Congrats!

Just got my PLV-Z5 via FedEX today. Won't be hooking it up (other than maybe to make sure it turns on) before we move to a new house in June. Very excited to give it a whirl though as this will be our first projector. Can't wait to get it fully in place!

That's not a good idea since you have a 90 day (3 months) warranty on the lamp (from date of purchase). You really need to set up a temporary HT in your present location (a white wall is an acceptable temporary screen) and use it at least once a week. Remember to run your Z5 for at least 2 hours (more is better) at a time, otherwise you will be wasting lamp life. The act of turning on the PJ uses up about 2 hours of lamp life (most people new to PJs don't realize this). Also, be sure to clean your air filter(s) on a regular basis (every 40-50 hours, or once a week, is my recommendation - 100 hours is the factory recommendation).

ENJOY :D.

I still follow you rules CT. Thanks! :)

for a z5 with celing mount. BUdget of 1000 or less, 106' or less.

That's not a good idea since you have a 90 day (3 months) warranty on the lamp (from date of purchase). You really need to set up a temporary HT in your present location (a white wall is an acceptable temporary screen) and use it at least once a week. Remember to run your Z5 for at least 2 hours (more is better) at a time, otherwise you will be wasting lamp life. The act of turning on the PJ uses up about 2 hours of lamp life (most people new to PJs don't realize this). Also, be sure to clean your air filter(s) on a regular basis (every 40-50 hours, or once a week, is my recommendation - 100 hours is the factory recommendation).

ENJOY :D.

I plan on cleaning my filters every 40-50 hours. I was reading the manual and it states that I have to get a new filter for filter #1 every time I clean filter #2?

Is this true? Or can I just vacuum filter #1 too? Just calibrated mine with Avia and tested the new settings with SW III, WOW, great colour, great blacks...all around amazing.

I have about 35 hours on my bulb right now. I will re-calibrate after 100 hours.

-Hutz

Thanks!

I now have my third Z5 due to blue haze corner issues. I gave the bulb about 30 hours on full power then done a very lengthy Spider2 / HCFR calibration. It's shocking how good it looks now.

I have a 12' throw distance, 92" Panoview 1.0 gain screen. Seating position is about 11' from screen. I used Getgray / Playstation 3 via HDMI 1 for calibration.

Here are my calibrated settings:


Creative Cinema:

Brigtness +2
Contrast -6
Colour +8
Tint 0
Colour Temp User
Red +10
Green 0
Blue -11

Sharpness -7
Lamp Control Eco
Gamma 0
Progressive L1
Lens Iris -42

Advanced Menu:

Lamp Iris Auto 1
A B Stretch Off
Contrast Enh. L1
Transient Imp. L1
Colour List List 0
Dynamic Gamma Auto 1

Gain R 0
Gain G 0
Gain B 0
Offset R 0
Offset G -1
Offset B 0
Gamma R -5
Gamma G -2
Gamma B +1

Although colour was calibrated at +8 I find raising it to +12 gives a better picture.

I am starting to notice this "blue Haze" as well.

Mostly when viewing 2.35:1 content on a 16:9 screen. The top left corner isn't black, its more bluey black.

Is this covered from the re-seller or the warranty from Sanyo?

-Robb.

A friend of mine had the same 'Blue Haze' issue on his Z5. He sent it in to Sanyo Canada and they told him that the pj meets 'their' specifications. They also said that this machine was actually better than some other units they saw. Sanyo said it was because of the High Contrast panels used. They fed him quite a bit of bull. The 'haze' was very clear on the no signal screen (upper left and lower right) , but you could always see it on dark scenes. VERY ANNOYING. He was able to switch it with an Epson 810, through the seller, and amazingly the epson had a faint green haze in the upper right corner. When he contacted Epson, they said MOST DEFINATELY, that is not correct and replaced it for him. Epson also said it is very possibly a result of shipping. This is why I didn't go with Sanyo. That being said the Z5 had a really great SHARP picture. Too bad. Sanyo still has to work on their Customer Service. Now I'm looking at the 1080. Just my little bit of Z5 experience.

I think I am going to stick with the Sanyo Z5, another user on this forum had to send it in 2 times to get them to replace the LCD Panel. I will do the same, I will not stop until they replace the LCD panel. I am currently in talks with complete-it.ca about getting an exchange.

There just isn't a better projector for the money in Canada...too bad I guess eh?

-Robb.

I hope it works out for you. I'd love to get the Z5, but I just don't want to take the chance.
Keep on them. I think one just has to be persistent with Sanyo. And don't let them tell you about how they check projectors with all sorts of fancy gadgets, and then tell you it is all well. My buddy bugged them and said he just went by what he saw, but they still wouldn't fix it. Oh, and Sanyo did acknowledge that the blue haze was visible, but that it did not affect NORMAL viewing conditions. Keep pluggin man.

I have the option of returning the Z5 to Complete-it.ca for a $300 (20%) restocking fee...ya right!!!

I am going to send the projector out on monday probably. I was watching the Bourne Identity last night, I couldn't even forcus in the freaking movie...stupid blue black bars in the top left and bottom right.

I am supposed to be having a LOTR trilogy this saturday...hopefully I will be able to enjoy it.

I will not let Sanyo return it until the blue Haze has been fixed.

Just sit the Z5 up for viewing last night for the first time. I have the Tosh XA2 and watched several SD-DVD. The reds in the Cars movie looked just fine right out of the box.

Without any tweaking other then reducing the iris to -35 in the Living mode thats with my variables it appeared to be the best PQ. After at least 50 hrs. I will try some Cal. methods.

I see no color hazing or streaking problems at all with the Z5.

I also have a SA 8300HD DVR from Time Warner and the HD channels broadcast in 1080i and downscaled to the 720P Z5 looks as good as any of the SD-DVD discs upconverted by the Tosh XA2. I have an Oppo 981 but haven`t tried it yet. If the Oppo 981 does just as good a job as the XA2 with upconverting and the HD-DVD content doesn`t really pop I may send the XA2 back to Amazon for a refund.

I haven`t yet watched any HD-DVD discs on the XA2 yet but will later tonight. The Oppo 981 is brand new also and I simply purchased it as a back-up to the XA2 in case of problems with it, but so far I have encountered NO glitches with the Tosh XA2 knock on wood !

My throw is 19`FT. on a 120" DW laminate bordered in Black velvet and the surrounding walls are dark paneled wood but the 8`ft. ceiling is painted white. The screen is hanging 1`Ft. from the ceiling and I dont see much washout that I can tell.

To be honest I have seen better PQ but for the price of this FP until the 1080P`s come down you cant beat your bang for the buck provided you get a good one out of the box.


I did try some of the earlier posted ISF settings that were done using a carada brilliant white screen which is pretty close to the DW laminate in what I have seen but the settings didn`t look too good probably due to my alternative room variables.

Also I do see some jaggies on white lettering ONLY when viewing HD 1080i content from the SA 8300HD DVD which I assume is being scaled down by the Z5.

Funny because I left the output on the Tosh XA2 sit at 1080i and I dont see any jaggies on white lettering when I play a SD-DVD.

The SA 8300HD DVR may automatically detect your native display and do the downscaling to 720p and thats where the jags on white lettering is coming from.

I am using HDMI cabling for both Broadcast content & XA2 viewing. Using just digital coax bitstream from the XA2 into my Onkyo receiver. I can`t tell much difference between PCM or bitstream to be honest.

Anyways so far so good with alot of tweaking ahead of me unless someone can point me in the right direction with the settings.

Regards ;)

Is anyone using a Philips Pronto to control their Z5? The "Power On" IR code I'm using with my Pronto 7500 works maybe 25% of the time. If you have a reliable code I'd be grateful.

This is the flaky code I'm using now: 900A 006D 0000 0001 3300 00FF

Hey Silverfox1 - I'm really interested about your comparison of the Xa2 and the
Oppo 981 on SD-DVD's - Please let us know what you think.

Hey Silverfox1 - I'm really interested about your comparison of the Xa2 and the
Oppo 981 on SD-DVD's - Please let us know what you think.

IMHO and bear in mind NO two eyes are the same but I definitely see an improvement using the XA2 over the Oppo 981. When viewing the exact same SD DVD content upconverting with the XA2 I give it the edge in PQ. The Tosh XA2 has features such as Edge Enhancement, Mosquito & Noise filters, Color Enhancement that you turn ON which improve the SD DVD content very nice. These enhancement variables do not function when viewing HD DVD content since you dont really need them viewing true HD material. Of course it also has the normal contrast, brightness, color & tint controls you can also adjust but I use the settings in the Z5 for those variables.

The added plus of being able to view HD DVD content is what I purchased the XA2 for in the first place and the Oppo 981 was to be used for a back up anyway.

I more then likely will return the Oppo 981 to Amazon early next week since so far with fingers crossed I must have received a good XA2 problem free unit and ordered it on May 1st at the $519.65 price shipped free. Also applied for the Amazon Visa and received an additional $30.00 off. [Total Price delivered was $489.65]

I figured the $300.00 rebate savings on the Z5 was worth investing in the XA2.

BTW I also really like the Z5. Last night I watched Jay Leno in HD from my TWC SA8300 HD DVR box connected to the 2nd HDMI input of the Z5 and the PQ was outstanding viewing it in the Living Mode of the Z5.

Regards, ;)

Can i get a few recommendations for a 80" screen. It will be a 9 foot viewing distance, walls/ ceiling are white.
Will

Hey Silverfox1 thanks alot for the info - looks like I'll be getting the XA2.

Hi there owners Z5
Basement Dude : Hola amigo
Let me tell you: finally i buy a Z5
I follow your advices in my original post ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=843860 ) , but now, i need one more advice.
I like oppo 981HD.
Is a good player to be used with this pj?
do you see some macroblocking or some problem whit this player ?
Nice to meet you all in this post.
Thanks in advance.
Alejandro

I haven't seen any macroblocking... the picture looks just a little less clean than the High definition I'm getting from satellite....

The 981 is a good choice, If you want SACD and DVD-A...

Why not invest in a High Definition DVD player??

I'm kind of having buyer's remorse now that the HD-DVD players are coming down in price...

Still, the 981 does a terrific job of up-scaling... and is a nice player...

íFelicidades! ¿Cómo te gusta el Z5? ¿Te salió caro? Para mí se ve buenísimo...

I haven't seen any macroblocking... the picture looks just a little less clean than the High definition I'm getting from satellite....

The 981 is a good choice, If you want SACD and DVD-A...

Why not invest in a High Definition DVD player??

I'm kind of having buyer's remorse now that the HD-DVD players are coming down in price...

Still, the 981 does a terrific job of up-scaling... and is a nice player...

íFelicidades! ¿Cómo te gusta el Z5? ¿Te salió caro? Para mí se ve buenísimo...

Hi there Bro.
the 5/24/2007 Z5 will be into my house.
HD DVD, here in Argentina is expensive for me, for the record, 1 dolar is 3 times our money :(
I pay for the Z5 $1985 dollars and oppo 981 (they make international shipping, like a gifs ;) ) is around $315, and a HD DVD player, is $750.
i will follow your advice again buying oppo 981 with 25ft hdmi cable wich i need for ceilling .
Just i want a nice PQ up-scaling to 720p.
I will let you know when my Z5 is here ( Buenos Aires), and i will show you all a nice pictures from my house and Buenos Aires too.
thanks for your help.
Muchas gracias, por estar ahí, cuando un novato necesita ayuda!.

Well I got the z5 a few days ago and I like it very much. However, one thing that is irritating to me is that text is somewhat blurry when using it with my pc.

I don't understand this because the 6 year old sony projector that I use at work is clearer than this one.

Don't get me wrong, the video picture looks great on HD sources. I really want to keep this projector, but I use it to browse forums and don't want to get a headache from blurry text.

I've got overscan off and I am using the native resolution (1280x720). I tried this over hdmi and rgb (pc input) has anyone else had this problem with the projector hooked up to their pc? What could be wrong?

This is my first projector.

Well I got the z5 a few days ago and I like it very much. However, one thing that is irritating to me is that text is somewhat blurry when using it with my pc.

Go into the menu and try changing some settings to this:

Auto Black Stretch = off
Contrast Enhancement = off
Transient Improvement = off

One of the three should do it, I can't remember which one it was though. You can try turning them off one at a time and see which one fixes it.

I'm pretty sure it's one of the first two, where the projector is trying to artificially enhance contrast and it messes with text. Put up a white screen with black text when you're trying it.

Good luck.

MMhhh I have the same problem... will try these settings. Thanks !

Exactly what does overscan do ? I didn't set mine and people seems to freak out cause it's not at 0. Could it be the culprit in my vertical banding ? Or ground loop (the proj. and htpc are not in the same circuit) ?

Well I got the z5 a few days ago and I like it very much. However, one thing that is irritating to me is that text is somewhat blurry when using it with my pc.

I don't understand this because the 6 year old sony projector that I use at work is clearer than this one.

Don't get me wrong, the video picture looks great on HD sources. I really want to keep this projector, but I use it to browse forums and don't want to get a headache from blurry text.

I've got overscan off and I am using the native resolution (1280x720). I tried this over hdmi and rgb (pc input) has anyone else had this problem with the projector hooked up to their pc? What could be wrong?

