Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Performance
2/5/2011 - Art Feierman
In this section we consider the brightness, sharpness, and image noise of the Sharp XV-Z17000 home theater projector. Also considered are the physical attributes of light leakage and audible noise.
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Sharp XV-Z17000 Brightness
The numbers below were recorded by Mike before and after calibration. They were taken with the original pre-production Z17000 projector. We often mention that we normally anticipate that full production projectors will be a bit brighter than pre-production ones. However, since this projector is essentially an updated 3D version of the existing Z15000, that's probably not the case.
Pre-Calibration Measurements
Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE:
Standard= 921 @ 7796
Natural= 921 @ 7832
Dynamic= 1195 @ 7770
Movie 1= 670 @ 6623, 1063 with iris on High Brite and Bright Boost turned on. 347 lumens in Eco mode, High Bright Boost Off.
Movie 2= 670 @ 6625
Game= 1195 @ 7819
Effect of different settings on lumen output
The XV-Z17000 has two iris modes, manual, and dynamic. Both may operate at the same time. Iris 1 is the manual which has two settings: High Brightness, and High Contrast. The other iris, the dynamic one also has two modes: Off and On.
Iris on High Brightness = 24% increase in output over iris on High Contrast
Bright Boost turned off = 22% drop in output from either Eco, or Eco off modes
Eco On is about 26% brighter than Eco off.
Note that the Sharp has four brightness modes. Starting with the least bright, there's Eco mode. Next comes Eco mode with Bright Boost On, then Eco Off with Bright Boost Off, and finally, the Brightest mode: Eco Off, Bright Boost On.
That also translates to a very bright projector, even in Movie Mode, and even with the iris on high contrast, this projector produces well over 600 lumens.
The Z17000, as you can see above, approaches 1100 lumens in Movie Mode, if you pull out all the stops. You'll only pick up a bit less than 15% more lumens with Dynamic mode.
Effect of zoom on lumen output (Dynamic mode):
Zoom out: 1237
Mid zoom: 1195
Zoom in: 1153
With only a 1.15:1 zoom ratio, I was surprised that there was even 84 lumens difference, which works out to about 7%
The Calibration page will provide the settings we used. That includes basic settings as well as gain and offset. We will revise, with numbers from a production projector if there are color table changes, between this unit and full production ones. I don't expect that to be the case, though.
Sharp XV-Z17000 Sharpness
NOTE: Images are not yet in place. Commentary below.
Top left: XV-Z17000, Top Left Center - LG CF181D, Top Right Center - JVC RS25, Top right - Mitsubishi HC7000
2nd row left: Panasonic PT-AE4000, left center: Epson Home Cinema 8350, right center: Mitsubishi HC4000, right: BenQ W6000.
Close up of a computer monitor, from Space Cowboys (Blu-ray), left to right: XV-Z17000, InFocus 8602, Vivitek H5080, and Sanyo PLV-Z4000.
Sharp XV-Z17000: Bottom Line Sharpness
Extremely sharp at best, but like its predecessor, it is a touch softer in the corners than other comparably priced single chip DLP projectors. I presume this is part optics, part the shorter throw of the lens, compared to many. For perspective, I would still consider this Sharp XV-Z17000 to be sharper than most LCoS and LCD projectors, including those costing as much or more.
Light Leakage
The Sharp XV-Z17000 gets a clean bill of health when it comes to light leakage. There's no obvious leakage through the lens, nor from the various vents.
Image Noise
Nothing of interest here. The projector does well on the HQV noise tests that we run. From a viewing standpoint, no problems seen in 2D viewing. It should be noted that in general the DLP projectors seem to always have a touch more basic image noise than other technologies. This Sharp XV-Z17000 fits the DLP profile, with a touch more noise than most LCD or LCoS projectors.
Audible Noise
Audible noise levels are rarely impressively quiet when considering DLP home theater projectors. That said, the Sharp XV-Z17000 isn't bad. In its not very bright eco-mode, it actually is very quiet, and claims a nice low 23 db spec.
As expected, there's a lot more fan noise when at full power. Sharp does not publish a decibel claim at full power, but the Sharp, though substantially louder, definitely comes in a couple or three db lower than the Viewsonic Pro8200 (another single chip DLP, 1080p home theater projector) that we just reviewed. Let's just say it probably measures a little below 30 db, since the Viewsonic claims 31 db. Overall that's generally acceptable for almost all of us. It sure is a lot quieter than my PS3. Due to the short throw of the Sharp, I've been sitting (in my theater) only about two feet to the right, and one foot behind the projector, and the PS3 8 feet away is still noisier.