sxrd lcd panel pricelist

Sony has announced the newVPL-GTZ380 native 4K (4096x2160) SXRD projector, a 10,000-lumen powerhouse designed for large display applications in entertainment, museum, simulation, and corporate applications.

The VPL-GTZ380 relies on a series of advances that improves light stability for an LCoS-based projector operating at such high lumen output. The trio of newly-developed 0.74-inch SXRD panels—Sony"s proprietary liquid crystal on silicon technology—uses a more advanced liquid crystal material, while a liquid cooling system for the panels, a patented phosphor wheel with efficient heat release, and streamlined air flow design also contribute to both durability and a low 39 dB noise rating.

Darrell, I would not expect to see a 10,000 lumen home theater projector from Sony any time soon -- getting that kind of brightness while maintaining truly deep blacks is very challenging from an engineering standpoint, and that super-high lumen count wouldn"t really find much following in the traditional home theater market except for very large dedicated theaters. But Sony has been quiet on the HT front for a while and seems to be due for some new models, and I would not be surprised to see some projectors at some point with somewhat brighter output than current models directly intended for ambient light home theater. The new formulation SXRD panel used in this commercial model does seem to have pushed the limit on what they can do with the brightness of the technology while maintaining long-term reliability.

The VPL-VW325ES is Sony"s new replacement for the VPL-VW295ES, which in turn replaced the VPL-VW285ES back in October 2018 as the company"s least expensive native 4K SXRD projector. After holding both prior models to $4,999, Sony has raised the price of the VW325ES to $5,499. And thus marks the formal end to Sony"s long-running claim of offering "4K under $5K." I guess nothing is forever.

Also still missing in this upgrade of the VW295ES is any kind of dynamic iris that might help deepen the blacks. That can also be found in—you guessed it—the VW715ES. Still, the VW325ES at least starts with the excellent native black level of Sony"s 0.75-inch LCoS-based SXRD panels. Having a trio of them—one for each primary color—allows the 325ES to fully dodge two troublesome issues common to single-chip DLP projectors: unequal white and color brightness, and rainbow artifacts. Another benefit of LCoS imagers generally is the high "fill factor" that comes from requiring little space between the pixels. With LCoS, all the electrical leads for addressing the pixels are behind the reflective layer at the back of the chip. So the pixels on this projector are vanishingly small and the grid between them virtually undetectable with a 100 inch image, even with your nose at the screen.

With so much directly carried over from the VW295ES—including its most obvious omissions—you might be wondering what you get for your extra $500 when you step up to the VW325ES. The answer starts with inclusion of Sony"s new "X1 for projector" processor family that has resulted in recent updates to nearly every model in Sony"s pre-existing home theater line-up (the exception so far being the former flagship, the 5,000-lumen VPL-VW5000ES). The X1 Ultimate for projector processor is the most powerful and is found currently only on the VPL-GTZ380, while the others have the X1 for projector chip. Both are optimized versions of the X1 processor used in Sony"s best panel TVs. Across all the new models, the extra speed and brain power enable two key new or updated features: Dynamic HDR Enhancer and Super Resolution Reality Creation.

For background, I"ll first repeat what we"ve previously reported in reviews and in this comprehensive article on HDR about the challenges of reproducing HDR on a projector. HDR video, and specifically the HDR10 format we"ve seen employed for most content, was designed with flatpanels in mind that are capable of peak highlights that hit close to 1,000 nits or more. By contrast, home theater projectors typically top out around 150 nits, sometimes closer to 100 nits depending on the lumen specification.

With some HDR content being mastered today with peaks of 4,000 nits or greater (and with a theoretical maximum of 10,000 nits for HDR10), today"s consumer panel TVs and projectors must all perform "tone-mapping" to adapt the brightest highlights and deepest blacks to the capabilities of the display. The best TVs have self-emissive pixels (as with OLEDs) or multizone local-dimming backlights (as with LED-driven LCD sets) to allow the TV to simultaneously darken specific pixels or zones while pumping up the brightness on others. This makes them well-suited to HDR.

