What is your primary use and screen material and size?
Check the link in my signature for the Pro's and Con's on the Sanyo z4000...
Some other Sanyo links:
Sanyo Calibration Thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1331277
Sanyo vs. Mits hc4000 thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...4000+vs+hc4000
Have you also considered the Mits hc4000 as another alternative from an online vendor?
You really need a High Gain screen for anything over 92" to 100" on the Sanyo. A High Power 2.4 gain screen is preferable.
That is really a tough call between these two projectors, but I would favor the Sanyo based on reviews and my own testing. I have extensively tested the Sanyo, but not the Sharp. The Sanyo has better native contrast, but the Sharp's black level floor with the DI should actually be nearly the same.
The Sanyo will almost certainly have better focus uniformity than the Sharp, as the Sanyo's focus uniformity is very very good for an LCD projector even better than most DLP's. That said, at its sharpest most focused point, the Sharp and other DLP's tend to be a tiny bit sharper than the Sanyo. Overall for movies though the Sanyo is a VERY sharp projector.
My feeling is that they both have similar lumens overall, but the Sharp's enhanced LUMEN modes are probably more bearable than the Sanyo's ONLY before calibration. Post-calibration, I would expect the Sanyo to actually have better color.
The Sanyo can do about 400 to 500 lumens in LAMP LOW in Living Mode with very few side effects to the overall image (and side effects can be calibrated out). Although some people have called Pure Cinema Sanyo's best mode, I would say that Creative Cinema post-calibration is actually the best mode of the Sanyo, it does about 350 lumens in BEST mode if I remember correctly for Creative Cinema.
The Sanyo has more calibration options and a more sophisticated calibration system overall. The Sanyo needs more primary and secondary color calibration than most LCD's OTB, whereas many LCD's can do very good skin tones with just a standard gray-scale calibration.
If you are confident in your calibration skills and either have a very small screen or a HIGH GAIN SCREEN, then I would personally pick the Sanyo.
