The XV-Z20000's remote control is a very good one. First off, it has plenty of range. No problem in my theater even with a bounce off the screen totalling almost 30 feet.
The Sharp XV-Z20000 projector remote control.From the top, on the right is the power on button, and on the left, the off button (press twice). Sharp refuses to label it Off, instead chose Standby. I assume that the logic is that the projector is still on (lamp and most electronics off, but, the infra-red sensors are alive so that the remote can power the projector on).
Immediately below, on the right is the Menu button. Nice, by itself, easy to find without looking for it, or moving your hand. Next comes the four arrow keys for navigation in the usual circular layout, with a center Enter button. Below that, on the left, is the Return button which moves you back out from sub-menus to main menus, to menu off. I would call this a right handed person's remote, as the Return button is high to the right, and as your thumb sweeps an arc lower, it naturally moves to the left. This will probably drive left-handed people a little crazy, but, fortunately, I'm not one of them. (And if that's the biggest complaint left-handed people have with the XV-Z20000, then, they too will be thrilled with their choice).
The next block of buttons are for the seven sources, including the two HDMI's and the DVI-I.
Below that, are three rows of three, covering everything else. These are going to be hard to memorize or access without looking. Most notably, down the right, the three buttons are Picture Mode, Contrast and Brightness. Picture Mode lets you toggle between the various modes, while the other two, let you adjust using the left and right arrow keys.
At the top middle of the three rows is the aspect ratio control, and I like the choices there. You can toggle between them. Besides the usual 16:9, and 4:3, there is a "dot by dot" - one to one pixel matching (thus, a 720p source would only use 1280x720 of the 1920x1080 pixels, for a smaller image). There is also a 14:9 (about half way between 4:3 and 16:9), and something I am most pleased to see, which is a smart stretch mode, for those that want to use the full screen with a source that is not 16:9. The Sharp has an aspect ratio to support an anamorphic lens, for those that want to do full 2.35:1 Cinemascope on a Cinemascope screen, without letterboxing.
There's also an Auto Sync, for computer signals an RGB vs Component toggle button, and on the lower right, is the Iris control. Next to it, is an Input button, which calls up the input menu, to select a source. Whether that is really needed, since there are direct buttons for each source, I just don't know.
Finally, at the bottom is a night glow Light button. The remote's backlight is nice and bright (I hate dim ones). The light stays on for about 5 seconds (but stays on if you push another button before then). Five seconds is a bit short, but livable.
