Sony VPLHS20 Cineza Digital Home Entertainment LCD Projector

I decided to give Sony another chance. Got a second one after 2 weeks. This one had a strange problem so that if I flip the picture using the menu (needed for ceiling mounting), there would be light and dark vertical bands all across the screen. I sent it to Sony's Laredo, TX service center to get it fixed. It returned back from the service center with a change in the prizm assembly, but the original problem was not addressed at all. I sent it back to the service center, and this time around, it was fixed.

I must admit though, it has worked beautifully since then. No start up problems at all. No bad pixels. No mis-alignment of panels. Colors are amazingly real.

Out of the box, picture didn't look sharp enough and contrast definitely wasn't impressive. But after some tweaking, it is now at a level where I don't think the image is washed up. Brightness is ample - it tolerates some amount of ambient light without problems. Sony's included PJ multi cable works pretty well - I couldn't find any difference in Picture Quality using the included cable or much expensive component cables.

DVI picture using Bravo D1 is stunning. It's not HDTV but very very close. And of course, HDTV is the best. The scaler seems top notch but the deinterlacer is not stellar. Most progressive scan DVD players will have a better deinterlacer.

Remote is the worst thing on this machine. It is lighted but you have to cycle through Inputs using a single button. Same for wide mode. And it's not like you can quickly cycle - there is a noticeable time lag when switching between inputs or wide modes.

Power Lens and Zoom are quite handy during setup.

Overall, I think I'm impressed for what I've got for under 3 grand - just make sure you get a working piece.