Sharp XV-Z2000 Projektor

Don

The Sharp was indeed impressive, especially with HD material. I've been playing with the lower model (the 200) and it is consistently a fine machine with pretty much any DVD player we attach to it. Its component output is almost indistinguishable from DVI pictures when a decent DVD player is in front of it (e.g. DVD5 or Arcam DV29).

The 2000 brings the High Def possibilities to the party so if you have a scaler, or a machine that can take a scaler card , things should be even more interesting! I thought the 2000 had a more filmlike quality to the 200. I think this is because of the combination of high contrast ratio and really bright lamp (1500 ansi lumens is nearly twice the output of the 200). Another really big benefit over the 200 is that it has powered focus and zoom! Now the 200 has dropped in price to £2000 so I'd be surprised if the 2000 keeps its £3500 tab. Given our results with the 200 in terms of excellent reliability and happy customers all round, I'd happily recommend the Sharp products.

Infocus always have good products which compete aggressively with the other makes out there. I haven't seen the 7205, but all the Infocus products I have played with have been worthy competition. If anything, they've always been a little soft on red colouor (a teensy weensy bit orange) but they make up for it in other ways usually. That said, it doesn't have the powered focus and zoom, nor the brightness, nor contrast level. Then again it comes back with the 7-segment colour wheel (as opposed to the Sharp's more normal 6-segment), which reduces rainbow effects significantly and gives better fine shading.

I guess you could try to arrange an A/B demo between the two - should be possible, and interesting.

Regards,
Frank.

I recently purchased a Mitsubishi HC900 after visiting a Home Cinema exhibition. I project onto a 2.5 meter wide screen from about 4 meters away.

Specs below - you can get it on the web for around 1500 pounds.

Highly recommended.

I use this for movies and a panasonic plasma for day to day - perfect combination....

Resolution WXGA
Weight 2.9 kg
Brightness 1500 lumens
Display Type DLP
Keystone Correction Yes
Lamp Life (Typical) Up to 4000 hours
Contrast Ratio 4000 :1
Fan Noise 30 db in Eco Mode

Frank,

Many thanks for your comments. Seems like I could be looking in the right direction.

All,

I have concluded that I must be an erratic (thats an 'a' in the middle) or indecisive shopper.

Having mentally parted with £3,500 on a decent projector, I realised I am going to have to continue with my Pioneer 717 dvd player/AV1 for some considerable time. Lets assume 2 years.

Adam mentioned he was using an Infocus 4805 (?) with good results from his dvd5. With the 4805 at £1,000 and the dvd5 at £2,500 I'm sure you can see my dilema. The dvd5 would still have to output via the AV1 for anything other than stereo over the next couple of years.

So which will deliver....Sharpe VX-Z2000 or......Infocus 4805 plus dvd5 or......what would you do/

Cheers

Don

Don,

I think you are alluding to my post. The main gist was that resolution is only part of the equation. All the resolution in the world cannot improve an imperfect source. The DVD5 excels in keeping artefacts, blocking and noise to a minimum. It is better here than any other player in my experience (although here I admit I haven't had any hands on with the very latest top of the range Denon). The conclusion was that I much prefered the picture fed from a DVD5 into a comparatively low resolution projector such as the Infocus 4805, than from a lesser DVD player into a higher resolution projector such as the Infocus 7205. The principle of source first is just as valid with video as it is with audio it seems...

Interestingly, I felt the audio output of the DVD5, whether by digital or analog was even more remarkable than the picture. Then again, don't take my word for it. Listen for yourself...

Richard

Richard,

Yes it was your post, rather than Adam's, that caught my attention.

As you can tell, I am interested in other people's experience. This helps me to focus on, and define, two or three promising solutions. I find this helpful before going along to a dealer, who might add one or two of his own ideas. This way the number of demos is manageable by both me and the dealer.

We all say "don't take my word for it" or "you must demo" or "the only thing that matters is what you like to see/hear" etc etc. But can we realistically demo, say, 5 products in each of 3 product lines (ie about 60 combinations) to find what we like. No way.

Then, and for most of us it’s a big then, we have to look at the funding arrangements. Assume we have £4k to spend.

Is this £4k a once in a lifetime event
is it the only spend in say 5 years
or 2 years
or am I going to spend £4k pa for the next 3 years
etc etc

Each scenario could lead to a different buying decision, for this first £4k

And, conversely, the performance you can achieve at different price-points, might affect how much you are willing to spend now. That £4k might go up to £5k (and bugger the summer hols) if the improvement is dramatic, or it might drop to £2k while we hold off for today's leading-edge technology to drop in price and increase in performance.

Then there's the "source first" brigade and the "lets keep it all in balance" brigade to contend with and your mate who just went down to Dixons and came away with this week's all-in home-cinema special for just £899.....and it actually doesn't look too bad...even when its projected onto a magnolia wall.....

But whether its based on "source first" or simply "it actually looks and sounds better" I welcomed your perception that dvd5/4805 looked and sounded better than XV-Z2000 with a cheaper dvd player. It means I owe it to myself to try dvd/4805 v XV-Z2000/717.

Cheers

Don