CEDIA 2007 - Day 1: Us vs. Monster Cable, Sony's New Projectors and Toshiba on HD-DVD
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Manveer Wasson on September 5, 2007 11:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Sony's New 1080p Projectors
The problem with CEDIA is that the show is targeted mainly to integrators, resellers, and custom installers, in other words: people looking to sell you this stuff. Every press conference and presentation ends up talking about protecting your profits, fighting commoditization and selling better - in other words, it's not very consumer friendly. It's sharp contrast to what we're used to talking about in the PC market where it's all about bang for your buck and the manufacturers mostly get that. Needless to say, Sony is committed to fighting commoditization with its products thus keeping prices high, um, yay? :)
As expected, Sony introduced two new projectors at CEDIA: the VPL-VW60 and the VPL-VW200. The VW60 was announced a couple of weeks ago as the long awaited successor to the VW50 (aka Pearl), Sony's first affordable 1080p SXRD (Sony's LCoS) front projector.
VPL-VW60
The VW60 features 3 1080p SXRD panels with a 35,000:1 dynamic contrast (using dynamic iris, unlike JVC's HD100/RS1). Sony mentioned that the VW60 used an updated video processor but it wasn't clear whether or not the UHP lamp was any different than the VW50's. Panel alignment is now supported to address issues where the three SXRD panels are misaligned, a feature lacking from the VW50. Sony mentioned that the panel alignment feature was specifically developed for installers, which could mean that it's only accessible through a service menu.
Adjustable lens shift and a special "theater mode" calibration are both VW60 features, and the projector has 2 x HDMI ports as well as a RS232 port for automation. The video processor will stretch the picture vertically to support 2.35:1 aspect ratio setups with an optional motorized anamorphic lens. Sony didn't mention what company would be producing the lens itself.
The VW60 retails for $4999, but street price should be lower, and it is currently shipping.
VPL-VW200
The VW200 is a higher end projector using a 400W Xenon bulb (better color gamut, not necessarily better brightness though) and a custom Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. The VW200 also brings Sony's 120Hz Motionflow technology to the projector, supporting both frame interpolation (like JVC) or black frame insertion to achieve 120Hz.
Panel alignment and 2.35:1 scaling support are both standard (with an optional anamorphic lens) just like the VW60, but the 200 does add an ethernet port possibly for automation or firmware updates.
The VW200 will begin shipping in October at under $15,000.
Compared to JVC's recently announced HD100/RS2, it looks like the two companies will have fairly complementary offerings on the market. We'll have to wait until November before finding out how the WV60 stacks up to JVC's latest and greatest though.
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leexgx - Friday, September 7, 2007 - link
my higher end pcs i sell come fitted with conbo BD Reader and an dvd-Rw buner and an 24" Wide monitor to support that as well (1920x1200 screen/1080p/HDCP)combo BD Read/dvd-RW drives are £140 (not looked at hd-dvd prices) once thay get to better price i fit them as standered on my med range pcs
burner for BD or HD are like £300
considering the buner but depends on customer
leexgx - Friday, September 7, 2007 - link
online stores only seem to have BD/dvd combo and BD buners so hd-dvd cant realy be pushed yet on the PC side if there is lack of an drive (good for BD then)compareing them disk size HD-dvd 15gb/30gb and BD 25gb/50gb, i not buy an HD-dvd buner
Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
By focusing on laptops you have the advanatage that it becomes more likely users will look their laptop up to their TV... After being wowed by the quality of HD off their laptop, they might start considering also investing in a stand alone player so they can forgo the inconvinience of having to mess around with wires and cables all the time just to watch HD movie content.Owls - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
to use adult titles as a selling point.. I don't know if that's a joke or something sad.mcnabney - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
The argument is valid. The marketing of adult content (previously only available on film) for home viewing on the VHS standard is considered one of the contributors to the victory of VHS over Beta. Recording time length and cheaper players also had an impact.Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Perhaps it's just me but I think the confidence sony is showing right now is the first step in their down fall... HD is still very much an up and coming market, just getting ready to make it down to regular consumers (i.e. to the point that single guys like me who aren't rich are finally getting HD-TVs, families are next). Here is where price/quality really matters, and that is where HD-DVD is delivering compared to blueray. Sony is completely off their rocker to think they've any where near won.AlexWade - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
HD DVD won CEDIA with the announcement that HD DVD will be pushed by Sunday Night Football. Monster is right about consumer ignorance (but wrong about their overpriced cables). Most consumers still have little clue about HD DVD and Blu-Ray. A lot of people watch football. And it comes at a time when a sub $200 HD DVD will be entering the market. Blu-Ray better counter, or else Blu-Ray will become What?-Ray.AlexWade - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Oh, and one more thing. Neither side has won the MAJORITY of average consumers. Blu-Ray, according to Sony, has won the enthusiasts. But those are the vast vast minority. The winner of this format war is the one that gets the majority.Locutus465 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Blueray has won the segment of customers that think higher price tag some how means better HD quality from your DVD player... It won't take the average consumer long to figure out that HD-DVD gives you the same quality at a much lower price point...tuteja1986 - Thursday, September 6, 2007 - link
Well i bought a 360 external drive and removed it from its casing and installed it on pc via mini ATAPI to IDE cable ;)A cheap $150 HD-DVD drive that works great on my PC.