PLV-Z3 Tweak Thread [Text View] - Page 4

Ricketty Rabbit

02-06-06, 11:45 AM

Lamp Dimming ~ 500 hours

Just under 500 hours, my Z3 dimmed noticeably over a period of ~ 1 month. I'm projecting onto a 110" DIY screen (Glidden Misty Evening). I had always wondered whether this low gain, low tech "screen" was too large for a Z3. I tried adjusting the projector to compensate, and found the following settings (posted here by others earlier -- sorry, can't find the original posting) to be excellent:

Start with "Dynamic"

1. Contrast +31
2. Brightness 0
3. Color +2
4. Tint 0
5. Color temp Mid
6. Red -1
7. Green +1
8. Blue 0
9. Sharpness 0
10. Gamma 0
11. Lamp Mode Low
12. Iris -37
13. Gain R 0
14. Gain G 0
15. Gain B 0
16. Offset R 0
17. Offset G 0
18. Offset B 0
19. Gamma R 0
20. Gamma G 0
21. Gamma B 0
22. Auto Black Stretch Off
23. Contrast Enhancement Off
24. Transient Improvement Off
25. Overscan +5¶

This has breathed new life into the Z3.

Thanks to the unknown tweaker who previously posted these "no filter" settings.

Ricketty

Coonstev

02-06-06, 02:39 PM

SpyGuy311; I finally snapped a shot of PGR3 the other night. Sorry for the delay. See the attached photo. I think you will be at easy as I was in fact able to reproduce the anomalies you saw (ie. jaggies). Though I don't really see them in the game itself or while racing; they are evident while walking around the garage.

I apologize if this was answered already...but try turning the Progressive setting to "Off". This fixes jaggies on my Dish input (S-Video).

Steve

SpyGuy311

02-06-06, 05:55 PM

I apologize if this was answered already...but try turning the Progressive setting to "Off". This fixes jaggies on my Dish input (S-Video).

Steve

How can you turn the progressive setting off when it's running at 720p?

Allan Jayne

02-06-06, 07:21 PM

I've never heard of a progressive setting that can be turned on or off except on DVD players and some CRT TV sets.

If you turn progressive off on a (progressive) DVD player then the 'Z3 projector will convert the native 480i of the DVD to 480p and then to 720p. The projector's 480i to 480p may or may not be better than having the player do it under progressive on. I'm told that the 'Z3 is quite good.

Unless the term "progressive off" means to activate the S-video output instead of the component video output of a cable box or dish TV box.

(Turning off progressive on a TV applies only to 1080i and juxtaposes the odd and even fields optically on the CRT. It may make DVD's look better but turns HDTV into 540p SDTV.)

So I turn my projector on today and notice something new... It looks like a heatwave going across my screen, or as if someone was smoking in front of the projector. ?
Better stop using the projector until you clean the filters. Overheating can drastically shorten the life of the projector including accelerating the bleaching of the "colored cellophanes" (polarizing plates).

Alternatively, double check to be sure the fan is working properly. Are there air currents in the room that are causing the projector exhaust to cross in front of the lens?

The presets are just that, presets. You can't modify them.

What you can do is save up to 4 custom set ups. Say you start at dynamic, make some edits as before, but now save those settings as Custom 1, you have created a new 'preset' based on the dynamic preset. .
(going back a few replies) Thanks.

Italia_NYC

02-07-06, 10:54 PM

Anyone have suggestions for maintaining the lens shift position? Ever since I got this thing, every once in a while when I turn it on the lens shift has either gone up or down a couple inches. It never goes left/right. It's starting to irritate me :mad:

It's a real pain in the arse! And as far as I know, there is no fix for it. Every 3-4 days I have to climb a ladder and adjust my vertical shift on my PJ cause it has shifted!

:mad:

enier

02-08-06, 08:56 AM

It's a real pain in the arse! And as far as I know, there is no fix for it. Every 3-4 days I have to climb a ladder and adjust my vertical shift on my PJ cause it has shifted!

:mad:

I feel you're pain... Z4 has the lock you're looking for. I feel somebody is itching to upgrade... :D

Coonstev

02-08-06, 09:54 AM

How can you turn the progressive setting off when it's running at 720p?

Ok, I guess didn't consider that your input source was 720p. Let me clarify.

You're gaming, right? If you have the option of sending 480i, 480p, or 720p, you could try all those settings and I would guess the added resolution at 720p would be a noticeable improvement with the exception of your jaggies. If you try sending 480i, if this option is available, and turn the "Progressive" setting to "Off", then you might notice that the jaggies are gone, although you be losing resolution.

In my case, my Dish receiver (508) will only output 480i (I think?) and I notice jaggies when the "Progressive" setting is on "L1", both while playing and pausing...it's nearly unwatchable in slow motion. I had hoped the Z3 was converting the Dish signal to 480p via the "Progressive=L1" setting, but it's not working out for me that way. With the "Progressive setting "Off", the jaggies disappear, a noticeable improvement and, in my case, no loss of resolution. Hence, my recommendation.

If you are using an upscaling DVD player to send 720p, then you're right, the Z3 won't let you turn "Progressive" to "Off", and my apologies for the confusion.

BulletBill

02-08-06, 10:38 AM

I suppose I can post this topic in the HTPC thread, however my question pertains to the Sanyo Z3 and tweaking it to optimal levels.

I'm running my HTPC to the Z3 through DVI/HDMI cable.
Im using TheaterTek as my DVD software player.

I have two questions:

1) What is the best setting to use for HDMI - L1 or L2

2) Has anyone been able to use 48hz (47.952 hz to be exact) refresh rate with this projector? I'm trying to match the refresh rate to the source (when I'm watching film based DVDs). If so, what are the timing parameters in order to acheive this with the Z3.

3) I've looked through the forums regarding the predator effect. I've had it happen to me a few times. Has is been confirmed that a firmware upgrade solves this?

Thanks to the participants in this thread, I'm almost near perfect
Any feedback is appreciated regarding my setup and the refresh rates on this projector.

Bill
Toronto, ON

mkbruce

02-09-06, 11:01 AM

It's a real pain in the arse! And as far as I know, there is no fix for it. Every 3-4 days I have to climb a ladder and adjust my vertical shift on my PJ cause it has shifted!

:mad:

I have found that once you get the shift in the correct stop, back off the adjuster a bit in the opposite direction. This seems to take the pressure off the adjument mechanism and keeps it from drifting. By doing this, I haven't had to make any adjustments in almost a year.

Magnus

enier

02-09-06, 11:38 AM

Thedarksyde

02-09-06, 05:35 PM

So I was wondering about fast moving shots...where I am seeing some slight pixelation, and making sure that was not something that is defective, but part of just having an LCD.

When we are watching TV or DVD and when sometimes there is a quick pan or some movement that is pretty fast, you will see some slight pixelation for a quick second and then it will be gone once the movement slows down. Is this correct? Or should I be worried?

SpyGuy311

02-09-06, 07:24 PM

Jeremy Anderson

02-09-06, 07:54 PM

Since rOne and I have been the two settings freaks here, I figured I should update this thread with my most recent set of optimized settings so people don't have to dig into the past pages so much. rOne's your guy for HDMI, but here are the settings that I've found work the best for component users using a CC30R filter over the lens. Even if you have tried my settings in the past, pay attention because I haven't posted my latest findings since experimenting with gamma. These are based on rOne's initial grayscale results, but tweaked for component.

Component/CC30r filtered settings:
Start with Dynamic mode
Contrast +2
Brightness -2
Color +2
Tint +1
Color Temp User
Red -3
Green 0
Blue 0
Sharpness -3
Gamma -1
Lamp Theater Black
Iris -30 (This will vary for the individual - mine is -30 due to some lamp wear, but going below about -40 will cause chromatic abberations at the far left and right of your picture)
Gain R +15
Gain G 0
Gain B -10
Offset R -15
Offset G +7
Offset B +2
Gamma R 0
Gamma G 0
Gamma B 0
Auto Black Stretch Off
Contrast Enhancement Off
Transient Improvement Off

A few notes:
Brightness and contrast will vary depending on your source, so tweak those yourself AFTER setting Gamma to -1. Throughout our tweaking, I've found gamma stayed at about 2.0 when the Gamma control was set to 0 and white and black were at their proper levels, which seems a bit washed out with dark scenes. I found that if you set Gamma to -1, then adjust Brightness and Contrast correctly, you end up with a greater digital range and WAY better midtones... as well as a gamma ramp of about 2.2, which should be NTSC correct. You also end up with better shadow detail, in my opinion. It gives the picture a far richer overall appearance.

