Sony Pearl VPL-VW50 1080p SXRD projector shown, dated and priced in Japan

LCDs and LCoS RPTVs weren't all Sony had to show off today, they also displayed the eagerly-awaited smaller, cheaper and more efficient followup to their Ruby VPL-VW100 front projector, the Pearl VPL-VW50. Featuring the same third-generation .61-inch microdisplay that powers the RPTVs, this 1080p projector comes with a 200-watt lamp producing 900 lumens of brightness, two HDMI inputs as well and one component input for all the 1920x1080 high definition content you can feed it. Speaking of 1080p inputs, via HDMI it is ready for 1080/60p, 1080/50p and 1080/24p so no matter what framerate your Blu-ray or HD DVD player of the future outputs 1080p this can handle it without a problem. You can project an image of up to 300-inches just like the Ruby with a maximum 15,000:1 contrast ratio. Unlike the Ruby the Pearl features none of Sony's Digital Reality Creation (DRC) technology to enhance the quality of non-1080p content, so the quality of the deinterlacing on these lower-quality sources remains to be seen. Ship date is October 20 with a price of 735,000 yen ($6,290.65 US) compared to the 1,365,000 yen ($11,682 US) of the Ruby.

[Via Impress]

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2006 10:50AM]

Hey that's weird. If this is the japanese release of the Japanese market unit, why does it have RCA-type Component inputs insted of their traditional D4 input?

And how much will the light bulb for this one will cost?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2006 4:22PM]

Looks like the bulb price is 42,000 yen or $360 US.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2006 7:43PM]

Some said that the quality of the optics in the Ruby was less than that of the original Qualia 004. I wonder if the quality of the optics in the Pearl will be even worse. BTW, street pricing is

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2006 7:45PM]

Under $5K in the USA for the Pearl, and less than $8K for the Ruby (searched Google). The less-than symbol seems to truncate everything that comes after it. Doh!

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 30th 2006 9:52PM]

Is the October 20th release date only for Japan or did they announce it for the United States as well?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 5th 2006 9:41PM]

Will it have HDMI 1.3 via Silicon Image 9134 chip?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2006 5:29PM]

900 lumens, WHO CARES. Unless you're in a pitch black room it's no good. Even in a pitch black room that's not that good. I have a 2200 lumen projector and I still wish I had more lumens. Great contrast ratio though.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 27th 2006 3:21AM]

Well I have had my Pearl for a week now and couldn't be happier. This beauty has 85% of the picture quality of the Ruby at half the cost.($4,000) Lamps are available for $300 compared to the Ruby lamps at $1,000.

IMHO the Sony "Pearl" is the best projector, bar none, in it's class, and rivals many costing 3 times more.

With lush vibrant colors, deep blacks, a contrast ratio of 15,000:1 via its Dynamic Iris, and a native resolution of 1080p, the picture is stunning and the depth of field is very three dimensional.

Remote adjustable verticle shift, focus, and zoom, 2 HDMI inputs, super quiet fan at 22db, and a beautiful luminescent "low profile" case lead the extras this beauty has to offer. I exchanged my CRT projector for the Pearl which should speak volumes as to the picture quality. It's truly a WOW!