Official Sony VPL-AW15 Projector Thread - Page 18

How is it with lesser quality SD fare? As I noted above, I tried a variety of SD DVDs at the store (admittedly with an "untweaked" out of the box projector) and I was a bit disappointed at the PQ of one of my discs especially (Lawrence of Arabia) as I noticed a bit of VHS-like "smearing" of the image (something I did NOT notice with a business DLP projector when I screened some excerpts for my students a few weeks ago). I'd read a few reviews that said the AW15 coped well with SD sources, and, admittedly, with some of discs, it was fantastic. I'm curious if the HQV processing on the BenQ W500 would have fared any better but I can't seem to find one to try it out. This issue is the last thing holding me back from going with the Sony.

I tried out a few SD DVDs: Aliens, Rattle and Hum, and Revenge of the Sith. Overall, I was pretty impressed with how good regular DVDs looked when projected with the AW15. They were a bit less sharp than the blu-rays, but still looked quite good, depending on the disc. Aliens is old and didn't look fantastic, but still quite decent. Rattle and Hum looked okay but it's a grainy film to begin with. And Episode III looked really good, considering it's a burned 4.7gb dvd. Oh, and Planet Earth blu-ray looked pretty great.

Here are some pics:

Planet Earth blu-ray

Aliens DVD




Rattle and Hum DVD



Revenge of the Sith DVD

Revenge of the Sith DVD

What kind of DVD player are you using? Have any upconverted pics?

Thanks

All pics were from the PS3 which upconverts DVDs (with firmware 1.8) via HDMI. So all pics should be of upconverted DVDs.

what r your setting on the aw15. pic look nice

hi!

i`m a guy from vienna. excuse my poor english.

i want to tune and calibrate my sony vpl-aw15 with a colorfilter on the lens. for this i need to create a new, correct gammaramp. i downloaded the sony "image director"- software - with this software and a sony projector you can create your own gammaramps and load it on the projector. on some projectors via usb, on others via rs232.

the aw15 does only have a rs232-port. but: i don`t get a connection. can anyone check this on your vpl-aw15, if the imagedirector software or a connection to the projector works?

thank you very much!
vienna_schorsch

LOL!! True story. I too, wouldn't be putting "in on," my brand new aw15 anywhere near said stand.

news analyst huh... I'll do some research.

Ahhhh.... a techie with a sense of humor Seriously, I would want a stable mount/placement for a PJ -- even my ceiling mount jiggles the image if someone's walking on the hallway above. But that's not concerning to the HEALTH of my pj, just a bit of an annoyance. Besides, when I've got my 7.2 DolbyDigital cranked up you can't hear anyone walking about! [If someone walks and you can't hear them... did they actually walk? ]

RS232 -- what do we know about it? Does Sony have the AW15 in their protocol software tools, yet or is it identical to some past model? I'm tempted to hook it up with the same cable my 10HT was using and see if the same commands still work. Any thoughts?

I dove in and ordered mine earlier in the week. It shipped yesterday and will arrive on the 30th. There are some excellent prices out there if you look for them -- authorized Sony dealers, too!

haha yes very good point. Sorry I will try to be more specific, I don't think I can afford a Salamander type but I thought to keep costs down it would be better to have it on a stand so it would be closer to eye level and I wouldn't need a 35' HDMI cable.

Also I have 12 foot ceilings so I would need a long extension pipe.

Would the AW15 be considered an upgrade from a Panny AE700? I've got one that is nearly 3 years old and will need a new bulb soon. My main complaint about it is the lack of contrast. I'm looking for something that will last for a couple of years at which point I will go 1080p.

@Andrew Hornfeck:

please inform me, if it works or not! what do you mean with "is it identical to some past model"? i thought, any sony-projector with rs232-port is imagedirector-capable. not?

a couple of questions:

is the buy still open?
will it fill a 90" 4:3? I only have 11'9" from the screen to the back wall which gives me 10'5" of throw

will it support 4:3

This a new projector and is a 16x9 pj natively that will do 4x3.
Go the pjc and use the calc to find out about image size vs throw.

how r u posting pics? i took some of hd dvd and xbox 360 game with ambient light to show how it does with it.

make sure you turn off the flash ... usaly is is nessesary in the dark, but not in this aplication

Are you sure he wasnt asking how to post them on the site not how to take the pictures?

To post pics I'm storing my photos on a photo storing/sharing site (e.g. fotki, snapfish, etc.) and then linking them with the "insert image" function (using the html address of the pic) located in the toolbar when you write a reply/message. Lot of those photo hosting sites have a limited amount of free storage space so you should try it out. Interested to see your pics.

BTW, have noticed some "lightness" (pardon my non-techie jargon) around the border of the image yesterday. I switched to a different (longer) HDMI cable so perhaps that's why. Hope so because it's slightly annoying (mostly b/c the image was so good to begin with).

use imageshack.. it is free and you do not even need to log in or anything

Cool..ill hae some images soon...thanks!

I am having an issue..and any adjustment I make will not remedy it!!

The sides and top are perfectly straight on the screen BUT the bottom curves up in the middle. It is perfect on the bottom left of the screen and on the bottom right but up one inch in the bottom middle. Whats strange is its fint on the top middle! Any ideas? i was tweaking for hrs last night...HELP!

Question: how do you get autoselection between Component (analog) and HDMI? I found it soesn't do that and IF I have these as inputs, I'll have to manually switch the INPUT button -- or am I missing something? I may have to stick w/YPrPb for now and go HDMI after I upgrade my HTPC to DVI/HDMI.

On another note, the remote operates my VPL-VW10HT too. The 6 display modes (Dynamic, Standard, Cinema, U1, U2, U3) trigger the U1 - U6 modes on the 10HT. Same Menu codes, Video Mute... I'm suspecting that the RS232-Serial protocol may be the same once you remap the identification from one to the other.

This is a nice unit -- it's a bit more compact and sharp looking case. Having had the 10HT I'm not all THAT impressed by the AW15. Not to say it's not a good image, just that I already have a known champion in the HD projection world -- my goal is to save $$ as the 10HTs ($450) bulbs were hitting me hard!

It sounds like the projector itself might not be perfectly level. If the top and sides are ok but the bottom is curved, it sounds like you might have a bit for up-down tilt. Have you checked it with a level?

Are you using the vertical lens shift? If so, when you get near the extreme ends a little distortion is probably expected.

Just some ideas to check out...
-Matt

Turn on auto input selection under signal menu.

What kind of screen are you guys who have this pj using?

Will the high power in a setting with a little bit of ambient light completely ruin the contrast of the projector?

I really like this projector because of the price, the 24fps and the contrast but if I don't get the contrast out of it because of my setup I might have to look at the panny.

Thanks but I've been there... I'm speaking of the YPrPb vs HDMI. The AW15 still senses a HDMI signal is there (eventhough there is no picture) after I use my Onkyo to switch to another input that is YPrPb. And visa-versa -- no HDMI after YPrPb unless I press INPUT on the remote.

Hard to say what it is. it should sense the right signal unless the Onkyo is doing something. I will try to see how my 51A will do the switching between HDMI and component tonight if I get to it.

Anyone?

I don't have the Panny but DID just buy the AW15 as a 'cheaper' alternative to $450 bulbs for my Sony VPL-VW10HT. I'm hoping to get 3,000 hours on the AW15's bulbs -- there ARE no official numbers being quoted, yet from Sony.

AW15 will be all over AE700 in terms of contrast, sharpness and color. Overall it would be a noticeable upgrade IMO.