This is my first projector.

hi dcaldon, not sure what is wrong with your projector, but i have my computer hooked up to my z5 over hdmi and the text is razor sharp.

Ahh thank you. That's much better.

I started with the "living setting" and as soon as I hit "transient enhancement" I noticed a dramatic difference in text clarity. It's not perfect, but definately serviceable now.

The colors are a little washed out, what would I tweak from here to fix that?

Thanks!

Bien venidos alehatz you vivo en NYC y mi familia son del Ecuador (yo naci aqui )
ohala nos cuentas como te fue con el Z5. Tambien tengo uno y me encanta.
Ustd tienen HDTV en Argentina? Perdone mi espanol - lo hablo mejor que lo
escribo.
Hey Waynejs how is it goin- you still lovin the Z5? Dont the baseball games look
great in HD.

Hi there polygonkilla, thanks for the welcome.
In Argentina we have HDTV in the most important channel´s , but they are tests of signal, some tv programs
My Z5 is on the way like oppo 981, i think next week will be in my hand.
of course i will show you some pictures.
Nice to meet you and sorry about my bad english.
take care bro

Has anyone ordered the new AVIA II calibration disc and received it yet? And if yes where did you order it?

I heard the disc will be in four formats and the HD version would be available in mid May if I recall correctly.

I only have 40 hrs. on the lamp but getting pretty close to calibration time with a disc better then using THX optimizer.

Regards, ;)

I have not ordered AVIA yet, but the HD version of Digital Essentials is on sale at Buy.com this week.

Has anyone ordered the new AVIA II calibration disc and received it yet? And if yes where did you order it?

I heard the disc will be in four formats and the HD version would be available in mid May if I recall correctly.

I only have 40 hrs. on the lamp but getting pretty close to calibration time with a disc better then using THX optimizer.

Regards, ;)

Hi Silverfox1, nice to meet you.
Sorry for my bad english
you did it a good calibration with thx disc and blue glasses?
I ask you that, because in Argentina we don´t have AVIA or DVE discs in order to make good calibrations.
Thanks in advance
Alejandro-Buenos Aires-Argentina

Hi Silverfox1, nice to meet you.
Sorry for my bad english
you did it a good calibration with thx disc and blue glasses?
I ask you that, because in Argentina we don´t have AVIA or DVE discs in order to make good calibrations.
Thanks in advance
Alejandro-Buenos Aires-Argentina

Unfortunately I did not have the blue glasses so I couldn`t do the color test.

The tests I could do were really simplistic and I didn`t see any corrections really needed. Thats why I need to get a better Calibration disc.

But for your information here is some info you may be interested in since you do not have access to the DVE or AVIA calibration discs.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2005/07/29/hdtv-calibration-done-dirt-cheap/

Regards, ;)

thanks for your answer Silvefox1
take care Brother.

Can any of you current Z5 owners tell me a quick answer?

I have not performed any disc calibration with my new Z5 since I still have less then 40 hrs. on the lamp. So all I have done is simple little tweaks.

Out of curiosity I copied down the exact settings of the factory default settings in the Vivid mode. I then selected the #1 user image mode and inserted the exact same settings I had copied from the factory default Vivid mode.

When I switched between the two the vivid mode is still considerably brighter then the #1 user mode with the exact same settings !

Are their internal factory tweaks that we the consumer do not have access to?

If there are other tweaks in the service menu how can you gain access to it and what variables can be changed towards improvement if needed in PQ.

And yes I copied the exact same variables in the Advanced Menu also from Vivid to the #1 user mode.

Regards, ;)

Again... two days and no posts in this thread... Methinks everyone is just watching and enjoying.... look at those poor saps over in the panny 100 thread.... posting like crazy and not much is positive.... :p

Well, Sanyo Canada has deemed my unit satisfactory, they had is all ready to go and everything, they almost shipped it! I got back from lunch and got this email from them.

I have phoned the service department to put the unit on hold. The problem is that they go by all machines and diagnostics and don't even look at the picture with the human eye, they don't critique the picture.

The Service guy keeps telling me that 100% colour uniformity is not something that you can expect from any projector. Which I understand, but this blue haze thing is about 50% of the screen (in really dark scenes in the top left and bottom right).

I have the unit on hold and am waiting for a call back from the manager. Any ideas on this one guys? I need help!!!

I am going to explain to him that I would like the techs to look at the picture on a dark screen, and actually assess the picture. All I am asking for is a projector that works like it should.

Any comments would be awesome, I expect the call back within the hour.

Thanks all! Man does this ever suck!

Well, Sanyo Canada has deemed my unit satisfactory, they had is all ready to go and everything, they almost shipped it! I got back from lunch and got this email from them.

I have phoned the service department to put the unit on hold. The problem is that they go by all machines and diagnostics and don't even look at the picture with the human eye, they don't critique the picture.

The Service guy keeps telling me that 100% colour uniformity is not something that you can expect from any projector. Which I understand, but this blue haze thing is about 50% of the screen (in really dark scenes in the top left and bottom right).

I have the unit on hold and am waiting for a call back from the manager. Any ideas on this one guys? I need help!!!

I am going to explain to him that I would like the techs to look at the picture on a dark screen, and actually assess the picture. All I am asking for is a projector that works like it should.

Any comments would be awesome, I expect the call back within the hour.

Thanks all! Man does this ever suck!

Well, all I can say is it doesnt sound good for any of us Z5 owners if we inherit the blue haze in the future.

How many hours did you have on the lamp when you first noticed the issue?

I simply called Sanyo service yesterday as a service call ploy to ask them about the brightness factor dimming from the initial startup which we ALL know happens after the lamp burns in and the service rep would not even acknowledge this known fact to explain the dimming of the lamp. He suggested that I may need to clean the filters and do a thorough cleaning of the Z5 with the squeeze bulb thru the R G B ports !

One thing the service reps at Sanyo are definitely trained to do well is give the customer the apparent run around.

Give me a break ! I only have 28 Hrs. on the projector in a virtually dust free environment with 5` ft. of air circulation space around all 4 sides.

I am not dissatisfied that I purchased the Z5 at this point but surely am reluctant to having to deal with Sanyo in the future when an issue such as your blue haze or another abnormality occurs within the warranty period.

Good Luck & Keep us Posted for future reference.

Regards, ;)

the Blue Haze appeared after about 35hrs of viewing, didn't notice it at all up until that point. I love the Z5 Value, I hope this all works out.

-Hutz

After many conversations with customer service guy, I finally talked with the manager at Sanyo Canada about my blue haze problem.

We discussed changing out the LCD panel to fix the problem. And after many words were exhanged about quality control, he finally gave me the option of changing out the LCD panel, which ironically takes 6-8 weeks on order from Japan.

He also requested that I send him an email acknowledging that the unit was deemed an acceptable unit, but I still am requesting that the LCD panel be changed, and that I understand it may or may not affect the picture quality.

Here what I said:

"Mr. Benz,

I realize that my Z5 unit was analyzed by the Sanyo Technicians in Canada and was deemed as an acceptible unit. However, I believe that the Blue Haze in the top left corner, and bottom right corner of the projector on a black screen is not is acceptable for picture quality standards. The Z5 unit has been reviewed as having some of the deepest blacks of any LCD projector in this price range on the market right now and I wish to have a unit that reflects those reviews.

I am requesting that the LCD panel be changed on my projector unit, and I realize that the picture quality may or may not change. Replacing the LCD panel has been successful for other Z5 owners in the United States and this is what I request to be done with my unit. I appreciate all of the cooperative staff at Sanyo Canada and will recommend this projector to those who I know that are in the market for such a projector. If the wait time for a new LCD panel is from 6-8 weeks, I would request that the unit be sent back to me so I may use the projector while the new LCD panel is being ordered.

Thank you. "

So, after MUCH talking and convincing, they are ordering me a new LCD panel. I am really hoping that this will fix the problem. I am getting them to ship the unit back to me while I wait for 6-8 weeks for the LCD panel to come in.

Thanks all on this forum, if it was not for the constant posting about the problems with the blue haze, I would have had no clue what would be causing it and would probably be stuck with a blue haze the rest of the projectors life.

-Hutz

After many conversations with customer service guy, I finally talked with the manager at Sanyo Canada about my blue haze problem.

We discussed changing out the LCD panel to fix the problem. And after many words were exhanged about quality control, he finally gave me the option of changing out the LCD panel, which ironically takes 6-8 weeks on order from Japan.

He also requested that I send him an email acknowledging that the unit was deemed an acceptable unit, but I still am requesting that the LCD panel be changed, and that I understand it may or may not affect the picture quality.

Here what I said:

"Mr. Benz,

I realize that my Z5 unit was analyzed by the Sanyo Technicians in Canada and was deemed as an acceptible unit. However, I believe that the Blue Haze in the top left corner, and bottom right corner of the projector on a black screen is not is acceptable for picture quality standards. The Z5 unit has been reviewed as having some of the deepest blacks of any LCD projector in this price range on the market right now and I wish to have a unit that reflects those reviews.

I am requesting that the LCD panel be changed on my projector unit, and I realize that the picture quality may or may not change. Replacing the LCD panel has been successful for other Z5 owners in the United States and this is what I request to be done with my unit. I appreciate all of the cooperative staff at Sanyo Canada and will recommend this projector to those who I know that are in the market for such a projector. If the wait time for a new LCD panel is from 6-8 weeks, I would request that the unit be sent back to me so I may use the projector while the new LCD panel is being ordered.

Thank you. "

So, after MUCH talking and convincing, they are ordering me a new LCD panel. I am really hoping that this will fix the problem. I am getting them to ship the unit back to me while I wait for 6-8 weeks for the LCD panel to come in.

Thanks all on this forum, if it was not for the constant posting about the problems with the blue haze, I would have had no clue what would be causing it and would probably be stuck with a blue haze the rest of the projectors life.

-Hutz

If Sanyo paid for the shipping both ways while you wait on the new panels then it sounds to me like you accomplished your goals.

Do you know how to get inside your Z5 and place a distinguishing mark that only you would notice so when you do get it back from Sanyo in the future you could tell if they even swapped the panels out? Especially if it still displays any blue haze!

Regards & Good Luck ! ;)

well, I have to pay shipping TO them, they pay shipping back...I really don't care, its about $15 to ship it to them...

Interesting about marking the panel. I am not sure I know enough about the projector to start messing around inside...also, I am not sure they would have enough balls to record changing out the panel on the sanyo service system, when not changing out the panel...thats just calling for a lawsuit.

any ideas on where to look on the internet to mark the panel somewhere?

well, I have to pay shipping TO them, they pay shipping back...I really don't care, its about $15 to ship it to them...

Interesting about marking the panel. I am not sure I know enough about the projector to start messing around inside...also, I am not sure they would have enough balls to record changing out the panel on the sanyo service system, when not changing out the panel...thats just calling for a lawsuit.

any ideas on where to look on the internet to mark the panel somewhere?

Seems like awhile back before I purchased the Z5 and I was reading thru various reviews their was one review in Germany that displayed the Z5 exposing all the components inside. I will attempt to try & find it for you if I can. You may find it also first. If you did place a mark somewhere be sure and take a digital photo of the distinguishing mark in macro close up.

Here is the link to the German review site but I dont have a translator:

http://www.cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/SanyoZ5/Z5Test.htm

I would NOT hesitate to think Sanyo would not dupe you, me, or anyone else with there reputation.

We used to send vehicles off to the transmission shop we were using for repairs & inspections at the time and we started centerpunching just 2 pan bolts on the tranny. They would send us a bill for $600.00 for a claimed overhaul and the exact same two pan bolts were in the exact same place in the 18 bolt 350 tranny pan !!!!

They never even took the pan off let alone overhauled the transmission! Do you honestly think they could put these marked bolt heads back into the exact same hole position !!

I learned a long time ago to cover your you know what !

Regards ;)

Bien venidos alehatz you vivo en NYC y mi familia son del Ecuador (yo naci aqui )
ohala nos cuentas como te fue con el Z5. Tambien tengo uno y me encanta.
Ustd tienen HDTV en Argentina? Perdone mi espanol - lo hablo mejor que lo
escribo.
Hey Waynejs how is it goin- you still lovin the Z5? Dont the baseball games look
great in HD.

hey polygonkilla,

yeah, still definitely loving it. sounds like you're still enjoying it too. watching sports on it is awesome. it was so exciting watching that hester return for a td in the superbowl, the picture was so big and clear, it felt like we were at the stadium watching it.

Hi there finally i have my Z5 and an oppo 981. I am watching SD DVDs with an oppo 981 (720p) with hdmi cable 25ft on hdmi1. i´m not happy with the detail, or sharpness. Not sure how to describe it properly. The image looks "sad" ( Star wars: III, lethal weapon 4)
the image is not clear like other user says or some screenshots that i saw.
Can somebody help me with that?, because i use aaroen çonfig and coderguy config, but i can´t see a big PQ on the screen.
My setup: oppo981 sharpness off, contrast 0 bright 0, true life on, some times off to see something new, but nothing happened.
92´´ matte white 16:9, ceilling, from 14 ft, zoom 1.5x.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi there finally i have my Z5 and an oppo 981. I am watching SD DVDs with an oppo 981 (720p) with hdmi cable 25ft on hdmi1. i´m not happy with the detail, or sharpness. Not sure how to describe it properly. The image looks "sad" ( Star wars: III, lethal weapon 4)
the image is not clear like other user says or some screenshots that i saw.
Can somebody help me with that?, because i use aaroen çonfig and coderguy config, but i can´t see a big PQ on the screen.
My setup: oppo981 sharpness off, contrast 0 bright 0, true life on, some times off to see something new, but nothing happened.
92´´ matte white 16:9, ceilling, from 14 ft, zoom 1.5x.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Very few copied settings from other owners will work for everyone due to all the variables.

