Quiet Efficiency
Sony has always had an elegant design with its high-end ES projector offerings. While most projectors I review tend to be boxy and rather Spartan, Sony always has sleek cabinets with gorgeous lines and great paint jobs. The VPL-VW95ES is no exception. It is identical in looks to last year’s VPL-VW90ES and gives off a great first impression with its flaked blue paint job and sexy curves. The lens is hidden behind a recessed cover that opens quietly when you power on the projector. And quiet seems to be the big word when it comes to the VPL-VW95ES; I’ve never experienced a quieter projector. It doesn’t matter if you’re running in high lamp or low lamp mode—the VPL-VW95ES is whisper quiet and never intrudes on the home theater experience.
The VPL-VW95ES continues Sony’s use of its proprietary SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) technology, which is its recipe of LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). We’re pretty big fans of the technology, which is very similar to the D-ILA designs from JVC. In comparison, we’ve seen higher native contrast ratios from JVC with its LCOS designs, but Sony tends to have better motion resolution. Honestly, I don’t think you can lose either way you go, but both camps have their strengths. You’ll have to determine which one best fits your tastes.
The lens on this year’s model is the same 1.6x throw we saw last year. Sony includes powered focus, zoom, and lens shift that can be maneuvered from the projector’s side-mounted controls or the remote. Response and accuracy of the controls were quite good, and I was pleased to see Sony include the option to use its built-in test patterns or an external source. Sony has also included some lens memory options for different aspect ratios. This gives you the chance to explore different aspect ratio screens without the need for an anamorphic lens or additional scaling. Just set the zoom, lens shift, and focus for your applicable screen and save it to memory. The VPL-VW95ES allows for up to five different memories.
In the past we’ve been really impressed with Sony’s sharp lens quality. This model’s up-close pixel focus and focus uniformity across the screen weren’t quite as good as I was expecting from a projector at its price point, but ultimately the VPL-VW95ES did deliver a very sharp image from the normal seating position. Sony includes the same number of user preset video options as before, which gives you some flexibility as to how you want to see images. Some are tailored for films, while others are obviously meant for ultrabright images with oversaturated color. But fear not, perfectionists, Sony has managed to deliver the most accurate calibration I’ve ever seen for out-of-the box performance. When I selected the Cinema 1 preset and set color space to Normal, the VPL-VW95ES delivered a nearly perfect Rec. 709 color gamut. I’ve never measured a projector this close, and other than some mild touch-up work on the grayscale, the Sony didn’t really need any calibration at all.
The VPL-VW95ES includes a few color temperature options; Low 1 provides the most accurate result across the board. The presets can’t be adjusted (except in service mode, Sony says). But there are also tweakable custom modes that use the presets as their starting point. Custom 3 correlates to Low 1; when I used it, I managed to dial in a respectable grayscale from end to end. This was by far the easiest calibration I’ve done on a projector in recent memory, and the out-of-box performance is so good, I almost question the need for the investment for all but the pickiest videophile. The VPL-VW95ES does include Real Color Processing (RCP), Sony’s color management system, but considering its out-of-box performance, there was no need to even use it. During this review, I had the opportunity to test out two different samples of the VPL-VW95ES. Both were very easy to calibrate, although the second one’s black floor was very biased toward red. While contrast measurements proved about the same on both, visually the red dominance hurt black performance with extremely low average picture level (APL) material. With most content, this wasn’t an issue. But I noticed it with ultra-dark material.
One of the biggest differences between Sony’s projector line and the popular JVC offerings is how the companies approach contrast. JVC has long touted its extremely high native contrast ratios and how it doesn’t rely on a dynamic iris to achieve them. While JVC does employ an iris system to achieve its highest contrast ratios, its execution lacks the dynamic nature of Sony’s Cinema Black system. Honestly, I think this is a mistake. Native contrast is always a good thing, but adding a dynamic iris (especially one that can be defeated like Sony’s) will only improve on the contrast performance of the projector if implemented correctly. Having a high native contrast makes it even easier to do it right since you won’t have to be quite as aggressive with the dynamic implementation to get high contrast numbers. Sony’s dynamic system is one of the best I’ve seen, and throughout my review, I never spotted any issues with image pumping or clipping. Black uniformity could have been a bit better—I noticed some light corners on the upper-left and lower-right sides of the image with a full black screen. But this never encroached on the viewing experience with normal material.
Sony offers a considerable number of gamma presets, but I found Gamma Correction Off to be the best selection for a linear 2.2 gamma. Considering the contrast performance of the VPL-VW95ES, a higher gamma of 2.3 is worth looking at if you have a dark viewing environment. The contrast performance of the VPL-VW95ES fell somewhat short of what I expected from this year’s model, and we actually measured a drop in contrast compared with last year’s model. This may have been contributed to by the high red levels at the projector’s black floor.
One of the strongest performance points for the Sony is its motion resolution. Using a series of motion patterns from a test disc I obtained overseas showed just how good the VPL-VPL95ES is in this regard. The motion-induced contouring I’ve seen from some of the JVC projectors doesn’t manifest with the Sony, and overall resolution is improved compared with the JVC designs. Sony also includes its Motion Flow system, which interpolates to create new frames to smooth motion and improve overall resolution. I was excited to try Sony’s implementation, as I’d heard it was a bit more subtle than most and didn’t result in the soap opera look so common with most motion-based processing I’ve seen before. Unfortunately, even in the lowest mode, I didn’t care for the smooth panning the Motion Flow system created. While it worked fine with video-based material like sports, it still made films look too unnatural for me.
