OFFICIAL Sanyo Z3 thread - Page 3

Z3 review is up on ProjectorCentral...certainly better than the rambling, quasi-salespitch review of the AE700, but again....its a simple review......and it still left me asking the question "ook, so, how much better is the black-level of this LCD unit since we KNOW its already going to look good with HD content.."...

Evan noted excellent scaling on this unit, that is a huge plus over the AE700. Good scaling is a very integral part of pq.

Does anyone have real cr measurements yet?

Don

Lets not forget dust blob removal and verticle banding tweaks built in. The review did not mention lens shift though. I would guess its the same as the z2. Also where is the promised comparison to the ae700

Well, either they forgot due to the excitement of getting a hold of the Z3, or they're going to review all of them together in one big gigantic "everything vs AE700" commentary. I think I would prefer the individual comparisons. Then again, it does give value to compare everything to each other.

How hard is it to remove dust blobs without this new feature? Is it user serviceable, or do you have to take it in for service?

It would be nice to include in the shootout the hitachi TX-100 as well perhaps Cine4home boys in germany will give us this comparison in there weighting scale approach .

I just want to know does the 2000:1 CR on these new LCD units compare to 2000:1 on my X1??? I wouldn't mind stepping up to a 720p unit but they have to be able to do that silky film look, not just eye-popping color for the hi-def football games

I agree, the review is really crappy, and even the AE700 is better. And what about this part "It will include a comparative shootout between the Z3 and the Panasonic AE700."???



I'm VERY surprised that this thread don't have as much info/answers as the AE-700, the Z3 seems to be the better projector of the two (possible to tweak that vertical banding)

Z2: As long as you are willing to pull the case off it is easy and quick. Takes all of 15 minutes but this sounds much easier than even that.

Andy

In this case, a screenshot is worth 1000 words... and is summed up by 1 word: Blech. VB is attrocious.

I can't see any VB in that screenshot.

leedees, you have to look close. I didn't see it initially, but then I gave JP's word a closer look and it is indeed there. Put your nose to the monitor and look in the lower-left corner at the white. Now look at the corner as your eyes trace up the left side of the projected image. You can see faint gray-ish vertical lines that run parallel to the image.

First off, if you would have taken the time to read, you would have seen were Evan said he decided to postpone the AE-700 vs Z3 till Tues. but then again its easier to bitch than to get the facts and bother reading.
And speaking of bitching, this needs to be said, a great deal of people on this forum bitch and complain about Evans reviews and all of you should be ashamed of your-selfs, Evan offer his opinions and his views based on what he see's and what he decides to write about, but that does not seem to be good enough for allot of you.
This is how it is spose to work, you read Evans review on P J Central and then you can go on this forum and go to the "Official Thread" and sort thru 12 million post of people asking about Vertical Banding to find one review from someone that has the projector that you are interested in hearing about. You read that post from the person that has spent time with the projector in question, you combine Evans review with some personal hands on reviews posted by the people that have that projector on this forum. You take that information from both source's, AVS and Projector Central, combine the info and you have a pretty good idea about the Z3 or the 700 or any other PJ.
Evan and PJ Central offer their reviews and opinions on projectors we would like to know about, maybe a thank you would be in order instead of all the bitching.
The worst thing about VB is sorting thru all the questions about it to find a review of a projector.

davyo

I guess I am dense but what PJ is this image being produced by?

Andy

Interesting rebuttal davyo. But nothing you offered in comment had anything to do with the Sanyo PLV-Z3. You asked no questions about the product. You offered no information about the product. In fact, your post was about as useful as those posts in which you chastise.

BTW, there is an Ignore function on this forum and you can certainly use it to ignore individual you feel do nothing but post comments that do not interest you, especially comments about Evan and or Projector Central. Its one thing to condemn people of their comments, and yet another to play Evan's defence attorney.

BTW, I guess I am one of those people you seek to chastise. I have previously commented on inaccuracies in portion of Projector Central's website. AND, I have also made comment about vertical banding. OMG! Yet, my VPL-Z3 post here is no more worthless than you comments, in respect, which, IMO, are misplaced in this thread.

Nicely said.

