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Sharp XV-Z9000
Sharp delivers a knockout blow for digital projection
By Max Christoffersen
October 2002
Sharp XV-Z9000 video projector. $19,999
Twelve years is a long time between movies. But that’s how long it’s been since I first saw a Sharpvision home theatre projector. At that time HT projection was new, the industry leader was Sharp and the future was LCD.
Twelve years later, a Sharp DLP projector arrives on the doorstep and the first question I have is what happened to LCD? The simple answer is the XV-Z9000E.
This DLP projector has changed everything. For the first time as a CRT owner, I have seen a digital projector I could live with.
There are some caveats, but the performance of this machine is revolutionary.
Under the hood the specs are: Resolution: 1280 x 720 pixels; Brightness: 800 ANSI lumens; Contrast Ratio: 1100:1; Component, RGBHV, S-Video and composite inputs. Lamp cost is $1400.
Digital and analogue had a baby
Part of the reason this unit is so good, is that it seems to combine the
outstanding elements of CRT projection with the outstanding elements of
digital. It’s like analogue and digital had a baby and they called
it the Z9000.
Of key interest is black level. So far, there isn’t a digital projector that can match CRT ‘black out’. But the Z9000 made me forget about that technicality. The space scenes in Starship Troopers (‘Big Mistake’) provided excellent contrast with black night sky and bright white and blue contrasting colours.
Hands down it is the best black level from digital projection I have seen. I did want just a touch more depth to it to really kick the image into CRT territory, but it is a breakthrough performance for digital projection.
The depth and detail was also a genuine rush. There is just so much detail that I replayed scenes from Starship Troopers and Final Fantasy several times over to experience again the detail and depth! There is just so much detail!
Overall the Z9000 produces a very smooth image devoid of the artificial crispness I have found on other digital projectors. Occasionally the image looked ‘soft’, but this should be welcomed as long-time viewing with this projector may minimise the eye irritation and headaches that have been reported on other DLP projectors.
At a rated 800 lumens I wouldn’t go much past a 96x54 inch screen but it is bright enough at ‘traditional’ screen sizes.
The good news the bad news and the
lip sync blues
All was not well however in DLP land.
A strange lip-sync problem occurred while watching a talking-heads discussion on TV3. And it wasn’t minor. The problem did not surface when using the component inputs. A Sharp software upgrade is claimed to minimise this problem.
Secondly there is evidence of a lack of colour uniformity on a white field, while the colour palette also verges on fluorescent on reds and greens. Some tweaking through the set up may help, as would a well-matched medium gain screen.
On the great news front, the rainbow problems that plagued
early model DLPs appears to be almost totally gone. I do however confess
to experiencing a strange sense of uncomfortability with DLP ‘flicker.’
But while most of the upscaling to 720p chores were done with minimal
visible artifacts, there are some scenes with straight line shimmers and
instability (court scene in A Bugs Life under the mushroom); some
pans appeared to stagger and lacked the smooth transition from scene to
scene. But overall the upscaling to 720p with 3:2 and 2:2 pull down built
in is smoother than any other ‘on-board’ device I have seen.
The fan noise is rated at 32 dB - low compared to some projectors but loud enough to mask low level dialogue. A hush-box is recommended! And this is a long-throw projector, so you will need to carefully plan your install.
Playing favourites
Among several other favourite review units over recent years like the
Barco Cine 7, the Rotel
1095, the Sony VW10HT, the Sharp 9000
takes its place as a genuinely outstanding product that is exciting, innovative
and jaw droppingly good.
All of these products have lifted the bar in their own product range - and the Z9000 is no exception.
At $20,000 it’s not an everyday purchase, but the quality and excitement this unit generated at my place is enough to suggest it is worth the investment and whatever trade-offs it may have, are easily accommodated.
I want one!
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