Sanyo PLV-Z2000 Home Theater Projector Review - General Performance-4

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility

Screen Door Effect, due to visible pixels really isn't an issue either, since this is a 1080p projector with inherently small pixel structure. You'll have to sit closer than what anyone would consider normal for this to be a problem. While we're on the subject, as an LCD projector (3 LCD panels) (and this is also true, for LCos projectors like the Sony Pearl, and JVC RS1, RS2, or for that matter, also 3 chip DLP projectors), mounting of the panels can cause some mis-alignment. The Sanyo was off slightly with the blue panel being slightly off to the right, but by far less than one pixel width. On my test unit this is definitely well below visibility at anything resembling normal seating distances.

Evenness of illumination of the image was also very good. In some instances with LCD and other three panel projectors you might detect differences in color temperature on different parts of the projected image. The Sanyo was very good.

Sanyo PLV-Z2000 Projector Brightness

The most significant complaint I have of the Z2000, is its brightness, which is below average. We haven't yet tested the new PT-AE2000U from Panasonic, whose predecessor, the PT-AE1000U, was last year's "King of Dim", of the 1080p projectors. The new PT-AE2000U is supposed to be a notch brighter. We shall see.

These measurements were all taken with the zoom lens close to the middle of its range. As a result, at shortest (wide angle) distance, the projector will measure about 25% brighter, and almost 25% dimmer in full telephoto (where the projector is the furthest possible from any given sized screen).

If I recall correctly, he Sanyo PLV-Z2000 is a little brighter than that Panasonic AE1000U, but that's about it. Everything else out there can produce more lumens, in its best mode, and for that matter, also in brightest mode. Here's how the Z2000 measures out:

Pure Cinema Mode: 363 lumens (lamp on full), 248 lumens in low lamp. That's about a 30% drop, which should be fairly consistent in any mode. 30% is also a larger drop than most projectors which drop 15-25%. For the other modes, I'll only report full lamp, and you can figure out low power if you desire.

Creative Cinema: Not much brighter, with 398 lumens

Brilliant Cinema: 572 lumens, pretty good, but then image quality isn't quite as good as Pure Cinema. Still, I imagine many buyers of the Z2000 will spend plenty of time watching in Brilliant Cinema mode, and still throroughly enjoy the experience.

Natural mode: 521 lumens (a good mode for general video viewing, as opposed to movies).