Sanyo’s latest offer the PLV-Z5 is something to look forward to as the model apart from being a clone of the ridiculously successful PLV-Z range comes adorned with a number of important upgrades and additions. The unit’s stand out feature happens to be that it is composed of no less than three 0.7in PolySilicon LCDs sporting a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution that precisely puts it into the exclusive category of HD Ready ranks. To accentuate this point the unit also boats of two HDMI outputs, along with two component connections. Furthermore, you will fell ecstatic that it has an awesome contrast ratio of 10,000:1, which is more than matched by the brightness level of 1100 ANSI lumens.
Another interesting improvement that the unit has demonstrated over its rivals is that it has an additional iris, apart from the normal one which is usually the norm. The problem with a solitary automatic iris is that you often struggle to get a balance between decent black levels and keeping other on screen colours looking nice and bright. This problem is virtually solved with the additional iris option, inscribed on the lamp itself, as it gives a much wider range of lumens output.
The result is there for everybody to see as darker scenes apart from offering a decent level of blackness delightfully maintains shadow details and some reasonably strong on screen colors. The Sanyo PLV-Z5 on the down side does have a rather poor image quality, and the double iris feature which happens to be its main strength takes a great deal of effort to set up correctly.
