 ProjectorCentral Reviews |
 |
Sony VPL-VW12HT review by ProjectorCentral - Mar 10, 2003
Home Theater Booms at INFOCOMM 2002 - Jun 15, 2002
Recommended Home Theater Projectors for March 2001 - Mar 1, 2001
New Home Theater Projectors Appear at CES - Jan 8, 2001
InFocus LP350 vs. Sony VPL-VW10HT - Oct 20, 2000
Amazing Home Theater: The JVC DLA-G11U - Sep 1, 2000
Home Theater Reviews - Mar 1, 2000
Product Review: Sony VPL-VW10HT - Mar 1, 2000
The Twenty Smallest Portable XGA Projectors - Jan 19, 2000
Digital Projectors and HDTV Shine at CES - Jan 12, 2000
Sony's Dramatic One-Two Punch - Nov 8, 1999
What's the best Home Theater projector? - Nov 1, 1999
| ProjectorCentral User Opinions |
|
Read User Opinions
| Outside Professional Reviews |
|
The Sony VPL-VW10HT FAQ - Feb 4, 2000
First Production Sample Review written by Peter Finzel
Sony VPL-VW10HT - Feb 1, 2000
TheBigPictureDVD.com Product Review of the Sony VPL-VW10HT by Jeff McNeal
| User Reviews |
|
JimmyM - Jan 10, 2002
| Application: |
Home theater |
| What I Like: |
Just watch a few movies and not even properly set up, just a white wall until I find a good screen.
I like the price 4000$US (6600$ CDN) I read a lot about and debated for the newer model, but at this price i believe it is a steal. And most of the improvement I believe are marketing because you can do buy some good equipement to replace the improvement of the 11HT.
I don't believe I have any dead pixel and this projector had run a few at the store. I'M hapy not to see or have found any dead pixel, al ot of you are taking about it. I like the 16x9 aspect ratio and I'm planning to see to improved the image with Home PC harware. |
| Suggestions: |
Yes the bulb is expensive, but all other manufacturer sell in this price range 500$.
I wish the would plan a projector that is set up right on top of your head or just about. It appears that all manufacturer have the ratio for proper viewing with the projector over your head. Fortunately this one is very quiet. |
| Comments: |
I would stil recommend people to look at this unit or its newer replacement model the 11HT, for few more $ and some good improvement, but be aware for the saving of a model 10Ht, you can buy a brand new DVD with 3:w pull down and progressive scan. This will alleviate a lot of this famous improvement that the 11 HT has.
As far as the balck level, it remain to be seen, an for the light bulb, I just wish that this newer bulb will fit in the 10Ht model. I requested the info from Sony not answer yet.
Enjoy the movie
Jimmyfrom Canada. |
Chuck Miller - Apr 27, 2001
| Application: |
Home Theater \ Computer |
| What I Like: |
HDTV on this puppy is can be beautiful, especially with scenes shot outdoors in bright sunlight. Anamorphic DVDs played on a progressive scan DVD player can be beautiful also. |
| Suggestions: |
Progressive scan DVD player, HDTV receiver (like the RCA-DTC100), DVDO iScan Pro v.2 or higher.
My main suggestion if you get one of these is to get a good home theater receiver that has multiple component inputs. There are only 2 component ins on this projector, so if you use it for computer, HDTV, DVD, PS2, etc., you'll need something (i.e. - DVDO) sitting between receiver and projector. |
| Comments: |
JBN wrote on March 12 that this projector does not give true HDTV with the RCA-DTC100 HDTV satellite receiver. This is incorrect. You can get 16:9 aspect ratio from that receiver in HD mode with the VW10HT, that's the main app I use mine for. It just takes a bit of work initially - once you get it going it's great. |
Timothy Brown - Mar 22, 2001
| Application: |
Home theater |
| What I Like: |
The Image qaulity is very impressive. It's equal to my JVC tube set, and a lot better that the other video projectors I've seen, and widescreen enhanced DVDs are look great on it. |
| Suggestions: |
Go to the right dealer for this. Having read the other reviews about dead pixels and other defects, I got spooked. I bought mine from a dealer who admited Sony was sending out an uneven product but that they would accept the return of a player if it had more than two dead pixels or one dead pixel in the center. They checked it out before they shipped it, and so far mine has no dead pixels. Also spring or a progressive scan DVD player, it would be silly not to when you pay this much for a projector. |
| Comments: |
When watching B/W films I noticed some warm and cool color variation across the image, but this is very slight, and I have never seen a LCD projector or computer monitor that was perfect in this regard. When your not viewing a widescreen enhanced DVD you get black bars on the right and left; I wish Sony would have found a way to mask them out so that they were "true" black areas and not an iluminated black. All this aside, so far it throws a great picture and given some of the horror stories I've heard I feel fortunate. |
jbn - Mar 12, 2001
| Application: |
home theather |
| What I Like: |
Ceiling mount was quick and easy, picture displayed on a 118" by 65" screen,
with great picture. |
| Suggestions: |
a compatable HDTV satellite receiver for this unit. |
| Comments: |
Sony needs to provide its own HDTV satellite receiver that is compatable with this model.
