Well, the Z4 has been working well. I do find it harder to calibrate somehow than my SE2HD (Z2). Just when I think I have a good setting stored....I watch some high def show and again find the need to tweak.

Just replaced my Sony VPH D50 HTU (which I thought was the greatest) with the Sanyo PLV Z4. Wow--what I was missing ! No more chasing convergence and correcting size and shift.

The Sanyo is linear, brighter, sharper and in focus corner to corner. The lens sytem is impressive with 2X zoom and shift.

I use a high gain screen (1.6X) so the Sanyo is set to maximum manual iris and I use no zoom (at 20 feet) to the 100 inch screen for a perfect completely linear picture.

Features are great: multiple inputs, panel cleaning, panel error correction, full color adjust (gamma, offset and gain). Manual focus and zoom.

My DVDs all look like HD and the HD from the direct local broadcast stations are spectacular.

Replacing the 150 pound ceiling mounted D50 with a 10 pound unit allows a lot of options.
I mounted the unit with a 17 x 19 inch plyboard suspended by four light chains from the 8 foot ceiling so I could adjust for linearity, floor clearance, etc.

Great machine, great price. Thanks SANYO.

I currently have the hitachi PJ-TX100 and am considering upgrading to the Z4.

Would this be a wast of time or a good improvment in picture?


See my post #1752. gil :)

So, since what I am seeing is the exact opposite, would you say that it is abnormal to see this much red on the Z4? With all red settings at their minimum (except for gamma of course), and with the Red test pattern in Panel Adjustment still showing way too much red as I described, it seems to be nearly impossible to color calibrate.

To rephrase the question: Are others able to get a normal looking red pattern in the Panel Adjustment menu?


Perfectly balanced red, blue green with only a + or - 1 panel correction for vertical lines -- no gain, offset or gamma corrections needed. Sounds like a warranty problem.

Well, the Z4 has been working well. I do find it harder to calibrate somehow than my SE2HD (Z2). Just when I think I have a good setting stored....I watch some high def show and again find the need to tweak.
Broadcast HDTV will still be pretty variable from show-to-show and station-to-station.

What I've been noticing lately is that my image has lost some pop. Not sure of the lamp hours but it has to be at least 300. Wondering if it's already starting to dim?

Yeah I was wondering the same thing, but a good friend in the AV business told me that at 260 - 300 hours which is where I'm at, the bulb wouldn't have lost noticable punch. He said it's really just the effect of getting use to the Z4's picture. Actually when I purchased the Z4 and I said how blown away I was, he said just give it some time and he promised that my initial wow would taper just a bit as I got use to the picture. Not that the picture isn't great, just that once you get your fill...you start to want more! When you first start watching it, we aren't accustomed to the bright and large picture and over time, the wow effect just diminishes, not so much the picture itself. I notice the same thing with my HDTV...it's great but it's not as often as I'm wow'd by it. It's like lobster; it sure is awesome, but if you eat it every day, it just loses that special something. Another good comparison is wine. You can have an expensive wine for the first time at a special occation and it just tastes off the charts good, yet after you buy a few bottle of it for home after the 3rd or 4th bottle, it just doesn't seem to be as good as it was when you first had it. It's still great, but the euphoria has gone away because it's taste isn't so new to us. Boy I love giving examples like that. HA! :)

No doubt the bulb will dim over it's life-span, but I think in our case, it's a good percentage of the newness effect wearing off in our heads. And...maybe it is just a tad less bright...but I'd hate to think after only 15% of it's lifespan, it would be all that noticable. Hard to say I suppose.

No doubt the bulb will dim over it's life-span, but I think in our case, it's a good percentage of the newness effect wearing off in our heads. And...maybe it is just a tad less bright...but I'd hate to think after only 15% of it's lifespan, it would be all that noticable. Hard to say I suppose.

I've been watching DVD's, and occasional HDTV, on a 106" screen for five years -- first with a Sony 400Q, and now a Sanyo Z4. I'm happy to report that for me the wow factor, when looking at good source material, has never diminished. The kick I get out of watching a movie on the big screen simply can't be replicated by a TV, and for me is every bit as enjoyable as the local cinemaplex. I still can't watch The 5th Element without thinking to myself. "Wow! That's incredible!".

As for bulb brightness, I think 15% is difficult for the human eye to detect. Fortunately the Z4 has such a wide range that at 200 hours with a DaLite HP screen the eco mode is for me plenty bright. I believe punch depends to a large extent on the quality of the source material.

Perfectly balanced red, blue green with only a + or - 1 panel correction for vertical lines -- no gain, offset or gamma corrections needed. Sounds like a warranty problem.

Well, I would suspect with a huge red push....perhaps there is a cable issue. Is this a component connection? Perhaps the blue cable is loose?

How long does it take to get used to that lens door opening and closing???

I've been watching DVD's, and occasional HDTV, on a 106" screen for five years -- first with a Sony 400Q, and now a Sanyo Z4. I'm happy to report that for me the wow factor, when looking at good source material, has never diminished. The kick I get out of watching a movie on the big screen simply can't be replicated by a TV, and for me is every bit as enjoyable as the local cinemaplex. I still can't watch The 5th Element without thinking to myself. "Wow! That's incredible!".

As for bulb brightness, I think 15% is difficult for the human eye to detect. Fortunately the Z4 has such a wide range that at 200 hours with a DaLite HP screen the eco mode is for me plenty bright. I believe punch depends to a large extent on the quality of the source material.

Yeah I'd agree totally about the source material being a big part. Obviously how something is filmed has a huge huge factor in how much 'punch' there is. That can be said with any movie or HD programming displayed on any HD device. I got my first HDTV over 6 years ago and even today I wouldn't trade watching HD for anything. It's still amazing...but that doesn't mean I don't want more and want better!

To clarify, I wasn't saying there is no wow factor at all anymore after only 180 hours (for me) or that the enjoyment of watching on my 106" screen has somehow left and isn't any different than watching on my 51" HDTV. I said it just tapers off a bit. I still get that wow on some programming even on my Sony 51", but not like when I first got it and same goes for the Z4. It's just that once you get use to the picture, it's not quite as thrilling as it is that very first time you set it up and watch a show. Hey, if you still have the same thrill each time even after five yeas, that is awesome! I've always felt that the first time you do anything exciting there is that emmotional factor that makes it even better at first. After a while, you start to notice imperfections in the PQ that you didn't notice before and you know what to expect to see. They build new rollercoasters for much the same reason. The old one's are still great, but people always want more after a while. I love watching on my 106" screen and it's plenty bright and plenty gorgeous. I'm just use to seeing that gorgeous picture is all so it's not quite like the day I projected the Z4 on a BROWN wall and thought it looked like the best thing I'd ever seen! ha! My buddy Chuck laughed and said I was just giddy because it was the first time.

As for 15% being noticable, I wasn't trying to say that after using 15% of the 2000 average life of the bulb, that it's dimmed 15% or that anyone could notice 15% dimmer. I was saying that I would hope that after using only 15% of the average life span, that the brightness wouldn't have dimmed to the point where anyone would notice.

Anyway, as relates to the Z4 & what Jay is seeing, I think either he has a problem with his Z4 bulb or more likely, it's just that he's more use to the picture now and it just doesn't seem as bright. (or as you said, maybe different content)

To get the wow factor once again.....drag in a 14-20" tv....many of us still have one laying around....and watch that for an hour or so. Or....Pretend you could go back in time....find yourself back 10 years ago.....bring yourself into the future (now) and show your past self what you are watching. Do you think your old self would think you should be taking your 100" plus HDTV projector for granted?

I like to renew my appreciation of my projector vicariously (spelling??) through others who see it for the first time.


Now....if I could get that lens door to sound like a StarTrek door opening and closing.....that would be cool!

To get the wow factor once again.....drag in a 14-20" tv....many of us still have one laying around....and watch that for an hour or so. Or....Pretend you could go back in time....find yourself back 10 years ago.....bring yourself into the future (now) and show your past self what you are watching. Do you think your old self would think you should be taking your 100" plus HDTV projector for granted?

I like to renew my appreciation of my projector vicariously (spelling??) through others who see it for the first time.


Now....if I could get that lens door to sound like a StarTrek door opening and closing.....that would be cool!

Man guys....UNCLE! ha! I don't take anything for granted nor do I want to go back to standard def 19" TV. I love it and love HDTV like no other person I know. It's not about not appreciating it or taking it for granted or not being wow'd by it at all. I still am wow'd every time I turn it on and always get a thrill from having my own theater right in my house, but that doesn't mean I feel the same as I did when I first turned it on & was nearly giggling I was so excited. Giggling might make some of the dialog hard to hear so I'm glad I'm past that part. ha! :)

Please take this light heartedly, but you guys are making more out of what I said that I really intended. I'm just saying if it doesn't appear to have the punch it had only 200 hours earlier for Jay, part of it could be that the initial giddy euphoria has settled into just the usual love of HD and seeing a huge gorgeous picture.

And yes I totally agree; I do get a huge thrill out of people seeing it for the first time and love inviting friends over to share in their excitement. That in itself explains what I'm saying. That initial reaction is just so much fun! Buying new stuff is always fun! And, when the Z5 comes out, I'm sure many will find some reason why they feel it will make them more happy than Z4. Technology is great because just as we get that desire for just a bit more, someone delivers just that. And...it makes us all broke too! :)

My Z4 just arrived this morning, and on a temporary 55" silver screen it looks pretty amazing with HDTV (this being my first projector). The first thing I noticed, though on my temporary screen was red and green faint lines running up and down the screen. This screen is roughly 30 years old and was designed for a slide projector. I can also see SSE with this screen. If I put a white piece of paper on the screen the lines and SSE disappear and the picture becomes very smooth.

Can anyone explain why this screen has this negative affect on the image?

That would depend on what type of slide projector screen it was (my old one is an Aluminimum coated one and has faint vertical bars on it). The basic answer is that a slide projector screen won't work very well for a video PJ.

By SSE I assume you mean SDE (= Screen Door Effect). What you're really seeing is the texture of your screen.

You need to get a 92", or larger, screen. The biggest you can fit in your room, remembering that you want to be sitting about 1.5 x screen width from it (at 10' that means an 80" wide, 92" diagonal, 16:9, screen).

I have a 106" screen :D and sit about 11' (1.43 x the 92" screen width). But a slight amount of SDE has never bothered me (I tend to look "past" it to see the picture, a result of spending too many years looking at low resolution computer displays :eek: ).

That would depend on what type of slide projector screen it was (my old one is an Aluminimum coated one and has faint vertical bars on it). The basic answer is that a slide projector screen won't work very well for a video PJ.

By SSE I assume you mean SDE (= Screen Door Effect). What you're really seeing is the texture of your screen.

You need to get a 92", or larger, screen. The biggest you can fit in your room, remembering that you want to be sitting about 1.5 x screen width from it (at 10' that means an 80" wide, 92" diagonal, 16:9, screen).

I have a 106" screen :D and sit about 11' (1.43 x the 92" screen width). But a slight amount of SDE has never bothered me (I tend to look "past" it to see the picture, a result of spending too many years looking at low resolution computer displays :eek: ).

I thought that SDE refers to the LCD panels themselves. And SSE (Silk Screen Effect) is the dirty whites that are found with rear projection LCD and DLP sets and their anti-glare screens. But it does appear to be the texture of the screen that I am seeing. Now that I look at the screen with the projector off I can see faint vertical bars. When I put a white piece of paper on the screen, the picture becomes very smooth and both problems "disappear".

I have already ordered a 119" HP model C screen with CSR. Can't wait!

Screen Door Effect is caused by seeing the actual pixel structure of the panels, so you are correct. I think Claus is just saying you might also be seeing the texture of your screen as well instead of just the SDE, especially if you are close to that piece of paper when it looks smooth. SDE can be seen, depending on the person (right guys! :) ) from 1.5X to 1.80X the screen width. In your case, it's probably SDE combined with the texure of your material and that is resulting in lots of fixed pixel noise. Most projector screens will have some fixed pixel noise, but your slide screen is probably causing quite a bit more than normal in addition to SDE.

Those of you with HTPCs, what are you using to play DVDs? I'm suffering from information overload from the HTPC forum, just want to know how other users are doing it and how to set it up properly. I have a 9800pro connected by DVI->HDMI. CPU is an athlon 2600m.
THanks

Right now I'd say there are two choices that will maximize the HTPC DVD experience (two that are pretty much the consensus). Use either Windows Media Center Edition or TheaterTek DVD. Both of those use the same basic guts and decoders and both have been ISF certified. Right now I am using MCE but also have TheaterTek just in case I have an issue. There is also another DVD player called Zoom that is popular, however it's not very user friendly at all and not worth the effort.

I found using either WinDVD or PowerDVD7 to be sufficient. Of course if you want to play with ffdshow etc. then.....

MCE and TT do not use the same decoders. I'm not sure what MCE has pre-installed, but it is not the NVidia purevideo decoders that TT uses. Zoomplayer is only slightly more difficult to use than TT, unless you are trying to really customize some stuff.

What you end up using is purely subjective. I have been using DScaler with FFDShow. WIth the latest Nvidia driver release, though, I have been using the purevideo decoders (largely because I have a 6800 and run in hardware mode now). You'll just have to investigate a few solutions and decide on what sounds best for you.

MCE and TT do not use the same decoders. I'm not sure what MCE has pre-installed, but it is not the NVidia purevideo decoders that TT uses. Zoomplayer is only slightly more difficult to use than TT, unless you are trying to really customize some stuff.

What you end up using is purely subjective. I have been using DScaler with FFDShow. WIth the latest Nvidia driver release, though, I have been using the purevideo decoders (largely because I have a 6800 and run in hardware mode now). You'll just have to investigate a few solutions and decide on what sounds best for you.

I agree, try different things & then figure out what's best. Everyone has their own opinion about what works & what doesn't. I will say that for ease of setup and use, TheaterTek & MCE are the two most popular choices and are considered to provide the best video quality. Again, it's opinion so someone might not agree with this.

About Zoomplayer...even as a software developer myself, I found it considerably less user friendly in just about every way. You have to add your own decoders, audio drivers, and add just about every other type of driver as it comes with nothing setup nor does it have any decoders or drivers included (at least not in the version I downloaded). I'm guessing once you lean it, it probably seems easy, however, just downloading it & running it without any instructions was not nearly the simple process as either MCE or TheaterTek which basically worked out fo the box without any setup. I'm sure it's subjective, but man, I've used tons of software in my day & there is no comparison.

As for the decoders...I was told they used the same decoders by an MCSE friend of mine who posts in this very forum. I might have misunderstood, so I will ask. When I had asked him just a few months ago which I should use, he told me that the guts were virtually the same and that they used the same decoders. If I had to guess, I'd say that while MCE doesn't use the specific nVidia Pure decoders, they have probably licensed the code from nVidia and that internally, they are the one and the same. Either that or once you install the nVidia pure decoders in MCE, it becomes the same as TheaterTek. I'll confirm what the deal is.

I'll ask him again & see where I might have misunderstood...I know he knows so it must be my misunderstanding him.

I found using either WinDVD or PowerDVD7 to be sufficient. Of course if you want to play with ffdshow etc. then.....

Yeah those program are ok too. I use WinDVD7 from time to time, but as far as color balance, out of the box I've found it not close to MCE or TheaterTek. I'm sure for most people those would be fine though, plus they are very easy to use and WinDVD7 has some cool features.

I've been using WinDVD 7 up to this point, but wanted to try upconverting to match the Z4 resolution. I think I'll try the Nvidia decoders using one of the methods described.

Are you guys upconverting your dvd's?

I think that is the first time I have heard anything about MCE having Nvidia decoders. WHo knows? Maybe I'm wrong. And you're probably right on the Zoomplayer front. However, if anyone is thinking of using FFDShow in the chain, then they are already looking at something with a higher learning curve than ZP.

TT is certainly a great peice of software.

RG

Yep, agreed! I'll find out from my buddy on the MCE deal. I may have the details mixed up too, but I know he said it's the same end results with the two programs.

Gentile - as far as upconverting, when you use a HTPC, you are spitting out 720p, so it's already upconverted so to speak. WinDVD7 doesn't do anything different in that respect than TheaterTek, MCE, or others. TT & MCE etc...will provide superior video quality (by videophile standards that is...some people might not notice much difference).

I think that is the first time I have heard anything about MCE having Nvidia decoders. WHo knows? Maybe I'm wrong. And you're probably right on the Zoomplayer front. However, if anyone is thinking of using FFDShow in the chain, then they are already looking at something with a higher learning curve than ZP.

TT is certainly a great peice of software.

RG

Here is my buddies reply:

"First of all MCE does not have any preinstalled codec, period! It uses what you have installed. As a matter of fact MCE and Zoom are the same in that respect. They both do not have a decoder installed by default. You need to install a decoder, and that is what is uses. Regarding functionality Zoom is very tweak able and because of this it is not really a player for someone who wants plug and play system. Theater Tek and MCE are much more user friendly in that respect!"

So I guess that explains it. Both packages are really opimized for home theater and projectors in particular (MCE & TT).

I have the Z4 now for a while and pretty happy with it (no SDE or other issues so far).

I'm trying to decide on a htib and found the new JVC TH-C60 has HDMI 'enhance' mode. I saw earlier in this thread the ehanced HDMI with Z4 L2 mode should be better quality?

Can anyone tell me if enhanced HDMI mode is a must have feature in a player to match the Z4?

I also wonder what enhanced mode really means. Maybe it's simply 0 IRE instead of +7.5 IRE.

Anyone using this with an anamorphic lens?

I was going to get a higher dollar projector and a cheaper lens, but now I'm thinking of a cheaper projector and better lens. Then, I'll upgrade to a 3 chip DLP or better LCD down the line.

There are so many projectors in the range though.... Panny 900, Mits 3000, HD72, BenQ7700..... how to decide?

HTPC users - how do you connect your Z4 and how do you like the picture quality?

If I want to play a game like oblivion which only supports wide-screen at 1680x1050, what options do I have?

thanks.

HTPC users - how do you connect your Z4 and how do you like the picture quality?

If I want to play a game like oblivion which only supports wide-screen at 1680x1050, what options do I have?

thanks.

Not sure if a notebook qualifies as HTPC but I do use it a lot through RGB. The quality is great. However the Z4 is certainly picky about the resolutions. My guess is that 1680x1050 doesn't work (at least officialy it doesn't support it).

I found it does (inofficially) support a few slightly higher resolutions than the native resolution. Ideally you do want to get 1280x720 otherwise you'll get scaling artificats and lower sharpness.

One downside with RGB is that the colors are pretty much off and needs different calibration than HDMI/component. That's possibly rather a computer problem.

