Sony VPL-VW1100ES Projector

Two and a half years have passed since Tom Norton presented the primary review of the initial salvo of Sony to the 4K projector world, the VPL-VW1000ES. Now, three years after, Sony includes a fresh main, the VPL-VW1100ES, including an update to the most recent HDMI 2.0 connection standard and some video-processing refinements. It keeps the core elements of the version that is old but takes advantage of the tiny marketplace of consumer 4K content accessible now.

The newest projector looks the same from the surface as the old VPL-VW1000ES, with a few small changes internally. Its immense, dominating chassis encompasses a huge, custom, all-glass lens dubbed the ARC-F. When the projector isn't in use, an automated cover that slips in the front of it protects the lens.

Much like most Sony projectors, you will get actual interface buttons and the hookups over the right or left side of the chassis. Using controls on the chassis contain an on/off switch, lens adjustment, input keys, as well as a rock that is simple interface for browsing the set up menus.

When Tom reviewed the VPL-VW1000ES, it'd the more common HDMI 1.4b input signals that were on the marketplace at the time. The VPL-VW1100ES's HDMI interfaces are technically HDMI 2.0, but they do not supply the complete abilities set forth by the HDMI organization. Once more, HDMI is creating confusion with infinite variations, particularly during this early transition interval for HDMI 2.0.

The Sony VPL-VW1100ES and VPL-VW600ES are the sole projectors out there now that I am conscious of the attribute this copy protection support.

Indoors, the VPL-VW1100ES uses the identical total 4K (4096 x 2160) SXRD (that's, LCOS) display devices that have been featured in the last version.

Set Up and setup of the VPL-VW1100ES was a wind. I 'd recently installed the StudioTek 100 after finding its dearth of near perfect uniformity and texture. You could not ask for a better fit than the StudioTek 100 if you are seeming to take total benefit of just what a projector such as this can offer when it comes to fine detail and image fidelity.

One quibble I 'd in set up was the lack of any rear feet on the projector. The Sony has two feet that are flexible but on the rear is just a big fender that crosses over the underside. This could make exact tabletop setup a little catchy, but it will not be a trouble if the projector is mounted on the ceiling.

Sony's remote is among the greater handsets I Have used to get a projector. It covers most of the basics for changing seeing modes as well as for command, and its own backlight allows you to work with in the dark. You will find direct buttons for most of the preset modes, in addition to fast keys for alterations of most of the complex and video functions that are basic.

With just some small TV screening, I concentrated on film watching, with this review. For set up, I stuck with the theater modes of Sony. I used to be intrigued by the Cinema Digital preset, which promises to be exact for digital cinema (D Cinema) content. DCinema uses a broader colour gamut, referred to as DCI or P3. I needed to see whether this projector was really exact for playback of content mastered like that since I've the tools to assess the precision of DCI. The adherence to DCI of the Sony proved to be just about spot on, making this a feasible option for content that could be mastered in this gamut after down the line.

For 1080p content including Blu ray films and HDTV programs, the Benchmark preset was utilized by me. This delivered colour precision that was virtually perfect for the normal Rec of HDTV. 709 colour gamut. Happily, it was among the very precise projectors I Have ever quantified from the carton. A tiny adaptation for the gray scale was needed to dial it in totally, but that was just a fine tuning of an excellent baseline. As I Have said before to get 100 percent out of the picture possibility, you will still need to match it with an outboard video processor capable of fine tuning the calibration. But this Sony's out-of-box functionality can allow you to get an extended way toward superiority. Each of the settings used with this review are recorded at soundandvision.com.

While the largest upgrade in the VPL-VW1000ES to the VPL-VW1100ES is the HDMI board, its Reality Creation processing also enhanced in another 4K version, the VPL-VW600ES and this. Reality Creation smooths fine lines and complements their scaling to provide a cleaner, more stable picture which is free from scaling artifacts. I came across this a critical attribute to get the most effective picture in the VPL-VW1100ES. When I turned away it, quite several artifacts were discovered by me like rough transitions and noticeable jagged lines, with scaled pictures. Nevertheless, you must be careful how much you use. Similar to another video processing attribute, it may be overdone. Ringing things around was clear right away when the processing was utilized too harshly. I really discovered that setting the solution to Min and empowering the attribute was sufficient to provide an excellent picture without noticeable ring. I kept the Sound Filtering setting of Reality Creation at Min at the same time.

