Posted on October 14, 2011 By Art Feierman
Sony’s VPL-HW30ES projector is Sony’s new, and least expensive 1080p, 3D capable, SXRD (LCoS), home theater projector. The HW30ES is newest in a long series of “lower cost” LCoS home theater projectors that Sony’s been offering for years. None of the VPL-HW30’s predecessors, however, were 3D capable. The most recent models it replaces are the VPL-VWPro1, and before it, the VPL-HW15.
You may purchase the standard projector, the VPL-HW30ES – MSRP of $3699, or you may purchase, for $300 more in the US, the VPL-HW30AES, a bundle that includes two pair of rechargeable 3D active glasses, and the Sony emitter (transmitter), used to sync the glasses.
Perhaps the big question is not so much how good the VPL-HW30ES is, but rather, how is it so much better a deal than the $9,999 Sony VPL-VW90ES and perhaps the 90ES’s replacement, the VPL-VW95ES. You really do get a Sony projector that’s close in terms of performance in most areas, but a bit less feature laden – such as manual lens features, instead of motorized, and no anamorphic lens option. Still, this Sony packs a lot of performance, especially for being barely 1/3 the price of the next model up!
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