For starters just run thru the factory default image mode selections and find the one you like the best for overall PQ. Then try the four different LAMP mode settings to further evaluate the PQ to your liking since NO two eyes are the same either.

You will have to wait till you get around 50 hrs. or more before you do a more thorough calibration on the Z5 using one of the popular cal disks. Then you can create your own USER menus by storing them to use for various content you will be watching.

Also bear in mind your Lamp will burn in fairly soon and you will notice some dimming in comparison to when you first cranked up the Z5.

For starters even though alot of folks dont like it select the Vivid Mode and switch the Lamp Mode to ECO.

Then report back what you see.

Also make sure you have all the right selections made in your Oppo 981 by asking some folks in this thread here below:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=760726

Regards, ;)

Another update.

Apparently they had an LCD panel in stock, he told me he would check before ordering from Japan.

I am expecting the picture to be perfect...it better be!

I'll report back when I get the unit back.

-Robb.

Very few copied settings from other owners will work for everyone due to all the variables.

For starters just run thru the factory default image mode selections and find the one you like the best for overall PQ. Then try the four different LAMP mode settings to further evaluate the PQ to your liking since NO two eyes are the same either.

You will have to wait till you get around 50 hrs. or more before you do a more thorough calibration on the Z5 using one of the popular cal disks. Then you can create your own USER menus by storing them to use for various content you will be watching.

Also bear in mind your Lamp will burn in fairly soon and you will notice some dimming in comparison to when you first cranked up the Z5.

For starters even though alot of folks dont like it select the Vivid Mode and switch the Lamp Mode to ECO.

Then report back what you see.

Also make sure you have all the right selections made in your Oppo 981 by asking some folks in this thread here below:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=760726

Regards, ;)

thanks for your answer Silver.
I was thinking about my screen wich is matte, it would have been better option one of high contrast?

Another update.

Apparently they had an LCD panel in stock, he told me he would check before ordering from Japan.

I am expecting the picture to be perfect...it better be!

I'll report back when I get the unit back.

-Robb.

Well thats good news ! Hope they resolve your issue the right way !

Regards, ;)

Hi there finally i have my Z5 and an oppo 981. I am watching SD DVDs with an oppo 981 (720p) with hdmi cable 25ft on hdmi1. i´m not happy with the detail, or sharpness. Not sure how to describe it properly. The image looks "sad" ( Star wars: III, lethal weapon 4)
the image is not clear like other user says or some screenshots that i saw.
Can somebody help me with that?, because i use aaroen çonfig and coderguy config, but i can´t see a big PQ on the screen.
My setup: oppo981 sharpness off, contrast 0 bright 0, true life on, some times off to see something new, but nothing happened.
92´´ matte white 16:9, ceilling, from 14 ft, zoom 1.5x.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Don't forget to set the overscan to "0". Maid a difference for me. :)

Don't forget to set the overscan to "0". Maid a difference for me. :)

CC2 thanks for your answer.
I have 0 overscan.
Last night i was watching Batman Begin, and the PQ has been the same ( "sad").
In my oppo setup i have sharpness off, contrast and brightness 0, truelife off.
When i have the zoom in 1x the picture is clear, clean image, but when i fill the screen, making adjustments(focus) i don't see that clean image.
How to say... is like barely "defocus". :(
I trust in your advices, I am sure that between all we will be able to solve this, and will be useful to other noob users with the same problem.
Thanks in advance.

CC2 thanks for your answer.
I have 0 overscan.
Last night i was watching Batman Begin, and the PQ has been the same ( "sad").
In my oppo setup i have sharpness off, contrast and brightness 0, truelife off.
When i have the zoom in 1x the picture is clear, clean image, but when i fill the screen, making adjustments(focus) i don't see that clean image.
How to say... is like barely "defocus". :(
I trust in your advices, I am sure that between all we will be able to solve this, and will be useful to other noob users with the same problem.
Thanks in advance.

Simple Questions?

Are you setting the Z5 screen mode to FULL ?

Then unlocking the lens shift tab on the Z5 and adjusting manually both the vertical & horizontal lens shift knobs to center the picture on the screen?

Then using the manual zoom on the Z5 front lens?

Then adjusting the outer ring on the lens for focusing?

Also do you have a cable or satellite HD 720p or 1080i source available for another content source other then the Oppo 981?

Regards ;)

Silverfox1

Are you setting the Z5 screen mode to FULL ?

Yes, is the first option in menu-screen

Then unlocking the lens shift tab on the Z5 and adjusting manually both the vertical & horizontal lens shift knobs to center the picture on the screen?
I have almost a 80% lenshift vertical down (maybe this afect pq?).

Then using the manual zoom on the Z5 front lens?
Then adjusting the outer ring on the lens for focusing?
I will try that test, and i will let you know the results.


Also do you have a cable or satellite HD 720p or 1080i source available for another content source other then the Oppo 981?
No :(

Best regards

This picture is not the best, but it looks close what i see.
An important data: today i put the zoom in 1x, of course the image was little, but the image looks like a plasma tv. So clear, sharpness, bright.
When i use the zoom (1.5x) to fill up my screen (92´´-16:9) the image comes without that definition (zoom 1x) and i lost bright, is that normal? must i install fp from 4.5 mts to almost 6 mts with zoom 1x?.
today i try all settings and modes, and sometimes, i can see a soft image (nice image, not sharper and dark) but i lost to much bright.
When i fill up the screen, i saw all background building and faces from star wars III without definition.
I apologized for this posts, but really i don't know what i can do, to get a nice PQ.
Now, i have almost a 25% of lens shift down, not 80%.
thanks in advance.
Ale
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2250/dscn3107kx2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

it looks a bit blury and very green! Could it be the movie itself? I've noticed some movies are sharper than others. Some are crap! Don't forget, the picture is much larger - you can see all the 'defects'.

Some DVDs are badly mastered. However, if you use the "zoom" or "stretch" modes, you will add additional distortion to the image.

alehatz -- From the looks of your picture, either you took the picture with the wrong camera settings (like "indoor" instead of "outdoor", or you're using the wrong "white balance"), or your display is badly in need of calibration. Like alex2 said, it looks like the picture is way too green.

First, sorry about my bad english.
Thanks to both for the answers.
As alex2 and CT_Wiebe say, i find some dvd more sharpness and clearness.
I need to know something: if the FP is closer to the screen with full zoom (2x) the image is more brightness? or far of the screen with zoom 1x will be more sharpness?
I ask that, because i don´t know wich option is better.
Regards

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum. I would like to thank everyone for their posts. I am an owner of the Z5 and haven't had the chance to use it very much. I know that I wasn't super impressed with its colors right out of the box and will proceed to have someone properly calibrate the device once I have a few more hours on it. This forum has been wonderful in bringing awareness of potenmtial problems and helping other consumers who wouldn't know where to turn. I have had a Z1 for many years and had ZERO problems with it. I have been dealing with Sanyo Canada on a few questions and found them incredibly helpful and very pleasant to deal with. To be honest, I understand that anything built by humans have inherant risk of having problems, so I don't get upset if something breaksdown or encounter minor glitches as long as there is a willingness to have it fixed. I have read some excellent posts by some extremely knowledgeable people and I can't name them all here but for example.....CT_WIEBE, SILVERFOX, CODERGUY to name a few...please, there are other who posts very good information too but can't name them all. Thanks for giving people a place to go for advice, reading information and insight into our products.

Cheers and look forward to posts my comments, observation and tidbits as I become more knowledgeable about this projector and hopefully, I can be of assistance to someone too as all of you have been to others...like myself.

One question if someone can answer....Will the image from the Z5 will be significantly better on HDMI vs component? I am using a standard format DVD (so no HDMI possible) and a satellite box that has a DVI output (but I could buy a DVI-HDMI adapter). I am not 100% sold that HDMI provides a better picture other than its just more convenient (less cables) and will be better for BLU RAY OR HDDVD players....any thoughts. I'd much prefer to keep my component cables that already in place and conveniently hidden. Thanks.

This picture is not the best, but it looks close what i see.
An important data: today i put the zoom in 1x, of course the image was little, but the image looks like a plasma tv. So clear, sharpness, bright.
When i use the zoom (1.5x) to fill up my screen (92´´-16:9) the image comes without that definition (zoom 1x) and i lost bright, is that normal? must i install fp from 4.5 mts to almost 6 mts with zoom 1x?.
today i try all settings and modes, and sometimes, i can see a soft image (nice image, not sharper and dark) but i lost to much bright.
When i fill up the screen, i saw all background building and faces from star wars III without definition.
I apologized for this posts, but really i don't know what i can do, to get a nice PQ.
Now, i have almost a 25% of lens shift down, not 80%.
thanks in advance.
Ale
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2250/dscn3107kx2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I'm not sure what's going on, I have a 106" mat white screen and the picture is awesome - It's not ultra bright but I would not want it brighter (low lamp mode too boot! 20hrs) Have you adjusted the focus?

While I am on the topic of asking questions, if you guys can allow me to ask another one....Is 9'3" too close for shooting on a 84" 16:9 screen? I have read somewhere that its not recommended that you put the projector too close from the screen as it provides an "uneven" distribution of the light (and picture of course). Using the calculator on another famous web site, the range for the Z5 varies from 8'5" to 17'. Any thoughts?

Here is some pictures.
Do you hvae guys the same issues with text like me? (link)

http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscn3118cn7.jpg

Tha picture is from pretty close up... maybe another from your viewing distance... I'd think most text looks like that from that close...

I find a real difference projecting on my wall wich is behind the screen(matte white 1.1 gain). I have a very clear violet painted wall, and I see with more brightness the image, with much light.
perhaps it is what I need.
What do you think about this?
Regards

Tha picture is from pretty close up... maybe another from your viewing distance... I'd think most text looks like that from that close...
Hola Basement Dude.
I will show you the picture tomorrow, ok?
Thanks for your comments. :cool:

You should really calibrate your display with Avia or DVE. This will make a big difference.

You should really calibrate your display with Avia or DVE. This will make a big difference.

I have the avia disco, but i dont have RGB filter (just blue glasses from thx) and i dont have any manul to know how i must use it. :(

You don't need a manual. Avia tells you what to look for and you can also use the THX Optimizer on all THX DVDs which has a tutorial before each test pattern.

The Blue glasses from THX work fine for any of the discs.

Like Dave stated, you can use those blue filter THX glasses with your Avia Disk. I didn't spend much time at all on the red and green filter when I did my display, I love my PQ and I am currently letting the Z5 do the upscaling for me.

Run your Avia disk, its all self explained on the DVD, I started with the Natural default setting I think, and it took some very minor adjustments.

-Robb.

Thanks Dave Harper - hutzal for the advices.
I will try with avia disc, and i will show you all, my new screenshots.
Thank you

This isn't really a 'tweak' question, but I thought it would be better to ask here than start a new thread. I got my Z5 about 2 months ago, upgraded from a Z1. I used to clean the fine metal filter of the Z1 (just ran it under the tap, dried it off and put it back in) about once a month for the few years I owned it... Obviously, I cannot do this with the fabric/paper filters that the Z5 has.

So is there nothing I have to regularly clean or replace on the projector until the filters get noticably dirty and need replacing? I have these monthly alerts in Outlook telling me to clean my projector filter and I keep putting them off :D

The other question I have is also related to dust: I never once had a dust blob on the Z1 after about 2000 hours.... unfortunately my Z5, while being in perfect condition in every other respect, has a small dust blob on the green panel waaaay down on the bottom of the image. It's so faint, it's barely visible except when the screen is very dark / black. Are there any tips on how to remove something like this without making things worse?

Thanks guys!

Use a vaccum on the dust filter... Of course make sure it is removed from the pj...

Regarding the dust blob.

This is why sanyo provided the little blower and the 3 holes on the bottom of the projector. To blow off dust off the panels. Try that first, all the instructions are in the manual.

I got my projector back today, I am going to watch a movie tonite, and i'll let you all know if the "Blue Haze" has been fixed.

-Hutz

Well, the PQ seems to have improved, I have watched a couple of movies since the LCD panel was changed out, and I was not distracted at all by the "blue Haze", I have looked for it, and cannot seem to see it.

So all is well I guess!!

Good luck to all who have this problem.

-Hutz

Well, the PQ seems to have improved, I have watched a couple of movies since the LCD panel was changed out, and I was not distracted at all by the "blue Haze", I have looked for it, and cannot seem to see it.

So all is well I guess!!

Good luck to all who have this problem.

-Hutz

is nice to see your problem was solved, enjoy it again watching movies. :)

Hey alehatz, how is your PJ working now?

