Sanyo PLV-Z60 LCD Projector Review

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by Clint DeBoer — last modified November 25, 2008

Sanyo PLV-Z60 projector

Summary

Product Name: PLV-Z60 LCD Projector
Manufacturer: Sanyo
Distributor: VisualApex
Performance Rating:
Value Rating:
Review Date: November 25, 2008 09:18
MSRP: $ 1295

Specifications

Resolution: 1280 x 720

Brightness (typical): 1,200 ANSI Lumens

Uniformity: 85% (corner to center)

LCD Panel System 0.7” TFT Poly-Silicon x 3 (16:9)

Number of Pixels: 2,764,800(921,600 x 3)

Contrast Ratio: 10000:1 (vivid mode)

Projection Image (diag.): 40” ~ 300”

Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Throw Distance: 3.9’~30.2’

Zoom/Focus: 1x to 2.0x, Manual driven

Lens Shift (manual): 100% vertical, 50% horizontal

Up/Down/Left/Right Ratio: Up/Down: 3: -1 ~ -1:3 (-1V/Center/+1V)

Left/Right: 10:0 ~ 0:10 (-0.5H/Center/+0.5H)

Digital Keystone Correction: Vertical: +/- 20°

Projection System: Dichroic mirror & 4P prism system w/ PBS

Projection Lens: F2.0 ~ 3.0 / f0.8” ~ 1.7”

Lens Throw Ratio: 1.35 ~ 2.7:1

Projection Lamp: 145W UHP

Scanning Frequency: H: 15~80kHz, V: 50~100Hz (auto sense/select)

Dot Clock: 100MHz or less

HDTV signal: 480i/480p/575i/575p/720p/1080i/1080p (HDMI input only)

Color System: PAL/SECAM/NTSC/NTSC4.43/PAL-M/PAL-N

Computer Compatibility: WXGA/SXGA/XGA/SVGA/VGA/MAC

Voltage: 100V-240V AC; 50/60Hz (auto voltage)

BTU Rating: 717

dB Rating: 22dBA (Eco mode)

Power Consumption: 210W/185W(Nomal/Eco)

Dimensions (WxHxD): 15.0” x 5.0” x 12.0” (not including protrusion)

Net Weight: 11.0lbs

Input Terminals

2 x Component Video (RCA x 3)

S-Video (Mini DIN 4-pin)

Composite Video (RCA x 1)

Analog RGB (D-Sub 15)

HDMI x 2

RS-232C/ Service Port (Mini DIN 8-pin)

Pros

Sharp image
Rich colors
24p support
Easy maintenance

Cons

Not a lot of light output
Not much new since the PLV-Z5

Introduction

It's been a little over two years since we played with Sanyo's last projector offering. Indeed, the company took a short break in their recent string of annual product releases to bring consumers a new 720p home theater projector in the affordable PLV-Z60. The new projector is an incremental update to the PLV-Z5... which was an incremental release to the PLV-Z4. To be honest, our first impression is that somebody took the Z5, painted the chassis black, and threw a new release party for the Z60. While that's our honest first impression, a more complete evaluation will involve some serious Audioholics-style reviewing and lots of test material.

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picture_shooter posts on March 31, 2009 23:36

I saw this projector in action couple weeks or so back. I really like it, this is coming from a fan that used to own Optima

lsiberian posts on March 19, 2009 16:26

crashkup;540103
I read a review that cautioned that at the brightness level this projector works at the screen should not be too big. However it did not say how big is too big. so I am wondering, as i consider buying a PLV-60, is my 10 ft. wide screen too big?

If anyone can illuminate me, that would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Danny

You would probably okay if you had a Carada Brilliant White screen

jostenmeat posts on March 19, 2009 16:15

crashkup;540103
I read a review that cautioned that at the brightness level this projector works at the screen should not be too big. However it did not say how big is too big. so I am wondering, as i consider buying a PLV-60, is my 10 ft. wide screen too big?

If anyone can illuminate me, that would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Danny

If you want to test the waters of going big as you can, you might look into high gain screens, retroreflective, particularly the one I use, DaLite High Power. It takes more thought and/or compromises in taking advantage of the properties:

- you will want the PJ as close to the viewers' head as possible
- you will want to keep all viewers within a 20 degree viewing cone

When directly on-axis, the gain will actually be over 300%. It's rated as 2.8x, but I think or guess that in most scenarios something like 2x will be had. However, I also guess that a 10 ft wide screen is more than twice the viewing surface of a 100" screen.

Ok, nm, slightly less than double:

http://tvcalculator.com/index.html?45a7092fbf774c799862cf4bf623be1e [tvcalculator.com]

BMXTRIX posts on March 19, 2009 16:06

100" is about the recommended max size under dark home theater conditions.

crashkup posts on March 19, 2009 15:37

I read a review that cautioned that at the brightness level this projector works at the screen should not be too big. However it did not say how big is too big. so I am wondering, as i consider buying a PLV-60, is my 10 ft. wide screen too big?

If anyone can illuminate me, that would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Danny