Projector Reviews

The Sony performed as well, or better, than any other video display I have tested on my standard set of scaling and deinterlacing tests. On standard definition sources (480i) from the Silicon Optix HQV Benchmark test DVD it performed flawlessly on every test except for the 2:2 video cadence test, where it was merely acceptable. It was nearly flawless in its handling of the Roman Coliseum "flyover" in chapter 12 of Gladiator. And it not only properly deinterlaced 1080i sources to its native 720p resolution, it recognized 3/2 pulldown with 1080i film-based material as well.

Temperature tracking before calibration

The Sony's color temperature in Low (the best out-of-the-box setting) averaged several hundred degrees below the desired 6500K. But the projector calibrated well, at or slightly above 6500K (and very close to the desired D6500 point, though with a slight blue shift) throughout much of the brightness range.

Temperature tracking after calibration

The red and blue color points were respectably close to the HD standard. Though green was noticeably oversaturated, I found this less visually distracting than on many other digital displays.

The set's overscan, measured through both its component and HDMI inputs, averaged less than 1% at all resolutions, either with an HDMI or component input (Overscan set to Off).

The resolution, in HDMI, held up to the maximum frequencies required by all formats, although the 1080i performance was slightly inferior to the near textbook resolution the projector produced at 720p. The response was similar over component at every resolution except 1080i, where the response at the maximum frequency on our tests (37.1MHz) was missing in action.

The peak contrast ratio, using a 100 IRE full white field, measured 6,070:1 (12.14 foot-Lamberts peak white, 0.002fL video black). ANSI contrast, measured from a 16 square checkerboard pattern, measured 250:1 (contrast measured on an 87" wide, 1.0-gain Dalite screen.