How close is the LT150 picture quality compare to Sharp Z9000

Its tough to assign a percentage for improvement. Generally by iteself, and I'm probably going to take a bit of heat for this , the Sharp will yield a better picture. You can do a lot to an LT150 to improve its standalone performance (such as HTPC/scaler/anamorphic lens, etc...) but there isn't anything you can do to the main engine of the projector, which ultimately is going to determine its overall potential. The Sharp is a native 1280x720, with the RGBRGB color wheel. Because of this, rainbows are going to be greatly reduced and color saturation and black level is going to be greater. If you were to add a scaler and such options to the Sharp, its performance would be even better yet. The question comes down to price range. If you can afford the Sharp and accessories, go for it. You won't be disappointed. If it is out of your price range, the LT150 may be for you. It is a great performer at a reasonable price.


Thanks!

I saw an LT150 with interlaced and PS DVD and HTPC. Compared to standalone DVD, DVD on HTPC looked about 2/3 of the way in image quality to HD. I'd guess the Sharp 9000 with PS DVD was 80-90% of LT150 with HTPC/DVD. It also was appreciably brighter as well as had better blacks (still inadequate, though, IMHO).

Compared to the 9000, when I was able to audition an LT150, I was able to see the pixel structure, and I could see the DLP rainbow. On the 9000 from the same distance, I couldn't see the pixel strucutre, and DLP rainbow was almost nonexistent.


That being said, the LT150 looked amazing for the price (and size!). If it hadn't been noisy enough to need (in my opinion) a hush box, and also had a throw distance that was incompatible with my room, I would have given it very serious consideration. As it is, my room pretty much dictated the Sharp.