Moving on to other features: the side connection panel on the VW325ES mimics that of the VW295ES it replaces; it is modest but sufficient for most applications. The pair of HDMI ports are version 2.0b, not the latest HDMI 2.1 ports that could potentially support 4K gaming at 120 Hz from the newest game consoles. It"s another disappointment to see a new generation of projectors from Sony that doesn"t have HDMI 2.1. But this model does carry over from the VW295ES the Input Lag Reduction switch in the menu that cuts input lag from a rated 80 ms to approximately 27 ms with 4K 60Hz signals. That"s not exactly gaming projector territory but is far better than most projectors. Unfortunately, I couldn"t fully verify this spec because our Bodnar 4K lag meter wouldn"t sync with the projector when putting out 4K/60 signals (I had the same problem with the VW295ES). But we got 36.2 ms with 1080p/60. The Input Lag Reduction function is available for any preset picture mode and has essentially the same effect, though it is only on by default in the Game mode.

Contrast and the overall dimensionality of the image were also really outstanding thanks to the deep native black of the SXRD imagers. A big part of the allure of this projector is that things pop so well off the black floor, even if the letterbox bars don"t exactly disappear into the velvet frame on my screen. In particular, typical mixed scenes with both dark and bright elements really had an amazing sense of depth and dimensionality.

Jeff, I was very impressed with the contrast and black levels on this projector despite lack of an iris. I do believe that Sony"s latest SXRD chips are very likely far superior in this regard to what"s in your HW15.

Matt, two things to put in perspective here. One is that Tom is a bit more stringent than I am in wanting things to measure right and there was no way to get the 715 to look the way he wanted on the HDR EOTF curve in Calman. I initially agreed with him when I began watching HDR on the 325 that Sony"s HDR tends to look dark and bury the shadows, but I was perfectly happy to move to one of the slightly less color accurate brighter modes and adjust by eye to get a result I liked. HDR is one of those things with projectors that just doesn"t calibrate easily, especially with Calman software designed for flatpanels,and I have almost given up on using it for HDR beyond a bit of tuning to get RGB in balance on the grayscale and reasonably close to whatever color temperature you"re targeting. At this point, I believe my HDR assessment of a projector should be based on whatever image the manufacturer provides out of the box and whatever else I can do (mostly by eye) to make it look satisfying to me.

Thanks for that thought, Sean. I admit my 92 is a bit small by most standards. I expect to upgrade to a 100 inch soon in a similar 1.3 matte white gain, but I do feel that this is a very common screen size and the starting point for most folks in making a decision to go with a projector vs. a big panel display. We have a 110 inch in our studio, which is a little bigger and right in that 100-120inch range I think a majority of users probably fall into. It"s also a reasonable size for typical 4K home theater projectors today to be able to drive to decent brightness for HDR and perhaps moderate ambient-light viewing of sports or news. But I"m glad you"ve gotten satisfying performance from your 45ES, which is a great 1080p projector.

Thanks Rob, you helped make the decision to go with the WV325 when I was at the store to see the 5050 (which also impressed). This article was posted while I was there. As we sit 8 feet or less from a 130" screen, I worried about seeing the pixels with LCD. This thing is incredible with none and the picture just pops. I saved and waited years to replace an old Panasonic PT-M1083 CRT (no pixels and 1080) that had great blacks. This is lots brighter than that, even in low lamp mode. I wouldn"t fear the brightness if using in a totally dark room.

Hi Rob, Great review. I am definitely considering replacing my Epson 6040 with the VW325ES. This will be my first Sony projector and I have read in various forums that there is an issue with all Sony projectors having degradation problems with their SXRD panels. Have you heard of this and/or should it be of material concern? Thanks!

Years ago Sony"s early SXRD rear projection models (and pesumably their earlier SXRD projectors) had some issues with this, but I don"t know about the current generation models that mostly use the same late-gen SXRD chips. I think information found on the forums can usually be deemed accurate but not necessarily as widespread as it might seem to be based on a few periodic posts as opposed to a legion of people complaining about any given problem

I"m trying to decide whether to plunge into a new projector like this one, or suck it up and grab a similarly priced 77" OLED Bravia. Based on what I"ve read, the OLED panels can produce a "better" image, but (in my opinion) they kinda lack the whole "theater" experience you get with a projector.

