Sharp 30K - some quick observations after a few hours:
The 3D lumen output could be a challenge depending on the setup. I can still get away with it because I am getting the full 2.8 gain on my screen (projector is inches from eye level). However the lamp will wear over time, so this should be a consideration when choosing a screen to match.
The 3Dglasses are nearly perfect. Very comfortable with glasses, no pinching behind the ears. They sync quickly and seem relatively neutral with color (I haven't done a 3D cal yet). The 2D option is a great feature for those that don't like 3D but want to still watch the movie. Definitely some of my favorite factory 3D glasses with the Epson 5020 RF as a close second.
I still have plenty of info to come, this is just some basic info to share.
- Focus uniformity - Decent, but not great. The center to 3/4 of the edges is good but gets soft towards the edges of the screen. This is likely sample variances like we've seen with every other model out today. If you get a copy that has perfect focus, you have to keep that projector. My W7000 is very good and the RS-55 is literally perfect. This is all luck of the draw. Unfortunately my screen @ 142" is not forgiving so it stands out more than it would on a smaller screen. It's not an issue with real content, but would have liked to see top shelf focus on this model.
- Motion test - I ran the FPD benchmark, it seems to resolve ~450 lines without a problem, I couldn't make out much more below that level. I will re-visit this later and check playback with other source devices (HTPC, etc) to verify the results.
- 3D lumen output - I have to spend more time with this, but it seem the brightest mode I could find was ~ 700 lumens. This was with the projector @ 17 feet from the 142" 2.8HP. 3D looked very good good, there was obviously no ghosting in any of the tough scenes I use in the shoot-out thread. Contrast in 3D looks good, better than the W7000 but I need to equalize the light output for a more fair comparison since the W7000 is brighter by several hundred lumens. I do wish it had the FI in 3D, there is a bit of detectable motion artifacts in 3D but most will not see this.
- Color Space - I could write a white paper on this topic titled 'what where they thinking'?
The color controls only allow for gain changes, not the offsets. So you have to tweak it in a way that satisfies the spread between 30 and 80. It doesn't work great, but I was able to get the dE's to an acceptable range with the built in controls. Color space appears very similar to what we saw in Tom Norton's review. It needs helps. The built in CMS controls are clunky, I have to see if I can harness in some of the over-saturated primaries. As Tom noted, it still looks decent with regular content, no obvious issues a casual viewer will notice, but I know what to look for. I'm going to spend a bunch of time trying to tweak this further over the weekend. - Contrast - good for a DLP. I have a large, bright high power screen that is very unforgiving with black floor. There is only so much an iris can do on dark scenes, then we rely on native contrast. the Sharp looks very good with mid -> bright scenes. It's weaker with low APL scenes and the image looks a bit flat. Definitely better than the W7000, but not quite as good as last years Sony's HW30. The black floor is a few notches below the Sony HW50 and Epson 5020 and a league away from my RS55 @ -11 on the iris.Still impressive for a DLP at this price point.
DLP fans talk about 'Pop', great motion etc as positive qualities of the DLP which I agree with. But average black floor (compared to the JVC) can take me out of a movie with low APL scenes. Any of the dark scenes in 'The Dark Knight Rises' is a perfect example. The RS55 is on another planet in comparison. Very dark blacks with high peak whites create a certain depth to the image that cannot be replicated by the DLP's at this price point (Sharp 30K and HC8000 as a reference). The Sharp is definitely better than the Mitsubishi HC8000 which left me disappointed considering it has a DC3 panel. - RBE - I am hypersensitive to RBE. This projector is quite good for my eyes. I could see it occasionally, but overall impressed with the Sharp in 2D in 3D.
The 3D lumen output could be a challenge depending on the setup. I can still get away with it because I am getting the full 2.8 gain on my screen (projector is inches from eye level). However the lamp will wear over time, so this should be a consideration when choosing a screen to match.
The 3Dglasses are nearly perfect. Very comfortable with glasses, no pinching behind the ears. They sync quickly and seem relatively neutral with color (I haven't done a 3D cal yet). The 2D option is a great feature for those that don't like 3D but want to still watch the movie. Definitely some of my favorite factory 3D glasses with the Epson 5020 RF as a close second.
I still have plenty of info to come, this is just some basic info to share.
and I'll be throwing it on my 92" 2.8 HP screen! 
Looks like the iris is staying all the way closed!
:D
lol!!!!
