HDTVexpert — Sanyo PLV-Z4 Widescreen Lcd Projector (printer ready file)

The PLV-Z4 is the latest in a line of popular, low-cost widescreen LCD projectors from Sanyo. While each new model has offered incremental improvements to image quality, the Z4 represents a marked departure from its older siblings with a whole new design and a few new tricks.

Right off the bat, you'll notice that the exterior housing has undergone a complete design makeover. Gone is the tilt-down front lens cover, replaced by a powered sliding door that opens and shuts just like the doors on the starship Enterprise. The exterior housing is finished in a two-tone gray, a color combination not previously seen in the "Z" lineup.

Figure 1a and 1b: The PLV-Z4 features an automatic sliding door
that covers the lens when the projector is powered down.

Gone too, are the automatic drop-down leveling legs. Instead, there are just two adjustable screw-type front legs. But you may not need to use them much, as Sanyo has preserved full mechanical lens shift in both horizontal and vertical axes.

Perhaps the best feature of the Z4 is the new 2:1 ratio zoom lens, something that Panasonic adopted a year ago on their crowd-pleasing PT-AE700U. With that long a lens, you'll have far more mounting options than you did with the older Z3 and Z2. Longer focal lengths also make it easier to get a "squared" image with 90-degree corners and little or no image pincushioning.

Figure 2. You'll find several component video inputs on the rear panel,
but no screen triggers or RS232 control.

Figure 3. The remote control is easy to use under any lighting.

OUT OF THE BOX

Sanyo has retained the 3-panel 1280x720 imaging system from previous models, but made a few tweaks to the rear-panel connector line-up. An HDMI connector provides a 100%-digital video interface, replacing the DVI jack used on earlier models. Two separate banks of RCA jacks are provided for YPbPr sources, and a 15-pin VGA jack is included for PC sources. (The usual composite and S-video jacks are also present.)

The remote control is one of the better Sanyo designs, with a minimalist button layout, direct access to any input; direct access to brightness, contrast, and color adjustments, and four directional arrows for navigating menus.

Even though Sanyo switched to a longer zoom lens, they've managed to retain a wide mechanical lens offset. You can shift the image 50% to the left or right, or pull it 100% up or down. That's why you probably won't get much use out of the digital keystone correction circuitry - there's just no need for it in a home theater installation.

Figure 4. The lens shift controls have been moved
to a side panel and can be locked now.

The internal cooling fan is supposed to be even quieter than the Z3's model. Sanyo claims 22 dBA maximum fan noise when using the "Economy" lamp mode, thanks to a re-designed internal cooling path. It is very quiet, indeed.

What will get everyone's attention is the optical iris system. It's actually a dual iris design, and combined with new higher-contrast .7" LCD panels, is supposed to produce in excess of 7000:1 contrast. The iris functions dynamically from scene-to-scene, but can also be manually set to one of 64 levels. In addition, light output is also regulated on a scene-by-scene basis.

Sanyo has also implemented 12-bit color processing, scaling, and gamma correction in the Z4. This applies to standard-definition and high-definition video signals and as you will see, pushes the color quality of the Z4 beyond what the Z3 was capable of providing.

MENUS AND ADJUSTMENTS

The menu for the Z4 has also been upgraded considerably, and you'll have more adjustments to fiddle with. In addition to the usual image settings, there is an advanced menu that lets you set gain, offset, and gamma for red, green, and blue channels.

The projector comes with no less than seven factory image presets, some which make sense (Creative Cinema, Pure Cinema) and some which seem to overlap (Dynamic, Powerful, Vivid, and Natural and Living). There are also four User modes to store combinations of image adjustments and processor settings.

The advanced menu is where you can set up the Iris function, choosing between Open, Closed, and Auto (I left it in Auto mode). As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of lamp modes for when you have high or low ambient light levels to deal with. There are also four-step adjustments for Auto Black Stretch, Contrast Enhancement, and Transient Improvement (noise reduction).

