Sanyo PLV-Z5, Sanyo's latest: the PLV-Z5

• Although it forgoes Full HD resolution, Sanyo improves on its Z4 with this superb PLV-Z5.

• Price: €1,699

• Specialists' rating: 5

• Text: Ramon Sendra

True to its tradition at this time of year, Sanyo presents a new projector for home theater applications. It comes as no surprise that it is called the PLV-Z5, heir in many respects to the well-known Z4. Although it retains one of its greatest attractions, its value for money, we cannot avoid starting by pointing out that it is a 720p projector. It is true that, for the moment, this is the most affordable way to reach HD, although we have been surprised by the drive with which Sanyo's competitors have ventured into the Full HD era. Why not Sanyo? Who knows. But in any case, I must stress that the Z5 is better than the Z4, something that, frankly, I expected from a company with Sanyo's potential.

With the same styling as the Z4 (including the characteristic motorized lens cover), our guest improves some rather attractive aspects at the most basic level, among them the addition of an HDMI input, although the rest (already superb in itself) remains the same (don't they believe in triggers?). Nor has the optical block been changed, for example: it is dust-resistant and has the same throw as its younger sibling. Naturally, it retains features such as vertical and horizontal lens shift, and even the dual iris system.

Where the Z5 once again proves spectacular is in its calibration system. It offers numerous presets (up to seven) that do their job according to factors such as room or ambient light and the type of content (movies, games...), to which we must add up to four user memories (which can be recalled from the backlit remote control), making precise calibration of our guest easier. And on top of that, it has a lower retail price than the Z4 had when it was launched barely a year ago! Clearly, there are improvements, among them contrast. One of LCD's weak points is its "poor" black level, so it is natural that manufacturers focus heavily on improving it. Our guest offers deeper blacks than its predecessor the Z4, improving the impression when we adjust the iris properly. By improving the gray scale (a better black contributes to this), a broader colorimetry is also achieved, although I am convinced they have also taken considerable care over this aspect. Thus, the color saturation surprised me once again, something that undoubtedly raises our guest's quality bar a little further. In fact, the Z5 comes better adjusted from the factory (even to D65), something we criticized when it was the Z4's turn (see CEC, February 2006).

During our tests we did not detect any artifacts, for example in deinterlacing or in motion with SD signals. One of the settings that absolutely must be adjusted is sharpness, which is too high at its factory value; on the other hand, with native 1080i signals I noticed certain tiny flaws in the outlining of objects. In fact, it was precisely when we fed our guest 720p signals that its performance improved enormously in every respect. Although it is, so to speak, an affordable unit, it might not be a bad idea to consider pairing it with an external video processor and scaler. Incidentally, one thing that caught my attention was that the fan noise was a little bothersome.

The use of the dual iris is undoubtedly partly responsible for the improvement in blacks. When scenes are very dark and the projector is properly adjusted, shadow detail is reproduced quite faithfully. Using one of the automatic iris modes, we can do without some of the adjustments made specifically for better performance in dark areas, although in return we will sometimes lose some dynamic range in that region.

That gray scale that we movie lovers appreciate so much is sometimes lost in favor of a gray slightly lighter than black. It is not a flaw worth criticizing, merely a recommendation for a device which, although we did not expect it, improves on what until now we considered the firm's "best" in this field. As for whites, in almost all the cases analyzed we obtained bright scenes without unwanted clipping. In fact, this is one of the areas where the Z5 is in its element. I believe that, head to head, the Z5 offers considerably more brightness than its predecessor, which will allow, for example, more versatility in the use of lens shift, or projections of just over 2 m wide with no problems in brightness. With a screen-door effect that is not at all bothersome, I think few would say this Z5 is still an LCD-based projector; indeed, I am convinced it could take on many single-chip DLP projectors and come out on top.

The Z4 is still a very good projector, and I think few should consider replacing it with a Z5. In fact, the Z5 is more of an upgraded revision of the Z4, with higher brightness and improvements in contrast ratio, black reproduction and connectivity, as it incorporates a second HDMI input. But in the midst of the expansion of Full HD projectors, the Z5 makes a great deal of sense as one of the best 720p models to pass through our hands, at an almost irresistible price.

Sanyo PLV-Z5, Sanyo's latest: the PLV-Z5

Specifications

LCD panels: 3 LCDs with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. Brightness: 1,100 ANSI lumens. Contrast ratio: 10,000:1. Connectivity:

2 HDMI, VGA, 2 Y/Pb/Pr, S-Video, composite video, RS-232. Lens: Manual focus and zoom, with manual H/V lens shift. 2:1. Up to 100" diagonal. Weight: 5 kg. Dimensions:

382 x 126.8 x 304.3 mm.

Distributor: Sanyo (902222401).

Price: €1,699