Is there even such a thing as an OLED projector? You"d think if they can make a native 4K OLED cell phone, they could pack panels into a projector... but what do I know.

I"d recommend this excellent projector to replace your old projector over an OLED panel. Size matters, as does the unfatiguing quality of a projected image.

Sony has a total of three series of SXRD-based rear-projection televisions for 2007, which works out to eight total models. We can"t review all of those sets, but we can give you an idea of how they stack up against one another, and the differences between the baseline versus the step-up models. This info only covers the company"s SXRD-based rear-projection HDTVs; Sony also produces a less-expensive line of LCD-based RPTVs, detailed here. For more info on rear-projection technologies, including how SXRD and LCD stack up against DLP, check out our guide.

This is Sony"s entry-level SXRD series. It"s actually a holdover from the company"s 2006 line, with black cabinets replacing silver as the only change. Check out the KDS-60A2020 review for more information.

Sony used to be satisfied with just two series of SXRD HDTVs, but this year it"s added a third--the A3000 series--to fit between the entry-level A2020"s and the high-end XBRs. These three rear-projection sets are priced higher than many brands" top-of-the-line models, and Sony tries to justify the cost with a few enhancements over the A2020 sets, which themselves cost about $1000 less.

That extra investment nets HDMI 1.3 connections, which in this case don"t count for much. The only "extra" HDMI 1.3 provides these TVs is compatibility with a wider color space (Sony"s xvYCC, or "x.v. Color"), which is said to provide a more realistic range of color that comes closer to what the human eye can perceive. That sounds great, but in practice you"ll need an xvYCC source -- of which there are currently none, aside from a couple of Sony camcorders -- to take advantage of it. These sets also include Sony"s Motionflow 120Hz technology, which is said to double the frame rate for smoother, more realistic motion. We"re skeptical of its benefits, especially in SXRD TVs that haven"t had any problems with blurring or other motion issues as far as we"ve seen, but we"ll know more when we can test this feature. In addition, Sony claims these sets have better standard-def video processing ("Sony"s BRAVIA Engine EX full digital video processing system with Digital Reality Creation-Multifunction v1.0", if you"re keeping track) and the company includes an easy-access Theater mode to make optimizing the picture for nighttime viewing a one-button affair.

Native 4K means that every on-screen pixel is represented by a distinct square on the projector panels inside these machines. The advantages are higher detail and clarity, and improved motion handling, too. If you want to do your source material real justice then native 4K is the way to go.

The cornerstone of Sony"s native 4K projectors is the SXRD projector panel system. It"s the place where the image is formed before it"s focused by the lens and onto the screen. It"s where the pixel information comes from.

Cheaper, non-native 4K panels are usually one of two main types: transmissive or reflective. Transmissive panels involve shining a light source through, usually, a set of LCD crystals to make an image – much like an LCD TV. As with LCD TVs, the major downside is that it"s hard to produce proper blacks with the constant backlighting.

Reflective panels, the most popular being the Texas Instruments DLP chips, are covered in a series of micromirrors. Light from the laser or lamp source is bounced off these to create the picture rather than passed through the panel. Each micromirror represents an individual on-screen pixel and each can be angled so as not to reflect any light at all, therefore creating far better black depth. The disadvantage is that DLP projectors aren"t always quite so sharp at the same resolution.

The Sony SXRD panel aims to capture the best of both of these technologies. It"s an LCoS projection system (liquid crystal on silicon). A layer of liquid crystal sits on top of a reflective surface and the tiny gaps between the liquid crystal cells allow tight control of the reflected light that passes through. That way, the image benefits from both the deep blacks, and therefore high contrast, as well as fine detail too.

There are three SXRD panels in each machine, one for each of the primary colours (red, green and blue) from which all the other necessary colours can be made. Each panel has 4096 x 2160 resolution to deliver a full 8.8 million pixels for native 4K.