To get brightness and contrast nailed after setting Gamma to -1, here's what I did: With DVE, I used the grayscale ramp with above white at the ends to adjust contrast until the 100 IRE rectangle (indicated by the three dots) just blends with the above white section (the brighter white portion immediately next to it. This is the point where whites clip. You can verify this if you also have Avia - you still see both moving bars on Avia's contrast pattern. I also found that the best way to set brightness was with Avia's BLACK window pattern. Display the pattern, then set your Z3 to NORMAL mode (4:3). Turn brightness up until you can see the edges of the 4:3 window in the center of your screen, then turn brightness down until you can't see those edges anymore. You can verify this with DVE's below black pluge pattern or Avia's black bars pattern, but I found it easier to set this way. This should get you the optimal brightness and contrast settings without losing any shadow detail or clipping whites at the upper IRE levels.

The change in gamma to -1 fixed the midtone problems people were having with Dynamic mode in the past, and seems to yield better percieved contrast. If you're currently using Powerful as a starting point instead of Dynamic because of the effect Dynamic had on faces, you might give this a shot. I think you'll be impressed with the results.

My color decoding has been tweaked in the service menu, so if anyone tries the above settings and thinks they're seeing some red push (especially in faces), let me know and I will repost my instructions and settings for tweaking the color decoder in the service menu. As usual, I feel the need to mention (because this is a common misunderstanding): The R, G and B settings in the user menu are NOT to adjust the level of red, green and blue color. Those settings are for adjusting WHITE BALANCE - the level of red, green and blue that makes up white. If you are seeing too much red in people's faces, you can not fix this by adjusting the R setting down in the user menu. The only way to reduce this red push (and also fix the deficiency of green) is in the service menu.

As always, I recommend that you save these settings on a preset and A/B them with your previous settings to see how they compare. Remember: home theater is all about what is best TO YOU, so be happy with what you think looks best. Happy tweaking!

hollowman

02-10-06, 03:24 PM

Jeremy -

please repost your service menu tweaks (including how to get at them) again for use brand-new Z3 owners!

I've actually downloaded the whole thread but it's quite confusing picking out the good bits from all the noise, as well as understanding the evolution of these settings over time...

also - are these component settings and service tweaks to be used with the 1db attenuator? is there a solution for those of us without the CC30r filter? has anyone found a better method than scotch taping cellophane to the lens?

Jeremy Anderson

02-10-06, 07:04 PM

rOne posted settings for component/no filter somewhere in here, so you might try searching for his name to find those. I haven't messed with mine without a CC30R filter since I first got it, so I couldn't tell you. Honestly, the CC30R filter gives you enough of an improvement that it's worth the cost. I recommend the Kodak gel filter over the Lee polyester filter though, as it seems to reflect less light back into the lens. As for attaching the filter to the lens, you may luck out and find a food lid or something that is just the right size to hold the filter on the lens. Also, people have taken the protective cardboard/foam assembly that came with the Z3, cut a hole in it, then used that to hold it in place. Personally, I still use good ole' scotch tape on the case to hold the filter in place.

If you're using the 1dB attenuator, you don't need the service menu tweaks. The service menu tweaks just let you directly change the color decoder settings for green and red instead of having to reduce the red signal with an attenuator. But for those who want to do it, here's a cut'n'paste of my previous instructions:

The following is for those using component video, and requires that you own The Avia Guide To Home Theater. HDMI/DVI users shouldn't need this, as color decoding is reportedly correct for those inputs. The following are detailed instructions for lining up the color decoder so that blue, green and red are all set to NTSC standards (though PAL users should be able to do this too if they have a PAL version of AVIA).

First, put in the Avia Guide to Home Theater and go to the color bars section. Set the lamp mode on the Z3 to HIGH. If you have a line level attenuator on the Cr component lead, you can take it out of the line. Put up the BLUE COLOR BARS and adjust COLOR and TINT in the user menu while holding the blue filter over your eyes (see Avia's instructions on this for more details). Once you have color and tint lined up, the rest will be done in the service menu. IMPORTANT NOTE: Before you change ANYTHING in the service menu, write down your original values!!!! The defaults are listed in the service manual, but be warned nonetheless.

1. To enter the service menu, press and hold the MENU and INPUT buttons on the projector for 5 seconds. An "S" will appear in the corner of the screen. When the S is on screen, press and hold the SCREEN button on the remote until the service menu appears.
2. Press the SELECT key on the remote until the Group Number changes to 4.
3. Press POINT UP until the Item Number changes to 15.
4. On your DVD player, go to Avia's RED COLOR BARS pattern and look through the red filter.
5. Adjust item 15 with the POINT LEFT and POINT RIGHT buttons until you have red and white at the same level (the saturation section of the screen). Oddly, raising the value actually lowers the level... so to bring red push down, you want to raise this value.
6. Press POINT UP to go to Item 16. Adjust this left and right until you have the HUE portion of the pattern matching while looking through the red filter. You might have to bounce back and forth between items 16 and 15, making adjustments until you can no longer see the boxes blinking on the red color bars pattern.
7. Once you have red lined up, change to Avia's GREEN COLOR BARS pattern and look through the green filter.
8. Press UP until you're on Item 17. Adjust using left and right until green and white are at the same level.
9. Press up to go to Item 18 and adjust the hue portion of the green pattern until that matches. As with red, you may have to ping-pong between 17 and 18 to get both saturation and hue to match up.
10. Once you've done this, change to Avia's COLOR DECODER CHECK (first item in Special Tests). If you've properly adjusted the color decoder with the above steps, the red should match up to the white background at the 0% mark when looking through the red filter (meaning that red is now at the proper level), the green should match at 0% when looking through the green filter, and blue should match at 0% when looking through blue.
11. If you're satisfied that all three colors are at 0%, press the POWER button once to exit the service menu. You can now change your lamp mode back to where it was before.

Italia_NYC

02-11-06, 12:10 AM

Ricketty Rabbit

02-11-06, 04:01 PM

I have found that once you get the shift in the correct stop, back off the adjuster a bit in the opposite direction. This seems to take the pressure off the adjument mechanism and keeps it from drifting. By doing this, I haven't had to make any adjustments in almost a year.

Magnus

Magnus, how much is "a bit"? I've tried this for ~ 6 months and have never been able to get it to stay in the same place for more than a few days. It's not a big deal for me because I can reach it from the floor, but it is annoying.

Thanks,

Ricketty

Jeremy Anderson

02-12-06, 12:42 AM

Italia, the attenuator should take care of any red push you get through component... but it won't be as exact as doing the service menu tweak. Plus, the attenuator doesn't address the slight green deficiency that the color decoder has out-of-the-box. With the service menu tweaks, you can get red, green and blue to line up at 0% push/pull on Avia's color decoder test, and get all three lined up as far as tint goes.

If anyone has trouble doing the color decoder tweak in the service menu (since it is moderately difficult to line up correctly), I can post my settings here. They should at least get you in the ballpark.

jefe noche

02-12-06, 01:18 AM

Personally the best filterless settings I have found seem to be a bit of a secret although ROne has shared them. They do lack a contrast punch for which you need to get filters but they are D65 so the colouring is spot on. Fine tune brightness and contrast yourself:

Rone Natural 6500 +/- 150
Start with Natural preset - turn down lamp, adjust sharpness and set IRIS. I have settled on -52 for Iris, as without the filters you need help to get rid of panel leakage.
C: +6
B: -1
R: +9
G: -2
B: -4
Iris: -52
Gain R: +15
Gain G: +3
Gain: B: -9
Offset R: -15
Offset G: +2
Offset B: 0
Gammas: all 0
Overscan: 0

If you need some filters cheaply at cost/postage email or pm me.

FWIW, these are close to my final settings. I have tried each and every setting here, including the filters, and I am happiest with these. Maybe this is because I use a grey screen (96" high contast grey Carada).

The only change in my numbers are Iris at -30. I can get away with this because of the gray screen.

doug_p

02-12-06, 09:32 PM

If we use these HDMI settings and later add the recommended CC30R filter, do these settings then need to be changed? (Just getting into this Z3 tweaking thing, sorry for the newb question).

Jeremy Anderson

02-13-06, 07:47 AM

Yes, but rOne has also posted the CC30R filtered settings for HDMI, so no worries. Just do a search for posts by him in this thread and you should find it.

elche99

02-13-06, 07:59 AM

Italia_NYC

02-13-06, 08:58 AM

mkbruce

02-14-06, 09:28 AM

Magnus, how much is "a bit"? I've tried this for ~ 6 months and have never been able to get it to stay in the same place for more than a few days. It's not a big deal for me because I can reach it from the floor, but it is annoying.

Thanks,

Ricketty

It's hard to say, but maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn. You can actually fell the adjuster reach a 'neutral' state, where it is not putting pressure on the lens to shift in either
direction.

