tldr; The Sony VPL-HW50ES has received notable criticism on Reddit (25% positive across 11 mentions). Research carefully before purchasing.
$71.99 on AmazonScores based on sentiment analysis of topic-related comments
Best praise vs top criticism for Sony VPL-HW50ES
“That's a great projector with exceptional blacks, color, and motion. How many hours? Make sure black levels are deep and not milky. If it's under 2000 hours and the picture is good this is a reasonable deal. Keep in mind lamps are about $200 and only aftermarket lamps are available. Sony no longer makes lamps and only has inventory for newer 4K models.”
“While this shouldn't happen, the degradation of the polarizers and LCoS panels over time is a real thing. Sony, especially, is known to have LCoS panel degradation which has been measured to impact contrast. I'm not sure that there has been much testing on the long term degradation beyond some contrast loss with Sony panels that did not present itself with JVC's LCoS panels. The HW50ES era of Sony projectors certainly were subject to this problem. It may be what you are running into. Especially under heavy usage. DLP is a stronger long term platform and probably the most durable I have seen. But, LCoS is the picture contrast king. I don't think you are wrong, I do think you may have just worn the darn thing out over the years.”
11 Reddit opinions analyzed • Last updated 4/4/2026