Sony VPL CX21

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Excellent
Colour sensitivity	Excellent
Resolution	Excellent
Ease of Installation	Simple
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	High Brightness, 3LCD Projection System, AIAS (Advanced Intelligent Auto Setup), Short Focal Length
Disadvantages:	Abit Noisy

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The Sony VPL CX21 is a bright, slim, and stylish projector designed for mobile applications. A friend of mine has this and we always watch movies on it. The projector has many features which I've written about below with brief explanation of each feature:

- High Brightness of 2100 ANSI Lumens
The projector has three Sony 0.63-inch LCD panels and a latest designed 165 W lamp, it has a brightness of 2100 ANSI lumens, which provides amazing image quality even in very high ambient-light. The projector has a resolution of XGA (1024 x 768), this simply means fine display of even the smallest details.

- 3LCD Projection System
This is what the Sony projector is all about, it has a 3LCD projection system which means the projected images are bright and natural and for this to be achieved it has 3 LCD panels. It provides high light transmission and excellent colour reproduction. It even provides smooth gradients in dark areas and helps prevent the colour from breaking up.

- AIAS (Advanced Intelligent Auto Setup)
By switching on the power, the projector automatically starts setup functions which make it simple to use even for first time users. These are the key AIAS features the projector performs:

- Power operated tilt adjuster
- Auto keystone correction
- Auto Input Search and Smart APA (Auto Pixel Alignment)
- Built-in Auto Focus module (focuses the projector)

- Short Focal Length Lens, Power Focus & Power Zoom
The short focal length lens lets you display a large screen size from a short distance. E.g. a 80 inch image can be projected from a distance of just 2meters. This feature is excellent for when room space is limited.

- Security
The projector has a Password Authentication System (security lock) and a Control Panel Key Lock

- Other Features
Easy-to-use Remote Commander Unit
On-Screen Multi-Language Setup Menu
Image Flip
Digital Zoom (up to 4x)
Picture Freeze
Picture and Audio Muting
Selectable Lamp Wattage (165 W or 125 W)

The Sony VPL CX21 looks really executive and office like. It has a nice sleek design to it and is slim compared to other projectors on the market due to it being a mobile projector so its easy to take with you to meetings or presentations etc. It is light weight and all major functions are motorised so you can look cool using it too. We just use it to watch films which look amazing when projected on a bright white back drop in the living room; with a DVD player connected to it and 5.1 surround sound to the DVD player you have your own cinema in your living room. That's the advantage of a projector you can make the screen as big as your imagination (actually as big as your living room wall).

Overall the Sony VPL CX21 is a brilliant projector with plenty of features and excellent display output which is very clear. One downside though I must add is the noise the projector makes. Due to it being fully motorised its constantly making noise, we don't hear it when watching movies as the sound of the movie kills the projector noise easily but it isn't good if your using it for a presentation or in a meeting and that is what it was actually designed to do. So I would recommend it as a definite for movies. The projector costs around £600 - £700.