2D Performance
For this review, I viewed the VPL-VW95ES on my reference Stewart Studiotek 130 120-inch (diagonal), 16 x 9 screen (gain 1.3). All Blu-ray images were fed from an Oppo Digital BDP-95, and some DirecTV was also used.
Right off the bat, I was impressed by how easy it was to get an incredible playback experience from the projector. Most of the settings were right where they need to be out of the box, and after I chose the right presets, it delivered an image I normally wouldn’t expect until after a detailed calibration is performed. I was also impressed to find that Sony had located the 3D emitter for its glasses inside the body of the projector, near the lens. This eliminated the need to run a standalone emitter for 3D playback. It’s a nice touch I hope to see other companies implement on their 3D designs.
The VPL-VW95ES breezed through our video benchmark testing and earned top marks for both high and standard definition video testing. The projector showed no signs of clipping in the video signal, and the full 1920 x 1080 pixels were present. The Sony couldn’t keep up with some of the most difficult deinterlacing tests I had available, but it handled any common cadence with aplomb. If you use a variety of foreign video material that uses odd frame rates and cadences, you may want to consider using an outboard video processor or a Blu-ray/DVD player that handles the deinterlacing for you.
Since I have a rather large screen, I swapped between high and low lamp mode frequently, depending on the material viewed with the iris in Auto 1. High lamp mode delivered a peak of 18.3 foot-lamberts on my screen. Low lamp mode delivered about 12 ft-L, which is typically where I like my peak white level for normal viewing. I went through a wide variety of Blu-ray content during my time with the VPL-VW95ES. The highlight had to be the magnificent Blu-ray of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. To say the visuals of this film are second to none would be an understatement. It was shot with a mix of Super 35 and 70mm cameras, and the Sony delivered it with some of the most spectacular, breathtaking, and exceptionally film-like HD images I’ve ever seen. The color rendition was outstanding and the depth afforded by the VPL-VW95ES, even on this 2D release, was incredible. This was an image that was easy to get lost in.
I went through my normal staple of test discs. I like to use the Blu-ray release of The International to test out fine detail, gamma, and shadow detail. I was really impressed by just how seamlessly the dynamic iris worked with the VPL-VW95ES. There is a great scene in this film that normally wreaks havoc on dynamic iris systems. The Sony showed no signs of struggle at all. For shadow detail and black levels, I thought I would try the Sony’s hand at a recent reference transfer, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. This is an extremely dark film filled with amazing depth and detail. Sony’s contrast performance seemed up to the task, though, with decent black level performance and exceptional shadow detail. Although I mentioned we measured a lower contrast ratio than expected from the Sony, test patterns aside, the contrast performance was in line with most projectors I’ve seen short of the high mark set by the upper line of JVCs. It really wasn’t until I tried out some real contrast torture tests like Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem that I started noticing the Sony lose ground in black levels compared with the best I’ve seen. Here, levels near the black floor showed the red cast I mentioned earlier. While that improved shadow detail slightly, it gave an impression of a raised black floor and not as much fine detail.
Animation was also a treat. Since the VPL-VW95ES uses a dynamic iris system, it tends to be a bit brighter than projectors with the same contrast performance that don’t. While I wasn’t a big fan of the overall story and execution of Pixar’s Cars 2, it does provide jaw-dropping imagery. The movie has a tremendous mix of dark and bright locales with dizzying color saturation and detail. The Sony delivered the images with aplomb.
3D Performance
Sony touted improvements in its 3D implementation this time around, but I never had the chance to use the previous VPL-VW90ES, so I am not sure how this one stacks up in comparison. My comments on the 3D side would be in comparison with my last 3D projector, the JVC DLA-X3 (which was recently replaced by the DLA-X30).
One of the biggest pluses for this year’s release is the inclusion of a pair of Sony’s 3D glasses. I’m used to having to fork over more money for an emitter and glasses, but Sony has included these this time around, making your jump into 3D that much easier. For 3D playback, I looked at a wide assortment of 3D material, including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Avatar, The Lion King, and Cars 2. The most immediate benefit I saw from the VPL-VW95ES was the brightness level. Compared with my previous JVC DLA-X3, the Sony delivered a much brighter image with more visual punch. The glasses worked without a hitch, and the 3D menus give you options so you can change the amount of time the shutters are open (allowing for brightness control) and for crosstalk. The out-of-the-box settings were ideal, and I rarely if ever saw any ghosting during my viewing time. I’m not a big fan of 3D playback—I just don’t find it that involving—but the Sony did a tremendous job with the material I looked at. When I reviewed the JVC X3, I noticed a fair amount of ghosting with Universal’s Despicable Me. While I still saw a faint amount of ghosting with this title, it was a tremendous improvement over the JVC. Unlike the JVC, Sony also allows you to use its Motion Flow settings during 3D playback. This provided smoother visuals with more definition, but it also came with the price of that soap opera look I despise.
Conclusion
While I was a bit disappointed with the focus and contrast performance of the VPL-VW95ES, that’s me: Most of my nitpicks come from being a bit of a videophile snob and probably won’t even be noticed by all but the pickiest viewer. To put it in better perspective, I found the VPL-VW95ES a solid value. The out-of-box calibration is second to none, and Sony’s outstanding dynamic iris implementation and built-in 3D emitter make this one of the best projector experiences I’ve had right out of the box. Once again, Sony delivers a home theater experience that is easier than ever to enjoy—and now at a price that is even easier to afford.by kris deering
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