Price, easy setup, flexibility

Poor black level and contrast. Poor internal scaler and requires the extra expense of a progressive scan DVD player.

I do not own a Sony projector, however, I have seen it several times and A/B'ed it against some of the above projectors. Although the Sony does have more resolution than the 800 X 600 DLPs this does not translate into a better picture. When compared one on one with a DLP the DLP has much more "punch" (better contrast and blacks). The DLPs picture is just as smooth as the Sony's with DVDs.

The Sony has some problems with dead pixels which Sony will not address unless the problem exceeds 10% of all pixels in their display!

In a shoot out between the Infocus 350 and the Sony, ProjectorCentral declared the Infocus (Cheaper DLP) the winner. See www.projectorcentral.com.

If you think this projector is artifact free then check out the beginning of Chapter 3 in Titanic (wavey lines on railing of ship) and the end of Chapter 6 in Rules of Engagement where Tommy Lee Jones walks across the porch of Samuel L. Jackson's house (camera pan across window reveals wavey blinds). A progressive scan DVD player is a must.

See my review of the Maranta VP8000 on this site.

This product deserves a good rating, however, times change.

Similar Products Used:

Marantz, Runco and Seleco DLP, Sharp LCD

Price - Easy of Use - Picture Quality

None

I haven't finished my home theater yet but I have plugged in this projector and it looked absolutely awesome - even on a milk-chocolate colored wall. I had it up and running in less than 5 minutes.

You can wait for the next best thing to come along or you can start enjoying a true home theater experience today.

Looks like prices are continuing to drop. Get one now before it's too late!

Great Projector

For LCD at the price - none.

I love this projector. It has been a great addition to my home theater. I have it ceiling mounted and I am using a Da-Lite 119" HD Mat White screen.

I looked at the sharp that was mentioned in the negative review found here and it was even offered to me at just $1000 more than the Sony. I still chose the Sony for a couple of reasons.

First, it it much quieter and I didn't have to create a custom enclosure around it to eliminate too much fan noise. And second, after I had the colors adjusted professionaly and calibrated, I think it looks just as good as the sharp did. In cinema black mode, it is plenty bright and blacks are great (for an LCD projector).

I would recommend this projecctor to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp mentioned in negative review/Marantz DLP Projector

Produces an incredible HT experience
Native 16X9 LCD panels (1366X768 pixels)

Like with any LCD projector, screen door effect if within 6 ft of screen

I've read some of these reviews and had to add my comments. I have owned the VW-10HT since November for my dedicated HT. I have nothing but absolute praise for this projector, particullarly at its price point.

One point which needs to more emphasized is that the integration of a front projector into an HT, like audio equipment, is an entire system approach. A front projector, especially one like the 10HT which is HDTV capable, will show an absolutely fabulous picture if fed a great signal and garbage if it is fed a poor quality signal. So if you are considering ANY front projection system a decent quality, PROGRESSIVE SCAN DVD with 3:2 pull down, must be used in the system! Toshiba 6200 and the Pioneer DV-37 are great examples of DVD's which offer these features and both can be had for under $700! You want to use component interconncts from the DVD to the 10HT. S-Video will not handle progressive signals. Anamorphic Enhanced 16X9 DVD's will provide the best picture.

Continuing the system approach, the next thing which needs to be investigated with the Sony VW10HT is your screen. Screens which match up well with the VW10HT include the Stewart GrayHawk or Studio Tek 130, Draper M1300, and Da-Lite High Power. You want to avoid screens with too much gain and those that are microperforated. Screens with too much gain will produce "hotspotting" with the VW10HT. If you need to go the microperf route then you should investigate a Cygnus IMX lens which can reduce the moire effect.

The next thing you need to do is do some very simple tweaking of the custom color temperatures. This procedure is completely described at the following sites:

http://www.munsil.com/VW10HTFaq.htm
http://www.thebigpicturedvd.com/cgi-bin/vw10ht.cgi

The "the bigpicturedvd" site actually contains a dedicted user's forum regarding the VW10HT and is a remarkable resource to VW10HT owners.

