Sharp XV-Z30000 3D DLP - Page 3

OK, some initial impressions.
I should say that this projector is replacing my ten year old xv-z9000, so take that into account regarding my comments.
Light controlled room (dark grey walls and ceiling), 106" screen, 1.1 gain. Temporary location.
No problems so far. The DMD has no stuck mirrors and the image is unifromly bright. I've set the projector to high atltitude and econ mode; movie 1 mode (slightly warmer image). Dynamic Iris is on.
Out of the box the picture is impressive, bright to my eyes (even on econ mode) with much nicer black levels than i've experienced before. The scene in AVATAR with the starship in orbit just pops off the screen; space looks appropriately dark.
I'm sitting right next to the projector and as the scenes change (with varying brightness and contrast) the Dynamic Iris function seems completely transparent. No odd shifts in contrast/brightness and completely silent.
Haven't done any cailbrations nor have I played much with any of the settings.
So far I am impressed.

What size and type of screen are you using? Have you watched any 3D with it yet, any impressions? Glad you're liking it so far.

He listed the size and gain of the screen. Did you read his post?

I checked out the Hubble 3D disc.
I was, frankly, quite surprised by the 3D. I was not expecting it to be quite as good as it turned out. The image was clear, sharp and NO discernible ghosting! Projector settings: econ-off, dynamic.
I am a  bit taken aback by the 3D, in good way; need to get Avatar!

I did read the post, I can't believe I missed that. Old age setting in I guess.

Anilrao - Good to hear that it is working out and good to hear they have improved the dynamic iris, I had to turn it off on the Z15000. Just out of curiosity, how do you find the differences in contrast, black level and brightness when running it dynamic 1 compared to the manual iris setting on 'High brightness'? Do you find the noise level changes much between economy/normal/high altitude? I found that High altitude was noticeably louder than the other modes on the Z15000 with normal being very quiet.

Daniel,
The fan noise does vary from quiet to noticiable when the when moving between the modes (econ
I'll check on the picture quality with regrads to the the Manual Iris on high versus dynamic 1, shortly.
Played around with the projector some more last night (what would you expect!) and been trying to understand the various modes. I'll do some quick adjustments to black levels and contrast today.

Everryone, I thinking of getting the Sypder4 calibration system. I realize that a pro would do better but I have three computer monitors that need calibration also, so this may be the way I go. Any experience with the Spyder4?
Thanks

The software that will come with the that meter does not do Projectors. You would be better off with a Spectracal C6 and Calman or a D3 and Chromapure. You should spend some time in the Calibration forum before investing.

Thanks. I'll check out the forum.
Saw a review of the Spyder here
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/reviews/profiling/spyder4elite.html
which notes that it does projector calibration.
Is this a upgrade to the software?

I have no idea, not familiar with the software, but as far as I know Calman Chromapure and a freeware package are the only ones that really do TV and projector calibration. Most of the PC based stuff adjusts the LUTs in the PC video card.. not the same as what you do with Calman or Chromapure. but ask that question in the calibration forum.

Projector Reviews has received a 2nd Z30000 ... undamaged this time.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/index.php

Ya it's too bad Art is on vacation for the next few days. Would really like to see that review soon. It's taken this long so what's another couple of weeks right?

"Similarly, the ubiquitous single-chip, DLP rainbow effect . . . . was virtually absent here."

Wow!

Were you surprised by that? For the most part, between color wheel speed, segment amount, segment color choices, and lamp modulation techniques, RBE is pretty much a thing of the past. Its pretty rare for reviewers and end users to say RBE was distracting enough on these newer model DLP projectors that they would advise against them. The only time I would imagine this is going to be an issue is if the projector is putting out a lot of lumens. In that case sometimes its impossible to not see them. The only current home theater projector that I would imagine has this issue would be the Benq W7000. Is a light cannon.

I had the impression they all have RBE to some degree [as does my VP11] and hence all the drooling over $30k LED models like the Sim2 Mico150.

They all will, like you said, to some degree. But within the last few years they've seemed to get rid of it enough where it isn't something that's detrimental to the viewing experience. My Planar PD8150 shows it very rarely. It isn't something I find annoying. Mostly because it happens so rarely and for so briefly. I have a Mitsubishi HC7800D for 3D viewing and I saw it even less often while checking out it's 2D.

I haven't noticed much RBE at all with this projector. I CAN see it if I look at a high contrast scene (white text on black background) AND flick my eyes around rapidly. This is not something I do normally . It appears as a slight breakup of the text at the edges into its component colors. Under normal viewing conditions I haven't noticed it.

