively light in weight
Relatively small footprint
Quiet
No pixelization at any normal viewing distance
Good blacks even with white screen
No LCD dead pixel problem, serial port for remotes
Terrific resolution; automated screen formatting
Excellent contrast at low ambient light levels |
| Suggestions: |
For the cost of the unit ought to have power zoom and focus and digital input |
| Comments: |
Truly a breakthrough product -CRT-like quality without the need for a doctorate in advanced electronics and a rack of test equipment to set it up. Sell the wife's car if you have to . . . this is worth the investment. |
jlp007 - Jan 23, 2002
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
Incredible picture quality. When mixed with xbox on an HD cable, the results were simply stunning. Let's put it this way, if you have the money, you should not even consider buying anything else. Pluses are the sound it makes, in other words, none. |
| Suggestions: |
Getting one was the tricky part but it shouldn't be too hard, I sure do wish sharp changes their policies on this soon. |
| Comments: |
When deciding with a 60 inch flat or this projector, I had my doubts but Sharp really outdid themselves this time. I was never too fond of them until now. |
J Mark - Jan 8, 2002
| Application: |
Re: previous review questions |
| Comments: |
I highly doubt if the signal was bad. As I checked the projector settings, I also checked the connections and conditions, as anyone would. The entire system was relatively new - within the last few months - and in good shape, like the connections. The signal was strong and consistent - there was actually another small monitor from the same signal as this. The output of the receiver went to a D/A, with one each to the projector and the local. The local was a cheap consumer TV and looked fine. Again, it is doubtful the signal was the culprit. The signal could not have been analog - for a signal to pass from provider to the end user's receiver, it must remain compressed in the digital format (at least an MPEG-2). If uncompressed, the signal would not pass and/or can not be read. Granted, component inputs would have theoreitcally provided a better image than the S-Video. However, contrary to what you say, I have seen many uses of projectors that provide better images than this Sharp, both CRT and LCD, using only S-Video and with 8' images. The LCDs include the NEC MT1045 and the Sanyo XP18, among others. I do agree with your piont about the set-up and maintenance, and that is why I said to leave this one at home. It embarrassed itself in this application. |
Warren - Jan 8, 2002
| Application: |
sports bar in previous review |
| Comments: |
Regarding the previous review, did the projector look terrible possibly because the feed was terrible? An 8 ft wide TV image must be HD to be a decent picture. Is it possible the DSS was receiving an analog signal? Was it set up properly? Also I noticed the S-video connection was being used and not the component video inputs. In public places like this, I have yet to see a really good front projection TV display. These units seem to get a lot of use and not the same attention to set-up and maintenance that one would give if it were installed in their own home. |
J Mark - Jan 7, 2002
| Application: |
Large screen in bar for NFL games |
| What I Like: |
Good motion in live video - few artifacts if any.
Not much else. |
| Comments: |
As stated, this projector is used for live video in this application, using DSS and S-Video connection. I'm not the owner, just a frequent viewer of this projector. I am also in the pro A/V industry, so I can make educated judgements. Honestly, this projector looks awful. The colors are very inaccurate and the image is not clean and clear. The normal red and orange sideline markers at NFL games look "hot pink" with this projector, while other primary (RGB) colors, including blue and green, look dull. Flesh tones were not accurate, either. Text on an 8' wide image is not clear, either. I convinced the owner to let me make adjustments to correct the image, but I had little success. As mentioned, the video motion is good - there are few, if any, artifacts, and the pixels are barely noticable, even in larger images. Unfortunately, that is about all I can say as a positive. The brightness is not enough for public display even in the dark - definitley leave this projector at home in a dark room/theater. The overall image quality was not impressive, either. As with most DLP projectors, the center of the screen remained hotter than the edges, and the contract in the center was much higher than the edges - a very inconsistent performer. Additionally, also like many DLP projectors, there was the expected DLP effect that gave the impression of an underwater image. I was NOT impressed with this model in the least bit. |
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