I recently upgraded my basement into a robust Home Theater. I had planned on installing a 85" LCD on one wall, but when a projector was given to me I quickly changed my plans. The device was a Sony VPL-FHZ60 which was sold from 2015-2018. Retailing at $8,000 it was intended for museums, art galleries, and large venues. With 5,000 lumens and a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 it's WUXGA format has a resolution of 1920x1200 which is slightly better than Blu-Ray. The 3LCD light source is rated for 20,000 hours.

I mounted it under a crossbeam in the center of the room which put the unit directly above my head over the sofa. One of the major worries of people considering a home theater projector is fan noise. This is unfounded. If you are considering a projector mild fan noise is part of the experience but there's no need to obsess about it. The Sony fan is very quiet at 28db and the only time I can hear it is moments of complete silence during a movie. Even then its a small whisper barely louder than room noise.

A projector provides a different movie experience than a flat panel TV. The energy and "bounce" of the images off the screen are exciting and the sense of being in a theater are much more fun IMO. So while a TV can provide razor-sharp detail and deeper blacks, a projector really elevates the experience in a unique way.

My PC uses a Radeon RX-560 2GB video card over HDMI 2.0 to the projector. This card supports HDMI 4K up to 4096 x 2160 and HDR10. Even though the projector isn't capable of these resolutions this ensures the best signal possible reaches the Sony. In my totally-dark basement the color intensity and realism are excellent. Using VLC, Blu-Ray and 4K films have a pop, clarity, and richness that make me smile. Inner detail and skin texture is wonderful. It make not be actual 4K but is very close, its easy to see why this projector retailed for $8,000. The only shortcoming is that the black-levels are very good but average. Only my videophile friends would notice and the super-brightness and overall performance in other areas make it a non-issue.

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CALIBRATION

MY SETTINGS FOR 2026

A setting it took me a while to find is Panel Alignment under the Installation menu. It looks like it has only ON/OFF but right-clicking ON reveals a hidden menu for aligning RBG grid lines. Mine were offset and realigning them made a significant improvement in image clarity.

To access the internal Service Menu input ENTER-ENTER-LEFT-ENTER on the remote with the projector on. Nothing seems to happen but a new entry appears at the bottom of the main menu called "Device". In here are A/D Converter, Panel Driver, Display Engine as well as advanced White Balance and Gamma settings. Without a calibration device the only setting that the service manual gives instructions on is P.DRV/ V Common (Power Drive / Vertical Common). This is the voltage applied to each LCD panel internally.