Sanyo PLV-Z5 DLP Projector Review – General Performance

Sanyo PLV-Z5 Projector Menus

There are truly a lot of menus on the PLV-Z5. I took more than a dozen multi-item menu images but have decided to trim it down a bit. If you really must see all the menus, no doubt Sanyo will eventually post a pdf version of their manual online.

The first menu is the Image Menu, which features your choice of modes, as shown here.

There is also a second page (not shown), which allows selection of the four user saveable settings.

The next major menu is Image Adjust, with the ability to adjust virtually every aspect of color handling, including the usual suspects: Brightness, contrast, color (saturation), Tint, Color Temp (choices include Low1,2, and 3, Medium and High). In addition there are separate controls for RGB (red, green, and blue).

There is also a second page of Image Adjust features.

This menu gives you a choice of the four lamp modes; Low, A1, and A2 (dynamic modes), and Full power. Also present, control of Gamma, manual Lens iris control and Reset.

If Advanced is turned on (in another menu), then you can also access the Advanced Image adjust menu, shown here. As you can see, the number of controls of the image is almost mind boggling!

I did not play with features such as the Auto Black Stretch, Transient Improvement, etc., but did most of my viewing with Dynamic gamma engaged.

A second advanced menu is for more serious calibration, offering separate R,G,B controls each for Gain, Offset, and Gamma.

Altogether, there must be billions of combinations, that should satisfy even the pickiest hard core tweaker, or professional calibrator.

Moving along to the other main menus, there is a Picture Adjust, (not shown) that controls overscan, as well as horizontal and vertical positioning.

Next comes the Screen menu, which gives you a choice of the various aspect ratio options. You’ll note that some are grayed out, as they are not available for the 16:9 aspect ratio of the source in this case. Select a 4:3 source, and others will activate, etc.

The Input Menu (not shown), offers menu selection of each of the inputs, as well as configuration of the computer input.

There are 3 Settings menus. The first offers menu language, the all important Advanced menu off/on, as well as projector orientation (ceiling/table/front/rear), and setup for the two HDMI inputs.

The next Settings menu, includes, of note, Power management, and the ability to put in a custom logo, but code options for the remote.

Finally, the last Settings menu primarily deals with cleaning and adjusting the LCD panels, but also houses the high altitude fan option, and the lamp counter reset.

Finally, there is the Info menu, giving the usual basic info about the projector’s status, including lamp hours, current input, and lamp brightness mode.

No one will accuse Sanyo of coming up short on controllable options!