It takes more than a high contrast native 4K panel to make a great picture. You also need excellent picture processing and a high quality lens too. One of the key additions to the 2021 range of native 4K Sony projectors is the introduction of the X1 for Projectors chip for those processing smarts. It"s designed to boost HDR, picture detail and motion processing.

Panels and pixels are all well and good but a projector is nothing without a light source behind all that 4K information. Traditionally, most projectors use high pressure mercury lamps but more recently LED and laser projectors have arrived. There are no LED projectors in the Sony native 4K range but lasers are available for those that can afford them.

Most of the projectors in the 4K SXRD line-up come with the standard Sony aspherical lens, but the higher-up models get something a little more special to go with their Z-Phosphor laser light source.

Made up of 18 glass elements, the ARC-F lens (All Range Crisp Focus) is designed to optimise the colour convergence from the three SXRD panels for a pin-sharp and colour-accurate picture, and it does so with a throw ratio of 1.35:1 to 2.90:1, which can create a 100in image at a distance between 3m to 6m.

Sony claims that it"s fully capable of conveying the full resolution of every 4 micron-sized pixel on the panels to the screen. The extra low dispersion glass in the ARC-F aims to achieve a consistent focus throughout the colour spectrum with no colour fringing even during fast changes in image contrast. It should keep the picture just as sharp at the corners as at the centre of the screen too.

It"s a lamp-based model with the same three-chip SXRD projector panel system as used throughout the whole line-up. It has a likely very effective 1500 lumens brightness level, which should easily be enough to offer a bright picture in a dedicated cinema room.

Otherwise, this projector is very similar to the 290ES above, hence the relatively small difference in price. The SXRD system, X1 chip, lens and even the chassis are all the same.

It"s up at the dizzy heights of this second-to-top SXRD projector where the all-glass ARC-F lens comes in. The extra low dispersion glass is designed to apply consistent sharpness from corner to corner no matter how hot the projector gets and without a hint of chromatic aberration at any part of the spectrum.

Right at the top of the SXRD native 4K projector mountain, you"ll find the Sony VPL-GT380. The brightness of its laser light source leaps to an incredible 10,000 lumens but, be warned, the sheer size of this machine starts becoming a serious consideration. At 51kg and with dimensions of 23 x 56 x 76cm, it"s for larger sized private cinemas.

It"s also the only member of the SXRD family to use Sony"s X1 Ultimate for Projector picture processor. This enables object-based HDR and Super-Resolution remastering of the image in real-time for faster and more accurate levels of exposure and sharpness to your movie watching.

The good news is that these older machines are still native 4K projectors with Sony"s SXRD panel technology and an X-series picture processor. You"ll find both laser and lamp models as well as a What Hi-Fi? Award-winner.

This Award-winning projector is the former entry-level SXRD machine from Sony. It"s still a native 4K projector and well worth picking up if you can find a good deal on one.

Following the pattern, the laser light source and ARC-F lens are still present with the core specs and SXRD panel used the same too.Today"s best Sony VPL-VW870ES deals

**The 2005 3LCD models are unique in that they are the only models between 2003 and 2007 that have not had a Sony warranty extension.***The expiration date of the extended warranty was originally 10/31/2008, but, based in part on the settlement of a class action lawsuit, on 11/12/2007, Sony extended the expiration date to 6/30/2009.

****The expiration date of these extended warranties was originally 6/30/2010, but, in mid-June 2010, Sony extended them to match those in the pending Cardenas SXRD2 class action lawsuit settlement.

liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology ("SXRDTM" models).All of the 2002-2006 and some of the 2007 modelsuse the WEGATM video processing engine and are generally known as Grand WEGAs. The remaining 2007 models use the newer BRAVIATM engine and branding.

