Sony VPL-PHZ50 Projector

Sony VPL-PHZ50 WUXGA Laser Projector

The Sony VPL-PHZ50 is a compact installation projector for meeting rooms, classrooms, museums and houses of worship. It combines a BrightEra 3LCD imaging system at WUXGA resolution (1920 x 1200) with Sony’s Z-Phosphor laser light source, producing 5,000 lumens of output with no lamp to replace for around 20,000 hours. At 6.6 kg in a slim flat-top chassis, it was among the smallest and lightest projectors in its brightness class at launch, and it mounts on standard ceiling hardware without structural reinforcement in most rooms.

Key features

• 5,000 lumens output (5,400 lumens centre) from a laser source
• WUXGA 1920 x 1200 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio
• Z-Phosphor laser rated for approx. 20,000 hours
• Manual 1.6x zoom and wide manual lens shift
• HDBaseT single-cable input for video, control and LAN
• Infinite contrast ratio with dynamic laser control
• Accepts 4K input signals at 30p

BrightEra 3LCD and Z-Phosphor laser

Three 0.64-inch BrightEra LCD panels form the image, giving equal white and colour brightness — important for presentation graphics and video alike. The Z-Phosphor source excites a phosphor wheel with a blue laser diode, and because the laser output is dynamically controlled, Sony rates the contrast ratio as infinite (full white to full black). Brightness stays consistent over the source life instead of decaying like a lamp, and instant on/off removes warm-up delays between meetings.

Flexible installation

The standard lens zooms 1.6x across a 1.23:1 to 1.97:1 throw ratio and fills screens from 40 to 300 inches. Manual lens shift of -35% to +55% vertical and +/-15% horizontal, plus +/-30 degree horizontal and vertical keystone correction, accommodates off-centre ceiling mounts. Intelligent Setting presets store configurations for different rooms, and the flat top surface lets the projector sit unobtrusively inverted on a ceiling mount.

Connectivity and control

Alongside two HDMI inputs, the PHZ50 provides HDBaseT for carrying video, audio, control and network over a single Cat5e/6 cable run, plus VGA and composite for legacy sources. A 16 W built-in speaker covers speech reinforcement in mid-size rooms. Network monitoring, RS-232 control and USB power for a streaming stick round out an installation-friendly package.

Designed for daily operation

Installation projectors earn their keep in unattended, everyday service, and the PHZ50 is specified accordingly. Intelligent Setting presets let an installer store optimised configurations for different installations, an Auto Power On function wakes the projector when a signal arrives, and Auto Input Select finds the active source without the remote. The sealed laser light source keeps dust out of the optical path, reducing the brightness loss and cleaning intervals associated with open lamp designs, and data cloning over the network simplifies rolling identical settings out across a fleet of rooms. The full specification is in the Additional Information tab.