Projector Reviews

Performance
The Sharp turned in a generally excellent performance on all of my standard deinterlacing and scaling tests, with the single notable exception being a test with a difficult horizontal pan across stadium bleachers for 3:2 pulldown detection and detail. It would not grab the 3:2 cadence on this test. But it sailed through other 3:2 tests, and I never saw any deinterlacing/scaling artifacts in normal program material that could not be traced to the source.

I went back and forth for some time before determining which settings of the various controls produced the best image. The contrast ratio was outstanding in the Eco+Quiet setting of the lamp and either the Medium or High Contrast iris setting. The blacks were more than impressive in Medium, but they knocked me out in High Contrast. Early on I had thought the High Contrast mode too dim, but after further refinement in my setup it turned out to be more than adequate for most program material, at least with the 200 hours I have on the lamp as I write this report. I alternated between these two iris settings, depending on the program. But if your screen is significantly bigger than mine you will probably gravitate to Medium.

The High Brightness iris setting dramatically raised the black level and significantly degraded the contrast ratio. The Bright lamp mode, on the other hand, increased the light output significantly with only a small increase in the black level. But the Eco+Quiet mode saves lamp life and runs much quieter. The Bright lamp mode does give the image distinctly more pop and minimizes the tendency in films with a lot of difficult, dark scenes, like Kingdom of Heaven, to look a little crushed. But I rarely used it. Still, the high output from the Sharp projector, and the adjustments provided to tame it when needed, suggests that the Sharp may be used on a wide range of screen sizes and still provide a more than adequate light output.

In any case, for nearly all of my viewing I finally settled on the Standard gamma mode, Eco+Quiet on the lamp, the Medium or High Contrast iris position, BrilliantColor On, and AutoContrast set to Level 3. The standard picture controls were set up for proper operation, and the color temperature calibrated as described above and discussed further in "Tests and Calibration."

How the Sharp will stand up against all comers in the 1080p games remains to be seen, as additional contenders trickle out into the marketplace. The Marantz VP-11S1 is no longer available to us for a direct comparison, but my feeling is that it was slightly sharper than the XV-Z20000 and, perhaps, had a somewhat better chosen, out-of-box standard gamma curve. A single pixel-width line on a 1080i HDMI test pattern was, as I recall, just a bit sharper on the Marantz. But the latter does cost nearly twice as much as the Sharp, and offers no advantage in brightness, black level, or setup flexibility (though it does offer lenses other than the standard one, for a premium).

But these considerations aside, the Sharp is one terrific projector. Its resolution is excellent, its scaling and deinterlacing more than a match for the competition, and its black level and contrast ratio more impressive than I ever imagined possible from a bright DLP without a dynamic iris.

Images from the Sharp have outstanding dimensionality, great color, fine contrast with no tendency to gray fogging in dark scenes. And, with a good HD source, superb detail. But it's the overall balance of these strengths that make it, for me, the second best digital projector I've had in my studio to date, arguably bettered overall (though not by much and not in all respects) only by the nearly twice as expensive, less bright, but still outstanding, Marantz VP-11S1.

The Sharp's performance was first class on all of my reference DVDs, including Charlotte Gray and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. It also performed superbly on difficult material like the 4:3, very dark, but surprisingly clean transfer of the short-lived series, Space: Above and Beyond (a single-season TV production from 1995, which I highly recommend as an underappreciated science fiction gem).

But it was on high-definition material that the Sharp really showed its stuff. I recently picked up the new HD DVD transfer of Hulk. No, it's not a very good movie, but apart from the poorly done CGI on the title character (Gollum and King Kong, where were you when we needed you?) it has its moments. It also has a generally fine cast, likely thanks to the reputation of director Ang Lee. And it also has what may just be the best HD DVD video transfer yet. The preponderance of close-ups helps—on the Sharp you can see every pore and flaw in each actor's skin—but most of the medium and long shots are crisp, as well. The Sharp not only gets all of this perfectly, but produces nearly perfect color balance. And not to forget those dark scenes, including the battle where the (CGI) Hulk battles three (CGI) mutant dogs. The shadow detail here is everything it should be.

And speaking of King Kong I was reminded of the T-Rex battle in that movie as I watched the Hulk being bitten and mauled by those Paleolithic pooches. The HD DVD transfer of King Kong isn't quite as amazing as that of Hulk (at 2.35:1, it has less inherent vertical resolution than the 1.85:1 Hulk), but it's a far better film with a far wider range of closeups, long shots, and light and dark scenes. It looks great on the Sharp, with every bright and dark detail, nuance of color, and hair on Kong's back intact.

Want more examples? I just posted reviews of 14 new HD DVD and Blu-ray discs in UAV Movie Room. Every one of them was reviewed on the Sharp.

Conclusions
The obvious question: Is the $11,999 Sharp an overpriced dinosaur in the age of $5,000, 1080p projectors? My answer is an unequivocal no. As impressive as some of those new, less expensive projectors are, my experience with them so far suggests that the Sharp produces a more detailed, vibrant picture. As with all things, there is a law of diminishing returns. You pay twice as much, you get a 10%-20% increase in performance. But those improvements are in the many little things that together add up to much more than the sum of their parts. The Sharp XV-Z20000 is an awesome projector.

Highs
Superb image overall
Exceptional contrast ratio and deep, rich blacks
Bright enough for a wide ranger of screen sizes
Great setup flexibility

Lows
Frustrating service menu calibration
Fan noise a bit higher than the quietest competitors
Not much else besides price