vpl-vw50
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Sony's Pearl VW100 and VPL-VW50 officially launch
It's not too often we get this amped up about a projector (ok, maybe it is), but it's not too often the former Qualia 004 gets revamped and relaunched as a more consumer centric product. Granted, ¥1,365,000 and ¥735,000 (about $11,660 and $6300 US) for their new Pearl VW100 and VPL-VW50 projectors isn't exactly mass market, but you don't have to put on your Sunday best and go to one of the now-defunct Qualia boutiques to get one, either. Expect a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, 1080p high def picture, 200 or 400W bulb, and some combination of HDMI, DVD, VGA, component, composite, and S-Video inputs. Click on for some more pictures of the SXRD projector of your well-heeled dreams.[Via HD Beat and Impress]
Sony Pearl VPL-VW50 1080p SXRD projector shown, dated and priced in Japan
LCDs and LCoS RPTVs weren't all Sony had to show off today, they also displayed the eagerly-awaited smaller, cheaper and more efficient followup to their Ruby VPL-VW100 front projector, the Pearl VPL-VW50. Featuring the same third-generation .61-inch microdisplay that powers the RPTVs, this 1080p projector comes with a 200-watt lamp producing 900 lumens of brightness, two HDMI inputs as well and one component input for all the 1920x1080 high definition content you can feed it. Speaking of 1080p inputs, via HDMI it is ready for 1080/60p, 1080/50p and 1080/24p so no matter what framerate your Blu-ray or HD DVD player of the future outputs 1080p this can handle it without a problem. You can project an image of up to 300-inches just like the Ruby with a maximum 15,000:1 contrast ratio. Unlike the Ruby the Pearl features none of Sony's Digital Reality Creation (DRC) technology to enhance the quality of non-1080p content, so the quality of the deinterlacing on these lower-quality sources remains to be seen. Ship date is October 20 with a price of 735,000 yen ($6,290.65 US) compared to the 1,365,000 yen ($11,682 US) of the Ruby.[Via Impress]
Sony "Pearl" VPL-VW50 SXRD projector details leaked
All the cool kids have 1080p projectors for their home theater setup, but the coolest kids have 1080p SXRD projectors from Sony. At least if looks are anything to go by. Sony's new VPL-VW50 "Pearl" unit, a followup to last year's VPL-VW100 "Ruby" of equal sexiness, matches its big brother nicely in the spec arena. The projector of course has the same 1080p action, imaging courtesy of three third-generation SXRD 0.61-inch panels, and the 200-watt bulb is half the wattage of the VW100, but Sony claims the bulb manages comparable results. Sony's VW50 also keeps up with the VW100's 15,000:1 contrast ratio, has a pair of HDMI inputs and a mere 22 decibels of fan noise. All this info is courtesy of a leaked press release dated August 7, 2005, so we're hoping that "2005" is a misprint and Sony hasn't just forgotten to release this thing for a whole year. If it does prove true, the projector should be out in October, and while there's no word on price, we're hoping they manage to squeeze this one under the VW100's $12,500 pricetag. More pics after the break.[Via HD Beat]
