New in the entry level for Sony, the VPL-AW10 brandishes the Bravia logo, a mark up until now reserved for this manufacturer’s TVs.  This 720p home cinema projector brings the Sony name into your living room for a modest price; however, ergonomics and connectivity are minimal.
 
In fact, the ergonomics give away this product’s entry level identity.  The VPL-AW10 however does have two advantages for its small size: a very low noise level (measured at 26 dB or 10dB less than the BenQ W500) and a powerful zoom.  This allows varying the diagonal size of the projection zone up to 1 meter which is useful in two ways.  You can either concentrate the lamp’s brightness on a "small" zone of 1.64m (diagonally) or to stretch it up to 2.64m (these figures are from a projection distance of 3 meters).

The disadvantages include the absence of a Lens-Shift  function for positioning the image on the wall and its truly minimalist connectivity.  We would have preferred a second or even third HDMI connection, for example, to simultaneously relay a console, PC and satellite dish.
 
Entry level ergonomics… the same for image quality?
 
The first surprise in the VPL-AW10’s test came from its incapacity to differentiate the darkest and lightest shades in our red, green, blue and gray color tables.  According to our colorimeter’s sensor, this meant black colors were too dark and whites too bright on the extreme ends of the spectrum.  It also explains the projector’s "S" shaped curve for brightness measurements. 

In actual images, the result was actually much better than we expected.   Shimmering and color gradation defects were rare and only noticeable in certain extreme blues and greens as you can see in the solarization we detected in tests.   Color fidelity is good for those who find this characteristic important; however images are a bit lack-luster compared to some of its rivals.  Other products like the HD73 offer inferior color fidelity while the result is more flattering to the eye.
 
Finally, in lighter shades we noticed that the matrix is visible.  It’s particularly present on white or light gray backgrounds even from a distance of three meters.