Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary Posted on February 8, 2011 By Art Feierman 1. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review2. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-2 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Overview3. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Highlights - Specs for Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Sharp XV-Z17000 Special Features - 3D Projector features4. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-4 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Black Levels and 3D - XV-Z17000 Color Management5. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Appearance - XV-Z17000 Control Panel6. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-2 - Input/Output - XV-Z17000 Menus7. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Remote Control - Sharp XV-Z17000 Lens Throw8. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-4 - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens9. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality - Sharp XV-Z17000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Flesh Tones - Sharp XV-Z17000 Black Levels & Shadow Detail10. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-2 - What is all this fuss about black levels?11. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-312. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance13. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-5 - Sharp XV-Z17000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality14. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-6 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports15. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance - Sharp XV-Z17000 Brightness - Pre-Calibration Measurements16. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-2 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Sharpness17. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-318. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-4 - Sharp XV-Z17000: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise19. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Sharp XV-Z17000 Color Temperature - Sharp XV-Z17000 Basic Settings - RGB Settings20. Sharp XV-Z17000 – Projector Screens - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Screen Recommendations21. Sharp XV-Z17000 – Competitors22. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Warranty23. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - The Bottom Line24. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary-2 - The Very Bottom Line on the XV-Z17000 projector: - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Pros - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Cons25. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Typical Capabilities Time for a summary of the Sharp XV-Z17000 projector’s pros and cons and capabilities. Of course while we refer to the Z17000 as a 3D projector, most everyone buying it will be primarily watching in 2D. After all, while lots of 3D content is coming, it only makes up a tiny percentage of the 2D content universe. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - The Bottom LineClick to enlarge. SO close This Sharp XV-Z17000 is our first “mid-priced” 3D home theater projector that we’ve had a chance to review. Up until now, we’ve looked at generally low cost 720p projectors that are 3D capable, and we plan to review the first of the boxes that will give most of those projectors compatibility with Blu-ray 3D discs. We also tackled the $15K LG CF3D, and we have the $12K JVC RS60 here as well. Click Image to Enlarge Since the Z17000 projector is our first 3D projector in its price range, it really is hard to determine how it will stack up to the competition, such as the similarly priced JVC RS40, the forthcoming Mitsubishi HC9000D, and so on. Well, despite the difficulty in such decisions, it has been decided that the Sharp XV-Z17000 projector deserves our Hot Product Award. First of all, we already know it’s a very nice 2D projector, with excellent skin tones and over all, a most impressive picture quality including some really good black level performance. (Of cousre, it’s true that the older Z15000 only sells for about $2000, but, then again, the premium for 3D is pretty high for 1080p these days). This Sharp projector actually delivers a very watchable 3D solution, and does so with adequate brightness. That’s no small feat considering less than 1/4 of the 2D brightness remains for 3D viewing, when using active shutter glasses. The 3D picture quality really is over all good, within the understanding that 3D in the home, and in theaters is still a bit rough around the edges. As noted previously, the brightness in 3D is adequate, which is about as good as it gets right now, without spending the big bucks. Finally it seems to be very compatible with a variety of 3D sources and content. While I complain about limited brightness, with this and other 3D projectors, choosing the screen wisely, owners should be able to enjoy reasonable brightness for movie viewing, assuming you don’t go with too large of a projector screen. Really good 3D compatibility for a 3D projector is also extremely important. One lesson learned just last week, is that not all 3D content plays on every projector. Seems now – February ’11, the JVC 3D projectors – all of them, are incapable of playing the 3D content delivered by DirecTV. That would be a big “oops”. That’s right – you would have missed the Winter X Games, the BCS game, soccer, and all kinds of concerts and other high quality visual programming. As more content rolls out in 3D, such a content from Travel HD, Smithsonian HD, ScyFy HD, and of course, History HD and Discovery HD, then be aware that unless JVC expands it’s list of compatible formats it supports, or DirecTV decides to add a format that JVC already supports, JVC owners may end up without anything HDTV to watch – at least with DirecTV. (I don’t expect this to be a long term issue.) The more important point, is, that this Sharp XV-Z17000 works with DirecTV. DirecTV has three 3D channels so far, and I’ve recorded, and played back/watched content from all three, rather successfully with the Sharp projector, not to mention enjoying the content! I wish there was some way to convey how that 3D looked, but I’m sure that will occur in the near future. Perhaps all our future iPads, and phones, game players, laptops and pc’s and who-know-whats will have auto-stereoscopic 3D – no glasses. But that time isn’t yet. Meantime, getting back to this summary of the Sharp XV-Z17000 projector, 1. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review2. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-2 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Overview3. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Highlights - Specs for Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Sharp XV-Z17000 Special Features - 3D Projector features4. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Review-4 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Black Levels and 3D - XV-Z17000 Color Management5. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Appearance - XV-Z17000 Control Panel6. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-2 - Input/Output - XV-Z17000 Menus7. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Remote Control - Sharp XV-Z17000 Lens Throw8. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Physical Tour-4 - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens9. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality - Sharp XV-Z17000 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - Flesh Tones - Sharp XV-Z17000 Black Levels & Shadow Detail10. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-2 - What is all this fuss about black levels?11. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-312. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance13. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-5 - Sharp XV-Z17000 - Overall Color & Picture Quality14. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Image Quality-6 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports15. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance - Sharp XV-Z17000 Brightness - Pre-Calibration Measurements16. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-2 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Sharpness17. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-318. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Performance-4 - Sharp XV-Z17000: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise19. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Calibration and Settings - Sharp XV-Z17000 Color Temperature - Sharp XV-Z17000 Basic Settings - RGB Settings20. Sharp XV-Z17000 – Projector Screens - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector Screen Recommendations21. Sharp XV-Z17000 – Competitors22. Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Warranty23. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector - The Bottom Line24. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary-2 - The Very Bottom Line on the XV-Z17000 projector: - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Pros - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Cons25. Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary-3 - Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector: Typical Capabilities Sharp XV-Z17000 Projector – Warranty Sharp XV-Z17000 – 3D Projector Review Summary-2