Sony VPL-HW65ES projector test: what the x-rays showed?

Do you like to walk into an X-ray office? Not so good, I think. But from time to time it is necessary to make sure that everything is all right … Today we also take some kind of “X-ray”, which will allow the most prying cinema-goers to make sure that everything is cool with the new Sony VPL-HW65ES projector, everything is all right and the health of its owners is also all right!

Projector test

Sony VPL-HW65ES

What the “X-ray pictures” show?

Test measurement technique

Tested in a professional studio, in a completely dark room, with neutral walls, where color distortion is practically eliminated. A Da-Lite screen cloth with a gain of 1.1.- which was used to display the test image of 313×180 cm. Distance to screen – five meters.

Measurements were made with an X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter. The software chosen is HCFR Colorimeter 3.1.0.6. This program understands the correction profiles supplied by the manufacturer and the spectral correction profiles designed to increase the accuracy by correcting the measurement results depending on the type of illumination of the display device CRT, CCFL, W-LED, Wide Gamut, Projector, etc. .

CIE 76 ab is used as the color deviation formula.

Contrast is defined as the difference between the brightness of the white and black screens, measured “on reflection”.

The VPL-HW65ES is highly flexible in terms of image adjustments. There are nine factory presets to choose from. The user can freely adjust any mode to suit his taste and preferences.

Movie 1

The mode is designed for watching movies at home, but assumes the tone gradation gamma used in household TVs and monitors, with a value of about 2.1.

Despite the extended color gamut in the green and green-blue tones, the projector has noticeable shifts. So the sky, for example, will not be as saturated as expected by default.

Color temperature is stable and slightly warm – about 5750K. There is a slight magenta tint, which, however, will hardly be noticeable to the eye. And the channel-by-channel graphs of gamma curves show an unusual phenomenon. There is no channel separation, but the curves themselves create an S-shaped curve. At the level of 50% brightness the curve goes under the reference, and then rises above it.

A consequence of the “roller coaster” on the gamma curve will be an increase in contrast at 50-80 percent brightness and a noticeable decrease in contrast at 30-50 percent, where image details can be lost and local contrast will sag.

The value of the gamma itself varies from 1.4 to 2.6, and the average temperature is 2.09. This means that the color reproduction on the screen will not be very smooth. Tone transitions have obviously lost their smoothness, and if a gradient appears on the screen, it will also appear stepped.

This mode uses aperture and it is not possible to measure contrast using our method.

So, in Cinema 1 mode there are some deviations in color rendering from the ideal values. However, I would take this factory setting philosophically: “if the stars are lit, it means that someone needs it? So you can also encounter video sequences that successfully overlap exactly on the “roller coaster” of the gamma curve. All in all, this is an amateur mode.

Movie 2

The mode is much the same as Movie 1 – color gamut, color temperature, and dynamic iris are identical. Only the gamma curves differ – here they are much closer to the reference, nevertheless, some deflection in the area of 50 percent brightness remains. The image will be darker in this area than you might expect, but it will have more contrast.

Average gamma value in this mode is 2.44, which is close to the cinema standard 2.4. Although, looking at the gamma diagram, it becomes obvious that this is the average value, although the difference between 2.3 and 2.8 is not as big as in the previous mode.

In general Movie 2 with a few reservations can be recommended for viewing movies in good resolution. You’ll get a deep, dark picture, similar to what you’d see in a real movie theater.

Pattern and Custom

In this mode all the digital “enhancers” are disabled and the image is projected on the screen without “make-up”, just as the signal comes from the source.

The user is offered the standard color gamut, which is very good in the area of blue and red tones. But the green tones are somewhat shifted, “green men” may not be very happy, but ordinary users won’t notice much discomfort..

Color temperature is stable at 5750K which is slightly warmer than the reference 6500K. With such a small discrepancy, excessive yellowing will not show up on the screen.

Gamma curves go above the reference, which means a lighter and brighter image. The gamma value is stable at around 2.1. In this mode, the user will get a really accurate rendering of tonal transitions, as the iris is turned off and natural contrast is used, which is a very respectable 5342:1. This value provides excellent tone separation and a deep contrast picture.

