[chrisfh]

Well unless my searching has failed me there isn't an actual owners thread for this projector and seeing as there should be around 10 new owners shortly, I thought I would create one!

Hopefully mine should be arriving today... and last night's HD episode of Heroes is waiting on Sky+ to test it out!

Share your thoughts!

[chrisfh]

In case you haven't read these...

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 Home Theater Projector Review - Overview - projectorreviews.com

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 Review -- Sanyo's New 1080p Home Theater Projector

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 LCD Projector Review - TV Reviews - TrustedReviews

Generally all excellent reviews! TrustedReviews give it the lowest score of the three, but complain about the colour balance... maybe they didn't get it calibrated quite right...

[Broadsword]

It will be awhile before I get mine set up and ready, really looking forward to this projector as I've had an old cluncky 480p panasonic for the past 3 years. I paid only £180 less for that than this new 1080p Sanyo.

Are we all on to get these today chrisfh? Did you get confirmation that all orders went in etc are were posted?

[ibster]

mine should be here as well today :-) ive still for the old panny ae100, still going strong but time for an upgrade, now all i need to do is get a suitable mount, rip up the floorboards in the room upstairs and get my hdmi cable through, good job the mrs aint here at the weekend ;-)

[ibster]

mines turned up but no HDMI cable which i also ordered, getting them to look into it now, thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

[chrisfh]

Originally Posted by ibster

mines turned up but no HDMI cable which i also ordered, getting them to look into it now, thanks to everyone who has made this possible.

Lucky devil! Guess the cable may be seperate as he projector may have come directly from a distributor...

Let us know what it looks like!

[chrisfh]

Guys... owners thread...

You know, what settings work best? First impressions? What kit are you using it with? How do you get this to work? Screenshots etc?

[chrisfh]

Mine has litterally this second arrived... no emails though... be patient!

Right... first impressions coming up!

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by chrisfh

... be patient!

Easier said than done to be honest. I've not been this excited since the last time I ordered a projector 5 years ago.

[mabo]

Originally Posted by Broadsword

Easier said than done to be honest. I've not been this excited since the last time I ordered a projector 5 years ago.

I'm probably being an idiot but i'm going to pack mine up and place it under the Christmas tree.

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by mabo

I'm probably being an idiot but i'm going to pack mine up and place it under the Christmas tree.

No your probably doing the right thing. The anticipation would kill me, plus I my case I have to rearrange the room to fit the new arrival so I will need it to setup. Maybe a quick film when done and then away for Xmas.

I was thinking Wall E on Christmas night for the premier, not seen it yet and have the bluray sat waiting.

The problem now is that I now need a DTS True HD Amp to go with the 1080p goodness.

[chrisfh]

Originally Posted by mabo

I'm probably being an idiot but i'm going to pack mine up and place it under the Christmas tree.

Quid says you don't last!

[mabo]

Originally Posted by chrisfh

Quid says you don't last!

Well as you've helped save me £100 i'd feel bad taking the extra pound from you but you're on.

Of course i'd have to test it out briefly first, just to make sure everything is working.

Tbh i can't really set it up as like Broadsword i have to get the room ready. There's a king size bed in the way and loads of paraphernalia from the HTPC i've just built so there are wires, screws and bits that i'm sure shouldn't be left over laying everywhere. I'm also reliably informed that i need a screen.

[Sheks]

I am sat here (working from home) waiting for mine to arrive.

I am going from a Sanyo Z3 which I have had for a few years, and it hasn't missed a beat. Had a friend over last night who hadn't seen Iron Man who thought the picture was ace on Blu-Ray on my Z3 (which has over 2200 hours on the bulb).

Obviously the increased resolution will be good, but I am also hoping for better contrast (better blacks), a friend has a Sanyo Z5 which he got a couple of years ago (after seeing my Z3) on my recommendation and that has noticebly better blacks than my Z3.

I have an Onkyo 785 amp, and am wondering whether to let the amp do the scaling, or whether the Z2000 will be better?!?

Sheks

[chrisfh]

First impressions... impressive!

