[Kilohertz]

I have recently bought a Sanyo Z4, my first projector, from Discount Electrical. I can vouch for the same excellent service as experienced by others on this forum. The picture quality is great, and it impresses all who see it. I have however been somewhat disappointed by the level of fan noise from the machine. Posts on this forum and others have suggested that some people are unable to hear their machines at all. For me the noise is quite noticeable during quiet scenes in movies. I generally use the Creative Cinema setting with the lamp in the lowest (eco) mode projecting onto my portable screen, with the projector placed on a coffee table. The noise is a combined ‘wooshing’ and ‘whirring’ type of fan noise and is not due to any resonance effects. I don’t have any means of measuring the sound level so cannot compare with specs.

I find the noise level comparable to a PC, in fact I would say that my Dell Dimension 5000 is somewhat quieter than the Z4. I would add that the sound level does change, and it seems louder at certain times than others, albeit with the same settings.

Is my experience typical of Z4s or do I have an unusually noisy machine?

[Richie15]

Hi

Unless you Z4 is ceiling mounted then it should be vertually silent. Have you a direct heat source nearby?

[StormHD]

Mine's ultra quiet. It's 4" above my head and I can't hear it.

[Hippo04]

Originally Posted by Kilohertz

Is my experience typical of Z4s or do I have an unusually noisy machine?

Probably nothing wrong with your unit. The perceived noise level depends of many factors: room background noise (which you might not even notice), distance to the pj, materials around the pj and most importantly, your sensitivity to noise. Some people don't hear it from 2' and some do it from 20'. Same thing as with screen door effect.

After all, the pj does produce noise, it's not silent.

[Demon]

It does make some noise, all PJ's do, if people say it's silent, they must mean that it's below background noise levels..

My HTPC and Z4 fight it out for noise, but the exhaust port is unfortunately aimed at my viewing position.. but I just 'ignore' it.. I've seen lots of LCD PJ's recently, and for me the noise levels on the Z4 are pretty low in comparison to some..

[ROne]

It's not silent by any means, but most passages of sound from films would drown out the fan.

[Mark_a]

I think it's 24db in the low light mode, which is about as quiet as any of the domestic projectors claim. I know my Z3 is of the same order and it is very quiet, but not silent by any means. But that was one of the main purchasing decisions for it on my part. Compared to an InFocus projector I auditioned, which sounded like a hovercraft floating by, it was substantially quieter. I do know that if I pick 'Creative' mode it automatically ramps the bulb up to full again, and if I reduce the lamp back to half mode it automatically puts the projector into 'User' mode. Dunno if the Z4 is the same or not.

Regards

Mark

[ELV]

Mines 12 to 18" from me on a coffe table also, and no it isn't silent, but it isn't obtrusive either, if you sit and listen for it you will hear it but as a genral rule i don't notice it and i only use eco mode also, perhaps it's something to do with the side your sitting on, i sit on the non vented side so this could possibly help.

Ta

[paul1967]

I can hear mine above my head but not off putting ,maybe put it on some mats ,also how warm is the room your in as some people have there house realy hot and this could be a factor.

Z4 was my first proj and I was initially disapointed by the noise level as most people write in reviews that the latest class of LCD projectors are virtually silent. So i was expecting silence but got a fair bit of noise to my ears but you get used to it, I do usually have to use low lamp mode if I am watching a quiet film but my xbox360 makes the PJ sound silent, those things don't half make a racket! Admitedley my Z4 is only a few foot above my head, in the future I think I would consider mounting further away from the seating area if possible.

Even though saying I find the Z4 a bit nosiy I have to admit that I can't sleep with a ticking clock in the room so I am personally quite receptive to the subtlest of nosies!

[Kilohertz]

Many thanks for all your replies.

My seating position is not next to the projector vent but between 4 and 5ft behind. The fan noise does seem to increase slightly once the projector has really warmed up, say 1/2 hour to 1 hour after switching on. I guess we do have the room fairly warm, which probably doesn't help. The other evening we watched programmes using the Sky+ box. After a while the Sky+ cooling fan came on. It was only noticeable if you listened out for it and quieter than the projector.

[HeadStAtE!]

Maybe there is an issue with some Z4's I got mine as soon as it came out, I've owned 3 projectors before, Panasonic PTAE100, 300 & 500, and I watch my projector as a main source on an evening, my room has massive ceiling 3.5m above my head and the projector is mounted close to the ceiling yet it is far far noiser than my previous Panasonics which were mounted far closer, my HTPC is silent after a few feet for a comparison, and I'd say my Xbox 360 was only marginally noisier (compared to full bulb power), but I run in eco low lamp power and it's still noiceable even with the surround sound on at low volumes. Incidentally the vent is postioned opposite to the viewing position. My mate has the Sony, forget the model but it is recommended on this forum, and now that is virtually silent... I'd be reluctant to buy Sanyo again for regular viewing...

[mickey]

i cant hear my z4 from even though it is only about 3.5ft behind my head on a shelf. a lot quieter than my ae500 ,ae700 or ae900 were. Mike

[linkster]

I always have it on the lowest lamp setting for the noise issue, I don't tend to notice it when it is like this, but to say it's inaudbile... far from it. To say it's on a par with a 360 is nonsense.

The thing I don't quite see is any benefit from using any of the other lamp settings... this seems really odd to me. Is the brightness difference very subtle?

