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

Sony VPL-VW60 Projector: Pros

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

Click Image to Enlarge

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!