Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Tom,

As a very new Sony Ruby projector owner (just had it installed on
Saturday), I will try to answer some of your questions:

1. I would think the ceiling height would only be a problem if you are
worried about someone tall hitting their head on the Ruby when they are
walking under it. I don't remember the exact dimension but there is a
minimum clearance between the projector and the ceiling. I have mine
installed on the ceiling but my ceiling is higher.

2. I also have a 110" screen. The minimum distance from the lens to
the center of the screen is 135" (I believe this figure is correct, but
you may want to check to make sure or let me know and I will verify it
from the manual).

3. I have 2 rows of seats in my theater and the first row (which is
where I usually sit) is slightly in front of the projector lens
(although my Ruby is installed somewhere between 140"-145" distance from
the screen). Most everything I watch is either HD or DVD and for me the
distance is fine. I don't see any screen door effect with the Ruby.

4. I have heard that the internal scaler does an excellent job of
scaling 1080i to 1080p. I haven't really tried using it to scale 480i
signals (I have a scaler feeding the Ruby at the moment).

5. As far as a local dealer, where are you located? I am in
Harrisburg, PA and could recommend 2 people in my area that might be
willing to give you a real good price. If you just want it shipped to
you, let me know and I might be able to find someone in my area.

6. It does accept a 1080p input signal. It has both an HDMI input and
a DVI input (along with compoenent video inputs and possibly others, I
didn't really pay attention to any other inputs).

Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Scott

-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf
Of Thomas B Kemp
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 3:25 PM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

I had my first opportunity on Saturday to see the Sony SXRD 1080P
VPL-VW100 Ruby projector in action. Overall, I was very impressed. It
was in a dedicated media room with tiered seating and a 110" Stewart
screen. While this wasn't an exhaustive review by any means, I was
surprised to see what appeared to be out of focus motion blurs on an
HDNet broadcast of some band video. I mentioned it to the salesman and
he said something to the effect of "yeah, I've noticed those motion
artifacts myself". This blurring was not what I would typically think
of a motion artifact that I associate with stair steps or something
similar. The action on the screen that caused the blurring wasn't any
quick movement or anything like that. Has anyone else noticed similar
blurring on the Ruby that they either own or have seen in
demonstrations? I was also very surprised how quiet it was. I could
not hear the cooling fan. Of course it may have had something to do
with the volume of what was on the screen but I'm under the general
impression that the cooling fan probably wouldn't be noticeable
regardless of the volume of what was being displayed.

I asked the salesman some questions that he was unable to provide
specific answers to. They are as follows.

1) The room that I would consider installing the Ruby in only has a 7
1/2 foot ceiling. Is that a problem? The room is 27' x 17'
approximately.
2) I know that when the unit is ceiling mounted that it is turned upside
down but given the short ceiling height in my situation, that's not
practical. Is it? IF I set this on a cabinet, what is the distance
that I must have to fill a 110" screen?
3) What's a realistic viewing distance to view the full 110" image? 20+
feet?
4) Does the Ruby have a very good scaler, line doubler built in?
5) Anyone know an authorized dealer where this can be purchased for less

than $10K? This demo was at a local Myer-Emco store. I previously
purchased two of my three HD sets from them and I can usually get them
to discount between 10 and 20%. We didn't talk price yet because I'm
not yet ready to buy.
6) The Ruby does accept 1080P input I believe BUT it only has one HDMI
input which surprises me. That's correct, isn't it?

Thanks,
Tom

Be slow to attribute to malice what can be simply explained by ignorance
or stupidity.




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----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 03:25 PM 2/27/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>I had my first opportunity on Saturday to see the Sony SXRD 1080P VPL-VW100
>Ruby projector in action. Overall, I was very impressed....
>
>I asked the salesman some questions that he was unable to provide specific
>answers to. They are as follows.

Tom, I see that Scott, a Ruby owner, has answered most of your
questions. As a former owner of a different SONY projector (their
VW10HT - their first HD capable unit that really had a good picture)
some of your questions involve things common to most projectors.


>1) The room that I would consider installing the Ruby in only has a 7 1/2
>foot ceiling. Is that a problem? The room is 27' x 17' approximately.