Not sure if a notebook qualifies as HTPC but I do use it a lot through RGB. The quality is great. However the Z4 is certainly picky about the resolutions. My guess is that 1680x1050 doesn't work (at least officialy it doesn't support it).

I found it does (inofficially) support a few slightly higher resolutions than the native resolution. Ideally you do want to get 1280x720 otherwise you'll get scaling artificats and lower sharpness.

One downside with RGB is that the colors are pretty much off and needs different calibration than HDMI/component. That's possibly rather a computer problem.

wow.. this could totally change my decision. i don't have a separate hdtv tuner OR dvd player.. everything I do would come through my HTPC.

would the panny900 be better in this respect? Ideally, I'd want something that can accept 1680x1050 anyway since that's what my monitor is.

darn, I thought the Z4 was a shoe-in for me :\

wow.. this could totally change my decision. i don't have a separate hdtv tuner OR dvd player.. everything I do would come through my HTPC.

would the panny900 be better in this respect? Ideally, I'd want something that can accept 1680x1050 anyway since that's what my monitor is.

darn, I thought the Z4 was a shoe-in for me :\

What do you expect, both projectors don't come close to that resolution. Second the resolution is not 16:9. Could be wrong but don't think any 720p projector would accept it.

I don't know the game but I'd be surprised if it couldn't run on a lower resolution.

I also had the PT-AE900 but returned it since the fan was probably broken as it was way too noisy.
Main reason I didn't like the AE900 was that it always looked fuzzy especially for computer output (smoothscreen). But then again I've seen people love it. So this is something you'd have to decide (too bad you can't test it in stores).

I have a Dell notebook that support 1650 x 1080 as the native resoution. I recently connected it to my Z4 and the picture was horrible.

Think about a projector (any projector) like a LCD monitor. While it may support several resolutions, there is going to be one that will be far and away the best. For the Z4 and Panny AE900 1280x720 is the sweet spot.

I have a Dell notebook that support 1650 x 1080 as the native resoution. I recently connected it to my Z4 and the picture was horrible.

Think about a projector (any projector) like a LCD monitor. While it may support several resolutions, there is going to be one that will be far and away the best. For the Z4 and Panny AE900 1280x720 is the sweet spot.

Great though it accepts it regardless. Does 1280x720 work for you?
I have a Dell 700m notebook and for some reason at 1280x720 the projector sees it as 1360x768. I think that's a bug in the Dell notebook but not sure.

So what I do instead to get best quality is to use 1280x800 and use 'normal through' which will cut off top/bottom. Picture looks great that way and 720p WMV look amazing.

I'm a bit confused about resolution settings. I have my Z4 hooked up via HDMI, to a Toshiba Hi-Def DVD player. I'm a bit confused about resolutions though. Since the Z4's native resolution is 720p, what resolution are you actually seeing if the player is set to 1080i? Are you actually seeing a nearly full resolution hi-def image at 1080i resolution because of interlacing, or are you actually seeing a down converted 720p image? On the other hand, if the Player is set to 720 the image doesn't look nearly as detailed as when it is set to 1080i. Just trying to get a handle on this.

I'm a bit confused about resolution settings. I have my Z4 hooked up via HDMI, to a Toshiba Hi-Def DVD player. I'm a bit confused about resolutions though. Since the Z4's native resolution is 720p, what resolution are you actually seeing if the player is set to 1080i? Are you actually seeing a nearly full resolution hi-def image at 1080i resolution because of interlacing, or are you actually seeing a down converted 720p image? On the other hand, if the Player is set to 720 the image doesn't look nearly as detailed as when it is set to 1080i. Just trying to get a handle on this.

The Z4 displays 720p regardless of what you give it. That is the only resolution it displays. If you feed it 1080i, it shows 720p. Keep in mind that many (most) experts do not feel 720p is 'down converting'. 1080i shows 540 lines on the screen at any given time every 1/60th of a second while 720p shows 720 lines every 1/30th of a second. Technically (and it's been debated over & over) 720p provides more data on the screen at one time. It's hard to say which looks better, the frame with 1080 total lines shown 540 at a time or a frame with 720 lines shown all at once. Both 1080i and 720p are full resolution Hi-def. They say 720p is better for movement and 1080i is better for images with little movement. I think it's a toss-up either way. Keep in mind too, that technically, the upconverted 480p DVD isn't HDTV quality anyway. The difference you are seeing between 1080i and 720p is probably more your DVD player than an obvious difference between 1080i and 720p in general.

You should send the Z4 the type of signal that your player excels at. If it looks better set to 1080i on the Z4 than it does when set to 720p, then by all mean, set it to 1080i. For instance the Zenith 318DVB has big issues with 720p, thus using 1080i looks better no matter what. Other players excel at 720p, thus that'll look better. It's really is all about the DVD player, not the Z4.

For Broadcast HDTV, NBC and CBS use 1080i, while ABC, Fox & ESPN use 720p. I feed my Z4 720p from my cable box no matter what. I've tested with 1080i and 720p and it's hardly noticable, but 720p looks just a bit better to me I think, but at times it's impossible to tell the difference. Z4 does a great job of displaying 1080i at 720p.

Anyway, there is no exact science to this. Test with both 1080i and 720p and whatever looks best on the Z4, that's what you should send. For HD cable, both will look nearly the same and on your DVD player, it just depends on your model. Do what looks best to you and enjoy the show.

Thanks for replying. I guess I'm just curious as to how much PQ is actually being lost on a 720p projector vs. a native 1080p projector? The picture at my current settings are pretty incredible, on a higher resolution picture the output must be staggering!

...and you're right an upconverted standard DVD doesn't even come close to a Hi-Def disc!

The price difference will also be staggering! HA! :)

There is little difference between 720p and 1080i; between those two it's pretty subjective. The picture you'll get from say a 1080p Sony Ruby is definately better...but it also costs $7500. I've seen the 1080p HDTV's and have to say that when fed a pure 1080i feed from an HD-DVD player, the results are astounding! I saw a Sony demo loop that nearly made me cry it looked so good at 1080p! As for now, 1080p isn't an option for the budget minded, that's for sure!

It's not in my budget either. But in a couple of years who knows, perhaps they will be as cheap as a Z4.

Lately I've been looking at the Z4 and the H72. The Z4 sounds very attractive:
- more mounting flexibility
- less noise
- free lamp (same as H72)
- three year warranty (same as H72)
- lots of inputs (not quite as many has H72 but close enough)
- 720p (same as H72)
- glowing reviews as far as picture quality goes (and everything else!)
- couple hundred bucks cheaper than the H72

I'm very tempted by the Z4. I especially like the greater mounting flexibility and I really like the fact that it is apparently very quiet.

So, I have three questions:
- First, the easy one: what offset does it have? Less than the H30/H72?
- Does the Z4 image look significantly more pixelated than the H72 because it is LCD? Does it have more SDE?
- The only thing holding me back right now is the fact that the Z4 is LCD. I've always understood that DLP was the superior technology. But the reviews are glowing on the Z4. Is the H72 superior because it is DLP or is the Z4 just such an amazing example of LCD that it's as good as the H72?

Personaly id go with the h72 if you have tall ceilings. Its less then $200 more and gives 3x more real world contrast then the z4. Hell once you get my z4 dialed in your have like 1200:1 contrast. The ONLY thing holding me back from getting a h72 the the very not room friendly setup. On a 100" screen the off set is 18" from the top of the projector. If you ceiling mount it on a standard 7.5' dropped ceiling and factor in the mount and the projector your looking at the picture starting at 2ft from the ceiling. the picture will be about 4ft high, so thats 6ft total min, so the pic starts at about a foot and a half above the ground, or in my case id be watching about 4" or more of my feet from the reclined possition, and id have to almost have my center channel on the floor, nothing better then having a 4 ft vertial gap between your tower tweeters and the center channel to give your sound stage something special to lissen for. :(


The z4 doesnt have an off set, with the zoom and shift combo you can fit it in any room in any corner in any setup, period. Its the perfect projector to setup. From 10ft away it is not pixelated at all on my 100" screen. My h31 was alot more pixelated, but then again it was a 480p set.

Thanks for the input Night. I currently have the H30, which I imagine looks a lot like the H31. I have 8' ceiling, PJ mounted right on the ceiling (well about 3" down), about 13' back from the screen. Screen is 100", top of the screen is 14" down from the ceiling. I have to use a bit of keystone on my H30 but honestly I'm ok with that. I'm not much of videophile. As long as I can't see SDE and the picture is frickin' massive I'm happy as can be. Big and loud all the way! :)

The thing that is really attractive to me about the Z4 is that the picture quality sounds very comparable to the H72 BUT the Z4 is apparently very quiet. Sometimes the fan noise of my H30 (which is right overhead from the primary viewing seats) is a little annoying. I am really tempted by the Z4 simply because the picture quality sounds (at least!) adequate but fan noise is supposed to be "whisper-like".

Given that... do you have any further thoughts to help me choose?

Well the h31 has 2x the contrast of the h30, and the h31 is 852/480 while the h30 is 800/600, but any how.

If you are set on a quiet projector then the z4 is it, it is alot quieter then my h31. if you look around you will see alot of people were worried that they thought there z4 fan was not spinning and that it might over heat, its that low of a noise...

My z1 sounds like a airplane compaired to my z4. I would say the z4 sounds like a dell p260 model desktop mini tower, the one with just one 92mm fan in the wholes case. The projector is as loud as 2 80mm L1a panaflo fans.

I havent seen the HD72 but have seen the Z4 (co-worker got it) and compared it to my Epson Powerlite 500. Even without seeing the HD72, I'd say it would without question throw out a better image seeing as its CR will no doubt be higher.

The Z4 is rated super high in CR but from side by side comparison, it is basically equal to my Epson 500 which doesn't use a dynamic iris and uses the D4 panels. In that vivid mode or whatever it does have a high CR but the iris movement is so obvious and distracting the mode is basically useless aside from sports. The Z4 may have slightly better PQ than the Epson 500 but it is slight...still good considering its low price but I was expecting it to blow away my now 2 years old Epson and it doesn't. I found its SDE to be a non-issue at the same distances I could see it on my Epson so that is a plus and the Z4 I saw had no VB so it had a nice smooth image....just is a shame these LCD companies these days are releasing CR figures that are basically way out there in the BS department because no way this thing in any semi-calibrated state does 2000:1 let alone 7000:1.

Sorry I didn't mean to put down the H31. :)

Quiet is definitely a big plus for me. Considering that I'm quite pleased overall with the picture on the lowly H30, as long as it's 720p and at least decent I'll probably be pretty darn happy with either the Z4 or the H72. And if it's as quiet as it sounds like it is from your description I would probably be a bit happier with the Z4. The added bonuses of easier positioning and no more keystoning would be nice as well.

Thanks of the help!

Personaly id go with the h72 if you have tall ceilings. Its less then $200 more and gives 3x more real world contrast then the z4. Hell once you get my z4 dialed in your have like 1200:1 contrast. The ONLY thing holding me back from getting a h72 the the very not room friendly setup. On a 100" screen the off set is 18" from the top of the projector. If you ceiling mount it on a standard 7.5' dropped ceiling and factor in the mount and the projector your looking at the picture starting at 2ft from the ceiling. the picture will be about 4ft high, so thats 6ft total min, so the pic starts at about a foot and a half above the ground, or in my case id be watching about 4" or more of my feet from the reclined possition, and id have to almost have my center channel on the floor, nothing better then having a 4 ft vertial gap between your tower tweeters and the center channel to give your sound stage something special to lissen for. :(


The z4 doesnt have an off set, with the zoom and shift combo you can fit it in any room in any corner in any setup, period. Its the perfect projector to setup. From 10ft away it is not pixelated at all on my 100" screen. My h31 was alot more pixelated, but then again it was a 480p set.

As a z4 owner, obviously I love it, and without doing any research on the H72 to see if it's better, worse or otherwise than the Z4, I will say that if the position of screen displayed from the h72 is the only thing holding someone back, it would not be a problem for my setup based on your figures. For optimal viewing, the standard says that your screen should be set so that your eyes are looking right at the top of the lower 3rd of the screen or the bottom of the middle third approx. I have about 7' ceilings and ended up putting my screen about 16" from the ceiling and 16" off the ground (106" screen). I do not have a reclining chair, but for a standard couch, that puts my eyes looking right where it should and the bottom of my screen is lower than the foot 1/2 you are talking about for the H72. Reclining back is totally different because now your head is leaning way back thus the screen needs to be higher. That is a problem if you have a 100" or 106" screen in a room with low ceilings so what I'm talking about only pertains to those who will not be reclining and use a standard couch or theater chair in the upright position or at least only reclined without their feet going up.

Basically, if you use a couch instead of a recliner, with 7.5" ceilings, your results for optimal placement should be close to what I have which would probably (without me looking at the H72's exact numbers) mean that the H72's placement is not an issue at all for that type of room. I realize that some people like to have the screen up higher which is personal preference, but if you go to a good theater, you'll see that you are indeed looking very close to the middle of the screen or at the top of the lower 3rd and I think that can be accomplished with the H72 from what you are describing.

Just figure out if the numbers are right for your seating preferences and then see what the reviews say about the H72. The only real way to know is to see both side by side or find a review that compares both head to head.

Question for Z4 owners....

It seems in other threads that people have had their bulb wear out after only 500 hours. Since Sanyo doesn't list an estimated bulb life for their bulbs AND they give away the free bulb with your purchase, I'm wondering if this isn't an issue for the Z4.

Could any Z4 owners comment on this?

I'm not familiar with the 500 hours number. Where did you see that referenced?

I've read somewhere that the estimated life of the bulb is around 3000 hours, however they don't guarantee that, so they keep it kind of mum. I don't know about this projector, but I had my Z2 for over two years and still haven't needed to change the bulb. I don't know how many hours I had on it when I changed projectors, but I used it pretty frequently and it's not unusual for me to run a projector for 4 or 5 hours at a time.

Ironically, I have heard that the estimated life of the bulb is 2000 hours. What sullender is saying is that he saw on another forum where people were complaining that it lasted only 500 hours for them, not that someone officially said it was 500 hours.

Larry, where did you see 3000 hours? I hope that's more the case than 2000.

If such WAS the case for many people (I'm not saying it is), sounds like grounds for a class-action.

It would suck if you buy a projector expecting to get about 2000 hours (conservative) and only get about 500. At about $300 a pop, that would be an extra $900 in the 2000 hr span. You could easily get a better projector if you add the extra cost in.

Again, I'm not saying this is the case, this is hypothetical if it was infact the case.

I've heard mostly positives about the Z4!

Ironically, I have heard that the estimated life of the bulb is 2000 hours. What sullender is saying is that he saw on another forum where people were complaining that it lasted only 500 hours for them, not that someone officially said it was 500 hours.

Larry, where did you see 3000 hours? I hope that's more the case than 2000.


Exactly - it must not be a problem. There was another thread here where several people had theirs go out at 500 hrs. But since I can't locate it..... I wouldn't worry. Sounds like it's not an issue.

The price difference will also be staggering! HA! :)

There is little difference between 720p and 1080i; between those two it's pretty subjective. The picture you'll get from say a 1080p Sony Ruby is definately better...but it also costs $7500. I've seen the 1080p HDTV's and have to say that when fed a pure 1080i feed from an HD-DVD player, the results are astounding! I saw a Sony demo loop that nearly made me cry it looked so good at 1080p! As for now, 1080p isn't an option for the budget minded, that's for sure!

One big plus also is that SDE should be pretty much non-existing anymore with 1080i projector... But yes price difference is way too much for now.

quote:Exactly - it must not be a problem. There was another thread here where several people had theirs go out at 500 hrs. But since I can't locate it..... I wouldn't worry. Sounds like it's not an issue.

Thought this might be a good time to draw attention to falcon642's post concerning high altitude fix for Z4 that is currently being recommended by Sanyo:

Quote:

"Important information for Sanyo Z4 owners!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok I had some problems with my Z4. After I would turn it on no light would come through the lens and it would automatically turn itself off after about 5 seconds. So I called Sanyo for help 888-337-1215

Apparently the Z4 is very sensitive to changes in altitude. I live at 2500 feet elevation, which I don't consider very high but apparently that is high enough to affect the cooling of the Z4.

With the tech talking me through it, I fixed the problem in 5 minutes. All you need is a reasonably long screwdrive and that is it. You take the cover off your Z4, press one little button, and then they walk you through the service menu to help you customize the settings of your Z4's fan for your towns specific altitude.

If you are living at higher altitudes I would recommend you call Sanyo at the number I listed above and have them walk you through it. If you Z4 is not cooling itself properly it could definitely affect bulb life.

Hope this helps all my fellow Z4 owners. I will say this is the only trouble I've had with it, a great projector."

Back to my post:

Based on falcon642's post, I called Sanyo today, talked to David in Customer Service. He told me that by no means should I operate Z4 at my elevation (5000ft) without having CS help me change the fan setting to "highland"; that there are 3 fan settings: normal, highland, and ecomode; that he didn't know what the impact on db level compared to ecomode (rated at 22db) would be; but said the change should avoid shortening bulb life or other damage to unit from overheating. Furthermore, said warranty on replacement bulbs is only 1 month, not the 3 months for original bulb--that was news to me. Sanyo is "getting 4-5 calls a day" from people wanting fix, according to David. Asked him if Sanyo would be issuing bulletin on issue, with instructions on how to make the change in the service menu. Didn't say whether they would advertise problem, but said CS would need to assist over the phone (only takes 5-10min) because any missteps could cause misfunction of pj. I asked him if they could be overwhelmed by large response--he said "that is what we are here for." I got the impression that there are only 2 people available to do this procedure, but my call was answered within a few minutes.

This might relate to the premature failure of bulbs reported by some.

Interesting that elevation has that much of an effect. I believe I'm somewhere around 600 feet, so I doubt I'd be affected, but you never know.

Hey Sullender, Did you order yet? I did! :D It went down another $61! Another Good Investment! ;) Go for it!

Orwell - Now that is the most informative and helpful post in ages! We need someone to make the call and get the steps to follow posted here!

I'm in the steamy tropics and would like to notch the fans up one step as insurance!

It sounds like getting into the service menu requires popping the case off on the Z4!? Can anyone confirm that?

I forgot to ask Sanyo if lower output, "eco", bulb mode is still available after fix--with the fan notched up, but the brightness reduced as before. I assume that is the case. That would be a good question to ask. I haven't purchased a Z4 yet, so I can't try it to find out.

Some people also recommend using power conditioner and voltage control with dedicated power line for pj to extend lamp life.