Four aspect ratios are provided for PC and HDTV signals, while SDTV video can be formatted to one of eight different sizes, zooms, or crops. In addition, you can select from one of five factory-preset color temperature modes (High, Medium, Low 1, Low 2, and Low 3), or just dive into a User mode and start making your own tweaks.

The RGB gain and offset adjustments are nice, but the RGB gamma controls are what make the PLV-Z4 realize its potential. Using all of these settings, it's possible to pull out many of the color imbalances inherent in UHP lamps and approach CRT-quality colorimetry, as you will see shortly.

PERFORMANCE

For my tests, I used the Video Essentials and Realta HQV DVDs to check out composite decoding and interlaced video processing. AccuPel's HDG2000 provided the 720p and 1080i test patterns, and Extron's VTG300 cranked out the PC-standard resolutions. For video quality, I used D-VHS clips from last year's Super Bowl (720p on Fox), Monday Night Football (720p on ABC), and also viewed live 1080i clips from Discovery HD, INHD, and INHD2.

After calibration in User 1 mode and setting the zoom lens at its midpoint, I measured 350 ANSI lumens with the Creative Cinema picture settings selected and tweaked. Brightness readings ranged from a low of 266 ANSI in Pure Cinema mode to a high of 1042 ANSI in Powerful mode. Brightness uniformity was clocked at 85.3% average and 83% to the worst corner, outstanding numbers for any projection technology.

The dynamic iris function was switched on for all contrast readings, which ranged from 265:1 ANSI and 350:1 peak with a 720p checkerboard to 275:1 ANSI and 396:1 peak with a 480i checkerboard. Black levels were quite good, particularly in either of the Cinema modes. In fact, you may not need a gray screen with the PLV-Z4 if you use either mode and set your brightness and gamma correctly.

I took several shots at calibrating the color temperature, but ultimately wound up with a grayscale track that had a maximum shift of 572 degrees K, 476 degrees above D6500 and 97 degrees below. This is just over the edge of the maximum color shift I'd want to see in any projector (± 250 degrees), but is the best performance from any of the Z-series products I have tested.

Figure 5. The PLV-Z4 tracks a nice grayscale for an LCD projector.

Using a Princeton AF3.0HD reference monitor, I took several more cracks at tightening up the color. If you carefully adjust the color gamma controls, you can get very nice flesh tones and pastel shades of color from the PLV-Z4. Yellows had a nice amber shade: pink shirts and coral colors looked the same on the screen and on the Princeton monitor, and flesh tones had only a hint of a little magenta in them.

While you can get excellent color out of this projector, you may find a video scaler handy for processing composite and standard-definition interlaced video. A quick check of the Zone Plate test pattern showed that some sort of notch filter was being used for color decoding — almost no detail was seen at 300 and 400 lines, and dot crawl and color moiré were in abundance.

With a 480i component signal, I also spotted interlaced scan line artifacts with video material and film content transferred to video. The PLV-Z4 had some trouble picking up 3:2 cadences from the Realta disc, in some cases jumping in and out of film mode and then back again all within one second. Switching to 480p mode from my Panasonic RP56 DVD player fixed all of these problems immediately.

HDTV is where this projector really shines, and the 720p football clips from Fox and ABC were tailor-made for the PLV-Z3. In fact, I was actually able to see some MPEG encoding artifacts in the Fox Super Bowl broadcast (macroblocks in the football field). Once again, color quality was comparable to my CRT monitor, the difference being a little less contrast "punch" on the PLV-Z4.

1080i content also showed well, although material shot in the 1080i or 1080p formats was noticeably crisper than film footage transferred to 1080i for broadcast. During an episode of American Chopper on Discovery HD, I noticed that the red toolboxes and "safety yellow" paint jobs looked just like they did on the Princeton monitor. That color gamma circuit really works!