[mickey]

it,s pretty obvious from all the posts that there is a wide spectrum of how noisy or not a particular z4 is, NO ONE has the right to discount another persons opinion of their own personal z4. I think the op asked how noisy are other peoples z4s and I gave my opinion of mine Truthfully, Full Stop. Mike

[linkster]

You've clearly not got a 360.

[bravogolf]

For what it's worth, I've had the 360 and the Z4 side by side and the 360 is definitely louder!

[HeadStAtE!]

Originally Posted by bravogolf

For what it's worth, I've had the 360 and the Z4 side by side and the 360 is definitely louder!

I wasn't saying that it wasn't the 360 is noisy but the Z4 is far from silent as people keep saying, I have lived with projectors for over 3 years as a TV replacement in apartments and they have never bugged me before, OK the PTAE-100 did as it didn't last long with daily use, but not for noise, the Z4 is noiceable to me, my girlfriend and my mates and I don't see why I should turn up my hifi simply so it's not noiceable. I wish I'd gone for the Panasonic 900 now...

As I said maybe there's a batch with cheap fans maybe... After spending £1200+ it's easy to think it's not that bad, I'll ignore it, but I'm being honest with myself, it's bad compared to what I've been used to, and it most definately not a fun experience on the higher lamp settings.

[simon69]

Originally Posted by HeadStAtE!

I wasn't saying that it wasn't the 360 is noisy but the Z4 is far from silent as people keep saying, I have lived with projectors for over 3 years as a TV replacement in apartments and they have never bugged me before, OK the PTAE-100 did as it didn't last long with daily use, but not for noise, the Z4 is noiceable to me, my girlfriend and my mates and I don't see why I should turn up my hifi simply so it's not noiceable. I wish I'd gone for the Panasonic 900 now...

As I said maybe there's a batch with cheap fans maybe... After spending £1200+ it's easy to think it's not that bad, I'll ignore it, but I'm being honest with myself, it's bad compared to what I've been used to, and it most definately not a fun experience on the higher lamp settings.

I take it you have never had a CRT projector then?

[HeadStAtE!]

Originally Posted by simon69

I take it you have never had a CRT projector then?

Only LCD, I've always been happy with the screen size of projectors so have never felt like a plasma purchase, although it's a pain to have to have blinds, still as I only usually watch a night it's not really a hassle.

[Lrrr]

I have a Z4 (bought a few months ago, I posted on this forum for advice), I was one of those seduced by the reviews stating "near silent" and was very disappointed to find it far from that. I went as far as sending it back to the service center who pronounced "no problem".

It is definitely audible, but I have learnt to live with it. After a while you mentally tune it out. I just think of it as having the projectionist in the room with you :-)

I still have some purchase-regret though, I think PJs will have to get quieter before I buy another one.

[StormHD]

Originally Posted by bravogolf

For what it's worth, I've had the 360 and the Z4 side by side and the 360 is definitely louder!

Nice setup. I've got an identical setup.

Anyone would think someone from Eurogamer advised you what to get.

[bravogolf]

Originally Posted by StormHD

Nice setup. I've got an identical setup.

Anyone would think someone from Eurogamer advised you what to get.

[Ross82]

It's funny because ive only had my z4 for about a week.
Originally i had it sat on a coffee table and i found a lot quieter than my previous PJ, however now its ceiling mounted its definatley become louder.

It just bugs me that it didnt say that in the manual!!!!

at first i was really chuffed with the image it can throw and how quiet it was - now im really chuffed with the image it can throw.

Doh!

I think when the ceiling mount option is enabled the fan is set in a higher mode. I think this can be altered in the service menu, I think it is mentioned somewhere on this forum or maybe the Z4 tweak thread on avs.

[Ross82]

Nice one Paul!

Thanks for that - will have a search for the tweak thread again.

Cheers

Ross

[bravogolf]

Originally Posted by Ross82

Nice one Paul!

Thanks for that - will have a search for the tweak thread again.

Cheers

Ross

Here you go

[pmc]

I've had a Panny AE700 for 18 months (my first PJ) and the noise has always been my biggest bugbear. After much experimenting I came to the conclusion its a combination of two things. First is your overall sensitivity to the noise. I've had friends watching movies on my PJ and saying they can't here a thing from it while I found it noticable at exactly the same time. The other big factor is ambient temprature. I realised after a while that the AE700 is virtually silent below 20C but even a notch above that it becomes noticable. And the warmer it gets the noiser it gets. Personally I've always found 22-34C comfortable but over the last 6 months or so have found myself getting used to lower temps to keep the keep the PJ noise down. Course now I have to accept a summer of a noisy PJ as I don't have air con.

Sounds like the Z4 may be similar, which is a pity as I'v long thought about swiching as the Sanyo is supposed to be very quiet. Either that or there ar ea bunch of us that have high sensitivity to both noise and temprature who just have to grin and bear it with PJ's.

[mickey]

Originally Posted by pmc

Either that or there ar ea bunch of us that have high sensitivity to both noise and temprature who just have to grin and bear it with PJ's.

hi, that is probably the most sensible statement I have read on this thread. the noise from all of my panny pjs was far louder than the z4 i now own. there has been a lot of post about a whistling noise from the panasonic 42pv500 plasma but i cant here a thing from my pv500, some people are obviously more sensitive than others I dont discount other peoples opinions just because I dont agree with it. Mike