It sounds like getting into the service menu requires popping the case off on the Z4!? Can anyone confirm that?

That is not the case, no pun intended. Getting in the service menu requires nothing mechanical at all. Seems like Sanyo had him do something more than just fan tweaking. Those fan tweaks have been posted here in the tweaks thread many months ago. Not sure if these are the same one's, but I'm assuming they are similar.

You take the cover off your Z4, press one little button, and then they walk you through the service menu to help you customize the settings of your Z4's fan for your towns specific altitude.

I guess I was reading too literally :) , I have since been catching up on the 60 + pages and did see the service menu access...

Press MENU+INPUT then whilst the S is on screen press UP+DOWN.

Use with caution and write things down!

So it is possible to crank up the fan speed minimums for thin air or hot climates!

In the Z1 service menu, #16 was a super tweak that cranked up the luminance and made the PJ seem much brighter without any detriment to color balance. Anyone heard mention of the Z4 equivalent? :confused:

regarding altitude and fan noise...I live in a city that is about 5,000 ft. I have a Z4 and no problems with cooling or the fan. It was shut down impropely once and so I had to call service an they wanted me to change the fan settings for this elevation...but they were too loud so I switched them back and haven't had one problem with it.

After my 3rd lamp failed on my MT700 (Benq PE7700 clone) I was given a refund of my purchase price by Toshiba. I’ve owned 9 previous projectors (3 LCDs, 2 CRTs & 4 DLPs), so had a good idea of what each technology delivers when choosing a new projector.

I love the image from a good CRT, but am done with the size, noise, and care & feeding. I like the image of DLPs, but the current moderately priced group (including the Optoma 7100 & Samsung 710) suffer from high offsets, start up problems, lamp failures, fan noise, restarts, etc.

In the LCD camp I only considered the Z4 & Panny AE900. Given the very positive reviews, moderate street prices, and lack of reported problems I didn’t see the reason to spend more. Since I’m posting here you can guess I chose the Z4.

I use a Dishnetwork 622 HD DVR receiver & Panasonic S97 DVD player (RGB enhanced output selected to match the Z4’s L2 setting) both connected via HDMI. I use ROne’s Creative Cinema settings with contrast, brightness & color set with AVIA & HDNET test patterns for my theater. Grey scale is excellent, with decent blacks, good shadow detail and excellent color. Blacks on the Z4 are deeper than on the MT700, which bettered the Z4 only when used with a ND2 filter. I could step down the iris on the Z4 a bit for deeper blacks but prefer it in the mid 40’s on my 106” diagonal GreyWolf screen.

Shadow detail was good on the MT700 and is equally good on the Z4. Where the Z4 clearly betters the MT700 is in the clarity & sharpness of the nearly noise-free image. I had calibrated the MT700 to minimize dither. However, the lack of video noise in the Z4 is remarkable. Coupled with the clarity of the optics the image is quite a bit sharper than the MT700. I set 1.8 x screen widths back and see no screen door effect.

With the MT700 I had some chromatic aberration from the lens. Not so with the Z4. I was a little worried about vertical banding, but my unit has none, and can be minimized or reduced via user adjustments anyway. Similarly, I was worried about the possibility of panel misalignment, but there appears to be no convergence error at all.

I thought I would be taking a bit of a step back with the Z4 in terms of image quality compared to the MT700, but was willing to make that concession to avoid the concerns I had with current DLP projectors. In short I was wrong. The Z4 simply produces a better image to my eyes. Not only that, it’s nearly silent.

In the end I feel lucky my MT700 had lamp failures and I was able to get a refund. I now have a better projector with a 4 year warranty, a free lamp & screen, and I was able to buy a new HD RPTV with the difference!

:rolleyes:

If anyone has received the free screen and lamp from Sanyo, please tell me how long it took?

Is the screen surface texture visible in the projected image?

If retracted a lot, is the surface still flat?

Is there a black pull down lead above the white area? What length?

Thanks

gil

Called Dan at Sanyo about Lamp life. He thought that the turn on shock at ignition and possible reduction of service life because of too many turn-ons was not correct due to the 'soft' turn on function used for the Z4. His concern was temperature and not multiple ignition shocks.
I had been using a one hour rule [if turn off is for less than one hour--leave it on].
Any comments anyone?

That is not the case, no pun intended. Getting in the service menu requires nothing mechanical at all. Seems like Sanyo had him do something more than just fan tweaking. Those fan tweaks have been posted here in the tweaks thread many months ago. Not sure if these are the same one's, but I'm assuming they are similar.

Sanyo had him reset the thermal cutoff switch behind the power supply inside the box. :)

I have absolutely loved my Z4 since I bought it in early November, 500+ hours and going strong.

However, one annoying issue that seems to have cropped up more in the last couple months (didn't really notice it at least at first) is that my lens shift adjustments seem to "drift" away from where I put them even when the "lock" is enabled. I believe that someone posted on a thread that I can't find now that they had called Sanyo about this and were told an easy fix for this that this owner did themselves. Are any Z4 owners familiar with this issue and a possible fix?

Yep, this was something Jay had posted I think and I had confirmed that I had the same problem. I have since figure out what the issue is. I do not recall Sanyo saying anything about an easy fix. The issue is vibration. My Z4 is directly below our family room and when the kids are playing there and falling, jumping, running around, when they land on the floor, it actually jars the entire ceiling of my home theater. When this happens, even in locked mode, my Z4's lens shift moves out of place. I have even been down there watching something during a dinner with friends when the kids fell down on the floor upstairs and right before my eyes, the screen jiggled and landed an inch or two down off the screen! Depending on how much flex you have in your ceiling joists, it's possible other vibrations could jar the Z4 enough to throw the shift out of wack!

Anyway, I'd love to hear an actual fix for this as it happens very often for me and it's very annoying.

Yep, this was something Jay had posted I think and I had confirmed that I had the same problem. I have since figure out what the issue is. I do not recall Sanyo saying anything about an easy fix. The issue is vibration. My Z4 is directly below our family room and when the kids are playing there and falling, jumping, running around, when they land on the floor, it actually jars the entire ceiling of my home theater. When this happens, even in locked mode, my Z4's lens shift moves out of place. I have even been down there watching something during a dinner with friends when the kids fell down on the floor upstairs and right before my eyes, the screen jiggled and landed an inch or two down off the screen! Depending on how much flex you have in your ceiling joists, it's possible other vibrations could jar the Z4 enough to throw the shift out of wack!

Anyway, I'd love to hear an actual fix for this as it happens very often for me and it's very annoying.

Thanks for the reply, but interestingly enough my Z4 is NOT ceiling mounted (sits on top of a tall AV rack behind my seating area) and still demonstrates a problem with this "drifting". I don't notice sudden changes as you are saying, rather if I use the vertical shift to place my image properly and "lock" this setting then it gradually drifts downward an inch or so from its initial position over a period of time.

I notice that as well, but since I have seen it move when the kids banged on the floor upstairs, I assumed it was just that. It's possible I have both things going on. Many times I will come downstairs, turn it on and it's shifted. If you give a call to Sanyo, let me know 'cause it's really annoying to have to readjust it every time.

I'm using the lens shift to correct for a focus error that shows the pixel structure [viewed at 12 inches] to start sharp at the left and, after the half width position, to gradually become softer until none of the vertical lines are in focus [only horizontal pixel separating lines are in focus]. I find that if you shift the lens toward the area where the lines are OK then the whole projected image becomes focused. Shifting horizontally about 30% and vertically 10% makes all of the vertical and horizontal pixel separating lines sharp.
This adds a slight keystone error of an inch or so on a 92 inch screen. I'm thinking of pulling the cover and possibly 'tilting' the lens instead. May not be possible, but I would like to avoid returning this great machine to Sanyo for adjustment. Comments please.

I wouldn't mess with it. I'd call Sanyo and have them fix it. They have a 48 hour turn-around so you won't be without for long.

I have absolutely loved my Z4 since I bought it in early November, 500+ hours and going strong.

However, one annoying issue that seems to have cropped up more in the last couple months (didn't really notice it at least at first) is that my lens shift adjustments seem to "drift" away from where I put them even when the "lock" is enabled. I believe that someone posted on a thread that I can't find now that they had called Sanyo about this and were told an easy fix for this that this owner did themselves. Are any Z4 owners familiar with this issue and a possible fix?

I have the Z3 and have noticed this drift phenomenon. The image will drift upwards about an inch every once in a while and I figured it was just the cheap ball mount that was moving so I just grab the projector and move it a little. Mine is ceiling mounted under a living room that can get jumped on.
I guess I could just use the lens shift to re-adjust it easily. I still think my PJ moves a little on the ball mount and that is the cause.
But great projector.

What major companies with credit cards and same as cash offers carry the Sanyo PLV-Z4.

Mines for sale, just a F.Y.I.

Hi everyone,

been lurking on this board for a couple years and thought that I now know enough about HT and in particular the sanyo LCD projectors to make a post. Here's what I currently have set up:

Sanyo Z4
Yamaha RX-2500 receiver (receiving/sending component inputs to Z4)
Oppo 971 dvd player (connected component thru Yamaha and directly by DVI)
Bell Expressvue HD satellite box (converting HD/SD to 720p sent by component)
104" Draper high contrast grey screen (projected from 12'/seating at 12')
completely light controlled basement room.

I previously had the Z2 for two years hooked up to this setup and was pretty happy. I loved the sharpness of the HD channels from satellite (even if they were being sent by analog component and not digital DVI/HDMI). And watching HD projected on a 100" screen was of course amazing after a 10 year old 50" rear projection TV). And dvd's upscaled by the oppo to 720p and sent by DVI cable were very watchable, near HD quality, a definite improvement over my old 480i dvd player.

In the end though, I decided that the Z2 was decicient in a couple of ways. Basically it wasn't bright enough, resulting in not enough contrast and inability to decently display dark scenes. And I never felt that the colours had enough punch when optomized to look realistic. Still, after investing 4k only two years ago I wasn't going to convince my wife we needed to upgrade... :p

But then along comes my favourite canadian online site offering the Z4 for less canadian dollars than the US sites are advertising in american bucks. No sales tax, free shipping, AND a free bulb!!

Naturally I quickly checked on the competitors, the Optoma and the Panasonic. Both were far more expensive to optain here in Canada (the Optoma was more than 2x) and as for the Panasonic, I know I value sharpness and couldn't handle the smoothing. I certainly wouldn't pay more for a 'smoothed' picture.

A day later I've sold my Z2 and ordered the Z4, only 1k out of pocket. Woohoo! And it arrived the very next morning. A quick setup and I can tell a couple of things very quickly. The Z4 is far brighter, and the picture seems much sharper, more 3-dimensional with a lot more punch. I know a lot of people like the 'realistic' colors on the two cinema settings but I found them way too muted. I don't watch movies to see 'reality' i guess... lol

But the living setting was amazing. The colors and flesh tones seemed a bit off but a little messing around improved things a lot and I'm sure I'll have a ton of fun tweaking away for the next 6 months. As for the remaining settings, well powerful is EASILY watchable with 4 60W overhead lights are on so it clearly has a use. And the vivid setting is pretty darn good for sports, the much higher contrast certainly gives that 'being there' feeling. Are the colors not 'realistic'? Well maybe, but I go to a lot of games and I definitely enjoyed this setting watching the great camera angles and closeups from my own couch (the beers cheaper too).

The brighter settings have an issue with the slowmoving iris as reported by pretty much everyone. It doesn't drive me crazy but since I plan on using these presets for sports and lights on viewing I think I'll try the service menu tweaks to slow down the iris.

SDE... well as you can tell I'm pretty close my screen, less than 1.5x But seriously, I've never understood why so many posts in here are earnestly trying to show people how to see SDE on their picture... "Go closer, 2 feet from your screen... recognize what the pixel outlines look like then back away and stay focused on it"... lol

I mean, when a picture is moving you don't see the pixels, you see what your brain interprets when integrating all those pixels. Sure you can get a bright still on the screen and look for pixel outlines in a swath of white. Or you can walk up to your screen and see them. But I KNOW my picture is composed of pixels, I don't need to try and see them to confirm what I already know. And at about 1.4x I could see some kind of a very faint grid if I really tried to see it. But when I'm watching anything I'm completely unaware of it. I know that I enjoy the sharpness of the Z4's picture and probably part of that is due to the clearly defined pixel edges.

So overall, I'm pleased with my decision to upgrade. The projector is so much quieter in any of the lamp modes and now with the extra bulb I'm not going to obsess on how many hours I've run it and at what lamp setting.

I'm only left with one quandary. I've got an offer to buy my Draper grey screen and I have access to a 110" Stewart Firehawk for the same money as I'm being offered for the Draper. Should I go for it? Will my setup look as good or better with the Firehawk?

I do like brightness and contrast, along with sharpness, so will I get a significant improvement out of switching screens.... I'm curious to hear some of your feedback.

Glad to see you love the Z4. For the money, it can't be beat. I think the quote you took about the SDE was from my post a long while back. Thanks for mocking me and opening up that old wound where everyone flamed me for seeing SDE at more than 1.5X. HA!! Just kidding. :p

But seriously, as it's been stated, seeing SDE is obviously something that each person has a different tolerance for. Certainly as you said, our brains take the individual pixels and processes them into one picture, however, it doesn't mean you still can't see the structure within that image. A jigsaw puzzle creates a picture too, yet from close range, you can still see the individual pieces as well as the picture the entire puzzle creates. No super vision, no extra concentration on the pixel structure...just different brains seeing the same thing in different ways. It's not a knock against anyone an either side. My main point in those posts was that it was a disservice to tell someone that they will not see SDE from 1.5X the screen. I stand by that statement since obviously some people can and will. Some people see it at 1.5X, some don't. Some see it at 1.7X, some don't. Some don't see it even at all! The instructions I gave on how to see SDE wasn't me trying to ruin it for anyone and show them SDE when they didn't see it previously. At the time, I thought someone wasn't seeing what SDE really was since they said their friends didn't see it at very close range (ie 3 or 4 feet from the screen) so that was a way to show them. That's all. They got all bent out of shape and ripped me and said I must have super vision and I shouldn't tell them what they see. Not what I intended at all. I'm sure these are the posts you've read. That said, at 13.6 feet from my 106" screen, I see SDE in the light areas of the screen regardless if I'm trying to see it or not. When there are large white areas or letters on the screen or even light skin tones, I can clearly see each cell and it bugs me. It's just the way it is for me, but I wish it wasn't. When I sit in my 2nd row at 14.5 feet, I don't see it anymore and the picture is far smoother. Again, it's just what I see and not what everyone sees. I think Jay M. also sees the same thing I do. I'm actually going to shorten my 2nd level so my front seats can sit back a foot. People that physically can't see it or can tune it completely out at closer range than that are fortunate! Either way, I'd say that it's safe to tell people that between 1.5X and 1.8X the screen SDE will become a non-factor. At that point, nobody will be disappointed and can only be pleasantly surprised if they don't see SDE at all.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense. I hope I don't get flamed again, but I felt I wanted to reply to this to explain since you took my quote about showing someone SDE.

As for the screen, the Stewart is a better screen, however, again, it's personal preference as to if you will notice a huge difference. All things being equal, and without actually having seen either screen in action, the Stewart is what I would go for.

Enjoy your Z4...that's the most important thing and I know you will do just that!! :)

How Often To Clean The Filters?

I've got 200 hours on my Z4 and have cleaned the filters twice -- at 100 hour intervals. I've used a vacuum, but so far there has been no visible dust. I don't live in a particularly dusty environment, and I take care to keep the room cool and well ventilated. Anyone have any advice on how often to do it? Does Sanyo have a requirement?

Jeff

Don't worry Dweezil, it wasn't a direct quote (i don't think...lol).

Clearly there are home theater enthusiasts and then there are HOME THEATER ENTHUSIASTS. Some people really want it to be as perfect as possible, and others like myself just want it to real, real good. I was kinda teasing the 'perfect color' people too. I completely understand that for people such as yourself and Rone, its a hobby to try and get things as close to perfect as possible. And lots of us are getting the benefits of your labour, its much appreciated.

Basically I came into this projector with my eyes wide open, I knew the drawbacks of LCD having watched a Z2 for a couple years. The SDE when i look for it is much reduced and I have none of the other rare problems that have cropped up this thread. No vertical banding, no dead pixels, no 1 pixel off convergence problems. The projector is essentially perfect, and my store is shipping me the extra bulb directly so I don't even have to fill out a rebate form... :)

I blew all my friends and family away with the Z2 and the Z4 is significantly better. At the price it was available there was no way I'd have considered DLP projectors costing nearly twice as much here in Canada.

And as for 1080p projectors... well I have to have SOMETHING to look forward to when upgradeitis sets in a couple years from now ;) I much prefer getting the best of the 'bleeding edge' technology. Why pay 8k for a Ruby when I can get what seems to me now to be an amazing picture for less than 2k with the Sanyo.

Heck, its easy to get a great setup if you're willing to just go out and pay a ton of money. I have a lot more fun getting a setup thats nearly as good for a quarter of the cost, it shows more creativity and knowledge i think. And we all know that two years after buying everything there'll be new and improved gear out there that we'll be lusting after. At least I won't have to look at ten grand worth of equipment thats become obsolete... its much easier to write of 2k and go upgrade! And upgrading is at least half the fun if i look around at the various threads on this site.

Its all of us in the <3.5k forum that are smart, those >3.5k people need someone like us to tell them how to intelligently spend their (obviously unneeded) money :p

I'm loving my Z4 and have taken the plunge with the Firehawk site unseen. The tweaking will begin in earnest once i'm shining on the new screen. Hope you're all having as much fun as I am!

Man, you really did nail exactly what I said though about how to see the SDE. HA! I understand and wasn't offended at all. Just figured since it was pretty much what I said, I'd explain a bit. I just like to type I think. :)

I agree with everything you said and I'm sure you love the Z4. If I had $8K to burn, I'd get the sony Ruby though...it's unreal how good 1080p looks! But reality strikes and I'm broke, so no Ruby in my near future! My Z4 is great, although my red is off by one pixel however from farther than a few feet from the screen, you can't see it. 1 pixel is within the limits anyway, but I do wish it was perfect! As you said though, it's good enough! :)

What major companies with credit cards and same as cash offers carry the Sanyo PLV-Z4.

Google will direct you to a bunch of retailers with the screen and lamp offer and excellent prices.

Just type in Sanyo PLV-Z4. ;)

How Often To Clean The Filters?

I've got 200 hours on my Z4 and have cleaned the filters twice -- at 100 hour intervals. I've used a vacuum, but so far there has been no visible dust. I don't live in a particularly dusty environment, and I take care to keep the room cool and well ventilated. Anyone have any advice on how often to do it? Does Sanyo have a requirement?

