Sony VPL-VW85 SXRD projector takes the fight to rivals – EXCLUSIVE hands-on preview

Sony’s VPL-VW85 isn’t on retailers’ shelves yet, nor has it had its official launch (that’ll be at the IFA electronics show in September) but that hasn’t stopped HCC getting its mitts on one before anyone else.

While we’re still putting it through its paces in our Tech Labs, we can offer you our first impressions of this highly-anticipated product.

The VW85 slots into Sony’s Bravia projector range in place of the VW80, and will sell for around £5,400. Like all the brand’s PJs, it uses SXRD technology – Sony’s proprietary version of liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS). This is often touted as a high-performance rival to LCD and DLP technologies - pre-1080p LCD suffered from the chicken wire effect, where gaps between pixels are visible on screen, but has improved considerably of late, while DLP can suffer from the rainbow effect of colour smearing caused by the spinning colour wheel – though not all viewers are susceptible to this.

Unboxing the beast
Taking it out of the box, it’s immediately obvious that Sony has found a projector design, and is sticking with it. The centralised lens and curved body of the VW85 will be familiar to all VPL owners. Our sample is finished in what’s described as Midnight Sky Black – a natty paint job with additional blue metallic flakes. Sony hasn't yet confirmed other colour options.

Connections appear par for the course at this price level – twin HDMI v1.3 inputs, a component video and a D-Sub for PC hookup. A pair of 12V triggers mean it will easily slot into an automated home cinema setup.

I hooked it up to a Panasonic Blu-ray player via HDMI and fired it at our 100in Screen Research screen. Immediately, I was impressed – as were the procession of nosey-parkers who shuffled into for a look.

Sony claims a contrast ratio of 120,000:1 for the VPL-VW85 (double that of the VW80) and I reckon it might not be massively far off, although first impressions are that its peak whites are the real triumph. Yes, the black levels seem up to mid-range projector levels, but the brightness the VW85 can achieve really caught my eye. Importantly, convincing blacks can be achieved without sacrificing shadow detail. Colour fidelity is also excellent, delivering vivid, eye-catching hues. I ran through a selection of movie material, along with our usual test footage and was hugely impressed. It'll be interesting to see what the HCC Tech Labs measure this PJ's real world contrast levels as, but I was suitably awed.

Another picture element I noted was a stunning levels of detail. Images are razor-sharp, and achieved seemingly without any sense of aggressive image processing. This is a machine that revels in hi-def. The projector also excelled with the HCC static Test Card. Fine detail and texture were supremely well handled, while red peppers popped with postbox vibrancy, and our  'starman' trophy retained its golden lustre without tipping into yellow. Some might feel a need to tame the projector's wide colour gamut, but I found myself wowed by its 'Technicolor' presentation.

Navigating around the menu systems is fairly straightforward. Everything is divided into pages, including, for example, Picture, Advanced Picture (where'll you find Real Colour Processing tools) and installation. There looks to be plenty of scope here for user adjustment.

Barnstormer
So, our early indications are that the VPL-VW85 is a bit of a barnstormer, destined to reignite the LCoS vs. LCD vs. D-ILA vs. DLP debate once again. Even the controversial decision by EISA to give it the Video Projector 2009-2010 award before it’s been released looks like it might make sense. I am quite prepared to predict that this will prove a strong challenger to JVC's D-ILA models, which are only marginally more expensive.

Check out HCC #174, on sale September 24, for our full review.