Projector Reviews

All measurements were made on the Stewart FireHawk screen with our Photo Research PR-650 spectroradiometer.

The Sony VPL-VW12HT'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. Not shown are the results for the High setting, which ranged from 10,000 kelvins to nearly 14,000K. The "After" curve includes the effect of the lens filter. The filter actually had very little effect on either the gray scale or the maximum usable light output, which I determined to be about 15ft-L on this screen (at a contrast setting of 93, which did not clip or blow out the whites).

The contrast measurements were also made with the filter installed. The numbers shown in parentheses here are the contrast readings we measured and published in our review of the VPL-VW11HT in the July/August 2002 Guide. Full-on/full-off measured 360 (333). (Full on = a reading at center screen on a 100 IRE full white field. Full off = measured on center screen with an open input.) The ANSI contrast, measured on a 16-square checkerboard pattern, was 86 (85). The 100 IRE window contrast reading, comparing the output at the center of a 100 IRE window with the average readings in the middle of the black field surrounding it, measured 260 (231).—TJN