Sharp XV-Z15000 - Physical Tour 4

Posted on June 9, 2009 by Art Feierman

The XV-Z15000 is finished in a shiny black, with a silver lens barrel. Basically its a medium sized boxy projector. Fortunately black is the "color" you want for a plain looking projector. I don't think there's any chance that this Sharp projector will win any design awards. But it looks nice, and clean.

XV-Z15000 Lens Shift

The XV-Z15000 lacks adjustable lens shift. As with all projectors without lens shift, it has a certain amount of lens offset. (Without some lens offset, it would have to be placed straight back from the dead center of the screen (vertically).

While many DLP projectors have a lot of lens shift, and therefore may not work in low ceiling rooms or even a typical eight foot ceiling with a larger screen, that's not the case with this Sharp projector. For a 100 inch screen the center of the lens needs to be just a fraction less than 8 inches above the top of the screen surface. Many other DLP projectors require placing them 16 to 20 inches above the top. And that extra foot becomes the problem for them.

In other words, I think Sharp chose wisely with the moderate lens offset design.

XV-Z15000 Anamorphic Lens

Sharp does not support an anamorphic lens with this projector. As I have said many times before, that shouldn't be an issue for a projector in this price range. Why? Well, consider that most anamorphic lens/motorized sled combinations cost upward of $3000, that's more than the projector. In other words, most would prefer to spend more on a better projector, and then, later, add anamorphic if that's their ultimate goal.