Being a long-time New York Yankees fan, I set up the PLV-Z4 in my home theater to watch Game 1 of the 2005 American League Division Series in 720p/60 HD and was again impressed with color quality, (in particular, clean whites and "red" reds on the Los Angeles Angels uniforms), flesh tones, and image crispness. Black levels were perhaps a bit higher than I would have liked, but shadow detail was much better than I would have expected from LCD technology.

CONCLUSIONS

The PLV-Z4 is one of the best HD-resolution LCD projectors I've ever tested and a big step up from its predecessors. Color quality is improved - it's as good as the Panasonic PT-AE700U — contrast levels are up, and grayscale tracking is getting better. The dynamic iris has a lot to do with it, but so do the expanded color controls. Dynamic irising is all the rage now; numerous LCD projectors and some LCD rear-projection TVs have incorporated it to kick out better black levels.

The longer zoom lens is probably the best idea of all. The 145W UHP projection lamp has enough juice in it to overcome the smaller aperture of this lens, and my measurement of 350 lumens should be more than enough to light up an 82-inch to 100-inch diagonal screen in a controlled lighting environment with a 1.5:1 projection throw.

The PLV-Z4 does an excellent job with 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals. To put the icing on the cake, add a good video processor for 480i or 576i composite or component video sources and take SDTV signal quality to the next level.

Sanyo PLV-Z4 LCD Widescreen Projector
MAP: $2,195*
(* Available in early November 2005)

Specifications:
Dimensions: 15.04" x 4.99" x 11.98"
Weight: 10.2 pounds
Imager: (3x) .7" 1280x720 LCD
Lamp: 145W UHP
Lens: 21.3 - 42.6mm manual zoom with mechanical shift
Inputs: 1 composite, 1 S-video, 2x YPbPr component, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA
Compatibility: NTSC/PAL, VGA-SXGA, WXGA, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i

Sanyo Fisher Company
21605 Plummer Street
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(818) 998-7322
www.sanyolcd.com