Tried RCA-DTC100 with no luck, the HDTV signal that the RCA receives, the Sony thinks
it's a computer signal and therefore the aspect ratio can not be changed to 16:9 the unit displays
the picture in 4:3 format, which is not HDTV.
Dealers should show this product in all its glory in their show-rooms, ie good/better/best
screen for this unit, good/better/best progressive scan DVD for this unit, good/better/best
HDTV receiver for this unit.
|
Bob Malahowski - Jan 11, 2001
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
You can't beat the 16:9 LCD ratio on the projector market without going to a much more expensive SXGA class projector. The projector has good flexibility on number and type of inputs. Works well with the DVDO line doubler which I would highly recommend. I don't have and 720p source material at this point so I haven't been able to really test the projector at its optimum design limit. The 1000 ANSI lumens is sufficient for most applications where there is at least some control over the lighting. Also, it's hard to beat the flexibility of an 8 kilogram projector over a 150 kg monitor. |
| Suggestions: |
The unit I received had one bad pixel on the bottom edge. This is a blue pixel and is not really troublesome. I'm not sure what the physical limitations are on Sony's manufacturing process to result in the inability to get a perfect panel. The other fault with the projector is a small green smudge on the projected image. It is not very noticeable. The smudge is actually an imperfection on the green LCD panel in the projector. This imperfection is actually a short green line on the reverse side of the panel. Since it is on the reverse side, it is located in a different focal plane than the rest of the image so the line translates to a smudge on the projected image. Adjusting the focus on the projector will change the image from smudge to green line. I'm trying to get this resolved. |
| Comments: |
I didn't care for the RCA inputs. It would be preferable to have one of the inputs a standard VGA or as BNC connectors. One set of RCA's should be sufficient. Obviously the manufacturing and quality control still need to be worked on by Sony. In general though, this is a very good projector. The ability to customize more of the settings on the projector would also be nice. I'm assuming this could be done through the service port but Sony doesn't have anything available to the regular consumer. |
mike - Jan 4, 2001
| Application: |
home theater |
| What I Like: |
the 16 X 9 aspect ratio. this has the opertunity to be a great home theater projector. Easily mountable, and great input selections. |
| Suggestions: |
Do not purchase this item over the net unless the dealer would give you in WRITING that the unit would not have dead pixels. Make sure that anything else you buy with this projector is also returnable. ie..screen, brackets, wireing. If not then if you have to get your money back they only will give you the money for the projector and not the other items you spend well over another $1,000.00 for, and then get stuck with them. |
| Comments: |
As you can see ive had a bad experience with Studio Experience. They did send me replacement, that they stated they checked out, and told me that if i get one with less than 6 dead pixels, to count myself lucky. They also blame sony, and i do to as far as quality control. But i bought the unit off of them as well as the items that go with it. All of my money should be reimbursed, or send me a projector with 0 dead pixels. |
Robert DeSerio - Nov 16, 2000
| Application: |
Home theater |
| What I Like: |
This is my first experience with a front projector for a home theater system. I have used them at work for presentations using a PC. This one has great features and an awesome display. I particularly like the six color temperature settings -- from a bluish high setting to a reddish low. I also like that it has 768 pixels of vertical resolution even in wide screen mode; watching DVDs labeled "anamorphic" or "enhanced for 16x9 or widescreen TVs" really shows this projector's capabilities. The internal line doubler is good enough not to show scan lines from my awful cable company signal. I'll be looking forward to seeing this projector with a good HDTV signal. I guess I'll have to get a satellite dish. |
| Suggestions: |
The first unit I received had one dead pixel far enough in a corner of the screen that I wasn't going to complain. Then I noticed a few optical flaws. With the picture in focus, the flaws were out of focus and only one of the flaws was big enough to cause a problem. It produced a small, dim cloudy smudge if the picture was of a dark scene. Again, I almost let it go. Having read about these two problems on this projector, I was afraid this might be as good a projector as I was likely to get. I should also mention that the three LCD panels were slightly misalligned. Standing next to the screen, I could see each pixel clearly and with a line of white pixels, I could see that the red pixels were offset by about 1/2 of one pixel. I thought I had read that this is quite reasonable and once again wasn't going to complain. |