Calibration with Avia or Video Essentials is also essential for a great, well contrasted picture. All in all what I described above is not complicated and the calibration needs to be done on any LCD or DLP projector (not only the VW10HT)

Now what I explained above is not all that complicated, and if you are budgeting 10-15K for a HT not at all outrageous. Now that being said, what does the VW10HT give you? Great picture, native 16X9 panels (which means no light splashing when watching widescreen). When watching 4:3 you can 'Zoom' the aspect ratio or you can choose to have black bars on the sides.

The projector is HDTV capable ( I have not had the opportunity to see this yet, but others commenting on the "BigpictureDVD.com" web site have attested to its brillance)

The black level controversy is blown way out of proportion, and if you follow the Munsil color adjustment I referenced above, this projector will provide a very good black level.

Buy from a dealer who will offer a return if you are not happy with the projector's performance. MVS, who is discussed at the big pictureDVD site, offers a 14 day, no questions asked return policy. They have been great to work with.

I respectfully disagree with the negative posts regarding this projector and I suspect that they could even be competing dealers who do not carry the Sony product line. Regarding value - what other front projector out there offers HDTV capability, and is priced under the VW10HT?


I would grade this two "10's" if the ratings went up that high!!!

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned Sharp DW100, Auditioned Runco DLP

16x9 LCD, many screen-format modes, easy to use, quiet,up-to-date HDTV specs

As with any LCD, it requires a dark room

Comparing this projector to everything else out there, I find that the picture on the Sony XBR 36-inch tube-type set to be perhaps the clearest you can get. However, the screen size is just too small for the effect I am looking for. Next best are the state-of-the-art plasma TVs in the 50-60" inch size. These are incredible, but still just a tad too small for what I need. The LCD front projectors, and this Sony in particular, while, not as clear, offer a better total effect. The backlit tube and plasma screens is the way to go, but the sheer size of the projectors offer an better overall experience, by far, at this point in time.

At 17 lbs, this projector is light weight and easy to install. I used the Sony ceiling mount in a room about 24 x 24 feet, with a Stewart 100-inch-diagonal screen, a Denon 3801 processor, the Sony S900-ES progressive-scan DVD player, and an M&K 750 THX speaker system -- eight speakers in all.

As for the negative comments in some of the earlier reviews, I do not share this view. I looked at systems costing $15,000 or more and the Sony compared very well to these much heavier, bulky, and more costly (and out-of-date) machines.

In short, the VPL-VW10HT is a very up-to-date and flexible HDTV projector. My main use is for watching DVDs, although I have also connected it to a computer to view graphics, data, and trip slides.

As for quietness, while it is quiet, the fan can still be heard on quiet scenes, primarily because it is mounted almost directly overhead. This is not much of a problem. A more serious problem is the fact that there are all kinds and qualities of film/movie inputs. While this is in no way the fault of the projector, the projector brings out the best and the worst, depending upon what you feed it. Modern movies, particular 16x9-enhanced films are spectacular, to some degree because of the power of the progressive-scan DVD player. I would not attempt to purchase a projector of this kind without a progressive scan player.

The best and newest of DVDs (many in fact) are incredible to watch. It can be (and very often is) breathtaking to watch. The detail of landscapes (almost everything in fact) pulls one into the action and is somehow relaxing, in a marked way.

The VPL-VW10HT offers a fair amount of color and temperature adjustment, including several custom pre-set modes that you can click through. Since different films will have their own color castes to them, you may find yourself pausing to adjust the color more than you would like, at least at first. I went through some weeks of seeming endless fiddling and adjusting the colors. I drove my family nuts. I am grateful that this phase has more or less passed for me and I am more generally pleased with what I see.

Some of the very dark, night, and rainy scenes are a little difficult to see and you may want to switch to the brightest lamp mode for these films.

The quality of the film's transfer to DVD and the sheer technical fineness of many of the newer films is something that you will be much more appreciative of, than before. You can now see the difference more clearly. I sometimes am so lost at marveling at the detail now open to me, that I miss some of the plot segues.

To sum this up, the VPL-VW10HT has been a very good choice for me. It has changed the way my family and I look at movies. I can understand all the quibbles and negative comments, but when all is said and done, the large-screen format of this projector offers one of the best all-around viewing experiences.

