AV & Presentation

Sony Debuts High-Light-Output LCD Projectors

• By David Nagel
• 04/20/10

Sony this week unveiled two high-light-output 3LCD projectors designed for medium to large venues, including classrooms and auditoriums.

Unveiled Tuesday, both of the new installation projectors offer a resolution of 1,024 x 768 (XGA) and use Sony’s Bright Era technology. The higher-end VPL-FX500L uses a dual-lamp design (with an estimated combined lamp life of 8,000 hours when lamps are used alternately) and sports a brightness rating of 7,000 lumens. It also offers lens shifting capabilities that allow for up to ±96 degree vertical and ±64 degree horizontal shift, depending on the lens used, without the need for keystone correction. It does not ship with a lens but is backward-compatible with some existing Sony lenses.

The VPL-FX30 is designed for medium venues and classrooms and provides a brightness of 4,200 lumens. It includes a 1.6x optical zoom lens standard.

Sony has not yet revealed pricing or further details for the new projectors. The 4,200-lumen VPL-FX30 is expected to ship in June. The 7,000-lumen VPL-FX500L is expected to ship in July. Further information will be available here.

About the Author

David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 25-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.

He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEJournalDave (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).