Last year Sony's VPL-VW50 'Pearl' won many friends, being one of the first affordable Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution projectors.

Of course, the awesome pictures that it produced, along with the beautiful styling of the cabinet, helped too. It's now been replaced by the rather less charming Sony VPL-VW60.

Gone is the glossy-white finish of the original. The all-new 'anthracite' look of the VW60 has led it to be dubbed, fairly predictably, the 'Black Pearl'. Colour apart, though, both look very similar.

Some impressive improvements by Sony

The claimed contrast ratio has been bolstered from 15,000:1 to a mind-boggling 35,000:1, thanks to refinements in the optical path and SXRD panels.

Naturally, the VW60 retains the Full HD resolution and 1080p compatibility of its predecessor, but both HDMI inputs are now fully compatible with the 24fps refresh rate needed to make the most of compatible Blu-ray players.

The VW50 - which was introduced before 24fps sources were available widely - was supposed to be, but many users reported picture 'tearing' problems.

Also new is HDMI CEC 'one-button' system control (Bravia Theatre Sync, as it's known in Sony circles). Scart-type (RGBs) sources can be fed into the projector's VGA-type PC socket, but only with a special adaptor cable. Sony doesn't sell these, either.

User-friendly projector

The backlit remote is neatly-designed and sensibly laid-out. My only criticism is the lack of 'direct' source-selection buttons. It nevertheless manages to provide access to a bewildering variety of functions related to configuration and usage.

The VW60 can be easily setup for desk/ceiling-mounting, front or rear-projection. The throw-ratio has been designed with the average home in mind, and the VW60 will yield a 4m 16:9 picture at a projection distance of 5m or so.

The motorised lens-shift feature makes 'centering' of the image a doddle (needless to say, focus and zoom can also be handset-driven). Keystone correction may be electronic, but it works well. And, to aid the adjustment of such parameters, a test pattern is displayed.

Another (cross-hatch) test pattern is available for the unusual panel-alignment feature that Sony has provided to ensure that the red, green and blue contributions are always in registration with each other, thereby avoiding 'fringing'.

You also get the ability to blank off unwanted areas adjacent to the displayed picture - I found this particularly useful during TV viewing.