Best Home Theater Projectors

Top image quality at a small premium

If you have a bit more to spend, reports identify a number of home theater projectors that deliver terrific picture quality and impressive features. In the past, Sony's SXRD implementations of LCoS technology (see What to Look For) has been greeted with raves for its breathtaking picture qualities, and moans for its equally breathtaking price tag. However, while picture quality raves remain -- and grow -- prices have been coming back to Earth in recent years, and the just-released Sony Bravia VPL-HW15 (*Est. $3,000) is the best-performing, least expensive Sony LCoS projector yet.

Initial reviews are virtually all are positive. ProjectorCentral.com gives the Sony Bravia VPL-HW15 a Highly Rated award and ProjectorReviews.com gives it Hot Product status. Across the pond, Britain's TrustedReviews.com gives the Sony Bravia VPL-HW15 its Recommended award, while TechRadar.com, another U.K. site, awards it a perfect five out of five stars.

LCoS projectors typically deliver strong black levels, and the VPL-HW15 is no exception. Most reviewers call the blacks satisfyingly inky and deep, however most also note that a few other competing projectors, such as the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB (and the forthcoming Epson Home Cinema 8500UB that's slated to shortly replace it), are as good in that department, if not a hair better. Still, black levels are a step up from the excellent levels of last year's Sony Bravia VPL-HW10. Sony also claims a doubling of the contrast ratio (to 60,000:1) compared to the previous model, but experts say that while contrast is definitely notably improved, it's not twice as good.

Colors are excellent. ProjectorReviews.com says that the skin tones are excellent -- certainly better than what most projectors produce -- and better than other home theater projectors in its price range. Color accuracy is good as well, even right out of the box, and videophiles will delight at the number of controls. ProjectorCentral.com compares the colors to the Samsung SP-A900B (*Est. $13,000), a high-end projector (with a price to match) that can produce reference-level color. Side by side, Bill Livolsi can find little difference between the two in terms of color accuracy.

Image brightness is another plus of the VPL-HW15. Its high light output means that it is equally suitable for a dark home theater or a normally lit family room or living room. Since it uses LCoS technology, DLP rainbows are no concern, and neither is visible picture structure -- even with your nose pressed against the screen, according to Livolsi. A 1.6:1 manual zoom and good horizontal and vertical lens shift makes it easy to place the Sony Bravia VPL-HW10 in almost any viewing room.

While everyone loves (or at least likes) the Sony Bravia VPL-HW15, a few warts do emerge. Art Feierman at ProjectorReviews.com says that brightness is only "above average," and further tempers that by noting that the brightest mode doesn't output as much light as similar modes in other projectors. We also saw some mixed reactions regarding image sharpness -- a complaint heard before when it comes to Sony's SXRD technology. Feierman says sharpness is only average and could be better, but John Archer at TrustedReviews.com says the sharpness is just right. He amplifies: "While there's more than enough crispness to proceedings to make out tiny details and cinematic grain in good HD material, the effect doesn't look forced or gritty, leaving you with a much more engaging, less distracting and to my eyes more cinematic 'finish' than you get with projectors that [emphasize] sharpness above all else."

We mentioned the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB (*Est. $3,000) above. That home theater projector is widely complimented for its excellent image quality. Black levels are outstanding -- darker even than the Sony Bravia VPL-HW15 described above in at least one report. Color out of the box is only so-so, but there are loads of adjustment settings that make it possible to get things close to perfection. Brightness is high enough to make the projector a good choice for most viewing environments. This LCD projector is a snap to place in most rooms.

There are some downsides, of course. One is that in early production models, the Home Cinema 6500UB had an annoying tendency to lose focus as it warmed up. That issue was addressed in subsequent models and is no longer a problem. No one likes the way Epson has implemented the judder-defeating features in the Home Cinema 6500UB. Though a fix was again introduced after the projectors began shipping, most comments we saw recommend ignoring the feature. A Contrast Enhancement feature also leaves experts cold.

Epson also offers the Pro Cinema 7500UB (*Est. $4,000). That projector adds a few features to the Home Cinema 6500UB, including a special mode just for professional calibrators, and a spare lamp, ceiling mount and cable cover. However, performance is identical. The more expensive Pro Cinema 7500UB is sold only through professional installers.

At the time this report was prepared, we had received word that the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB is slated to move aside in favor of the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB (*Est. $2,800). The new projector claims an improved contrast ratio of 200,000:1, which, as Art Feierman at ProjectorReviews.com notes, is more than twice as much as the Home Cinema 6500UB. Although Feierman has a brief look-see with the projector under what he calls less than ideal conditions, for complete professional reviews you need to look across the Atlantic where the Home Cinema 8500UB has already debuted as the Epson EH-TW5500. TrustedReviews.com's John Archer reports that the improved contrast ratio results in blacks that are so deep that they give even the best a true run for their money. However, he adds that the deep blacks come at the expense of some brightness, resulting in some black "crush" (loss of shadow details in the darkest areas of a picture). In addition to deeper blacks, colors seem to be improved and the de-judder technology seems to be significantly upgraded compared to the Epson Home Cinema 6500UB (which is sold in Europe as the Epson EH-TW5800).

Exact pricing for the Epson Home Cinema 8500UB has not been formally announced, but the company says it will be under $3,000. A Pro Cinema version -- the Epson Pro Cinema 9500UB -- for the professional installation market is also forthcoming.