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Sign of the Times

Apr 9, 2009 12:00 PM, By D.W. Leitner

A look at the Canon Realis WUX10, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, and other signposts on the road to low-cost innovation.

Which brings us back to the Realis WUX10 projector. There’s no Moore’s Law of optics or illumination, meaning that just because electronics shrink, it doesn’t mean lenses or projectors shrink too. Which is why 19th century optics firms, mostly German, are still going strong doing pretty much what they always did.

By contrast, bulky CRT projectors from the vacuum-tube era were driven to extinction by tiny LCD panels and reflective semiconductor image engines, such as DLP micromirrors and LCoS. A glance at the photo on the opposite page of the ceiling-mounted 1999 Sony VPH-G90 atop the bantam WUX10 says it all: 275lbs. vs. 10.8lbs.; desk-sized furniture vs. desktop peripheral; $35,000 vs. $10,000 (street). Forman quipped that the WUX10 weighed maybe as much as a single VPH-G90 lens.

While the blacks of the VPH-G90 are beautiful to behold (projectors don’t project black, by the way; black is the absence of light), the tiny WUX10 is noticeably brighter, sharper, snappier, and clearer. Both Forman and I thought so.

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But those milky blacks (actually grays) kill the deal—at least in the dark surround of a true theatrical screening room like Forman’s. I tried a .9 ND (three stops) over the lens, even a circular polarizer—anything to force down the black levels. But even with a .9 ND in place, the WUX10’s blacks were still grayish, not even close to those of the VPH-G90.

But what if Canon, not known for theatrical or even home projection (where Sony and JVC are kings of LCoS), had created a different breed of projector in the Realis WUX10 targeted at business presentations, point-of-sales displays, even gaming—environments typically suffused with ambient light?

In those less-than-ideal situations, where the perfect absence of light and therefore accurate blacks are impossible, the WUX10’s bright, powerful output would appear contrastier to the eye than the output of projectors capable of true blacks. Put another way, the WUX10 favors accurate perception of midtones and highlights over shadow detail in imperfect screening environments in which genuine blacks can’t be realized anyway.

This may seem counterintuitive to everything you know about quality projection, but if your best work had to be viewed in less-than-ideal circumstances, it might start to make more sense. With LCoS, there’s no screen-door texture typical of LCDs, and none of the geometry or convergence issues typical of CRTs. And setting aside the nettlesome issue of blacks, when you consider that center-to-corner resolution holds across the entire 1920x1080 image, the WUX10 becomes a solid choice for on-location viewing of HD dailies to detect focus issues. Remember, it weighs 10.8lbs. It’s a carry-on.

What’s more, it’s smart. It has an automatic setup function that detects the type of input signal, then performs automatic focus (like a camera), automatic vertical keystone correction (plus/minus 20 degrees), and automatic screen color correction (so that white on the screen appears white). Of course, the automatic functions can be disabled and done manually if desired. The WUX10 even has an internal charging unit that continues to run the lamp’s cooling fan when power has been interrupted or cut prematurely. In addition, a digital zoom feature permits image magnification up to 12X for closer inspection.

Inputs include DVI-I (for digital RGB), analog RGB, analog component, S-Video, analog composite, three stereo audio jacks, and HDMI v1.3.

How much HD from his EOS 5D Mark II did Forman and I scrutinize on the WUX10? Not much, to be honest. The wheezy old Sony VPH-G90 produced noticeably better contrast in his plush, properly darkened screening room. The DP in each of us could not sanction milky blacks.

But if Canon someday made a WUX10 with true blacks, Forman would be first in line. Ask him.

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