It's quite a bit bigger and heavier than the Infocus X1a it is replacing, but just squeezes on the shelf! It's really rather quiet, at first I could barely hear it and even now it's going, it's not that intrussive, very quiet for a projector. I think if I get it on eco mode it may even go quieter, but we'll wait until it gets dark to test that!

Talking of which, brightness is good for me. Admitably it's overcast today but in a room with large bay windows, curtains wide open, the image is great!

Unit itself is very solid, everything feels good particularly the zoom and lens... lens shift not quite so solid to be fair, but works well!

Lamp hours 0. Filter hours 0. But not for long...

I only have one problem so far! I use an HDMI distributor to send signals from a HTPC to several TV's around the house as well as the projector... but would seem they don't support 1080p... PJ does though, just have to use that instead!

[mabo]

Sounds good so far, the only thing we need are some pictures please.

[Broadsword]

Is the X1 a 720p or a SD projector? Just wondering what your expectations are going to be. Im moving from a 480p ptae200 so I am expecting a massive improvement.

Also without using any lens shift where does the image lie in relation to the lens? i.e whats the default offset etc? Is the lens bang in the middle of the image?

[chrisfh]

X1a was 800x600 so old and useless for HD really... not a bad projector in it's day for the money mind!

Default offset seems to be bang out the middle of the lens... but I think the vertical shift is something like plus or minus two whole screens so should be fine for everyone!

You want pics you say?

Obviously these are compressed and probably won't come out great, but you get the idea! First few are in full daylight, then curtains drawn, you should be able to tell when!

Setup does need calibrating but that may have to be later... got to do some work unfortunatly!

[chrisfh]

And eco mode does drop the noise quite a bit without noticeably hurting the image, particularly in the dark.

My laptop is noisier than the projector now I think!

[Broadsword]

So thats a 4:3 screen then obviously.

How do the black bars look on 2.35:1 stuff? The thing that annoys me the most with my panny is how easily the bars can murge into darker pictures. I really am hoping for big improvement in this.

Still no package for me, do you know who the courier is?

[chrisfh]

Originally Posted by Broadsword

So thats a 4:3 screen then obviously.

How do the black bars look on 2.35:1 stuff? The thing that annoys me the most with my panny is how easily the bars can murge into darker pictures. I really am hoping for big improvement in this.

Still no package for me, do you know who the courier is?

Yep 4:3 still had it's place when I bought the X1a... I'm likely to get a new 16:9 screen at some stage but not that neccessary at the moment, I'll let the wallet recover first!

Courier was a straight white van... nice one mind!

Black performance looks good at first impression, how it really stacks up with shadow detail etc remains to be seen, I think we're gonna need to get them well calibrated for that first. See how we get on later...

One more pic... sitting in it's new home on the shelf, looks OK actually, not the sexiest machine around admitably, but OK. Just need to get the cable tidy in place that I've had in a corner of the room for months! (secretly, I've been waiting to get this you see...)

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by chrisfh

Courier was a straight white van... nice one mind!

Nothing on the label to say which company?

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by Broadsword

Nothing on the label to say which company?

Apparently they were all sent yesterday using citylink/target direct from the distributors.

[CogPaul]

Ordered today - thanks Chrisfh!

[Broadsword]

Its arrived!

Bigger box than expected.

[Sheks]

Mines arrived

Just swapped it out for the Z3, immediate impression - "much" better blacks.

I have put it straight into Eco mode.

Ran through a few scenes of WALL.E on Blu-ray - I am happy to say I can see the difference in resolution between the Z2000 and my 720p Z3 - in the scene when flying though space to the mother-ship the stars etc look much more defined.

A benefit I wasn't expecting (although with the benefit of hindsight I guess it was to be expected) is a BIG improvement in screendoor (or lack of) - it wasn't a problem before with the Z3 - but now I have to stand with my nose a few inches away from my (92") screen to see the pixels. I used to be able to makeout the pixels when sat down in my chair.

Also the image seems smoother somehow - less "judgery" if that makes sense?

