A full disclosure before I begin:
I purchased the 300+ last November and had to go through three (!!) projector replacements due to flickering problems. The third projector had gone a lamp replacement, which sadly did not solve the problem. Though I have said in the past that the 300+ picture quality is superb, the flickering was a real problem. I had a chance to switch to the Maramtz 12S2 but found, after a direct comparison, that the "replacement hassle" is not worth it, as the differences I saw were very subtle.
A few days ago I had a chance to compare the 300+ side by side with the 10K.
I now own the 10K!!
Set-Up
Though I did some A/B comparisons in the past, I would call this one the most accurate of them all.
Each projector was connected to a separate DVD, the Panny RP-91, both players running in Interlace.
Each projector had an identical set of component cables, The Silver Serpent by Better Cables.
We used double copies of DVD films, among them are: Moulin Rouge, Vertical Limit, 5th Element and Fellowship of the ring.
Both projectors were calibrated with Avia.
Both projectors were projecting on a FireHawk 106" diagonal screen.
We switched between them, while placing a dark cloth on the lens.
Through out the test, the Sharp was in its High Contrast mode, and save mode off.
4 attendees, among them, 2 Sim 300+ owners, 1 novice and a die hard CRT guy.
All 4 were unanimous in the following:
Build Quality
The first thing that was asked by the 300+ owner, who never saw the Sharp (or the 9K), was why is the Sharp so big compared to the Sim. The difference in size between the 2 is overwhelming. The Sharp is not running for any beauty contest that's for sure, but it has the feel and weight of a tank. The Sharp unlike the Sim, has manual zoom and focus, which kind of troubled me after getting used to the electrical zoom and focus found on the Sim. Both have manual lens shift, but applying it is much easier on the Sharp and it has a feeling of powered steering wheel, while on the Sim, one has to apply some pressure.
Both projectors, surprisingly, were not far in terms of throwing distance and the Sharp seemed more flexible in that regard.
On screen display/ Tweaking
the Sharp wins this category big time. The OSD is very friendly while allowing the user to tweak practically anything. It seems that Sharp had taken the service menu found in the 9K and transported it to the 10K user menu. The Sim is quite disappointing in that regard, and the tweaking options compared are quite limited.
Black level
Or should I say Grey level, as Blacks don't really have any kind of levels, it's either Black or a shade of Grey. Anyhow, it was evident that the Sharp's Grey's were darker then the ones on the Sharp and details that were hard to see on the Sim (Fellowship of the ring) were easily spotted on the 10K. The curtains behind Nicole in "Moulin Rouge" displayed textures on the 10K, which were not visible on the Sim.
Contrast
Once more the Sharp had an edge. The black leather coat Denzel was wearing on "Training day" looked inky black compared to the Sim. The whites on Toy story dark background really jumped out while looking kind of faded on the 300+.
Overall the 10K had a deeper picture which had a 3D look to it. The Sim while displaying very good Greys and contrast came very close, but not close enough.
Brightness
I have no problem with the 300+ brightness and all the talk that's been on the forum on how dim the 300+ is , were very odd form the place I was sitting. In fact when this evaluation began there was light outside which was not fully controlled in my living room. At that point the Sim 300+ had an advantage in brightness over the Sharp's High contrast mode. Changing the Sharp to high Brightness mode resulted in a brighter picture which was a tad brighter then the Sim. Once it was dark outside and the testing room was completely controlled, both projectors (Sharp returning to H. Contrast mode) had equal brightness.
It should be noted that the H. contrast mode can be viewed only under total light control.
Deinterlacing/Scaling
This was one of the biggest differences between the above projectors. Though the Sim is using the Pixelworks/Faroudja combo, which is considered one of the best, Sharp's own propriety engine blew it clear away. This was very clear in all the tests we did. The sharp had smooth, artifact free picture , while the Sim, compared, displayed some artfifcats and a picture which had a slight digital look to it.
Optics
Clearly Sharp had put some thought into this. At one time, the other 300+ owner, said that this was an unfair comparison due to the Sim being out of focus. In accordance, both of us walked to the screen to check this out with Sim's electrical focus. To our surprise the Sim's focus was dead on, it just did not look as Sharp as the 10K.
Color
This was very surprising for me. One of the biggest reasons for not switching to the 12S2 at the time was the superior color rendition the 300+ had over the Marantz. But this was not the case with the 10K. As a past owner of the 9K I had some "trouble" with Sharp's Reds and Greens, but clearly Sharp's engineers got there act together, and the color palette is truly superb. I would call this a tie, though the CRT guy favoured the 10K in that regard.
Conclusion
A while back I had a chance to compare the 300+ with the Marantz 12S2. Though I had flickering with the 300+, I felt that the 12S2 is not really an upgrade. On the other hand after comparing the 300+ with the Sharp, and witnessing the CLEAR advantage the Sharp had on all fronts, I was ready to go through this replacement procedure which was not easy to say the least.
As a past owner of the 9K, I am happily returning to Sharp.
