True HD: Sony’s VPLVW50 projector

 

Sonyys VPLVW50 (VW50) employs three SXRD (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) imaging chips each with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels to project an image comprised of more than six million pixels. The pixels, and the spaces in between, are so small that there is no pixel grid screen door effect either, making for a cinema-smooth picture, says Sony. The projectorrs Advanced Iris 2 technology enables a 15,000: 1 contrast ratio, the highest of any home projector available and a feature that makes the VW50 suitable for use in rooms with high levels of ambient light, according to the Sony.

Sporting twin HDMI inputs and 1080p capability, the projector is equipped to make the most of Blu-ray and HD DVD sources, and with a 1.8x zoom it can be positioned from 335.5 metres away when using a 2.5 metre diagonal screen. Motorised vertical lens shift allows for flexible positioning in a room, the operating noise is rated at a near-noiseless 22dB, and with a response time of only 2.5ms, scenes with rapid motion appear clean and fluid, says Sony. The VPL-VW50 costs $7,999.