Just picked up a Ruby at my local dealer who was clearing them out at a great price. I'm upgrading from a VPL-hs20. The picture is night and day better then the old sony. It's located in a dedicated home theater room. Was watching Transformers in HD last night and during fast paced scenes there was pixelation in the picture. Is this a function of my cable box or the projector itself?

The projector is relatively new so that was my first real chance at watcing it. If it is the projector, what is it that makes it pixelate like that?

Any pixelisation that I have seen on my VW100 was the source causing it, not the projector.

Since this projector came out a couple of years ago, is the technology that far behind where I would be better of with a VW40 instead?

Check out this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=994668&highlight=Ruby+VW60+shootout

Watching from media or your content provider?


sure sounds like a source issue

I owned the VW100 for two years and never had particularly problematic pixelation problems. In my experience, pixelation is almost always a source/scaler problem.

Are you using the internal VW scaler or the scaler in your player? Try switching to see if the problem persists.

It's your source.

Check out this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=994668&highlight=Ruby+VW60+shootout

Great so a $2700 retail Panasonic projector is better! Man do I have buyer's remorse. What about all the Sony Xenon bulb technology etc.? What to do now? Return?

Why do they still sell this thing. I have seen it still being sold for $6000. Why purchase if you can get a VW60 for almost half that price?

Only saving grace for me is that I did pick the Ruby up at a decent price, but still with a $2700 projector besting it, maybe for a little more, I should pick up the Panny.

Suggestions and thoughts?

This is a two year old projector. Essentially there are better projectors today. BUT if set up properly it should look great. You cant just plug something in an expect miracles.

Secondly why do you expect miracles from a Xenon bulb? It's just a light bulb...not a projector.

This is a two year old projector. Essentially there are better projectors today. BUT if set up properly it should look great. You cant just plug something in an expect miracles.


Secondly why do you expect miracles from a Xenon bulb? It's just a light bulb...not a projector.


I did some configuration and it does look pretty good except for the pixelation with my FIOS HD Channels. It is hit or miss on those channels so it must be the source - just happens a lot more than I thought it should and never really noticed on my old sony HS20.

Sales guy was telling me that the Xenon bulb does 2 things makes it brighter and truer colors.

Guess the real question is what is a new VW100 worth these days? Can't really see them selling a lot at the $6000 price point, but maybe at $3000 or $2000?

Check the classifieds for prices and ebay and craigslist. The $1000 bulb is sure to turn some away. You can get a RS1 for about $3k and the bulbs are only $350. Plus it destroys the VW100.

A Xenon bulb can have some benefits. You should do some more research here before jumping on ANY projector. A 2 year old projector should be heavily discounted.

Look before you leap

Great so a $2700 retail Panasonic projector is better! Man do I have buyer's remorse. What about all the Sony Xenon bulb technology etc.? What to do now? Return?

Why do they still sell this thing. I have seen it still being sold for $6000. Why purchase if you can get a VW60 for almost half that price?

Only saving grace for me is that I did pick the Ruby up at a decent price, but still with a $2700 projector besting it, maybe for a little more, I should pick up the Panny.

Suggestions and thoughts?

Wow I'm blown away by the image quality when I still turn mine on, and that's after 1000 plus hours on the original bulb. My local Wilshire TV has a three chip dlp runco projector isf calibrated and in a dark room theatre setting and after seeing it I'm VERY happy with what I have.

Can't imagine you unhappy, what screen are you using? Plus I NEVER watch DTV or Cable on my expensive projector, seems like a waste using like that, with such poor source feed. Only blu-ray and HDDVD for it. Never any pixels.;)

Wow I'm blown away by the image quality when I still turn mine on, and that's after 1000 plus hours on the original bulb. My local Wilshire TV has a three chip dlp runco projector isf calibrated and in a dark room theatre setting and after seeing it I'm VERY happy with what I have.

Can't imagine you unhappy, what screen are you using? Plus I NEVER watch DTV or Cable on my expensive projector, seems like a waste using like that, with such poor source feed. Only blu-ray and HDDVD for it. Never any pixels.;)

I am happy with the picture on my vw100 especially with HD-DVD and Blu-ray (pixelation does seem to be localized to some Fios hd), but if there is something better out there for only 2700, I have to consider it before I finalize my purchase. My point of reference is an hs20 so to me the vw100 is a substantial improvement; however, if it gets even better for less - why not return the vw100 for the panny.