Hi there Poly and Z5 owners .
My pj is working fine now with some tweak and test´s.
i have this settings, but i need that image (punch) what i see in pictures with an oppo981, and i don't get it :( :

With Brilliant Cinema and Natural (boths works a little fine for me)-
B= +2
C= +5
C. Sat = +12
TINT = 0
Color Temp = Low2
R = 29
G = 26
B = 19
Lamp = low
Gamma = +2
Lense Iris = -15
Lamp Iris = open
Sharp 1
In adv. menu
auto black off
contrats enh L1
Trans L1
And the other settings i dont know how to use.
Gain R:
Gain G:
Gain B:
Offset:
Offset:
Offset:
Gamma R G B

I must learn how to use color managment or if i must copy the color patterns from avia disc. :confused:
Somebody have a review withZ5 in avbuzz, just to see some configurations like Z4?

best regard´s

Hello, I was advised to post my question here, Thanks

Sanyo Z5 - 10 fl @ 18 Feet
Hello All,

Not so new around here, but more of a lurker

I have a new setup, 110 inch Firehawk 1.35 gain fixed screen and I was considering a Sanyo z5 ceiling mount at 18 feet. I have tried to plan the throw distance with the online calculators which calculate 10 fl at 18 Feet. Some calculators recommend more ansi (brighter projectors) due to the distance, and others don't.

Due to design constraints I may not be able to get closer (reduce) the throw distance.

So do you think I can get away with this setup or does the Sanyo not have enough puch for the setup.

Your comments and experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, I was advised to post my question here, Thanks

Sanyo Z5 - 10 fl @ 18 Feet

I have a new setup, 110 inch Firehawk 1.35 gain fixed screen and I was considering a Sanyo z5 ceiling mount at 18 feet. I have tried to plan the throw distance with the online calculators which calculate 10 fl at 18 Feet. Some calculators recommend more ansi (brighter projectors) due to the distance, and others don't.

So do you think I can get away with this setup or does the Sanyo not have enough puch for the setup.


My Z5 is 18ft from a 105" screen. I don't know the screen gain but I'd guess it is less than 1.35. The picture is plenty bright in a darkened room, and it is satisfactory during the day if I close the window blinds.

IMO, you will be fine considering the high gain of your screen.

Steve

Hi there Poly and Z5 owners .
My pj is working fine now with some tweak and test´s.
i have this settings, but i need that image (punch) what i see in pictures with an oppo981, and i don't get it :( :



Argentino,
After reading some of your posts I decided to tell you my experience with this combo Sanyo Z5 and Oppo 981HD. It simply didn´t work for me. I have another Component Video DVD player and the image is far better than the Oppo through the HDMI when connected to Z5.
It's not a calibration problem.
I had the same perception as you, lack of sharpness, blurring patches (on the faces of Starwars II and III) and color shifts due to this blocking. I would describe the problem as a Heavy Blocking trying to be fixed by a Smoothing Algo from Z5 or even Oppo or both. It's impossible to fix by calibrating.
I think many people that is reading this post is pulling their hairs thinking, what a noob, doesn't know how to setup his environment.
Wrong, I know exactly what I mean and what I saw. The Oppo 981 worked great with my Samsung LN26R71 and many other deisplays. Really superb, in 720p or 1080i using HDMI.
Since it didn't work well with the sanyo Z5 I sold it for the price I paid a month or two ago. I was absolutelly sure that this problem couldn't be fixed. Its just a question of bad interaction between scalers, a really bad one.
I think you should test another Player, component and/or HDMI from other brand and see how it goes.

rgds,
Marcelo

Argentino,
After reading some of your posts I decided to tell you my experience with this combo Sanyo Z5 and Oppo 981HD. It simply didn´t work for me. I have another Component Video DVD player and the image is far better than the Oppo through the HDMI when connected to Z5.
It's not a calibration problem.
I had the same perception as you, lack of sharpness, blurring patches (on the faces of Starwars II and III) and color shifts due to this blocking. I would describe the problem as a Heavy Blocking trying to be fixed by a Smoothing Algo from Z5 or even Oppo or both. It's impossible to fix by calibrating.
I think many people that is reading this post is pulling their hairs thinking, what a noob, doesn't know how to setup his environment.
Wrong, I know exactly what I mean and what I saw. The Oppo 981 worked great with my Samsung LN26R71 and many other deisplays. Really superb, in 720p or 1080i using HDMI.
Since it didn't work well with the sanyo Z5 I sold it for the price I paid a month or two ago. I was absolutelly sure that this problem couldn't be fixed. Its just a question of bad interaction between scalers, a really bad one.
I think you should test another Player, component and/or HDMI from other brand and see how it goes.

rgds,
Marcelo

Something was wrong with your particular installation. The Oppo - Z5 combination works very well.

Argentino,
After reading some of your posts I decided to tell you my experience with this combo Sanyo Z5 and Oppo 981HD. It simply didn´t work for me. I have another Component Video DVD player and the image is far better than the Oppo through the HDMI when connected to Z5.
It's not a calibration problem.
I had the same perception as you, lack of sharpness, blurring patches (on the faces of Starwars II and III) and color shifts due to this blocking. I would describe the problem as a Heavy Blocking trying to be fixed by a Smoothing Algo from Z5 or even Oppo or both. It's impossible to fix by calibrating.
I think many people that is reading this post is pulling their hairs thinking, what a noob, doesn't know how to setup his environment.
Wrong, I know exactly what I mean and what I saw. The Oppo 981 worked great with my Samsung LN26R71 and many other deisplays. Really superb, in 720p or 1080i using HDMI.
Since it didn't work well with the sanyo Z5 I sold it for the price I paid a month or two ago. I was absolutelly sure that this problem couldn't be fixed. Its just a question of bad interaction between scalers, a really bad one.
I think you should test another Player, component and/or HDMI from other brand and see how it goes.

rgds,
Marcelo

Ae Marcelo, tudo bem? .
I was thinking to try a Philips DVP5965K/55 HDMI (i know, oppo is better)
I know what you say about that quality, and now just i have a little best picture quality, with 981( -true life on -reduce noise on-Low or medium), in my Z5, if you see my configurations, i change a fews of them: sharpness -6 - Tansient L3- all others enhancement is off (auto black off -contrast enh off ).
I started from Natural or Brilliant Cinema.
somebody can test my configurations?, will be nice write in this post the results or opinion.


Nice to meet you Marcelo.

Something was wrong with your particular installation. The Oppo - Z5 combination works very well.

Marcelo say´s "It simply didn´t work for me."
some people have a nice PQ and others not.
I have the same pq in 480p from a phillips dvd recorder over component, and 480p over hdmi Oppo (phillips $ 100 vs Oppo $390 here in Argentina), not difference with 720p or 1080i-1080p. :confused:
Is not "WoW!!, I have an Oppo 981, i see an amazing PQ". But is a nice player, only if you need sacd dvd-a. Just my opinion. ;)
Best regard´s

I have the elcheapo OPPO 970 - and I'm happy with it -awesome picture @ 720p or 1080i!

Ale, tudo bem ?
"thats true, it didn't work for me." period.
I want to make sure that other members understands that this is not a configuration problem. I admit that I didn't spend more than a couple of nights trying to "fix" it, just because from the instant zero it was clear something was wrong. When I saw your posts, somehow I had a felling that, what you described could be the kind of problem I had.
My setup is pretty basic, with good quality, from cables to components.
HK AVR-635, Evo3, Evo Center Speakers,
Cheapo Pioneer 578a connected through AVR-635 components to a Sanyo Z1 and a Z5. All connections use quality entry-level cables from AR, Monster, etc..

I was very surprised with the bad results from the combo Oppo 981 and Z5. When the Oppo was connected to the Samsumg 26R71 the PQ was great, really great and meet my expectations. By the way, the results using 1080i were better than 720p with the 26R71. I know, its not the native resolution but it worked better. The TV was doing a better job downscaling the upscaled signal from Oppo, than "not scaling" when using the native 720p. Perhaps the TV was scaling even at the native resolution. This would mean it was not 1:1 pixel mapped through HDMI.

About the photos of the projections screens (the green ones), the exposure, white balance and camera settings affect the photos more than the projection problems we could look for.

Something was wrong with your particular installation. The Oppo - Z5 combination works very well.
Dundas,
I'm happy to know that the Oppo 981HD worked well with your Z5. Could you please share your setup and settings with Alehatz.
If you happens to have Starwars II or III DVD, can you make a test for me ?
In my setup, with basically everything on the Oppo set to No or Default, the faces of the actors were clearly bad. It looks like compressed material from a Divx. The Fifth Element DVD had the same effects.
How it goes with your setup ?

Rgds,
Marcelo

I have the elcheapo OPPO 970 - and I'm happy with it -awesome picture @ 720p or 1080i!
Alex2,
These are really different animals the 981HD and the 970. I'm sure that with the 970, I would get better results than with my 578a. The 970 uses another scaler, not DCDI Faroudja .

Marcelo

Marcelo i send you a pm to do some test and help/share our tests with the others owners in this post.
BTW, yesterday i try a toshiba HD from a friend (the first one series) and of course i saw a GREAT! PQ, so clear, brilliant, perfect. With a HD dvd player Z5 do a great job. I know is a HD source, non a sd dvd. But look´s identical (with my oppo981HD), upscalling to 720p a sd dvd, maybe the oppo is not for my "videophile" eyes.
But in others forums i saw some capture from other cheap players like pioneer or samsung and looks great, not like my oppo,and with the same screen gain, distance, and they looks´(PQ) "plasma-like".
rgds

I figured I'd post my questions here...since I'm partial to the Z5 because the nice sharp PQ (I hear about) and dual HDMI inputs (ex 4805 owner)
BUT
with the price level of the Benqw500 and Epson 400, both being around 9bills....are there PQ advantages to the Z5 ?
Anyone see these other LCDs in action to do an A/B for contrast, brightness ?
My main use will be NFLHD with some dimmed lights on in a dedicated Theater 100% light controlled.
Thanks
I also need to buy a DVD for this projector.
THANKS guys.

Anyone else have a noisy bulb?

Actually my original bulb was (still is) OK --- it whines for a minute or so while warming up but then goes almost silent. There's still a very faint high-pitched sound but you have to really get close to hear it and I can live with that.

Then I tried out my free bulb to make sure it was OK and things were different. The first few hours it was quiet but has gradually got louder over about 18 hours. The whine is noticable during quiet scenes in a movie, so I put back the original and it's much better. That's why I'm convinced it's the bulb and not something in the PJ itself making the noise.

So I'll probably see if I can get this bulb replaced (although naturally I've had it over 90 days by now!), but I wonder how many others have had noisy bulbs (with any PJ, not just a Z5), and are there any tricks to quietening them down?
Yes -- I too seem to be having the same issue reported originally by you and later by fdistasio. My projector is brand new and has only about 15 hours on it and I hear a high-pitched frequency sound.

The good news, though, it the problem seems to be improving. I now hear the sound only when the projector is first turned on. It quiets down considerably within 15 - 30 minutes.

I called Sanyo about the problem and they seem to be unwilling to exchange the bulb unless it is burns out (and only within the first 90 days). The guy I talked to acted as though I was crazy or something and said he never heard of the problem. I was not impressed.

Any suggestions you or someone else may have to offer would be appreciated. Other than this problem with the noise, the picture is outstanding when driven through my HTPC.

Thanks!

I apologize for the pics not being the clearest but this is my Z5 doing a 20 foot widescreen. It is my outdoor movie theater. We were watching The Scorpion King HD DVD then we watched Bruce Almighty HD DVD... It works fantastic. The Z5 is one heck of a bargain. Especially since it looks awesome with Blu ray and HD DVD! :)

Here are a couple more... :) It was 25 feet from the screen! :eek:

I have 1000 hours on my Z5 now, still working good. Have only cleaned the filters once, no dust blobs.

I even cook some steak near it (scary huh) and it gets a little smoke on it now and then, although I usually turn it off and cover it when I do this, still no problems.

Blue Haze
OK I have noticed a tiny tiny tiny blue haze in right corner only on some scenes (maybe it is just the scene itself?). Doesn't bother me at all, 99.999% of the time I don't see it.

I am about to buy the Toshiba-A2 for $238 on Amazon.com... Good price...
Going to try Planet Earth HD-DVD series, see how it goes.

Hi All,

Is it normal if you watch closely the screen you can see this kind of convergence around subtitles and menu items? (see attached picture)

It is not disturbing from a long distance, but I do not know how much this problem reduce overall image quality.

Can you please check whether your Z5 has the same problem or not?

Is there any service or factory menu where I can adjust this?

Thanks.

Hi All,

Is it normal if you watch closely the screen you can see this kind of convergence around subtitles and menu items? (see attached picture)

It is not disturbing from a long distance, but I do not know how much this problem reduce overall image quality.

Can you please check whether your Z5 has the same problem or not?

Is there any service or factory menu where I can adjust this?

Thanks.

yeah - you can't zoom in that tight to an LCD display especially on narrow lettering and not expect a little color fringing. now if you saw the same thing from a seated position with regular video that would be cause for concern.

Something was wrong with your particular installation. The Oppo - Z5 combination works very well.

