Display Review

IP networking makes this already solid projector even moreattractive.

Most of the onboard menu functions of Sony’s VPL-PX15projector can be accessed remotely via IP, and the networked projectorcan even display in realtime a presentation running on a remote PCdesktop.

Networked projectors aren't really a new idea. It's been a couple ofyears since the first projector was equipped with an Ethernet port, andover the last year and a half a few manufacturers have incorporatedthat connectivity into some models. Yet the novelty factor aside, thereisn't great industry or user consensus on the true value of a displaydevice's IP connectivity — beyond its usefulness as a featurecall-out on a marketing brochure.

Sony's VPL-PX15 projector isn't entirely brand new either. But amidindustry uncertainty, Sony has evolved its networking functionalitywith features that administrators and presenters can use, making thePX15 a bellwether for the state of industry convergence with IP.Happily, Sony has also reduced price points to levels where the newcapabilities no longer charge an early-adopter or novelty premium.

For many, networking carries the nasty aroma of computertroubleshooting, a frustration better left to others. Yet networkedcomputers, networked printers, file sharing, and, in largerorganizations, remote administration are the norm these days, andthey're sorely missed during outages. Obviously Sony had remoteadministration in mind for the PX15, and has moved in the rightdirection to interest A/V integrators.

Past anecdotes aside, adding nodes to an existing network has becomeconsiderably easier over the last few years, particularly throughautomatic IP addressing by DHCP servers. That's a boon for devices likethe PX15. Once plugged onto a network, the PX15 can use DHCP toautomatically receive a dedicated IP address and, after a 15-secondrelaunch of the network module, you're online. The projector alsooffers new support for wireless PC card interfaces.

It took less than two minutes to turn on the projector, make surethe “Obtain an IP address automatically” button waschecked, relaunch the networking module, and start browsing the Webusing just the projector's remote control. Of course, you can alsomanually assign an IP address if necessary and test your luck againstnetworking tradition, as I did in another test. The projector is readyin either case and, with accurate information, does its job without ahitch.

Once connected, the PX15 conveniently displays its assigned IPaddress at the bottom of the projector's output screen. Pointing anot-connected computer's browser to that address opens astraightforward JavaScript-based interface to the projector. What canyou do from there that can't already happen via other currentlyavailable technology? Very little actually, although with the PX15 someof it can be accomplished with a lot less equipment and for a lot lessmoney than before.

To start, you effectively can control the unit from any browser,anywhere, beginning with power up. Interestingly, the unit's mainbrowser interface is remotely accessible as long as electricity isconnected to the unit, even if the projector is not powered on. Oncebooted, you'll have access to most of the projector's on-board menufunctions for remote administration, which is the major thrust of mostimplementations of networked projectors.

Remote administration is a bit of a mixed bag for the PX15, however.While you can easily control functions like source input, brightness,contrast, mute, keystone, and more, the browser interface doesn't giveyou numerical read-outs, making out-of-eyesight corrections uncertainat best. At least the interface offers a “reset” button tocorrect drastic problems or tampering.

On the other hand, Sony has implemented email notification. Enter anadministrator's email address and a server IP, and the unit can be setto email status routinely or in case of an emergency. It's a featurethat many users and other manufacturers have identified as key, andSony takes the lead in offering it.

The PX15 is one of a few projectors on the market, including itsbrighter and larger sibling the VLP-FX50, to include a Windows CEoperating system built into the unit, yielding, for starters, thePC-free web browsing mentioned above. For the time being you'll have totype awkwardly using an on-screen keyboard and the remote's cursor— it would be wise to pre-load presentation URLs beforehand— although Sony is working on support for a physical USBkeyboard.

Yet the operating system also allows file management. The browserinterface includes a remote file manager for moving files from adesktop computer across the network and onto the projector's memory forlater PC-free presentations. Also included are application readers forPowerPoint and Excel (oddly, a Word viewer is not pre-installed), aswell as a JPEG image viewer for scrolling through a series of stillphotos. This means you'll never have to fool with computer hookups justprior to a presentation. Pre-load files, walk in the room, andpresent.

Finally, leveraging the remote desktop feature built into Windows XPProfessional (or Windows 2000 Server), the PX15 can project fullapplications, cursor movements, and keystrokes from an XP Professionaldesktop in realtime. That means not only PC-free butpresenter-free presentations, in case someone can't belocal.

Of course, none of its networking features have anything to do withthe way the PX15 displays images on a screen. For that, it's back tothe old technologies of lamps and light engines, and Sony has done avery good job with image quality. Sony has a reputation for good colorreproduction, which the PX15 upholds just fine. Grayscale colortemperatures are consistent from white to black, if leaning to blues inthe deepest blacks. That helps beget stable colors across differentluminance levels, especially in moving video.

By the numbers, the 11.9lb. PX15 is solid. Sony rates the XGA(1024×768) projector at 2000 ANSI lumens, and in our tests it wasspot-on at 1999.5 lumens. Brightness uniformity was also veryconsistent at nearly 90% — and wonderfully solid across theentire lower two-thirds of the picture. A contrast ratio of 137:1 won'twin any prizes against today's trends, but it is quite solidperformance.

Despite the “wow” factor of networked projectors, thecategory has been slow to take off. That might well have to do with thecost premiums of previous offerings from Sony and others. The PX15, asolid projector in its own right, effectively eliminates that problem.With potentially valuable email notification and the possibility ofPC-free presentations thrown in at no real extra charge, Sony may beready to jump-start the trend in a bigger way — assuming A/Vpeople can think clearly about IP.

Contributing editor Jeff Sauer is a freelance video producer andindustry consultant. He directs the DTV Group Lab, an independentresearch and testing facility in Cambridge, Mass. Email him at jeff@dtvgroup.com.

Company: Sony Park Ridge, N.J.; (800) 686-SONY www.sony.com/professional

Product: VPL-PX15 projector

Assets: Quick and easy setup; remote control of menufunctions over IP; email notification; web browsing via the projector'smenu or remote control; solid image display.

Demographic: Presentation professionals who aren't afraid ofa little IP networking.

Price: $5,699

To comment on this article, email the Video Systems editorialstaff at vsfeedback@primediabusiness.com.