Magnus

Ricketty Rabbit

02-15-06, 01:54 PM

Thanks, Magnus. I'll try it.

Ricketty

suade907

02-28-06, 04:27 PM

How do we check the hour timer again? Thanks

wallen

02-28-06, 06:58 PM

Hold the power button down for about 25 seconds.

suade907

03-01-06, 09:36 AM

Thanks, I thought that was it but didn't work for me last night using the remote. Maybe I aimed crooked.

quickfire

03-01-06, 05:05 PM

Suade ...be sure that you dont have the POWER OFF ? logo on screen .....if you do it will shut off!

elche99

03-06-06, 12:51 PM

Has anyone took advantage of and/or fooled around with the Capture feature of the Z3, that enables you to replace the Default "Sanyo" image at power on?

I've had this unit for 6 months and just yesterday realized the potential of this feature.

I designed a 3D image with some graphics and a "Welcome to ______ Theater" in big lettering in Photoshop, saved it as an image, burned in to a DVD, then played it on the Z3. When the image is displayed, I hit capture, and now everytime I power on the PJ (or hit the MY-P button on the remote), my custom Welcome message/graphic appears.

It really looks cool, and I'm not sure everyone is aware of how easy it is to personalize your HT using this method.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned here.

I tried lot of times to capture something but no chance... everytime i power on
the Z3 i see the usual logo (...yes i've selected on the menu the custom logo
option) and if press the MY-P button on the remote i see a black "!" on yellow
background on the low left corner of the screen.
Anyone has an idea of what is happening? Maybe a firmware fault (mine is 1.00
in an european silver unit)?

Thanks in advance

Gunde

03-14-06, 08:39 AM

I tried lot of times to capture something but no chance... everytime i power on
the Z3 i see the usual logo (...yes i've selected on the menu the custom logo
option) and if press the MY-P button on the remote i see a black "!" on yellow
background on the low left corner of the screen.
Anyone has an idea of what is happening? Maybe a firmware fault (mine is 1.00
in an european silver unit)?

Thanks in advance
If I remember correctly you just need to wait as the capture process takes some time - at least it did on mine. A progress bar will appear on the screen.
I don't remember the "!" in the corner, it might be because the image isn't compatible with the capture function - check you manual.

Lazarus74

03-14-06, 10:53 AM

I don't think you can capture an image in 720p or 1080i. I believe it gets too big.

Yorgi

03-14-06, 11:33 PM

Another new Z3 owner here. Just like to offer another big thank you to Jeremy and rOne. It's guys like you that make this forum so very valuable to the n00bs.

I think they should add your settings to the owners manuals as an addendum. :D

ErikMJ

03-15-06, 11:45 AM

Hi.

I have just gotten my hands on a new Z3.

The pixels at the edge of the picture seems to be shining more brightly than the other pixels, i dont know if it's a defect, or a matter of adjustment

Pics here
ugh.dk/public/z3/

I mailed Sanyos support about this, and they claim that is normal....... i'm confused.

I have tested with both composite, s-video and vga input, from different sources dvb-t tuner, dvd-player and an ibm laptop computer.

Only on vga the pixels in the left/right seems to be a problem

On both composite, s-video and vga the pixels in top/bottom seems to be a problem.

If i select a zoom mode that does not fill all the image surface, the bright pixels are moved to the edge of the new picture size.

The problem seems not to be connected with lamp mode, image mode etc. The s-video and composite is PAL signals.

Vga resolution tested was 1024 * 768

Have you guys seen this before, could it be a matter of adjustment/tweaking, or is the unit defect ? - i have not done any tweaky tricks with it yet.

Best regards,
Erik

ajstan99

03-15-06, 12:56 PM

Welcome, Eric. Go into the menu and increase the overscan level and see if the bright pixels go away.

ErikMJ

03-15-06, 01:47 PM

Welcome, Eric. Go into the menu and increase the overscan level and see if the bright pixels go away.

Thanx ajstan. I found the overscan avalible only when using a non-through zoom mode, and it was default set to 10 = max.... decreasing it did'nt make any change.

Ishan

03-20-06, 03:27 PM

Hey guys, I got some problems with my Z3. I noticed a green line in the bottom left corner progressivly disapearing as you look to the right. It seems the LCDs got misaligned, is there any way I could fix this myself or must I send it back to Sanyo?
Another thing is no matter what I can't get the lower left corner and the upper right corner to be perfectly focused, it's always slighly unfocused in a corner or the other, any idea?

Nightanole

03-23-06, 07:11 PM

Hey guys i had a z1 for over a year and now i need another one since a new carpet install has kicked out my crt projector. Im down to a z3-z4 or a panny 700(due to zoom), but the panny doesnt seem to have good bulb life. How is the bulb life on the z3?

I really dont want to spend the extra money on the z4 since it appears that the pannel contrast is the same as the z3 but the z4 now has another auto irus(sp) for dimming the pic durring dark scenes.

Also how is the banding on these now that they have been out for a year?

marlowe

04-06-06, 05:10 PM

Hi

I have tried both Rone Natural 6500 and GezzaZ3's settings, but prefer my own. I think Rone's make faces to grenish for one ting whereas GezzaZ3's settings make faces look yellowish. I have primarily tested my settings on LOTR:FOTR EE, but they look great on other films as well.

I use HDMI from Denon 1920. No filters.

One problem is - I don't clearly recall which preset setting I began with, but it was probably either Dynamic or Natural, so you may have to try and start out with different preset settings.

Once you have done that:
turn down lamp
Temp: User
Sharpness: +5
Iris: -52
C: 0
B: -1
R: 0
G: +3
B: +4
Gain R: 0
Gain G: -4
Gain: B: +6
Offset R: -2
Offset G: +2
Offset B: 0
Gamma R: -1
Gamma G: -2
Gamma B: 0
Overscan: 0

Comments anyone?

affeking

04-08-06, 12:01 PM

johnnykretentiv

04-08-06, 01:31 PM

It should be fine. The lens shift does not effect image quality from what I have seen or read.

Nightanole

04-08-06, 11:42 PM

I recently moved, and I'm preparing the new theater. For construction reasons, it would be much easier for me to mount the projector slightly off center horizontaly. Specifically, about 1.5' from the center of the 110" diagonal screen. Now, I've used Vertical shift before as I was ceiling mounted in the past, but never used horizontal.

My question is - will using the horizontal shift to this extent have any noticable impact on my picture quality? I'd prefer the more painful wiring job if it means a better picture; but if it makes no difference, I'll go the easy route!

Thx
Jeff

Your fine, the Z series doesnt suffer image problems like the other lens shift units. The only thing you have to worry about is going full boar both hor and ver, then you might get into problems. Im off by 2 foot hor and my image is fine, no darkening and no focus issues.

affeking

04-09-06, 12:21 PM

Great - thanks for the input guys. I'm actually now going to mount this about 2ft over horizontally, and vertically it'll be shifting down a bit as its ceiling mounted. I'm pretty confident I'll have enough shift to accomplish both of these, tho I wish there was a more exact way to estimate.

As soon as the proj gets back from Sanyo (fan noise problem), I'll be testing this out!

Thanks again

Chadci

04-24-06, 07:43 PM

I hope you guys can help me out with this issue. I have a Z3 connected to an Oppo dvd player via Hdmi / dvi cable shooting to a 92" Graywolf screen. I have made sure that everything is level but on the left side of the screen the image goes downhill on the top, I thought hmm, I bet its off screen on the bottom but it seems to go "up hill" does this make sense at all? There is no keystone going on, the lense is pretty close to dead center with the screen, just a little lense shift and a little zoom going on. I can get pretty close to correcting it with overscan but it just runs everything else off.

So as Napoleon Dynamite would say, "What would you do in a situation like that, GOSH!"

ajstan99

04-24-06, 09:14 PM

Sounds like your PJ's aim is not perpendicular to the screen. Adjust the aim a little towards the short side (where the top of the image goes down and the bottom of the image goes up as it approaches the side of the screen), then use the lens shift to move the image back to the center.

kylek23

06-22-06, 01:58 PM

Since last weekend I've been trying to do a full calibration starting with Powerful or Dynamic and using a CC30R filter. I'm capturing readings off the projector with an Eye One Pro in Ambient mode (pointed at lense, not screen). After properly setting brightness and contrast and many different combinations of settings of the main RGB, gains and offsets I get under 4 DeltaE for D65 from 20-80% stimulae (using GetGray calibration disc and Babelcolor software to control Eye One device).

My problem is at 90-100% the projector goes yellow (too much red/green) with a DeltaE from 14-20. The blue gun is just dropping off.

If I lower the contrast to a level where the blue comes back (like in the -20s) I end up with a very dull picture and above white levels showing as gray (though I am using Video levels from a Panasonic S97 HDMI player).