SXRD models (green, yellow, purple, pink, or magenta blob, stain, haze, halo, or tint, and other discolorations)Image of a yellow stain (lower-right of image) by Mightyp on AVS Forum:

The optical blocks in SXRD models appear to have defects that cause predominantly green blobs, green haze, and/or yellow stains, although other discolorations (e.g., magenta-colored tint) also occur.An Opinion and Order from a class-action lawsuit on the 2005 models provides unique insight into the causes of the discolorations. A majority of the green issues that appeared in the 2005 SXRDs (the green blobs) arose almost immediately after they were put into service, often occurring near the middle of the screen, sometimes being donut-shaped. Sony claims that they identified and fixed that issue ("temperature fluctuations at the calibration stage of the assembly line") within a month of the start of production. Sony claims that this only affected the first ~7,000 TVs to be produced.Sony also claims that other minor causes of green issues (the green haze) were identified and fixed by 1/2006, although no details were provided.

Most likely, all of the green discolorations occurred due to the presence of improperly polarized light in the green channel, arising from defective green polarizers and/or SXRD panels. There is more recent evidence from a subsequent SXRD class action lawsuit that green haze can be caused by skin oil or debris introduced during the manufacturing process (presumably, optical block assemblers touching the parts with their bare fingers). However, Sony claims that they cleaned such optical block parts in a clean room prior to releasing them.

Sony further claims that the yellow stains in the 2005 SXRDs, which tend to start in the upper or lower right corner, were caused by a "microscopic material" in the liquid crystal panels, disrupting their uniformity over time during prolonged exposure to UV light produced by the projection lamp. Sony claims that the extent of the discoloration depended on the amount of microscopic material present in the panel, which varied from TV to TV, and the frequency of usage by the consumer. They also claim that service records indicate that the issue always appeared within the first 3,000 hours of usage, if it was going to happen.

Sony convinced the Plaintiffs counsel and judge in the class-action lawsuit that virtually all of the defective TVs that were subject to the problems would have exhibited them by the optical block warranty extension expiration date (6/30/2009), given the claimed 0-3,000 hour time period to appearance. However, inconsistent with Sony"s claims, many 2005 SXRD owners have experienced the same failures on the allegedly re-engineered optical blocks. In addition, original optical blocks have continued to fail after the extended warranty date and the claimed 3,000 hours of usage. Furthermore, similar issues are now being reported by owners of both the 2006 and 2007 model year SXRDs, which were largely produced after the alleged 10/2006 fix on the 2005 models.

A variety of other discolorations also affect SXRD models, including magenta or purple or other colors "tinting" various parts of the image. Some discoloration may be evident when the TV is first turned on, but then it may change or disappear after a period of time. SXRD technology is highly reliant on precise light polarization, so smaller degrees of degradation of the parts in the optical block and/or temperature changes can affect the image in these ways.

The blue discolorations seem to be the most common, particularly in the earlier (2003-2005) 3LCD models, although they are also observed in the more recent 3LCD models, as well as the SXRD models. These discolorations can take the form of blue blobs, haze, lines, bands, dots, star pattern, etc. In some cases, the discoloration is centered around an oval-shaped anomaly in the middle of the screen. In many cases, the discoloration (e.g., haze) is most visible on a gray background, but in other cases, the discoloration is visible on a black background (e.g., blobs). Once they become evident, the discolorations tend to accumulate and spread across the entire screen over the course of a few weeks to months.

The precise cause(s) of these discolorations have not been revealed by Sony, but the problem is well-known in the industry.Thediscolorations tend to be bluish in color,because the parts in the blue light path (particularly the blue polarizing filters and liquid crystalpanels) aresubject to the highest energy light (including UV) and heat. Photochemical and heat-based degradation of the blue polarizing filters can allow stray, improperly polarized blue light to pass through the blue LCD panel and onto the screen, leading to blue blobs on images that should be black. Photochemical and heat-based degradation of compounds in the blue LCD panel (e.g., the liquid crystal itself and/or alignment layers) can cause irregular distribution and/or alignment of the of the liquid crystal. This can lead to improper polarization of blue light as it passes through the damaged areas of the panel, resulting in the projection of stray blue light onto the screen.