Sony's Cinema Black Pro function was being adjusted by another essential element of set up. This tunes the Advanced Iris, which may be used as a static or dynamic iris. Sony has been among the leaders in dynamic iris operation, and this can be a crucial characteristic for optimizing contrast from their platform that is SXRD. Nevertheless, I did see a greatly improved black flooring in the VPL-VW1100ES (particularly with complete blackout stuff)--definitely better than what I Have seen with any Sony projector before.

The Advanced Iris may be managed in Automobile Full three distinct ways, Auto Limited, and Manual. Vehicle Full provides the most dynamic range (I measured only over 300,000:1!), using the complete range of movement for the iris. Auto Limited provides the identical black-flooring abilities as Vehicle Full but restricts how much the iris will open, hence the picture will not be quite as glowing. This mode is for those that believe that Vehicle Full is just too bright for his or her set up. Manual mode is just that: a manual, iris location that is static. This establishes a fixed iris location and disables the dynamic iris functions. It is a characteristic I Have found fairly useful on my benchmark JVC DLA-X700R, and Sony has included it in previous versions of the projectors.) You might not have to make use of the total light output, so having the ability to place it where you would like it's easy into a peak that drops considering that the VPLVW1100ES is extremely bright. In addition, it cuts down on the multiplier for the dynamic iris, that might scale back on any noticeable transitions in the iris with stuff that is screening.

During my assessment, I kept the Sony's, lamp electricity on Low, as well as I got a staggering 21 footlamberts! That is in a position to reach with my reference projector or significantly greater than what I am used to. With the lamp on High, I could push it even further, having a peak white end product of 29 ftL calibrated. Utilizing the Auto Limited iris resulted in a peak white production of 14 ft L, which will be just what I shoot for when I am establishing my peak white amount. Both of the Auto Iris modes provided the same black amount that was measured, therefore I left the projector for many my reviewing in Auto Limited.

Motionflow is the frame interpolation option, used to smooth picture movement and compensate for the built-in loss of resolution in substance shot at lower frame rates, like pictures of Sony. That is accomplished by creating man-made pictures which can be positioned between the first frames to smooth the movement between them. Needless to say, this causes the soap opera effect that a number of audiences like to hate. High and Low modes are offered by Sony as well as a dark-frame insertion choice that emulates what you'd find in theatrical film demonstrations. I nevertheless find that I favor no frame interpolation with picture playback, although the Low style of the movement enhancer was not too objectionable. It can make quite a lot of difference with sports and I Had urge that you experiment with all the settings to find out if it helps with program sports which have lots of panning, like ice hockey and soccer.

In the Pro Placing menu, you will find most of the screen improvements that Sony offers. According to normal, I set almost all of them to away. BT was mechanically chosen by the Benchmark preset. 709, also called Rec. 709, which will be the benchmark for High Definition pictures.

A Picture Worth Every Cent

Tom's enthusiastic report on its own forerunner made me interested to find out exactly how great the main of Sony is. Well, I gotta say, the review of Tom collared it.

The VPL-VW1100ES made by far among the most effective pictures I Have ever seen in elsewhere or my set up. I Have been using JVC projectors for quite several years now, as most folks understand, and I Have become totally enamored making use of their industry-leading contrast performance. While the VPL-VW1100ES did not quite live up to that amount of comparison, it came closer than I anticipated. The dynamic iris of Sony is among the very diaphanous I Have seen in regular use, but it does an extraordinary job using the black flooring during those fade-to-black transitions struck during most films. I had been impressed to view the flooring that was black go not really white.

While the VPL-VW1100ES did a fabulous job with blackouts that are whole, the black flooring would raise up quite clearly once the smallest little bit of light was added to the picture. That is probably as a result of algorithm when the iris should begin clamping down Sony uses to ascertain. They dropped rather short of what I could reach with my reference projector while the blacks were fairly great. Given the Sony's incredible light output signal (degrees that my JVC can not even touch), it may be hopeless to enhance the black levels considerably more without giving some brightness. However , I expect they keep on striving.

You would like the appearance of a giant plasma screen in your home entertainment? As well as though the Sony could not quite fit my JVC with content that was extremely dark, I seldom discovered its contrast unsatisfactory. The iris did an excellent job with stuff that is combined, and that I never saw any clipping that is annoying on the most demanding evaluation sources. Simply speaking, unless you are a black- level accustomed to the kind of blacks seen in the JVC line, you will not have anything to whine about here. Besides the JVCs, I 've yet to discover any projector its equal in this respect.

