For some time, I’ve been perplexed by the huge price gap between HDTV and EDTV Digital Light Processing (DLP) front projectors. It just never added up that models with Texas Instruments’ high-definition 720p (progressive-scan) display chip, most of which cost $8,000 or more, should be priced so much higher than their enhanced-definition cousins costing $1,500 or less. Adding to the mystery was the presence of high-def LCD projectors selling for three grand that gave the more expensive DLP models a run for their money. The gap was obviously waiting to be filled, so it came as no surprise when Sharp stepped up with its $4,500 XV-Z2000.

Unlike Sharp’s more expensive DLP HDTV front projectors, the Z2000 doesn’t offer a gazillion picture adjustments, but it has all the basics you’ll need for big, bright, satisfying high-def pictures. The compact projector has a front height adjustment and two rear adjustment feet for tabletop setup. Its vertical and horizontal offset and keystone controls help with tricky ceiling installation issues (a ceiling mount is optional). Controls on the top panel include buttons to navigate menus and tweak the motorized zoom and focus. Inputs on the back panel include two sets of component-video jacks and a DVI connector that you configure for a video or computer hookup via a toggle switch.

The remote control’s keypad isn’t backlit — a surprising lapse for a front projector — but the buttons are plenty big enough, and they glow in the dark. The clean layout provides six centrally located direct-input buttons for switching sources. Other useful controls include an Iris button, for switching between the High Brightness and High Contrast modes, and a Resize button, which lets you switch between the four display modes, but only for standard 480i (interlaced) and 480p programs.

Setup When paired with a 100-inch diagonal screen — an average size for home theater — the Sharp’s 1.5x zoom lens gives you a setup range of about 8.5 to 13 feet from the projection surface. For my viewing, I set it up on a table 13 feet from a 105-inch (diagonal) Da-Lite High Contrast Da-Mat screen. Setup menu options include six color-temperature and four gamma presets, Standard and Eco lamp modes (the latter sacrifices a bit of brightness in favor of longer lamp life), and the High Brightness and High Contrast iris adjustments. In addition to a default custom memory for each video input, the Sharp can store five other custom picture settings.

The projector’s 6500K color-temperature preset turned out to be pretty much on the money. I only needed to slightly tweak the red and blue settings in the picture menu to get the color close to where I wanted it to be (see “in the lab” for details). Fan noise with the Standard lamp setting was loud enough to be distracting. The Sharp’s comparatively quiet Eco mode proved a much better choice; it slowed the fan speed while still delivering bright pictures. Other settings I chose were Standard gamma and the High Contrast iris mode, which delivered deeper blacks for movies. Watching less finicky fare like sports or TV shows, I liked how the High Brightness mode gave the picture extra punch — which helps if you have ambient light leaking into the room from a window or lamp.

Picture Quality With a Bravo D2 DVD player upconverting pictures to the 720p format and connected to the Sharp’s DVI jack, DVDs like After the Sunset looked crisp, with strong contrast and plentiful shadow detail. For example, in a scene where Pierce Brosnan unexpectedly finds Woody Harrelson hiding in his shadowy villa, I could clearly see details in dark wood furniture even as bright sunlight was streaming in from openings in the villa’s windows.

Colors on the island — like the sky’s clear blue and the green of the foliage — also looked natural in a subsequent scene where Brosnan talks to his girlfriend (Salma Hayek), and the difference between her olive-tan and his reddish-tan skin tones was plain to see. But some objects, like the purple and red flower arrangements inside the villa, looked slightly pale after the projector had been properly set up with test patterns. Normally, I’d have tried to boost the color control, but the Sharp doesn’t permit that adjustment when its DVI input is used.

I didn’t get nearly as good results when I used the Sharp’s standard (480i) connections. A quick check of some movie DVDs showed that the projector lacked 2:3 pulldown processing — a feature that compensates for the different frame rates of film and video to deliver solid-looking pictures. (This won’t be an issue with DVDs, however, if you have a good progressive-scan player.) The same DVDs had also lacked detail, and when I tuned in a baseball game on ESPN’s analog cable channel, the combination of picture softness and grainy noise patterns on a 105-inch screen was not a pretty sight.

Fast Facts

DIMENSIONS (WxHxD) 12.25 x 3.5 x 11.125 inches; 4.125 inches high with terminal cover WEIGHT 9.5 pounds PRICE$4,500; optional ceiling mount, $180 MANUFACTURER Sharp, www.sharpusa.com, 800-237-4277

Key Features

•Native 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution •DLP light engine •High Brightness and High Contrast iris adjustments •rear inputs DVI; 2 component-video; composite- and S-video; RS-232

On the plus side, a high-definition Phoenix Suns vs. Memphis Grizzlies basketball game looked mouth-wateringly good when I used the projector’s DVI input. The 720p-format ESPN2-HD picture had a lifelike sense of depth, and the Sharp rendered details so crisply that everything from the court’s hard-edged graphics to the player’s terrycloth towels popped from the screen. I could even make out the fine lines in one guy’s bird-of-prey tattoo during a close-up shot.

When I watched the same 720p-format transmission via the Sharp’s component-video input, it looked crisp, but a bit less detailed compared with the DVI connection. However, I was able to adjust the color. Also, 1080i-format HDTV programs viewed through either input looked softer than 720p programs. That’s probably because the Sharp’s internal processor — like that on some other projectors — downconverts 1080i programs to 540p before bumping them up to 720p. This roundabout sort of processing inevitably tosses out some picture detail.

Bottom Line High-definition DLP front projectors used to cost $8,000 and up, but with the arrival of Sharp’s XV-Z2000 you can now spend only a grand or so more for an HDTV model than you would for a rear-projection set using the same technology — and enjoy a much bigger picture. Compared with the company’s feature-packed higher-end projectors, the Z2000 is a bare-bones model. But when you consider its chief purpose — projecting a gigantic image that shows off the exquisite clarity and detail of HDTV programs — it’s definitely up to the task.

PLUS
•Least expensive high-def DLP front projector.
•Crisp detail with 720p HDTV and progressive-scan DVD.
•Bright, high-contrast picture.

MINUS
•Slightly soft picture with 1080i HDTV.
•Poor video processing of standard 480i.
•No color control for DVI input.
•Remote control not backlit.

in the lab
Color temperature (6500K color temperature and Eco lamp mode before/after calibration)
Low window (20-IRE).....6,522/6,540 K
High window (100-IRE).....6,752/6,533 K
Brightness (100-IRE window before/after calibration).....20.3/20.0 ftL

With its 6500K color-temperature preset, the Sharp XV-Z2000 showed a slight green deficiency but otherwise measured close to the 6,500-K standard at the high and low ends of its grayscale. After calibration using the picture menu’s red and blue controls, grayscale tracking was ±100 K — excellent performance — and peak brightness measured an impressive 20 ftL. (Calibration should be performed by a qualified technician, so discuss it with your dealer before purchase, or call the Imaging Science Foundation at 561-997-9073.)

Picture overscan was 2% with the DVI input. Color-decoder test patterns showed a –10% green depression with DVI, which made colors look slightly pale, and a +10% red push with component-video connections. Colors also looked less vivid when color saturation was decreased to compensate for the component input’s red push.

The Sharp was able to resolve the full detail in a 720p-format resolution test pattern through its DVI input, but not via component-video. With the sharpness control set to 0 (midpoint), slight edge enhancement was visible on both test patterns and regular programs when I used the component-video connection.