	PRODUCT REVIEW: SANYO PLV-Z4 WIDESCREEN LCD PROJECTOR
	Peter Putman, CTS HDTVexpert Home The PLV-Z4 is the latest in a line of popular, low-cost widescreen LCD projectors from Sanyo. While each new model has offered incremental improvements to image quality, the Z4 represents a marked departure from its older siblings with a whole new design and a few new tricks. Right off the bat, you'll notice that the exterior housing has undergone a complete design makeover. Gone is the tilt-down front lens cover, replaced by a powered sliding door that opens and shuts just like the doors on the starship Enterprise. The exterior housing is finished in a two-tone gray, a color combination not previously seen in the "Z" lineup. Figure 1a and 1b: The PLV-Z4 features an automatic sliding door that covers the lens when the projector is powered down. Gone too, are the automatic drop-down leveling legs. Instead, there are just two adjustable screw-type front legs. But you may not need to use them much, as Sanyo has preserved full mechanical lens shift in both horizontal and vertical axes. Perhaps the best feature of the Z4 is the new 2:1 ratio zoom lens, something that Panasonic adopted a year ago on their crowd-pleasing PT-AE700U. With that long a lens, you'll have far more mounting options than you did with the older Z3 and Z2. Longer focal lengths also make it easier to get a "squared" image with 90-degree corners and little or no image pincushioning. Figure 2. You'll find several component video inputs on the rear panel, but no screen triggers or RS232 control. Figure 3. The remote control is easy to use under any lighting. OUT OF THE BOX Sanyo has retained the 3-panel 1280x720 imaging system from previous models, but made a few tweaks to the rear-panel connector line-up. An HDMI connector provides a 100%-digital video interface, replacing the DVI jack used on earlier models. Two separate banks of RCA jacks are provided for YPbPr sources, and a 15-pin VGA jack is included for PC sources. (The usual composite and S-video jacks are also present.) The remote control is one of the better Sanyo designs, with a minimalist button layout, direct access to any input; direct access to brightness, contrast, and color adjustments, and four directional arrows for navigating menus. Even though Sanyo switched to a longer zoom lens, they've managed to retain a wide mechanical lens offset. You can shift the image 50% to the left or right, or pull it 100% up or down. That's why you probably won't get much use out of the digital keystone correction circuitry - there's just no need for it in a home theater installation. Figure 4. The lens shift controls have been moved to a side panel and can be locked now. The internal cooling fan is supposed to be even quieter than the Z3's model. Sanyo claims 22 dBA maximum fan noise when using the "Economy" lamp mode, thanks to a re-designed internal cooling path. It is very quiet, indeed. What will get everyone's attention is the optical iris system. It's actually a dual iris design, and combined with new higher-contrast .7" LCD panels, is supposed to produce in excess of 7000:1 contrast. The iris functions dynamically from scene-to-scene, but can also be manually set to one of 64 levels. In addition, light output is also regulated on a scene-by-scene basis. Sanyo has also implemented 12-bit color processing, scaling, and gamma correction in the Z4. This applies to standard-definition and high-definition video signals and as you will see, pushes the color quality of the Z4 beyond what the Z3 was capable of providing. MENUS AND ADJUSTMENTS The menu for the Z4 has also been upgraded considerably, and you'll have more adjustments to fiddle with. In addition to the usual image settings, there is an advanced menu that lets you set gain, offset, and gamma for red, green, and blue channels. The projector comes with no less than seven factory image presets, some which make sense (Creative Cinema, Pure Cinema) and some which seem to overlap (Dynamic, Powerful, Vivid, and Natural and Living). There are also four User modes to store combinations of image adjustments and processor settings. The advanced menu is where you can set up the Iris function, choosing between Open, Closed, and Auto (I left it in Auto mode). As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of lamp modes for when you have high or low ambient light levels to deal with. There are also four-step adjustments for Auto Black Stretch, Contrast Enhancement, and Transient Improvement (noise reduction). Four aspect ratios are provided for PC and HDTV signals, while SDTV video can be formatted to one of eight different sizes, zooms, or crops. In addition, you can select from one of five factory-preset color temperature modes (High, Medium, Low 1, Low 2, and Low 3), or just dive into a User mode and start making your own tweaks. The RGB gain and offset adjustments are nice, but the RGB gamma controls are what make the PLV-Z4 realize its potential. Using all of these settings, it's possible to pull out many of the color imbalances inherent in UHP lamps and approach CRT-quality colorimetry, as you will see shortly. PERFORMANCE For my tests, I used the Video Essentials and Realta HQV DVDs to check out composite decoding and interlaced video processing. AccuPel's HDG2000 provided the 720p and 1080i test patterns, and Extron's VTG300 cranked out the PC-standard resolutions. For video quality, I used D-VHS clips from last year's Super Bowl (720p on