Well. maybe he just had a defective 981. My PQ with 981 and Z5 is superb. I let the Oppo upconvert to 780p so that there is no scaling by Z5.

Well. maybe he just had a defective 981. My PQ with 981 and Z5 is superb. I let the Oppo upconvert to 780p so that there is no scaling by Z5.


I really don't want to extend this discussion forever. I'm not a Video Expert but I don't understand why I'm one of the few owners that had that conclusion.
The Oppo 981HD is still working fine, with a friend of mine.
The Z5 is working very well too, connected to a PS3 and the 578a. The Z5 rescales 1080p to 720p very well, so bluray playing is a joy.
There is some red cast in "whiter than white" that I intend to fix by calibrating it again.
The only thing that annoys me is the fact that I can't see the BTB bars when using DVE SD to calibrate.
Do you see the "blacker than black" bars in DVE ?

regards,
Marcelo

The only thing that annoys me is the fact that I can't see the BTB bars when using DVE SD to calibrate.
Do you see the "blacker than black" bars in DVE ?

regards,
Marcelo

No. No BTB Bars. I believe that is a limitation of all LCD Projectors.

Hi I am new to projectors and would like you recomendations on where to mount the projector for best performance (ceiling mount).
I guess my fist question is do you mount the projector center of the screen or do you line up the lens center to the screen.

Screen size 100" fixed screen

The room is 19'8 (6mtrs) X 14'9 (4.5mtrs)
Seating position 16.5' (5mtrs) from the screen
Ceiling Height 9'

I have read many posts but im still confused on where to ceiling mount the projector for best performance.

I am hoping that you guys can help me out.

thanks

My Z5 just arrived today. I have yet to set it up. My former projector was the venerable InFocus SP4805. This is my question. I have 3 sources, all capable of 720P or 1080i or P. Would you feed the projetor native 720P so that no scaling is occurring or would you send it 1080i or P when possible? My 3 sources are HTPC w/HDCP video card, DirecTV HR20, and a Denon 3910 upscaling DVD player. Thanks in advance.

Chuck

Hi I am new to projectors and would like you recomendations on where to mount the projector for best performance (ceiling mount).

The lens is located on the center of the projector, so centering the projector is the same as centering the lens, so I guess I didn't understand your first question. Optimally, the projector should be HORIZONTALLY centered based on the screen it will display to, as this will reduce horizontal lens shift and result in less geometry issues.

Overall, your question is complicated because it depends on several factors, including your mounting flexibility (whether it swivels fully and how low you can go).

Simply speaking, place it as far back as you can to where it has plenty of brightness. From my own experience with the Z5 (I have over 1000 hours on it), you should be careful about brightness with that size of a screen unless it is a very high gain screen. Therefore, the closer the projector to the screen - the brighter - and therefore the better (minimum distance is just at 10.1 feet for your screen size). Test it at 10.5 feet and if the zoom or vertical lens shift introduces geometry issues, move it back, but going beyond 12 feet back may reduce brightness too much. You cannot precisely judge how much brightness you need because the lamp will reduce in brightness over time, so eyeing it will help but not be perfect. I project onto a wall sometimes up to about 100", and based on my own experience you don't want to go back more than 14 feet or it will be too dark for this screen size. I would guess 10.1 to 12 feet would be best, but maybe as high as 15 feet back if there is too much vertical lens shift needed at closer ranges and if you have a +1.3 or higher gain for your screen.

I dont have the Sanyo mounting chart on me, so I'll leave that part up to you, but I will give you some more insight on what to look for... You will want to adjust the mounting arm so that the least amount of vertical lens shift is required. Vertical lens shift is simply the correction of the vertical position of the projector to match the screen (so image doesn't project above or below the screen). It is best to use the projector mount to align vertically if it has an adjustable vertical arm, rather than using the vertical lens shift capabilities of the projector.

My Z5 just arrived today. I have yet to set it up. My former projector was the venerable InFocus SP4805. This is my question. I have 3 sources, all capable of 720P or 1080i or P. Would you feed the projetor native 720P so that no scaling is occurring or would you send it 1080i or P when possible? My 3 sources are HTPC w/HDCP video card, DirecTV HR20, and a Denon 3910 upscaling DVD player. Thanks in advance.

Chuck

Fir the PC, definitely get it as close as possible to native 720p (1280x720) resolution. For the cable box, probably 720p is best here as well, but some people have conflicting reports, so I'd try 720p or 1080p and see what you like better. For the DVD player, set it to output at 720p as well so the DVD player does the scaling and not the projector, as the Denon probably has a better scaler than the Sanyo, however to be sure try 480p as well on the DVD player just to test it, but generally speaking the Denon should beat the Sanyo's scaler.

Hope this helps...

Fir the PC, definitely get it as close as possible to native 720p (1280x720) resolution. For the cable box, probably 720p is best here as well, but some people have conflicting reports, so I'd try 720p or 1080p and see what you like better. For the DVD player, set it to output at 720p as well so the DVD player does the scaling and not the projector, as the Denon probably has a better scaler than the Sanyo, however to be sure try 480p as well on the DVD player just to test it, but generally speaking the Denon should beat the Sanyo's scaler.

Hope this helps...

coderguy:
Thanks for the response. Yes, the HTPC is set up for 1280 X 720. I have an HDCP/HDMI capable card in it. The Denon does look best at 720 so that is where it is set. The DirecTV receiver cannot be set to always go to a specified resolution, but can be manually set to 720 when it is on an HD channel that uses 1080i. There is no choice on SD channels, so the Z5 is doing the scaling. BUT I didn't really buy the Z5 to watch TV on, so that is ok. Again, thanks for the response.

Chuck

I'm really happy with the performance of the Sanyo Z5 feeding from PS3 via HDMI and optical output to Denon 3805. It's located in the basement 30' x 25' projected on a 106" fixed frame with 1.8 gain (grey-glass bead embed). The projector is sitting on top of a 5' shelf on the back wall approx. 19' from the screen and the seating distance is approx. 16'.

The PS3 output RGB full with super white on and made some minor adjustments using DVE. The audio via optical selecting PCM to the receiver. I'm looking into a new receiver with HDMI to take advantage of the uncompress audio and new codecs.

As I mentioned above I'm really happy with the system I have. However, I see very little different ( missing the WOW factor ) when comparing (e.g. POTC 1 & 2 and 300 of sd dvd versus blu-ray).

Would someone shed some light as what improvement I can make to achieve the WOW that everybody experiencing in term of the new format, especially blu ray? Appreciate any tips and comments.

hi guys i am completly new to this so please excuse the stupid question im about to ask

I have a 100" fixed screen dvd player is set to 16:9 but i still get black bars above and below the picture on the screen i thought that when a purchased a 16:9 screen that it would give me a full picture on the screen?
I have to set my z5 to "full" to get a big picture should it be set to normal rather than full?

Thanks

People

hi guys i am completly new to this so please excuse the stupid question im about to ask

I have a 100" fixed screen dvd player is set to 16:9 but i still get black bars above and below the picture on the screen i thought that when a purchased a 16:9 screen that it would give me a full picture on the screen?
I have to set my z5 to "full" to get a big picture should it be set to normal rather than full?

Thanks

People
16x9 images will have no bars, 2.35to1 (Cinemascope/Panavision,etc.) will have bars. Perfectly normal.

No. No BTB Bars. I believe that is a limitation of all LCD Projectors.

There is no limitation of LCD projectors as far as BTB. I calibrate using the The Incredibles disc with THX calibration and have no trouble seeing BTB with my Z5.

Yippie!! I just got my Z5 in and let me say this projector is amazing. I'm thrilled with the sharpness and clarity of the picture. The lack of noise is amazing, now I see how bad other projectors are compared to this one. I only had time to watch some DVD's and everything is hooked up via component. Ordering HDMI cables next week, should I see a better picture with the upgrade from component to HDMI? If so WOW. I was worried as a DLP owner (I see Rainbows) owner that the contrast and blacks would be sub par, but the opposite is true, the Z5 puts out a better picture than the Optoma (H31 and H70), the Z5 has better shadow detail. I'm a tweak bug so I'll post any settings I establish with my Panny S97 dvd player, Dish HD, and 360.

I know the z5 is louder when ceiling mounted so would i be able to but projector on shelf near top of ceiling and use lens shift without compromise of image. 92" screen 14ft from viewing area

Well, the Z5 is now on my short list of possibilities for my theater. I will have a screen diagonal something like 92" or so (definitely under 100"), but seating distance is limited and will only be 8' from the screen. Will that be an issue with this projector? Price, features, and warranty(!) are great, but I'm not sure if the AX200U would be better at my closer seating distance.

Throw distance can be adjusted. I was planning on around 14'. Thanks everyone.

hello my setup from 3.5 met. on the white wall
dynamic
br-2
co-6
color +6
ti 0
red +4
gr+6
bl+7
sh+2
lam low
ga-1
lens-22
lamp open
a black L2
contr OFF
TRAN L1
col.list 3
dy.gamma auto 2
gainR-3,G 0,B 0
offset R-2,G-5,B-5
GAMMA R -3,G+1,B 0

I have just watched my first film on the projecter on a 92 white mat screen.

Any ideas how I can get better blacks?

If you've already configured the black and white levels, etc. with a calibration DVD like Avia or VE or a THX optimizer disc, then the best thing i can suggest there is to play with gamma curves to see which gives the best compromise between good shadow detail and inky blacks without any black crush.

Others have also used ND filters with success.

Good luck. I suggest you read up a bit in the calibration forum to help:)

Oh yeah, also try playing with it's Dynamic Iris settings.

and last but not least..............

.......Pay for a good ISF calibration;)!!!

Thanks guys I have read up on the calibration thread, is it true thats the blacks will get better the more i use it as the bulb dims a bit.

How does the ND filter work and which is the best for this projector Thanks

Thanks guys I have read up on the calibration thread, is it true thats the blacks will get better the more i use it as the bulb dims a bit.

How does the ND filter work and which is the best for this projector Thanks

Anyone

I thought this thread was so good I copied some setting to a word file for easy printing. I have a Z4 ,and thought I would help my little brother the Z5 out.:D

Hello everyone,

I read following thread Z2 Warranty Denied (Sound Familiar?) and I was shocked to know that.

May I ask what routine work needs to be done every month to put the projector z5 in good condition?

TIA

Regards
Leigh

Hey guys, I was just wondering if you could recommend a high end 100" screen for the Z5 and why you would choose that particular one.

Thanks :)

It really shows up with 720p test patterns from a signal generator (Accupel, in my case). ANY setting other than 0 will cause the projector not to resolve the patterns. With real images, this will mean a slight softening of the image (might not show up much on upconverted DVDs.

The reason for including it is:
1) People expect it. :rolleyes:
2) If you really can't get rid of artifacts on the edges, and the black borders around your screen aren't dark enough to mask off those artifacts (or you are bothered by those artifacts still being visible on the sides).

Why the default is at the max (+10) is another, very good question
. . (or why they don't have separate "blanking" controls too).

PS: Another little item: If using HDMI/DVI, make sure the HDMI setting is at L2. The default, L1 does not pass blacker than black signals - so you can't use test patterns to set proper black levels. Again, I don't know why the default here is L1.

I'm having alot of difficulty adjusting the colorspace on my Z5 for both my HDMI sources. I'd really appreciate anyone with experience chiming in.

My 720p sources are an xbox 360 on HDMI 1 and a toshiba A3 HD-DVD on HDMI 2, both set to output 720. I've set overscan to 0 for both souces and the image itselft is clear but I can't seen to get a natural look to the color.

According to what I've read here and in the manual setting the HDMI inputs to L2 is recommended for sources that have an extended or enhanced colorspace output setting. I'm assuming this means L2 = RGB source (0-255 or 0 IRE). Is this correct?

When I set the 360 to expanded reference level and the A3 to enhanced color mode (and both HDMI inputs on the Z5 to L2) everything looks washed out no matter what I do. The image has a nice 3D 'pop' to it (maybe enhanced contrast levels?) but to get my blacks reasonably dark I then get black crush that elimates shadow detail in dark areas.

Anyone have recommended colorspace (and RGB values) for sources like the 360 and A3 that have an enhanced (RGB) colorspace output mode? Right now I can only get good blacks and color saturation setting HDMI to L1 and the colorspace output to standard. Unfortunately the image doesn't get that 3D pop though ( at least not without Transient improvement...I don't want to use additional image processing...just want to get a clean image with natural color via RGB and colorspace enhancements).

Last night after much anticipation i unboxed my new Z5. This is replacing a infocus X1 that had the colorwheel burn up and stop working.

When i placed it and hooked everything up my heart sank. green. and lots of it... everything was green. I messed around with the settings enough to know i should stop and and was glad to hear than none of the changes i made were perm because i didn't save them as a user setting.

I think it may be my cable or the z5's inability to receive RGB through the computer interface?? I bought a cable from ebay years ago for my X1 that has component video(RGB) to plug into the DVD player and then it has the 15 pin connector on the other end and on my old X1 i ran it as "computer" and everything was great. i simply removed the X1 and replaced it with the Z5 and when i turned it on and selected computer as the source, everthing is green. as a last ditch effort i hooked up the svideo cable and switched the Z5 source to svideo and it had double vision in gray colors. when i switched it to 480i on the DVD player it went to normal with good color and picture. (now notice what people were talking about with the reds).