Thus, the Sample mode can be recommended not only as an everyday mode, but also as a movie mode, although the user should lower the gamma value a little – the menu allows to do this with ease.

Custom – by default this mode is similar to the Sample mode, and then everything depends on the level of requests and fantasy of the projector owner.

TV

A mode that offers enhanced color gamut. As a consequence, the colors will be a little richer than they should be, but without fanaticism – on the screen in turn will pass normal people, but not red-skinned “Indians” on the background of the nuclear green grass near the house…

A slightly cooler 6800-6900K color temperature will provide some lightness, haze to the picture and keep your eyes from getting tired during extended viewing.

Gamma curves behave approximately as in the Cinema 2 mode, but with an even greater deflection in the area of 50 percent. As a result, we get deep shadows, very high contrast in medium tones, but details in the dark and light areas of the image will be less than in other modes.

In general, the mode is good for watching terrestrial and cable TV except movies , the picture will be rich and saturated, but not ideal in terms of color rendering.

Photo

The mode is originally intended for viewing static images. Noise reduction, smooth motion functions, etc. are disabled. d. Color gamut is similar to TV mode.

Obviously, the engineers had their sights set on the color temperature of D55, but in fact it turned out warmer – 4750K. There is a noticeable yellowing of the screen, which may be unaccustomed to many users, but may be to the taste of photographers. If you don’t like the color temperature, just make it cooler in the menu.

It’s encouraging that the gamma curves, although they have a little stratification, behave adequately, as does the gamma value. It allows you to fully enjoy artistic photos with accurate and smooth tonal transitions.

In general, if you lower the color temperature a bit in the settings, you get a really great mode, suitable for the needs of photographers and designers.

Vivid Movie and Vivid TV

Sony’s proprietary modes are honed for viewing content in strong ambient light. So these modes aim for a very different goal: not absolute color accuracy, but rather good pictures in daylight.

Measurements revealed the following paradox: Bright TV mode is the only one that fully covers color gamut of Rec709, surpassing it in some tones.

Both Bright Movie and Bright TV modes boast color temperatures close to the reference 6500K and 7000K.

Gamma curves in these modes have a classic S-shape that guarantees a high contrast in the midtones and little-informative highlights. Read more here.

Generally speaking, if you need to show presentation to the client in the room with light or if it’s impossible to draw the curtains while watching the film, these modes are at your service, but keep in mind that you have to pay for bright light in the cinema with color rendering.

Game

This mode also has an extended color gamut and a color temperature very close to the reference 7000K. An unexpected result, usually cooler temperature is used in game modes.

Gamma curves and gamma value are very close to the Vivid Film mode. The minimum response time of 21 ms is just right for the Game. Although for my taste, the settings of this mode are too cheerful for gaming battles. Such cheerful gamma-curves can turn, for example, a gloomy basement into a room for a matinee with balloons..

A few general remarks

1 The actual color temperature in the projector is warmer than the menu setting by about 1000K. If you want a specific value, adjust accordingly.

2 The actual gamma value is lower than in the menu. It depends a lot on the screen. We recommend a gamma setting of 0.2 more in all modes except Cinema 2 and TV.

More info

	Gamma value	Gamma Shape	Contrast	dE grayscale	dE primary and secondary colors reference Rec709	Color Temperature	Color Coverage
Movie 1	2,07	???	DD	5,14	18,59	5750	advanced
Movie 2	2,44	?	DD	5,1	18,48	5600	Expanded
Sample	2,08	normal	5342	5,27	7,99	5750	normal
TV	2,56	?	DD	6,07	12,66	6850	?
Photo	2,09	normal with stratification	6117	10,52	13,08	4750	?
BrightFilm	1,66	S	DD	6,25	16,75	6500	expanded
BrightTV	1,64	S	DD	7,19	24,16	7000	super expanded
The game	1,6	S	6600	4,32	17,26	7000	expanded

Conclusions

Sony VPL-HW65ES is a decent projector. It can be successfully used as a home theater source in ideal conditions: with an expensive screen and in absolute darkness, as well as in conditions of strong external light.

The projector offers the user ready-made presets for almost every occasion. And if someone wants something more, the widest array of different settings will follow your imagination.

Read the reviewSony VPL-HW65ES