Sony VPL-CS7 ...Another Sony Miracle

From the line that brought us the CS4, the presentation machine, and the CS5, a projector for all occasions, comes another chart topping projector that leaves a good taste in your mouth. The Sony VPL-CS7 is one of those projectors that manages to produce a lot of brightness, yet maintains a great lamp life.

The funny thing is that when making the VPL-CS7, Sony didn’t really consider contrast and focused all of its attention to the brightness of the projector. The contrast ratio for a projector that came out in 2004 is a little absurd with a ratio of 350:1. It isn’t a particularly expensive projector, and usually the brighter machines are hefty in price, but perhaps this will make up for the contrast blunder.

The price was originally set at around $1500 US, and this was back in September of 2004, so I assume there are plenty left with an adjusted value much lower than you expect. The contrast isn’t as terrible as the numbers might make you believe, simply make sure your viewing area is dark and your blacks will appear fairly dark.

The main focus of the VPL-CS7 is the brightness of its screen, with 1800 ANSI lumens pumping out of this machine, don’t get in the way of the lens otherwise you might get burned. Like I implied before, it is hard to find a projector in this price range that offers such high lumens.

Once again Sony comes through by using the unconventional 185W projector lamp to power its image. The VPL-CS7 still manages to maintain higher than average projector lamp life at 2000 hours even though it is producing so much brightness. If you were to employ eco-mode, the projector lamp life increases to 3000 hours.

The economy mode reduces the ANSI lumens to 1500, which isn’t that bad, but it is almost necessary because it also reduces the noise level from 39db to 35db. This is a noticeable change when watching movies and worth losing some brightness.

The CS7 is still only a SVGA resolution projector that offers a native 4:3 aspect ratio. This is pretty good, and the picture is quite clear, but I would expect more from a newer projector especially since there is so much competition these days.

The CS7 supports all types of inputs including 1080i HDTV, except for the coveted DVI input. For the price you are paying, and the brightness it delivers, it really is a steal.