VPL-HS51A Setup, Installation & Connections

The presence of a lens shift assembly makes this projector easy to mount, or if you prefer, place it on a tabletop. For this review we utilized a 100" diagonal Stewart Luxus Deluxe ScreenWall (with ISF-certified Studiotek 130 screen). This is a very high quality screen with very even dispersion characteristics and color uniformity and is optimized for excellent white levels while allowing for deep, rich blacks in a light-controlled room. For those considering the Sony VPL-HS51A in their home theater room, take a look at the 16:9 throw chart:

Throw Chart for Distancing the Projector from the Projection Screen

Per the Sony manual, if you want to do the exact calculations, use this (in meters):

Maximum distance (telephoto) = {(diagonal screen distance [meters] x 21.3/0.7) - 35.2} x 1.025
Minimum distance (wide) = {(diagonal screen distance [meters] x 33.9.7) - 37.7} x 0.975

Note: 1 meter = 3.281 feet

Or you could just go to our friends at Projectorcentral.com and use the pretty sliders (highly recommended.)

Ambient Light Control and Screen Recommendations

Keep in mind that the room you are using this in should be light controlled if at all possible. By "light controlled" we mean that the room should:

• Not have more than 4-5% ambient light entering it at any time it is being used for watching movies
• Not have an abundance of bright or reflective surface areas. I have known a couple people who painted their entire theater rooms a neutral medium-dark color only to realize that their ceiling, furniture and adjoining room cast so much reflective light it rendered their paint choice useless.

If you cannot do a thorough job of controlling ambient light, not all is lost. You can compromise by using a reduced gain gray screen (like the Stewart GrayHawk RS, FireHawk G2 , or Carada's High Contrast Gray ) which will aid in attaining black levels and delivering a more pleasing picture. For those who can control light, we recommend a white screen similar to the Carada Brilliant White or Stewart Studiotek 130.

We ran two different cables to the projector for our tests. A well-shielded component video cable was supplied by Impact Acoustics and gave us an excellent analogue connection from the Denon DVD-5910 player's component outputs. A well-built SHR HDMI cable, supplied by DVIGear , enabled us to compare the digital inputs of the Sony as well. We ran all of the HDMI source components through a PureLink HDMI Switcher (HDS-41R) which allowed us to send the projector a myriad of sources including multiple DVD players and HDTV from our Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box.

We did not test the composite and s-video inputs. Our theory is that if you are spending this much money on a projector, you shouldn't be using those inputs. If you are, it's likely out of necessity and you won't be too concerned with comparing those to the high resolution inputs.

Editor's Note
A couple things to note about the "starter" settings for the Sony include making sure you set the Picture Mode to Cinema, leave Advanced Iris On (or Auto) , and set Color Temp and Lamp Control to Low . This will get you in the ball park in terms of dynamics, color and contrast for watching movies and enable you to have the best starting position from which to calibrate using common tools such as AVIA Guide to Home Theater or Digital Video Essentials .

If you're unpacking this projector for Monday Night Football - forget what I said. Engage Dynamic mode, turn Off the Advanced Iris, and crank up the Lamp Control and Color Temp to High . That will give you a nice, bright picture and you don't have to trip over each other when going for the chips.

Connections

Don't say it - I know what you're thinking. What's a USB connector doing on a home theater projector? The USB connection allows the user to interface with the projector using ImageDirector 2 . ImageDirector 2 allows users to adjust the projector's gamma value from a computer connected to the projector. The software allows you to adjust the gamma value by adjusting the luminance curve of the incoming signal. In addition to using the gamma value that has been adjusted and preset at the factory, you can also adjust the gamma curve yourself. Now that's pretty nifty. We had to give it a whirl, but first let's go over the more expected inputs and functions (I'll cover the USB connected gamma corrections in the Calibration section).

The Sony projector comes with a remote, batteries and power cord - no cables are provided. Should you have the desire, however, you can fill up a composite, s-video, HDMI-HDCP, RGB/HD15, and one component video input to your heart's content. There is no RS-232 control for this projector, though it does have a 12VDC trigger output.

As previously mentioned, we primarily utilized the HDMI inputs, but tested the upscaling and deinterlacing performance of the display using the component inputs. We sent 480i interlaced signal from the Denon DVD-5910 to the Sony projector and allowed the onboard deinterlacer to convert the signal to progressive scan, performing all deinterlacing functions as well as 2:3 pulldown (more on this later). The connections are well-spaced out and easy to work with so you shouldn't have any problems plugging things in.