Sharp XV-H37UA LCD Projector.

Manufacturer:. Sharp Electronics, Sharp Plaza, Mahwah, NJ 07430; 800/BE-SHARP

Price: $4,695

Source: Reviewer purchase

Reviewer: Howard Ferstler

Making a sound choice for the audio part of a serious home-theater system, as nearly any reader of this magazine knows, can be a nettling experience, particularly if audio-only performance is also important. However, the video part can be even more frustrating, particularly when it comes to finding a decent video monitor.

Anyone who has fooled with home theater to even a small extent will acknowledge that for maximum impact it is necessary to have a decently large TV picture. Sets of this type come in two versions. Direct-view sets, which have a single picture tube, are ubiquitous in the 25-27" diagonal, 4:3 (standard) ratio size. However, bigger is better and it is not uncommon to find direct-view sets with measurements as large as 30-35" or even 40", with some wide-screen versions coming in at 34". (The latter have roughly the same screen height as a standard-ratio 27" set, but are a bit wider than a standard-ratio 35" set.) Large-screen, direct-view models can cost plenty, but are worth it if they can be afforded and the viewer wants a more theater-like experience.

An alternative to the large direct-view set is the rear-projection monitor. Standard, 4:3 ratio versions for home use come in diagonal sizes of 40-50" or even larger, continuing on up past 70" in varying increments, with wide-screen examples coming in at anywhere from 50" to about 58". The big advantage of rear projectors is that the cost of a modestly sized one is lower than most of the large direct-view models, while still offering a bigger picture. Sets like these are popular in saloons, but they also work well in a home installation when the viewing angle is not too extreme and they are combined with a large audio system. Their pictures are more than bright enough, even when viewed in normally illuminated rooms, and they can subjectively hold their own against all but the very best direct-view monitors.

A continuing problem with rear-projection sets involves their often substantial cost -- in spite of often being cheaper than direct-view monitors of only slightly smaller size. Even if one feels that they can afford the high initial investment, they should realize that the long-term costs of owning a projection-type set can add up. For example, the cathode-ray-tube "guns" do not hold up as well as standard direct-view-monitor picture tubes, because of their high operating temperatures. In addition, they are expensive to replace and every set has three of them. Usually, when one gives out because of long-term wear and tear, the other two may have to be replaced to properly balance the color.

Another problem with rear-projection sets is that even the more diminutive models are still big and may not blend with the decor of a stylish living room. What's more, their sheer size can affect the soundstage of the audio system installed to work with them. You either learn to live with the set's intrusive boxiness and possible audio foibles, or else build it into a wall recess or surround it with cabinets. (I have done this with a 45-incher in my "small" A/V room). Needless to say, this requires a major room modification and can also eat up valuable space.

However, another option is a front-projection set, a type that works with a fixed-to-wall, pull-down, or portable screen -- along the lines of a photographic slide projector or the home-movie setups of old. Most front projectors cost a small (or even a fairly large, by TV-set standards) fortune, but fortunately, not all do, and the design is the clear choice for enthusiasts who are really serious about home theater.

Front projectors come in two types. The first type, like the rear projectors noted above, use cathode ray tubes and lenses to project red, green and blue beams across the room. These are converged to perfectly overlay on the screen, forming the image. Because of this, CRT front projectors can be tricky to set up and position (particularly if ceiling mounting is desired, because they are quite heavy) and they have to be periodically aligned and realigned if the user hopes to have them deliver the kind of large-screen picture they are capable of. In addition, they can be murderously expensive, particularly when coupled with an almost mandatory outboard line-doubler to help reduce scan-line flicker. (A doubler allows an NTSC interlaced set to mimic the progressive scan characteristic of computer monitors). Clearly, sets like these can work very well but it is likely that they would not appeal to a truly Sensible home-theater enthusiast, unless that enthusiast's personal fortune was substantial.

The second type of front projector, one that in spite of its often sensational abilities will appeal to serious enthusiasts on a budget (well, on a semi-budget, at least), is the LCD type. That is what I employ in my "large" (22' x 18.5') A/V room.

Unlike standard, CRT-type, front-projection sets, LCD projectors are lightweight, simple to use, and relatively free of operational quirks. They are also cooler running, brighter, easier to service (the projection bulb is nearly always user-replaceable), and tend to be lower in cost than CRT sets -- often considerably lower. However, perhaps the biggest advantage to many front-projector sets is their ability to continually zoom images, via the remote control, making them very adaptable for wide-screen, letterboxed software and picture-size tweaking.

