Sanyo's 120Hz PLV-Z3000 1080p projector: $3,295 for USers

Thanks to Sanyo's quick-fingered Japanese branch, you already know the basics on the PLV-Z3000. For those that missed out, it's being hailed as the industry's very first 5:5 pull down beamer with a 120Hz Full HD panel. Furthermore, it boasts a 65,000:1 contrast ratio, TopazReal HD 3D color management technology, a pair of HDMI 1.3 inputs and 1,200 ANSI lumens. The best news here is the US price -- the converted yen amount is actually a fair bit higher than what Sanyo plans on charging in greenbacks, though $3,295 will still be tough to part with come December.

[Information Central @ Sep 18th 2008 5:33PM]

And the parade of BS specs now turns to frame rate. And "5:5 pulldown"? The nomenclature itself proves that this is meaningless, nonsensical crap.

120 FPS? Useless. It's the LCD response time that matters, not the frame rate. No material is delivered at 120 FPS; it's not even useful for gaming from a computer hookup. This marketing department is truly lost when it's pushing 120 FPS, and the rest of the industry (including acquisition devices) is bent on 24 FPS.

[mcheddadi @ Sep 18th 2008 5:36PM]

5x 24 =120

there you go ^_^

[krystar @ Sep 22nd 2008 11:57AM]

120hz is useful if you're doing stereoscopy. nvidia's trying to jumpstart that bandwagon again.

[Chris @ Sep 18th 2008 5:49PM]

I guess you didn't read, 120Hz is the refresh rate which eliminates motion blur when watching fast pased scenes.

[alf @ Sep 18th 2008 7:52PM]

they go to all that effort for a projector of this quality, and it only has 1200 lumens? that's a joke, esp. for sanyo!

[Information Central @ Sep 19th 2008 3:19AM]

"I guess you didn't read, 120Hz is the refresh rate which eliminates motion blur when watching fast pased scenes."

I guess you didn't think it through: You can't remove motion blur that's recorded on the frame of film. You can't remove motion blur that's recorded within the video frame. Source material is shot at 24 or 30 FPS

Showing a blurred image four times in succession doesn't magically remove the blur. That's why this is another useless marketing number to throw at consumers.

[Mr Remus @ Sep 18th 2008 5:41PM]

Uh, do the math (dis)Information Central.

[Information Central @ Sep 19th 2008 3:26AM]

Well, if you need it spelled out for you, sure. It's hardly even math:

24 < 120
30 < 120

So there isn't 120 frames' worth of information, and any blur in the source material exists because of the shutter speed of the camera.

Maybe you can explain how repeating blur four times eliminates it.

[gm76 @ Sep 19th 2008 12:16PM]

Information Central, a 120Hz won't eliminate blur from 24fps and 30fps content, but it will eliminate judder on 24fps film compared to playing them back on a 60Hz source.

5:5 pulldown: odd frames are duplicated 5 times, and even frames are duplicated 5 times, hence the comment someone made about 5*24=120.

To play 24fps content on a 60Hz source, 3:2 pulldown was required: odd frames are duplicated 3 times, and even frames are duplicated 2 times (or vice versa). As you can see, there will be an extra frame tossed in there. You will notice judder in slow pans.

Back to 5:5 pulldown, the PJ does not have to duplicate all 5 frames. It can employ tricks that may not work for everyone. With the extra 4 frames, the PJ can interpolate frames. Another is dark frame insertion, where it inserts black frames to simulate CRTs.

[MarxMarvelous37 @ Sep 18th 2008 5:43PM]

Seems like the PLV-Z2000 for $1900 (after rebates) is a better deal... then again, I'm not hard core enough to know what 5:5 pulldown means. =)

[KSA @ Sep 18th 2008 5:44PM]

-300$ Cash Rebate - 300$ Additional Cash Rebate or GPS unit

[Blayne @ Sep 18th 2008 6:21PM]

I think they left just enough room to make it even uglier.

[rektide @ Sep 18th 2008 7:25PM]

120Hz isnt for movies; its for shutter frame 3D.

Sooo worth it!!!

[Information Central @ Sep 19th 2008 3:34AM]

True, and that would be great if there were a consumer format that delivered it. Info on 3-D Blu-Ray is nearly devoid of details, even on the Blu-Ray site. Some of what turns up if you search on it sounds like hokey fake 3-D "enhancement" of 2-D material.

[A name. @ Sep 18th 2008 11:11PM]

Yawn. Expensive projectors. Hopefully will go the way of expensive plotters.