Opinions on the Sharp Notevision PG-M20X ? (1 Viewer)

[Yeshwant Muthusamy]

I'm in the market for a front projector and was all set on the Sanyo PLC-XP21N (LCD) when I stumbled upon the Sharp PG-M20X (DLP). It has been advertised as an ultra-mobile business projector, but its specs seem very good (have not seen it yet) for home theater.

Has anybody experienced this projector with video sources? I have not been able to find any reviews of it yet.

It costs about $1600 less than the Sanyo ($2799 vs. $4399), has a DVI input, better contrast ratio (1000:1 vs. 700:1) is slightly less noisier (37 dB vs. 39 dB) and has a USB connection. It is also 2.5 times lighter than the Sanyo (5.8 lb vs 15.2 lb). It loses out on the brightness (1900 vs. 2500 lumens) a bit and has only a manual focus lens and fixed keystone correction. Both projectors are XGA (1024x768) and are HDTV compatibile (480p, 720p, 1080i). The Sanyo can even handle 1035i (not familiar with that one). If I get the Sharp, I can use the $1600 towards the screen (looking at the Da-Lite Model B Matte white 100" diagonal screen), and audio racks.

But, none of this matters if the video image on the screen looks bad. Any comments on the notorious DLP rainbow effect with the Sharp? Or, the screen door effect with the Sanyo?

I will be visiting one of the local dealers for a demo, but thought I'd poll the group to get other first-hand opinions as well.

Thanks for your time,

Yeshwant

 

[Noah Katz]

There's a few threads right now on the Sharp at avsforum.com

The Sharp sounds like a winner.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Have you ever seen any DLP's?
The Sharp has a 3x colorwheel, which is not exactly fast (5x seems like the fastest current one), and not exactly slow (the also very good HP has but a 2x wheel). Initial reports say the rainbows are reasonably well controlled through.
The Sharp has an 80 degree clear section in the colorwheel. This only serves to boost lumens. It's bad for color accuracy and saturation. Luckily, 80 degrees is pretty small. The Sanyo is a MLA equipped LCD projector which tends to have excellent colors (short of going DILA/LCOS) and reasonably small screen door.
Here is a comparison of LCD projectors with and without MLA (top one is without):

Article (In Japanese)

 

[Ed_S]

The Sharp has a 3x colorwheel, which is not exactly fast (5x seems like the fastest current one)

Which projectors are using 5x color wheels in their LCD projectors?

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

LCD projectors do not need colorwheels, since there are 3 separate panels, one for red, one for green, and one for blue. Single chip DLP units use a colorwheel. There are a few that use the 5x wheel, such as the Sharp 9000u, the SIM2 HT300, Marantz VP12S1, and Runco VX1000. There are probably others too, that I failed to mention.

 

[Mark Hayenga]

I have a PG-M20X with about 100hrs on it and I am EXTREMELY happy. We have Proxima 9260+'s at school (same as Sanyo XP21 I believe, just rebadged) and the only real strong point it has is light output (great for the classrooms) and they're a little quieter. Screen door and contrast is definitely worse. For light controlled home theater I really think the Sharp is the better choice. I'm using a prog scan RP-62 via a Canare component video to VGA cable and then a VGA to DVI adapter. It's nifty. Projectorcentral.com just gave the Sharp a great review, so you may want to check that site out.
Actual screenshot of my Sharp (92" diagonal 16:9 screen):
Link Removed
(It's a little sharper in real life).

 

[Kai Zas]

I have the Sharp PG-M20X here as a demo and I've just finished watching my 5th movie with it. (I only got it from saturday evening 'till monday morning, so I wanted to cram in as much lamp-time as I could).

It looks REALY good. I've also played some Unreal Tournament (PC) on it, it's a blast. Works great with the GameCube as well, as long as you get a modded VGA cable for it, that gives the best picture.

One problem, though. Whilst watching Saving Private Ryan (the last of the 5 movies), I noticed something odd. When there was a lot of action going on, I saw what can only be described as a rainbow effect when I moved my eyes from one part of the wall to another. I came to the forum to find out if this is normal. I'm guessing this is the dreaded rainbow-effect of which they speak. As I live in belgium, I tend to turn on the subtitles, English is nog my main language. When I go from the subs to the movie and back, I also see the colors wash over the screen. When I keep 'm steady, nothing is wrong. I hadn't noticed before, but now that I know it's there, it bugs the hell out of me.

Should I consider an LCD instead?

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

Yes, what you're seeing is the rainbow effect. I guess it just depends on if it bothers you enough. The M20X is a great projector, but if the rainbow effect bothers you, it might not be worth the tradeoff. I think the two most important weaknesses on the PG-M20X (and every single projector has weaknesses) are: slow colorwheel and poor color fidelity, especially on reds.

How much is the Sony VPL-HS10 over there in Belgium?

 

[Kai Zas]

The rainbow effect did bother me, but I only noticed it after 10+ of watching. I couldn't test after I had rested, because I had to return it. Someone at work here told me it could just be a tired-eyes problem.

I informed for the VPL-HS10. It costs about $4.100.