News from CEDIA 2009 continues to roll in. Two new projectors have been announced that are aiming to satisfy two segments of the market. Appealing to the enthusiast with the added features of the VPL-VW85 and those looking to upgrade their cinema experience on a budget with the VPL-HW15. According to Sony Style the VPL-VW85 is available for pre-order with an estimated ship date of 10/22/09 and the VPL-HW15 is showing as in stock with an estimated ship date of 09/18/2009.
Notes by Christopher:
I saw several VPL-VW85’s in person at CEDIA 2009 and it was outstanding. They had a really cool theater room with a curtained entrance that was very dark inside. A VPL-VW85 hung overhead showing Speed Racer in Blu-ray on a sweet projection screen. This was very humbling to me because I have always considered Speed Racer to be one of the best reference discs for showing off Blu-ray quality. It is absolutely lush in colors and fast paced action. For what it’s worth, sorry about the blurry picture above but it was very dark.
It was a great impromptu standing room theater. I spoke to several installer reps in the room with us and they were pretty amazed by the quality, and they conversed their thoughts. The comment I remember the most was one fellow saying that this had the picture of a $27k projector. They were very surprised at the quality for $8,000 – these were obviously people who installed such equipment in high end environments and commercial venues often. This projector could really disrupt the market at its price range.
To be honest, I haven’t had much experience in this department but have always found projectors to be the ultimate home experience. Now they have them with 120hz technology, which is even more interesting. I remember talking to someone else and they said the most important thing is that this is probably another highly reliable Sony projector. Apparently Sony has a very good reputation in this market with their projectors, not only for unreal quality but also excellent long term problem-free operation.
Sony also showed off a VPL-VW85 with a Panamorph anamorphic lens system, which displays the image at 2.40:1 cinema widescreen.
Details and prices are below.
VPL-VW85 – $7999.99
- Full HD 1080p,
- 3 SXRD™ 1920 x 1080 panels
- Motionflow™ 120Hz refresh rate
- Up to 120,000:1 contrast ratio
- 800 ANSI lumens
- 200W ultra-high-pressure lamp
- BRAVIA Engine™ 2
- Advanced Iris 3
VPL-HW15 – $2999.99
I didn’t really get to see this one, but I imagine that it is probably just as brilliant as the VW85 but does not have 120hz technology.
- Full HD 1080p
- 3 SXRD™ 1920 x 1080 panels
- Up to 60,000:1 contrast ratio,
- Brightness of 1,000 ANSI lumens
- 200W ultra-high-pressure lamp
- BRAVIA Engine™ 2
- Advanced Iris 3
- 1.6x zoom lens
