Sanyo PLV-Z700

Well, looks very much like the same unit, but according to the spec sheet the panels on the z700 seem to be organic, where the z2000 has inorganic D7 panels.

It also appears that the Z700 has a new iris design which the previous Sanyos sorely needed.

Yeah, I really don't see the point in going backwards in technology by offering organic panels. Maybe it's a typo, maybe it's a better organic compound, but I wouldn't bet on it.

shinksma

Hopefully a typo....

If I understood correctly the statement of Ekke (cine4home) in a different forum, then it's no typo, unfortunately, but the tribute to the (expected) low price.

Don't really understand this strategy and I don't think that I'd spend money on a PJ that is half a step forward but also two steps back at the same time. Unless it produces a good, bright picture and is extremely cheap (cheaper than the current 720p PJs with organic panels) but I doubt. Well, we'll see ...

With the organic panels, I would consider this a disposable projector. You use it for 2,000 hours at which time the bulb and panels are shot and then throw it away. If you use your projector 10 hours a week that would get you nearly four years. I bet Sanyo is thinking in four years you will be ready to upgrade.

Right, it is NOT a typo. You have to consider that this is planned as a low budget projector. And with any low budget product, many things are done to reduce costs.

You dont expect a Denon1930 to have the same technology / quality as a Denon3930 either, do you?

Regards,
Ekkehart

I wonder how much cheaper this will be as compared to a Z2000? I was thinking of buying a Z2000 but I may wait and see.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

hello there,
Here goes my AVS Forum virginity...

I read through the 60+ pages of the Z2000 thread and was almost ready to pull the trigger (next week). Now engadget just had this item about the Z700, which got me all confused and which lead me here.

if i interpret the reviews of ekke (cine4home) the right way, the iris of the z2000 is a major downside of the PJ. so an upgrade there will be most welcome.

My questions:

- what differences in image quality do you expect from the used organic panels? is aging a big problem, and if so, after how many hours would it show? (i won't use the PJ for more than 6-8 hours per week)

- should i wait another 2 months and see how the Z700 holds up?


europe-only rant:
i read that the MSRP (spelling) in germany should be around 1.5k euros, which is a very decent price, i would expect it to retail quite a bit below that one. retail prices for the z2000 are at about 1.45k euros at the moment. this means that the z700 will be very very good value indeed, if quality is comparable.

thanks a lot for any help or suggestions
regards,
dodger

Is the iris a problem really? It is noisy, but you can only hear it in silent scenes. Or is the new one going to give better contrast levels or something?

on a ranking of different iris systems done by ekke, the sanyo iris is rated at place 7 of 8, because it apparently is slow and you can see it working in fast dark/light scene jumps, plus its audible (i could live with that one i guess).
also, this iris system has not been changed since the Z5.

german only link, i can translate for you if you need more info:
http://www.cine4home.de/Specials/AI-...tiveIris.htm#3

thus, i guess that a new, more modern (faster, quieter) iris system would be an improvement, at least technology wise. as i don't own a Z2000, i can't really judge the iris.

i don't know if contrast would get better though.

I'm very curious to see what the street price of this is going to be. I had been planning to buy the 2000, but I may consider this.

What's the drawback to organic panels?

i just found a thread that partly answers my own question, and jay's maybe as well
the thread is fairly recent, too, so i guess things haven't changed much since.

"Organic verses PolySilicon LCD panels"
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=832247


if i get that right we might get a bit higher overall contrast (faster, more quiet iris as opposed to turned off Z2k iris), but lower in-picture contrasts, and lower image quality overall (due to the organic LCD panel).

at the moment i am leaning more towards the Z2000, considering that prices most likely will be close, and i don't want to wait another 2 months until i buy mine...

If inorganic means no banding then count me in on the 2000.

I'm trying not to buy this year but I don't know how much longer my Z2 will hold up. Still looks great though.

Main differences with organic panels are:

Worse black level / contrast
Shorter lifetime

Regards,
Ekkehart

Thanks for the summary. That means the price better be a LOT lower than the 2000.

@ekkehart: thanks for the summary. i guess that i will stick to my original choice and go for the Z2k then.

Many thanks for this and other additional info, Ekkehart.

No, of course I don't expect a Denon 1930 to have the same technology / quality as a Denon 3930 ... but I expect the Denon 1930 to be A LOT cheaper than the 3930 (which it is, indeed), this is the point.
Currently, I could buy the Sanyo Z2000 for a bit less than CHF 1950 here. This means that the Z700 should be not much more than CHF 1000-1100 (streetprice) theoretically (according to what I currently expect for technology/quality) ... but I'm sure it will be far more expensive. List price in Germany has been announced to EUR 1499, if I understood correctly, i.e. in Switzerland it will debut with CHF ~2300 and then go down to maybe CHF 1600-1700. This not being "much cheaper" compared to the expected significantly lower technology/quality. But maybe, hey, der Z700 is much better than I currently expect .