Fox), Monday Night Football (720p on ABC), and also viewed live 1080i clips from Discovery HD, INHD, and INHD2. After calibration in User 1 mode and setting the zoom lens at its midpoint, I measured 350 ANSI lumens with the Creative Cinema picture settings selected and tweaked. Brightness readings ranged from a low of 266 ANSI in Pure Cinema mode to a high of 1042 ANSI in Powerful mode. Brightness uniformity was clocked at 85.3% average and 83% to the worst corner, outstanding numbers for any projection technology. The dynamic iris function was switched on for all contrast readings, which ranged from 265:1 ANSI and 350:1 peak with a 720p checkerboard to 275:1 ANSI and 396:1 peak with a 480i checkerboard. Black levels were quite good, particularly in either of the Cinema modes. In fact, you may not need a gray screen with the PLV-Z4 if you use either mode and set your brightness and gamma correctly. I took several shots at calibrating the color temperature, but ultimately wound up with a grayscale track that had a maximum shift of 572 degrees K, 476 degrees above D6500 and 97 degrees below. This is just over the edge of the maximum color shift I'd want to see in any projector (± 250 degrees), but is the best performance from any of the Z-series products I have tested. Figure 5. The PLV-Z4 tracks a nice grayscale for an LCD projector. Using a Princeton AF3.0HD reference monitor, I took several more cracks at tightening up the color. If you carefully adjust the color gamma controls, you can get very nice flesh tones and pastel shades of color from the PLV-Z4. Yellows had a nice amber shade: pink shirts and coral colors looked the same on the screen and on the Princeton monitor, and flesh tones had only a hint of a little magenta in them. While you can get excellent color out of this projector, you may find a video scaler handy for processing composite and standard-definition interlaced video. A quick check of the Zone Plate test pattern showed that some sort of notch filter was being used for color decoding — almost no detail was seen at 300 and 400 lines, and dot crawl and color moiré were in abundance. With a 480i component signal, I also spotted interlaced scan line artifacts with video material and film content transferred to video. The PLV-Z4 had some trouble picking up 3:2 cadences from the Realta disc, in some cases jumping in and out of film mode and then back again all within one second. Switching to 480p mode from my Panasonic RP56 DVD player fixed all of these problems immediately. HDTV is where this projector really shines, and the 720p football clips from Fox and ABC were tailor-made for the PLV-Z3. In fact, I was actually able to see some MPEG encoding artifacts in the Fox Super Bowl broadcast (macroblocks in the football field). Once again, color quality was comparable to my CRT monitor, the difference being a little less contrast "punch" on the PLV-Z4. 1080i content also showed well, although material shot in the 1080i or 1080p formats was noticeably crisper than film footage transferred to 1080i for broadcast. During an episode of American Chopper on Discovery HD, I noticed that the red toolboxes and "safety yellow" paint jobs looked just like they did on the Princeton monitor. That color gamma circuit really works! Being a long-time New York Yankees fan, I set up the PLV-Z4 in my home theater to watch Game 1 of the 2005 American League Division Series in 720p/60 HD and was again impressed with color quality, (in particular, clean whites and "red" reds on the Los Angeles Angels uniforms), flesh tones, and image crispness. Black levels were perhaps a bit higher than I would have liked, but shadow detail was much better than I would have expected from LCD technology. CONCLUSIONS The PLV-Z4 is one of the best HD-resolution LCD projectors I've ever tested and a big step up from its predecessors. Color quality is improved - it's as good as the Panasonic PT-AE700U — contrast levels are up, and grayscale tracking is getting better. The dynamic iris has a lot to do with it, but so do the expanded color controls. Dynamic irising is all the rage now; numerous LCD projectors and some LCD rear-projection TVs have incorporated it to kick out better black levels. The longer zoom lens is probably the best idea of all. The 145W UHP projection lamp has enough juice in it to overcome the smaller aperture of this lens, and my measurement of 350 lumens should be more than enough to light up an 82-inch to 100-inch diagonal screen in a controlled lighting environment with a 1.5:1 projection throw. The PLV-Z4 does an excellent job with 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals. To put the icing on the cake, add a good video processor for 480i or 576i composite or component video sources and take SDTV signal quality to the next level. Sanyo PLV-Z4 LCD Widescreen Projector MAP: $2,195* (* Available in early November 2005) Specifications: Dimensions: 15.04" x 4.99" x 11.98" Weight: 10.2 pounds Imager: (3x) .7" 1280x720 LCD Lamp: 145W UHP Lens: 21.3 - 42.6mm manual zoom with mechanical shift Inputs: 1 composite, 1 S-video, 2x YPbPr component, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA Compatibility: NTSC/PAL, VGA-SXGA, WXGA, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i Sanyo Fisher Company 21605 Plummer Street Chatsworth, CA 91311 (818) 998-7322 www.sanyolcd.com Copyright (c)2005 Peter H. Putman / Roam Consulting Inc. All electronic and mechanical reproduction rights are reserved.