The Z3 is now available to buy here in the UK, and it costs about £300 more than the Z2. Question is, is it worth the extra money over the Z2, or should I go with the Z2 because it has been around a little bit longer and is electronically "settled in" to the market ?

What do you lot think, should I be wary of buying a brand new technology release, or be brave and do it because it does come with a 3 year warranty anyway.

Any (constructive) thoughts ?

If I were you, markbingo, I would go for the Z3. It is the next evolution in great series of projectors...

In fact I'm sitting here thinking about how I can trade up from my Z2. The LCD Panel cleaning feature would save me from having to dismantle my projector every other month to blow the panels out. Good work SANYO!

AVSJester,

Thanks for the quick reply, About 2 weeks ago, I nearly parted with my hard earned money on the Z2, then heard about the Z3 coming soon, so I thought it would be best to at least wait until the price was confirmed and there was availability, so I could decide if the price difference was worth it.

I didnt think that the dust cleaning thing would be such a big deal, but the more I read in this forum, the more I understand that it is about to become my biggest enemy ! Having to crank open the case every 4 weeks is not my idea of fun.

The new motorized iris sounds like a very good idea, and seems to be very good (according to Sanyo blurb)

They call it TOPAZreal (in conjunction with other things) and apparently is the bee's knee's.

I would like to hear from anybody out there that already has the Z3 and find out if they are happy, as the chances of me being able to see it in action before I buy is nil.

I cant even find a Z2 to demo !

I've had my Z2 almost 2 months now and if these comments from PC's review are accurate, I will surely regret my decision of not waiting:

"scaling and onboard deinterlacing have been improved such that overall image stability and sharpness are better on the Z3 than they were on the Z2. Owners of the Z3 will never want to bother with an external video processor like the DVDO iScan HD since the onboard electronics are already fully adequate to the task. DVDs are scaled as cleanly as we've ever seen on any product in this class, and those with particularly good transfers look almost high def."

These are bold statements to make considering the PJs in this price catagory, or any PJ for that matter. Almost HD with no external scaler-------WOW-----Bring it on. (anyone in the market for an almost new Z2. Ebay here i come!)

TheFerret:

I'm a long time Z2 owner and I know VB when I see it. In the picture above might not be VB. The reason is that distortion curves in the corner. VB is always perfectly vertical. That distortion may be introduced from the angle that the digital camera took the picture. In other words the distortion is from the camera.

I'm VERY surprised that this thread don't have as much info/answers as the AE-700, the Z3 seems to be the better projector of the two (possible to tweak that vertical banding) [/b][/quote]



I think u may be wrong with this.CINE4HOME played with both if u read some of his posts,u will not that the highest contrast they were able to get on the Z3 was around 1400:1.The AE700 was around the 2000:1 mark.Both were measured with filters.
Without filters the AE700 was measured substantially higher as well.
This to me equates to a fair gap in PQ between the two.
I think this time around the main competition will be between the AE700 and the HS51.

Personally I would rather has a VB free machine at 1400:1 then a 2000:1 contrast ratio machine with light VB.

Neither the Z3 nor the PTAE700 are VB-free.....

Regards,
Ekkehart, www.cine4home.de

Ekkehart, can you provide a picture example of VB on these products?

Hi!

Thanks for the great review on the AE-700 (to bad babelfish aint 100%), when will the Z3 be ready?

Ok, so none of the projektors are VB-free, but the Z3 at least have the option to tweak it in the menus. Might even have (or is this what you do?) the service menu to add extra volts to the panel as you could do on the Z2.

How good/bad is the tweaking with the VB on Z3?

What unit would you prefer, the Z3, or AE700?

Ekkehart, have you tested that they both work with 1280x720 50Hz input using DVI without tearing, as is the problem with the Z2?

I find that Evan's reviews contain such a shift in thinking that people react as if they're wrong. As more data comes in, I find Evan is invariably proven accurate and his words well choosen. After several months, I find Evan's reviews hold up well against the user review consensus.

From the initial review by Projector Central, one would come to the conclusion that the Z3 is going to slightly edge the panny 700 in picture quality.
However, for me a slight difference in PQ is largely offset with the AE 700's flexibility of throw distance. 20+ feet for a nine foot wide screen is pretty impressive for a projector in this price range.

Craig

does anyone know who will get this first any of the forum sponsers per chance?