The projector sits very close to the ceiling and you set up your
screen so that the top of the lens is pointed at the top of the
screen (at least with the VW10HT). I would suspect that the Ruby has
similar geometry. In any event you probably can get some
installation information if you search the SONY site. I have a 7.5'
ceiling in my HT and it wasn't an issue. The only concern is that
really tall people might hit their head on the projector but if you
place it above the backs of your seating this really doesn't become
an issue because most people don't walk on the back of the chairs

>2) I know that when the unit is ceiling mounted that it is turned upside
>down but given the short ceiling height in my situation, that's not
>practical. Is it? IF I set this on a cabinet, what is the distance that I
>must have to fill a 110" screen?

Upside down geometry shouldn't be an issue at all. A lot of what I
said above applies.

>3) What's a realistic viewing distance to view the full 110" image? 20+ feet?

My seating was very close to what Scott's is. 20+ feet seems a
little far away but if you have the room it works. My first row has
the heads of the viewers about 12 feet away. Sony used to have a
neat little program on their web site (called something like "PJCalc"
if I recall that allowed you to plug in your room dimensions, screen
size, etc. and it would spit out optimal installation and viewing
distances. I don't know if they ever updated it for their other
projectors but it's probably worth looking into. I just Googled it
and came up with this:

http://www.sony.ca/projectors/support.htm

I believe this might be just what you are looking for.

>4) Does the Ruby have a very good scaler, line doubler built in?

Obviously it has to have a scaler built in order to accept
interfaced input (as does any digital display) but how it performs
compared to external scalers is hard to say because of the variables
involved. One thing for sure - if the digital inputs accept 1080p
then you have the option of using an external 1080p scaler. 1080p
Projectors that don't accept 1080p natively MUST use some internal
scaling to achieve the final 1080p resolution. The Ruby is very nice
in that regard since you can always add an external scaler later to
take advantage of technological progress in that area.

>5) Anyone know an authorized dealer where this can be purchased for less
>than $10K? This demo was at a local Myer-Emco store. I previously
>purchased two of my three HD sets from them and I can usually get them to
>discount between 10 and 20%. We didn't talk price yet because I'm not yet
>ready to buy.

Can't help you with this but Scott did I see.

>6) The Ruby does accept 1080P input I believe BUT it only has one HDMI
>input which surprises me. That's correct, isn't it?

Scott said that there's one DVI and 1 HDMI input (as well as a bunch
of other stuff) and as an owner he would know. I wouldn't worry too
much about only one HDMI input (or 1 DVI) since you probably only
want one digital cable going to the projector (or maybe a DVI and an
HDMI). You can always use an HDMI switch box to get more than one
digital HDMI source to the projector (you can get them for a little
over $125 now. Alternatively, if you use an external scaler you will
find that most of them are also hubs i.e. they have many inputs to
feed one output. For example, my DVDO iScan VP30 has 4 HDMI inputs
and one HDMI output. It also has a lot of other stuff but that's not
germane to the current discussion.

Hope some of this helps.

-- RAF


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----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Tom,
The throw distance for a 110" 16:9 screen with the VPLVW100 projector is
between 11 and 19 feet with an offset of about 8 inches before you need to
use keystone correction.

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first. I
>think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Tom,

I have a Sony "Ruby" projector set up with a Da-Lite "Cinema" 105" screen
for abut 4 weeks now. Looks like you have the answers for your setup. Yes
it has 1 hdmi, 1 dvi, 1 component and I believe 1 s-video input. I am
presently driving one input with a 25' dvi cable from "Better Cables"
connected directly to a Sony HD200 satellite receiver. The HD200 is getting
its feed from an attic mounted antenna, roof mounted dish and analogue cable
from Adelphia.

In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first. I
think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

I thought that the Sharp 45" LCD had 1080p inputs? Can anyone confirm or
deny that?


On 2/28/06 4:45 AM, "Dr Robert A Fowkes" <[email protected]> wrote:

> ----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
> At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>> In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>> (has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first. I
>> think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>> have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>> scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 09:46 AM 3/1/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>The current sharp 45" LCD does NOT have a 1080p input. The new 37D90,45D90
>and 57 D90 are supposed to support 1080P when they arrive in May. Stay
>tuned and we'll see whether that's accurate.

