New Sony SxRD PJ

[Brandon B]

For those of you who don't get out to the busier projector forums much, Sony is shortly releasing a new "budget" 1920x1080 SxRD projector, a "baby brother" to the Ruby nicknamed the Pearl, but actually called the VPL-VPW50 .

Differences are it's size (~1/4 or so smaller), uses a UHP lamp, and maybe slightly lower end optics, TBD. Brightness, contrast figures and all that are largely the same.

Kicker: List price is $5K.

Only thing that will keep me from getting one of these down the road is if I can get something much brighter for the same $, or ballpark equivalent performance out of one of the new Bi:Na Sony LCD or Epson C2Fine LCD units for less money.

This and maybe an unknown LCD release are why you can now pick up Sony's 720LCD HS51A/60 for $1700 at Best Buy.

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[aud19]

Kicker: List price is $5K.

Wow 8O DLP's got it's work cut out for it!

[Chris D]

Sweet... 1080p, and a "Ruby Lite", for $5k? Nice. I'd be much more tempted, but since my LCD PJ is about 1.5 year old, I'm going to get a bunch more use out of it before I upgrade. By then, we should be seeing HDMI 1.3 and much better technology performance, anyway.

[Brandon B]

Since the Ruby's list was $10K, and people are routinely buying them for $8K, I would guess you'll be able to get this for $4K.

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[Dean McManis]

I'm looking forward to seeing this projector!

[Brandon B]

Clarification, MSRP is $5499. MAP (minimum advertised price) is $5K.

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[draganm]

I still haven't even seen a Ruby, hoping there's one at the upcoming CEDIA in Denver? what's the bulb going to cost on this one? I am really wondering about 50% less light output over the 100 as well. A lot of people complained about the Ruby's dimmness?

[Chris D]

Wait, CEDIA's in Denver? Is it in a different place every year?

[Brandon B]

Where'd 50% dimmer come from? Ruby's speced at 800 lumens, the pearl at 900. edit: Ah, you're looking at the wattage of the bulb. Can't compare UHP to Xenon like that. UHP gives a lot more lumens per watt.

I would guesstimate bulb cost at $300-500.

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[draganm]

ok so the lums is actually a bit higher, that's a good thing.

According to posts I'm reading CEDIA is in Denver this year?
This is the first time Cedia is in Denver. Most often it is in Indianapolis. Not much of a tour for someone who lives in Indianapolis. There's a well known ISF calibrator coming through various cities on his way to Denver so that's how this came up. I guess I'm kind of excited about CEDIA being local to me. I am very intersted to see whether or not there is somthing there that I would consider worth buying? I had a HT meet at my place back in July with a good turnout, about 10 guys showed up and everyone was very impressed from the pic of my 8500 with modified V2 video input cards. A lot of those guys had been around and seen Qualia and other pixel based displays so I'm guessing the show won't blow my socks off?

[Nick M]

Very cool!

I'm waiting for US$3k 1080p. I figure this combination of price/performance should come around just as Blu-Ray/HD-DVD finish duking it out. By then players should be down around $400 too.

Maybe by late 2007 or early 2008?

I got a chance to see 1080i on a 1080p Aquos LCD and it's abso#%^$inlutelyamazin'!

I'm forever teeter-tottering on switching from front-projection to flat-panel my next time around. Chalk another one up on the PJ see-saw side.

[draganm]

I'm forever teeter-tottering on switching from front-projection to flat-panel my next time around. Chalk another one up on the PJ see-saw side.

teetering between a 50" diagonal flat panel or 120"+ projection screen? I can't imagine going back to a little TV after actually being immersed in a movie by projection = 91" wide screen(horizontal) with seating distance of 1.2 X
There's really just no comparison.

[Chris D]

Heheeee... me too. Can't beat my 10 FOOT screen. And yes, I'm waiting for 1080p projection to get cheaper and better, too.

Since I'm from Colorado, I'm just hopping mad that CEDIA is in Denver this year. I'm on an overseas trip, so there's no chance of me going home and going to CEDIA at the same time. grrrr... I wanna go...