ROne -- With your final settings with Powerful and the CC30R filter, where you "cracked it" were your 90-100% gray windows have as high a DeltaE as above (they were worse before?) or did you get better results?

Anyone else measured this? The 100% window is noticeably yellow by eye even without an instrument.

jefe noche

07-11-06, 02:24 AM

Anyone using the Powerful setting without a fliter? If so, what are the best tweaked settings?

My screen is gray with a gain of .8. I do not like a filter.

I have been using the non filtered setting that have been recomended in this thread (starting with Natural). However, my bulb is starting to dim and I am looking for a change to get some "pop" back. The powerful setting does this for me, but the colors look way "blown out".

Any suggestions?

Steveo1234

07-11-06, 08:39 AM

Im using the recommended settings from this thread for a Z3 without a CCXXR filter. Picture is good, but, im somewhat puzzled that faces shift a bit toward a yellow tone. Does anyone else experience this? Can it be fixed by upping "blue" a bit? If so, which blue-control?

LordHelmchen

07-13-06, 09:01 AM

Hello, first post here. Can anyone please send me the service manual? I desperately need it! The link from the Sanyo UK website doesn't work anymore. I'd be grateful for like forever :)

Chadci

07-23-06, 07:36 PM

Jefe,I am using powerful mode on a painted silverscreen 110" screen, the gain is estimated to be around .8 as well. I have most everything at the standard setting except lamp is low, brightness is -2, red is +5 and sharpness is -5. I constantly play with the iris setting but right now it is around -35 or -38.

I used to project onto a much higher gain Graywolf screen but disliked the texture and wanted to go bigger. Overall I am much more satasifed with the painted screen my only gripe is not being able to use it with light in the room. I used Rones creative cinema settings for that set up.

bobpaule

07-26-06, 08:51 PM

bobpaule

07-26-06, 08:53 PM

Anyone have suggestions for maintaining the lens shift position? Ever since I got this thing, every once in a while when I turn it on the lens shift has either gone up or down a couple inches. It never goes left/right. It's starting to irritate me :mad:

I can bet money down that you have it ceiling mounted and little children run laps around the dining room table on the floor above :) At least this is how i get the same deal when my little girls go wild. Another issue is that the shift knobs seem to have tension between certain intervals and slide if PJ vibrates even slightly, my next plan is go the biology department and steal the shock absorbers off the electron beam microscope, hehehehe.

tompa39

07-29-06, 05:49 PM

I´ve had my z3 for about one year and 4 months. It has been going strong for about 1100 hrs in economy mode. However just in a couple of days the image has gotten considerably darker and washed out. I tried replacing the filer and was going to clean the panels but I have lost the "blow-thingy". I´m guessing that the bulb has gotten weaker and the only thing left to do is to replace it but how can you be 100% sure of this? Is there anything else left to try?

I just bought a hdv camcorder and shot some scenes indoors with little light and those scenes were unwatchable on the projector. They were quite good on the TV so I guess the bulb is to weak to give a bright enough image.

enier

07-29-06, 09:17 PM

If it is consistently darker across the screen then the "blow-thingy" might not be useful because it is for dust particles in the lcd panels. I could be wrong though. You could try to CAREFULLY clean the lens. Or you may want to re-calibrate using POWERFUL setting. How about running in non-economy mode until the buld gives or image is unwatchable before buying a bulb...

Will Cunningham

07-30-06, 08:03 AM

Howdy,

I am having a problem with my Sanyo Z3 and could use some advise. I have had it for a while now and have enjoyed it tremendously. I have noticed some areas of the screen are tinged blue. The bottom left corner has a very distinct blue tinge, and the center area of the screen aslo has a blue tinge in a splotchy pattern. When people are on the screen and in the areas the effect is particularly noticable.

I cleaned the outside lense and used the sucker ball that came with the z3 to suck out the holes in the bottom for cleaning....that is the extent of what I have tried so far. I can't tell if this is related to dust or some other issue. I did replace the bulb in the projector about a month ago, everything seemed to be working just fine untill a few days ago.

Any suggestions or ideas about what is going on would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Will

affeking

08-21-06, 09:07 PM

I'm confused about the overscan setting on the projector. I saw a few posts where someone asked, but never a response, so here goes again...

I understand the concept of overscan cropping the edge of the source material. When I increase the overscan on the projector, the image actually gets larger. Does this mean that +10 overscan is actually a reduction of cropping and 0 is actual the presence of cropping? That seems backwards...

I also noticed that toying with overscan actually moves the image when I'm displaying letterbox material in full. I can see the bar on the bottom get larger while the bar on the top shrinks. Not quite sure if they even out, but it seems odd. I would think OS would simply crop the edges of the black bars on the top and bottom and leave the image un-touched.

I see a lot of variation in cropping suggestions in the settings here as well. What is the reason for this? Doesn't it really just depend on the source material you view?

Thanks,
Jeff

reaven

08-21-06, 09:38 PM

did someone know any tweak or trick so everytime i turn on my z3 the image appears to move so i have to align it again the PJ is in a shelf.

ajstan99

08-22-06, 12:49 AM

0 is preferred and means no cropping. The full 1280x720 pixels (of a 720p HD source) are represented on the screen. If you set the overscan at +10 (presumably to get rid of undesireable image elements at the outer edges of the image), the outer pixels of the image are cropped and the rest of the image is expanded/scaled by the Z3 to fit the screen - that's why the image looks larger.

FWIW, here's how I set overscan for each of my inputs:

* Oppo via HDMI - overscan=0 - no cropping necessary.

* OTA HD Tuner via component - Overscan=+5 - to cut off the image noise that appears at the top of the screen for non-HD programming. Not necessary for the HD programs.

* PC via component - overscan=0 - no cropping necessary.

* VCR/DVD recorder via s-video - overscan=+5 - to cut off the image noise that appears at the top of the screen on SD cable channels.

Hope this helps.

I'm confused about the overscan setting on the projector. I saw a few posts where someone asked, but never a response, so here goes again...

I understand the concept of overscan cropping the edge of the source material. When I increase the overscan on the projector, the image actually gets larger. Does this mean that +10 overscan is actually a reduction of cropping and 0 is actual the presence of cropping? That seems backwards...

I also noticed that toying with overscan actually moves the image when I'm displaying letterbox material in full. I can see the bar on the bottom get larger while the bar on the top shrinks. Not quite sure if they even out, but it seems odd. I would think OS would simply crop the edges of the black bars on the top and bottom and leave the image un-touched.

I see a lot of variation in cropping suggestions in the settings here as well. What is the reason for this? Doesn't it really just depend on the source material you view?

Thanks,
Jeff

quickfire

09-04-06, 03:36 PM

I need a Powerful/Dynamic tweaked setting for DAILY TV VIEWING!!!

I already have RONE'S tweaked setting with the cc30r & his non-filtered Natural tweak for HDDVD movie viewing,these settings are on user-1 & user-2 + I also have the powerful non filtered setting that GEEZA33 has put in this forum which i use for HD sports.

I need a NON FILTERED Powerful or Dynamic setting that has deceit blacks and also has great contrast with vibrant colors for my Daily viewing!!

P.S I'm using HDMI...If anbody has this kind of setting will you please post your USER SETTINGS on here for me?

I have tried to set my own settings but i continue to get great colors but the skin tones are not as good as some of Rones settings!!!!

quickfire

09-06-06, 07:08 PM

Anybody ^^^^?

ctiq21

09-07-06, 10:05 AM

I would love those settings as well, anyone have them please post....

quickfire

09-09-06, 04:51 PM

HELLOOOO...KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK..anybody here???:D

aaroen

09-09-06, 11:57 PM

Can anyone tell me how to get into service menu. I did what was posted hit both INPUT andMENU on the projector, got the S in the upper left corner. When I press and hold the SCREEN key on the remote nothing happens.

I_Dig_Sanyo

09-13-06, 08:17 PM

Sanyo-Z3 projector with Samsung DVD-HD941 player has a Green Cast to it when played with HDMI. It was gone when I used the Samsung with another HD display. This happens in all resolutions including 480P and 720P.
Also, how do I get a latest firmware for my Sanyo PLV-Z3.

Will Cunningham

09-19-06, 10:54 AM

I just wanted to post the resolution of my blue tinted area problem. It turns out the air filter was clogged causing the system to overheat and fry the LCD pannels.

I wonder if that is a problem similar to your's I_Dig_Sanyo, you might want to check your air filter. If you have not cleaned it in awhile you might be in the same boat as I am.

The repair of my unit is not covered by warrentee and comes in around $650 with shipping. I am still in the process of trying to decide between fixing my unit or replacing it with a newwer model.

Good Luck!