Overall the effect is much more "film-like".

All in all a happy man here.

Sheks

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by Sheks

Mines arrived

Just swapped it out for the Z3, immediate impression - "much" better blacks.

I have put it straight into Eco mode.

Ran through a few scenes of WALL.E on Blu-ray - I am happy to say I can see the difference in resolution between the Z2000 and my 720p Z3 - in the scene when flying though space to the mother-ship the stars etc look much more defined.

A benefit I wasn't expecting (although with the benefit of hindsight I guess it was to be expected) is a BIG improvement in screendoor (or lack of) - it wasn't a problem before with the Z3 - but now I have to stand with my nose a few inches away from my (92") screen to see the pixels. I used to be able to makeout the pixels when sat down in my chair.

Also the image seems smoother somehow - less "judgery" if that makes sense?

Overall the effect is much more "film-like".

All in all a happy man here.

Sheks

That sounds great. Is wall e 2.35:1?

How are the black bars in darker scenes?

[Sheks]

Originally Posted by Broadsword

That sounds great. Is wall e 2.35:1?

How are the black bars in darker scenes?

WALL.E is in 2.39:1, there are black bars. The black bars are much improved over my Z3. This was one of the (few) short comings of my Z3 as the black bars were more grey than black. They are still not completely black (not sure that will ever be possible whilst I project onto a white screen), but much improved.

Looking forward to reading what settings people try, as I spent some time "calibrating" my Z3 - the Z2000 is already much improved - straight out of the box.

Sheks

[Broadsword]

Originally Posted by Sheks

WALL.E is in 2.39:1, there are black bars. The black bars are much improved over my Z3. This was one of the (few) short comings of my Z3 as the black bars were more grey than black. They are still not completely black (not sure that will ever be possible whilst I project onto a white screen), but much improved.

Looking forward to reading what settings people try, as I spent some time "calibrating" my Z3 - the Z2000 is already much improved - straight out of the box.

Sheks

Its the one thing I cannot forgive my current projector, the bars sometimes dissapear into the picture when the picture is also dark top and bottom. I doubt that would be a problem with wall e though.

There is a huge huge thread just on settings for this projector over at AVS Forum. The americans are really into posting about colour and hues than we seem to be.

[Demon]

I'll make a start on some settings that work well for me and my brother (I've had mine a week now)

Source: HTPC via HDMI, CoreAVC output levels set to 0-255 (PC)

Sanyo Z2000:
Settings->HDMI 1->Enhanced
Starting from Brilliant Cinema (if that makes any difference)
Brightness -10
Contrast +15
Red/Green/Blue 0
Colour +2
Gamma +4
Sharpness +2
Iris Mode:Fast
Iris Range:-30
All the Contrast/Transient stuff Off (or Low)
Dynamic Gamma Off (More natural), or Low(A bit more pop)

Lamp: A1 or A2

I used Kung-Fu Panda, Iron Man and Tropic Thunder for reference

Scenes that I used to confirm the setup
1. Kung-Fu Panda - 1/3rd the way in, the dungeon scene, when the dungeon keeper is stood by the prisoner with a flaming red torch, getting the correct amount of shadow detail and not blowing highlights was tricky.
2. Iron Man - the first 1/3 of the film, when he is captured in the caves, this is a tough test for any PJ
3. Tropic Thunder - Anywhere, this was a PITA on my Z4 to set-up.

I initially found tweaking it very hard, when I tried other peoples settings off AVSForum, it initially looked OK for some scenes, but the failed miserably with my 3 test scenes, the Kungfu Panda scene is particularly good, as it really does help you set up the levels for the shadow detail, and highlight crushing, all in one go!

Of course the PC desktop looks too unnatural, but I've assigned another User Image setting to that!

Over my PLV-Z4, the blacks are very much improved, but my brother, who has an almost perfect light controlled room isn't noticing a huge improvement over his PLV-Z5, they are better though, and I was always impressed with his Z5!

I do like how you can name your User Image settings, so choosing the right one is very easy.