JeffI would consider 100 hours to be a maximum interval (even if you don't "see" any dust). The voltages in the Z4 (the lamp voltages are high) will attract dust just like any other piece of electronic equipment. The main thing is to make filter cleaning a regularly scheduled task (so you don't forget to do it). I normally recommend every 40 hours, or once a week, whichever comes first (but I'm pessmistic -- and I've never had any "dust" blobs on any of my 3 LCD PJs panels either). The fact that your room is clean and cool definitely helps, of course.

Dependng on how many hours per week you use your Z4, you should set up a regular cleaning schedule that will result in the filters getting cleaned between 40 and 100 hours of use. Also, if you plan on an extended use (a "marathon" sesson), I would recommend cleaning the flters before the session and before the next use. Consider it preventative maintenance, just like the regular service on your car.

I just ordered one from avdeals.. the free bulb offer and the revised low price made me upgrade from my AE500 witch have 1600 hour to it and has tons of SDE and Dirty Screen effect(forgot the name) + the lamp flicker like hell about 20 min every 2 hours..

Hi Guys,
Is there any type of filter that can be placed in front of the lens that will give you better Blacks.

Regards Peter

You can use an ND2 filter, but I'd start with setting the iris at 64 if you haven't already done so.

I just received my Z4.. just want to say that's a 200% improvement from my AE500. No VB and No 'Dirty Screen' , just that worth the price IMHO... and the CR is so nice too..

Hello all current Z4 owners and potential buyers of a Z4!

I just wanted to share some positive news about a new projector purchase.

A quick history leading me to my Z4:

For the LONGEST time I have been researching and wanting to purchase a projector (as are most people on these forums). I have had the chance to demo practically all of the current generation of LCD projectors except the Epson models (no demos in my area). I wanted to purchase last year, but I wasn't blown away by anything I saw (maybe bad demo rooms). This year I was lucky to find a couple of good demo setups and I was quite impressed.

Why LCD? RBE. So single chip DLP is out for me. And yes, I have even demoed DLP projectors WAY out of my price range - around $12k - and the RBE was still there and bothering me. The dealer and my wife didn't want to believe me. Eventually my wife started to see them in further demos and she agreed that I couldn't get DLP.

I had decided on the Epson 550. Based on reviews this sounded like the best rounded projector. Then I decided I couldn't buy anything this expensive without seeing it first. So I demod the AE900 and HDPJ52. So then the HDPJ52 was tops (reviews helped here as well). Then it was the AE900 because of a deal I was able to get that was $500 less than all the rest.

You notice how I've been staying clear of the Z4? Sanyo was the only one not price gouging us poor Canadians... but all reviews put the Z4 at the bottom of the list. Just for little things here and there... but without seeing it in person... very hard decision.

Finally, thanks to a member on these forums, they directed me to a dealer who offered a 15 day, no questions asked, return policy. AND Sanyo was offering a free bulb... this amounted to nearly $1000 less than the BEST deal I was able to get on any other projector.

------
So much for my quick history... anyways, short story long, I went ahead and ordered the Z4 for a 15 day demo. The bad news was that I didn't have my screen yet (the courier ended up crushing it) and I didn't have any flat white walls to test with. This past weekend I was able to borrow a tripod screen from work and I finally got a cheap white bedsheet to put on the wall when I returned the screen.

All I have to say is wow. My fear of Z4 brightness is gone. My fear of Z4 SDE is gone. The dirty picture fear is gone... even out of the box, colours weren't perfect, but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting based on reviews and opinions. Needless to say... it didn't take me 15 days to figure it out. I kept the projector and sent in for my free bulb.

So, because many threads here have helped in my purchase decision, I thought I'd return the favour. I love the Z4 picture. Maybe because it is my first projector. But I did demo last years AE700 and PJ100TX and was not as impressed. I guess I just wasn't expecting such a good picture from the current models. Don't get me wrong, if all these projectors were the same price... I'd have a really tough time deciding. To me, and again, it's just my opinion, I thought the picture quality of all these current gen LCD projectors look VERY similar and it's super hard for me to say one is better than another. But when it comes to price and value, it was a no brainer.

With the way display technology is advancing... I wanted to save as much money as I could so I wouldn't feel as much pain when I upgrade in 3-4 years.

But regardless, I am super relieved with the picture the Z4 is giving me. Even compared with what I saw between the current Panny and Hitachi, I'd have a hard time choosing a clear winner. I know the only true comparison is side-by-side. But I don't really care anymore since I love the Z4 image. I am now enjoying big screen movies like I dreamed about for so long!!

Now, I am still waiting for my DaLite HP screen to come in... but I have a feeling if it looks this good on a bedsheet... it should look even more amazing on a real screen!

Hopefully my little experience with a projector purchase will help someone who is still sitting on the fence instead of enjoying movies and games!

-=Karcs=-

Room specs: dim to dark walls (top half of wall a creamy coffee colour - like caramel, bottom is dark wood stain), ceiling is also coffee, room is light controllable but I prefer to have some ambient light on (especially behind the screen). Throw distance 18 feet, seating 15-17 feet, image is 96 inches wide. Z4 sitting at about 4.5 feet off the ground on a cabinet.

Anyone have the Z4 hooked up to HD-dvd? how does it look? and any screen shots? I been thinking about getting a Z4 in the next couple months

I have Tosh hddvd connected via component cable to Z4 as i am still awaiting arrival of my hdmi cables.I have watched three hddvd movies, Serenity,CoR and u571-They all look good but imo the best pq was with u571.I do not know if a hdmi connection gives a better picture.but i will find out soon

After much research and debate on whether to get the Z4 or the Panasonic (even possibly the Samsung at one point), I pulled the trigger on the Z4 and got it Friday. Haven't even started the drywall in the basement, so its currently in a spare bedroom projecting 100" on a blank wall and looks awesome. Watched 3 movies already. Can't wait to see how it looks after its been calibrated and projected onto my SMX screen.

Is there a really a descernable difference or any real advantage(s) to using HDMI verses the VGA input? I'm close to purchasing this PJ but my current set-up has a 15-ft VGA cable already hidden in the ceiling but I will get the HDMI cable and go through the hassle of installation only if its really worth it. I will use this PJ for standard def TV, DVDs, PC stuff and HDTV... my HTPC is my deinterlacer and scaler and will feed a progressive signal to the PJ. So, is HDMI really better than using the VGA input?

Thanks...

Owners Manual = http://bfdguide.ws/PLV-Z4_OM.pdf

Service Manual = http://bfdguide.ws/PLV-Z4.pdf

Any chance you guys have an updated link for this? I can't get it to work and finding a manual on the Sanyo site is impossible. My main reason for trying to find it, it that I'm wondering how the aspect ratio setting works if I use a screen that isn't 16x9. I'm considering a true 2.35:1 aspect ration since my viewing will be 99% movies.

Thanks
Rick

The links themselves are now:

owners: http://www.snapbug.ws/PLV-Z4_OM.pdf
service: http://www.snapbug.ws/PLV-Z4_SM.pdf

the BFD site is now subsumed under Home Theater Shack. So that's where the links to the manuals live now. The links themselves are:

owners: http://www.snapbug.ws/PLV-Z4_OM.pdf
service: http://www.snapbug.ws/PLV-Z4_SM.pdf

Awesome! Thanks for the links!

What is a good rule of thumb to avoid the SDE on the Z4? My seated distance with be about 13-14'. How big can I make the screen without seeing the SDE?

Thanks
Rick

Depending on your particular tolerance for SDE (some people do not see it nearly as much as others as we've seen!!) 1.5X to 1.85X screen width. For me, it's about 1.85X width. If you still see it where you sit, you can ever so slightly defocus to decrease SDE. Your distance puts you in the 106" screen range (92" width). Any bigger than that and you very well may see SDE.

OK. 104" is safe which is what I was going for.

Thanks
Rick

I posted the following in the Z4 tweak thread, actually it is better suited to this thread. So if any one can help I would appreciate your thoughts.

Z4 Oppo 971 Combo

I have had my Z4 for 3 days now. So far so good. I am wondering about upgrading to the Oppo 971H and going all digital.

The conditons presently are;


I am using component only from a SA cable box and the Neu Neo DVD both at 1080i output through a Video Storm component switcher.

25' Component cable run

DIY white pearescentl screen (actually works ok)

Room has complete light control


I would like to change to the following setup;

SA cable box and Oppo 971H player to be Monoprice 3' DVI to HDMI cables connected to Monoprice 2x1 HDMI Switcher with a 25' run of Mononprice HDMI cable to the Z4.

Does this sound like it will work?

I am concerned that I may have either cable, switcher or macroblocking problems with Z4/Oppo 971H combo.

I have searched all threads that relate to the Z4 and there are a couple of people using the Oppo with this projector and neither one has commented on problems.

I'm using this combo with great results. Shorter cables, but Monoprice HDMI switcher. No problems at all.

I'm using this combo with great results. Shorter cables, but Monoprice HDMI switcher. No problems at all.

rmf,

Thanks for your response. That is encouring news.

I posted the following in the Z4 tweak thread, actually it is better suited to this thread. So if any one can help I would appreciate your thoughts.

Z4 Oppo 971 Combo

I have had my Z4 for 3 days now. So far so good. I am wondering about upgrading to the Oppo 971H and going all digital.


I would like to change to the following setup;

SA cable box and Oppo 971H player to be Monoprice 3' DVI to HDMI cables connected to Monoprice 2x1 HDMI Switcher with a 25' run of Mononprice HDMI cable to the Z4.

Does this sound like it will work?

I am concerned that I may have either cable, switcher or macroblocking problems with Z4/Oppo 971H combo.

I have searched all threads that relate to the Z4 and there are a couple of people using the Oppo with this projector and neither one has commented on problems.

Richum,

I'm using the Z4 with the oppo 971, Motorlola DCT-6412 III, and Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver. I have a 6' DVI to HDMI cable (the one included with the Oppo) between the Oppo and the Receiver and a 35' HDMI cable (heavier gauge, from monoprice) from the receiver to the projector. The motorola box is connected to one of the component inputs on the receiver and the receiver does the conversion from component to HDMI (motorola box is unhappy when trying to switch HDMI through the receiver). Everything works great. Prior to getting the Yamaha, I had used the monoprice 5x1 switcher. also without any problems (other than the Motorola box screwing up occasionally if HDMI was switched with power on to motorola box).

Richum,

I'm using the Z4 with the oppo 971, Motorlola DCT-6412 III, and Yamaha RX-V2600 receiver. I have a 6' DVI to HDMI cable (the one included with the Oppo) between the Oppo and the Receiver and a 35' HDMI cable (heavier gauge, from monoprice) from the receiver to the projector. The motorola box is connected to one of the component inputs on the receiver and the receiver does the conversion from component to HDMI (motorola box is unhappy when trying to switch HDMI through the receiver). Everything works great. Prior to getting the Yamaha, I had used the monoprice 5x1 switcher. also without any problems (other than the Motorola box screwing up occasionally if HDMI was switched with power on to motorola box).

Based your comments and rmf's , I have ordered the Oppo, Monoprice HDMI switcher and cables. I doubt I will have problems related to this setup, and since both Monoprice and Oppo seem to have satisfaction guarantees if I do have issues I will only be out the shipping. What the heck, go for it.

Thanks for you input.

:rolleyes:

If anyone has received the free screen and lamp from Sanyo, please tell me how long it took?

Is the screen surface texture visible in the projected image?

If retracted a lot, is the surface still flat?

Is there a black pull down lead above the white area? What length?

Thanks

gil


1. The form stated "allow 6 to 8 weeks". It was shipped exactly 8 weeks (to the day) after I posted the form.

2. Not at all.

3. I haven't retracted it a lot. It appears as flat as the BOC I was using (tightly stretched over the cut out in a bay window, i.e. absolutely flat). The PQ is better.

4. 12 inches.

newbie question:
I switched from component to HDMI, connecting a Yamaha S2500 to the Z4. Output is set at 720p. I already knew that the Z4 limits the number of screen modes w/HDMI. But is there *no* way to show a 4:3 image (e.g. old movies) in its proper ratio, without losing some of the picture (which is what happens with Zoom), with this setup? I tried changing the TV Aspect setting in the player to 4:3, no difference (I guess it's ignored w/HDMI). I don't like stretching or zooming a 4:3 image. I didn't have this problem with component, of course -- there, at least one of the modes gave me 'pillarboxed' 4:3.

One thing I haven't tried is changing the HDMI output resolution of the player , but I thought I'd ask here since I won't be able to try that until later ;>

Been running the Z4 since January, almost 1000 hours on that puppy now and I still smile everytime I watch HD content on it. Currently using a a Sony upconverting DVD player via HDMI to a Denon 4306 and out via HDMI to the Z4. Also running a Dish 6000 at 720P via component to the Denon and an XBOX 360. The Z4 projects onto a 110" Da Lite fixed frame screen (Cinema Contour)

Been bored and thought I'd try hooking my PC up to the Z4 via VGA. Running a P4, 2.8GHz with a gig of memory and ATI Radeon 9800 with DVI and VGA connectors on it. A buddy of mine has some movies in 720P in AVI format that I wanted to demo and see how it looked from a PC. I set my reolution to 1280 x 720 @ 60Hz and the output of the Z4 looks terrible. The Windows Desktop doesn't fit properly in the screen area. I found a little info on pixel matching but don't know where to begin. Can anyone tell me why the output looks blurry and doesn't fit the screen even though I have the resolution set at 1080x720. I can tweak the RADEON pretty far, but not sure how to do in combination with the Z4. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jerry

Make sure you have "overscan" set to zero in the "picture adj" menu on the Z4. Also, double check this setting when you switch back to hdmi, since it defaults to 10 percent.

Krabapple:

The DVD player should (but some don't) properly display 4:3 material with pillars when the player is set to 16:9 display mode. There is sometimes another setting on the DVD player giving the option on handling 4:3 material in 16:9 display mode: stretched or pillar boxed (wording will most likely be different). Windows Media Center automatically pillar boxes 4:3 stuff on a 16:9 display.

Use the ATI Catalyst Control Center to select the 720p HDTV mode... then check the projector in the "Information" menu item (using the remote of course) next to "Signal" it should say D-720p... if it does, then you are 'pixel perfect'... then use the ATI Control Center to center your desktop... that's all there is to it.

Use the ATI Catalyst Control Center to select the 720p HDTV mode... then check the projector in the "Information" menu item (using the remote of course) next to "Signal" it should say D-720p... if it does, then you are 'pixel perfect'... then use the ATI Control Center to center your desktop... that's all there is to it.


Thanks for the tip monomer, I will give it a try. I had downloaded the Powerstrip software in an effort create a custom display setting, however could not find any posts with Z4 specific information.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Jerry

for a 92 inch image, can i have the projector around 14.5-16 feet away from the screen, the calaculater says 18.5 feet throw distance. Will the image suffer at all?

for a 92 inch image, can i have the projector around 14.5-16 feet away from the screen, the calaculater says 18.5 feet throw distance. Will the image suffer at all?

18.5 is the MAX throw distance, not the optimal. Optimal image quality in a lense is usually right in the middle of the range of zoom. The range is 18' 5" to 9' 3" so the middle would be in the area of 13 to 15 feet. Anything close to that is optimal so your setup will work well.

thanks, still am considering the Panasonic AT-900 but I usually keep going back to the Z4, I am going to be pretty much just using it for DVDS and HD.

this is what I am planing to pick up for equipment

RECIEVER-----Denon AVR-2807 Reciever (its in the price range, any better recievers for the price?)

PROJECTOR---Sanyo PLV-Z4 Projector (this one or the Panasonic AT-900 one not sure yet)

SPEAKERS----SVS SBS-01 7.1 system with PB10-NSD Speakers and Subwolfer (may go with the Asends speakers for around the same price range again still thinking, Havent heard either )

SCREEN---92 Inch Diagonal Criterion Series Projection Screen (not sure if I should go with 1:78 or 1:85 though)

DVD player I will probably go with tosiba HD DVD player maybe or the Oppo one



heres my theater right now

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=706567

Krabapple:

The DVD player should (but some don't) properly display 4:3 material with pillars when the player is set to 16:9 display mode. There is sometimes another setting on the DVD player giving the option on handling 4:3 material in 16:9 display mode: stretched or pillar boxed (wording will most likely be different). Windows Media Center automatically pillar boxes 4:3 stuff on a 16:9 display.


The Yamaha DVD player I'm using does have those settings, but they seem to have no effect when the output is via HDMI. They only seem to work with non HDMI output.

Go with the Toshiba for your dvd player. Even if you did not watch HD-DVD (which of course you will) it is an awesome SD-DVD player.

The Yamaha DVD player I'm using does have those settings, but they seem to have no effect when the output is via HDMI. They only seem to work with non HDMI output.


If it works correctly on component, but not on hdmi output, then it sounds like it's time to talk to Yamaha, or if you just bought it, return it! But first, you might want to try a full screen version DVD recent release from a major company (rent one) just to see if it's your "old movie" DVD. Some small time DVD operations might not have all the flags set correctly. Good luck!

Fwiw,the DVD I noticed this on was 'The Maltese Falcon'.

[update]

Scanning around for this problem on AVSF, I found a suggestion (for another player/display combo) to set the player's HDMI output resolution to a lower res than the projector's (currently it's set at 720p, to match the native rez of the Z4). So I set it to 480p. Bingo! Now the Z4 offers *all* of the Screen choices, including 'Normal', which shows the full 4:3 image in the proper aspect ratio. I don't see any obvious hits in the image quality either, though I'll check that with the AVIA disc at some point.

Yes, I know this was probably all in the user's manuals for the player/projector... ;)

I am considering testing the digital projector waters again, (for the third time in as may years). My previous two were a SONY HS20 and Hitachi PJTX100. Both lasted about as long as a firefly's light in the evening.

I have been considering other types of displays both plasma and CRT projection and have viewed all the new mini projector contenders. the Sanyo Z4 was by far the best in picture quality in its price range. I am hopeful that because it is the Z4 and not Z1 that Sanyo has worked out most of the problems with the technology and it might just last a while.

A few questions for owners,

1. Does the fan exhaust out the front of the projector?
2. Where is the filter located and do you have to remove it for cleaning?
3. Are you concerned about the new HD format DVD's and this projector?
4. Does it have the wheel type adjusters for vertical and horizontal centering on the screen?
5. Have members used the "blow holes" to remove dust from the LCD panels and does it actually work?
6. When I viewed it it was set on "dynamic" and there was qwuite a bit of artifacts in the picture becasue of it. I reset to natural and although better some artifacts were still noticable on the DVD I was viewing. None were present on the other projectors running at the same time. Do members notice this effect or is it something that could be removed with adjustments on the projector? As I said it improved greatly when changed from "dynamic" to "natural". Although this tells me that the "dynamic mode" would be essentially useless due to the excessive artifacts that it produces.

