Sony's new VPL-VW100 projector has caught us rather on the hop. For while we have come across its ground-breaking new 'SXRD' technology before, it was on a crazily high-end machine costing upwards of £20k. So the last thing we expected was another Sony SXRD projector to appear mere months later costing an astounding £13,000 less. But hey, we're not complaining.

If you haven't heard of SXRD before, it's an exclusive-to-Sony system that rather frighteningly stands for Silicon X-Tal Reflective Display. It's actually based on the Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS) approach already seen on projectors from Canon and JVC.But Sony reckons its extensive refinements to the LCOS system justify giving its technology a new name - and looking at the SXRD specs, it's hard to disagree.

For instance, the whole chipset driving system has been completely redesigned, while the SXRD chipset itself has been constructed using a totally new Silicon Wafer Process Technology, to increase its efficiency and reduce its dimensions. Add in a new liquid crystal device design, and you're looking at a core imaging device for the VPL-VW100 that delivers more than twice the pixel density of normal LCD-based chipsets, and the smallest interpixel spacing in the world. So you shouldn't see any visible panel structure in the final image, no matter how big your screen.

SXRD also tackles LCOS's poor black level issues, by using a newly developed Vertically Aligned Liquid Crystal material. This helps the projector boast better driving voltages and optical properties, resulting in higher contrast levels.

Finally the sheer minuteness of the SXRD chipset and the efficiency of its drivers means that the technology works with a response time of just 2.5 milliseconds, avoiding motion blur or judder.

So much for the tech. The VW100 projector itself is a large but pretty affair, thanks to its glossy white finish, tastefully arched upper edge, and rounded corners.

Connectivity includes HDMI and DVI jacks for digital video, component video inputs, a standard PC interface, a network jack for allowing PC control, and a 12V trigger jack for, say, kickstarting a hydraulic screen.