I haven't had much chance to look into black levels under different iris conditions; just got back from a trip.

Projector Reviews posted their review of the Sharp XV-Z30000.
http://www.projectorreviews.com/index.php

for it's price point, I was expecting more lumen output in 2D and 3D.

"For those of us really into 3D and wanting respectable brightness, there are competitors out there far more suitable. If, however, you are just "playing" with 3D, and don't really care about it, then, no problem."

" More importantly, if you watch more than movies, such as sports with that moderate ambient light, the Sharp is no match for the brighter competition better suited for such rooms, including the BenQ W7000, Epson 3010/5010/7010, the Panasonic PT-AE7000 and several others."

You have to remember the measurements were taken from his sample that had a lamp with over 300 hours already on it. So take those measurements with a grain of salt because most other projectors he receives will have a lot less hours on them when it comes time to take measurements.

I think a number of his projectors have a few miles on them when he gets them. My W7000 is still cranking out ~ 1500 D65 lumens at 250 hours.

I'd like to see some best mode lumen measurements in 2D mode and in 3D as well with a new lamp. For the cost (no real lens shift, no CFI), I'd expect it to at least match the less expensive entries.

My point is that he thought there was enough hours on it that it was worth mentioning. I haven't seen him do that before. So I'm a bit skeptical that the rest have nearly the same amount on them.

Seems this is a good projector for RBE sensitive people.

From Art: "First of all, here's a DLP home theater projector for those of us who are rainbow sensitive. It's rare I can watch a movie on a DLP projector and not notice rainbows from time to time. Didn't notice a single one last night watching Pirates of the Carribean, and it's got plenty of darker scenes that are good for spotting those pesky rainbows."

I am RBE sensitive but I saw the Runco LS-3 (PD8130) recently and couldn't see the rainbows. According to Seegs108 Mits HC7800 is even better than PD8150 with RBE ?

understood, I'm not judging it until we hear about more samples. It's still impressive that the W7000 is cranking out 1500 D65 lumens at nearly the same hours.

I'm trying to figure out where this projector fits with the current models given it's relatively high cost and lack of a full lens shift. My guess is a small handful will buy it, but end up in obscurity like the 17k.


Regarding rainbows: if the lumen output is that low, that itself is going to have an effect on the appearance of the RBE. He would need a new lamp to make a fair assessment when comparing to other projectors.

I would expect minimal RBE at only 530 lumens in it's best mode with the 300+ hour lamp.

Video of XV-Z30000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wvjE8PtxgE


Interesting part at 7:03- There are visible brightness changes several times. Is it dynamic iris working? Or just the camera?

I'm pretty interested in this thing. Been looking for a used XV-Z20000, but I also would love to go constant height (CIH) for my setup. This thing's motorized zoom memory and 12v trigger would make that a snap with no anamorphic lens!

Would love to hear more impressions of this unit.
Edited by Samurai Jack - 11/1/12 at 11:56am

Nobody else interested in this unit or checking one out?

To be honest, i think the msrp and street price for what you get compared against the competition that offer comparative performance is way too high. This is a great product but not many are choosing to purchase one because They can get equal or better performance for far less money.

Sharp is in trouble as a company. They dropped out of this segment several years ago. The XV17000 was nothing more than a business unit that was tweaked for HT use. Sharp unfortunately still believes they are a Runco type company in this segment. Sorry but too much time has passed since they were formidable players in the the high-end DLP market. The XV30000 should be priced to compete with units like HW50 and 5020/6020.

Any further impressions? I'm still intrigued by this projector as a good 2D/3D single projector solution with an HP screen in a living room environment. It allows placement at eye level, and from Art's review, has respectable output with decent color in a brighter mode for 3D (~1100 lumens)... has much better contrast/blacks than the BenQ W7000 (albeit not in the same league as the JVCs or Sony HW50), but should have the same ghost/flicker-free 3D you'd expect from DLP. With street prices below $3K ($2.7K amazon marketplace, $2.8K on the bay), emitter w/ 2 pair of glasses included, motorized shift/zoom/focus and lens memory, 3yr warranty, it seems like a nice step up from the w7000 if the brightness is sufficient for your screen size. I was fairly settled on the W7000 and accepting the mediocre blacks levels, but all the iris problems scare the hell out of me at this point. Maybe zombie can get this for his shootout Thoughts?
Edited by dougri - 12/12/12 at 3:05pm