The Miller Channel
Sharp XV-Z9000
1280x720 1-Chip DLP projector
$10,995 List
By Kevin Miller
(from Home Theater Magazine January 2002)
DLP projection technology for home theater applications has just taken a major leap forward in picture performance. Sharp's new XV-Z9000 1-chip DLP projector is the first DLP projector based on Texas Instruments' new native 16:9 1280 x 720 pixel resolution chip to hit the market. This projector promises to radically change the front projection television market, as it offers unprecedented picture quality in its product category at a very reasonable price. Consider that the XV-Z9000 at a list price of $10,995 comes close to delivering the same picture quality as 7 and 8-inch CRT based front projectors that range in price from $15,000 to $30,000. The XV-Z9000 is one of those rare products in the home theater industry that elevates its category to a performance level many of us previously thought unachievable.
The projector's design is fairly handsome compared to most of Sharp's previous LCD projectors. The case has an off white finish - the 9000 doesn't come in black, but I guess you can't have everything. The lens assembly is positioned directly in the middle of the unit. Very well laid out and intuitive to use, the remote control has most of the commonly used functions backlit, which is really useful when setting up in the dark. It also allows direct access to all five video inputs, as well as the Gamma, color temperature, Keystone, and Resize functions. The unit weighs a very reasonable 20 lbs, and the box measures 18 11/16 inches wide x 7 inches high x 19 ½ inches deep with the rear jack panel cover.
The connection options on the projector are quite comprehensive. Rather than professional style BNC connectors, the XV-Z9000 has all RCA type inputs and outputs. The unit sports one composite video input, one
S-Video input, two sets of component/RGBHV inputs, a 15-pin VGA style input for connection to a computer, a 12 volt DC output for triggering a drop down screen, a wired remote control jack, and an RS-232 port for control applications. There are no audio inputs, and therefore there is no speaker. The component video inputs double as RGBHV inputs for use with either an outboard video processor or an HDTV set-top decoder box. On the front of the projector, there are three indicator lights for Temperature Warning, Lamp Replacement, and Power. Many of the remote's buttons such as, On/Off, Input select, Resize, Menu, the left /right/up/down adjust buttons, Enter, and Undo are duplicated above the jack panel on the rear of the unit.
The XV-Z9000 has a claimed contrast ratio of 1100:1, and a light output rating of 800 ANSI lumens. The lamp is a 250 Watt NSH high-pressure bulb, and the rated life is an impressive 2000 hours, which is about twice that of most other lamps used in these types of projectors. The fan noise is rated at 32 dB, and should prove nearly inaudible in most ceiling mounted configurations. The feature set on the Sharp XV-Z9000 for setup is remarkable, including a mechanical lens shift feature as well as electronic image shift and keystone correction. Combine this with a standard mechanical Zoom and Focus feature, and you have unparalleled setup flexibility. While it is recommended that you position the projector with the top of the lens in line with the bottom of the screen material on a floor mount, thanks to the physical lens shift feature, I was able to get the image perfectly centered on the screen with no geometry problems with the projector's lens square in the middle of the screen. The throw on the Zoom lens is specified as 1:1:35, which doesn't calculate in my situation, even at the diagonal measurement, the unit being positioned at about 22 feet from the screen projecting an 11-foot wide image. Unfortunately, I was unable to verify this crucial spec from Sharp in time to meet my deadline.
I used a close friend and video colleague's theater with an 11-foot wide (16:9 aspect ratio) Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 screen. It turns out that you get a slightly better black level performance with DLP projectors with larger screen sizes, and with the light output capability of the 9000 this proved to be a wonderful fit. Stewart Filmscreen's GrayHawk screen material has been the reference for fixed pixel projectors with poor black level performance, as it aids in this crucial area of picture performance. At the recent CEDIA convention, I had a chance to see other 1280 x 720 pixel resolution 1-chip DLPs used on Stewart's new GrayHawk screens, and I am not sure you need the use of this material for enhanced black level performance. That's how good the Sharp's black level capabilities are. The new 16 x 9 aspect ratio "Black Chip" has a black border around the chip itself, and the level of black it is capable of is excellent. It's still not as good as a CRT based projector, but it is so good that I had no trouble watching very dark material on the 9000, where as with literally all previous 4:3 based 1-chip DLP projectors, the poor black level combined with low-level noise and artifacts, would've driven me mad. Taking a close look at the light spray around the edges of the viewable image from the 9000, a problem that plagued earlier 1-chip designs, I was pleasantly surprised to see only about .25-inch around the border of the image. This is so miniscule that, when seated at the proper distance, it is completely unnoticeable.
