Sony DLP Projector: VPL-VW50 Pearl

This Sony DLP projector, the VPL-VW50 'Pearl' is a three-chip, 1080p/24 device that uses the company’s SXRD chip — developed to enable high resolution, high contrast display from a projector. Other than the high spec and the dual HDMI inputs, the best news about the VPL-VW50 is the price, $5k. Given that the first generation SXRD cost $30k, and the second gen Ruby cost $10k, that represents a huge drop.

In fact, Ultimate AV described the price as 'so outrageous …that I feel like I should be wearing a suit covered with question marks and shouting these specs at you!'

The 1080p/24 signals which the Pearl accepts via its HDMI interface are displayed at a refresh rate of 96Khz, a direct multiple of the 24 frames per second frame rate of film. Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs contain movies encoded at 1080/24 and by displaying them at their native frame rate, rather the 30 or 60 frames per second used by most TVs, this Sony DLP projector eliminates flicker and the artefacts which are often produced when displaying at 30 or 60fps.

The lamp in the VPL-VW50 Pearl costs around $500 to replace, which considering its predecessor's lamp cost $1k and the first generation SXRD projector's bulb was around $3k, is very good news.

In addition to ist high specification and relatively low price, the VPL-VW50 scores in the aesthetics stakes. It's smaller than it looks in the picture and, as you can see, it looks very sleek and curvy – it would be an attractive addition to any home theater. At 24lbs, it's not exactly light, so you'll need to bear that in mind if you're reaching ffor your credit card.

Like computers, high definition projectors have been dropping in price very quickly, however, this Sony DLP projector seems to have set a new benchmark for price and performance.

See the Ultimate AV sneak peek here

Check the price of the Sony VPL-VW50 DLP Projector at Amazon.