images--typically called burn-in on older CRT and plasma displays. For example, this can occur in areas of black bars (e.g., letterboxes), in news ticker areas, or when pausing a program on a DVR.As the liquid crystal panels degrade over time, the

While the 2003-2004 3LCD models tend to have primarily blue discolorations, as described above, they can also suffer from stains in the yellow range, and this seems even more common in the newer 3LCD models (e.g., 2005-2006), particularly the A10s. These discolorations tend to start on the edges or appear within oval-shaped anomalies, and to spread over time. Similar to the yellow stains in the SXRDTM models, the yellow color arises due to light being completely blocked in the blue light pathdue to photochemical and heat-based damage (e.g., darkened areas on the orange-colored polarizing filter in the blue light path). The improper blockage of blue lightleaves the predominantly yellow light from the combined green and red light paths. TriState Module sells the orange-colored polarizing filter for the blue light path and reports that it can fix yellow discolorations.

On top of the high risk for blue discolorations described above, some2003-2004 3LCD modelsare also susceptible to developing an opaque, non-moving pattern on the screen, which is particularly evident on white or light backgrounds. This is referred to variously as stationary scribble, squiggly, random line, or road-mapping, and tends to be a solid color such as yellow, purple, or blue-green on a white background, but it varies somewhat depending on the specific color of the image on the screen.The problem tends to grow worse over time.

For the most part, this problem seems to have been caused by defective materials in a specific lot of LCD panels that were installed in the optical blocks, whichare particularly sensitive to damage arising from hot-cold (on-off) cycling. The color of the scribbles likely correlates with the light path with the damaged LCD panel. For example, damage to the blue panel may selectively block blue light in the damaged areas, leading to a yellow scribble (green plus red), damage to the green panel may lead to a purple scribble (blue plus red), or damage to the red panel may lead to a blue-green scribble. In some cases, different colored scribbles appear in different areas on the same TV, suggesting damage to multiple panels.

There is some evidence that leaving the TV on for an extended period (e.g., several days) can, at least temporarily, resolve or reduce this issue, perhaps by causing the defective panel to heat up, but this is not a complete or permanent fix.

For reference,in addition to liquid crystal projection technology (3LCD andLCoS/SXRDTM), othernewer technologies at the time included digital light processing (DLP) projection,plasma flat-panel,and LCD flat-panel. In the large screen market, DLP and plasma were in direct competition with liquid crystal projection in its heyday, and LCD flat-panels have overtaken the market as prices have come down on larger panels.

An industry group of LCD projection manufacturers called the "3LCD Group" was formed in 2004 to help market the 3LCD microdisplay technology. Sony is a member of this marketing group, and, along with Epson, accounted for most of the production of the LCD microdisplay panels used in the projection models. Although the current 3LCD Group web site refers only to front projectors, it included rear-projection TVs when they were in production. For example, see this version of the 3LCD Group web site archived in January of 2005. Here is an excerpt from a 1/7/2005 3LCD Group press release:

“As the U.S. market leader in microdisplay televisions, Sony has always been committed to providing consumers with video products that exceed their expectations,” said Mike Fidler, senior vice president in Sony Electronics’ Home Products Division. “3LCD technology fulfills this role by offering an ideal balance between superior performance, overall reliability and manufacturing efficiency.”

Liquid crystal projection TV sales and marketing efforts attempted to steer customers away from competing plasma TVs by citing a short 10,000-20,000-hour lifespanof the plasma tubes (less than 10 years at 3-6 hours per day).In addition, the longevity of competing DLP projection TVs was questioned based on the use of moving parts (DLP technology uses a spinning color wheel with millions of hinged micromirrors). Consistent with this, Sony and its 3LCD Group have released marketing statements such as the following:

It is generally accepted that liquid crystal flat-panel displays have an expected life span of about 60,000 hours(about 27 years at 6 hours per day)(e.g., site 1, site 2, site 3). The liquid crystal microdisplay panels in Sony"s 3LCD and SXRDTM TVs are a bit different than flat-panels. However, Sony and the 3LCD Group do not differentiate LCD flat panels and microdisplays when speaking about reliability. For example, the following statement can be found on the 3LCD Group web site:

Reliable, Road-Tested Tecnology: LCD technology surrounds us – HDTVs, PDAs, mobile phones, monitors and more...this powerful and road-tested technology is an optimal way to achieve sharp, beautiful images. 3LCD systems are reliable and use a simple optical design: 3 chips and 1 prism.

