any opinions on Sony VPL-HS60

It is nice PJ with one of the best color and black level. It is a very very quiet pj as well.
If your screen size is not more than 8' wide or have a higher gain than unity is a wonder PJ IMO. HS60 and HS51A are identical in performance and spec.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...light=sony+51a

It certainly has the best contrast of all LCD projectors by far. it's very sharp which makes its pixel structure and screndoor somewhat more evident, but it has improved greatly over the hs50. Probably very similar to the z5. It's also somewhat dim in comparison to others.

great review at www.cine4home.com

I have the hs10 and am thinking hard about getting the 60. I am trying to see if there is a significant increase in the pq to warrant this.

The main difference will be that your blacks will be much darker, which makes colors pop more. Resolution wise it's not an upgrade. Although 720p HD wont have to be scaled as it is on the HS10

Are you saying then that there is not a significant improvement on pq?

Well what else is there to picture quality other than contrast and color and resolution? It's also razor sharp projector. People pay a minimum 1k premium to go from the cheapest darkchip2 DLP to the cheapest darkchip3 dlp. Is it worth it? To some yes and other no.

If you really have the upgrade itch then order from a place with no restocking fee on returns.

Most poeple don't value ON/OFF contrast ratio as they should. It seems that it is all about resolution these days.
HS 51A/60 has one of the highest CR that money can buy. I doubt that HS10 can do color and resolution as wel as HS60. But it is using iris trick to do CR. For about $1500 it is a heck of digital PJ and to me it is better than z5 in maney respects and will be a good upgrade to HS10. HS10 looks washed out next to hs60. bhphoto check it out.

I just sold my HS60 1 week ago n ready to get a 1080P projector. The Sony unit is the best 720P LCD available now n a cut above all those using D5 panel. It has the best black , sharp picture, minor VB n very low picture noise. However, you will find the unit's lumen insufficient when your room is not totally black out, or when the gain of your screen is below 1.0. As for the noise level, it is very quiet since I placed it on a shelf 3 ft. above my head.

I was considering the HS60 over the Z5 as well.

CaspianM / ac388 - I have a 92 inch StudioTek 130 (1.3 gain) in a room with no ambient light except what is reflected from the projector. Walls are gold/tan non reflective and a white ceiling that is covered in black cloth the width of the screen going out about 4 feet. It is dark but certainly not the "Bat Cave" for ultimate black levels. Do you think the HS60 will have enough lumen output after an ISF calibration in low lamp mode? I am upgrading from a Panny AE500 in low lamp mode so a very bright picture is not one of my priorities. How does the HS60 black level and shadow details hold up in a dark, but real world room with some reflections like mine?

Thanks for your help,
Andy

Hi Andy,

What a coincidence, I also upgraded from an AE500 to HS60, using a n 92" ST130. With the HS60, you will find a smoother picture, less picture noise, much better black n most important for me, less VB. The drawback on the Sony is that, you need the lamp in normal mode, since low mode will not give you enough ANSI contrast after calibration. However, only after 300 hours on the bulb, it seems the picture already started to dim a bit, plus the LCD panel getting a bit yellow on the picture. At 500hours, I decided to make a change to a DLP, Mit. HC3100.

That was really a fresh breath for me, as the Mit. gave me that extra lumen power on the picture that I am looking for, plus no dirty screen-look n more accurate color. However, the drawback is RBE which we all know on DLP. So far, I does see it when the scene is with black background n white bright object flying around, like in Star War 3. But RBE does not bother me so far(to a point of headache) n I hope this unit will carry me over when that JVC HD-1 is available n proven to be MY PERFECT PROJECTOR !!!

StudioTek 130 with 1.3 gain is the brightest of all 1.3 gain screen out there. I just sold mine since it was only 87" wide. The resolution, depth and color balance are second to none.

I am not so sure about ac388 comments. Perhaps he did not fully explored the hs60. I am running this pj onto a $40 cloth from Dazian which is about 100" wide and unity gain and I get about 12 FTL in standard and 9 ftl in the dimmest mode and 18FTL in dynamic all in low lamp. These are good numbers.
Out of box is dim but there are some easy tweaks that brings the PJ up in lumen.
If AC388 had yellowing of the polarizers plates with hundreds of hours should have send it to service rather than selling it first. Also I was under impression that was a problem with HS50 and got fixed with HS51A/60.
Your room is good and you should not have any issues but if you like light cannon better get something else but at the price of heat, noise, high black level. It is all matter of preference.

