Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW60 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons-2

Posted on December 10, 2007 by Art Feierman

Sony VPL-VW60 Projector: Pros

VERY film-like
Great color - dynamic and accurate - after proper grayscale calibration
One of the best at shadow details
Really excellent black level performance
Very good remote control
1.8:1 zoom lens for very good placement flexibility
Supports HDMI 1.3, and 24fps

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3 User savable settings
Very good color management system
Has support for a 3rd party Anamorphic lens for those wanting true Cinemascope aspect ratio 2.35:1
Very quiet projector
Excellent Price/Performance and Value

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Sony VPL-VW60 Projector: Cons

Weak out of the box performance, requiring a good grayscale calibration, as the default for Cinema, is way too cool (blue)
Very limited brightness (one of the least bright) in its brighter modes (Standard and Dynamic)
Image appears softer - less crisp - than the competition
Inputs on the side, can be a little more messy looking in some rooms
One of the larger units (but that's not a "con" to most
Only 2 HDMI inputs (although that's average, a 3rd would be a plus
Based on list price, more expensive than its predecessor

Sony VPL-VW60 Projector: Typical Capabilities

Click to enlarge. SO close

Average Brightness in Cinema mode
Typical documentation, a good user manual, but limited descriptions of how to use many features
Lamp life
HDMI 1.3, but no support for Deep Color
Setup

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Sony VPL-VW60 Summary: The Bottom Line

❮ ❯

If the Sony VW60 was brighter, it would have no serious competition (at this time) in the under $5,000 US 1080p home theater projector market.

Since it isn't, it won't be the right projector for everyone. The most important point though, once you get past its limited brightness in brightest modes, and decide that the Sony will work in your room, is that this looks to be the projector with the best overall image available today (12/07) for under $5K.

It's not just that the picture quality is excellent, and it truly is, but that it has the other bells and whistles - a wide range zoom lens, and much quieter than average operation, to name a couple.

I haven't found a real negative to the VW60's capabilities (lumens notwithstanding), other than the out of the box color performance, which demands you do something, if you really want to get the most out of this Sony projector. You might start by plugging in the Gain and Bias settings I used here, with this unit. Better still, you are buying one fine projector, so go spend a few hundred to get it fully calibrated. Softness of the images is present, but it is not a major issue, and no doubt helps achieve that coveted "film-like" quality.

Then, kick back and enjoy the Sony VW60. It will probably be the last projector you own for quite some time.

If I had a smaller screen, say 100" diagonal, I could be most happy with this Sony.

Enjoy!