******

It’s tough to pick the best, even when you do have them side by side. However, I’ll stick with my most recent comments. I think the Epson, is overall, the best package. It has a distinct advantage in black level performance, and as for the rest, color accuracy, is how well you tune (calibrate) the projector. Personally, the Epson’s brightness is a real plus as well, especially for those of us who like larger screens (over 110″), although it has enough for my 128″ firehawk, I suspect that I’d find it coming up short in brightness for a screen that size (in best mode) as the lamp gets dimmer over time.

Here’s the thing. I’m used to my JVC RS1, and the Epson, was the first lower cost projector that while it may not be quite as good, is so good overall, that I barely touched my RS1, except for comparison, for over a month. As I may have said somewhere in the review. If someone took away my RS1, and replaced it with the Epson, I could definitely live with it quite well, and with little complaint.

That was the only projector I could say that about, that costs less, until I also reviewed the Sony VW60, which is more money. I slightly prefer the Epson, but can appreciate some advantages to the Sony as well. The Sony VW40, on the other hand, nope - when it was setup in my theater, and I just wanted to watch something, when not working, I would use the RS1, whereas I just didn’t feel the burning need (to use the RS1), with the Epson available. In fairness, I’ve received a couple of comments from people who still prefer the “flavor” of the better DLP’s over the Epson (and those that do, also tend to favor DLP over the LCoS projectors like the JVC’s and Sonys.

It’s tough, just remember that any of these produce an incredibly impressive image. We are debating, if you will, the last 10%. -art

Thanks.

I’ve heard the following two rumors:

(a) the VPL-VW40 is just a re-badged VPL-VW50, and in fact is made on the same production line; OR
(b) the 40 is like the 50, but with better circuitry

Do you know if either is closer to the truth? Does Sony have an official position on this?

Thanks.

Good to see you’re working on an Optoma HD803 review. But disappointing to see there’s no sign of one for the Benq W5000. A friend over there claims to have seen one up against the Epson UB, and was very impressed.

Looks like he’s not the only one….
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13027635#post13027635

Hopefully, it can be included in the February shootout.

***********

Hi Adrian,

Ahhh, we do what we can. I tried to reach my usual contacts at BenQ prior to CES to meet with them about getting in review units (in the past, they’ve been very good). I got no response, nor have I heard from them since.

But your reminder is timely, so I’m going to email both of them again, now. -art

Here are the details I’ve gathered together so far…

BENQ W5000 home theater projector
* Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
* 1200 ANSI lumens
* 10,000:1 contrast
* Silicon Optix HQV REON processing onboard
* Motorised/remote vertical lens shift (a major drawcard for some)
* DarkChip2 DLP with Contrast enhancement in 2 steps - Dynamic Iris and DynamicBlack
* Additional manual Iris
* Anamorphic lens support
* True 24p support
* 2 x HDMI 1.3 inputs
* BNC analogue inputs
* VERY quiet (25dB quoted)
* Same premium Japanese-made lens featured on the upcoming W20000 ($10,000+)
* New Philips VIDI lamp, for supposedly improved reliability and light output
* BrilliantColor
* Zero light leakage
* Sealed light engine for dust-proofing
* 10-bit processing
* Full ISF controls for callibration
* 7-segment wheel with 4X, 5X and 6X speeds
* 2 Year warranty (1 Year/500hrs on lamp)