Z4 Owners – How noisy is your projector?

[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.

[paul_mowbray]

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