Sony's ARC-F lens is actually among the finest I Have seen. Pixel sharpness with this projector was second to none, when I went through my standard set of assessment routines, and I did not see any chromatic aberration. This let me test out the native 4K functionality of the Sony and never have to be concerned about artifacts introduced as a result of scaling. Irrespective of how I set the Sony up, there was always a little hindrance in the frequency explosions plus some minor artifacts in the single-pixel patterns. They led me to consider that some screen improvements were constantly on, irrespective of their menu location, although the artifacts were fairly small. These routines also validated my ideas with any worth previous minimum, I Had see some noticeable artifacts creep in with singlepixel routines and frequency explosions.

Even I'm able ot get tired of seeing test patterns, therefore I spent the majority of my review time seeing a few of the most recent Blurays with my Oppo BDP-103D player. I bounced between 4K resolution settings and the Oppo's 1080p, the latter technically 3840 x 2160 UHD. Either way seemed amazing, but I believed the DVDO-powered scaling in the Oppo was only a tad much better compared to internal scaling of the VPL-VW1100ES. The Oppo did not reveal any indications of ring at all, although this is mostly nitpicking in the smallest details.

Obviously, since this is a report on the projector rather than the Bluray player, I concentrated mostly on the processing of Sony. I spent a few weeks combing through my Bluray group, plus it consistently came up in spades. Depth and detail of picture were second to none with the VPL-VW1100ES, as well as the combination of the extra resolution of the striking lens quality along with the panels resulted in fine item elements that I Have seldom seen. The picture had a crispness that I Had compare in what you'd see from a totally set up digital film-level machine. The brightness capacity that is extra was likewise a pleasant plus within my room. I do not normally enjoy an image as glowing as 20 ft L, but with other and cartoon pictures that are smart, it actually did make the picture more powerful. It was a bit fatiguing with pictures that transition a lot between dim and bright, but also for those, I 'd simply keep the iris.

A few of the greatest highlights came from recent Bluray releases like Star Trek, and Pacific Rim, Frozen Into Darkness. The impossibly neon shades of downtown Tokyo and the inky blacks varied perfectly, as well as the pop of the picture was nothing short of staggering through the downtown fights. Star Trek Into Darkness is among the top transfers I Have seen recently for detail that is fine, along with the IMAX camera footage made to get a powerful showcase of the abilities of this projector. Depth of picture was not credible, but it had been the tiniest of elements that kept shining through and separating the Sony from benchmark-degree projectors I Have seen before.

The VPL-VW1100ES comes with two pair of effective 3D glasses which operate using the internal IR transmitter (an outside RF transmitter can be obtained individually). I was not the largest supporter of the spectacles that are bulky. General functioning was simple enough, although they were a bit uncomfortable in contrast to other layouts I Have attempted. It absolutely was seldom if ever intrusive, although I saw some ghosting sneak in on occasion. I am surprised Sony determined for 3D playback to grey out the iris controls, given the projector's light-output signal potential.

Last but definitely not least was some screening time with native 4K content. (Besides, this content, while providing improved resolution compared with Bluray, however offers nothing better in chroma resolution or compression.) It was mainly either nature clips (with beautiful photographs of locales and creatures) or promotional material in a variety of settings. Even with the slim pickings, the content seemed superb, with clarity and breathless resolution.

Among the greatest takeaways from my screening session arrived via two sections of film-related content contained about the Sony demo player: a brief clip in the remake of Total Recall as well as a preview for After Earth. While the native 4K video material as well as the nature clips seemed amazing, the picture content did not seem quite different from what I normally see on Bluray transfers. There was a small bulge in fine detail in the farthest backdrops of the image using the native 4K versus the scaled 1080p Blu-ray, but change back and forth to actually see and I needed to pause the graphic.

The Sony VPL-VW1100ES is a main projector in every sense. From its second-to-to its exceptional precision with DCI and HD stuff, there's hardly any to leave you desiring. I used to be completely taken aback by its simple stunning clarity, punchy and bright picture, and operation. I'd give them high marks in every respect while I believe Sony could stand to produce some improvements for their general contrast performance. This one should be in your shopping list in the event you would like the finest of what's offered in front projection now and are lucky enough in order to manage the cost of entry. Highly recommended.

Sony VPL-VW1100ES Projector photo