Actually, for CHF 1500-1700 I'd rather want to buy a PJ with inorganic 720p panels (which not exist, unfortunately) and having all those advantages, instead of now having a PJ at this price with organic 1080p panels. Unfortunately, the industry goes by the marketing-effective "1080p" number and not by what you'd benefit most. So, the step back from inorganic to organic for 1080p panels is the completely wrong direction, in my opinion.

Yes, I understand.

However, I personally would not be surprised if we get close to the 1000.- mark this year for organic FullHD 1080 projectors (imho).

Regards,
Ekkehart

And don't forget Vertical Banding. A major artifact for many.

According to PRNewswire, the PLV-Z700 will retail for $1,995. I have had a PLV-Z2 for about five years and enjoyed it, but I've been lurking for a 1080P replacement. The panels on my Z2 (the polarizer) went after about 30 months, and Sanyo repaired the pj under warranty. I wonder whether the organic panels note on Sanyo's website is correct on this pj. We'll see. See http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4872514&EDATE= for the PRNewswire release.

Could this be a $1,500 street price 1080p? Hopefully the PQ is there.

$1500 for Z700 doesn't sound like that good of deal when the Z2000 is only $1600 after mail in rebates right now. From earlier points in this thread it sounds like it needs to be a lot less to be worth the difference.

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the Z700 that hasn't been mentioned in this thread previously? Specifically, I'm interested in:

• When the Z700 will be available in Japan
• The retail (and estimated street price) of the Z700 in Japan
• The life expectancy of the Z700.

I know there's a lot of talk about inorganic vs. organic panels, but I have a Z3 I've been very happy with, and, unfortunately, it's beginning to get blue fringing/burn out on the right side of the screen. (The longer it's on/hotter it gets, the worse it gets?) It's on it's third bulb, just under 2600 hours. (The first Z3 I got (Jan. 2004) had some bizarre color issues quickly, and I returned it for a "new" one at the store I bought it from, and while it worked just fine, that Z3's bulb died quite quickly, just outside the 6 month warranty the blub has.)

As of now, the blue fringing is minor, and my folks want a projector/big screen for holidays when the family is home, so I'm thinking to give it to them (where with minimal use, it can last a few more years) and upgrade to the Z700. If the Z700 has at least 4000 hours (probably exclusively in eco mode) at the level of performance I got out of the Z3, I'll be quite happy.


If anyone wants to know, here's my situation: I have a 6-jyou tatami room (relatively small room) with no windows that is specifically used for the theater room when we don't have guests, and brightness is not an issue. I have a nice 80" QS screen that comes up from the floor and the Z3 is in the corner of the room on a custom shelf with all my other electronic toys. While I have HD-DVD and 50 movies, I don't plan to upgrade to Blu-Ray any time in the next year, and the projector is almost exclusively used for Xbox 360 gaming, HD-DVD movies and an iMac mini for watching networked TV shows and movies. I had no plans to upgrade from 720 because the Xbox runs fantastically in 720, and we have a 1080p 40" Bravia that also has an HD-DVD player...but I figure if I'm going to buy a new projector, I should get something that'll be good for at least the next four years.

If the LCD panels actually are "0.74 inch x 3, Aspect Ratio 16:9 (Organic LCD panel)", who would be the manufacturer, and are there any other models already out using these LCD panels?

Edit: I ask because the marketing people who come up with the documents don't always know what they're talking about. Here's a great example:
http://www.mitsubishielectric.com.au/778.htm

"With the latest in organic LCD panel technology, an all-glass ED (extra-dispersion) lens plus..."
"Traditionally, most LCD panels found in projectors have been manufactured with organic compounds that, with enough usage, will begin to break down over time, resulting in loss of picture quality and contrast. The next-generation C2 Fine™ LCD panel found in the HC5000 is comprised of inorganic compounds, so even..."

Conflicting messages? That's why I'm wondering what 1080p LCD panels might fit the "organic" description of the Z700.　 (The worst part of this is that it says "HC5000" despite it only being about the "HC4900".

I found some more conflicting information regarding the new Sanyo PLV-Z700 1080P projector. There is an ad in this month's Home Theater magazine that has the following information:



Note the reference to full HD inorganic orientation" panels. The Sanyo web site has this to say:



Are they referring to the same thing here or is Sanyo trying to pull a fast one by making us think they are using all inorganic components when only the "orientation" panels (which I assume are the polarizers??) are inorganic.

Any ideas?

-Gary.

Bump.

Isn't anyone interested in this PJ?

-Gary.

I am, if it has INorganic panels. Guess that's still not entirely clear.