One closing note: Almost as important as the video is the sound. Get a good speaker system and get some heavy-ass (and expensive) cables for the three front speakers. I have found that this made a HUGE difference. I had some good regular cables, fairly heavy, at first. But when I switched to some really huge (Wireworld Oasis III plus) cables, the difference in enjoyment was so dramatic that everyone could hear the difference.

Expensive" Yup, but what you get back in enjoyment makes it one of the best places you can put your money.

Similar Products Used:

Runco and others. Also compared to largest XBR tube TV (36-inch) and the largest plasma TV screens (about 50-60")

16:9 panels great color and contrast great big picture for the money. Low Noise etc.... The list goes on.....

As usual blacks, but get a GrayHawk screen and you will more amazed!! On how Blacks can look on a LCD.

Sony made a great product with this piece, the detail and the sharpness and lets not for get the excellent colors. I looked at the Sharp and it was also good, but not as good as the Sony, don't know what the guy saw below but maybe his bifocals where foggy... JK! The Sony had just as good as black level and brightness.The colors on the Sony looked more accurate that the Sharp and the unit. The Sony was very quite in comparison to the louder operating sharp unit. These unit where all projected on to a GrayHawk 16:9 92inch Screen with great results and the Grey Scale on the Sony was the easiest to setup which makes a huge difference when comparing units. The Fact is you can pick the Sony 10HT up for $4999.00 and B&H Photo and Video and a $300 rebate if it is still going on, this makes it a much better buy than the sharp unit and a better bang for the buck in all areas. I should mention the DLP unit looked great, but had some digital artifacting problems on faster moving video.
A soild 5 using the GrayHawk Screen by Stuart. Plus lets not forget the 3 year Warr. :)

Similar Products Used:

Sharp XV-DW100U and A DreamVision DLP

Resolution, low fan-noice, settings, build quality.

Price..

Just great - Get one! A pricey but lovely toy!

Similar Products Used:

Epson.

Are you kidding me????

The fact that Sony is selling this thing and people are buying it!

Ok, I am sorry I had to do this. But I just needed to get this off of my chest!

I operate an A/V integration store in SLC and have been in the industry for over ten years now. I promised myself a long time ago that I would never post an extremely negative review of any product (my own or otherwise), but I have to draw the line somewhere.

Are you people blind? Has the Sony monster (i.e. the biggest box moving company) caught up with you? Come on guys, what did you compare this projector with? A five year old Sharp? A ten year old Sharp? I realize that Sony will sell this thing to anyone and at five percent above cost. But stop with the kicking already. This projector is a wonderful example of what could be a great product (16:9 panels and all), cheapend up for the E-commerce market. Shame.....

Let me tell you a little story. I constantly have manufactures reps come by my store and show me the products that they sell. One day, a local Sony guy walked in and wanted to show me this projector. Now I hadn't paid much attention to this piece in the past because of the Sony "we will sell to anyone" (including Costco) sales approach, but I have several customers that have asked me about it so I said sure. I show two primary projectors in my reference theater, the Sharp XV-DW100U LCD and the Phillips 8100 DLP. So with the teams on the field, let the games begin.

Out of the box compared to the Marantz on a Draper 106" 1:1 gain matte white screen the Sony didn't look too bad, or at least I thought. But the more I watched it the greener the picture got (and we weren't watching the Matrix). Blacks started looking like dark greens and contrast levels were terrible. Color saturation and detail was bad too. After some tweaking, the Sony guy got the contrast and brightness levels to look respectible but the colors always looked faded and washed out and the picture had a very 2D feel to it. And then the video noise fun started, streaks and bars and motion artifacts oh boy. What in the hell does Sony use for video processing in this thing? The published specs on the resolution of the Sony are in question in my mind as well. It had a more visible pixel structure than it's SXGA resolution would suggest, and was terrible when compared to the 8100's smooth film like appearance. The Marantz was hands down cleaner, much more believable and more importantly, more enjoyable to watch. Now I should point out to you that the Marantz is not terribly bright, and that on the 1.8:1 gain screen that it normally resides on it solidy kicked the Sony's butt in every respect. The Marantz should look better, right? After all it is $12,000.00 list.