I am happy with the picture on my vw100 especially with HD-DVD and Blu-ray (pixelation does seem to be localized to some Fios hd), but if there is something better out there for only 2700, I have to consider it before I finalize my purchase. My point of reference is an hs20 so to me the vw100 is a substantial improvement; however, if it gets even better for less - why not return the vw100 for the panny.

If you do return it for the panny please let us know your thoughts on the change over, I'm wondering if you"ll see a difference on the positive side. Again, what screen are you using this on??????????????????

If you do return it for the panny please let us know your thoughts on the change over, I'm wondering if you"ll see a difference on the positive side. Again, what screen are you using this on??????????????????

Just using it on a diy screen I made for my hs20. I had purchased the material from ebay 3.5 years ago and built my own screen 110" with about a 3.5" black velvet border around the screen.

Just using it on a diy screen I made for my hs20. I had purchased the material from ebay 3.5 years ago and built my own screen 110" with about a 3.5" black velvet border around the screen.

I tried my white wall when I first got my ruby, then did the diy screen, and didn't really see a difference. Then I got my silverstar and suddenly, OMG what a difference. NIGHT and DAY. Thats when I really fell in love with my ruby. But I do have to give allot of credit to the screen that seemed to wake everything up. With 1000 plus hours I cringe to think what it would look like without it. Where do you live, s. Cal?

I tried my white wall when I first got my ruby, then did the diy screen, and didn't really see a difference. Then I got my silverstar and suddenly, OMG what a difference. NIGHT and DAY. Thats when I really fell in love with my ruby. But I do have to give allot of credit to the screen that seemed to wake everything up. With 1000 plus hours I cringe to think what it would look like without it. Where do you live, s. Cal?

Aren't those screens extremely expensive? I also read about hot spotting on those screens and the lack of sharpness. Is your room light controlled?

Aren't those screens extremely expensive? I also read about hot spotting on those screens and the lack of sharpness. Is your room light controlled?

Yes the room is light controlled, the screen was very sensitive to light so I had to paint the room a dark flat green and coat the ceiling with black velvet. This helped out allot. Yeah it was pricey for my taste, but now having it I don't regret one penny of it.
I rarely used to see hot spotting, the scene had to be VERY white and very bright. Now that the hours are racked up I have gone out of my way to try and see any hot spotting with no success. Maybe when I get my new bulb in the future. With all my guest that I have had I haven't had even one person notice it. It sort of reminds me of the pictures in the mall, remember they looked like a picture of static and you have to stare at it for a while and sort of cross your eyes or something like that in order to see the 3d image pop out, well I used to be able to see the hot spots, but I had to take my focus off of the movie and stare at the screen during that bright white moment in the movie in order to see it.
I'm glad I didn't rush to judgment on the hot spotting when I first saw it, I truly believe the lower lumens of the vw100 makes it disappear, to bad you don't live close by to see it in person.

You can see pics of my setup for light controlled, the ceiling wasn't done though in the pics, along with a couple of screen shots. Just click on the link below.

I sold my 123" SS a while back and bought a Da Lite High Power for half the price. It was an upgrade to my eyes, but I have a near optimum setup for the high power.

I sold my 123" SS a while back and bought a Da Lite High Power for half the price. It was an upgrade to my eyes, but I have a near optimum setup for the high power.

What exactly is a near optimum setup for high power? I have a light controlled ht room that is 15' by 25'. My projector is about 16 ft from the screen and ceiling mounted. Only time I get ambient light is during the day when the door is open, but the door is closed 70% of the time during the day.

Yes the room is light controlled, the screen was very sensitive to light so I had to paint the room a dark flat green and coat the ceiling with black velvet. This helped out allot. Yeah it was pricey for my taste, but now having it I don't regret one penny of it.
I rarely used to see hot spotting, the scene had to be VERY white and very bright. Now that the hours are racked up I have gone out of my way to try and see any hot spotting with no success. Maybe when I get my new bulb in the future. With all my guest that I have had I haven't had even one person notice it. It sort of reminds me of the pictures in the mall, remember they looked like a picture of static and you have to stare at it for a while and sort of cross your eyes or something like that in order to see the 3d image pop out, well I used to be able to see the hot spots, but I had to take my focus off of the movie and stare at the screen during that bright white moment in the movie in order to see it.
I'm glad I didn't rush to judgment on the hot spotting when I first saw it, I truly believe the lower lumens of the vw100 makes it disappear, to bad you don't live close by to see it in person.

You can see pics of my setup for light controlled, the ceiling wasn't done though in the pics, along with a couple of screen shots. Just click on the link below.