I_Dig_Sanyo

09-24-06, 02:07 PM

Thanks Will, but I suspect a clogged filter might not be causing the green tint problem I am experiencing when I use HDMI. The colour rendition is perfect when in component video.

I_Dig_Sanyo

09-24-06, 02:09 PM

Is there a way to update the firmware for my Sanyo PLV-Z3? If so, what equipment would I need to execute it. Where can I find the software? The local dealer is no help.

SMP01

09-29-06, 10:59 AM

Hi

Had my z3 for a year now. Still love it.

My lense shift adjustment, especially up/down, is not smooth anymore. On a 92" screen it can jump over 6 inches as it 'clicks' to the next position.

Is there something I can clean?

quin

10-01-06, 06:45 PM

On the screen there are two darker columns on the right and left side where it looks like 4x3 material is displayed. Is it darker here because of the 4x3 material I've watched or is it something else?

I know i watch more widescreen content than 4x3.
I just changed the bulb also and it still remains.

any suggestions?

ctiq21

10-02-06, 11:51 AM

quin

10-04-06, 12:32 PM

Not quite sure, does it show when you press the No Show button? Does it show with all sources?

I am using an audio authority switch box so I use just one input, but I have tried both component 1 and 2. When the projector is on but no input(blue) I don't see any discoloration. Light sources show this problem a lot worse than dark sources.

I will hook my laptop up and try the vga connections and see what happens!

wallen

10-04-06, 08:10 PM

quin

10-05-06, 09:36 PM

Quin - If you are able to connect a PC/laptop with internet access to your Z3 (or any other projector), you can pretty easily display some test patterns to evaluate non-uniformity across the screen. Go to http://walvisions.com/TestPatterns.html and scroll down to the WV-61 to WV-66 patterns, then select one and use the F11 key to display it in full screen.

With these full screen patterns you can look for discoloration across the screen at various brightness levels, and should be able to evaluate for non-uniform aging, some of which could be due to display of 4:3 sources. If significant discoloration is present, the most likely cause is either the blue polarizer or LCD panel.

Note that sometimes a full blue screen won't show any problems, but lower levels will, and the color differences are enhanced by looking at gray instead of a single color, such as blue.

thanks for that site wallen!!
here is what i found...
White,Black,Red, and Green - all perfect.
Blue and all shades of Grey - Have the 2 pillars

I noticed that the pillars are what I want...
The middle of my screen looks like a 16million picture shown at 256 colors.
so my blues are bad....

How do I go about fixing this? I guess I contact Sanyo and see what it will cost?

wallen

10-06-06, 06:11 PM

Quin - You should contact Sanyo - this may be covered under warranty, which I think is three years. If they have any questions, you might try taking a picture of your screen with a digital camera (no flash!) and email it to them, along with the information how to get the pattern you're displaying.

Is there less blue between the pillars, so the center looks yellowish when displaying the gray patterns? Is the boundary between the pillars and the center well defined, or is there a more gradual transition area? I'd be pretty sure that you have a blue polarizer or LCD panel problem. And OBTW, I think my Z3 may be in the early stages of the same problem!

reaven

10-29-06, 09:02 AM

Ishmael198

10-31-06, 11:46 AM

did someone known settings for vga connection am using vga cable from the x360 and using x360 as a dvd player .

or whats mean or how i can calibrate or adjust the vga parameters like

fine sync
total dots
horizontal
vertical
clamp

Like so.

Fine Sync: 20
Total Dots(pixels): 1650
Horizontal (Position): 257
Vertical (position): 24
Clamp: 10

reaven

11-01-06, 10:54 PM

what did, fine sync, total dots and clamp does

ajstan99

11-02-06, 01:00 PM

Basic descriptions of these adjustments are on page 35 of the owner's manual. You can download an online copy here:

http://sanyoservice.com/pdf/images/PLVZ3.pdf

BrianSallot

11-04-06, 07:29 AM

I recently had to switch my HD-A1 HDDVD Player from HDMI to Component as for two times watching Batman Begins on both times I have had the Predator Effect happen. I have firmware 1.01 which was suppose to have corrected it and for the last 9 months of ownership and hooked via HDMI to different players I have never had this happen. any suggestions?

Thanks
Brian

ajstan99

11-04-06, 08:52 AM

Do you really mean the 16-color effect (predator) or are you getting a green tint to the picture (colorspace corrupted by another HDMI device prior to switching to the HD-A1)?

emtownsend

11-04-06, 10:13 AM

What is the "predator" effect? I haven't picked up Batman Begins in HD yet, but I was going to do that today. I could check for that on my setup too. I have a Monoprice HDMI switcher in the loop too. So far, it has been great. I can test with and without it. I have the HDX-A1.
Thanks!

BrianSallot

11-04-06, 08:32 PM

It is in fact the Predator effect as there is only 16 colors and it locks up completely and I had to turn the projector off and wait for cool down. The first time it occured I just figured it was a fluke, the second time is when I decided to switch to component for the time being.

BrianSallot

11-04-06, 08:37 PM

The "predator" effect looks like what the Predator from the movie series see's through his point of view, just a few colors almost like thermal vision. I am also not saying the fault is in the movie I just was more than a little surprised to see it happen as I have never had the problem until viewing the film.

reaven

11-07-06, 01:18 AM

Basic descriptions of these adjustments are on page 35 of the owner's manual. You can download an online copy here:

I know that i just want more specific description of what the poor manual said ...

mendes9

11-15-06, 01:13 PM

Anyone know what resolution I need to set my laptop in order to get 1:1 pixel matching. Unfortunaetly, closest resolution with this INTEL 915 video chipset is 1280x768, I haven't tried powerstrip, don't know if it works with intel video drivers. I assume if I can get powerstrip to work, it should be 1280x720 at 60hz?

Thanks in advance.

ajstan99

11-15-06, 01:51 PM

mendes - yes, 1280x720 60Hz will work for the VGA input. A list of all compatabile computer timings are on page 56 of the users manual.

mendes and reaven - you may also want to try the Home Theater Computer forum. There are some very knowledgeable folks there that have more in-depth info regarding PC-related questions.

tompa39

12-05-06, 12:39 AM

Does anyone know the cheapest place for buying a replacement lamp for the sanyo z3 .. Sofar the cheapest place i´ve found is P rice Japan, they charge 253 usd including shipping .. (i´m from europe, sweden)

Thanks in advance

mendes9

12-05-06, 09:38 AM

I guess I"m missing something, but why hasn't the clone market come up to speed in making these ultra expensive lamps. Why are they so expensive?

tompa39

12-05-06, 11:50 AM

I guess I"m missing something, but why hasn't the clone market come up to speed in making these ultra expensive lamps. Why are they so expensive?

Exactly, that´s what i´m thinking too :)

wallen

12-05-06, 06:48 PM

Lamps (actually lamp assemblies) are not the same for different manufacturers, and may not even be the same for similar projectors from the same manufacturer. Thus an aftermarket manufacturer would have to come up with lots of varieties and would have a tough time getting enough volume in any one type to justify the design expense. Also, the bare lamp is also relatively expensive to the manufacturer.

I look at it as a marketing scheme that can be generally compared to that for computer printers (relatively cheap) and replacement ink cartridges (relatively expensive). It enables the manufacturer to get some more profit from each original sale.

Jeremy Anderson

01-25-07, 08:33 PM

I recently had the blue panel replaced in my Z3 and now I notice that blue is shifted one pixel down on the screen. For instance, white text has a blue edge underneath it. Does anyone know if there's a way to adjust this? I know there's not in the user menus, but is there a setting in the service menu that anyone knows about?

retrof

01-26-07, 05:33 AM

Hi Jeremy,

I had a similar problem on my Z3 from day 1 (slight shift on both X and Y axis).
I can't recall if it was the X or Y axis I managed to fix, but I do remember that whilst one of them couldn't be shifted, the other axis could, and that got rid of 90% of the convergence problem which I had.

The service menu (MENU+INPUT for 5 secs) options you are looking for are:
Group 6
- 18 DXOUTR
- 19 DXOUTG
- 20 DXOUTB

-26 DYOUTR
-27 DYOUTG
-28 DYOUTB

I ended up with a bit of a blue overspill on the right of the picture, but that's cancelled by my masking anyway - the overall improvement to convergence was very noticable. I'm still less than half a pixel out on one panel, but it's much, much better.

As I mentioned, either X or Y adjustment doesn't seem to work (does something strange to the image instead), but one of them definitely does, and it worked for me...

-rf

Jeremy Anderson

01-26-07, 12:57 PM

Cool... I'll try it tonight. I'm pretty well versed in the service menus (which is how I figured out how to fix the color decoding for component video over), but my unit didn't have this problem until they replaced the blue panel so I haven't really delved into the other adjustments. Thanks for the help!