When I mentioned that the Sony Ruby, the HP MD sets and the Brillian
were the only models that I knew of that support 1080p input over
HDMI I was basing this on what I learned at CEDIA 2005 and from the
excellent coverage that Rodolfo provided regarding CES 2006. I'm
fairly certain that this was a comprehensive list at the
time. However it's possible that I may have overlooked a set or
two. I know, for instance, that a couple of sets supposedly offer
1080p input support via VGA (Samsung? Don't quote me on that) but I
can't personally confirm that. And I also know that there is a lot
of misinformation being put out there by overzealous salespeople and
even some misinformed people who should know better so I fully
understand the confusion and the rumors that make it hard to nail
this one down.

Believe me, I'm as interested as anyone in seeing 1080p input
capabilities becoming the norm rather than the exception for 1080p
sets for the reasons I mentioned in an earlier post. There have been
a lot of promises made and I'm sure that these sets will be appearing
shortly and over the next year or two. Just be careful to do the
research needed to confirm what you are told if you are looking to by
a model with 1080p input capability.



-- RAF


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----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

The current sharp 45" LCD does NOT have a 1080p input. The new 37D90,45D90
and 57 D90 are supposed to support 1080P when they arrive in May. Stay
tuned and we'll see whether that' accurate.

Cheers,
Joe Hart

-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
James Healy
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 12:45 AM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

I thought that the Sharp 45" LCD had 1080p inputs? Can anyone confirm or
deny that?


On 2/28/06 4:45 AM, "Dr Robert A Fowkes" <[email protected]> wrote:

> ----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
> At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>> In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>> (has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first.
I
>> think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>> have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>> scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Along the lines of top-notch converters and cable boxes: are there any cable
boxes that always pass through the native resolution? Currently my Motorola
makes you choose a resolution (right now I use 1080i) as output, and it
converts everything to that. In an ideal world it could pass what it was
receiving (1080i from NBC; 720p from ABC; etc.) on to a high quality unit to
upconvert to 1080p or whatever. Of course, I'm realizing that means that
the cable company would also need to be passing the native resolution.
Anyone familiar with this?

Thanks,

DvS


-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of Dr
Robert A Fowkes
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:46 AM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first.
I
>think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Interesting question Daniel.

That is a spec I monitored on satellite STBs but not in cable STBs. I will start doing that.

The last SA 8300HD I set up for someone in FL had several options but I can not recall that option
on the setup menu, in his 1080i only Elite set it did not matter because the set could not handle
720p input.

You might want to check the Sony cable DVRs, DGH-HDD250 and 500 in the web site, I did not put that
spec on page 94 of the CES report, but their satellite boxes use to have pass-thru, like Panny did
as well.

You can get all the models form the STB section of the 2005 report and back (Motorola, SA, Sony, LG,
and Pace), and do a quick search of the manufacturer spec on their web site, some might still in the
works like the SA MCP-100 DVR with Hi-def DVD recorder.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
Daniel vom Saal
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 1:56 PM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector


----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Along the lines of top-notch converters and cable boxes: are there any cable
boxes that always pass through the native resolution? Currently my Motorola
makes you choose a resolution (right now I use 1080i) as output, and it
converts everything to that. In an ideal world it could pass what it was
receiving (1080i from NBC; 720p from ABC; etc.) on to a high quality unit to
upconvert to 1080p or whatever. Of course, I'm realizing that means that
the cable company would also need to be passing the native resolution.
Anyone familiar with this?

Thanks,

DvS


-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of Dr
Robert A Fowkes
Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:46 AM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first.
I
>think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

I'm quite familiar with the 8300HD (at least those using SARA
software). They can be set to provide the "native" scan rate of the
program being viewed. For component connections is is called
"Pass-Through", for HDMI/DVI connections they change the title of the
mode to "Auto HDMI". There are also "Upconvert-1" andd "Upconvert-2"
modes, which upconvert SD to either 720p or 1080i, but pass the two HD
formats at their native rate. These are for use where the display will
not accept 480i over HDMI (dome won't). For these to work the box needs
to have the desired scan rates enabled in the set up procedure.

