Sanyo PLV-Z4000 – Projector Screens

Sanyo PLV-Z4000 Projector Screen Recommendations

Of course, if you are stuck with some side ambient light, the High Contrast gray screens are the way to go, but keep in mind the screen size limitations.

If you are a bit less critical about ultimate image quality, you can run the PLV-Z4000 in Brilliant Cinema mode as your “best” mode, and now you have a projector with above average “best” mode brightness.

You can, of course go with higher gain screens, but remember they reduce the viewing cone – best seating – in terms of where you can sit (from left to right), before the higher gain really starts impacting the evenness of illumination. I wouldn’t recommend going above 110″ diagonal without a very high gain screen, but the Sanyo, again, for best mode movie watching, is happy at 100 inch diagonal, and will struggle above that in Pure Cinema mode. Using the almost as good and more fun Creative Cinema mode, 110 inch diagonal, becomes most reasonable. I strongly suggest dark walls, etc. if you are going above 100″ diagonal.

Some people, however, may choose to rely on the not quite as good Brilliant Cinema mode for movie viewing, as it’s about 50% brighter, which allows you more choice in screen options and can take you up another size if needed. Doing some adjustment is needed though. Brilliant Cinema is too cool, and improving will cost some lumens.

Sanyo PLV-Z4000 - Competitors

How does the Sanyo PLV-Z4000 compare to other 1080p home theater projectors on the market?

This section compares the Sanyo PLV-Z4000 home theater projector to the competition. Here you will find our quick impressions of the Sanyo projector as it stacks up to other popular projectors we have reviewed.

PLV-Z4000 vs. LG CF181D

So, here we have the Z4000 which is pretty much been around for almost years as the Z3000, but produces much better color than its predecessor, going up against the LG CF181D, which is pretty much a new projector. (If there were older projectors in the LG series, I don’t think they’ve made it to the US.)

The LG, if nothing else, is a whole lot bigger projector, and brighter too. The Z4000 is pretty small, about as small as good home theater projectors get (that aren’t single chip DLP’s – as some of those are a bit smaller still). The Sanyo has a very slight placement advantage by virtue of a touch more zoom lens range – 2:1 vs. 1.8:1. The LG and Sanyo can be similarly close, but the Sanyo can sit a couple feet further back (for a 100″ screen) if need be. Both have lots of vertical lens shift, but the LG doesn’t offer any horiztonal shift. (Using horizontal limits the amount of vertical, and vice versa.)

When it comes to brightness, the LG, when comparing “best” modes, smokes the Sanyo. It’s got about 3x Pure Cinema (not that we’re concerned with that), but it’s still far brighter than Creative Cinema on the Sanyo. I don’t consider Sanyo’s Brilliant Cinema to be a serious “best” mode compared to the LG.

When it comes to how bright you can go, the Sanyo is a bit below average, while the LG is one of the brightest around, anywhere near the price.

When it comes to the picture, I like the LG’s big, wide open, kind of “looks right”. The Sanyo is perhaps a bit more critical, the LG the more forgiving of the two. Both, however, have great looking skin tones.

The raw power advantage really works fo the LG CF181D making it a no contest on larger screens, but on small to medium screens, and decent lighting control, the Sanyo is prepared to do a better job by virtue of sharpness, and better blacks.

Sanyo PLV-Z4000 vs. Mitsubishi HC3800, HC6800, HC7000

The Sanyo is available online, only the lowest cost of the three Mitsubishi projectors – the HC3800 is available online. The other two, the HC6800 and HC7000 are local dealer only, and significantly more expensive.

The Sanyo easily wins the black level wars against the HC3800 and even the HC6800, (which I ran very quickly side by side with the Sanyo, before shipping it back), while the HC7000 will best the Sanyo Z4000 as it did the Z3000.