Jeremy Anderson

01-26-07, 09:55 PM

Awesome awesome awesome! Changing Group 6, 28 from +1 to +2 did the trick! The DXOUT controls seem to do something very similar to the panel alignment section of the regular user menu, so you can't really line much up with it. But DYOUT let me adjust the blue panel image's position quite nicely.

There's still the slight horizontal misconvergence at far left and far right, though I think that's more an issue of the light path (which is why closing the iris causes tinting at the far sides). Convergence at the center is perfect though, and vertical convergence is dead on across the whole screen as far as I can tell.

Thanks again!

rutlian

01-28-07, 04:41 PM

Guys I have question about sanyo projectors since you guys owned one....I bought my sanyo plc xw15 xga projector 07/2002 do you anybody knows exactly how the lamp hours
count on the sanyo in general? I know sanyo itself don't published the lamp life of their projectors. (maybe I am wrong). a few questions...

1. my sanyo lamp hours shows 980hrs this was 3 yrs ago and then about last month I got curious of how much lamp life I have in my sanyo is It shows lamp life 50 hrs so I started shopping around and then I checked my sanyo again last night and it shows lamp life 81hrs
I was expecting it should go down to 20 hours left. I am really confused if someone can explain to me how sanyo's lamp life works...thanks again

Peter

ajstan99

01-29-07, 01:28 PM

Don't know about your PJ, but on the Z3, projector usage and lamp hours are tracked as follows:

Projector = # hours projector has been used
Lamp
Normal = # hours lamp has been used in normal/adaptive/high-power mode
Eco = # hours lamp has been used in eco mode
Total = 2x Normal hours + 1x Eco hours

It's a usage counter, not an estimation of remaining lamp life. The numbers will always get larger unless you reset the Lamp hours back to zero. I don't think Projector hours can be reset.

In your case, it would appear that your Lamp counter was reset at some point. If the bulb has never been changed, the Projector usage number should give you an idea of Total Lamp usage (if you can estimate the amount of time the PJ was used in Normal vs. Eco mode).

rutlian

01-29-07, 04:13 PM

hometheatreidiot

02-18-07, 07:57 PM

I just inherited a z3 and don't know where to start. I have no manual and I was wondering if anyone knew where I can download one. I just went on sanyo's site and can find z1 z2 z4 z5 but not z3.

Any site with official sanyo documentation and any site with additional helpful doc for a total noob to projectors and the like would be very much appreciated.

BlackRiderX

03-03-07, 07:37 PM

I purchased my Z3 two years ago and just completely finished my theater this week. Better late than never I guess! I just wanted to give a big thanks to Rone and Jeremy, and everyone else, for their work with various settings throughout this thread.

I would agree that DVE was not very helpful for setting sharpness and I don't have AVIA. DVDs definitely look better to me at the suggested -3 or -4 settings but I was wondering what everyone else was using for HD-dvd and/or Blu-Ray sources?

I also have a 1 pixal green shift it seems over the entire image so I'm going to have to figure out how to mess around with the convergence in the Service Menu, or live with it.

leeperry

03-08-07, 06:28 AM

ajstan99

03-08-07, 07:08 AM

Perfect image for me via two 25' Monoprice HDMI cables connected through a 2x1 manual switch. Using a GeForce 6600-OC. Tested with patterns available at www.walvisions.com. 25' VGA cable looked horrible to me with plenty of ghosting.

leeperry

03-08-07, 07:14 AM

ok cool, but can you try my quick test with NOKIA MONITOR TEST please ?

I'm not quite sure that it actually maters in movies......maybe it's just a nasty sharpen effect........

emtownsend

03-08-07, 01:08 PM

hey fellas,

I've bougt a second hand Z3 and the panels were not aligned AT ALL.
so I've had it all fixed under warranty.

but now I've got a ghost image in HDMI only.....not in VGA or any other mode.

It's easy to spot with NOKIA MONITOR TEST, in 720p 60Hz 32bit.

click on the top left test, then right-click to double the lines and left click to change color

basically on R/G/B, I get one darker ghost pixel on the right side......and no ghost on WHITE..

and also there's a very nasty "sharpen" filter hidden in the service menu at 9/19...default is 2 but for some reason it was set a 0 on mine....it made the image VERY grainy..

can someone please confirm whether they also get that ghost image in HDMI with a PC please ?

my panels are perfectly aligned and this is not a convergence issue......mostly a "sample hold"/"overdriving" or "god knows wtf" problem :eek:

Thanks :cool:

I've always had a minor complaint about the way titles and credits appear on my Z3 via HDMI. I don't have mine routed through a PC; it is connected to a Pioneer DV59AVi and a Toshiba HDX-A1. Video seems very nice but the titles and credits look like they have "hot spots" and are not evenly displayed. I've yet to take a picture to post here for answers... Maybe I will do that this weekend. But... I don't notice this problem via component just HDMI.
Can the Nokia Monitor Test be burned to DVD?

leeperry

03-08-07, 01:31 PM

not really.....

I mean you could make screenshots and get them burned to DVD I guess, but it wouldn't be 720p no more..

anyhow, I think the issue is that the Z3 can't really cope with HDMI input and give a crystal clear image....

maybe someone else with a HTPC can give a shot to my very simple test ;)

ajstan99

03-09-07, 08:57 PM

If you're feeding the Z3 a 1280x720 signal via HDMI, there should be 1:1 pixel matching with the source. Any irregularities would be with the source itself. Also, make sure that the Overscan is set to "0" so the image is not being scaled, which could cause artifacts.

Does this page show ghosting for you as well?
http://www.walvisions.com/PattPages/1-convergence.html

leeperry

03-10-07, 08:19 AM

thanks for your help, but I've tried short lengths Real Cable and Monster......and I've got a 6800GT

no ghost image on a Z2 with DVI output, no ghost image on the Z3 with the VGA output......and a nasty ghost of one dark pixel to the right on the Z3 with HDMI

and the panels are perfectly aligned......so this is not a convergence issue.......mostly a Z3 input problem....

I'll try your link, but the ghost is easy to recreate with the first test of NOKIA MONITOR TEST.
white = no ghost
red = ghost
blue = ghost
green = ghost

ajstan99

03-12-07, 07:45 PM

OK, I tried it. No ghost on white or green grids. Didn't see blue or red grids. No difference noted between the NMT and Walvisions patterns. How about you? Did the ghost show on the Walvisions pattern?

wcaughey

03-16-07, 10:23 PM

Anyone have any idea what may be going on here (ignore the blur, that's just from the lack of a tripod - the green band is what I'm concerned with)? A scene from the 300 movie trailer sent from a 360 (component input of htr-5999, hdmi output). The component output to my an lcd is completely free of this green band and I've never noticed and type of greenish banding with any other sources/feeds.

My Z3 is on its second bulb and I've never had any serious problems with it.

Any ideas?

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/wcaughey/300screeny.jpg

and another one:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/wcaughey/300screeny2.jpg

leeperry

03-27-07, 07:59 PM

ok my ghost image problem is gone......I bought a HDMI/DVI monstercable :D

but now the peek-a-boo scanlines are driving me crazy.........

I really wanted to love this pj :(

leeperry

04-07-07, 01:20 AM

any clue how to get rid of peek-a-boo scanlines please ?

FrankJ.Cone

04-21-07, 05:29 PM

I cannot for the life of me recall how to check my bulb hours, anyone able to assist me?

ajstan99

04-22-07, 06:26 AM

I cannot for the life of me recall how to check my bulb hours, anyone able to assist me?
Press and hold the power button on the remote for approximately 30 seconds.

Chadci

05-07-07, 09:46 PM

Anybody have their Z3 tweaked with the new HD VE disc? I'm pretty broke right now if anybody wants to share settings. I'm using a HP screen and HD A2.

ajstan99

05-07-07, 11:37 PM

Anybody have their Z3 tweaked with the new HD VE disc? I'm pretty broke right now if anybody wants to share settings. I'm using a HP screen and HD A2.
There are postings in this thread somewhere for filterless and for a cc30r filter to get your color dialed in. For brighness, contrast and sharpness, try the THX setup from a DVD like Nemo or The Incredibles

tingshen

05-14-07, 07:50 AM

http://www.sanyo-lcdp.com/english/option/images/pol_ch_ex01_2.jpg

is it recommended to use this kind of mounting kit? Would the additional mirror reduce the PQ and brightness?

any idea where to get it cheap? Was quoted by Sanyo and it's even more expensive than the bulb!

alfredoc64

05-14-07, 09:48 AM

Hi everyone,

I just bought my HD-DVD reader for the XBOX 360 and connected to the PLV-Z3, when I select the 1080i mode the screen gets totally white.