Dave Hancock

Rodolfo La Maestra wrote:

>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>Interesting question Daniel.
>
>That is a spec I monitored on satellite STBs but not in cable STBs. I will start doing that.
>
>The last SA 8300HD I set up for someone in FL had several options but I can not recall that option
>on the setup menu, in his 1080i only Elite set it did not matter because the set could not handle
>720p input.
>
>You might want to check the Sony cable DVRs, DGH-HDD250 and 500 in the web site, I did not put that
>spec on page 94 of the CES report, but their satellite boxes use to have pass-thru, like Panny did
>as well.
>
>You can get all the models form the STB section of the 2005 report and back (Motorola, SA, Sony, LG,
>and Pace), and do a quick search of the manufacturer spec on their web site, some might still in the
>works like the SA MCP-100 DVR with Hi-def DVD recorder.
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Rodolfo La Maestra
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
>Daniel vom Saal
>Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 1:56 PM
>To: HDTV Magazine
>Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector
>
>
>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>Along the lines of top-notch converters and cable boxes: are there any cable
>boxes that always pass through the native resolution? Currently my Motorola
>makes you choose a resolution (right now I use 1080i) as output, and it
>converts everything to that. In an ideal world it could pass what it was
>receiving (1080i from NBC; 720p from ABC; etc.) on to a high quality unit to
>upconvert to 1080p or whatever. Of course, I'm realizing that means that
>the cable company would also need to be passing the native resolution.
>Anyone familiar with this?
>
>Thanks,
>
>DvS
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of Dr
>Robert A Fowkes
>Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:46 AM
>To: HDTV Magazine
>Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector
>
>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>>In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>>(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first.
>>
>>
>I
>
>
>>think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>>have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>>scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

Thanks for the feedback; I have not researched using Cable STB's other than
the one provided by Comcast. The other side of the equation is what is
Comcast (or any other provider) doing at the headend? If they are doing
anything other than passing the native MPEG2 signal through all the other
concerns may be moot.

-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
Dave Hancock
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 2:24 PM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

I'm quite familiar with the 8300HD (at least those using SARA
software). They can be set to provide the "native" scan rate of the
program being viewed. For component connections is is called
"Pass-Through", for HDMI/DVI connections they change the title of the
mode to "Auto HDMI". There are also "Upconvert-1" andd "Upconvert-2"
modes, which upconvert SD to either 720p or 1080i, but pass the two HD
formats at their native rate. These are for use where the display will
not accept 480i over HDMI (dome won't). For these to work the box needs
to have the desired scan rates enabled in the set up procedure.

Dave Hancock

Rodolfo La Maestra wrote:

>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>Interesting question Daniel.
>
>That is a spec I monitored on satellite STBs but not in cable STBs. I will
start doing that.
>
>The last SA 8300HD I set up for someone in FL had several options but I can
not recall that option
>on the setup menu, in his 1080i only Elite set it did not matter because
the set could not handle
>720p input.
>
>You might want to check the Sony cable DVRs, DGH-HDD250 and 500 in the web
site, I did not put that
>spec on page 94 of the CES report, but their satellite boxes use to have
pass-thru, like Panny did
>as well.
>
>You can get all the models form the STB section of the 2005 report and back
(Motorola, SA, Sony, LG,
>and Pace), and do a quick search of the manufacturer spec on their web
site, some might still in the
>works like the SA MCP-100 DVR with Hi-def DVD recorder.
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Rodolfo La Maestra
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
>Daniel vom Saal
>Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 1:56 PM
>To: HDTV Magazine
>Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector
>
>
>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>Along the lines of top-notch converters and cable boxes: are there any
cable
>boxes that always pass through the native resolution? Currently my
Motorola
>makes you choose a resolution (right now I use 1080i) as output, and it
>converts everything to that. In an ideal world it could pass what it was
>receiving (1080i from NBC; 720p from ABC; etc.) on to a high quality unit
to
>upconvert to 1080p or whatever. Of course, I'm realizing that means that
>the cable company would also need to be passing the native resolution.
>Anyone familiar with this?
>
>Thanks,
>
>DvS
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of
Dr
>Robert A Fowkes
>Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 4:46 AM
>To: HDTV Magazine
>Subject: Re: Sony Ruby projector
>
>----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----
>
>At 09:13 AM 2/28/2006 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>>In my opinion the picture looks soft. I found myself adjusting the focus
>>(has a power focus lens controlled with the remote) quite a bit at first.
>>
>>
>I
>
>
>>think the fault is in the up conversion taking place in the projector. I
>>have ordered and expect within a couple of weeks a Vantage-HD
>>scaler/switcher as manufactured by Calibre. It is expensive ($3,000