| Comments: |
Well, the cloudy smudge finally got to me. I think I really saw it only once or twice in about 50 hours of viewing, but every time I changed TV stations, the screen goes dark for a second, and I could see it then. I called the dealer (Presenting Solutions) I bought it from. Before I told them them about the smudge, I mentioned the dead pixel, and they immediately said that was cause enough --- ship it back (at their expense) and they shipped out a new one at the same time. A week later, I had a perfect projector. No dead pixels, no smudges, and no noticeable pixel misalignment. I don't know if I was lucky with the second procjector or whether I was unlucky with the first. Anyway I am one happy projector owner. This is a great product for the money. |
Majstor - Oct 2, 2000
| Application: |
Home cinema |
| What I Like: |
Well, finaly the "MONSTER" arrived and when I saw
the size of packing I got realy scared...But when the unit was taken out of the package only then you begin to wonder how this small and compact
projector can deliver this superb quality pictures???After the set up and 100 hours of active watching there is only one verdict-Outstanding!
The 16:9 panel works well ,brightnes and clarity,sharpness and integrated line doubler are stunning.LCD projectors are noisy and loud due to the fan that cools down the lamp-but this projector is realy quiet.Remote controll is one of the best(easy to use,functional,perfest hand grip)Cinema black mode is very good(reduces ansi- lummen from 1000 to 750). |
| Suggestions: |
The set I recived had no "dead pixels"(thank God)
as I heard that this happens quite often....
Sony comment is that that this is normal???!!!!
This is poore and not aceptable treatment fr. Sony! Do not accept any set that has a "dots" or pixels that don`t work!!!!!
Otherwise is a "Best Buy" |
| Comments: |
There is no real "blackness" as you will find
at CRT projectors but I can live with that-the fact is that clarity, sharpnes and resolution is the best on the market!!!
Buy it!!!!!!! |
Robert A. Fowkes - Sep 22, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
I've had this projector for 5 months now and am approaching 500 hours on the bulb so the following is based on extensive viewing, now that the "Gee-Whiz" effect has worn off. I paired the VW10HT (I paid $5500 in April, 2000) with a Toshiba 5109 Progressive Scan DVD Player ($475).
In my opinion, this is, by far, the best <$6000 FP HT solution available today. With a progressive scan DVD player there are absolutely no motion artifacts and the picture is amazing. I've teamed this up with a Stewart StudioTek 130 16:9 (96" x 54") screen for a perfect match. |
| Suggestions: |
SONY should get its distribution act together. Some vendors have this projector in quantity. Others have a waiting list that extends months. Apparently SONY is selling all the units they can manufacture and they have used the laws of supply and demand to increase the list price twice within the past 6 months. |
| Comments: |
As mentioned elsewhere, the VW10HT is the only digital projector at this point to offer true 16:9 panels. And it has many other great features, including one of the finest 3D comb filters available to the consumer market today. There are extensive resources on the web (such as the FAQ that can be accessed via The Big Picture Forum) to assist you in tweaking every last drop of picture out of this projector. You can pay 6-8 times as much for a CRT unit and, in my opinion, only get a picture that is, maybe, 10% better at most. |
Aonghus de Barra - Jun 14, 2000
| Application: |
Home theater |
| What I Like: |
At this stage I'm tempted to say NOTHING.
I had wanted this unit because of it's 16:9 panels, it's XGA resolution & PC input, High brightness and image quality.
My original review is posted further down this site. |
| Suggestions: |
I sent the unit back to my dealer because of lots of dead pixels - but especially because of two or three in the CENTER of the viewing area. After six weeks of waiting, I have been offered a refund (by the dealer, off his own back), as Sony 'Cannot guarantee a more satisfactory replacement'. This is ridiculous - it is evident that many others have received 'perfect' or near - perfect units, and Sony would rather discard my custom than fix my problems. |
| Comments: |
I'd be stupid to rush out and buy another VPLVW10HT having experienced what I have already. Yes, it IS the best LCD projector for home use at present - but I wouldn't want a repeat of my experiences.
