Customer Reviews

Sony VPLAW10 720p High Definition Home Theater Projector

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I originally purchased the Mitsubishi HC1500 DLP projector, but had some problems with it. Ordered this one from amazon and put them side by side. This isn't a review so much as a comparison between 3 Chip LCD and SINGLE CHIP DLP (which tend to be in the same price range). I actually liked the HC1500 a lot, but ended up keeping this SONY VLPAW10 for a number of reasons. It's not perfect, and in some areas underperforms the DLP. Here's the comparison.

Single chip DLP projectors create images by having a "chip" filled with thousands of tiny mirrors (1 per pixel on the screen) that can tilt up and down. When they tilt, they send light to the screen, when they don't tilt, the light stays in the projector. This ends up creating wonderfully bright and brilliant images. The only problem with this setup is that there's no color (just the white light is being directed) so the color needs to be introduced by spinning a color wheel in front of the chip. (in this case it's a 7 segment red-green-blue-white-red-green-blue wheel. The problem is that the colors are therefore being created via an optical illusion, which for some people creates a "rainbow" effect where they see color rainbows in the white areas of the image. It's very pronounced when there are credit rolls at the end of movies, or any other times there are high contrast black/white (or light/dark) areas. In a certain percentage of cases, the rainbow effect causes headaches and eyestrain It did so for me. (google "DLP rainbow effect" if you don't believe me. There are such things as 3 chip DLP projectors that don't need the color wheels and don't create this effect, but they aren't even close to being in the sub $1000 price range (they start at SEVERAL thousand dollars)

Three chip LCD screens actually have 3 panels (red green and blue) so they don't need the spinning color wheel, they just project the light through the panels, and the colors line up on the screen if calibrated properly. They are not as bright and brilliant as the DLP images because the light is going through the panels, and not being reflected by mirrors which create more direct light. The LCD projectors also need more space between the pixels than DLP, and this ends up giving you a more visible "screen door"effect where you can actually see the faint black lines of the pixel grid if you sit close enough to the screen (as if you were looking through a door or window with an insect screen on it, hence the term "screen door".

So that's the background, here are the results of my side by side tests (accompanied by the media manager for a major lecture hall at an Ivy League university) who is a specialist in these kinds of things (I myself teach video production, so have some expertise here as well).

The Mitsubishi HC-1500 (1 chip DLP)

Advantages

+ about half the physical size of the SONY.
+ Image is brighter
+ colors are more saturated
+ no need for air filter
+ less screen door effect

Disadvantages

- potential for rainbow effect
- noisy (the spinning wheel makes a high pitched whine which is louder and more annoying than the fan)
- If you have a small room, you may not be able to fill a large projector screen with an image because this projector cannot throw a large image from as short a distance as the sony

The SONY VLPAW-10 (3 chip LCD)

Advantages

+ no rainbow effect
+ quieter
+ can throw larger image from shorter distance

Disadvantages

- Much larger than the mitsubishi
- Bulb not as bright, need darker room
- colors are less saturated
- has an air filter than needs to be changed periodically
- more screen door effect
- HDMI input on the rear has a bezel around it that will make it impossible for some of the cables with thicker ends to fit in. I had to change cables to get this to work


CONCLUSION

I went with the SONY. It's not perfect, but for my needs it beats the Mitsubishi. I know there are a lot of die hard fans of the HC1500 and I'm sorry - but this is a fair assessment of my needs.

Some ways to mitigate the SONY's disadvantages:

Neither tv will perform great in a bright room, so both of these are really best suited for rooms where you can control the light.

In terms of the saturation, if you're watching DVD movies, then I think you'll prefer the LCD since it creates more natural colors. The DLP is better for watching HDTV shows where the colors really pop (like CSI Miami). I use it mostly to watch movies, so don't mind the less saturated and brilliant colors.

In terms of the "screen door" effect, I find this is minimized by defocusing the image just a hair. Yes the image is more soft, but this looks more like a projected image in a movie theater, and this is the effect I'm going for when watching movies on my projector, so it works great. It does not work as well to watch sports or news or other material that has lots of CG text up on the screen.


One last note, if you decide to buy it, the price of the sony does fluctuate on Amazon wildly ($[...] yesterday, $[...] today !!!). But I see it go up and down on an almost weekly basis. So time your purchase carefully!

we bought this unit a year ago, after looking at a number of projectors and poring over a lot of specs. we found it for $850 at Vanns -- a great price even today. we're very happy with it. we've had other projectors before that were noisy and ran really hot, but this one is whisper quiet (though it's still a bit hot). image looks great; we have a 100 inch image on our wall from about 10 feet. the bulb has started to lose some brightness after a year, but it's still fine for movies. we do have a very dark room, which helps.

overall, if you love movies and you're not made of money, this is one of the best home theater devices you can buy.

dt

I bought this back in 2008, and since that time have used it a ton. When I first got it I used it as my dedicated TV, which is great in itself but bulbs don't last forever. I believe I got a little over 2000 hours out of it (bulbs are rated I believe to 2000 hours LCD and Plasma TVs are rated to 20000 hours). The bulb would still come on but after about 5 mins it would shut down and give the bulb warning signal. I got a free first replacement which was part of the protection plan I had. I got a 42" Plasma screen after this last trip overseas and put the projector on the shelf to set for the last 2 years. I recently took it out after getting all the stuff to mount it to the ceiling and set up a indoor theater. With a 13' and 6' HDMI cable linked together and ran from the PS3 to the projector in the center of the room I am amazed on how well it still looks from having it so long. I will continue to use it and will buy another bulb when this one goes out which should be a couple more years now since its not being used as my TV.

In closing I havn't had any other projectors and can't compare this to anything other than a plasma TV.
I would recomend this one or a newer model to anyone looking for a projector, as this works wonders.
It is silent, colors are wonderful, and will amaze your neighbors when your watching the latest movie like your in a theater.
I do wish the lumens was higher but with that it WOULD produce a lot more heat, it can be viewed in the middle of the day just not as well. You may want the shades pulled to help make it brighter then.

I'm using it with: usual DVD player, laptop, Wii. I didn't buy a screen, just use my pastel color wall, when dark it does its best. Haven't tried HDMI yet, but Video and especially component totally amaze me. When day it's not that bright of course. And! It's completely silent!

Simply enjoyable. Let's see for how long the lamp will last. I wish though it would be a little cheaper, of course.

Upd. 12/24/2011 Wow. Just wow! I'm still using the same lamp and everything works great. I bought an HD-upscale DVD player last year and the picture is even more beautiful now. Alas, they don't make it anymore.

I have this projector ceiling-mounted in my basement and it is AWESOME. HD television and HD video games are very clear from a mounting distance of about 12 feet on a 92" widescreen. Ambient light does not interfere with the picture as I have some windows near the basement cieling that I was worried would cause problems. Not the case, even in the middle of the day with the sun shining in the window, the picture is very clear and I have no issues. This projector is a great deal ($850) and you will not be unsatisfied. Easy to mount too - fits most universal mounts.