I evaluated the XV-Z9000 both as a standalone unit and with a Faroudja DVP-S3000 video processor for NTSC material. The 9000 by itself is a very respectable performer. The internal scaler, while not as good as the Faroudja, does have 3:2 pull-down that minimizes jaggy and motion artifacts. I did see some stair-stepping artifacts in Montage of Images on the "Video Essentials" test disc, which leads me to believe that the 3:2 is a little slow to kick in. However, this is quite minor, and I didn't see this on other DVD material. This projector is one of the few fixed pixel based projectors that I have tested that doesn't absolutely require a quality outboard video processor to achieve a level of picture performance that I could live with in my own theater for a prolonged time.
With the Faroudja video processor, the picture was a little less edgy, although I don't think that outboard processors actually completely override the internal scalers in any of these fixed pixel projectors. I setup the 9000 Using "Video Essentials" and my Visual Standard Optical Comparator. The 9000 has a total of seven color temperature settings (-3 to +3), four Gamma settings, and global controls for Red and Blue for manipulation of the gray scale. A Theater Mode setting is also available in the PRJ Mode menu, which I recommend you use as it drives the projector a little less hard. I could actually hear the machine become significantly quieter when it was engaged, indicating to me that the lamp is driven harder when it is not. I settled on the 0 setting for Color Temperature, and the Gamma at -1 in the user menu. With some minor tweaking of the Red and Blue controls using my Optical Comparator, I obtained an excellent gray scale out of the 9000.
Sharp has since supplied me Service Mode entry codes, and there are in fact all six RGB controls (3 bias and 3 drives) for fine-tuning the gray scale. With a Photo Research Spectraradiometer, I believe I could achieve a near perfect gray scale with the 9000. Running it RGB, you only get control over Brightness and Contrast, and you need to set the other parameters at the processor, in this case the Faroudja. On the Sharp my settings were +5 on Contrast, -10 on Brightness, Color Temperature at -1, and the Gamma setting was Gamma I. On the Faroudja, I left the Contrast and Brightness at the center point or 128, Color ended up at 206, and Detail to 0.
The color fidelity on the Sharp XV-Z9000 is quite good with particularly exceptional reds. The green seems a little on the lime side or just a bit too punchy. Comparing color bars and color material to an older Runco 980Ultra CRT projector with color filtered and corrected lenses, red looked a little more saturated (read: better) on the Sharp DLP, but green was definitely more accurate on the Runco. Sharp's 5x speed 6-element color wheel is definitely a major improvement over earlier color wheel designs for DLP projectors, and the 9000's color decoder is impressive. The rainbow effect common to slower 3-element color wheels from previous DLP projectors was not evident at all on the 9000. White field uniformity was as good as I have ever seen, and in fact better than on the Runco 980Ultra. Looking at a full white field on "Video Essentials revealed an ever so slight red tint on the right side of the screen, but I never noticed it on regular program material.
Sitting back and watching DVDs on the XV-Z9000 was a revealing experience. DLP has always been really problematic with dark movie material, but not so with this new 1280 x 720 projector. Specifically, Chapter 21 of "Fifteen Minutes", which is a very dark scene of the aftermath of a fire in an apartment, looked really good with little or no low-level noise, and good deep rich blacks. While not as good as CRT based displays in the area of black level, the XV-Z9000 is more than acceptable in this area of performance, and hands down the best in this regard of any fixed pixel display I've ever seen. Watching Chapter 9 of "The Fifth Element" was jaw dropping.
With some adjustments to black level and gray scale using my Accupel HDTV signal generator, I optimized the Sharp for HDTV viewing. I watched the Dish Network demo channel, and some snippets of different movies on the HBOHD channel off the Dish, and was really impressed. The detail in people's faces, on baseball fields, etc. was simply outstanding. Throughout the evaluation process both with DVD, and HDTV material for the first time I had to remind myself that this was a DLP projector. That's a first for this reviewer.
The XV-Z9000 doesn't have the digital edge enhanced look I typically associate with LCD, DLP, and DILA fixed pixel displays. CRT based projectors do give you more depth and three dimensionality to the picture, but the Sharp is not far off in that regard either. Bottom Line: I could easily live with this projector. The XV-Z9000 marks the point at which DLP technology begins to approach CRT in terms of overall picture quality. It's not quite all there, but it's damned close. Considering the incredible performance, affordability, and the freedom from maintenance the 9000 offers, I have to rate it as the best value in high-end front projection to date.
12/5/01
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