To any & all prospective buyers I would say that if your dealer cannot give assurance that any complaints will be DEALT with, walk away. It would be sensible to check the consumer rights with regard to the 'dead pixel' and 'dust' problems in your country / state before you buy.
Spend a few extra bucks and ask a Lawyers advice - you don't want to be left with a unit you can't use, and which would have a lower resale value than the 'perfect' one the guy down the road got......
Very disappointed Sony. |
querelle - Jun 7, 2000
| Application: |
home cinema |
| Comments: |
Hi, I have published a personal web page where I explain all the problems we are having with this projector.
http://www.arrakis.es/~triduo
Thanks |
DAS - May 28, 2000
| Application: |
home theater |
| What I Like: |
I am very impressed with everything. It is hard to find any real serious faults with this projector. Here are some comments on key attributes.
|
| Suggestions: |
My first suggestion is that Sony should take care of the people with dead pixel problems and at the same time solve this quality control issue. There are too many good things about this projector to let it crash and burn because Sony can't get projectors out the door without bad LCD panels. Dead pixels are just not acceptable to the home theatre consumer. (They may be already on top of this, as my projector is flawless, it arrived directly from Japan only about two weeks ago.)
The second suggestion is the Sony should do something to get the replacement bulb cost under control. I am sorry but no light bulb is worth $500. |
| Comments: |
LCD Panels/Pixels:
I was most concerned about this issue after reading about some of the problems others have been having. I have about 50 hours on the lamp and so far and not a single dead pixel.
I am projecting onto a a 10' diagonal screen and cannot see the pixels at beyond about 8' from the screen. Scan lines are not visible except when using the poorest sources.
Brightness:
I am very pleased. I am projecting a 10' diag image on a painted wall (no gain photo nuetral white matte) in a room with off white walls, carpet, and ceiling, and I am still comfortable viewing the image with two 20 watt wall sconces on in the room and with the projector in cinema black mode. Also, the criticisms about the lack of true blacks must be coming from people who view the image in total darkness with dark sidewalls and ceiling, as a little ambient light makes the black very acceptable.
If there is anything to find fault with I can on occasion see some very mild fluctuation in bulb brightness. Possibly due to voltage fluctuation in the line.
Line doubler and scaler:
The line doubler seems flawless. But scaling images up is heavily dependant on the source material. New movies on some of the better satelite channels scale up very nicely. Everything else is riddled with artifacts. I have not tried DVD thru the scaler because I am using
the progressive scan DVD player in my computer. The Sony's computer input apparenty bypasses the scaler. Thus I am using software scaling in the computer and passing a progessive scanned and scaled image directly to the projector. The image is fantastic and is as good as any image I have ever seen including HDTV demos. The big drawback here is that I have access to only the center 1024 pixes on the projector even though my nvidia graphics card goes much higher. I am not sure if the problem is in the graphics card driver or if it is a limitation of the projector.
Computer input:
Video games on this thing is a whole new experience. This is a case where size really does matter. I had read that LCD panels are not capable of keeping up with fast graphis cards used for gaming. The Sony worked fine with my NVIDIA TNT card. Hint: buy the most expensive cable you find. Expect to pay about $80 per 10' if you don't want severe ghosting (good cable can be found on the belkin web site).
Optics
Again, the optics on my projector are flawless. I can see some dust trapped inside if I look real hard but it is not affecting the image at all. Also, it is throwing a perfect rectangle from edge of the viewing area without resorting to digital keystoning. Very impressive. |
querelle - May 24, 2000
| Application: |
Home Cinema |
| What I Like: |
Brightness and image quality in general, but with severe faults as explained below. |
| Suggestions: |
My story with this projector is unfortunated. I asked for it in January (paying 10% to the dealer). One month later it came, but I returned it at once because of LOTS of dead pixels.
One month later came the second one. This one had two dead pixels not very visible, and I took it. I didn't realize at that moment that some green colorations in the image were due to
the projector. I thouht it was the screen, that was dirty after three years hunging on the wall. But some movies later I decided to move the projector and I realized that the "dirt" moved too.
So, the colorations were in the projector, not in the screen as I thought. I took it to Sony service and they said it was normal. There was too a blob, caused by dust I think, that had appeared
after some hours of use. In Sony they didn't want to fix it, but finally they told me they were going to change the optical components. But there were no replacement pieces available, and
they neither want to change the projector. Now my dealer is trying to Sony to change the projector. Five months from the beggining of the story, I have no money, no projector, and no idea
of when I will have a solution. When I bought my house it only took a month.
