Sony’s best home cinema projector improves significantly 3D
playback.
Sony VPL-HW50ES
We are fans of Sony's Silicon X-tal Reflective Display
(SXRD) Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) technology. Instead of using normal LCD
technology where light passes through internal screens, SXRD uses reflective LCD
panels which increase contrast and color accuracy. We were so excited to see Sony's
new high-ranking 3D projector, the VPL-HW50ES, which is designed to attract
true home cinema enthusiasts.
Keeping the same large case of other previous projectors, including
a lens placed at the center and side-facing inputs, the VPL-HW50ES is a great looking
set of kit. It’s available in black, but we think that the shiny white model
that Sony sent us for this review looks fine. Being large, but it isn’t too
bulky and can still be mounted to the ceiling with the appropriate bracket.
All ports are hidden below the outer edge of the projector.
You get two HDMI inputs, as well as VGA and component video. It also has ports
for the optional 3D synchronization and the infrared remote control receiver.
They are useful supplements for serious home cinema setups where the projector
is placed separately, but they won’t be needed for most living room setups.
In order to set up, you need to come to the projector because
you have to control the lens manually, which slightly disappoints for a high-ranking
projector. Optical zoom is also limited to 1.6x which isn’t good compared with
Panasonic's high-ranking projectors which have greater levels of zoom, as well
as mechanical zoom and focus controls. The horizontal lens adjustment is
limited to +/-25%, but the vertical adjustment is +/-71%, which is more
forgiving.
Once you've focused the lens, you can control everything
from your comfortable sofa, thanks to the comprehensive remote control, which
is backlit to make it easier to do in the dark. It has all important features
you expected, including input selection, picture presets, aspect ratios, color,
gamma, brightness, sharpness and contrast controls.
The interface on the screen is easy to use, with the image
quality settings placed in one main menu and the more advanced features hidden
in submenus. It doesn't cover the whole screen, which makes it easier to adjust
picture quality with live previews when you enable or disable each setting.
There are lots of presets to use as a starting point, including two Cinema
modes, TV, Reference, Photo, Game and a fully customizable user mode. There are
also Bright Cinema and Bright TV modes aimed for when you can’t draw the
curtains or turn off the lights. Both work well, but you will for sure get
better results in a dark room.
Reality check
Image quality is superb, partially thanks to Sony's Reality
Creation image processing engine. Sony says it creates sharp and lively Full HD
images, and we think it works wonderfully, adding extra sharpness and detail to
scenes. It doesn’t create extra noise or unwanted side effects, and we couldn’t
find any reason to switch it off throughout our testing.
Image quality is
superb.
Dark scenes benefit immensely from Reality Creation, bringing
shadow detail that might be missed on projectors at the same price from other
manufacturers. It does this without raising the brightness, keeping colors and contrast
accurate and avoiding unwanted color fade-out. The Auto Iris function proved
helpful here, working quickly and without becoming obtrusive. In general, colors
are bold but still natural, helped by the extra brightness from the 1,700 lumen
lamp.
Fast motion seems to be good as well, whether you are watching
24p Blu-rays or playing 60fps games. We couldn't notice any signs of ghosting, even
during the most intense action sequences, and the film grain was always preserved,
even when we changed the motion enhancement features. We saw some small
halo-type artefacts, but they were only visible if you looked at them closely;
you wouldn’t notice them on a 70-inch screen from six feet away.
Previous Sony projectors used to have crosstalk when playing
3D content. Fortunately, the VPL-HW50ES shows no sign of any similar problems.
All 3D films look great, with no visible ghosting, no shaking from the active 3D
glasses and very bright colors. We preferred the Cinema 2 image preset for
watching 3D video, as pictures looked slightly brighter and colors were more
vivid, eliminating the blurring effects of the 3D glasses.
There is an external emitter input for the active shutter
glasses in case you manage to block the internal one during the installation, but
we had no problems in an average-sized living room. There is no accompanying external
emitter available, so if you need one, it will cost you $38, and $44 for each
per extra pair of glasses. Sony has decided not to add speakers to the HW50ES, as
the projector is designed for high-ranking home cinema systems. This projector
is quiet, rarely becoming louder than a whisper when watching films. It also
remains cool, even after some hours.
The VPL-HW50ES produced some excellent images. It is nice to
see mechanical lens adjustment, but it's user-friendly and it looks wonderful,
too. It’s a great projector for a high-ranking home cinema system.
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Info
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Price: $4,395 incl. VAT
·
Website: www.projectorpoint.com
·
Ranking: 5/5
Specifications
·
Natural resolution: 1,920x1,080
·
Contrast ratio: 100.000:1
(dynamic)
·
Rated brightness: 1700 ANSI lumen
·
Lamp cost (economy): $0.14 ($0.09)
incl. VAT
·
Size: 179x407x464mm,
9.6kg
·
Power consumption: 1w standby, 259W on
·
Warranty: three-year RTB (lamp one year)
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