While some LCD sets do cost a bundle, the one I use, the Sharp XV-H37UA (which I will refer to hereafter as the "H37"), is not all that expensive. It has a list price of nearly $4,700 but may be available discounted somewhat below that. A model called the XV-H37VUA has just been released at the same price, with identical features except for the addition of a component input. By the way, it is worth noting that Sharp does not authorize mail order sales, and will not warranty units purchased outside sanctioned distribution channels.

The H37 is very flexible. It can be set on a table, mounted on a deep wall shelf, or hung from a ceiling. The electrical "flopover" circuitry for the latter type of installation is switch selectable and the unit's light, 25-pound weight makes inverted ceiling mounting a do-it-yourselfer job. It has about 500 lines of resolution and while the individual "pixels" are visible when extreme magnifications are used (the set can zoom images from 40" to 200", via a back-lit remote control), they can be minimized if the user is willing to accept a somewhat smaller -- but still quite large -- picture size. Sharp recommends a viewing distance about twice the diagonal measurement of the image size.

Another wonderful feature is that the image, even when projected quite large, does not exhibit as much scan-line flicker as conventional sets, because the H37 comes with a built-in line doubler. (This technology is easier and cheaper to implement with LCD sets than with CRT sets.) The doubler smooths out the picture considerably, and pushes NTSC video just about to its limit. Finally, the H37 also has a masking feature (with both 16:9 and 21:9 ratios, selectable via the remote control) that eliminates extraneous edge artifacts and further darkens the top and bottom areas when watching letterboxed material.

I found that installing a set of this type in a ceiling installation was fairly easy, although if you are not adept at electrical work and want a clean job you might have to borrow the services of an electrician. The Sharp ceiling bracket (an extra-cost item) is designed to work with standard, 16"-center roof trusses and can either span a pair of them or be mounted parallel, under a single truss. (If you have to span 24"-center trusses, it will be necessary to install an intermediate beam of some kind, either in the attic or against the ceiling.) Once I got my bracket installed, I wired an outlet box right above the set, complete with surge protector. (The H37 comes with a very long power cord, for those who do not mind running a wire down the wall surface to an outlet or extension cord.) I then routed my video cable (35 feet of RG-59, with gold-plated RCA plugs at either end) from my A/V integrated amp's video-output jack inside the wall, across the attic, and down through a cosmetically acceptable cover plate on the ceiling to one of the composite-video inputs on the set.

The set has two such inputs, with one capable of defaulting to an S-Video source -- something you might consider using if your LaserVideo player does not have a really good comb filter, or you are using DVD. (My H37UA does not have a "component" input, for the very best in DVD picture quality, but the now-available H37VUA and Sharp's more expensive models do have it, but my unit does have a digital comb filter for cleaner composite inputs). Once the ceiling mount and electrics were in place, it was easy to lift the set into position and mount it in its swivel bracket.

The screen was trickier to do, because the one I obtained was a 6' x 8' Bretford (in my installation, it only needs to pull down 4.5 feet), which weighed in at a hefty 48 pounds. However, after installing additional wooden spanners between the trusses in the attic, screw hooks were installed from below, and the screen was easily mounted in place. Job done. Well, almost done.

While the set and screen (and, by the way, Sharp also sells screens, although I did not use a Sharp screen) worked pretty well right out of their respective boxes, it is important to know a few things about their performance limitations and what can be done to deal with those limitations.

First off, with any projection set, the viewing room must be completely dark for maximum picture quality to be experienced. This is because the screen is white and for blacks to look black the screen itself will have to look black. I know that the ads sometimes show front projectors being used in well-lit rooms and that manufacturers keep producing sets with brighter and brighter images, but basic physical laws demand that if you want blacks you will have to darken the room.

Even with the room completely darkened, I should note that the H37 could not deliver the dark-scene contrast control of good, CRT rear-projection and direct-view sets, although it surpasses ninny LCD sets that came before it. CRT sets (projection and otherwise) have the potential to produce deep blacks, because the scanning beams essentially deliver no energy to any part of the screen area where black is required. Therefore, the darkness level is determined by the shading of the set's screen, in combination with the ambient light level.

However, LCD sets cannot shut down their light source. The halogen lamp that shines light through the internal pixel screens to produce an image remains on all the time, similar to a motion-picture projector. Consequently, the blackness of the blacks will be determined by the blocking power of the pixels, and unlike motion-picture film, they cannot block all the light. Not at this stage of the technology, at least.