After all this, I keep saying the projector is great, but unfortunately there is a number of defective units (and bad luck guys like me) that Sony says that are "under specifications", whey they
have faults that affect the image. I don't understand Sony policy about a machine like this. Very sad.
|
Jorge Karpati - May 2, 2000
| Application: |
Home theatre |
| Comments: |
After reading all the reviews listed here I decided that this is the projector I was looking for my home theatre. But before making my final decision I will wait for Sony's reaction to Mr. A.de Barra's problem with the dead pixels, also posted here. I completely agree with Jeff McNeal's review when he says: "If I spend six grand on a proyector I want all the pixels to work right out of the box." Dead pixels are not acceptable in this type of equipment. |
A. de Barra - May 1, 2000
| Application: |
Home theater |
| What I Like: |
PC input - High brightness - XGA detail level.
I was impressed immediately by the resolution and stability of the projector, when playing my DVDs. I've owned other LCD projectors before, and compared to my CRT projector they've all disappointed when it came to image quality. Not so with the VPLVW10HT - 16:9 Anamorphic DVDs are very 'filmic' in appearance, as another reviewer has stated.
It's even breathed life into my old Laserdiscs. The black level, with careful image tweaking, is not a turn-off - Space sequences in the STAR WARS Laserdisc set are almost as vivid as, but more detailed than on my CRT unit. More importantly, the unit virtually banishes the CRT's visible scanlines, giving a far more 'authentic' theater feel.
For a collector of animated films, this unit excels - the rich colours of (for example) TARZAN by Disney, make this machine sing.
HOWEVER!
Unlike other reviewers here, whose words encouraged me to take the plunge & buy the VW10, I was very disheartened to find many dead pixels on the projector's LCD panels.
I'll be honest, yes - they are very small indeed, but imagine sitting in a movie theater when some guy in the back row is shining a Laser pointer at the screen, and that's a close approximation of the experience.
Furthermore, there's not one dead pixel - I've counted at least 11!
Once a DVD is playing, many of the bright dots around the edges are almost unnoticeable, but one or two close to the center (presumably because of their proximity and angle to the light source) are highly visible.
In light of the fact that several reviews (here & elsewhere) have specifically applauded the abscence of dead pixels on their VW10s, I am attempting to get SONY to replace this machine. I would be willing to put up with the dead pixels round the edges - they are truly hard to spot once a movie is playing - but NOT with two or three in the Screen's center.
There also seems to be some slight dust on the internal mirrors (though the optics are supposed to be sealed) - twisting the focus through it's full range revealed some blue and green smudges that were clearly not on the LCD panels or Lens. |
| Suggestions: |
Dead pixels = Home theater killer.
Even when I try to ignore them, someone will ask "What're the bright dots?" and draw my attention to them.
For business or demonstration usage these niggles wouldn't be an issue, but for a unit intended for regular use by the same people they are.
Surely blanking the dead pixels at the point of manufacture would be satisfactory - this would result in a slightly discoloured pixel sure, but not the 'Guy with the Laser pointer' effect. |
| Comments: |
Despite my problems I am impressed with this unit.
I was unfortunate in that I had no access to a demonstration of the machine I was to purchase - Most dealers are unwilling to open and power up a new unit anyway - many don't carry more than a few in stock and probably feel they'd have problems returning any declined units themselves.
I strongly feel that if Sony can deliver Dead pixel free machines to the others reviewing here, then surely they can do so for me. Buying an expensive piece of equipment like this shouldn't be a lottery - Some of us get the bum machine while someone else walks off with a perfect unit.
I hope Sony will look kindly on me when I send this one back their way...... |
MrWiggles - Apr 28, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
Before I get started, I would like to point out that the reviews already listed here for this product are very helpful, especially the professional ones. Please look them over before or after you read this. With that said, let me begin:
This projector is hands down the best current home theater LCD video projector out on the market. The main reasons I think so:
Excellent resolution - wide XGA
Excellent flexibility - excepts almost any input
Excellent quality - no dead pixels
Excellent color - simply, as good as it gets.