The three year warranty is a big plus in my books. If I could get a few answers to my questions I might be able to make a decision soon.

I am considering testing the digital projector waters again, (for the third time in as may years). My previous two were a SONY HS20 and Hitachi PJTX100. Both lasted about as long as a firefly's light in the evening.

I have been considering other types of displays both plasma and CRT projection and have viewed all the new mini projector contenders. the Sanyo Z4 was by far the best in picture quality in its price range. I am hopeful that because it is the Z4 and not Z1 that Sanyo has worked out most of the problems with the technology and it might just last a while.

A few questions for owners,

1. Does the fan exhaust out the front of the projector?
2. Where is the filter located and do you have to remove it for cleaning?
3. Are you concerned about the new HD format DVD's and this projector?
4. Does it have the wheel type adjusters for vertical and horizontal centering on the screen?
5. Have members used the "blow holes" to remove dust from the LCD panels and does it actually work?
6. When I viewed it it was set on "dynamic" and there was qwuite a bit of artifacts in the picture becasue of it. I reset to natural and although better some artifacts were still noticable on the DVD I was viewing. None were present on the other projectors running at the same time. Do members notice this effect or is it something that could be removed with adjustments on the projector? As I said it improved greatly when changed from "dynamic" to "natural". Although this tells me that the "dynamic mode" would be essentially useless due to the excessive artifacts that it produces.

The three year warranty is a big plus in my books. If I could get a few answers to my questions I might be able to make a decision soon.

ANSWERS:

The 11 pound Sanyo Z4 is the best thing around since sliced bread with NO competitors at any price that I have seen with this level of resolution and corner to corner focus at any of the very flexible zoom options.

With a price of $1549 you should not only run to your dealer, but buy one more for a spare; then you will have two 92 inch screens and two spare lamps.

The exhaust is on the left side for ceiling mount. It is very quiet [almost not there] and has almost no light leakage.

The filters are removed [pop-out] for cleaning. One is for the case interior and the other for the lamp.

I am running both component 1080i and HDMI and also 480 P component and "S" Video 480i. I use L1 for the 480i and p without any sign ever of interlace.

There are two lockable 'wheels' to shift the picture position.

Don't worry about "dynamic" or any picture mode--lots of user adjustment range.
Use the "ECO" mode for long lamp life. You can adjust white "color", each panel for any visible 'vertical line' defect, gamma, offset and level for each color along with contrast, brightness, etc.

I would forget about plasma and CRT--they are obsolete now.

LCD is the best; but as DLP. it won't make a perfect 'black'. I finally gave up on a Sony 7 inch D50 HTU [$14,000] and although I do miss a real black, the resolution/focus more than makes up for that.

Customer support is very accomodating and are really there for you.

gil [in Seattle]

Gil, are you concerned about the new HD DVD's resolution in relation the the 720P panel of the Sanyo?

Have you had to use the blow holes for the panels and do they work?

I am told the free lamp offer is over here and I do not know where you got that price you quoted, that is much, much less than I can find up here in the frozen North. I want to stay with a Canadian retailer to keep the Three year warranty. You were using the SONY d50 for a while? Did you notice the Sanyo as being brighter than the SONY. You mentioned sharper also an advantage for the Sanyo.

Found this link from the www.projectorcentral.com web site. Visualplex still has the free screen and bulb deal until 9/30/06. At least that's what the site says.

http://www.visualapex.com/lcdprojectors/LCD_projectors_details.asp?chPartNumber=PLV-Z4&MFR=Sanyo&SE=PCen&KW=Z4_VABanner

Good luck,
Mike

Gil, are you concerned about the new HD DVD's resolution in relation the the 720P panel of the Sanyo?



HD-DVD will look great on the Z4 as will Blu-ray; they just won't look at good as they can running at 1080p output on a 1080p display unit. Feeding the Z4 1080i will be no different than feeding 1080i from a cable box...it'll look great. The problem is 1080p and cost. The choices are limited in the projector world unfortunately to get 1080i or p and that won't change for at least a few years. A 1080p projector is going to cost $7500-$10,000 (Sony Ruby) for starters and on up from there. The other choice is to buy a RPTV such as the Sony SXRD's that are 1080p for about $3800 (60").

I wouldn't use HD-DVD as a factor in your purchase of the Z4 unless you can spend considerably more money.

Sorry Dweez, you're a bit behind the times ;). We're going to see 1080p LCDs (at least 1) this year and in our forum range.

Now, that aside I am running a Z4 with HD DVD now (had it for a week or so) and it is a really nice picture.

Sorry Dweez, you're a bit behind the times ;). We're going to see 1080p LCDs (at least 1) this year and in our forum range.

Now, that aside I am running a Z4 with HD DVD now (had it for a week or so) and it is a really nice picture.

HA! Gee thanks! :D

I suppose if there is going to be a 1080p projector for under $2000, I'm in!! That would be remarkable to have a $5500 price drop in just a year! On the other hand, at that price, I'm guessing it might not be up to snuff or Ruby quality. Which model is that by the way?

HA! Gee thanks! :D

I suppose if there is going to be a 1080p projector for under $2000, I'm in!! That would be remarkable to have a $5500 price drop in just a year! On the other hand, at that price, I'm guessing it might not be up to snuff or Ruby quality. Which model is that by the way?

Rumored to be the Panasonic AE1100; but for $3500 MSRP and not heavily discounted from MSRP like the AE900. Still a bargain if true. Only time will tell if Panasonic can produce a 1080P machine that is leaps and bounds better than the current model.

Hello all, just wondering if any of you have an ideas. i'm in Pittsburgh, PA with my z4, but I forgot the power cord. Any ideas for an easy solution?

Thanks.

Adam

Hello all, just wondering if any of you have an ideas. i'm in Pittsburgh, PA with my z4, but I forgot the power cord. Any ideas for an easy solution?

Thanks.

Adam


I found this online.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=302235#ts

Anybody thing that would work?

Thanks.

I am told the free lamp offer is over here and I do not know where you got that price you quoted, that is much, much less than I can find up here in the frozen North. I want to stay with a Canadian retailer to keep the Three year warranty. You were using the SONY d50 for a while? Did you notice the Sanyo as being brighter than the SONY. You mentioned sharper also an advantage for the Sanyo.

Free lamp offer is still valid in Canada. There is a place in Burlington, ON with a good price and free lamp. Then there is a place in QC with a great price and no free lamp. Not sure what the protocol is for publishing prices/vendors so I'll leave it open for a PM.

Is there anyone who has specifically played with both the AE900 and the Z4? I'm interested in both and want to hear from those that have opinions on either (good or bad).

Free lamp offer is still valid in Canada. There is a place in Burlington, ON with a good price and free lamp. Then there is a place in QC with a great price and no free lamp. Not sure what the protocol is for publishing prices/vendors so I'll leave it open for a PM.


I think they may be a free screen offer in addition to the lamp. I saw something about it at sanyo's website today, but I didn't read the details.

Adam

There is... 92" pull down. Fairly craptastic screen, but a good deal if you need one.

It's NOT JUST PIXELS, guys. Sanyo did a very nice job in their scaling circuits. The scaling circuit design for any signal input is what makes a picture sharp. You can put in a 1080P x 1920 digital signal input into a 720P panel like the Sanyo without a problem. The pixel count determines how closely you sit from the screen and not basic resolution.

You can use an upconverting DVD player like the Zenith DVB-318. It changes the 480 picture by duplicating lines so that your display thinks it is "HD". The picture quality may be somewhat improved due to the increased bandpass of the DVD player (10MHz in the 318) but it is generally limited to about the 540 line horizontal resolution limit of the DVD and the original film transfer picture quality.

I found this online.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=302235#ts

Anybody thing that would work?

Thanks.

For future reference, that cable does work.

Adam

Yeah, they are generally called Mickey Mouse power cords (looking at it it kind of resembles Mickey's face). You can find them in all sorts of devices.

Yeah, they are generally called Mickey Mouse power cords (looking at it it kind of resembles Mickey's face). You can find them in all sorts of devices.

Speaking of cords, one thing I forgot in my home theater is a UPS like the monster 500. Problem is that I have a plug in the ceiling next to the projector, otherwise, I'd have to run a power cord through my conduit pipe where my video cables are going through, which might not be too good if there is power leak. I wonder how long a power cable I could find anyway. The other option is to build a hanging shelf of some sort on the ceiling that could hold the 16 pound UPS to the left of the projector. I had a 10 second brown out this morning and it reminded me what might happen if my Z4 was on at that moment. What would you guys suggest and who has this same issue?

Madpoet wrote

Now, that aside I am running a Z4 with HD DVD now (had it for a week or so) and it is a really nice picture.
________________________________________________________--

So you are using the HD DVD set up to output 1080I to the Z4 or 720P? Have you tried both and do you notice any difference between the two resolutions? If you are using it @720P is it much different than an upconverting unit? Have you previously tried one before the HD-DVD? I have read there is not much difference?
What are you observations?

I wonder if anyone has tried the Z4 with the Samsung Blu-Ray @108oP output?

1080i. The projector does a better job of downscaling to 720p than the player, always output 1080i with the player. There is an extreme amount of difference. Much better color saturation, easily defined picture sharpness, and of course the audio benefits. Have I preveiously tried what before HD-DVD, an upscaling player? Yes, several. Or the Z4 itself? Yes, last year at release. I've also tried it with the Blu Ray player. I hate the Blu Ray player :(. It works, but you can see the difference at least on some of the early titles.

Madpoet

You have tried upsampling DVD players before the HD DVD player. Is there a big difference between them, and what are the differences between an HD DVD player and an upscaling DVD player in your eyes on the Z4?

What was your previous display and why is the Z4 superior?

There is a huge difference between HD DVDs and an upsampling player. The Z4 is not superior to my other displays, it's just the one that is getting some use right now ;). I also have 9" CRTs, etc;

madpoet wrote
There is a huge difference between HD DVDs and an upsampling player. The Z4 is not superior to my other displays, it's just the one that is getting some use right now ;). I also have 9" CRTs, etc;
_____________________________________________________


I am trying to decide between display technologies, unfortunately I cannot afford multiple displays. Why are you using the Sanyo as opposed to the CRT projector which you also own(what is it)? What would you recommend if you had to choose one unit between the different display technology's now?

HD-DVD is far far better than an upscaling DVD player is on any HDTV because the HD-DVD's discs actually have the content in 1080i HD resolution, so it should be as good as seeing something on HDNET or HDHBO which blows away anything on an upconverting player like an OPPO or DVB318 etc... So the comparison would be what you are already seeing in an upscaling playing vs. the HDTV channels.

Depends on your tolerence level. CRTs can produce a better image for less money, but take some know-how and patience. Digitals work right out of the box. There's a lot to be said for that. My Z4 is getting a lot of use simply because my CRTs are being worked on. I'm enjoying it though, it's a great box.

Is there a factory menu for the Z4 and can you use it to fix panel misalignment/ convergence problems?

My panels are about 1 pixel of in all directions, making a black line 2-3 pixels wide.
Is this normal and is it acceptable? :mad:

Thanks,
Jacob

There is a 'service menu' available, however there is no way to fix convergence in LCD projectors (at least not any I've heard of and not in the Z4). The panels are permanently in place and do not move. Which color is off by 1 pixel? I'm not sure what the tolerance for pixel misconvergence, however, 1 pixel is well within the acceptable range. My red is off by 1 pixel as well. One a test pattern grid, it looks terrible up close, however if I step back even a few feet from the screen, I can't see it anymore. You be hard pressed to be able to see the 1 pixel misconvergence at a normal viewing distance so it shouldn't have any negative effect. Now if up close to the screen, you can clearly see all 3 colors off the grid, that could be something to call Sanyo about just to see if they will do something.

thanks Dweezilz,
I'll try to calm down :-)

No problem. Just to clairify what I was saying, by 'tolerance' and 'acceptable range' I wasn't talking about you, I'm refering to Sanyo's warranty limits. I too would love for them to fix my red being off 1 pixel, but I guess in the end, it's not noticable during actual viewing so it doesn't hurt the picture...just my desire for perfection! ha!

Didn't want you to think I was ripping on ya! :)

Do you all think that the Z4 will have a price drop after CEDIA?

I have an opportunity to get it at a pretty good price with the free bulb in Canada. The AE900 does not offer the rebate or the blockbuster card in Canada which quite frankly pisses me off, So i have decided to go with the Z4 (which is cheaper than the AE900 in Canada)

So, with all that out of the way, Should I wait 5 weeks? Or should i just go through with the purchase, i am REALLY going crazy here, i just finished our theatre room downstairs (all drywalled and all) and am very excited to get in there and get that 110" screen.

Another thing, i am going to be running just a simple 2 channel mix until i save up around 2500CAD for the Axiom Speakers and Yamaha Reciever V1600 (which should also drop in price soon since the V1700 was announced).

In your guys' opinion, should I wait until I can get it all at the same time, or just get the projector and at least have a 110" TV with small JVC speakers as a 2 channel?

-Robb.

I just got my lamp and screen today. It took about 5 weeks. Yea!

Do you all think that the Z4 will have a price drop after CEDIA?

I have an opportunity to get it at a pretty good price with the free bulb in Canada. The AE900 does not offer the rebate or the blockbuster card in Canada which quite frankly pisses me off, So i have decided to go with the Z4 (which is cheaper than the AE900 in Canada)

So, with all that out of the way, Should I wait 5 weeks? Or should i just go through with the purchase, i am REALLY going crazy here, i just finished our theatre room downstairs (all drywalled and all) and am very excited to get in there and get that 110" screen.

Another thing, i am going to be running just a simple 2 channel mix until i save up around 2500CAD for the Axiom Speakers and Yamaha Reciever V1600 (which should also drop in price soon since the V1700 was announced).

In your guys' opinion, should I wait until I can get it all at the same time, or just get the projector and at least have a 110" TV with small JVC speakers as a 2 channel?

-Robb.

Robb,

The Z4 will surely go down in price. However when will that be and by how much?
Will it be enough to meet or exceed the cost considering the free bulb and screen? I can't see them dropping the price and keeping the bulb and screen offer, but it could happen.

I bought mine about 3 weeks ago and I am very happy with it. I made my decision based on the 3 year warranty and the free bulb (I have froogled this at just under $300 US), the screen will be a gift to a friend I figure.

So if I backout the cost of the bulb alone from the cost of the projector it is a heck of deal.

Just my opinion (and that dosen't count for much), but knowing how much I like the Z4 I would pull the trigger all over again.

Rich

I to have been waiting to buy the Z4 and will jump on one in about two weeks. I can't imagine them lowering the price with the lamp and screen more than $200 even into Sept. Life is to short to wait on something as enjoyable as HD DVD on a 720p projector!

Just got my Z4 today. Now I won't be able to really use it until the HT is completed, which leads me to my question. I am just about to run the ceiling cabling - is there a reason to run component if I plan on switching my stuff through my audio processor and out HDMI? I ordered a HDMI cable from Monoprice and plan to use that as the main feed. Although I can always pull cable after, I'd really like to hear if there is a reason to have both HDMI AND component?? Any sort of issue with the HDMI input that people would suggest using component??

Thanks

Just got my Z4 today. Now I won't be able to really use it until the HT is completed, which leads me to my question. I am just about to run the ceiling cabling - is there a reason to run component if I plan on switching my stuff through my audio processor and out HDMI? I ordered a HDMI cable from Monoprice and plan to use that as the main feed. Although I can always pull cable after, I'd really like to hear if there is a reason to have both HDMI AND component?? Any sort of issue with the HDMI input that people would suggest using component??

Thanks

Donnie,

I fully plan on getting the RX-V1600 reciever from Yamaha which outputs all signals through the HDMI port, in such that only an HDMI input to the Z4 is required. I have no plans to run component, so much cleaner with just 1 cord.

I am also running HDMI through the ceiling (i have an open ceiling atm) to the back wall where my Z4 will be shelf mounted.

-Robb.

Just got my Z4 today. Now I won't be able to really use it until the HT is completed, which leads me to my question. I am just about to run the ceiling cabling - is there a reason to run component if I plan on switching my stuff through my audio processor and out HDMI? I ordered a HDMI cable from Monoprice and plan to use that as the main feed. Although I can always pull cable after, I'd really like to hear if there is a reason to have both HDMI AND component?? Any sort of issue with the HDMI input that people would suggest using component??

Thanks

Any technical limitations to using only HDMI??

Just got my Z4 today. Now I won't be able to really use it until the HT is completed, which leads me to my question. I am just about to run the ceiling cabling - is there a reason to run component if I plan on switching my stuff through my audio processor and out HDMI? I ordered a HDMI cable from Monoprice and plan to use that as the main feed. Although I can always pull cable after, I'd really like to hear if there is a reason to have both HDMI AND component?? Any sort of issue with the HDMI input that people would suggest using component??

Thanks

Although I use hdmi for my dvd player, I prefer the picture through component (rather than the hdmi output) from my Comcast hd dvr.

I'm glad that I ran both sets of cables to my pj.

Shelly

Before getting a Z4, I've got two questions:

1. Quite a bit of 3X4 material will be watched. Anybody know if there have been reports of burn-in lines like plasmas.

2. BW movies will be watched a lot. Are all LCD projectors eventually doomed to color uniformity problems. Have any Z4 owners with quite a bit of use on the pj noticed this?

I'm assuming you mean 4:3 material. LCD is not very susceptible to burn-in or in the case of 4:3 bars, uneven wear, so this should not really be a concern. You can always use the stretch if you are overly worried. Plasma's are the most susceptible to burn-in and uneven wear so that's a totally different ballgame.

As for the black & white films, I can only speak for my Z4 which has pretty good uniformity. I've watched a few B&W films and they looked great. On a pure white screen, I have pretty much all white all over with only a ting of 'pinkish' tone in the far lower corner, although I have to really look hard to even notice as it's so slight. I do know that some Z4's (and all LCD's) are not quite as fortunate and have a definate pink color on half their white screen. Just the luck of the draw. There is supposed to be some software that Sanyo has to fix this issue, but I don't think anyone has come up with any information on it, even though it's mentioned in the service manual.

