Sony's top-end projector coming to UK

Top news from Sony which today confirmed the December launch of its top-end HD-ready VPL-VW100 projection system which we first mentioned a few months back. Two things are especially pleasing. Firstly that it is coming to the UK at all. But secondly that its price tag is likely to be around £4500, an awful lot less than a figure of around £10,000 which was originally mooted. It has a resolution of 1920x1080, features a 400 watt amp and has a contrast ratio of 15,000:1. It can handle both DVI and HDMI inputs and has an RJ-45 jack so may offer network streaming facilities. 

The key story is that it is Sony first relatively affordable projector that uses SXRD mirror system. Sony claims, and we can vouch for this as we have seen the technology in action on the Qualia 004 projector, that this means no chicken wire effects and more detailed, richly coloured pictures. Its other big selling point is that it is one of only a handful of projectors that can deliver the ultimate HD spec 1080p. How much content there will be in this format for the coming couple of years remains to be seen.