Excellent uniformity - a medium gain screen won't cause a hot spot
Good brightness - fills just about any room well
Good scaling - makes good NTSC images (DVD) look great
Good white balance - slightly blue but consistent
Good convergence - no panel was off by more than 1 pixel anywhere
Good contrast ratio - I measured >200 with my Pentax SpotmeterV
Good value - A month ago, I got mine through a bid here for $5600!
|
| Suggestions: |
Peter Putman's article is dead on the money when he says that a warmer white balance settings comes at the cost of brightness. What he doesn't mention is that warmer settings will effect contrast ratio by the same amount. The 'low' setting will give only half the brightness of the CT-2 setting and thus half the contrast because the black levels are the same for each. That is why Peter Finzel's contrast ratio numbers are so drastically different. All UHP bulbs are slightly blue; to compensate for this the projector has take away blue from the LCD to make up for this while ultimately sacrificing contrast ratio in the process. The important thing is, if a slightly cool image doesn't bother you, you will be rewarded with an image that is plenty bright and has ample 'snap'. Don't bother calibrating this projector for a 6500K; You will lose more than you will gain. Putman and I both think slightly cool images coming out of this projector look better anyway. Too often reviewers get to hung up on trying to make an LCD (or DLP) projector a CRT projector that they sacrifice the good qualities in the process. This brings me to my next point - ENOUGH WITH THE BLACK LEVEL COMMENTS. CRT reviewers have to be in a pitch black room to be able to watch movies; so, black levels are more important to them. For a typical LCD installation it is far less important. To illustrate: if you held a 5 Watt 'night light' light bulb beside you while you watch a movie, the stray light hitting the screen from the bulb would lower the Sony's contrast ratio to probably less than a hundred, but because a CRT is lucky to be a third as bright its contrast ratio would be less than 30 no matter how good the 'Black Level' was. For this reason, a 2000 lumen 300:1 projector would blow away a 1000 lumen 200:1 projector; even though, the 1000 lumen projector would have a better 'Black Level' With that said, here is a simple trick that will help the Sony keep a good contrast ratio, illuminate the room, and hide the its Black Level all at the same. Ready? Pull the screen a few inches away from the wall and back light the entire wall behind it. I have done this with virtually no light touching the screen and if you can do this in your installation, your room will have plenty of light and your pure white screen will appear as if it is actually black! To be specific, for my installation, I went to Home Depot bought 4'X 8' sheet of tileboard, cut off 10" to make it 16:9, painted it with Behr Ultra Pure White (whiter than a sheet of paper), mounted the screen on recessed 4" tall runners, and then back-lit the wall behind it with light tape (a string of small light bulbs) and a couple of desk lamps. The result is quite impressive. In fact, one of the first people who saw it actually asked me what was more expensive the projector or the screen! (It was a woman, but still, it goes to show) The whole process took a day to do. I strongly recommend it for the Sony or any other LCD/DLP projector. Also, with the Behr paints you get a choice of gloss level. I choice the 'eggshell' level (1 small level above completely flat), but I am planing to go up one more level to give the screen a little more gain. Look, if you don't like the results you can always put a $300+ DA-LITE cut-to-size screen on top. |
| Comments: |
To by a projector today, it is prudent to look into the future. I see no LCD, DLP or D-ILA projector challenging this guy anytime soon; however, I think DLP has the best chance mainly because of it higher contrast ratio and inherent perfect convergence. But, because no 16:9 panels exist and SXGA panels are very expensive, you will lose some resolution, about 40% for a 16:9 image. Also because of the color wheel it uses, colors are only good not excellent like the Sony. Currently I think only the new Mitsubishi X series projectors compete well and if you are wondering about D-ILA don't. Despite rumors to the contrary the contrast ratio isn't as good, the street price is high, and the 400 watt xenon bulb won't just be making the pictures warm.
Finally, I have to mention the only real fault I have with this projector is its NTSC video scaler. DVD's look good, but fast moving detailed pictures like a hockey or basketball game look jittery. To correct this problem, I bought a DVDO iscan and suggest you do the same no matter what projector you wind up with. HDTV supposedly looks great, but we aren't there yet are we?
I did over a year of shopping before I bought a front projector. In the end, I am very happy with the Sony and give it a picky 9 out of 10.