In the early days of my Z4 I did experience a screen burn effect from 4:3 that concerned me quite a bit. When watching my widescreen movies I could clearly see vertical lines where the 4:3 bars were positioned. It's since gone away after making some modifications to my setup (running my 4:3 material thru an HTPC so I have a background image that fills the void where black bars would normally be) LCD doesn't have a true screen-burn that once done, it's "done"... rather after a lot of use it does go away. Use some of the various stretch modes as mentioned above to cure that concern. B&W has always looked fine on my machine.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Some crt rear projection sets have a feature whereby a 4:3 image is gradually and continuously moved back and forth to reduce burn-in. And some stbs allow grey rather than black sidebars to be displayed. Guess LCD pj manufacturers are confident that the problem is not significant enough to include such features.

In the early days of my Z4 I did experience a screen burn effect from 4:3 that concerned me quite a bit. When watching my widescreen movies I could clearly see vertical lines where the 4:3 bars were positioned. It's since gone away after making some modifications to my setup (running my 4:3 material thru an HTPC so I have a background image that fills the void where black bars would normally be) LCD doesn't have a true screen-burn that once done, it's "done"... rather after a lot of use it does go away. Use some of the various stretch modes as mentioned above to cure that concern. B&W has always looked fine on my machine.

LCD do not get burn-in or uneven wear due to the nature of the liquid crystal. They can get, although pretty rare still, what's called image persistence. This is what you are describing. I'm pretty surprised your Z4 got it so early on in it's life! Usually with a normal mix of 4:3 and widescreen, this never even comes into play. At any rate, here is some info on the topic that you guys might find useful and interesting:

___________________
LCD monitors use a very different method for producing the image on the screen and are supposed to be immune to this burn in effect. Rather than phosphors being used to generate the light and color, an LCD has a white light behind the screen and then uses polarizers and crystals to filter the light to specific colors. While LCDs are not susceptible to the burn-in the same way CRT monitors are, they do suffer from what the manufacturers like to call image persistence.

What is Image Persistence?

Like the burn-in on CRTs, image persistence on LCD monitors is caused by the continuous display of static graphics on the screen for extended periods of time.
What this does is cause the LCD crystals to have a memory for their location in order to generate the colors of that graphic. When a different color is then displayed in that location, the color will be off from what it should be and instead have a faint image of what was previously displayed.

This problem is most common for elements of the display that do not change. So items that are likely to generate a persistent image are the task bar, desktop icons and even background images. All of these tend to be static in their location and will be displayed on the screen for extended period of time. Once other graphics are loaded over these locations, it may be possible to see a faint outline or image of the previous graphic.

Is it permanent?

In most cases, no. The crystals do have a natural state and can shift depending upon the amount of current used to generate the desired color. As long as these colors do shift periodically, the crystals at that pixel should fluctuate enough such that the image will not be permanently imprinted into the crystals. Having said that, it is possible that the crystals could get a permanent memory if the screen image does not change at all and the screen is left on all the time. It is very unlikely for a consumer to have this happen as it is more likely to happen in a fixed display such as those seen as display boards for businesses that do not change.

Can it be prevented/corrected?

Yes, image persistence on LCD screens can be corrected in most cases and is easily prevented. Prevention of image persistence can be done through some of the following methods:

1. Set the screen to turn off after a few minutes of screen idle time under the Power functions in Windows. Turning the monitor display off will prevent an image from being displayed on the screen for extended periods of time. Of course, this could be annoying to some people as the screen may go off more than they wish.
2. Use a screen saver that either rotates, has moving graphic images or is blank. This also prevents an image for being displayed in screen for too long.
3. Rotate any background images on the desktop. Background images are one of the most common causes for image persistence. By switching backgrounds every day or few days, it should reduce the change of persistence.
4. Turn off the monitor when the system is not in use. This will prevent any problems where the screen saver or power function fails to turn off the screen and result in an image sitting on the screen for long times.

Using these items can help prevent the image persistence problem from cropping up on a monitor. But what if the monitor is already displaying image persistence problems? Here are a few steps that can be used to try and correct it:

1. Turn off the monitor for extended periods of time. It can be as little as several hours or it could be as long as several days.
2. Use a screen saver with a rotating image and run it for extended periods of time. The rotating color palette should help remove the persistent image but it could take a long time.
3. Run the screen with a single solid color or bright white for an extended period of time. This will cause all of the crystals to be reset at a single color setting and should erase and previous image persistence.

Conclusions

While LCDs don't have the same burn-in problem that affected CRTs, the image persistence problem could come about. Hopefully this article has addressed what the issue is, what causes it, how to prevent it and how to correct it. With all the preventative steps in place, a user should never really have to encounter this problem.

[QUOTE=TomJones]1.

2. BW movies will be watched a lot. Are all LCD projectors eventually doomed to color uniformity problems. Have any Z4 owners with quite a bit of use on the pj noticed this?
_______________________________________________________

I have not had any luck with color uniformity with B&W movies on LCD with both a SONY HS-20 and Hitachi PJTX100. If you watch a lot of B&W look elesewhere for your projector as this is a huge drawback to LCD.
Maybe the Z4 is better at color uniformity than previous generations but as I said look elesewhere if this is a big concern for you.

kiwi2000,

Thanks for the thoughts. Seems B/W material has its color uniformity problem with LCD, and its rainbow problem with DLP. And I see rainbows. When my CRT pj was functioning, B/W looked great. I may wind up having to watch my old B/W movies on my old 35" direct-view CRT.

I just received my free screen and bulb from the Z4 rebate. It took exactly 5 weeks after they received my form. I sent it with receipt confirmation from the post office.

Edit: long rambling post deleted. :)

I just read a comparison between the Z4 and the AE900U which pointed out that SD TV looks like crap on the Z4. That's a killer for me. Cable TV looks bad enough without the PJ making it worse and I watch a fair bit of Tivo'ed cable TV. At this point I think I will go for the AE900U. No free bulb but big rebate and extended bulb warantee from at least one retailer.

All other things being equal I'd rather have the Z4 for the quiet fan but I'm sure the AE900U will still be quieter than my H30.

I've had my Z4 installed for a couple of months now. 92" Gray Wolf screen, 11 ft viewing distance, Oppo DVD over HDMI & Comcast HD over component. The HD material looks amazing & the DVD looks awesome upconverted to 720p with the Oppo. I watch some SD material on my comcast box, but use the comcast box to upconvert it to 720p. I tried it at 480i & it looked like crap. I would not reccomend viewing SD material over 480i with this projector. I read this in reviews on Projector Central before I got my Sanyo. So, if you stay away from the using 480i for SD, it will look fine upconverted. But, you gotta go HD, it looks amazing on this projector.

Oh, yeah, this sucker is the quietist projector I've ever sat under. I first thought the fan wasn't working when I installed it. It sits right above my viewing area, so a quiet unit is much appreciated.

Oh, yeah, this sucker is the quietist projector I've ever sat under. I first thought the fan wasn't working when I installed it. It sits right above my viewing area, so a quiet unit is much appreciated.

No kidding! I sit right underneath mine as well, and it is ridiculously quiet. What makes it even harder to believe is that it has no less than five (5!) fans!

Hi folks. I think I'm just about ready to get me a Z4. It's been down to that, the Cineza HS51A, and the Panasonic AE9000U. I've done months of research and reviews and, through that, it seems like the Z4 has the edge.

The only thing I haven't much come across yet, are those who have seen/had/owned the Cineza and Panasonic and now own the Z4 and what they think about brigthness, contrast, color, screendoor, etc. Everything I've found, was independent reviews saying how all 3 are great. I'd just like to see for example, something like, "...screendoor on the Z4 was substantially better than the Cineza..." or something like that...

This is going to be my first proj and, as you probably already know, it's such a leap of faith and frustrating making the final decision...

Thanks for all your input. Have a nice day.

I work in the video industry & have seen my share of LCD projectors over the years. I use both DLP & LCD projectors at my work, and I have always thought DLP looked better in shoot outs with video material. So, when it came time to build my own home theater, I really wanted a DLP unit in my house. But, after reading reviews on the Panny 9000 and the Sanyo Z4, I was very interested in seeing these in person. I attended InfoComm in Orlando in June hoping to see the Optima DLP's at their booth. I was disappointed as they had them in their booth, but they weren't even set-up for viewing. Then I walked into the Sanyo booth and was blown away by the Z4 on full display with an HD-DVD source...it looked drop dead gorgeous! I saw no SDE and the contrast was amazing. Now I had a decision to make...or so I thought...Sanyo had a give-away at their booth that day & I won a brand new Z4! Woo Hoo...my decision was made for me. I now have had the Z4 installed for over a month now & under my much careful scrutiny. It looks amazing, Sanyo really did a great job here, I'm very happy! Even if I didn't win one for free, I think I would have bought the Z4 anyway after seeing it in person. The blur between DLP & LCD is now blurred and the price point on the Z4 and the 3 year warranty are reasons to jump on this baby.I also love the lens shift feature, sheeze all projectors should have this now. I'm not a fan of keystone use at all. The low fan noise is also a bonus. Lastly, I probably have close to 100 projectors at the facility I work at, we own alot of Sanyos, from tabletops to the big 10K's. The first Sanyo's I saw years ago couldn't come close to DLP. But every next generation model I purchased the video quality improved...Nice work Sanyo! Oh, and thanks for the free projector! I now got a couple grand left to blow on a Blue Ray player & stuff.

Question for those who submitted the rebate... it wants the form, a copy of the sales receipt, and the serial number. Do they just mean write the serial number on the form? Also, why does the form have those stickies?

Question for those who submitted the rebate... it wants the form, a copy of the sales receipt, and the serial number. Do they just mean write the serial number on the form? Also, why does the form have those stickies?


Yes, I just printed the serial number where they ask for it in "step 2" on the form. Mine had a sticker on the back of the form which I left there. I thought it must be proof of authenticity of the "official mail-in certificate" or something to streamline the handling of the form since it had a barcode. I went to the post office and paid close to five bucks to get delivery confirmation. Received the goodies in exactly five weeks after they received my rebate form. I hate rebates, but this one was easy to fill out and definitely worthwhile!

Added: Did you mean those perforated, peel off stickies on the sides of the form? I removed those... I think those were for a B&M retailer to stick the form on the outside of the box.

This may have been asked before but how is the screen that comes with the rebate. Sent mine in last week but couldn't wait so....I did a little DIY screen. I'll have to post a pic, nothing special but when you glance at it the first time you think its some fancy fixed screen but then you look close and realize its just thin black gaffe tape for the border and a Spectra shade of paint I found at WalMart.

I work in the video industry & have seen my share of LCD projectors over the years. I use both DLP & LCD projectors at my work, and I have always thought DLP looked better in shoot outs with video material. So, when it came time to build my own home theater, I really wanted a DLP unit in my house. But, after reading reviews on the Panny 9000 and the Sanyo Z4, I was very interested in seeing these in person. I attended InfoComm in Orlando in June hoping to see the Optima DLP's at their booth. I was disappointed as they had them in their booth, but they weren't even set-up for viewing. Then I walked into the Sanyo booth and was blown away by the Z4 on full display with an HD-DVD source...it looked drop dead gorgeous! I saw no SDE and the contrast was amazing. Now I had a decision to make...or so I thought...Sanyo had a give-away at their booth that day & I won a brand new Z4! Woo Hoo...my decision was made for me. I now have had the Z4 installed for over a month now & under my much careful scrutiny. It looks amazing, Sanyo really did a great job here, I'm very happy! Even if I didn't win one for free, I think I would have bought the Z4 anyway after seeing it in person. The blur between DLP & LCD is now blurred and the price point on the Z4 and the 3 year warranty are reasons to jump on this baby.I also love the lens shift feature, sheeze all projectors should have this now. I'm not a fan of keystone use at all. The low fan noise is also a bonus. Lastly, I probably have close to 100 projectors at the facility I work at, we own alot of Sanyos, from tabletops to the big 10K's. The first Sanyo's I saw years ago couldn't come close to DLP. But every next generation model I purchased the video quality improved...Nice work Sanyo! Oh, and thanks for the free projector! I now got a couple grand left to blow on a Blue Ray player & stuff.
Hey thank you for this info. Makes me feel a little bit more comfortable...

One last quick question (I hope everyone doesn't mind if I ask it here):

According to a throw distance/screen size app, if I get a screen with a gain of 2.8, have a 25x15 room with complete light control; I could actually get a 58x103 (118 diag) and throw the projector from 24' back and seat at about 18 feet back?

Again, I'm new at this, and even though this little calculation chart says I can, I want to see what others think and whether or not I'm pushing the limits/not reading this chart correctly.

I'll crap my pants if I'm safe with a 118 diag screen. Bottom line though I want big, but definitely will trim down for picture quality...

Thank you again for your experience.

You definitely could do that, but you might not want to optimally. First off, in a total light controlled room, a 2.8 gain screen is probably too high a gain. Just makes it harder to control image quality with little need for that much gain. To improve blacks without skimping on the brightness, I'd recommend a high contrast gray screen in the 1.1-1.5 gain range. They also help if you want to have some light on for sporting events or seeing something while watching such as food etc... Any screen will look great with Z4, but some better than others. 118 inch diag screen is very big and I wouldn't go any bigger. It probably is bigger than recommended for optimal PQ but again, that's pretty subjective to each person.

The second thing (it's been posted many times) is that you don't want to be at the far end of the zoom range if you can help it. The Z4's lense is no different than most camera zoom lenses. You get lense distortion at both extremes (no zoom or all zoom). Would it be very noticeable? Depends on the person. All things being equal where you have control of where to put things in your theater, with a 118 screen, you'd want the projector to optimally be in the middle of the throw range, which is 11.9 to 23.8' . So if you can, put the projector at 16 to 18 feet. Seating would be optimally at about 14.5' to 16'.

That's about it. HAVE FUN!!!! :)

Awesome. Thank you VERY much Dweezilz for the info.

I'm glad I asked because I just assumed the higher the gain, the better. So it sounds like I will hang the proj off the ceiling a little closer around the 18' range, seat just in front of that around 16' to 14' like you said which will work out well (fireplace prevents 14' to 10'), tick down one size off the screen from 118" to the next lower one (106" I believe), and use a 1.5 gain screen material.

I'm feeling much better about moving forward now. Thanks again and I'll check in with everyone soon on my progress...

no problem. :) You can also go down to a 110" if you want. Keep in mind the distance for throw and seating change a bit when you go down in size. (not by all that much though)

Instead of looking through 65 pages of this thread could someone let me know their setup. I just purchased the Z4 and have read through the very complete manual. I have a 92 inch diag DaLite CinemaVision 1.3 gain. This is similar to the StudioTek 130. I will be using Component for now.

If someone has this size screen or close and/or is using component connections to the Z4 I could be watching a picture a lot sooner this evening with some basic info.

What is the most natural preset for movies, Creative Cinema, Pure Cinema, Natural,etc,etc...? I am guessing Natural.

Where is the Lamp Control set at Normal, Auto1 or 2, or Eco? I do not understand the Auto1 or 2 instruction,"brightness according to the input signal".

What about the Iris Control 0-63?

Contrast, Brightness, etc,etc...?

I will keep looking on this thread for set up instructions for now but I would rather be watching my new projector?

Go to the much smaller tweaks thread. You'll find everything you need there.

Thanks Dweezilz I found the tweak thread!
My last LCD had a combined thread.

I have hooked up the Z4 with my upconverting Samsung HD850 DVD player and it wont show component. Only Composite. Does anyone have this set up of these two? I have a component signla through another player but not the upconverted signal or any component signal i or p through the Samsung.

Is there a reset for the player? Has this happened to anyone else? I got the HDCP free message from the player but it will not even show any component.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks

Do you all think that the Z4 will have a price drop after CEDIA?

I have an opportunity to get it at a pretty good price with the free bulb in Canada. The AE900 does not offer the rebate or the blockbuster card in Canada which quite frankly pisses me off, So i have decided to go with the Z4 (which is cheaper than the AE900 in Canada)

So, with all that out of the way, Should I wait 5 weeks? Or should i just go through with the purchase, i am REALLY going crazy here, i just finished our theatre room downstairs (all drywalled and all) and am very excited to get in there and get that 110" screen.

Another thing, i am going to be running just a simple 2 channel mix until i save up around 2500CAD for the Axiom Speakers and Yamaha Reciever V1600 (which should also drop in price soon since the V1700 was announced).

In your guys' opinion, should I wait until I can get it all at the same time, or just get the projector and at least have a 110" TV with small JVC speakers as a 2 channel?

-Robb.

Had considered the Z4 as a replacement for a Panny AE700 around the time it was becoming available. Rolled on a Optoma H78DC3 so for me DLP kicks too much ass to look back. But I've heard good things about the Z4.

With Cedia so close, you really would do yourself some justice by waiting. When I got into the game two years ago, HD programming was really ramping up and the Panny was hitting the 720p world in a big way. Now the next blip is the release of 1080p machines. That's going to put a new scale of pricing on all projectors.

So I would hold out. And also I have a 2.1 NHT Xd system with no desire to go nuts there but then again Xd kicks much butt.

Good luck in your hunt. :cool:

Just got my Z4 today. Now I won't be able to really use it until the HT is completed, which leads me to my question. I am just about to run the ceiling cabling - is there a reason to run component if I plan on switching my stuff through my audio processor and out HDMI? I ordered a HDMI cable from Monoprice and plan to use that as the main feed. Although I can always pull cable after, I'd really like to hear if there is a reason to have both HDMI AND component?? Any sort of issue with the HDMI input that people would suggest using component??

Thanks

Gamers need to have more bandwidth where having the component cable is useful. It could also be useful when there is some glitch or problem to have available, as in just in case.

No way would I go without the HDMI.

I work in the video industry & have seen my share of LCD projectors over the years. I use both DLP & LCD projectors at my work, and I have always thought DLP looked better in shoot outs with video material. So, when it came time to build my own home theater, I really wanted a DLP unit in my house. But, after reading reviews on the Panny 9000 and the Sanyo Z4, I was very interested in seeing these in person. I attended InfoComm in Orlando in June hoping to see the Optima DLP's at their booth. I was disappointed as they had them in their booth, but they weren't even set-up for viewing. Then I walked into the Sanyo booth and was blown away by the Z4 on full display with an HD-DVD source...it looked drop dead gorgeous! I saw no SDE and the contrast was amazing. Now I had a decision to make...or so I thought...Sanyo had a give-away at their booth that day & I won a brand new Z4! Woo Hoo...my decision was made for me. I now have had the Z4 installed for over a month now & under my much careful scrutiny. It looks amazing, Sanyo really did a great job here, I'm very happy! Even if I didn't win one for free, I think I would have bought the Z4 anyway after seeing it in person. The blur between DLP & LCD is now blurred and the price point on the Z4 and the 3 year warranty are reasons to jump on this baby.I also love the lens shift feature, sheeze all projectors should have this now. I'm not a fan of keystone use at all. The low fan noise is also a bonus. Lastly, I probably have close to 100 projectors at the facility I work at, we own alot of Sanyos, from tabletops to the big 10K's. The first Sanyo's I saw years ago couldn't come close to DLP. But every next generation model I purchased the video quality improved...Nice work Sanyo! Oh, and thanks for the free projector! I now got a couple grand left to blow on a Blue Ray player & stuff.

Take a look at the horror show of Blu-ray before you throw away your dough.
HD-DVD is kicking much ass for much less money. It's only a click away to find out and other folks I know kept HD-DVD but returned their Blu-ray players.

Good luck.

....I have hooked up the Z4 with my upconverting Samsung HD850 DVD player and it wont show component. Only Composite. Does anyone have this set up of these two? I have a component signla through another player but not the upconverted signal or any component signal i or p through the Samsung.


My brother-in-law had a simular problem and he had to go into the DVD players menu and change the output to component (it had been set on composite at the factory) before his display would pick up the signal. Not sure what brand he had, but maybe this is what you need to do.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

RTROSE

I am in the process of building a HT room, and was planningon getting the Sanyo PLV-Z4 projector (features, warranty, PQ, Price) within the next week or two.

Setup:
- Room is 18’ x 12’ x 86”
- Planning on a fixed 110” diagonal screen, mounted with a 2-3” black border
- Projector mounted on back wall near ceiling – 17’ throw.
- Primary seating at 12’, secondary 8” off floor and about 16’-17’ back
- Dedicated HT room, with black ceiling, dark taupe walls, dark carpet, so no ambient light issues


I was first planning to get a white screen and/or just painting the wall and then making a decision, BUT according to the projection calculator at Projector Central, this setup requires a screen with at least 1.1 gain to be in the “green”.

I can obviously go with a high gain screen, but now I am getting nervous that the Z4 is not bright enough for the screen size.

Any advice/feedback? Am I worrying about nothing?

My z4 was a torch at 110" on a .95 gain screen. I think you will be fine.

At this point, it could be worth the wait for a Z5 which comes out in Oct., but that's another subject I guess. It's supposed to be $1595 so it may be worth the wait unless you get a great price on the Z4. Come Oct., I might know a Z4 for a good price. HA! :p

My buddy has a 110" screen and the Z4 is plenty bright for that size. He has a 1.1 gain screen though but I'm sure it'll look just fine with less. I wouldn't worry too much about that part of the calculator to be honest. Obviously screen size and brightness are important things to keep in mind, but black level is equally important if not more so. A high contrast screen such as the Da-Lite HC Cinema Vision is the best mix of blacks and brightness and contrast. It's gain is 1.1 so you'll be all set as far as that goes. The other issue I see is your room to screen size. Your room is nearly the same exact dimentions as mine and I think that 110 is too big for that room. Throwing from 17' is fine and it'll fit on the wall with about a foot of space on the top and bottom, but the problem will be from 12' seating, you could get plenty of SDE. If you find you are someone who sees SDE, that could be trouble. Some people just don't see it as much as others, but many do. My screen is 106" and at 12 feet, SDE is very noticable for many who have been in my theater. My front row seats are at 13' 7" and I can still see some SDE in bright scenes. I stop seeing it at about 14'. So at 12' on a 110", it's could be more noticeable.

Getting a 106" will make your screen brighter and reduce SDE in your size room. The 1.1 gain high contrast (gray/silver) screen is also a good match. Anyway, I hope some of these ideas help you out.

Where did you hear that the Z5 will be only $1595?

Thanks for the advice. Very helpful. I was thinking I would just start out with Behr Silver and then figure out exactly how big the screen should/could be (i don't like to sit TOO close to a screen). Just got nervous that the setup wouldn't be bright enough, but that sounds like it is a non-issue..

As far as the Z5 goes, I guess I will have to do some more research. I did some the other day, but thought the initial price would be much higher. Waiting a month or more though will be painful...

I did a bunch of Google searches the other day and found that multiple (5 or 6) separate sites had an estimated price in the range of $1495 to $1695. Of course nobody knows for sure and all of those people might be full of garbage, but still, that seemed to be the general consensus. Given the Z4 is at $1595 - $1795 and will drop right around when Z5 comes out (probably), $1595 or $1695 seems reasonable. LCD prices dropped like CRAZY this year for RPTV's. Sony SXRD 50" LCoS went from $3295 to $2695! Most other's followed suite as well.

I guess it'll be a wait and see, but the price should be very reasonable & well under $2000.

I did some Goggle searches as well and I couldn't find any concrete prices for the Z5. I did find an estimated price, but it was in Euro's (1799.00 euro's which is around $2300 USD.

I know this isn't the thread for this discussion but keep this in mind. The Z4's MSRP from Sanyo was $ 2,995 when it first came out, yet retail prices started out at $1995. i got the Z4 only a month after it came out and i paid 1795. Baring some great new features, I'd be pretty disappointed if the retail price of Z5 was $300 more than Z4 considering most LCD products on the market went down in price by 20% or so over the last few months. Again, hard to say.

Hi!

Just couple of question for owner of the Z4 and specially those who had the X1 before the Z4.

Well, i’m on my way to buy the Z4 (i have good deal), i own the X1 right now, i liked the HD picture of the X1 until i bought a 20 inches NEC LCD screen for my computer. Just for fun i plug my HDTV receiver on it via DVI and WOW, looks like i was at the football game for real!

So my question is, will the Z4 give me the same WOW effect on HDTV versus the X1? Will i see a huge difference like i see on the LCD screen?
I’m just not sure now if i should get a larger LCD screen or still go with the Z4!?

Any help or advise will be apprecitated.
Thanks

I don't have an X1, but from looking at the reviews, it's only an 800X600 projector right? If that's the case, Z4 should easily be much better, especially on a larger sized projection screen. The X1 can't display true HD. Reviews for X1 were very good, but it's resolution alone holds it back against any well implemented projector that displays at 1280x720.

Comparing to a small computer LCD is difficult for several reasons. You can't compare a flatscreen LCD that doesn't have to project the image and is at the most 40" (probably more like 20"-32") to a projector that is projecting onto a screen that is 100" or more. Small screens always look better because the pixels are smaller and which hides more of the faults in the source. With a good flat panel LCD, as far as color and sharpness, there is no comparison...it's going to look more colorful and considerably sharper. However, there is a reason we go to the movie's and that's pure size!! There is a joy that comes from seeing a screen that big! Seeing something on a 106" or 110" screen is wow inducing on it's own, but the Z4 is a VERY sharp picture as well. It's stunning in size and sharpness and color etc... but it's never going to have as crisp a picture as a tiny by comparison LCD screen.

So in the end, it's going to be considerably better than the X1 and still have that WOW factor but can't be compared to a 32" LCD. Hope that helps!

I am going to be cleaning the filters on the Z4 for the first time.
I am going to remove them as advised in the manual, but do you vacuum in the unit with the filters removed? Do you clean both sides of the filter or just the outside?

What is the purpose of removing the filters then?

Would it not be just as good to vacuum from the outside withour removing the filters? I ask this specifically because with my last projector I followed the manufacturer spec to clean the filter by removing the filter and ended up with dust blobs immediatly after the cleaning.

What are members detailed procedure for cleaning the filters on the Z4?

Thanks

To swd

You cannot compare a projector to a direct view display, period. They are not comparable in the least. If you prefer the ease of use, brightness, and clarity of the LCD I would suggest you proceed with the largest size affordable instead of the Z4 purchase.

At this point, it could be worth the wait for a Z5 which comes out in Oct., but that's another subject I guess. It's supposed to be $1595 so it may be worth the wait unless you get a great price on the Z4. Come Oct., I might know a Z4 for a good price. HA! :p

My buddy has a 110" screen and the Z4 is plenty bright for that size. He has a 1.1 gain screen though but I'm sure it'll look just fine with less. I wouldn't worry too much about that part of the calculator to be honest. Obviously screen size and brightness are important things to keep in mind, but black level is equally important if not more so. A high contrast screen such as the Da-Lite HC Cinema Vision is the best mix of blacks and brightness and contrast. It's gain is 1.1 so you'll be all set as far as that goes. The other issue I see is your room to screen size. Your room is nearly the same exact dimentions as mine and I think that 110 is too big for that room. Throwing from 17' is fine and it'll fit on the wall with about a foot of space on the top and bottom, but the problem will be from 12' seating, you could get plenty of SDE. If you find you are someone who sees SDE, that could be trouble. Some people just don't see it as much as others, but many do. My screen is 106" and at 12 feet, SDE is very noticable for many who have been in my theater. My front row seats are at 13' 7" and I can still see some SDE in bright scenes. I stop seeing it at about 14'. So at 12' on a 110", it's could be more noticeable.

Getting a 106" will make your screen brighter and reduce SDE in your size room. The 1.1 gain high contrast (gray/silver) screen is also a good match. Anyway, I hope some of these ideas help you out.


So would a 92" at 10-14 feet back would SDE be visable?

I am going to be cleaning the filters on the Z4 for the first time.
I am going to remove them as advised in the manual, but do you vacuum in the unit with the filters removed? Do you clean both sides of the filter or just the outside?

What is the purpose of removing the filters then?

Would it not be just as good to vacuum from the outside withour removing the filters? I ask this specifically because with my last projector I followed the manufacturer spec to clean the filter by removing the filter and ended up with dust blobs immediatly after the cleaning.



Just clean the outside surface of the filters; the airflow during cleaning should be in the opposite direction to that during operation. You could clean the filters without removing them, but there could be dust behind the vents that is easier to get at with no vents in the way. On the other hand, it's easier to accidentally damage the filters with them completely exposed.

I completely remove them for cleaning, personally.

I have the Z3 and a homemade 90" blackout cloth screen with the closest row of seating at 12'.
I am one that is really bothered by screen door. I experimented with a 100" screen at 12' and saw too much screen door. At 90" I could still see it especially on white letters or backgrounds. But you know what? After using my theater for few months I almost never see it anymore. I really enjoy the great picture and almost never notice SDE. I am really not looking for it anymore. I have to say it is a non-issue for me now. There is hope for those who really let it bother them.

Bishamon

Just clean the outside surface of the filters; the airflow during cleaning should be in the opposite direction to that during operation. You could clean the filters without removing them, but there could be dust behind the vents that is easier to get at with no vents in the way. On the other hand, it's easier to accidentally damage the filters with them completely exposed.

I completely remove them for cleaning, personally.
___________________________________________________________

Thanks for the reply.

I understand what you mean with the direction of cleaning.

Do you also clean the unit where the filter was with the vacuum when the filter is removed?

Any definitive DVD's that highlight the pluses and minuses of this projector? Don't say Avia or HQV... I don't watch those normally, so I need not use them to demo this baby.

Anyone have examples of where they saw particluar artifacts with a given DVD? Or anyone see anything absolutely amazing with a particular title? No Jessica Alba cracks either (pardon the pun).

I watched Titanic on my Z4 tonight and all the people looked squashed and too wide. I have my DVD player set to "16X9 Auto" and have watched many widescreen movies where the people and objects looked "normal". Every other setting in the DVD menu made it worse. I finally corrected the situation by setting my Z4 to "Zoom" from "Full", which stretched the image vertically, making it look normal. I thought that the "zoom" setting in the Z4 would stretch the image vertically and horizontally in equal amounts. Is there a problem with this Titanic widescreen DVD?

If it the older titanic disc, it is non-anamorphic.

I just bought a Z4 and will be ceiling mounting it this weekend. Here's a strange question, does anyone know the ceiling mount screw size? I ask this because I'm going to use my old Sharp DT-300 ceiling mount but that PJ used M4 screws and the Sanyo's look to be considerably larger.

I watched Titanic on my Z4 tonight and all the people looked squashed and too wide. I have my DVD player set to "16X9 Auto" and have watched many widescreen movies where the people and objects looked "normal". Every other setting in the DVD menu made it worse. I finally corrected the situation by setting my Z4 to "Zoom" from "Full", which stretched the image vertically, making it look normal. I thought that the "zoom" setting in the Z4 would stretch the image vertically and horizontally in equal amounts. Is there a problem with this Titanic widescreen DVD?

The older "Titanic" release is in "Letterbox" or non-anamorphic format and requires the DVD player to output the 4/3 format instead of 16/9. Then the Sanyo will then see it as 'Normal' or 'Normal Through' on older poor quality DVDs (not Titanic). If your player won't do this, then you will have to use the "S" connecor output and not component or HDMI.

So would a 92" at 10-14 feet back would SDE be visable?

Hard to say...it's different for each person. At 10', I'd venture to say probably yes. At 14' I'd have to say definitely no. In between those two is really how sensitive each person's eyes are to SDE. I have a 106" screen and at 13' I definitely see SDE in all the bright areas. At about 14', it disappears for me. Some won't see it on my screen at 13'...but at 12', if someone knows what SDE actually is, most of the time people can see it (I don't point it out on purpose!).

9' to 15' is recommended for your size screen, but I'd stick to 12' - 14'.

This is a rather specific question: Has anyone ever played Guitar Hero (Playstation 2 game) on the Z4? Since this is a 480i game, was there any noticeable image delay? For games like this, it's absolutely neccesary to have a lag-free image, as with other rhytm-based games like Beatmania or DDR.

I will be getting a Z4 soon, and this is one of the last things i'm kinda concerned about.

Hi..

I own a SANYO PLV-Z4 , and have used it hapily for 168 hours. Suddenly it had developed a problem,when it is switched on, it lights up green, shutter opens, with in seconds power indicatorgo to red starts blinking.Fans are not getting swiched on.I have tried reseting the thermal switch.still the problem is there.Could any one explain what is going wrong and any other method to reset is available.

Help needed ....

Regards.

I own a SANYO PLV-Z4 , and have used it hapily for 168 hours. Suddenly it had developed a problem,when it is switched on, it lights up green, shutter opens, with in seconds go to red sand blinking.Fans are not getting swiched on.I have tried reseting the thermal switch.still the problem is there.Could any one explain what is going wrong and any other method to reset is available.


Uh have you tryed looking at the bulb. If its got a white pot mark on the side then the poor thing went to bulb heaven. Its been happening alot with the toshibas around that hour mark.

Bulb seems ok.

thanks

This is a rather specific question: Has anyone ever played Guitar Hero (Playstation 2 game) on the Z4? Since this is a 480i game, was there any noticeable image delay? For games like this, it's absolutely neccesary to have a lag-free image, as with other rhytm-based games like Beatmania or DDR.

I will be getting a Z4 soon, and this is one of the last things i'm kinda concerned about.

That's one of the funnier questions we've had here. Even if it was unplayable I would like to think that how that game looked on the Z4 wouldn't play a big role in a purchase. My questions is, why get a Z4 at this point? If at all possible, I would spend a little bit more and get the Z5 which seems to be much better out of the box from all the reviews I've read.

At any rate, as for Guitar Hero, it does tend to blur a little bit as does anything with lots of motion on an LCD, but it would have to be really horrible blur to make a big difference in that game. Since it's really the music you are really listening to as your cue for playing (I'm sure you know this if you've played it) the blur hardly matter as long as you see that the note is there moving down the screen, which you definitely can. It's just a bit blurred as it crosses the line. It's not like it's so blurred that it'll be a huge trail line that all blurs into each other. No LCD is that bad! ha! It will be fine for that game. Not sure I'd waste too much lamp life on that one (it's a great game however) but it will totally be playable.

Hey Dweezilz,

thanks for answering. I posted this question back then to determine if the Z4 would be lag-heavy with certain sources, as i would play a lot of games (SD and HD) on it.

Now, i actually bought a Z4 a few months ago and i'm pretty happy with it. Guitar Hero turned out to be lag-free after turning off the "progressive" option in the Z4 menu, Guitar Hero 2 of course can display in 480p which helps alot.

While i'm at it, another question: What's the average bulb life people are getting out of their Z4s? I know that average values can be misleading because my setup and usage is probably different from everyone elses, but i'm asking anyways.

I don't think anyone really knows yet since it's only been out for about a year (since last October). According to Sanyo, it's 2000 hours on average, but it would be pretty difficult for someone to be past that in just 12 months. That would be 5 hours a day! :)

I'm sure there's been cases already where it's gone out already but that's all figured into the averages. I'm at about 325 hours I think in about 11 months.

I don't think anyone really knows yet since it's only been out for about a year (since last October). According to Sanyo, it's 2000 hours on average, but it would be pretty difficult for someone to be past that in just 12 months. That would be 5 hours a day! :)

I'm sure there's been cases already where it's gone out already but that's all figured into the averages. I'm at about 325 hours I think in about 11 months.


Well......... :o I happen to use mine as a daily driver and am up to 1977 hours on the original bulb. I get changes in intensity every once in awhile, more noticible in bright scenes. The frequency of this appears to be increasing indicating to me that the bulb is probably about done. I've got my free "spare" bulb ready for when that happens, then I'll buy another spare to have on hand for emergencies. :)

Cheers...

HTPC Freak, i've also been using my Z4 a lot since i got it, for the daily dose of gaming and such. Got it on October 27th and my bulb is on ~250 hours right now. I think i'll replace it after a year or so, if it doesn't blow up earlier...

I would like to know from members what thier viewing experiences are with various types of programming with the Z4.


A poll would be excellent but I do not see that option, so. Please rate your viewing experience for each type of signal, example does standard cable look 5 out of 10 and sd dvd 7 out of 10 and hd cable 8 and hd dvd 9 or whatever you choose to rate the inputs.

How would you rate out of 10 viewing standard definition cable?

Same question for sd DVD through component or dvi or hdmi?

Same question for hd DVD or blu ray through component or hdmi or dvi connection?

Same question for hd cable or satellite?

My reason for asking is I do not have all the options listed and am wondering where I should invest my hard earned cash for the most bang for the buck. I find sd DVD very engaging and would rate it 8 out of 10.
sd cable 4.5 out of 10

Standard Def = 6/10
(Watchable, but not great)

High Def = 9/10
(Awesome lifelike picture - sports are the best, esp football)

Xbox 360/PS3 = 10/10
(Best picture quality source from anything i've tried)

Upscaled OPPO regular DVD's = 8.5/10
(slightly fuzzy but still amazing)

I have everything run into my AVR and then HDMI to the Z4.

Standard Def = 7/10
(Watchable, but not anything like HD. I normally save this material for the plasma)

High Def Cable = 9/10
(Awesome lifelike picture)

Xbox 360 = 9/10
(Great computer generated images)

HD DVD's = 10/10
(Awesome!)