Thanks Guys,

I have install issues so the only DLP's I could use are possibly the IN76 and any DLP with lens shift (HD 7100, BenQ 8720). The IN76 and 7100 have loud fans and the 8720 is more expensive than I want to spend right now. Moreover, I'm sensitve to RBE.

I think both the Z5 and the HS60 would be a pretty big step up from the AE500. Both will be significantly sharper, with better shadow detail and less LCD haze. The Z5 should have much better black levels and the hs60 even more so. Don't see how I can wrong for $1500.

Don't want or need a light cannon, I'm still just not sure if the HS60 will have enough lumens. I used a projection calculator for a ballpark of what you got. 115" diagonal, 1.0 gain and 9 ftl = ~ 350 lumens in cinema mode, low lamp. That seems about 100 lumens higher than the reviews stated. What tweaks did you do to get such a high output?

Thanks,
Andy

I have at least 3-4 expert coming to my place to calibrate the unit at different period, including Li On n the past CKL. I did even follow Alan Cougar's light cannon treatment for the Ruby on the HS60, but to no vail. For Sony to achieve the extra black level this unit, they did sacrifice alot of lumen.

Andy,
Based on what you're saying.....lumens aren't the top priority, but blacks are....sounds like the HS60 is for you. I had it side by side against the AX100. Once you put the 100 in cinema mode, dynamic iris, reduce brightness, eco, etc for better blacks....I was surprised at how close in lumens the HS60 seemed to be (with iris, gamma tweaks, normal mode). I love my AX100, I think it does outstanding blacks, but I almost wish I didn't view some of those dark Star Wars scenes side by side. With the HS60 colors and blacks.....it was a definite WOW!

Jumped from the HS10 to the HS60 myself and the difference in PQ is huge. I'm using the Sony DVP NS76 DVD player to upscale 576i to the pj's native 720p, feeding it through a very good and pricy HDMI cable named Supra. Much better shadowdetail and 'wow' factor with HDMI, compared to the componentcable I used with my HS10.

At the pricepoint at which it is possible to get the HS60 these days, don't look back. I think you will be very happy with this machine

Go to projector central and use their calculator pro.

I used Sony HS60 and it gave 71" wide screen or 81" diagonal at 8' throw.

I just upgraded from a older Sony VW-10HT. Prior to that, my projector was an NEC 9PG Xtra CRT. I also had a Panasonic AE900U for a couple of weeks last year before I returned it and ate the return fee because of very visible VB.

I am a very happy camper. Near perfect convergence. No shading issues. Some minor VB that is not an issue on program material unless I look for it (say by staring at the sky on outdoor scenes). I have a coffeee table setup with a 106" diagonal Da-Lite High Power screen. Even after bulb burns-in, I think that I am going to be AOK from a brightness perspective (bulb on low, iris on auto). And from my experience in looking for VB, the little I can notice will become even less so as the bulb loses some of its brightness after burn-in.

I was a tad concerned that I would lose some detail and have more visible SDE as the 10HT has 1366 x 768 panels. But, the extra apparent detail from the much improved contrast yields an apparently more detailed image. And, the SDE is less than on the 10HT. Sitting about 1.8 screen widths away, SDE is a non-issue for me with the HS60.

The other projector I was considering was the Z5, but as I was able to get the HS60 locally at Internet pricing, I jumped on it. The black level isn't quite as good as it was on my 9PG Xtra, but the improved white level more than makes up for it

I now get to watch movies I have seen many times before for the first time.

Congrats on you your new toy. I love the color,black level and ultra quiet fans on this PJ. Host of calibration parameters on this PJ is amazing.

What is the Light Cannon treatment? Can you refer to a thread? I can't locate it with a search.

Just go n search on Ruby's main thread.

Got it!
Thanks!!!

I have a problem with my vpl-hs60, not sure if this is right forum (so direct me otherwise please). Anyway all video inputs work expect hdmi, it just quit on me. giving it an hdmi signal from any source doesn't make a difference. The hdmi switches like it is getting the signal but the screen just switches to black and stays black you also cannot access the menu or anything. I've opened it up and looked at the board and nothing looks burned out or any damage. My guess would be a capacitor or something. Any idea's. Thanks.