Sharp XV-Z3000 DLP projector reviewed

You know how every time you consider how cool it would be to install a front projector in your place to throw up an 80-inch screen for some movie-watching and gaming goodness, and then realize that all the really good HD projectors that can handle dodgy lighting conditions are at least $10,000? Enter the Sharp XV-Z3000 DLP projector. HT geeks, prepare for geekery. Non-HT geeks, we apologize in advance. This shiny black box shoots 1280 x 768 and sports (two!) HDMI and RGB PC inputs. While that all sounds pretty normal, the surprising $3,000 price point is even more impressive when one considers a 0.001 foot-lamberts black level at 3000:1 contrast ratio paired with some serious brightness (27 ft-L). There are issues, of course, according to reviews, such as a loud fan and a little more video noise than expected. But generally speaking, Home Theater gave the unit tip-top ratings, and at this price and performance, that basement fantasy of ours just might be one lumen closer to reality

[Via HDBeat]

[Rasterbator @ Sep 13th 2006 3:21PM]

I suppose with one of these projectors and an Apple iTV (c0de name) box (due out Q1 2007), my family room will look pretty good in 2007.

[GhostDoggy @ Sep 15th 2006 5:11AM]

Engadget said "considers a 0.001 foot-lamberts black level at 3000:1 contrast ratio". So, should readers interpret this to mean that the maximum light output (white level) is 3000 times 0.0001 ftL? That would be one of the most dim projectors on the planet, no?

[Foley @ Sep 15th 2006 8:22AM]

"considers a 0.001 foot-lamberts black level at 3000:1 contrast ratio" This is saying when it's showing blacks it's putting out 0.001 ftL. DLPs often have trouble with their blacks, but this seems pretty good.

[Carlton Bale @ Sep 15th 2006 1:46PM]

First of all Foley, DLP does not have trouble with blacks. In general LCD has the poorest black performance, LCoS and DLP have great black level performance. It depends on which generation of product you're comparing, but DLP definitely would not be classified as having poor black levels. Also, the more powerful the bulb, the higher the black levels, regardless of the design.

Secondly, Engadget blogger and HTMag Editor, posting specs that don't really show the brightness of the projector does not help the consumer. "A brightness of 27 ft-Lamberts" measures the brightness of the projected image on the screen, which is a result of projector brightness AND screen size AND screen gain ratio. So, the ft-Lambert result you posted doesn't directly describe the performance of the projector. 27 ft-Lamberts is fairly bright (similar to a CRT television), but is it because of the projector or the screen?

Using this calculator ( http://www.carltonbale.com/ht/calculator/index.html ), you can backwards calculate the actual projector brightness. It requires an 800 ANSI lumen projector to produce that brightness level when using an 87" wide screen with a 1.0 gain (the screen used in the HT Mag test). Not bad at all for a calibrated projector, but not quite the light cannon the post makes it out to be.

[rockintom99 @ Sep 15th 2006 4:08PM]

I wonder how easy it would be to set up a liquid cooling system on a projector... Beats noisy fans, no?