Because of the way the blacks were handled, dark, low-contrast scenes tended to be somewhat flat-looking. I managed to partially compensate for the loss in contrast at low light levels by calibrating the set with Reference Recordings' A Video Standard disc, but there was no way to get super-deep blacks, even in my completely darkened room. Still, after viewing the picture for a while, I happily discovered that the eye and brain tend to compromise for such anomalies, and the image ended up looking surprisingly normal. Note also that the set has near-sensational contrast, color, and richness -- as good as fine CRT sets -- when the picture is illuminated to moderately dark, mid, and bright levels. This helps to offset dark-scene contrast limitations.

One other point regarding contrast. Scenes with very bright and very dark areas together may have a bit of fogging in the dark areas for reasons unrelated to this or any other front projector's inherent design. This is because light reflected from the bright screen areas to a white ceiling and/or walls if they are close to the screen may reflect back to the source. The only solution to such a dilemma, aside from using the set in a room with a high ceiling and distant walls, would be to paint the offending surfaces dark grey or even black. Fortunately, for those not wanting to face such a drastic solution, I will note that adjacent-surface light bounce is usually not a serious problem.

Regarding the screen, well that item also had a problem -- a potentially serious one that may be more common than some will admit. However, I solved it rather easily. When lowered into any position, nearly any pull-down screen will have a tendency to sag or curl a bit at the edges (or even in the middle if the edges do not sag) and this can cause a rippling effect in the picture -- quite noticeable with horizontally running images, particularly if left/right panning is involved. However, when pulling down on the screen a few inches to raise it back into its housing, I discovered that the sides would pull tight -- even tighter than the center. (This involves some kind of design anomaly with the Bretford retraction mechanism.) In any case, the fix involved installing a small, blunt hook on the back of my floor-standing, 37"-high center speaker, so that the screen could be pulled down from its built-in "catch" position an additional half inch or so and hooked in place by its handle. This slight additional tension eliminated the irregularities from the screen. What's more, I discovered that the tension helps keep the screen from moving when the central heat or air conditioning runs or I operate the two ceiling fans in the room. Note that there is no guarantee that this kind of "fix" will work with anything other than a Bretford screen.

More upscale Sharp sets have one possibly important feature that the H37 does not have: The ability to shift the image vertically upward or downward without moving the set. The H37 is designed to project its image angled either upward or downward a few degrees, depending on the way the unit is mounted, and when zoomed to change its size the image also moves vertically. You can adjust for this problem by tilting the set, but in order to keep the image from "keystoning" (which causes vertical lines to either toe in or toe out), it's best to slide the set up or down vertically -- an awkward proposition. The upscale sets can mechanically shift the lens itself, independent of the chassis, which allows for precise vertical image positioning. However, I found that if the throw distance is great enough (mine is 15 feet) and the screen is tall enough to allow for some vertical movement of the image (mine is), the problem is inconsequential.

So, how does the screen and monitor combination work? Well, the zoom feature allows me to view 4:3 ratio images projected to 80 (64 x 48) inches. When letterboxed material is projected, I zoom it to an appropriate size -- a marvelous thing to experience and something one cannot do with a conventional set. Images that are 1.85:1 are zoomed to fill out the 8 x 4.5-foot screen. Cinema-Scope, 2.35:1 ratio images keep the same width, but are only about 40" high -- but still pretty impressive. Yes, the pixels are visible (three 309,000-pixel screens are overlaid to make up the picture) but how visible depends on your involvement with the program material and the condition of your eyes. As a point of reference, I can note that when the image is blown up so that it is 8 feet wide, each squarish pixel on the screen is a bit more than 1/8" (3 to 4 mm) across. If picture artifacts this large bother you at your preferred viewing distance, you have the option to reduce the size of the picture with the zoom feature. For me, at my 14-foot viewing distance, the pixels are no big deal, because the sheer scope of the picture between my 12-foot-apart main speakers on the 22-foot wail overwhelms all other considerations. Those with fighter-pilot vision may feel otherwise.

The Sharp is a great projector, and in combination with a large screen, is an eminently $ensible choice for anyone who lacks the resources to obtain a $15,000+ CRT set and outboard line-doubler. It is the perfect set for those who want the best in "bang-for-the-buck," high-end video performance. -- HF