Sound & Vision (2019-04)

Breathtaking image

quality

Reference-level optics

Laser light source

Low light output for price

point

Lacks dedicated picture

mode for HDR

Price: $35,000

(877) 865-SONY

sony.com

At a Glance

contrast performance—black
levels are slightly lower but
contrast overall remains largely
the same. I’ll discuss that in
more detail a bit later on.
A few new display enhance-
ments can be found in the
VW995ES’s feature mix. The
standout is Digital Focus
Optimizer, a seing Sony touts
as a digital sharpening tool that
works with the projector’s high-
end lens to achieve beer image
quality. While I was surprised
to see this on the VW995ES
(high-end optics typically don’t
require enhancement), I found
its effect during my testing to
be similar to Darbee image
processing in that it created a
subjective increase in contrast
in areas of fine detail. The differ-
ence was subtle, but I could also
see many users appreciating
the effect.
I rarely saw any issues with
Digital Focus Optimizer enabled
other than an obvious grid
paern when a bright object
appeared onscreen when
viewing the Ultra HD Blu-ray
reissue of The Matrix Reloaded. I
thought this might be an artifact
related to the fine film grain
present in the transfer, but I then
viewed a number of significantly
grainy films on Ultra HD Blu-ray
that showed no artifacts at
all. Based on my time with the
projector, I doubt that this will
end up being an issue on most
discs.
For the VW995ES, Sony
has fine-tuned both its HDR
tone mapping to deliver beer
shadow detail, and its HDR
Reference picture mode to
maximize performance with the
more common 1,000 nit-based
Ultra HD Blu-ray titles on the
market. But I was disappointed
to see that a dedicated picture
mode for HDR hasn’t been
added. Instead, the projector
simply uses the active picture
mode and changes the Contrast
adjustment and gamma. Since
there are a number of seings
that require adjustment for best
HDR viewing (most notably the
projector’s laser light output), it
would be far more convenient
if the projector automatically

switched to a preset that’s

optimized for HDR so you don’t

have to tweak seings every

time you jump between formats.

However, you can save your

preferred seings for HDR

content in one of Sony’s nine

Picture Preset registers and

manually call up that preset for

watching HDR content, which

is what I did during my time with

the VW995ES.

SETUP

For this review, the VW995ES

was paired with my reference

11-foot-wide Stewart Filmscreen

Studiotek 100 (unity gain)

2.35:1 “scope” screen. The

projector was mounted to the

ceiling using the same Chief

mounting system that I used for

my VW885ES review, and at the

exact same throw distance for

direct comparisons of measure-

ments and light output levels.

Since I use a 2.35:1 aspect ratio

screen, I set two lens memories.

Sony already has the first two

memories named for precisely

this type of setup—easily

accessible from a buon on the

remote—and the adjustment

only took about 15-20 seconds.

Seings for focus, zoom and

lens shi are all saved. There

are additional adjustments for

blanking, to eliminate objects

that fall outside the screen

area when zoomed out, and

for aspect ratio control, both of

which are also saved.

The VW995ES features

full anamorphic lens support,

including the necessary scaling

for implementing a Panamorph

lens. I had the chance to use

a Panamorph Paladin DCR

lens during the course of the

review and was very impressed

with the duo’s performance.

The Paladin DCR is designed

specifically for 4K projectors

like the VW995ES that use a

full 4,096 x 2,160-pixel imaging

sensor. Despite the additional

glass and image scaling, the

lens presented no obvious

visible degradation of image

clarity from regular seating

distances, and the increase

in overall light output that it

provided was a bonus for HDR

viewing. Care needs to be

taken for SDR viewing with this

setup, however, as you may find

yourself with more light output

than you need and lile way to

decrease it.

For a standard dynamic

range calibration, I targeted

16-footlamberts (-L) for my

measured brightness off the

screen. For high dynamic

range I selected the highest

laser seing possible to

maximize light output. While

the VW995ES is rated at 2,200

lumens—a 10 percent increase

over the VW885ES—I was not

able to substantiate Sony’s

claimed light output boost.

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