Furthermore, the estimated 60,000-hour lifespan of an LCD flat panel is actually based more on the longevity of the fluorescent back-lighting than the liquid crystal components themselves. So, if the lighting systems were replaceable on these units, the lifespan could, theoretically, be much longer.In liquid crystal projection systems, the lamps are, in fact, user-replaceable, and Sony has exploited this to further promote the longevity of the technology. They strongly promoted that their TVs only needed a lamp change every several years to restore the TV to a like-new condition. Here are some quotes from some of Sony"s marketing:

The Fountain of Youth - User-Replaceable UHP Lamp. In the past, the gradual loss of picture quality was just part of owning a TV. Once the picture got to a point where it was unwatchable, the TV was replaced and the process started over. Sony recognizes the investment in time and money that a TV represents. That is the reason that Grand WEGA comes with an ingenious user-replaceable UHP lamp. After countless hours of enjoyment, simply replace the lamp and your Grand WEGA is as good as the day you bought it. In fact, with Sony"s renowned quality, Grand WEGA may be the last TV you ever own.The implication from these quotes is that liquid crystal rear-projection TVs could have an even longer life than a liquid crystal flat-panel display, and even CRT-based TVs, due to the user-replaceable lamps. In fact, a "white paper" from Sony on their projection systems directly suggests that liquid crystal microdisplay (fixed-pixel) projection panels offer "far longer life" than CRT-based TVs (e.g., see page 23):

CRTs have phosphors that are subject to burn-in when an image stays on the screen too long...Fixed-pixel projector display panels are immune to burn-in, offering far longer life. And the SXRD panel is particularly robust.However, unlike flat-panel liquid crystal displays with non-damaging fluorescent back-lighting, the UHP lamps in Sony"s rear-projection TVs create substantial direct heat, direct light (e.g., ultraviolet), and indirect heat (produced by conversion of reflected light). This damaging energy is focused on the small filters and liquid crystal panels within the optical block, significantly reducing lifespan.

"Cardenas" SXRD2 (Q006, XBR2, A2000, A2020, and A3000) class action: 09-CV-8652-RPP & 09-MD-2102-RPP (settled 8/24/2010)A class action lawsuit was originally filed in October of 2008 by the same law firms involved in the XBR1 lawsuit on behalf of Paul Meserole and others, which included only the A2000 and XBR2 models. The Complaints included allegations very similar to the XBR1 Complaint--that the optical blocks had defects that caused discolorations to appear over time.  Over the ensuing months, six additional similar class action lawsuits were consolidated under what became known as the "Meserole" action, and Sony engaged in some negotiations for a settlement.

However, in June of 2009, another lawsuit was filed by the Federman & Sherwood law firm on behalf of a single plaintiff, Sabrina Cardenas. The Complaint was largely copied from the Meserole action, but it added the 60" version of the A2020 (Ms. Cardenas owned a 60" A2020). Sony switched to negotiating with this new law firm, added all of the remaining SXRD models to the list (the 2004 Q006s, the remaining 50" and 55" versions of the A2020, and the A3000s), and they jointly announced a proposed settlement in November of 2009.

