Sharp XV-Z15000 Projector - Image Quality 4

You can see the difference in brightness both in the scene (the two images were taken about 1 second runtime apart), and in the letterbox at the top.

Shadow Detail Performance

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With the impressive black level performance, I wouldn't have been surprised if the XV-Z15000 projector was a little weak in terms of revealing the darkest shadow details (as is the case with the Epson UB models). The Epsons aren't quite as good at dark shadow detail as many others, although close.

As it turns out, though, the Sharp does very well. A good indication is this seriously overexposed night train scene from Casino Royale. The Sharp bests the Epson. Look to the bushes on the far side of the tracks on the far right. Now, in reality, the difference between the Sharp, and the Epson projectors isn't as great as it looks here. The closest I could get the two projectors in brightness, has the XV-Z15000 still being a little brighter, and therefore easier to spot really dark shadow detail:

From LOTR: Left: XV-Z15000, Middle: Panasonic PT-AE3000U, Right: BenQ W5000:

Here are a couple additional side-by-side dark scenes from The Dark Knight: Epson Home Cinema 6500UB on the left, Sharp XV-Z15000 on the right:

The next set of comparison images, continues with the same scene with Clint Eastwood from Space Cowboys. This is a very dark scene with Clint Eastwood, on Blu-ray disc. The photos are intentionally way overexposed. Look for the blacks in the shades, and the details in those shades in the form of the white trim. (At this level of overexposure, don't even worry about the skin tones, as in these type of photos they always look terrible, and way oversaturated/too high contrast).

First image is the XV-Z15000, followed by: Optoma HD8200, Sanyo PLV-Z3000, Sony VPL-HW10, and the Panasonic PT-AE3000U.

The XV-Z15000 does extremely well in shadow detail on our Clint Eastwood dark scene from Space Cowboys: