Projector Reviews

Big Screens, Small Prices HT Labs Measures: Sanyo

HT Labs Measures: Sanyo PLV-Z2000 LCD Projector

Contrast Ratio: Full-On/Full-Off—2,200:1; ANSI—244:1

Measured Resolution: One Pixel On/One Pixel Off:
480: 480 (per picture height) HDMI Vert/Horiz: Y/Y
720p: 720 (pph) Comp Vert/Horiz: Y/Y
1080i: 1,080 (pph)

Black Hold: Excellent
Color Decoder: Excellent

Before Cal:
AveDev: 437
MaxDev: 1,673
Off 6500: 793

After Cal:
AveDev: 54
MaxDev: 310
Off 6500: 108

The top chart is the PLV-Z2000’s color primaries and secondaries (colored circles and white triangle), as seen on a CIE 1976 chromaticity diagram, versus the SMTPE-specified standards (colored diamonds and gray triangle). The converted x,y coordinates (for comparison to a CIE 1931 chart) are Red: x=0.659, y=0.320, Green: x=0.307, y=0.667, and Blue: x=0.141, y=0.058.

The middle chart shows the PLV-Z2000’s gray-scale tracking, as in its color temperature (vertical axis) versus its brightness (horizontal axis). The left-most point is an IRE of 20, a dark gray. The right-most point is an IRE of 100, a bright white. The dotted line represents the ideal target of D65, or 6504K. The gray scale as set by the factory, in the Low 2 color-temperature mode and the Natural picture mode, measures very cool with dark images and slightly cool with brighter images (blue trace). After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures much better (red trace). The PLV-Z2000’s gray-scale tracking before calibration is quite poor, so it has an AveDev of 437. It has a wide variation, so it has a poor MaxDev of 1,673. Its entire gray scale averages 793 K off D65. After calibration, this is all much improved, as shown in the graph an in the numbers.

After calibration, and using a full-field 100-IRE white (11 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.005 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 2,200:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 244:1. The best contrast ratio was achieved with the lamp in A1 mode and the iris set to Fast. This was also the best black level and the brightest image (on an 87-inch-wide, 1.0-gain Da-Lite Da-Mat screen).—GM

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