|
dvdave - Feb 21, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
I was pleased that Sony used a short throw lens on this projector for those of us with limited space. I also liked how quiet the fan was, it was certainly quieter than my Sony VPH-D50Q CRT projector. Picture detail is great, colors are nice, and the screen door effect is less obtrusive than any other lcd projector I have seen, probably by virtue of its high pixel count in the 16:9 aspect. Overall, the VPL-VW10HT is a nice, small package with lots of inputs and plenty of brightness. Pixel alignment was also good, but this may have just been luck. I have seen several 3-panel lcd projectors that have slightly misaligned lcd panels that, naturally, cannot be adjusted. This is sometimes the result of certain manufacturer's spec's that allow for the panels to be up to one pixel off. I do not know this spec. for the VPL-VW10HT. |
| Suggestions: |
While I understand that contrast ratios are limited using lcd technology, I wish there was some attempt to improve this. The "Cinema Black" function is hardly worthy of its "cinema" designation. Folks, it's not black by any means, and is no match for my VPH-D50Q in terms of overall image depth. It would be nice to be able to turn the lamp down even more just to see if I could find a happier trade-off between blacks and brightness. |
| Comments: |
In conclusion, the VPL-VW10HT is probably the best home theater lcd projector I have seen. Only Sony offers the 16:9 panels and it offers huge advantages over 4:3 panels for home theater. However, having owned only CRT projectors and recently having seen DLP Cinema (a truly outstanding projector), I don't think I could ever be satisfied without true black. I am a sci-fi fan who appreciates his outer space. |
D. Adam - Jan 20, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
Finally had a chance to see this projector with the assistance of my local distributor as well as a pair of well versed reps from Sony.
The first thing I noticed being an owner of the VPL-400Q was the absence of fan noise. They route the exhaust path to the front of the projector with a much quieter fan and the result is far less distracting than the fan noise produced by the 400q. In this area I give the new Sony a straight A.
The projector's uniformity is good although I noticed some color variation across the screen with solid white and gray images. Color rendition is very good and flesh tones appeared natural in all color temperatures. None of the pinkish tint associated with LCD's was visible. The projector also seemed to have slightly better sharpness than the 400q although I didn't see a side by side comparison. As a computer monitor, sharpness was exceptional as viewed on an approximately 110" screen.
The projector's contrast is excellent, 1000 lumens really makes a big difference. When set to "cinema black" mode (what a great name by the way) the picture output is reduced to 750 lumens although I could see no other major difference. Is cinema black mode simply a reduction of the picture output? That's what it looked like. I noticed a more visible difference in black contrast by turning the "dynamic pic" setting on.
Does the projector have the ability to display rich, dark opulent blacks? No. In this area I was disappointed as I thought Sony may have made a breakthrough in LCD technology. Quite honestly, the blacks in the 400q appear better to me which makes sense as it is a 400 lumen projector. The VW10HT also has a short throw distance so black levels wont be enhanced by diffusion.
Viewing a DVD with component inputs displayed a good, uniform and watchable picture although as mentioned the blacks were just average. The unit's scan converter worked well with occasional scan lines visible but with very little softening of the picture.
All in all, it would be hard to beat this for the money. Will I get one? Probably not. I demoed a good CRT projector the same day and to me the blacks produced by a CRT are essential for a true home theater experience. Although this projector is a step up in many ways from the 400q I now own, it seems a step down in displaying black levels. The black level however, is my only complaint with this projector and in every other area it seems hard to beat for the price.
|
| Comments: |
I noticed the vertical bars on solid white/gray images mentioned in a previous review although I am not sure I would have seen them if I wasn't looking for them. Don't know if they were from the projector or source although they were minor and wouldn't keep me from purchasing this unit. |
Joe Roose - Jan 4, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
I was one of the few to get the new Sony projector as soon as it was shipped, I also (like carl) bought the unit based totally on here-say. The projector performance is flawless. My suggestion for the people that are seeing noise or vertical stripes as in previous reviews is to connect the iscan plus from dvdo. My setup includes an RCA DSS system, Sony DVPS7700 DVD player, and the ISCAN Plus all running through the B&K AVR 202. I have no issues with any of the above mentioned problems...I love It!!!! |
| Suggestions: |
Use in conjuction with the ISCAN PLUS by DVDO |
| Comments: |
The best LCD Projector I have seen, and it is better than most CRT's at 3x the price |
Carl Calabria - Jan 3, 2000
| Application: |
Home Theater |
| What I Like: |
I bought this projector sight unseen based on specs and Sony reputation. I have auditioned about 20 hours of material now and am quite satisfied with the unit. In my application I project from the ceiling onto an eleven foot acoustically transparent unity gain screen (I wanted to maximize viewing angle) in a basement theater with easy control over ambient light. I have tested with the following sources. Off air tuner (in my Hi8 deck - s-video out), computer (1024x768x24bpp - RGBHV), DV camcorder (s-video)out). I do not own a DVD player as I am waiting on a progressive model which is not shipping yet.
Brightness is excellent even in the Cinema mode (which reduces lamp wattage to extend life of bulb and to improve rendition of near black content). I see no need to operate in the higher wattage mode in my environment.
