Sony VPL-HW55ES Projector – Hardware Tour

Sony sent me the black finished version of the VPL-HW55ES projector, rather than the white one.  Shiny black projectors are tough to photograph, so to make things easier, I’m using Sony’s professional images.  They just look better.

Let’s get started: Sony’s 1.6:1 manual zoom lens is center mounted and recessed.  Part of the intake and exhaust vents are on partially on the front and on the side at the front.  Down below  are two very small screw thread adjustable feet, for those placing the projector on a table.  The only other feature on the front of the VPL-HW55ES is the infra-red sensor for the remote control.  That (if you are facing the projector), is on the right, near the bottom, recessed as well, so not easy to spot.  Other than the sensor, and the glass of the lens, the front of the projector is flat black (really dark gray), so as not to reflect light from the screen, back to the screen.  The top of the projector is curved, and a nice shiny black, although when sunlight enters my room, it seems to have a slight bluish tint (very dark)!

Overall, the Sony is a moderately large projector in size, very nicely sculpted, weighing in at about 21 pounds (9.4kg.)  Let’s take a closer look.

All the lens controls are located on the top, more on that shortly.   Again, if you are facing the front of the Sony projector, you would find that the control panel and the inputs are all located on the left side.

For your consideration, this is a closeup photo of the lens and lens shift controls shooting down from the top.

You can see the case flaring out, to create the recess for the lens.  Rotating the outer (front) ring of the lens handles the manual focus.

There’s a notch on the inner ring for adjusting the 1.6:1 zoom lens.  Both controls are very smooth, and solid feeling, better than most projectors.

Right behind the lens, you can see the two lens shift rings.  The one on the left, in the photo, is the vertical (I bet you guessed that), while the other handles horizontal lens shift.   As I’ve written too many times, vertical and horizontal lens shift controls work in tandem.  If you use maximum vertical shift, there’s no horizontal available, and vice versa.  But the less vertical shift you use, the more horizontal is available.