According to Sony, over the course of the release of the SXRD models, Sony engineers installed additional stronger UV filters, re-engineered the manufacturing process of the LCD panels to reduce contamination, and changed the LCD panel voltage. Sony claimed that these changes led to reductions in certain failure rates. The only new information here is about the LCD panel voltage change (the other "fixes" were reported several years ago in the XBR1 class action lawsuit).

to the terms of the settlement, if it receives final approval. You can access the information and forms on the Sony SXRD 2 Rear Projection Television Class Action Settlement and

"Meserole" SXRD2 (XBR2 and A2000) class action: 08-CV-8987-RPP (dismissed 9/8/2010)This case represented a federal consolidation of several other class actions (Ouellete et al., Webber et al., Raymo et al., and Crusinberry et al.) related to newer (2006-2007) SXRD models. The plaintiffs alleged that Sony was in violation of a variety of warranty laws, false advertising laws, business codes,other consumer protection lawsfor knowingly selling TVs that had defective optical blocks, suppressing release of information on the defects, and engaging in ineffective and untimely repairs while selling extended service contracts. This case was superseded by the Cardenas lawsuit and dismissed in early September 2010, shortly after final approval of the Cardenas settlement.

indicates that he was replacing optical blocks in earlier 3LCD models (XBR950, WE, WF, and XS).The Meserole attorneys had eliminated his reference to the year "2005" in his statement, which pre-datedthe XBR2 and A2000 models in the current lawsuit. So, the Meserole attorneys were sanctioned for taking his statement out of context, as he had no direct knowledge of the XBR2 and A2000 models--only the earlier models.

"Smart" 2005 3LCD (A10 and A20) class action: 08-CV-2276-IEG-WVG (dismissed 11/30/2010)This case was originally filed on 12/8/2008 by JP Smart. Over time, the case was combined with three other related cases by plaintiffs Bolton, Bashore, and Mayer. A Consolidated Complaint was filed on 8/14/2009. The original judge (Whelan) dismissed seven of the eight claims on 8/6/2010, but allowed the case to continue on a breach of warranty claim, allowing the plaintiffs to amend their complaint.

There is an old saying from the world of two-channel audiophilia: If you want to remain happy with your CD-based digital stereo system, never again listen to an LP-based analog one. I used to feel exactly this way about new-fangled DLP, LCD, and LCoS digital projectors versus old-fashioned CRT analog numbers. I don’t anymore.

Though it pains me to say this, my $50,000, custom-made, 8-inch CRT projector has finally met its match in Sony’s new VPL-VW100—a threepanel, SXRD-based, 1080p, digital front projector, which, believe it or not, retails for $10,000. Folks, there are still top-of-the-line single-chip 720p projectors out there that cost ten grand and more (though not for long, I’ll bet). And the finest currently available 1080p projectors—like Sony’s own Qualia 004 and Faroudja’s DILA1080pHD—cost three or four times that much.

That said, with the user controls properly set, I could make out shades of red that would previously have been closer to uniformity. For example, in the first round of the National League playoff games, I had no trouble telling the brick red of the Astros’ jerseys from the brighter red (with fine gold piping) of the numerals on the grey jerseys of the Braves’ uniforms. I could even see the way the flat-panel monitor in the announcer’s booth was miscalibrated, reproducing the Astros brick jerseys as carmine red! In addition, the slight rosiness of skin tones was greatly reduced to the point where it was rarely distracting. In addition to adjusting CONTRAST, COLOR, and HUE, you can, and should, tweak BRIGHTNESS with the PLUGE patterns on AVIA or DVE, and lower SHARPNESS to 20 or less. (This set does not need added sharpness, believe me.) Although these adjustments are necessary— and easy to effect—perhaps the best thing you can do for the VPLVW100 is to source it via HDMI or DVI at 1080i. Frankly, I wouldn’t have believed the differences that these digital inputs make if I hadn’t seen them for myself. To give you one example, the combination of the VPL-VW100 and an HDMI DVD player upscaling to 1080i turned the DVD of The Last Samurai from a very good transfer into a great one. (It did nothing for the quality of the film, however.) The improvements in …..sharpness, color purity, shadow detail, and, above all else, the reduction of artifacts was downright amazing—and alarming. For years now, I’ve been critical in TPV’s “Short Takes” of DVDs that seem to introduce “haloes” (faint whitish outlines) around faces and objects; I thought these artifacts were the products of excess edgeenhancement in the telecine process. I see now that that they were often artifacts added by the D-to-A conversions and SHARPNESS circuitry of my Faroudja-powered DVD player. Mea culpa.