Sony may have teased us with its newest projectors at IFA, but today in the US, the company announced availability and pricing. We guessed US$3,000 for the VPL-HW10, but we were close but not totally right. The solid 1080p Bravia SXRD (LCOS-based) projector with 30,000:1 dynamic contrast is a “value” play, but it’s still expensive at US$3,500. The step-up VPL-VW70 doubles the contrast, and lets you fit an external lens that morphs the picture into a 2.35:1 widescreen ratio without losing pixels. (That extra lens is sold separately.) The VW70 is US$8,000. There aren’t much more details about either yet, but what we do have is below.
Today we took a look at the Kuro 2G plasma compared to the 1G and others. We also had a look at the JVC-made projector that Pioneer is branding Kuro Elite. The hype—if not the price—seems totally worth it. But instead of trying to tell you how much I enjoyed the display of in-yer-face contrast comparison, take a look at the pics I snapped. I marked some with shutter speeds, so you can get a better sense of what we saw. More images of the thinnest Elite plasma monitor and a look at the projector after the jump.
Today Pioneer is revealing its official 2008 Kuro TV lineup for the US. As we expected from European announcements, it includes second-generation Kuro plasmas—thinner, with five-times-deeper black levels than the first critically acclaimed Kuro plasma—and a Kuro-branded LCOS projector originally developed by JVC. What’s missing here are the smaller-sized Kuro LCDs that Pioneer is offering European flat-panel shoppers. Here’s the full product rundown, plus the reason for the missing LCD piece of the puzzle:
JVC’s new Direct-Drive Image Light Amplifier for projectors has a staggering 8192 x 4320 resolution—that’s 35 megapixels, or around 16 times more than full HD. In fact, JVC is saying the little single-device reflective liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) imager has the highest resolution in the world, and the first to enable projectors to produce “Super Hi-Vision” images. The technology behind it has been worked on since 2003, refining the pixel count and contrast upwards with each generation. Last year JVC made a 1.27-inch 4096 x 2400 version, which went on sale in a projector in February 2008. So does this mean we’ll see the new 1.75-inch, 20,000:1 version in projectors soon? Very likely, but we expect you’ll find it in professional projector gear, rather than for your home. [Akihabaranews]
The new Olevia 665H uses a 6-megapixel LCoS light engine and Pixelworks DNX video processing to project a Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 progressive image. With a 2,000:1 contrast ratio and 4ms response time, Olevia says their new screen is great for fast-action scenes —as the picture I used to fill the screen, I hope it comes ready for detailed slow-motion too. Full feature list after the jump. More »