Resolution is excellent, lense quality is excellent. Focusing and zoom are very easy to setup (30 secs) - zoom range is adequate but not extensive so you will need to determine projection distance with some care. Digital keystone correction works very well, but is not available in all projection modes. Aligning the top (or bottom - floor mount applications) of the screen with the center of the lens makes keystone correction unnecessary.
The projector requires about a minute and a half to reach full brightness (I suspect that they ramp up the wattage on the bulb to avoid thermal stress). On shut down the fan will contiue to run for a minute or two to cool down the bulb gradually. During the first 40 secs of shutdown, you can not restart the projector.
Selecting amoung sources is easy and the internally stored scanning presets have accomodated every source without a problem. I am anxious to try out the HD resolutions but am still waiting on an appropriate tuner.
Adjustments for all inputs were dead on perfect with the factory defaults. Color temperature menu includes 6 settings (high, low, custom1-4). The custom settings are undocumented and to the best of my knowledge can not be set by the customer. If any one from Sony is out their listening, I would sure appreciate an explanation of these settings - perhaps the actual color temp).
Aspect ratio control includes everything that you would expect. The built in line doubler (actually it is a 1.5x factor 485 -> 768) is quite good. I need to do more testing before I reach a final conclusion, but so far I am very impressed.
Uniformity of screen brightness is excellent. Color rendition is excellent.
I have noticed a distinct problem with flat field reproduction. If you apply a grey scale pattern you will be able to easily percieve a pattern of vertical stripes a couple of pixels wide spaced a couple of pixels apart. This distortion is present in all material but is most noticeable on flat fields. I beleive their is a noise problem on their sampling circuits. It is a beat frequency and seems like they should be able to isolate and remove it. I hope anyone from Sony reading this will drop me a line and give me a hand tracking this down. I would also be interested to hear if others are experiencing this problem. This looks more like a design shortfall rather than a one-off situation.
If I were not so pleased with every other aspect of this projector, I would have returned the unit. The stripe pattern is really only visible to a very decerning. My wife and friends have never noticed the problem.
All in all I rate the projector a 9 out of 10. |
| Suggestions: |
RCA connectors for a projector of this quality are a real dissapointment. BNC connectors are what this projector should have had from day one.
Put a little index mark on the projector indicating the center of gravity. I made my own ceiling mounting adapter and this would have been very handy.
It would be very nice if you could input Y/C (and composite as well) on the INputA and INputB connectors. This would have saved running two additional coaxes to the projector. Good coax is not cheap.
Sony remotes for AV receivers should issue the shut down (standby) command for projectors. I still need two remotes (or obtuse macros) to simply turn the projector on or off. Despite hours of experimentation with my other Sony gear, I can not get the s-link to help me with this either.
Sony continues to produce some of the worst documentation in the industry. This manual was actually slightly better than most of my recent Sony purchases but still way below even their weakest competitor. The best examples are directions which tell you how to turn on and off a particular feature with no meaningful description of what the feature does or how it does it. Sony marketing, you need to convince the development folks that good documentation is an essential ingredient to a great product. |
| Comments: |
In summary. Fantastic projector with one minor design flaw (flat field stripes) and one marketing flaw (RCA instead of BNC connectors).
|
Kit Hickey - Jan 2, 2000
| Application: |
Home theatre |
| What I Like: |
After setting up using the Video Essentials DVD. I`m no expert but I`m blown away by the film like clarity, the brightness and vivid colours produced by this projector.
Initial playing around using a single RCA type video connector to my DVD player was pretty good but once the projector was ceiling mounted and connected using a S-VHS cable the difference was very noticeably improved.
A couple of my DVDs showed some pixelation, especially during cueing but this thing is a quantum leap ahead of the VPL-400Q, and in my humble opinion to the average eye , probably thanks to it`s brightness will kill sales of the Sony D-50 CRT projector.
Fan speed is not noticable if you play sci-fi`s as loud as me. Good show off discs for this toy are 1) the first 5 minutes of Lost in Space. 2) the " Alamo" scene in Starship Troopers & 3) the bike chase scene in Judge Dredd . |
| Suggestions: |
A broader zoom on the lens would have been nice in my particular circumstace. |
| Comments: |
DVD`s & videos are working great, but I seem to be having trouble getting a good TV signal.
No-one here can help me , because no-one has seen this model before. ( there is a price for being first )
Some help would sure be appreciated. |
|
Printer-Friendly Version
More ...
Send this Page