[draganm]

Interesting, i'm actually been toying with the idea of moving from CO. The cost of living is too dam high and good paying jobs are very scarce. how's WA for quality of life, besides wet and green? :lol:

[Chris D]

Depends on your views of politics and tolerance of traffic. Those are the two big issues in Washington.

I too am disappointed with how the cost of living has shot up in Colorado. Everybody in California getting out because it's too expensive, moving to Colorado because it's beautiful and cheaper, and raising the costs there. It's really dragged down the average driving skills in the state too, and stuff. Still, I may end up there when I retire just because I like it so much.

[Nick M]

Yeah, sometimes I drool over the superior contrast you get from non projected displays. The pixel density of 1080p on 45-50 inchish screens from 6' away makes for a damn nice picture too!

I keep a 50" 16x9 cutout in my closet. Every once in a while I'll pull it out and tack it next to my 84" screen to get rid of my gimmie-gimmies... :lol:

I do often think about making a more intimate sized HT, but if I ever did theres' no-way I could give up my 4' tall subs... :twisted:

[George Bellefontaine]

I could never go back to anything less than a 92" ( 105" diagonal ) screen for watching movies.

[Brandon B]

Everybody in California getting out because it's too expensive . . .It's really dragged down the average driving skills in the state too, and stuff.

You mean like where is a wreck on the freeway every 3 miles because the stupid f...s don't remember water = slippery because it's been months since the last rain?

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[Chris D]

Yeah, that kind of thing. The Colorado version of that is...

"I'm a transplant from another warm-weather state, (CA, TX, etc) and I think my 4x4 makes me invulnerable in snow. I'm going to keep going 65 mph. Oh, whoops... I just wiped out and killed a bunch of Colorado natives. Well, I guess the percentage of Colorado born-and-raised people just got lower". :roll:

[Dean McManis]

Very cool!

I'm waiting for US$3k 1080p. I figure this combination of price/performance should come around just as Blu-Ray/HD-DVD finish duking it out. By then players should be down around $400 too.

Maybe by late 2007 or early 2008?

I got a chance to see 1080i on a 1080p Aquos LCD and it's abso#%^$inlutelyamazin'!

I'm forever teeter-tottering on switching from front-projection to flat-panel my next time around. Chalk another one up on the PJ see-saw side.

I'm also waiting for the $3K price point for a native 1080p projector. And I'm expecting that it will also have an LED light source, and of course great contrast/black levels, and be bright enough to light up my 180" diag screen. :T

Sure I'm asking a lot, but at the rate that the prices have dropped for 1080p projectors in just the last couple years, it's not unforeseeable to have this magic combination become available within the next 2 years. Probably sooner.

But I'm an optimist, and I'm in no hurry with my 720p DLP FPTV already looking great, and with the HD-DVD/Blue Ray media conflict still unsettled.

[draganm]

[QUOTE=Nicholas Mosher]Yeah, sometimes I drool over the superior contrast you get from non projected displays. The pixel density of 1080p on 45-50 inchish screens from 6' away makes for a damn nice picture too!/QUOTE] well my 91" wide screen goes from almost pitch black to 1200 lums peak in a fraction of second, so CR is not problem for me. I am looking forward to reasonable HD-DVD player prices this Christmas, hopefully by then Blue Ray will be dead and gone. Has anyone here tried taking native 1080i from an HD-DVD player and using an external scaler to scale it to 1080P? Or 1080i to a native 1080P pixel machine?
I remember someone talking about this on another forum and saying it was the best pic they had ever seen on their PJ.

[Brandon B]

The other unit I am keeping an eye on is the Mitsubishi HC5000. 1080P C2Fine LCD unit, not sure of the brightness, either 1000 or 2000 lumens, 10,000:1 contrast and under $4K.

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[George Bellefontaine]

The other unit I am keeping an eye on is the Mitsubishi HC5000. 1080P C2Fine LCD unit, not sure of the brightness, either 1000 or 2000 lumens, 10,000:1 contrast and under $4K.

BB

That looks interesting.

[aud19]

That looks interesting.

I agree...can't wait till these start showing up with reviews/info etc and some displays we can see!!!