Any suggestion on how to select 1080i on Video Component,

Thanks a lot

Alfredo

ajstan99

05-14-07, 07:53 PM

tingshen

05-15-07, 07:20 PM

hi ajstan99 (just curious, is ur surname also Tan?),

I am considering this because I do not know how to place my projector in order not to spoil my theme in the new flat. Due to fengshui purpose, it shall not be placed above the sofa too. I do not want to place on a small table as people tend to accidentally block the projector or the light beam could hurt. So it's better to place it at a higher position (but not too high) yet not spoiling the house outlook. This is my floor plan:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/6654/floorplansmallig9.jpg

the projector shall be placed in the left side of the living room (along the 3m wall, which the 3 seater sofa will be located at) and the image shall be projected in the right side of the wall which is about 3m length. My neighbour took a picture of my trial on my renovating house and this is how it looks like for a 100" test:
http://imgplace.com/directory/dir2705/1179028449_9730.JPG

it was placed about less than 2ft from the floor, (i just placed it on top of its box) the right image shall be higher which is closer to the upper edge of the "concave" wall. it was placed about 4.2m away from the projected screen too.

What would be the cheaper alternative? I am planning to paint the wall with matt white as I could hardly think of a good screen to make it look nice, any suggestion?

Thanks a lot in advance! :)

ajstan99

05-15-07, 09:32 PM

I must have misunderstood something in your description. If the PJ can't go above the sofa, where are you planning on mounting it? Initially, I was thinking about a shelf on the back wall.

Check out the DIY screen forum for ideas on paints to use for the wall.

Oh, and my surname isn't Tan.

tingshen

05-16-07, 01:08 AM

the PJ can go above the sofa, but not right above it, it can be placed beside the sofa, but I may have to sacrifice a bit from the PQ through len shift (would the poorer PQ really happen?)

I am also thinking of a shelf but it may also spoil the whole theme of the house. My painter is suggesting me a matt white paint for a start, how many coating would you guys suggest in order to get a good PQ?

ajstan99

05-16-07, 11:17 PM

Have you thought about cutting a hole in the wall and placing the PJ on a shelf or stand in the main bedroom?

I'm using a small amount of lens shift, and have a slight problem with getting a uniform focus across the screen It's not really noticeable unless I'm looking for it and there is fine text on the screen like on a PC.

tingshen

05-17-07, 12:34 PM

that area behind the wall is a wardrobe, cann't place Z3 there, it will get burnt inside due to the poor ventilation there.

I am still thinking of we could DIY the wall mounting kit.......would the mirror actually reduce the PQ?

ajstan99

05-17-07, 09:15 PM

If there are no flaws in the mirror, I wouldn't think that it would affect PQ.

tingshen

05-22-07, 01:01 PM

a quick question about the upscale capability of Z3. Does it only upscale HDMI input only? What about Component input, S-video, RCA and VGA?

enier

05-22-07, 01:19 PM

I've used component input for 480i, 480p, 720p & 1080i signals.

ajstan99

05-22-07, 08:33 PM

Regardless of input, the Z3 deinterlaces interlaced signals (like 480i and 1080i), and scales all signals according to the setting you select with the "screen" button on the remote. See "Screen Size Adjustment" section of the manual for more in-depth info.

tingshen

05-23-07, 02:08 PM

thanks for the info. what about S-video and RCA input for PAL/NTSC DVD player? I can't seem to get the upscaler work fine with these input.....

and since it's an 720p projector, I supposed it upscale everything to 720p?

ajstan99

05-24-07, 03:29 PM

Both s-video and composite video scale for me. There are multiple options to scale picture size including 1280x720. Can you provide any additional info on how your scaling isn't working like you think it should?

tingshen

06-06-07, 02:39 PM

It's weird the way that it's shown in the maneual as only having 480p. In actuality when you get to that point in your set up you just push the right arrow on the remote and you get the other two choices (720p & 1080i)

Hi crab1664 and others, may I know is this 480i->480p/720p upscaling from Z3 available to S-Video & RCA or just HDMI & Component only?

Fjhdavid

06-08-07, 11:00 AM

Hi,

That is a wonderful thread !

I took the rOne filterless settings (with the corrected Gain R from +15 to -15), as I have no filter and only a HDMI output (oppo 981HD).

Just a question:

I am living in a PAL area. So do I need to change something from rOne settings who is living in NTSC area?

thanks
francois

ossiealfaro

12-21-07, 10:04 AM

OK I give up.

I have looked and looked but I cant seem to find a thread with regards to the z3 service menu. I have had my Z3 blue panel fixed and it came back out of alignment. The blue is pretty much 4 pixels out in the SW direction. I have managed to get into the service menu which was an effort in itself due to the fact my remote is going funny. And no I cant send it back to the repairer - I just dont want to go there again.

Please does anyone know what the hell the service menu means (or a link to a page that does) and how I can simply shift my blue panel. I dont realy want to fiddle to much (more) with the settings in this mysterious menu mode seeing as I just know I could really kill my little trooper z3.

Cheers

Os

ajstan99

12-21-07, 12:59 PM

ajstan99

01-30-08, 01:30 PM

In my setup, it looks like the Sharpness setting on the Z3 can be turned up to as high as +2 with HD DVD content, yielding a significant upgrade in picture clarity and detail without seeing unnatural edge enhancement or artifacts.

FWIW I had been running the cc30r filter settings with the Sharpness setting at -4 for my Oppo 971H and SA 8300HDC cable box connected through HDMI. Main seats are 8-12' from a 92" screen.

Recently I picked up a Toshiba HD-A3 HD DVD player and with the -4 Sharpness setting saw a major improvement over standard DVD, but did not see much of a difference vs. HD cable. Too soft for what I was expecting, even at 720p.

I found that upping the Sharpness to +2 really brought out the detail in HD DVD disks. It's too much for HDTV and upscaled DVDs, so I keep a separate preset for each.

I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's results.

marc crabtree

03-18-08, 05:50 PM

My Bulb recently died in my Z3 and I purchased a replacement from myprojectorlamps.com, when I attempted to replace the bulb I can't seem to figure out how to remove the old one from the plastic carriage, it has a metal clip that seems to be holding the bulb in the carriage that I can't remove? Am I supposed to be replacing the entire plastic carriage (with the little metal handle?)

any help will be greatly appreciated!

ajstan99

03-19-08, 12:52 AM

marc - see my reply to your pm

shanksworthy

06-03-08, 12:42 PM

So I tried a bunch of the tweaks listed here, and to my eyes they all come out looking kind dull. Scenes that are supposed to be sunny outdoor scenes come off looking more gloomy, overcast and rainy. Depressing to look at.

In fact even when I first set up the projector, the only preset that even came close to looking bright enough was Powerful. I have to set my iris to 100% open, select the brightest bulb mode, and turn up the brightness setting in order to get a reasonable perception of light. This is with multiple sources, using HDMI, VGA, and component connections (I'm using VGA and HD almost exclusively now). And this is with a 103" high gain VuTec SilverStar screen, in a very dark room.

I wonder if I got a defective bulb or something; What is the difference in brightness between a brand new bulb and one that's quite old?

ajstan99

06-03-08, 01:30 PM

Here are some thoughts and questions:

It sounds like a lamp issue to me. As I understand it, a new lamp starts out "too bright" and takes somewhere around 50-200 hours to settle in to it's normal brightness. The brightness then degrades gradually (maybe even imperceptibly) over time. Finally, just before it is ready to go out for good, there is a significant drop in output (kind of like what you may be describing) and it gets very dim. How many hours are on yours?

Fishing for other potential issues here, but, is your Z3 ceiling mounted? I believe that high-gain screens reflect light back towards the projector, which means that ceiling mounting negates the gain properties, and could possibly even make your picture dimmer (although I don't suspect that is culprit here). Is it just as dim when you project on a wall?

There are about 1,000 hours on my Z3's first lamp and it's still looking great running in Eco mode using ROne's settings with the cc30r filter. Contrast and Brightness settings are both within +/-2, and Iris is around -30. It's paired with a 92" matte white Severtson pull-down screen (1.1 gain).

Most people think they're looking at a giant TV when they first see it and can't believe it's a projector. I'll have it running before company arrives, and when they come down the stairs and turn the corner, the typical response is, "Wow!", then, "How big of a screen is that?", then "That's a projector?", then finally they walk up to the side of the screen and look behind it to confirm that it really is just a pull-down screen.

pajama sam

06-03-08, 02:35 PM

I just learned a painful lesson replacing the lamp on my 3.5 year old Z3 at 3000 hours. Spent $300 on a replacement lamp only to have the blue panel go bad shortly after - the picture now looks horrible and the repair cost is not likely justifiable. :mad:
I think others have had this experience too... lcd panel failure after lamp replacement possibly due to the heat of a new lamp. I've cleaned the filters regularly, but never found any appreciable accumulation of dust. The projector is ceiling mounted.