Ran
I purchased the 300+ last November and had to go through three (!!) projector replacements due to flickering problems. The third projector had gone a lamp replacement, which sadly did not solve the problem. Though I have said in the past that the 300+ picture quality is superb, the flickering was a real problem. I had a chance to switch to the Maramtz 12S2 but found, after a direct comparison, that the "replacement hassle" is not worth it, as the differences I saw were very subtle.
A few days ago I had a chance to compare the 300+ side by side with the 10K.
I now own the 10K!!
Set-Up
Though I did some A/B comparisons in the past, I would call this one the most accurate of them all.
Each projector was connected to a separate DVD, the Panny RP-91, both players running in Interlace.
Each projector had an identical set of component cables, The Silver Serpent by Better Cables.
We used double copies of DVD films, among them are: Moulin Rouge, Vertical Limit, 5th Element and Fellowship of the ring.
Both projectors were calibrated with Avia.
Both projectors were projecting on a FireHawk 106" diagonal screen.
We switched between them, while placing a dark cloth on the lens.
Through out the test, the Sharp was in its High Contrast mode, and save mode off.
4 attendees, among them, 2 Sim 300+ owners, 1 novice and a die hard CRT guy.
All 4 were unanimous in the following:
Build Quality
The first thing that was asked by the 300+ owner, who never saw the Sharp (or the 9K), was why is the Sharp so big compared to the Sim. The difference in size between the 2 is overwhelming. The Sharp is not running for any beauty contest that's for sure, but it has the feel and weight of a tank. The Sharp unlike the Sim, has manual zoom and focus, which kind of troubled me after getting used to the electrical zoom and focus found on the Sim. Both have manual lens shift, but applying it is much easier on the Sharp and it has a feeling of powered steering wheel, while on the Sim, one has to apply some pressure.
Both projectors, surprisingly, were not far in terms of throwing distance and the Sharp seemed more flexible in that regard.
On screen display/ Tweaking
the Sharp wins this category big time. The OSD is very friendly while allowing the user to tweak practically anything. It seems that Sharp had taken the service menu found in the 9K and transported it to the 10K user menu. The Sim is quite disappointing in that regard, and the tweaking options compared are quite limited.
Black level
Or should I say Grey level, as Blacks don't really have any kind of levels, it's either Black or a shade of Grey. Anyhow, it was evident that the Sharp's Grey's were darker then the ones on the Sharp and details that were hard to see on the Sim (Fellowship of the ring) were easily spotted on the 10K. The curtains behind Nicole in "Moulin Rouge" displayed textures on the 10K, which were not visible on the Sim.
Contrast
Once more the Sharp had an edge. The black leather coat Denzel was wearing on "Training day" looked inky black compared to the Sim. The whites on Toy story dark background really jumped out while looking kind of faded on the 300+.
Overall the 10K had a deeper picture which had a 3D look to it. The Sim while displaying very good Greys and contrast came very close, but not close enough.
Brightness
I have no problem with the 300+ brightness and all the talk that's been on the forum on how dim the 300+ is , were very odd form the place I was sitting. In fact when this evaluation began there was light outside which was not fully controlled in my living room. At that point the Sim 300+ had an advantage in brightness over the Sharp's High contrast mode. Changing the Sharp to high Brightness mode resulted in a brighter picture which was a tad brighter then the Sim. Once it was dark outside and the testing room was completely controlled, both projectors (Sharp returning to H. Contrast mode) had equal brightness.
It should be noted that the H. contrast mode can be viewed only under total light control.
Deinterlacing/Scaling
This was one of the biggest differences between the above projectors. Though the Sim is using the Pixelworks/Faroudja combo, which is considered one of the best, Sharp's own propriety engine blew it clear away. This was very clear in all the tests we did. The sharp had smooth, artifact free picture , while the Sim, compared, displayed some artfifcats and a picture which had a slight digital look to it.
Optics
Clearly Sharp had put some thought into this. At one time, the other 300+ owner, said that this was an unfair comparison due to the Sim being out of focus. In accordance, both of us walked to the screen to check this out with Sim's electrical focus. To our surprise the Sim's focus was dead on, it just did not look as Sharp as the 10K.
Color
This was very surprising for me. One of the biggest reasons for not switching to the 12S2 at the time was the superior color rendition the 300+ had over the Marantz. But this was not the case with the 10K. As a past owner of the 9K I had some "trouble" with Sharp's Reds and Greens, but clearly Sharp's engineers got there act together, and the color palette is truly superb. I would call this a tie, though the CRT guy favoured the 10K in that regard.
Conclusion
A while back I had a chance to compare the 300+ with the Marantz 12S2. Though I had flickering with the 300+, I felt that the 12S2 is not really an upgrade. On the other hand after comparing the 300+ with the Sharp, and witnessing the CLEAR advantage the Sharp had on all fronts, I was ready to go through this replacement procedure which was not easy to say the least.
As a past owner of the 9K, I am happily returning to Sharp.
Ran