Thank you for your replies, I hope more members will voice their opinion on this topic. I also appreciate the method of connection to the Z4 was included.
Also, if you have it include the gaming option rating which was omitted in the original question.

On the HD options is the breathing/pumping/smearing whatever you want to call it associated with LCD and movement less noticable than on the other non HD options? I find this offensive now on my viewing choices and cannot imagine if the picture was sharper and these artifacts became more obvious.

My choices elaborated;

SD cable 4.5/10 composite
SD satellite 5.0/10 composite
SD DVD 7.5/10 component
SD DVD 8/10 upconverting hdmi

One thing to note is that all these ratings rely on Z4 settings being good and also the quality of the source. Not all HD is up to par and not all DVD players are up to par and not all DVD's are equal.

SD Time Warner Cable via component - 5/10 but not too far off other HD displays. bad is bad no matter how you slice it. At 106", bad is very bad, but watchable in a pinch. Just to note, SD looks like crap on my 51" Sony HDTV as well.

HD Time Warner @720p component - 10/10 for most depending on the source. Some HD content might drop it down to 9/10. HD in general on Z4 is stunning.

DVD upconverted via Zenith DVB318 component @ 1080i - 8/10

DVD via HTPC @ 1280x720 via DVI/HDMI - 10/10

As for motion blur, I'm not quite sure what you are asking but there is 'some' motion blur or ghosting on fast moving sports on the Z4. It's very minimal. The HD or SD doesn't really matter, the blur is there either way. That said, it seems to be less than most LCD's and certainly not something that is troublesome. It's really only obvious during hockey or soccer...sports with tons of horizontal camera motion. I don't notice it at all really for football and basketball. The motion blur is much worse on my new 37" Westinghouse 1080p LCD flatpanel. Even that is acceptable but definitely more noticeable than on the Z4 even at only 37".

HD Time Warner @720p component - 10/10 for most depending on the source. Some HD content might drop it down to 9/10. HD in general on Z4 is stunning.

DVD via HTPC @ 1280x720 via DVI/HDMI - 10/10

As for motion blur, I'm not quite sure what you are asking but there is 'some' motion blur or ghosting on fast moving sports on the Z4. It's very minimal. The HD or SD doesn't really matter, the blur is there either way. That said, it seems to be less than most LCD's and certainly not something that is troublesome. It's really only obvious during hockey or soccer...sports with tons of horizontal camera motion. I don't notice it at all really for football and basketball. The motion blur is much worse on my new 37" Westinghouse 1080p LCD flatpanel. Even that is acceptable but definitely more noticeable than on the Z4 even at only 37

At 10/10 rating, there is nothing that could be better in the picture?

As for your reply to motion blur if you don't see it don't look now. But if you are looking at an object example, close-up of a face filling the screen. The face is stationary, unmoving subtle detail is apparant small hairs imperfetcions of skin etc. Then the face moves every so slightly and...., all detail is lost in that moment.

This has nothing to do with high speed sport or fast motion. It is ANY motion, as when motion is introduced detail is lost. If you rate the hd sources as 10/10 then this problem should not be noticable.

My fear is it is an LCD trait that will continue with all input sources.

First off, if you ask for ratings I'd think it's not all that appropriate to challenge the person as to what they see or challenge their reasoning for the rating. So right off the bat your reply is a bit bothersome to me. I hesitated even giving my rating and this is exactly why. I didn't want it to be scrutinized by you and I should have just not posted. I guess the old cast of regulars knew better than I did.

At any rate, I'll explain a bit. I know what motion blur is and I don't have to 'look' for it because when it happens, I see it. I'm pretty well versed in this stuff so I don't need the explanation. Most often, when people are talking about motion blur, it involves 'motion' thus the name motion blur. And when people talk about motion blur bothering them, the vast majority of the time they are talking about quick movements and lots of motion in a broadcast. And the vast majority of the time that involves sports. If you see motion blur for stationary objects that move ever so slightly, then your LCD display has very high refresh rate or big problems. Can an LCD display have motion blur for any small amount of movement on non-sports broadcasts? Yes of course they can but if it happens for all motion no matter how small, the display is not very good. Is that what I'm taking about for Z4? Definitely not. So to answer your question directly, this projector has no issues at all with casual motion causing motion blur. And I figured I was clear that the only time I see any motion blur at all was during fast moving sports and I indicated that it wasn't an issues really and it was very slight. Of course there always 'could' be something that would make the picture better but in the context of the competition to the Z4 it's 10/10 for HD. If you'd like, lower all my rating 1 so it's 9/10 for HD or 8/10 when there is motion blur for some sporting events. I said that for sports that have high motion, the rating might drop down to 9/10 or so. For stationary objects that move every so slightly as you mentioned, there is NO MOTION BLUR. I am rating this projector in the category it's in, not compared to other more expensive projectors. Would a $3000 DLP projector be better? Probably. But in this category, HD on this projector is a 10/10. Not out of the box but after tens of hours of tweaking.

I have a 37" Westinghouse that definitely has motion blur and it's not just during sports but it's most prominent during those types of broadcasts. If the HD programming is lower quality, this causes some motion blur on the Westy. This Z4 is not even close to that and doesn't suffer any motion blur on HD programming, aside from Sports. I've been following and participating in this thread since day one and I have yet to hear any strong complaints about motion blur.

One other thing to note is that I do not watch 480i or anything aside from DVD's or HDTV. So if you are saying you see motion blur on any movement at all on your Z4 at 480i, my answer is that I'm very familiar with what it looks like and my eyes are sensative to it, but I do not see it when watching HD programming aside from the stated sporting events. 480i could be a different story but if you are worrying about motion blur at 1080i or 720p, you have nothing to worry about really.

Hello i own the Z4 since 2 years, i mostly use it for 4:3 signal as a every day display, the problem is that the side parts that stays black when is in 4:3 mode isa darker now in 16:9 mode, are my lcd panels gone?..

Regards

Hi Coupe - I had the same problem when I first got mine. 4:3 for TV watching (95% of viewing), and Widescreen for DVDs. Since I'm running thru an HTPC I had the ability to change background images that fill the side panels in 4:3. It took awhile - a month maybe - but eventually the lines disappeared after that change. I wouldn't say your panels are "gone" - but if the way you use your Z4 doesn't change, the darks sides certainly won't go away. If one of the stretch modes would work for you, try utilizing those for your 4:3 viewing to keep all the pixels "active" and over a period of few weeks those lines should disappear. Keep us posted!

I did try 1280x720@48 Hz on my Z4 a few days ago but didn't have any luck. There is a picture but it is badly distorted. All is well down to 49 Hz but below that the picture is distorted. It would have been nice to get 2:2 Pulldown for NTSC DVDs but obwiously Sanyo has made that impossible!?

Jogge, did you try 72 Hz?

Hello i own the Z4 since 2 years, i mostly use it for 4:3 signal as a every day display, the problem is that the side parts that stays black when is in 4:3 mode isa darker now in 16:9 mode, are my lcd panels gone?..

Regards

As HTPC Freak said, it is possible to reverse the problem. What it sounds like you might have is image retention or persistence which is different than burn-in. Hard to say for sure if that's the problem, but it sounds like it. Here's a good article that might help you reverse this issue.

Image Persistence (http://compreviews.about.com/od/monitors/a/LCDBurnIn.htm)

Jogge, did you try 72 Hz?
Yes I did, but the results were even worse, i didn't get any picture at all.

Just curious by why do you want to try 1280x720 @48 Hz instead of the standard 60Hz? For some reason I don't see the reference before that to see what you are trying to do.

Just curious by why do you want to try 1280x720 @48 Hz instead of the standard 60Hz? For some reason I don't see the reference before that to see what you are trying to do.

48 & 72 Hz are even multiples of the 24 frames per second used in film. It results in a smoother image for film playback -- a site to behold on a CRT projector (w/ HTPC or appropriate scaler), which can sync to any frame rate.

Right but I was just curious why'd you'd try to do that on an LCD projector which has only one naitive resoltution which is 1280x720 @ 60 Hz. If I'm not mistaken, it's not just Sanyo that makes that impossible, but most 720p LCD's. Not sure there are any exceptions but it's pretty standard for there to be only one resolution and refresh rate on an LCD. I'm sure it looks awesome on a CRT though but it can't be accomplished on most LCD's.

Right but I was just curious why'd you'd try to do that on an LCD projector which has only one naitive resoltution which is 1280x720 @ 60 Hz. If I'm not mistaken, it's not just Sanyo that makes that impossible, but most 720p LCD's. Not sure there are any exceptions but it's pretty standard for there to be only one resolution and refresh rate on an LCD. I'm sure it looks awesome on a CRT though but it can't be accomplished on most LCD's.
You're mistaken, Z4 can sync to 1280x720@50 Hz just fine. The LCD's of today are not anymore tied to 60 Hz only.
The reason I tried it on my Z4 is that I red about some Sony 1080p projector where 48 Hz worked fine although it wasn't documented in the users manual. But this wasn't the case with the Z4, it almost works, but that's not close enough.

Gotcha. I didn't know that. I only knew what was documented and what I was told by a few people that had projectors in the past. I suppose if a projector is intended to run at 60Hz I can't see a reason to do 50hz but hey, if it works it works. My buddy who is a theater designer and who I totally trust (he's like my teacher! ha!)said his old Sony (H10 maybe?) could accept 1080p @ 48 Hz, but it converted it back to 1366 x 768 @ 56 Hz, which is it's naitive resolution. The scaler would do the conversion anyway. He said outside of the CRT world, there is no point in doing that. He said it's a totally out there tweak that makes no difference at all in the LCD world. For a 3 gun CRT he said it's a BIG difference but LCD there's no point...even on the Sony that could accept that signal. Unless it can produce 24 there's no reason to even do it. Also he said it would be only for properly encoded DVD's but not for video since that's 59.94.

Hi z4 owners,

What is the best suited DVD player for a Z4 ? I presently own a sony ns575p connected to my projector via component cables.

Any hints on how can I upgrade the DVD player portion of my setup in order to max out the Z4's performance.

Thx, Mnb

Either an excellent upconverting player or a HD player (HD-DVD or BluRay) will make the Z-4 perform at it's best. Just be sure to send it a 720P signal! I have the Z4 hooked up to the HD1 Toshiba thru HDMI and it's amazing with some of the better HD DVD's.

I keep my XA1 at 1080i for the HD-dvds and switch it to 720p just for upconverting sd dvd. Hd seems sharper to me this way and the XA1 is the best sd upconverting player I have ever had.

Shelly

I understand the Xa1 sent the wrong color matrix for DVD. Has this been corrected in firmware yet?

I'm using the XA1 with my Z4.

Although I thought that my colors were good before, the colors from hd-dvds with this player are absolutely perfect. No adjustments or changes to any of my settings.

The same goes for it's upconverting picture sharper and better colors than my Oppo. Almost hd quality.

The colors and picture are better than the hd cable broadcasts to my eye.

Not sure where you learned that there was a problem with the XA1 and the Z4.

Shelly

I'm using the XA1 with my Z4.

Although I thought that my colors were good before, the colors from hd-dvds with this player are absolutely perfect. No adjustments or changes to any of my settings.

The same goes for it's upconverting picture sharper and better colors than my Oppo. Almost hd quality.

The colors and picture are better than the hd cable broadcasts to my eye.

Not sure where you learned that there was a problem with the XA1 and the Z4.

Shelly

See this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=675384

See this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=675384

Reading further it appears this may only be an issue with non-HDMI connections.

Once you see the colors and picture sent by the XA1 to the Z4, it won't matter what anyone found using test patterns.

Everything looks as accurate as real life, except things are much sharper than I can see in real life. Greens don't have any yellow, they are green; red is red without orange; flesh tones are perfect, not rosey,

All I am saying is that I am totally impressed with the Z4's ability to show hd-dvd, and I did not have to make a single adjustment to any settings in the Z4 once I had it sett up for the Oppo I used previously.

Shelly

Wow, that was fast. I didn't get around to sending in my voucher for the free replacement lamp and screen until the first week in January. Knowing how long these things take, and fully prepared to fight over it, I certainly wasn't expecting the UPS guy to show up with two packages today.
So, anybody wanna buy a screen?

The yellow warning light for the bulb on my Z4 just came on to tell me that I was over the 3 000 hour mark (the actual hours are only 2300, but 2/3rds of those were at the high setting). The manual says to change the bulb immediately when the yellow light comes on. How safe is it to use the bulb until it just fails totally? I have an HP screen so the picture is still very good. If the bulb does explode, can it cause damage to the insides and void my warranty with Sanyo (as they are known to void the warranty very easily)?

Could someone tell me how to display the lamp counter popup ?
I've been using the search tool with no luck.

It's like everybody knows, so nobody talks about it :confused:

Thanks,

Could someone tell me how to display the lamp counter popup ?
I've been using the search tool with no luck.

It's like everybody knows, so nobody talks about it :confused:

Thanks,

The lamp counter can been seen by hitting "Menu" then scrolling down to the last option on the list (I think it's "Info"?). There you can see the lamp hours as well as the resolution being displayed.

Could someone tell me how to display the lamp counter popup ?
I've been using the search tool with no luck.

It's like everybody knows, so nobody talks about it :confused:

Thanks,

Yves,

If you are referring to the "Lamp Time" it is displayed on the Information menu. The "Lamp Counter Reset" is on the Settings menu.

Thanks ! I tought it was something like the "hold the up key for 30 seconds" of my Z1, but that old trick was not working.

I am glad this is now easy to consult.

Has anyone switched to the PLV-Z4 from the NEC HT1000? Is there any benefit in doing that aside from the fact that the Z4 is native 720p? Thanks.

Has anyone switched to the PLV-Z4 from the NEC HT1000? Is there any benefit in doing that aside from the fact that the Z4 is native 720p? Thanks.

Aside from native 720p, rainbows and dither would be reasons to switch. The latter doesn't get as much attention as it should -- digital noise is nearly non-existent on the Z4

I know you were looking for other reasons besides 720p naitive, but if you watch HDTV on it, the Z4 will be considerably better. A 2 years newer projector with native 720p instead of having to scale 4:3 1024x768 up to 720p with the optional anamorphic lense of the HT1000 alone would make the Z4's PQ be significantly better for HD (and for most DVD's too) and reason enough to justify this upgrade. If you can swing the extra cost, I'd opt for a Z5, Mits HD1000 or In76, but the Z4 should be a huge upgrade I would think at a very good price. I recall in comparison's of last year, the Z4 was rated considerably higher than the BenQ PE8700 which in turn was rated higher than the HT1000. Z4 should be a big step up. Buy it from a place that will do free returns and that way if you really feel it's not that much better in relation to the cost, just return it.

Totally agree with Dweezilz comments. I am also delighted with my Z4 and look forward to the Z6. Sanyo did it right and the price is phenomenal. Almost no comparisons anywhere.
gil

Thank You for your responses...by specs alone, the Z4 does seem superior to the ht1000. My main concern I guess is contrast, can it atleast equal my ht1000? This would be my first LCD projector and third overall since my first one back in '01. Contrast and SDE has been a weakness in LCD and that is why I initially went with DLP. I am not affected by RBE, but in order to get a good solid 720p DLP performer, I have to shell out queit a bit more. Prices right now for brand new units on ebay are very good...in fact, just yesterday, I scored a Z4 sealed, brand new for $975 shipped! I negotiated free shipping with "buy iy now". I still have my ht1000, so, I figured, if I'm not satisfied with the Z4, I can turn around and sell it... but, if it turns out to my liking, I would say I scored a hell of a deal on a 720p projector! ...Like I said though, contrast is what concerns me the most, so I guess we'll find out just as soon as it arrives if it will become a keeper! ;-)

Be careful about eBay Z4 purchases. Sanyo will only accept warranty work from authorized Sanyo reseller. I doubt many (if any) eBay Z4's are authorized and many are Japanese versions which means at best, you'd have to return it to Japan for the 1 year warranty. Should have a problem with it, you could be stuck. Let us know how it works out for you.

Just an update... I've received the Z4 and have now had a few days to experience LCD. As I said in my previous post, this is my first LCD projector which is taking the place of the well regarded NEC HT1000 which I have lived with for the past 2 years. Either LCD has greatly improved lately OR its weaknesses compared to DLP are grossly over stated by most critics and reviewers. By weaknesses I mean, SDE (screen door effect), and Black levels...neither was a problem with the NEC HT1000 projected onto a matt white 1.1 gain 8ft wide(measured side to side) homemade screen. With that in mind, I was really worried that the Z4 instead of an upgrade would be a step down in that regard. I am not affected by DLP RBE, and when I first started considering purchasing a 720p projector, I considered the Mits HC3000 which is another well regarded and affordable 720p projector, but because of no physical lens shift, and the offset required for mounting, really eliminated it from consideration. In reality, because of what I have read, I was never even considering LCD. With that said, and during my 720p projector hunt, I came across a great deal on a brand new Z4, so I took my tax refund, and bought it...Since the Z4 was sooo affordable, I was able to keep my HT1000 and if it dissapointed me, I would turn around and sell it and re-mount my HT1000...problem solved! Let me just say that the latter won't be happening until I upgrade to 1080p or it breaks! All my doubts about LCD have been laid to rest with the Z4! I've watched several standard DVD's and HD-DVD's sourced from the Toshiba HD-A1 using a monoprice 35ft HDMI cable and my experiece has never been better! Just yesterday I watched THE FIFTH ELEMENT (superbit edition) and BLADE...to me, the picture was so awesome that I couldn't believe both were Sd-DVD's! I would like to give credit here to EAGLES 04, because his settings are the ones I am using for DVD, HD-DVD, and OTA HD. This chapter in my life has opened my eyes to the LCD experience on a Z4, and made me realize that most people that knock LCD have not experienced it lately. If anyone reading this has any doubts about going to a Z4 from DLP, I say go for it! It will change the way you feel about LCD and open up your options when upgrading projectors! I can confidently now say that I upgraded from the NEC HT1000 to a Sanyo PLV-Z4!

Rocktober--Thanks for the confirmation on DLP/LCD Sanyo Z4. I was also delighted to find that the Z4 did such a great job on resolution detail/contrast ratio and color. I, too look forward to 1080P from Sanyo. Hopefully they will use the same lamp since I now have 1600 hours on the first one and have 2 spares. Now using the Toshiba HD-XA1 and HDMI with excellent -can't get better than this-results.

I keep my XA1 at 1080i for the HD-dvds and switch it to 720p just for upconverting sd dvd. Hd seems sharper to me this way and the XA1 is the best sd upconverting player I have ever had.

Shelly
What size screen are you using and would you confirm sharpness improvement using 1080i from the XA1? Is there some technique used to determine the difference?