I wish I'd known of this issue before replacing the lamp on an older projector. I could have put the $300 towards the Panny 200U I will probably be replacing it with.

ajstan99

06-03-08, 03:49 PM

mendes9

06-03-08, 08:43 PM

What can we do avoid this, I'm on the original lamp, coming up on 3 years.. hate to loose it when I replace the lamp.

pajama sam

06-03-08, 09:13 PM

I'm not sure what can be done to avoid problems... make sure there is nothing inhibiting cooling, make sure to clean the filters. Using low lamp as much as possible surely helps, but I found this too dim for gaming.
The main thing I would have done differently is to ignore the "replace lamp" LED, which apparently triggers based on 3000 hours (rather than any sensor-based measurement) and wait until the lamp fails. If the lamp becomes unacceptably dim, weigh the lamp replacement cost and risk of replacement against the cost of a newer, better projector. Don't assume (as I did) that a new lamp will give you another couple of years to think about it.

shanksworthy

10-15-08, 02:41 PM

Since I bought my Z3 I've been constantly fudging with the settings trying to get a decent amount of brightness, but it seems the only way I can get near tolerable image brightness is to set Gama to 4 or higher, open the iris, set bulb to full, and crank the contrast. But then I get crushed "blooming" whites and a predominance of yellows. And even with those settings cranked up, the outdoor scenes still have a deceivingly overcast look -- almost like the sky isn't blue enough, or the greens aren't green enough, or like there's a "smog" covering the entire scene... No amount of fiddling with the RBG has helped in this regard either. Even ROne's filterless settings looked terrible. So now I'm almost out of ideas.

What's puzzling is that ostensibly there is no reason why this should be happening. I think I've covered all the bases. Here are the specifics of my setup:

I have a light-controlled room, and my viewing condions are pitch black
My screen is mounted on a flat black wall
My screen is a fixed 16:9 high-gain Vutec Silverstar, 103"
The projector is mounted 13' away from the screen, on a 9' ceiling.
The connections are HDMI from my PS3, and VGA from my XBox360

Here are some of the things I've tried:

I've tried different cables and different connection types, with different playback sources (XBox360, PS3, and DVD player). All yield the same results.
I installed a brand new Sanyo bulb! This hardly made a difference at all.
I tried ROne's filterless settings from this thread. The results were unwatchably gloomy and dull.
I tried cleaning out the panels, and the air filters as well. No difference.

So the only possibilities I haven't crossed off my list yet are...;

I have noticed that there is a slight smudge on the lense. My low-tech lens cleaner couldn't seem to remove it so I probably need something stronger. Doesn't look like it should cause the issue I'm seeing though.
My ceiling is flat white. Is it possible that this could cause such a severe issue?
I noticed that my firmware is 1.00. When you guys got your firmware updated to 1.01, did it make a huge difference in colors and luminance?

My warranty has long expired, so unfortunately I've got to look at this one myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated, as I'm about to put this PJ into storage and never use it again...

ajstan99

10-15-08, 03:35 PM

Hi shanksworthy - I was wondering if things ever worked out for you, and unfortunately, they haven't. Maybe it's your screen? Have you tried a plain white sheet (or the wall) instead of the Vutec Silverstar? See post #27 from Jason in this thread (you may want to PM him). Maybe the reflection from the white ceiling is washing out the image:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=867594

As I said, I have a basic 92" Severtson matte white pull-down screen, my room has very light walls, carpet, and ceiling (see link below), but when the lights are off, it's bright-enough that everyone thinks it's a huge TV, not a projector. I'm using a cc30r filter with Rone's recommended settings; however, from your description, I don't think that the filter and settings alone would close the gap, even if you include the fact that your screen is 25% larger.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm40/ajstan99/HTPhoto02.jpg

No idea about the impact of upgrading the Firmware. My PJ shipped with 1.01 and I haven't updated.

shanksworthy

10-15-08, 04:24 PM

Hi shanksworthy - I was wondering if things ever worked out for you, and unfortunately, they haven't. Maybe it's your screen? Have you tried a plain white sheet (or the wall) instead of the Vutec Silverstar? See post #27 from Jason in this thread (you may want to PM him). Maybe the reflection from the white ceiling is washing out the image:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=867594

Actually I think I remember seeing your response a few posts ago -- sorry I didn't respond to that one, I completely forgot about it. I'll give the white sheet idea a try, and I'll also PM Jason about this. Thanks for that.

I hope that's not the issue though, because my wife won't let me paint the ceiling :rolleyes:. Jason's theory seems a little strange to me anyway; the projector beam shines down directly at the screen and away from the ceiling. So if the light takes the following path --PJ=>Screen=>Ceiling=>PJ+viewer (i.e. away from the screen) -- then at what point does the ceiling become a problem? Wouldn't the light then have to reflect back onto the screen to wash it out? Seems like it would have to take a pretty long path and reflect off many more surfaces (e.g. the walls, the floor, the back of the room...) to get back to the screen, by which time there wouldn't be enough of it to cause the issues I'm seeing... <sigh> Yeah I know... at this point I'm just bargaining... :)

ajstan99

10-15-08, 05:39 PM

Wouldn't the light then have to reflect back onto the screen to wash it out? Seems like it would have to take a pretty long path and reflect off many more surfaces (e.g. the walls, the floor, the back of the room...) to get back to the screen, by which time there wouldn't be enough of it to cause the issues I'm seeing...
Here's an idea to test what is having the greater effect on contrast:

You could use a 50% black/50% white(or gray) test pattern from Avia or other calibration disk, and with you seated in the main viewing position, have someone hold their hand a foot or so in front of the black half of the screen to compare black levels for the following:

a) projected black, which will show you the combination of reflected/ambient light and the black-level limitations of the Z3,

b) the shadow the hand casts, which removes the Z3 from the equation, but will show you the best you can do with ambient/reflected light from a projected image on your screen, and

c) real black from the border of your screen (for reference).

If I'm saying this correctly, if b is closer in blackness to a (indicating ambient light is washing out the screen), then the screen/room is the bigger problem. If b is closer in blackness to c (indicating the Z3 black level is bad), then the Z3 is the bigger problem.

shanksworthy

10-16-08, 05:43 PM

Hi shanksworthy - Maybe it's your screen? Have you tried a plain white sheet (or the wall) instead of the Vutec Silverstar? See post #27 from Jason in this thread (you may want to PM him). Maybe the reflection from the white ceiling is washing out the image:

So I tried this last night, and the white sheet didn't make a difference. I also got a response from Jason and he led me to the conclusion that my issue was more a problem with brightness, than it being washed out.

Is it possible that the service menu might have a setting that could help with this? Like maybe a color saturation adjustment or something?
Can somebody walk me through the process of getting into the service menu? Also, does anybody have the service manual? I've found a few links but they all seem to be dead...

ajstan99

10-17-08, 09:36 AM

So I tried this last night, and the white sheet didn't make a difference. I also got a response from Jason and he led me to the conclusion that my issue was more a problem with brightness, than it being washed out.

Is it possible that the service menu might have a setting that could help with this? Like maybe a color saturation adjustment or something?
Can somebody walk me through the process of getting into the service menu? Also, does anybody have the service manual? I've found a few links but they all seem to be dead...

I have never played with the service menu, but hope the following is helpful.

This link to the Z3 service manual appears to work:
http://dialou.info/htpc/Materiels/Video/documents/z3-serviceman.pdf

To get into the service menu hold down MENU+INPUT for 5 seconds.

Hey, one other thought based on Jason's comment regarding brightness: Is it possible the Iris is closed or frozen (maybe it's a mechanical issue)? If you change the Iris setting to "0" is the screen brighter than when it's on "-60"?

shanksworthy

10-17-08, 12:11 PM

I have never played with the service menu, but hope the following is helpful.

This link to the Z3 service manual appears to work:
http://dialou.info/htpc/Materiels/Video/documents/z3-serviceman.pdf

To get into the service menu hold down MENU+INPUT for 5 seconds.

Hey, one other thought based on Jason's comment regarding brightness: Is it possible the Iris is closed or frozen (maybe it's a mechanical issue)? If you change the Iris setting to "0" is the screen brighter than when it's on "-60"?

Fantastic, thanks for the manual! I've been looking everywhere for this.
Re. the service menu, actually I did try holding MENU+INPUT for 5 seconds and all I get is an "S" in the upper-left corner of the screen. Then if I bring up the menu, I don't see any new items. Am I missing a step?

Your comments about the iris are interesting... if memory serves, it does make a difference but come to think of it, maybe not as big of a difference as it used to. I'll experiment with that tonight.