Calabrating a Sanyo Z4 (1 Viewer)

[John Menoni]

It looks like I'm going with the Z4. The lens shift on the Z4 has sold me. I now have options I didn't have when I was leaning on the BenQ 7700. I read that the projector does a very poor job in interlacing 480i. I'm getting a Denon 1920 DVD player or an OPPO that upscales the image. I also have a directv HD Tivo that gives the option of 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i. If I take the time to calibrate the projector, do I need an external video processor? I origionally was under the impression that since my Tivo can do 480p, I would be O.K. Can anyone reccomend some literature that can get me started with the calibration? This is my first projector and I know nothing about calibrating. I'm more of an audiofile than a videofile.

 

[MikeTatH]

Just tweak the controls if you are not a videophile. HQV DVD is one of the things you can use to calibrate.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Just get a proper calibration disc such as Avia or DVE and go from there, it's not that complicated really when you're starting out. I know it can get sounding really complex really fast, but that's just sort of Nth degree stuff, the basics are pretty straightforward. White, black, color, and here sharpness will probably ne neutral or zero.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Calibrating and the need for an external processor to do de-interlacing/scaling are two different things. As recommended above, let one of those discs walk you through a basic calibration.

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

From what I've read so long as you're not using interlaced sources I wouldn't worry about it, certainly not up front. Just set your HD receiver to 720p and it will scale 1080i for you. For comparison you can set it to 1080i and let the Z4 do the scaling and then compare relative performance. I'm waiting on the Z4 myself (like you the lens shift was a big factor in my decision) and I also chose to use an iScan HD+ for video processing. I still have laser discs, plus my trusty Toshiba SD-9000 DVD is interlaced. More importantly I wanted a single cable going to the projector.

As stated above the general calibration will be independent of this. Note that the Z4 has a lot of setup options so calibration can become pretty involved. Also note that the auto iris behaves differently depending on the picture preset you start with. There are different opinions floating around the net but starting with Living or Creative Cinema mode apparently balances color and contrast quite well. The higher power settings tend to be too agressive with the iris.

I'm hoping to get mine by month's end or early December in time for the holidays. They're apparently not shipping in Canada until end of November and there's a lot of pent up demand. Praying I don't get hosed. :frowning: Everything else is lined up for install.

 

[Sean Laughter]

Yeah, it's just a matter of figuring out which source gives you the best result when doing the scaling.

You should definately check out the projector calibration threads over at AVSforum for very in depth discussion about all the options.

Myself, I want a project, but since my seating distance will be only like 8' I'm going with the Panasonic AE900 due to the smoothvision so as not to have issues with screendoor. I also hear that the Z4 does some artificial sharpening algorithm or something that can't be disabled, and if anyone is horrendously against EE in a DVD transfer they may want to consider that before going with the Z4 since it might be the same situation.

 

[John Menoni]

Thanks everybody! Jay, are you going to be using a horizontal or vertical lens shift? I'm going to need a very steep horizontal shift. Then lens of the projector is going to be closer to the end of the screen about 3/5 of the way between the middle of the screen and the end. My projector will be about the minimum throw distance at 10 ft for a 96' diagnal screen. I hope this is achievable without sacraficing picture quality.

I'm glad I don't need an external video processer. I will take Chris's advice and buy the calibration DVD. I'm very excited about what it is going to be like to have a beautiful 96' screen. Right now I'm still using my 35' standard def Sony trinitron. It doesn't even have component video! My audio system has come together. Now it is time to finally take the plunge.

 

[Sam Posten]

Definitly recommend you check out this thread at AVS:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=591989

Sam