Sony VPL-HW20

Sony is marketing its VPL-HW20 projector as the ideal model for big-screen sports events, promising we'll enjoy the game as if we were right there in the front row. This sets the HW20 apart from the higher-end VPL-HW90, which is aimed at movie buffs.

Hardware & Handling: practically perfect, but not quite as good as Epson

This projector's design is very similar to the VPL-HW15, its predecessor. In fact, the only difference we noticed was a slightly reduced power consumption of just under 255 W, compared with 260 W for the HW15.

The image below shows the projector's lens-shift. The projection area can be moved quite far vertically but, as you can see, things are a little more restricted on the horizontal axis. Note that the projection zone moves in a cross shape, so once the image is set as far as it will go to the left, you can't then shift the zone up—you have to bring it back to the middle.


Like Epson projectors, this Sony model has an excellent build and great general handling. However, it's pretty bulky, which means it's not easily portable.

Image Quality: accurate colours, deep blacks, no complaints

Our contrast readings are shown below. We calculate contrast by measuring the intensity of the white and the depth of the black. We use two test cards, one with a surface that's 35% white and one that's only 1% white. The first card is used to test the projector's ability to isolate a small black area in a bright, light image. The second card is used to test the projector's ability to to handle large dark areas.



The depth of black varies greatly in relation to the intensity of the image's brightness. Thankfully for Sony, the perceived contrast is nearer to the reading taken with the 1% test card than the 35% test card. Black bands above movie images, for example, do look very black, unlike with some projectors (such as the Mitsubishi HC4000, even though it gets a better result with the 1% test card). Dark zones in the middle of the image are, according to our test results, not rendered as well. Nevertheless, the perceived contrast isn't quite as easy to evaluate—as the blacks are surrounded by other brighter colours, our eyes don't have any points of comparison and end up being tricked by the effect ... in a good way!

The colours are accurate. With our recommended settings (see inset), the deltaE (which measures colour fidelity) drops to 1.8, which is an excellent result.

The green and cyan shades push the average deltaE up over 1

The level of video noise is disappointing compared with other top-of-the-range projectors—like those made by Sanyo, for example. Rogue pixels in moving scenes are only too visible. They can still be seen when you use the MPEG NR setting too, even though there's a considerable improvement.

Bright areas are perfectly reproduced and no detail is lost even in the lightest, brightest of areas.

Watching a DVD (576 lines) with no external upscaling to adapt it to the 1080 lines used by this projector produces an image that's perfectly fine. The built-in upscaling function is satisfactory. However, when you look a little closer, you may notice a few defects like aliasing in diagonal lines, which isn't usually a problem in upscaling functions in the latest Blu-ray players and HD consoles.

This projector doesn't have a motion interpolation function to keep video images smooth and it's not 3D compatible. The absence of 3D is less of a problem than the lack of MotionFlow technology. It's no longer detrimental enough to make a projector lose a star for image quality, but it'd be nice to see Sony make a bit more effort—especially since the MotionFlow function in its TVs is usually pretty good.

How does it compare to a good TV?

For ghosting, depth of black and smooth, seamless action scenes, you're better off with a good TV. However, the VPL-HW20 still sets a very good standard, with very accurate colours and an image size that easily outdoes even a 55" television.