But what about the Sharp LCD that can be had online for a smidge under $8,000.00. Let me tell you, the Sony guy was almost in tears after this demo. As a gag, we threw the picture from the Sharp on our theater wall with our Draper 106" 1:1 gain screen retracted. This wall is not white mind you, but a very dark blue color. The Sharp was brighter on the wall than the Sony was on the screen, I kid you not. When thrown on the screen, the Sharp is so much better that words cannot even describe it. From colors to black levels to contrast, it was a real poor showing from the folks at Sony that day. The Sony guy was amazed and had not seen the Sharp (apparently there are more of you) and could not deny the obvious trouncing his product had just received (though his comments when he arrived at the showroom were pretty strong favoring the Sony). As a side note, he brought another Sony back the next day suspecting that there was something wrong with the first sample. Sorry, same results again. Sharp 2, Sony 0.

For those of you who have not seen the Sharp XV-DW100U in action, go now my child and behold the wonder. If you are seriously considering a projector, check this one out. Forget all of the hype concerning HDTV signals and resolution. The scaler and doubler in the Sharp are amazing and HD signals look awesome. It also provides a true 4:3 horizontal squeeze mode for watching 4:3 material on a 16:9 screen. The effect of this is just as good as the Sony wide screen chips in a real world environment.

I am sure I will receive numerous messages concerning my opinions expressed here, but so be it. Before sending me hate mail and threatening my life in print, check the two out for yourself. Make your own decisions based on a demo, not what "Home Theater" magazine and the Sony press tells you. Great job Sharp. Keep up the good work and you will always have a loyal following myself included.

Similar Products Used:

Sharp XV-DW100U, Marantz 8100

Excellant picture quality, dont mind the blacks. Can't beat the price performance ratio.

None

I have a Toshiba SD-6200 (progressive scan/component output) DVD and Da Lite Hipower 106 Inch screen. The picture is perfect, with cinema black turned on and the black mode set on the Toshiba, I can't imagine it getting any blacker. I would highly recoment this unit especially for the price, buy it you wont be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Looked at Seleco, Mitsubishi before purchasing Sony.

Flexability

Low light

I underscore the very positive comments below by D. Roth and Michael Erlewine below. If this projector is set up correctly, it blows away any competition within a couple thousand (US) dollars).

I would also like to add that if you have a computer it should be your main component. Connect it directly to the component inputs using a VGA -> 5 RCA cable (http://store.yahoo.com/bettercablesdotcom/silservgatob.html). Get a GeForce Video card (I have an nVidia GeForce DDR), PowerStrip 3.0 (http://www.entechtaiwan.com) to adjust the display to be full width and YxY (http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/htpc/yxy_windvd.html) to
size WinDVD.

You can read my post at http://www.thebigpicturedvd.com/dcforum/DCForumID27/2484.shtml to help get it all set up.

Although this may seem to be a lot of work, it pays off bigtime; this is the only way to view DVD's and rivals the most expensive component/progressive DVD players out there.

Also, you can set up a very nice display for TV; get a Hauppauge capture card (model 401 - ~$90) and dScaler 2.3 (http://sourceforge.net/projects/deinterlace/). I use my VCR as a tuner by connecting the S-video to the capture card. The dScaler software will deinterlace the signal providing a progressive projected TV! Awesome.

One more thing, I am working on controling the whole works with a Palm; get Girder 3.0.23 (http://www.girder.nl/), a Palm Vx, the IR enhancer (http://www.palm.com/support/downloads/irenhanc.html), and remote control for DVD (http://www.gadgetsnthings.com/itm00490.htm).

My setup (work in progress):
Sony 10HT projector
Denon 3801 A/V Receiver
Fronts - Infinity Kappa
Center - JBL S-Center
Rears - Linauem
dbx 3BX-DX Dynamic Range Controller
dbx 120X-DS Subharmonic Synthesizer
ADC SS-30 Dual Channel 10-band EQ/Spectrum Analyzer
Dish-6000 Sat Receiver
Panasonic PVS-4690 SVHS VCR

Home Theater PC
Hardware - PIII 800MHz, 384MB RAM, GeForce DDR video, Hauppauge 401 capture, Sound Blaster Live,
Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-115, Logitech wireless mouse & keyboard, Palm Vx (used for IR remote)

Software - Win2K SP2, WinDVD 2.4, dScaler 2.3, PowerStrip 3.0, YxY 1.6, Girder 3.0.23

Similar Products Used:

Sanyo PV60, various DLP and CRT