I'm thinking of getting a regular component video cable as my DVD player does not have HDMI. also my DVD player has the 5.1 output that goes directly into my receiver/sub system. it also does not have HDMI so i'm trying to keep from buying any more equipment, especially a HD-DVD that doesn't have the 5.1/7.1 audio outputs. (looking at the A35...)

can anyone help? did i just miss something in the set up or will this Z5 not receive a RGB signal through a computer interface? if that's the case then would a Component RGB on both ends give me 720p ability once i either upgrade or get a upconverter?

thanks. once i get this figured out then i'm going to try some of the settings from previous post to see which ones i like. you have all been very helpful!

Does anyone have/know if there are discrete Z5 IR codes for selecting the HDMI1 and HDMI2 inputs? I need them for Pronto macro to select correct source-input pairing for DVD-HDMI1 and DVR-HDMI2.

thanks,
DrNorm

Try

HDMI 1

0000 006D 0022 0002 0157 00AC 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0689 0157 0056 0015 0E94

HDMI 2

0000 006D 0022 0002 0157 00AC 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0041 0015 0041 0015 0016 0015 0689 0157 0056 0015 0E94

Wow it's been along time since people have been doing any tweaking with the Z5. With a fresh bulb still under 80 hours I haven't played much. I did get DVE on HD-DVD and I have just been playing around with the A3. But I did notice the only way to get BTB was to set HDMI to L2, this hugely increase shadow detail and bright white detail. Thanks for that heads up Spyderulz, do you have your setup complete? With a 92" screen I am really cranking this thing down, I have the lamp on econo and the iris down to -60 to -63 most of the time. I'm really contemplating with making a larger 106" screen to utilize all the brightness. I recently set up the A3 and watched Harry Potter OTP and was amazed by the sharpness and detail and color. Today I'm going to pop in Transformers HD and lots of Football.

Happy New Year Z5ers!

Wow it's been along time since people have been doing any tweaking with the Z5. With a fresh bulb still under 80 hours I haven't played much. I did get DVE on HD-DVD and I have just been playing around with the A3. But I did notice the only way to get BTB was to set HDMI to L2, this hugely increase shadow detail and bright white detail. Thanks for that heads up Spyderulz, do you have your setup complete? With a 92" screen I am really cranking this thing down, I have the lamp on econo and the iris down to -60 to -63 most of the time. I'm really contemplating with making a larger 106" screen to utilize all the brightness. I recently set up the A3 and watched Harry Potter OTP and was amazed by the sharpness and detail and color. Today I'm going to pop in Transformers HD and lots of Football.

Happy New Year Z5ers!

I discovered the benefits of setting the HDMI to L2 a couple of weeks ago. Who knew that a few pushes on the remotes buttons would take me from being a happy owner to a truly amazed owner?! The shadow detail is sooooo f-ing good now!

//P

I've been getting great results with DVE and calibrating colors, I'm finding a little yellowing in the flesh tones though. Anyone know how to reduce this, I don't want to just push red since I think my reds and blues are very accurate right now.
Thanks

I've finally setup the projector and I"m hooking up my laptop via vga cable (no dvi output, it's a little old). Something doesn't seem right. The full image isn't filled in, what I mean is there is part of the projector "screen" that is not being utilized. Can this be fixed?

I've tried different settings for screen resolution and seem to get the best results from 1680x1050. My other options are:

1920x1200
1600x1200
1400x1050
1280x1024
1280x800
1280x768
1024x768

But none of them seem to work well. Do I need to get a new driver or something?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi Folks,
My 7 months old Z5 acts strangely, when I change the Lamp brightness mode from Full to Eco I do not notice anything visually at all. I remember that in past when I changed it it produced brighter picture.

Can you please advise if this is a setting or hardware issue.

Thank you.

I never notice much change with mine either... never have. I wonder if there really is any difference...


Anyway, if anyone has some input on the lamp thing, I'd appreciate a reponse as well. Should we notice a difference?

After 500 hours using someone else's calibrated settings I'm SO pleased with this thing. I think we all agree it's a top value projector. The fact that this thread is not very busy reflects the fact that people are just using and enjoying their projectors.

I really don't want to pay $35 for AVIA, especially if I'm going to upgrade to Blu-ray in the furutre... (Oppo 981 works fab in the meantime).

Right on Basement Dude, I'm really enjoying my Z5 especially during the Football season. I'm just giddy every time I turn it on and see a crystal clear and sharp image. I've had over a dozen people view my theater room since I got the Z5 and everyone has been amazed by the picture. Now....going home, eating dinner, then enjoying a few HD movies!!!

Hi this is my first post.

I also have the oppo 981 with the Z5. I've got better result out of the DVD by increasing the saturation to +5 on the oppo settings.


Hi there Poly and Z5 owners .
My pj is working fine now with some tweak and test´s.
i have this settings, but i need that image (punch) what i see in pictures with an oppo981, and i don't get it :( :

With Brilliant Cinema and Natural (boths works a little fine for me)-
B= +2
C= +5
C. Sat = +12
TINT = 0
Color Temp = Low2
R = 29
G = 26
B = 19
Lamp = low
Gamma = +2
Lense Iris = -15
Lamp Iris = open
Sharp 1
In adv. menu
auto black off
contrats enh L1
Trans L1
And the other settings i dont know how to use.
Gain R:
Gain G:
Gain B:
Offset:
Offset:
Offset:
Gamma R G B

I must learn how to use color managment or if i must copy the color patterns from avia disc. :confused:
Somebody have a review withZ5 in avbuzz, just to see some configurations like Z4?

best regard´s

LAst post was in this thread was November of Last year....

Again.... We're all just enjoying our projectors. Anyone Pair this puppy up with Blu-Ray yet?

I have an Oppo 981, looks great... just wondering if the jump to Blu-Ray looks significantly better (with Blu-Ray DVDs, I know the 981 upscales better than most BLu-Ray). I'm not buying any DVDs right now because I'm waiting to upgrade....)

Also, any more calibrated settings anyone wants to share? I'm too cheap to pay $38 for AVIA.... :)

I'm with you Basement Dude - alot of us Z5 owners are really enjoying our PJs right now - this thread is only 13 pages - that says alot about the quality of the Z5. I have both Blu-ray (PS3) and HD-DVD(Xbox-Add-on) and I think its definitely worth, it the pic is super sharp.

I'm with you guys, too. Getting the itch to upgrade to a 1080p projector, but after having my Z5 calibrated by UMR last year, this thing looks fantastic! I've looked at 1080p projectors, and while they definitely are sharper, it's really hard to justify spending another $2000-$3000 when the picture quality of the Z5 is this good!

Same thing here. I'm happy with the picture and haven't recalibrated for months. Blu-ray (PS3) is a big step up and it's hard to go back to DVD afterwards if you're sitting close to a big screen (PS3 upscaling is good though).

The Z5 is good enough that I decided to pass on the current generation of 1080p (e.g. Z2000) and wait to see what the next models bring to the table.

I do have a couple of small dust blobs that appeared recently. I can only see them on a completely black screen, but I might try blowing them out this weekend.

With Blu-ray I tested the PS3 outputting 720p, 1080i and 1080p over HDMI to the Z5. They all look good, but 720p just seems to have the edge in sharpness (with overscan set to 0 on the Z5). It's not too surprising since this mode doesn't require the Z5 to do any scaling.

Also, as you might know, the PS3 BD/DVD HDMI video output format needs to be set to YCbCr (or automatic), with "Super-White" enabled, in order to pass blacker-than-black (BTB) and whiter-than-white (WTW). This works well with the Z5 (as long as the Z5 HDMI is set to L2).

The funny (actually annoying) thing is that all this was working great until I added a new HDMI switching receiver between the PS3 and Z5. Now BTB and WTW are not visible. The black level is not changed (no need to recalibrate), something is just clipping anything below level 16 (black) to 16, and anything above level 235 (white) to 235. At first I double checked all my Z5 and PS3 settings, but it was the receiver not passing BTB and WTW. All the new Yamahas seem to do this (including the RX-V1800 and 3800), I don't know about other brands. Normal video still looks the same (great) since it shouldn't have anything below black, but it's pretty confusing when you assume it must be a source or a display problem and it turns out to be the receiver.

I have the Yamaha RX-V461 and it has no problems passing BTB and WTW to my Z5. Source also PS3...

//P

I have the Yamaha RX-V461 and it has no problems passing BTB and WTW to my Z5. Source also PS3...

Thanks for that, but the HDMI clipping problem is only seen with the HDMI inputs on these new receivers. With a component connection (which I assume you are using) it's OK.

Thanks for that, but the HDMI clipping problem is only seen with the HDMI inputs on these new receivers. With a component connection (which I assume you are using) it's OK.

The RX-V461 is a HDMI receiver and that is what I'm using. It's Yamaha's cheapest receiver with HDMI capabilities in Sweden, and it only handles video via HDMI, no sound.

//P

The RX-V461 is a HDMI receiver and that is what I'm using. It's Yamaha's cheapest receiver with HDMI capabilities in Sweden, and it only handles video via HDMI, no sound.

It's strange how the same model number is different in different countries! In North America the 461 has no HDMI.

In your case I guess the HDMI hardware is different from the 1800, since it won't handle sound. So it's certainly possible that they behave differently for video.

It's strange how the same model number is different in different countries! In North America the 461 has no HDMI.


Yeah, that is strange. Different needs for different markets I guess... :)

I just finished browsing Yamahas US site and I must say that the range of products is far better compared to europe, but I guess that is to be expected...

Sorry for OT.

//P

Two dust blobs were bugging me every time the picture faded to black, so I tried blowing them out, and I must say that adding those cleaning holes was stroke of genius.

Once I focused on the dust (which also required moving the zoom to one extreme) there were not only the two bright blue spots that caused the visible blobs, but literally dozens of other smaller spots on all of the panels. Even though these weren't normally visible on their own, they must have been causing a general deterioration of the black level, because now I have a really smooth dark image when it fades to black. It almost qualifies as a tweak for improving the black level!

Some of the little devils are stubborn though, and it must have taken 20 or more hard blasts from the blower to get rid of many of them (and I left a few very faint ones). You definitely want the projector turned on in cleaning mode while you do the cleaning (as per the instructions).

This should make people that have the Z5 happy.

I recently setup a Sony a3000 60" LCOS RPTV (1080p) at my Father's house, with a BluRay player + sat HD. I have to say that the silk screen effect on the RPTV was really really distracting, after being used to a Z5 which produces a smooth clear image. I did not even notice the SSE on the Sony LCOS TV's much before I had the Z5, but the Z5 has a smother image for sure. The RPTV had better contrast, but other than that I preferred the Z5.

It seems I definitely prefer LCD technology over the other technologies, maybe that is why all the manufacturers are now starting to produce mostly LCD TV's.

I need to buy another TV for my bedroom, but I really want a regular TV and not another projector (not because of quality but because of the overkill and oddness of having a projector mounted in your bedroom). I am waiting for the lower-end LCD TV's to get better black levels (Sony LCD has good black levels but at 2x the cost).

Hi if i understand right then i must have the hdmi setting to L2 to obtain blb level but when calibrating via dve i can see the blb bar on L1 setting and when switching to L2 the black seems washed out, i use my pc to watch from via hdmi. can this be true or am i not using the dve calibration disk right?

about the auto iris whats it`s pros and cons for having the iris open instead of auto 1.
Another thing in the menu i can not change the progressive setting ,it is set on L1 and is in the background so i can not change it ,why is that?
regards
Michael

Hi if i understand right then i must have the hdmi setting to L2 to obtain blb level but when calibrating via dve i can see the blb bar on L1 setting and when switching to L2 the black seems washed out, i use my pc to watch from via hdmi. can this be true or am i not using the dve calibration disk right?

about the auto iris whats it`s pros and cons for having the iris open instead of auto 1.
Another thing in the menu i can not change the progressive setting ,it is set on L1 and is in the background so i can not change it ,why is that?
regards
Michael
I can verify that only the L2 setting passes below black (video levels below 16). What's probably happening is that your PC is changing the brightness and contrast, so what it's sending out for black is considerably higher than level 16, and there's still room for below-black at level 16.

If your PC graphics card driver has any brightness and contrast controls, make sure they are set so that what you output are standard video levels (black at 16, white at 235). Then calibrate by adjusting your projector, not the source.

I can verify that only the L2 setting passes below black (video levels below 16). What's probably happening is that your PC is changing the brightness and contrast, so what it's sending out for black is considerably higher than level 16, and there's still room for below-black at level 16.

