With the majority of home theatre projector manufacturers having finally abandoned DLP in favour of LCD technology, it seems the biggest noise in this area has been heard from JVC and Sony with their LCOS-based projectors.

I have been lucky over the years to experience the best of the LCOS brigade, firstly with Sony’s VPL-VW100 ‘Pearl’ and VPL-VW50 ‘Ruby’, and the excellent DLA-HD1 and HD100 from JVC. Not to mention the Cineversum Blackwing and Dreamvision Dreambee, which are actually both variants of the JVC HD1.

With the competition raging between Epson and Panasonic for HT projector sales supremacy, Sony has decided to lay down the gauntlet with its latest SXRD (Sony’s term for LCOS) display, the ambitiously priced and specified VPL-HW15.

At a tick under $5000 it is the most affordable LCOS projector yet, and certainly its performance is up to par with the best of the sub-$6K LCD brigade.

It’s a sizeable yet handsome beast, and its gloss black casework would make a talking point in any lounge when ceiling mounted (where every decent projector should be installed). Facilities are impressive, if pretty much standard these days for a hi-def projector: two HDMI inputs, a VGA connector for PC (or Mac), Component, S-Video and finally icky old composite video. Those with smart home aspirations will find the RS232 input handy.

Placement flexibility is pretty good too: a zoom of 1.6x and lens shift (both manual) make the HW15 easy to site; and in operation it is an extremely quiet device with precious little noise emanating from the case at all.

The on-screen menus are top rate. They offer decent colour management options and are easy enough to navigate without having to constantly plough through the substantial manual supplied with the projector.

Lastly, a fairly large backlit remote control makes it easy to change settings without reaching for the torch.

After connecting the HW15 to my home theatre system (including the new Cambridge Audio Azur 650BD Blu-ray player) it was popcorn time.

The very acceptable colour/contrast balance straight from the box was a pleasant surprise, and with a small amount of colour temperature tweaking (the settings can be saved) I was lapping up the superb picture quality.

Dark scenes and the detail contained within were of a very high quality with discs such as Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen and Underworld, while the intentionally grainy picture quality of Children Of Men was rendered well by the HW15. Conversely, bright scenes on Casino Royale were also of a very high standard; skin tones were natural and at no stage did I consider the image spotlit or overly saturated. It was a great result indeed.

The VPL-HW15 is a fine option for anyone after a projector on or around $5000. It has excellent picture quality, is easy to site and use, and it looks great — all at a price that just a year ago would have been thought impossible.

GARY PEARCE
Sony VPL-HW15 – Specs

Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Contrast Ratio: 60,000:1
Brightness: 1000 Ansi lumens
Operation Noise: 22dB
Lens Shift: Vertical/horizontal
Zoom: 1.6x
Connections: HDMI x 2, Component x 1, S-Video x 1, composite x 1, RS232 input
Dimensions: 407.4 x 179.2 x 463.9mm (W/H/D)
Weight: 10kg

Pros

    * Terrific filmic imagery
    * Great value for money

Cons

    * Nothing of note

Verdict

Sony has a barnstormer with the VPL-HW15; its image quality is up with the best of the LCD brigade and it’s in the ballpark with price. Game on…

CONTACT

www.sony.co.nz