Thanks for the offer. I'd take you up on it but I'm all the way across the country on the east coast.

In a review I read it stated there were issues with sharpness - I think it was the projector central review? How is the sharpness? Same review also talked about angle issues, but I don't think I will have that as my room isn't that wide.

What exactly is a near optimum setup for high power?

Tryg has some extensive reviews linked under his signature. Ideal setup has the light source as close to "right behind your head" as possible -- width & height, not length. Wide viewing area for a lot of people, or a ceiling mounted PJ aren't ideal. The 2.8 gain falls off pretty quick. When I had my PJ ceiling mounted there was a noticeable difference just from standing up. I've got my vw100 mounted on the back wall now.

The HP looks rich & creamy vs the more sterile look of the SS. I know that's subjective and a bit nebulous. Maybe it's the lack of texture on the HP vs the slight sparkles on the SS, or it could be the more uniform light intensity without any hot spotting. I never felt either of those were problems when I owned the SS, but I was surprised how much of a positive difference the HP made for me.

Thanks for the offer. I'd take you up on it but I'm all the way across the country on the east coast.

In a review I read it stated there were issues with sharpness - I think it was the projector central review? How is the sharpness? Same review also talked about angle issues, but I don't think I will have that as my room isn't that wide.

I'm betting the sharpness might be soft but have nothing to compare it to. When my pc is running 1080p the icons on the desktop are very readable. At 20ft away I can't see an issue, so I have no complaint. But I'm betting there is sharper stuff out there. I'm waiting on some HP screen material to show up at my house. Can't wait to do a little testing, if it's better than my ss than I'll look into upgrading.

I'm betting the sharpness might be soft but have nothing to compare it to. When my pc is running 1080p the icons on the desktop are very readable. At 20ft away I can't see an issue, so I have no complaint. But I'm betting there is sharper stuff out there. I'm waiting on some HP screen material to show up at my house. Can't wait to do a little testing, if it's better than my ss than I'll look into upgrading.

Would love to hear the results of that test between the screen materials.

At this point, time is running out. Do I return the VW100 or just keep it? Any other opinions.

The picture is a great improvement over the hs20 so I'm giddy about it. The pixelation worried me, but it is indeed the Fios box. Started noticing pixelation on my 65" Mits CRT recently as well so something going on with FIOS recently. The colors are so rich which must have something to do with the Xenon bulb. I'm really leaning on keeping the vw100 since even if I was to get the Panny, I would probably have to end up paying more than what I paid for the vw100.

Would love to hear the results of that test between the screen materials.

At this point, time is running out. Do I return the VW100 or just keep it? Any other opinions.

The picture is a great improvement over the hs20 so I'm giddy about it. The pixelation worried me, but it is indeed the Fios box. Started noticing pixelation on my 65" Mits CRT recently as well so something going on with FIOS recently. The colors are so rich which must have something to do with the Xenon bulb. I'm really leaning on keeping the vw100 since even if I was to get the Panny, I would probably have to end up paying more than what I paid for the vw100.

Yah sounds like your right. Your gonna see pixelation with any projector when it's your source that is the problem, that's why I only run blu-ray and HD-dvd on my. Rarely DTV HD.
If I were to replace my current projector I may look pretty hard at the jvc unit for it's contrast. But other than that I think I'll wait until they can hit 50,000-1 contrast or higher without dynamic iris. I'd like to see the vpl-vw200 with it's motion flow, that would be interesting to see but not so important to me.

Once you get a screen to makes that picture pop your gonna love it.

Not sure when the screen material will be here, but thier sending 4 one foot splotches that I'll tape together and tape to my ss screen and run some test program. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for even more pop than I have now. But worried that when I put in a new bulb I may just blind my self for the first 200 hours of running..lol. But that can be adjusted.

It's a shame we have no where to go to view multiple projectors running in equal invorments.

Check the classifieds for prices and ebay and craigslist. The $1000 bulb is sure to turn some away. You can get a RS1 for about $3k and the bulbs are only $350. Plus it destroys the VW100.

A Xenon bulb can have some benefits. You should do some more research here before jumping on ANY projector. A 2 year old projector should be heavily discounted.