If your PC graphics card driver has any brightness and contrast controls, make sure they are set so that what you output are standard video levels (black at 16, white at 235). Then calibrate by adjusting your projector, not the source.


how do i do that my graphics card is an ati card and i can control brightness and contrast do i use my dve disk on the pc monitor and then connect the pj to the pc and run the dve disk again or what, i am a noob to this so any help appriciated. on my graphic card i can change contrast from 0 to 200 and brightness from -100 to +100 dont know how to get black 16 and white 235.

how do i do that my graphics card is an ati card and i can control brightness and contrast do i use my dve disk on the pc monitor and then connect the pj to the pc and run the dve disk again or what, i am a noob to this so any help appriciated. on my graphic card i can change contrast from 0 to 200 and brightness from -100 to +100 dont know how to get black 16 and white 235.
I don't know what your graphic card controls do exactly, so this is a bit of a guess:

I would probably start with the Z5 HDMI set to L1 (so it should only pass 16-235). For the black level I would turn up the Z5 brightness so I could easily see black, then adjust the PC brightness so I could see blacker-than-black on the DVE test pattern. Now reduce the PC brightness until the BTB bar just disappears. This should mean your PC is outputting black at level 16 (because BTB, which is less than 16, can't be seen any more with the L1 setting).

For white you could do a similar thing using the PC contrast control, but make sure the Z5 brightness is not so high at this stage that it crushes whites. The DVE reverse grey ramps has both BTB and WTW.

You may have to iterate between brightness and contrast controls on the PC to get both right at the same time. Once you're satisfied the PC is outputting the right levels, don't touch the PC controls any more. Just switch the Z5 HDMI back to L2, and adjust the Z5 brightness and contrast according to DVE.

I just made all that up with no way of testing it, so I hope it's correct :) Also, if the PC is your only source it may not matter much exactly how it's set, as long as the Z5 brightness and contrast are set to match. But if you have other sources that output standard video levels (16-235) then you probably have more reason to want the PC use the same levels (although the Z5 remembers the settings for each input independently, so it still might not really matter).

thanks i will try that,have just finished callibrating with the pc set to use the players output powerdvd and the hdmi on L2 wich have resulted in brightness at -25 and contrast at +13 and batman begins seems very dark someplaces allmost black but that was allso the case with the hdmi setting at L1 and brightness at -13 so maybe it is just that movie ,but will try your pc trick and let you know if it helped.
I am only using pc as source for both dvd and blueray.
once again thx for the reply, any comment on my auto iris quistion:)

thanks i will try that,have just finished callibrating with the pc set to use the players output powerdvd and the hdmi on L2 wich have resulted in brightness at -25 and contrast at +13 and batman begins seems very dark someplaces allmost black but that was allso the case with the hdmi setting at L1 and brightness at -13 so maybe it is just that movie ,but will try your pc trick and let you know if it helped.
I am only using pc as source for both dvd and blueray.
once again thx for the reply, any comment on my auto iris quistion:)
I have the Lamp Iris set to Auto1. It only bothers me on scrolling credits when you can clearly notice the iris opening and closing depending on the amount of white text on the black background. But during normal scenes it seems to work well so I left it on Auto1.

I also have Gamma set to +2, which helps show more shadow detail in dark movies. If you have Gamma set to a low value, try increasing it.

tryed the pc trick but when i adjust brightness on the graphics card nothing happend with the picture that the pj is showing tryed to turn it up to max and down but nothing the bars are the same ,and my calibrating with the dve where i came to the setting brightness at -25 and contrast at +13 is no good way to dark ,i used the test pattern with 3 bars and turned brightness down so i could on just see the 3rd bar ,have now tryed the test pattern where the test patter allso include contrast and got brightness down to -18 but that is still very low so will try to adjust gamma as you mentioned.

have set my iris to 35 and the brightness at -18 and that gives a nice picture, but i do not understand those calibrating disks ,last night i tryed to use my denon dvd 1930 dvd player and with hdmi set on L1 i still could see the btb bars wich i am not suposed to right? when setting hdmi to L2 and calibrate after btb i end up with brigtnes at -25 or even -28 and that is much too dark.I have DVE disk and THE CALIBRATOR.

have set my iris to 35 and the brightness at -18 and that gives a nice picture, but i do not understand those calibrating disks ,last night i tryed to use my denon dvd 1930 dvd player and with hdmi set on L1 i still could see the btb bars wich i am not suposed to right? when setting hdmi to L2 and calibrate after btb i end up with brigtnes at -25 or even -28 and that is much too dark.I have DVE disk and THE CALIBRATOR.
I'm not really sure what's going on. I know that I couldn't see BTB with the L1 setting. Make sure you have L1 set for the correct HDMI input (or for both), as that control in the Z5 menu is a bit confusing.

It's normal to need a much lower brightness level with the L2 setting, but don't forget to check your contrast too (otherwise your whites might be too dull or too bright).

Your Denon 1930 has some control over black level that might explain what's happening. On pages 24 and 25 of the manual (assuming the PDF I have is the same as yours), is "Black Level Setting" ON or OFF? And what are your settings for HDMI SELECT and HDMI PICTURE?

And you might find this article useful: http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/calibrate-your-system/hdmi-black-levels-xvycc-rgb

i have to check that when i get the denon moved down to again i am normaly only using the pc ,but whanted to check with the denon, but it seems odd that when i adjust brightness on the graphic card nothing happens with the projected picture,but thx for the reply and the link .I will get back when i have tryed denon again so i can see if something is wrong with the projector,me or the graphic card.

Now i got the denon to only show the btb bars on the hdmi L2 setting, it was in the dvd option as you metioned, but my pc can show btb on hdmi L1 and i have found a brightness option on the card with changes the picture but not so i can turn it down so the btb bars disapears on L1 as you surgested i have a radeon ati hd 2400 xt . Does anyone know of a graphic card that passes btb?

Hi, Can Z5 owners past and present give me some help in choosing a screen? :)
My appartment has white walls and not so good light control, however it will be used mostly in the evening.
Thanks

rover 2002: Probably a slightly gray screen would be good for better contrast. I made my own from dry-erase board and paint formulas from Tiddler in the DIY screen forum.

Now, does anyone know a way to fix the fact that I have a slightly red hue on the left side of the screen and a slightly blue hue on the right?

rover 2002: Probably a slightly gray screen would be good for better contrast. I made my own from dry-erase board and paint formulas from Tiddler in the DIY screen forum.

Now, does anyone know a way to fix the fact that I have a slightly red hue on the left side of the screen and a slightly blue hue on the right?

I've had that red hue - blue/green hue since I got my Z5, I really just got used to it, but if it is a uniformity problem that Sanyo should take care of, I'd also like to know. I don't see it as bad when I first start up the Z5 though???

I didn't notice it until recently... I have over 800 hours on the bulb right now,.... it's only slightly noticeable on lighter scenes.

On the other hand, this projector is phenomenal. I guarantee nobody else notices it....

Well funny enough my uniformity problems are gone, even after a few hours of watching. Colors are tracking equal across the board and there is no more red push on the left side. White screen test is pure white all around. Wonder if my bulb is now properly broken in. :) (knock on wood)

Could someone post their settings for the Z5 that gives great BLACK levels and shows shadow detail? I have a 1.0 gain screen and it is about 12ft from the screen. I have great color but the blacks and shadow detail are just not where I want them. Also please describe the "L" setings in the HDMI set up but also describe when people say 1 what they mean as I have 2 L's that can be set to eith 1 or 2 for each, so when people say 1 them mean both 1 or what?

Could someone post their settings for the Z5 that gives great BLACK levels and shows shadow detail? I have a 1.0 gain screen and it is about 12ft from the screen. I have great color but the blacks and shadow detail are just not where I want them. Also please describe the "L" setings in the HDMI set up but also describe when people say 1 what they mean as I have 2 L's that can be set to eith 1 or 2 for each, so when people say 1 them mean both 1 or what?
You only need to set the HDMI input that you're using. So if you use the first connector you want the first HDMI setting to be L2 (use L2 because it passes blacker-than-black which is useful for setting your brightness).

Set your brightness correctly first with the appropriate test pattern, then for more shadow detail try increasing gamma (I have it at +3). There are probably other ways, but try playing with gamma and see if it helps.

You only need to set the HDMI input that you're using. So if you use the first connector you want the first HDMI setting to be L2 (use L2 because it passes blacker-than-black which is useful for setting your brightness).

Set your brightness correctly first with the appropriate test pattern, then for more shadow detail try increasing gamma (I have it at +3). There are probably other ways, but try playing with gamma and see if it helps.

Sounds like what I did too. Try this first.

PS3

I'm currently using the Oppo 981 and am considering an upgrade. Any of you make the switch to a PS3? How noticeable a difference do you see? Is it better than HD on DirecTV? The 981 looks good but I'm holding off buying dvds until I get blu-ray and I'm itching to upgrade.... thoughts?

PS3 thoughts anyone?

PS3 thoughts anyone?
I'm thinking it's the wrong thread :)

But are you asking about Blu-ray on PS3 vs DVD on a 981? It's no contest if you sit close enough to your screen, Blu-ray is miles better even on a 720p Z5. But there are those who sit too far from a small screen and hence don't see a big improvement.

Also don't necessarily expect Blu-ray to look better than (good) broadcast HD TV, especially on a 720p display. Film has a different look (may have film grain etc.).

using a oppo983h dvd player what settings should i use on the sanyo z5 :confused:

Wow it's been along time since people have been doing any tweaking with the Z5. With a fresh bulb still under 80 hours I haven't played much. I did get DVE on HD-DVD and I have just been playing around with the A3. But I did notice the only way to get BTB was to set HDMI to L2, this hugely increase shadow detail and bright white detail. Thanks for that heads up Spyderulz, do you have your setup complete? With a 92" screen I am really cranking this thing down, I have the lamp on econo and the iris down to -60 to -63 most of the time. I'm really contemplating with making a larger 106" screen to utilize all the brightness. I recently set up the A3 and watched Harry Potter OTP and was amazed by the sharpness and detail and color. Today I'm going to pop in Transformers HD and lots of Football.

Happy New Year Z5ers!

Hey Lenny, sorry it took so long to respond to your post, I haven't been hanging in this forum lately and work has been kiiling me this year...

A major change to my setup is the source, replaced the A3 with an a35 when they dropped to $100 and then replaced that with an LG BH200 combo player when they dropped to $450.

As far as colorspace goes for movie watching I still prefer the HDMI L1 setting, it's the only way I can get acceptable flesh tones to my eyes. I prefer the color balance I get to the 3D pop that seems more apparent with the L2 setting. I've calibrated with the HD 709 AVS disk and some $2 THX blue filters...the colors (including blacks) look great to me.

The one thing I haven't settled on is the resolution I send to projector from the BH200. I was sending 1080p to the projector and while I could see more texture detail in the image there is no doubt the image is 'softer'...almost downright blury in some scenes. 720p is definitely sharper, there are some jaggies, but that's going to happen sending 1080p source material to a 720p projector no matter what you do. Still loving the picture though...

Just bought a Z5, and have been enjoying this forum, with its many useful tips.

So I hope to get some help with a problem, which I have'nt been able to solve otherwise.

The problem is vertical convergence error, meaning that all white objects have a green shadow on the right side, and a red shadow on the left side, both shadows approx. 2-3 pixels wide. This convergence error is uniform over the entire screen, and also shows on the left- and right of the screen, with overscan set to 0. The effect is i.e. that subtitles are blurry, and black and white movies dont look sharp, and even in colourmovies, you can see these muddled colourcontours. This is a problem even from viewing-distance (10 feet, screen size 90 inches).

I know that there is a menu on the Z5 for adjusting convergence, as I have seen several references to that on the internet, but how to acces this hidden menu (called factory menu in the earlier models Z2-Z3), i dont know, and Sanyo for some reason does'nt want to give out this information.

Can anyone help?

I kind of curious about the above post on convergence as well... anybody?

Just bought a Z5, and have been enjoying this forum, with its many useful tips.

So I hope to get some help with a problem, which I have'nt been able to solve otherwise.

The problem is vertical convergence error, meaning that all white objects have a green shadow on the right side, and a red shadow on the left side, both shadows approx. 2-3 pixels wide. This convergence error is uniform over the entire screen, and also shows on the left- and right of the screen, with overscan set to 0. The effect is i.e. that subtitles are blurry, and black and white movies dont look sharp, and even in colourmovies, you can see these muddled colourcontours. This is a problem even from viewing-distance (10 feet, screen size 90 inches).

I know that there is a menu on the Z5 for adjusting convergence, as I have seen several references to that on the internet, but how to acces this hidden menu (called factory menu in the earlier models Z2-Z3), i dont know, and Sanyo for some reason does'nt want to give out this information.

Can anyone help?

About the black and white movies, are they only soft or do you have the same red and green shadows? If they're just soft, it's not a convergence problem as your still using the 3 panels to make up gray. If they are not well aligned, the color "shadowing" would be even more pronounced. I'm guessing that it's either your source, connections, or cabling causing the problem you're seeing.

Hi all mayby u can help me out, there ar so many different settings here and i dont want to go through them all i can help it, so mayby some one could advice me on which settings i should go for.
My setup is as follows:

Denon avr 2808
ps3 (soon the new pana bd 55)
and offcourse the z5 projector with a filter for better black level
the pj screen is a 100" lissau white (not bright white) with a 1,0 gain its a fixede frame
the ps3 is connected to the pj through hdmi via the denon avr 2808

hope some one have a good advice regarding which settings too use

Best regards Ronni

No who can help me ??

Ronni

Just checking in to see how everyone's projector is running. I'm at 1100 hours so far almost 2 years old now. Still going strong....


