Projector Reviews

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio—8,525:1;
ANSI Contrast Ratio—231:1

Measured Resolution with the Leader LT-446:
480: 480 (per picture height)
720p: 720 (pph)
1080i: 1,080 (pph)

DC Restoration (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Color Decoder (poor, average, good, excellent): Excellent

Measured Color Points "Wide":
Red Color Point: x=0.669, y=0.321
Green Color Point: x=0.289, y=0.674
Blue Color Point: x=0.142, y=0.049

Measured Color Points "Normal":
Red Color Point: x=0.663, y=0.323
Green Color Point: x=0.290, y=0.644
Blue Color Point: x=0.142, y=0.049

Measured Color Points After Calibration:
Red Color Point: x=0.640, y=0.325
Green Color Point: x=0.290, y=0.599
Blue Color Point: x=0.142, y=0.049

The top chart shows the VPL-VW50's gray scale relative to its color temperature at various levels of intensity, or brightness (20 IRE is dark gray; 100 IRE is bright white). The gray scale as set by the factory, in the Low color-temperature mode, measures slightly cool with dark images and bright images and slightly warm or near accurate with midtones. After making adjustments using the Photo Research PR-650, the gray scale measures somewhat closer to D6500, the accurate color temperature, except for a spike at the high end.

The bottom chart shows the gray scale (or color temperature) relative to the color points of the display's red, green, and blue LCOS panels. There are multiple choices for color points, including calibration via the RCP menu. Out of the box, the projector is set for Wide. In this mode, green is very oversaturated, and red is oversaturated. In the Normal mode, both green and red are slightly less oversaturated. After calibration, red and green are much more accurate. Red is very slightly purplish-red, and green is slightly bluish-green. The blue color point stays the same regardless of the mode.

After calibration, and using a full-field 100-IRE white (17.05 foot-lamberts) and a full-field 0-IRE black (0.002 ft-L), the contrast ratio was 8,525:1. Using a 16-box checkerboard pattern (ANSI contrast), the contrast ratio was 231:1. The best contrast ratio was achieved in the High lamp mode with the iris set to Auto1. The brightest image was achieved in the High lamp mode with the iris set to Manual Max. In this mode, the projector produced 17.75 ft-L with a 100-IRE field and 0.009 ft-L on a 0-IRE field, for a contrast ratio of 1,968:1 (on an 87-inch-wide, 1.0-gain Da-Lite Da-Mat screen).—GM