Look before you leap

Times running out on me. Have to return by Thursday close of business if I don't want. Right now I'm leaning towards keeping it. Picture is a big improvement over my old projector; so maybe I just don't know any better since really don't have the luxury of side by side comparisons. The discount is substantial. The total cost including tax is under $2k. It was a demo projector with only 150 hours on the bulb and comes with full warranty. I was going to save up for the new JVC pjs but for a fraction of the price for a new JVC, I'm going to stick with the Sony. Can't believe that it is less expensive then what I paid for the hs20! I'm hoping the pricing of the bulbs come down to a more reasonable amount.

Is this price in line with the heavy discount that is referenced above?

Times running out on me. Have to return by Thursday close of business if I don't want. Right now I'm leaning towards keeping it. Picture is a big improvement over my old projector; so maybe I just don't know any better since really don't have the luxury of side by side comparisons. The discount is substantial. The total cost including tax is under $2k. It was a demo projector with only 150 hours on the bulb and comes with full warranty. I was going to save up for the new JVC pjs but for a fraction of the price for a new JVC, I'm going to stick with the Sony. Can't believe that it is less expensive then what I paid for the hs20! I'm hoping the pricing of the bulbs come down to a more reasonable amount.

Is this price in line with the heavy discount that is referenced above?

I don't think bulb prices will come down, Id be VERY surprised.
Got that screen material Da-Lite High Power. They sent me four 12"x12"
splotches, which I taped together and lightly taped to my Silver Star Screen. I do have to say if was very apparent that this material was MUCH brighter than the SS Screen. I was very impressed on how vibrant bright scenes looked on the splotch. On the down side I could very EASILY see how the blacks got brighter, but I expected this. I'm back and fourth with this screen material, but I "think" if I did get a large screen in the HP that I would be pretty happy with it. If it's cheap enough I just might give it a try. It appeared to double my brightness.
Just wish my projected had better blacks to compensate for the powerful screen.

This weekend I went to magnolia showroom and saw a OPTOMA HD80 and was very impressed by how bright it was and that was with it projecting on a firehawk grey screen! I "believe" that the blacks were better than my vw100 but I have no test equipment to verify that claim, but it sure looked blacker, might have been the fact it was brighter causing blacks to look blacker than they are. But even during 90% black screen with white text I was very impressed, I stuck around for an hour watching that thing in a very dark theatre.

I'm going back to test it with with my blu-ray dve disk.

Does this mean you plan on upgrading? No more vw100?

I don't think bulb prices will come down, Id be VERY surprised.
Got that screen material Da-Lite High Power. They sent me four 12"x12"
splotches, which I taped together and lightly taped to my Silver Star Screen. I do have to say if was very apparent that this material was MUCH brighter than the SS Screen. I was very impressed on how vibrant bright scenes looked on the splotch. On the down side I could very EASILY see how the blacks got brighter, but I expected this. I'm back and fourth with this screen material, but I "think" if I did get a large screen in the HP that I would be pretty happy with it. If it's cheap enough I just might give it a try. It appeared to double my brightness.
Just wish my projected had better blacks to compensate for the powerful screen.

This weekend I went to magnolia showroom and saw a OPTOMA HD80 and was very impressed by how bright it was and that was with it projecting on a firehawk grey screen! I "believe" that the blacks were better than my vw100 but I have no test equipment to verify that claim, but it sure looked blacker, might have been the fact it was brighter causing blacks to look blacker than they are. But even during 90% black screen with white text I was very impressed, I stuck around for an hour watching that thing in a very dark theatre.

I'm going back to test it with with my blu-ray dve disk.

Does this mean you plan on upgrading? No more vw100?

I think maybe first I'll just put in a new bulb and see if it comes back to life.

You were the lone supporter of the vw100, but looks like you might be upgrading to a $2700 Optoma HD80. Can you describe a letter more what you liked about the Optoma over the vw100. Really getting a serious case of buyers remorse now. But the picture is so much better than my old pj.
I know pjs have made leaps and bounds in improvements.


I think maybe first I'll just put in a new bulb and see if it comes back to life.

You were the lone supporter of the vw100, but looks like you might be upgrading to a $2700 Optoma HD80. Can you describe a letter more what you liked about the Optoma over the vw100. Really getting a serious case of buyers remorse now. But the picture is so much better than my old pj.
I know pjs have made leaps and bounds in improvements.

After watching mine tonight on ss I'm gotta say it sure looks good. Even with a weak bulb (1000+ hrs) it looks pretty bright, and if I went to the HP screen the new bulb would be just to much. The only thing that struck me about the Optoma was how bright it was and I'm certain their new projector bulb verses a new bulb in vw100 would tell a different story. I think I've probably lost 30% of my original light?