MP-CL1 Picture - "Right out of the Box"
Right out of the box, the overall picture is acceptable, in fact good for a pico projector, as long as you aren't looking for a high quality home theater calibre picture.
Colors are definitely off a bit, no worse, I would guess than they can be on most LCDTVs or other projectors when using some of the less "best" modes.
The Sony projector does not offer a choice of preset modes. Controls of the picture are also rather limited. the MP-CL1 does offer control of Contrast, Hue, and Saturation. Consider the controls rather coarse, they won't get you to anything resembling calibration level accuracy. This projector isn't the one for you if you are looking for really great, and reasonably accurate color, but it can provide a pleasant viewing experience for those not overly concerned about such things.
HDTV and Sports on the MP-CL1 Projector
Boy am I spoiled. I watch my sports on screens from 100" to 124" diagonal, with excellent brightness and awesome color.
So it's hard for me to mentally judge a 0.5 lb battery powered projector while watching a football game at roughly 24" diagonal, which is exactly what I did - for a while. Sorry, I enjoy my sports too much to watch an entire 3 hour plus football game on the Sony when I have a serious system.
But I can say that the Sony does get the job done. I wish my DirecTv's App would have allowed me to watch a live game on the Sony by hooking it up to my iPhone while traveling, but the NFL hasn't come that far yet. I have, however, put on channels showing sports highlights on my trip, and shining it on a wall. It did the job, and certainly made having others watch too, be practical, whereas 3 people crowding around an iPhone screen is NOT practical.
I also watched some news channels, and some Jimmy Fallon, and part of an old sitcom. It was also fine for music videos, but the built in speaker isn't up to handling music with any real fidelity. Definitely the HDTV viewing is watchable. If you want awesome, you are going to need a bigger projector.