Viewing Evaluation Conclusion
The PLV-Z60 is just a great, colorful projector that redefines budget home theater. It was a pleasure to review and give myself excuses for watching DVDs and television shows just so I could snap off some shots of how good this system looked on my reference 92-inch Carada Masquerade Projector Screen Masking System. OK, less talk, more pics...
HDTV: House
Check
out House' hair and the black detail in his leather jacket. The PLV-Z60
certainly isn't the darkest projector I've seen, in fact that's probably the
area it needs the most work in, however the detail is never left out and you
can always get an accurate luma response that pulls every bit of info out of
the picture.
Looks like Dr. Wilson hasn't shaved in several hours according to this next snapshot.
HDTV: Misc HD Shows
From
college football to Prototype This!
to... heck, television commercials,
the PLV-Z60 always found something to make us drool at the screen and wonder at
how fortunate consumers are to be able to get this kind of quality at today's
prices.
No, his arm isn't severed, he's just pointing right at you!
As the camera moved in we had ourselves a real-world jaggie test... and it
passed.
Commercials... If they look that good in real life, I'll take two!
HDTV: CSI:
NY
The
CSI shows are always a great place to get some HD stills for any projector I'm
reviewing. They're colorful.... They look good... They're on 24 hours a day.
Seriously, if you can't channel surf and find some flavor of CSI you must be in
northern Canada.
Xbox 360: Gears
of War 2
I'm
not necessarily convinced that the pics came out all that great, but Gears of
War 2 is such an incredibly cool game - and fresh off the presses - that I'm
going to include it. Just because I can. It's actually another great example of
how the PLV-Z60 can show incredible amounts of black level detail, even though it may not exactly sport the deeper blacks of
the high-end products. I guess that's why Sanyo makes three different home
theater models to satisfy all users/budgets.
Blu-ray: Iron
Man
I
saw so many clips of Iron Man recently that I have probably sat through the
movie a few times, though not in a linear fashion. It's a very detailed and
colorful movie, and detail & color are what really make the Sanyo stick out
in the crowd.
By the way, the sound in this scene is off the hook!
Conclusion
This is the same great projector consumers found in the PLV-Z5 - except cheaper and black. Sure, there are some slight tweaks, but overall you are getting a very incremental update but reaping the benefits of costs savings which Sanyo is apparently happy to pass on to its customers. If we recommended the PLV-Z5 in 2006, it's even easier to recommend this product. Street prices on this model are so low we can't publish them here for fear that the information will be obsolete by time of publication. Rest assured that for less than $1000 you can bring this unit home from an authorized dealer - and that's simply mind-blowingly cool.
Sanyo PLV-Z60 LCD
Projector
MSRP: $1,295
Sanyo North America Corp
http://www.sanyo.com/business/projectors/home_theater/
About Sanyo
North America
SANYO Group's corporate philosophy is the
guiding principle in accomplishing the key management policy of ensuring
products and services that are indispensable in creating harmony between people
and the environment. SANYO's priorities are: Customer Satisfaction and
Harmonizing with the Environment. SANYO's digital technology and core
competence (the source of our competitiveness) supply the products and services
that generate joy, excitement, and impact.
The Score Card
The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:
Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating
Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.
Audioholics Rating Scale
— Excellent
- — Very Good
- — Good
- — Fair
- — Poor
| Metric | Rating |
|---|---|
| Detail and Resolution | |
| Deinterlacing & Scaling | |
| Contrast and Black Levels | |
| Color Reproduction | |
| Noise Reduction | |
| Calibration Options | |
| Build Quality | |
| Ergonomics & Usability | |
| Ease of Setup | |
| Features | |
| Remote Control | |
| Fit and Finish | |
| Performance | |
| Value | |
See also:
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
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]
If anyone can illuminate me, that would be most appreciated.
Thanks,
Danny