Projector Reviews

The Sony VPL-VW11HT's black-level retention (not the same thing as black level per se) was good. Overscan measured 5% left and right, 3% top and bottom. Reds looked very slightly orange, but less so than on the Grand Wega KF-60DX100. The horizontal resolution measured better than 500 lines. The luminance burst pattern from Video Essentials (chapter 17-23) indicated a frequency response to the limit of the pattern (5.5MHz) with no visible peaking. The extreme high-frequency emphasis visible on the Grand Wega was not present.

The 11HT's out-of-box gray scale was best at the Low setting, shown in the accompanying figure. After calibration, the gray scale was excellent, and the data points were very close to the D6500 standard.

The full-on/full-off contrast measured 333. (Full-on was read center screen on a 100 IRE full white field. Full-off was read center screen with an open input.) Our 100 IRE contrast reading—comparing the output at the center of a 100 IRE window with the average of five readings in the middle of the black field surrounding it—was 231. These tests, taken on the FireHawk screen in a dark but normally furnished room, are intended as comparative only, but clearly show numbers superior to those measured on the Grand Wega in similar circumstances. This is likely due to the GW's smaller, higher-gain screen.—TJN