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Our review on the Sony VPL-HW15 Projector

We have taken a look at the Sony VPL-HW15 in our demo room using the blu ray dvd of The Dark Knight and ran a simultaneous side by side comparison against the Panasonic PT-AE4000E

Zoom range and Lens Shift
The Sony VPL-HW15 features manual zoom (1.6x), focus and horizontal (25%),vertical(65%) lens shift. Whilst adequate for most rooms it cant match the zoom range (2x) and horizontal (40%), vertical (100%) Lens Shift all of which is motorised of the Panasonic AE-4000. Both units feature a centred lens design but for flexibilty and ease of set up the Panasonic wins this battle.

Black levels
On paper the VPL-HW15 is 60,000:1 and the Panasonic is 100,000:1 so we were not expecting the Sony to beat the Panasonic here - we were wrong! Black levels on the HW15 from the opening sequence on the Dark Knight had the AE4000 beaten. (click on the slideshow at the top to view the result)

Brightness
Again on paper we were expecting the VPL-HW15 (rated at 1000 lumens) to lose this battle against the AE-4000E (rated at 1600 lumens). Again we were wrong. Both units were running on the "cinema" image preset but in the daylight scenes of the Dark Knight the HW15 looked crisper and brighter than the AE-4000E

Skin tones
Out of the box image preset "cinema" on both units produced the best results but in our opinion the Sony VPL-HW15 had the slight edge with slightly less saturation and red hue. A couple of quick adjustments on the Panasonic had it looking as good as the Sony so a draw was agreed in this area.

Conclusion 
The Panasonic is by no means a poor machine, it is still a premium 1080p home cinema projector that is a formidable unit - in your front room the picture it will produce will blow you away , the benefit of having the side by side comparison allows for the strengths/weaknesses of a particular projector to be highlighted.

If your room setup requires a projector with large flexibilty in where it can be positioned the Panasonic AE-4000E wins hands down. If if comes down to which unit produces the overall better picture, for us the Sony VPL-HW15 would be the preferred choice.

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Manufacturer Description for the Sony VPL-HW15 Projector

Big Screen, Cinematic Features

The BRAVIA VPL-HW15 projector delivers the excitement and immediacy of HD to a new audience. It brings technologies capable of convincingly reproducing the cinematic experience within the reach of first time buyers of home cinema solutions.

Featuring a stylish design, triple-panel SXRD and 8-stage image processing by BRAVIA ENGINE 2™, the VPL-HW15 is fully loaded with the features you need to introduce a true HD cinematic viewing experience into your living room.

The VPL-HW15 is supplied with a Prime Support pack which offers unique extra services and benefits;

3 years' cover
Free telephone helpdesk support in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.
Collection and delivery anywhere in EU, Norway and Switzerland in the event of a repair being required.

High Contrast Ratio – 60,000: 1 with Advanced Iris 3 technology

The Advanced Iris 3 contrast enhancement works like the human eye, responding dynamically to the level of light in each scene, always selecting the optimum contrast. With a high range of 60,000:1, Advanced Iris 3 can bring out the detail in darker sequences and prevent bright scenes from looking washed out.

1080p Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080

Three panels -red, green and blue, ensuring optimum colour reproduction and resulting in over 6.2 million pixels, more then double the pixel count of 720p projectors. All in a panel size of 0.61-inch thanks to its super-fine panel micro-architecture with a pixel size of 7Um.

Digital Picture Processing - BRAVIA ENGINE 2

The unique BRAVIA ENGINE 2 delivers vibrant colours and exceptional image quality. It consists of eight separate stages of image enhancement - carried out in real time - each has a specialised function. Together they generate a picture that is optimised in every way, from the accuracy of the contrast to the precision of the colour reproduction.

High Resolution All Range Crisp Focus (ARC-F) Lens

The VPL-HW15 is equipped with the All Range Crisp Focus (ARC-F) lens which has the necessary superior resolution and focus characteristics. The lens offers a 1.6x motorised zoom and both vertical (65%) and horizontal (25%) Lens Shift adjustment, making it easy to set the projector up and achieve a good picture in a variety of environments.

Advanced Colour Enhancement Features

Bringing the VPL-HW15 even closer to the capabilities of the human eye is its support for x.v.Colour. x.v.Colour is based on xvYCC, a new international standard for video that defines a colour space nearly two times wider than the existing sRGB standard, making x.v.Colour literally more lifelike. Deep Colour™ boosts the number of colours available within the xvYCC colour space from millions to billions, further future-proofing the projector against developments in colour handling technology.<br><br> In the event that you do need to adjust screen colours, the perfect tool for the job is provided by Real Colour Processing. This allows you to adjust the hue of a specific colour without changing the whole image. So if something like skin tone needs tweaking, you can do it without altering the colour of the sky or the background of the scene.

Great connectivity - 24p True Cinema

The inclusion of twin connectors with HDMI™ technology opens up another dimension for the VPL-HW15. It makes it possible to connect to video sources like Blu-ray Disc™ players which offer exact, 24 frame-per-second replication of the cinematic original. As the projector has the '24p True Cinema' function, it can display films exactly as they were first recorded.

Low Fan Noise “22dB”

With whisper-quiet fan noise, users can concentrate on a movie or game in a quiet environment without distraction.

BRAVIA Sync

BRAVIA Sync simplifies and enhances the home theatre experience. Through the control capabilities of HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), the devices sync with one another for intuitive operations such as One Touch Play and System Stand-by.