Though I think a little dimming but not too bad. I've been watching LOST season 1 on with my oppo 981 dvd player and am stunned at the image quality. film-like for sure... I've been considering Blu-Ray but I think Ill save up for a new bulb and keep going with standard def for a while.

I am at 15 months old and have just gotten a replacement bulb under my warranty. I am at 2300 Hours without a problem. I would say that it dimmed considerably in daylight at around 2000 hours. Yes, we watch it a lot!

Chuck

That's cool... I use it in spurts, switching channels with directv is difficult, it takes a few moments for the iris to adjust, so if I'm watching tv, I usually use the tube, but for watching games or flicks its the Z5!!:)

I have had mine since April 2007 700 hours on bulb. When watching Sat the picture's brightness seems to go up and down with the seen. Is this the auto Iris ? This is annoying. Any suggestions ???


Thanks

Dennis

Just checking in to see how everyone's projector is running. I'm at 1100 hours so far almost 2 years old now. Still going strong....


Though I think a little dimming but not too bad. I've been watching LOST season 1 on with my oppo 981 dvd player and am stunned at the image quality. film-like for sure... I've been considering Blu-Ray but I think Ill save up for a new bulb and keep going with standard def for a while.


Your brain will adjust to the dimming. Unless you throw up another image it is really hard to tell. I test drove a Epson 6100 for a week and was blown away by it's brightness. I ended up returning the Epson and bought a new bulb for my Z5 instead. For reference, my 2.5 year Z5 bulb had 1,200 hours on it. Man, my Z5 is uber bright again. Huge difference from my old bulb.

I'm in that 1200 hour range and it seems like it's dimming a little, but the picture is still awesome. It never was a bright projector to begin with. I use just a little ambient light and that helps. Sports on directv still look vibrant. It's my oppo 981 that is a tad dim, I wonder if there's a setting on that to improve things. Ill go ask over in that thread....

I'm in that 1200 hour range and it seems like it's dimming a little, but the picture is still awesome. It never was a bright projector to begin with. I use just a little ambient light and that helps. Sports on directv still look vibrant. It's my oppo 981 that is a tad dim, I wonder if there's a setting on that to improve things. Ill go ask over in that thread....

I also replaced my filters. I could not believe the color difference on the main filter between the new and old one.

I noticed the other day that on black and white images the right side of the screen has a slight green tint to it and the right has a slight red tint to it. Is this normal? I only really notice it on black and white material.

Hey Im moving and must set up a new theater...

Will be dealing with a drop ceiling. Any of you have yours mounted with a drop ceiling? If so, what do you use? I'm looking for cheap...

My Z5 has developed a reddish tinge in the bottom right hand corner. It's noticeable when displaying bright whites or PLUGE patterns...even the Panel adjustment pattern shows it. Cleaning the panels has not helped. I've reset to factory defaults, again no dice. The unit only has about 50 hours on it. Looks like it's time to activate that 4 year warranty. Sanyo better not give me any crap.

My Z5 has developed a reddish tinge in the bottom right hand corner.
Do you have a spare bulb that you could swap in for a test? Colour uniformity issues are sometimes caused by the bulb. At about 400 hours my Z5 developed a noticable reddish tint on the left side of the screen, and it eventually cleared up on its own.

Hi guys...

I thought I would revisit this thread after all this time. My Z5 is now 2.5 years old with over 4,000 hours on the bulb (yes I did say 4K). No issues.

I am quite amazed I got this much usage out of it without ever replacing the bulb (I will finally order a new bulb soon). I even had some power outages with the projector on which caused "instant-off with no fan cool-down" and the bulb still did not go out.

The bulb does dim a bit after 1500 hours, and then it really falls off after 3000 hours or so. It is still useable even at 4000 hours, but not with any ambient light and I also have to set it to vivid or raise brightness.

I am not even that desperate to buy a 1080p projector as I still enjoy this Z5. I am buying a plasma for my bedroom though, and one day will replace the Z5 with 1080p.

My Z5 has a greenish tint in the middle of the screen. Its only really noticable with reds and whites but its there.

Is there anything I can do? Some people suggest "cleaning the filters". How exactly would I go about do that?

Any help would be appreciated.

Hey everyone, still enjoying my Z5. Finally upgraded to the Blu-Ray and let me say I'm amazed by the color, sharpness, and contrast. I got the Panny BD605 from Costco and it truly is amazing. This weekend I'm going threw my settings and calibration again, since everything was done from different source. Not ready to jump over to 1080p quite yet, possibly by this time next year. I'll probably increase my screen size at the same time, but for now I'm just enjoying.

Damien, not sure about the greenish tint but some may mention it could be dust, did you try cleaning your panels?

Hey everyone, still enjoying my Z5. Finally upgraded to the Blu-Ray and let me say I'm amazed by the color, sharpness, and contrast. I got the Panny BD605 from Costco and it truly is amazing. This weekend I'm going threw my settings and calibration again, since everything was done from different source. Not ready to jump over to 1080p quite yet, possibly by this time next year. I'll probably increase my screen size at the same time, but for now I'm just enjoying.

Damien, not sure about the greenish tint but some may mention it could be dust, did you try cleaning your panels?


I've been hesitating on upgrading to blu-ray since I just subscribed to the movie channel which broadcast at 720p. Since the Z5 can't natively give 1080p, do you really see the difference between an HD channel vs Blu-Ray?

One factor that I must consider is that my cable provider receives his signals from Comcast which seems to be an "HD lite" overcompress stream...

Anyway I was wondering how incridible it really is compared to HD TV...

Thanks!

I most definitely see the difference.

There's a big difference between Directv HD and Blu-ray on my Z5.... not compressed....

I went from a Z4 to a Z5 an have to say they look great with blu-ray over dtv.

New update.... I just bought a sony ruby, so my Z5 with 1400 hours and new spare lamp will have to go after I setup the ruby. Sad to see this guy go but I could not pass up the ruby deal.

I now use the LG BD390 bluray player, it is a gem... Love the Netflix streaming, although I do wish there was more content on the live streaming. Check out the show "Legend of the Seeker"" for some great effects on your projector, and Heroes over Netflix looks really good too.

Netflix looks really close to Bluray quality at times, but there is some compression artifacts on occassion (assume it is the Internet route between me and the Netflix server).

I am at a total of 6,000 hours with my projector (1st bulb 4K, now on 2nd bulb at 2K), and the projector is still fine, but I'm not sure if the picture is as crisp as it originally was, possibly some slight LCD degradation (or maybe the WOW factor is just gone).

Originally was planning on getting a 1080p projector ASAP, but now just waiting for the higher end 1080p projectors to come down in price a bit more. I might get a new 1080p projector after this bulb is done on the Z5.

So going on the 3rd year (almost 4th) of my projector, I think I got my money's worth.

I went from a Z4 to a Z5 an have to say they look great with blu-ray over dtv.

New update.... I just bought a sony ruby, so my Z5 with 1400 hours and new spare lamp will have to go after I setup the ruby. Sad to see this guy go but I could not pass up the ruby deal.

How much better does the Ruby look over the Z5?

Anyone know where to buy the replacement air filters, guess I'll have to call Sanyo, cannot find them for Z5 online.

My projector has 6000 hours on it (on 2nd lamp), and still works great. Was wanting to buy a new projector, but I don't think 1080p us much of an upgrade because of lack of content (most content I watch is 720p, netflix, cable (some is 1080i), etc...). I am going to wait until this 2nd lamp is burnt before I consider upgrading, and even then I may not upgrade just yet unless I think it is worth it.

I ended up just pulling the filters out and cleaning them, they were pretty clogged. I used a tiny bit of water on a brush (even though instructions said not to), and it did fray the threads on the filter a bit. If I had to do it over, I would have just used a compressed air can to blow the dust off the filter, but was too lazy to go to the store at the time.

Hi Guys,

Hope someone can help me. I am wondering what size of screen you guys use. I am debating between 100" and 106" but worried it might be too big for the projector (to get a good quality image). I am sitting 13 feet away from the screen and the projector would be mounted at 15 feet from the screen (on the ceiling). Am I making a mistake in going either size and projecting from that far?

For the record, the room has NO windows and no ambiant light and all walls and ceilings are dark grey (flat finish)

Thanks in advance. The reason I ask is I just moved and need a new screen...I was using 84 inches before and worried that 106 might be too big for picture quality. I sent the image on the wall and I like the 106" (16X9) image size to try but could not tell the quality of the picture since all the wall is dark and did not provide a quality pic.

Thanks

I owned a z4 and z5. My screen width is 96". I still have a new lamp left over if anyone want to buy it pm me.

No input from anyone?

No input from anyone?

I thought I answered your question, however, I have a 8' wide scope screen with a viewing distance of 10' to the first row and 17' to the second and 22' to my bistro table. I think you should be okay with that size and that projector. I used my Z4 and Z5 from this distance before I moved to the panny 4k.

tbase1...thanks for your input. I thought you had a 96" screen and wasn't sure from how far you were projecting but thanks for your help :)

Hi guys

Wondering if I may ask a stupid question: How can I determine what is the "zero" horizontal and vertical lens shift position? I know that I have played with the dials when it was in my previous home and want to restore the "zero" shift position and begin from there. I assume that for the lens zoom, the smallest image is the "zero" zoom and from there, everytime I make the image bigger by using the adjustment ring, I am using the zoom function correct.

Thanks in advance for the input. I know this is an older projector but I still have very few hours on it and a spare bulb to boot. I just ordered a new 106" screen for the media room in our new home and although I know that this projector may not be the brightest, I suspect that within a year or so, I will be getting a new projector as I will want a 1080p projector and the brightness of this 720p projector will no longer be an issue. I know that the Panasonic 4000 and the Epson 8100 are two hot contenders in the LCD projectors. Given the fact that my room has NO windows whatsoever and the walls and ceiling are a flat dark grey, it might mitigate the low brightness of my Z5...I hope anyways :)

Thanks in advance for any input about resetting the lens shift to their neutral position.

It depends on your personal preferences of how bright and punchy you like to watch things at. It will definitely work fine with those screen sizes given that you have a light controlled room.

If it were me, I'd buy a screen that has a verified (real world) gain of at least 1.4, and that should help a lot. However, if your only doing it for a year anyways, not really worth it.

Actually, if you start with a VIVID preset and calibrate it down some, you can get a good picture even in VIVID mode. I have one user preset based from adjusting VIVID mode that I think looks better with some really dark content, and it doesn't make the picture washed out at all. You just have to lower the IRIS, brightness, and contrast a bit to make up for the default washed out look of the VIVID setting.

Hi guys...as stated in another thread, my 106" came in and I am very happy with the image it projects. Now I am sure if I had an A/B comparison with a 1080 brighter projectior I might reconsider my happiness but for now, this is very good to me and should keep me hanging on for another year or two until I get my next upgrade. I have 300h on my bulb and a spare one to boot. I only use my Z5 for movie watching so that preserves the thing :)

Thanks again everyone...this forum is great!

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I just wondered if any of you folks knew how to access the Factory Menu on a Sanyo PLV-Z5?

I'm just wanting to access the menu as I have read on the net that it's possible to calibrate the red panel by one pixel to bring everything into line as currently I've got a red line down the left hand side of the image and a green down the right of just one pixel - I've read one pixel is to be expected but if it's something I can tweak to match up then I'd like to change it.

I can access the service menu no problems, and following the instructions for accessing the factory menu on a Z4 (hold Input & OK for 10 seconds) brings up a menu but it's stuck in group 999 and I can't get to any other settings to tweak anything? It appears to be showing firmware version 1.01.

Thanks in advance!

hi aido
I am trying to solve the same problem.
If you see this thread:

thread id = 984378)
(Sorry, I was not allowed to include urls)...

That is the maximum I was able to do using the service menu.
Maybe if you are 2px off horizontally, you may have luck...

As you mention, trying to get to a supposed "Factory Menu", (hold Input & OK for 10 seconds), I get the same response (999...).
....
Apparently no one knows how to solve this...
...

Hi, thanks for the reply, it was just less than one pixel out so I never could get it bang on, I've actually sold it now though and upgraded to an AE4000 which I love :)

BTW, if anyone wants the service manual, I have it, BUT...
It is not very useful really, doesn't even explain the settings in the service menu, bunch of abbreviations.
It does show you how to replace some parts, but the parts are so expensive that 99% of the time you'd just buy a new PJ (or heck I'd buy a used one before trying to repair an old PJ)

Does anyone know where to get a new filter for the z5?
My filter is pretty much at life's end.

Anyone still running their old Z5 at this point?
I am buying a new PJ, but I keep returning ones I order due to several issues, so still watching my trusty Z5.

Nevermind about the filters, found all the Sanyo Z5 parts here:

http://www.pacparts.com/model.cfm?CFID=5047938&CFTOKEN=99306290&mfg=SANYO&model_id=PLVZ5&row_start=1&src_model_id=plv-z5&action=list_part

The (2) replacement air filters were $60 after shipping, a bit ridiculous for a small piece of material that probably costs 5 cents in China to make, but so be it...

I'm still on my first bulb... 3000 hours and counting! Though, I have to have it on "Dynamic" to make it bright enough...

Don't wann jinx it, but... 3300 hours on original bulb... still going!