Sony VPL-VW1000ES Pro Reviews

If you’re in the market specifically for a 4K projector, then Sony’s VPL-VW1000ES is one of your only choices at the moment. However, for the asking price, you could buy two or more excellent 1080p projectors. With that in mind, the Sony VPL-VW1000ES has to at least be an outstandingly good “normal” projector, 4K or not. Fortunately for them, that actually is the case. The VPL-VW1000ES features excellent, flat, accurate Greyscale, gamma and colour properties, has excellent contrast performance, great (but not leading) 3D image quality, and excellent panel uniformity. The lens is also of excellent quality, with no troubling focus or chromatic aberration issues present (unlike the cheaper Sony VPL-HW50ES, the focus appeared entirely consistent to the eye across the entire projected image – and at this price point, we wouldn’t accept anything less!) The omission of colour management controls is puzzling, but not actually an issue in practice. The only thing we’re not so happy about is the fact that the motion performance is technically below that of at least one of Sony’s cheaper (and newer) projectors. It’s not really a problem for 24fps movie playback, because that’s too low a frame rate to really reveal much motion blur, but it’s still below projectors like the HW50 running with its Dark Frame Insertion mode enabled (although not all users find that mode palatable given that it adds some flicker, by design).

There’s no question that the VW1000ES is future-proof; 4K resolution content might be a few years away, but you’ll be ready when it appears if you buy one of these. The heart-stopping £17,000 price means this is definitely aimed at home cinema enthusiasts with bursting bank balances, but as a sign of things to come we should definitely start getting excited about 4K content coming to the home. With nothing else like it currently available, it justly earns an Ultimate award.

The VPL-VW1000ES is deeply impressive with the limited amount of 4K2K material we’ve seen, but its price is on the high side when performance with established formats is considered

At a recent AVForums event to demonstrate the VW1000, we asked attendees which they would rather have - 3D or 4K? Unequivocally the answer was 4K, so there is certainly plenty of consumer interest in the new format. Having been lucky enough to experience 4K in our home cinema, that interest is justified and we can certainly testify to the amazing images that will one day be the norm... one day. There in lies the rub because although the VW1000 is an amazing technological achievement, you will be paying a hefty premium for something that you won't be able to take full advantage of any time soon.

If you’re shopping in this price range for a new projector, the Sony VPL-VW1000 should definitely be on your short list. If 3D is not an important target on your radar, that’s all you need to know. If you’re big on 3D, you need to accept the fact that most home-theater projectors today, including this one, really won’t light up a really big, low-gain screen with a bright 3D image. But if the VPL-VW1000 were my choice, I’d definitely be a two screen kinda guy—a big, modest-gain or 1.0-gain screen for 2D and a smaller, high-gain screen for those less-frequent 3D showings. If I had the spare change, the VPL-VW1000 and two such screens would definitely be at the top of my list.

With sub-$10,000 projectors offering the sort of performance they do today, the high-end home theater market is reaching for new worlds to conquer. 4K projection appears to be the obvious answer, and the Sony VPL-VW1000ES delivers the goods—at least in 2D. As for 3D, stay tuned. While the VPL-VW1000ES can upconvert today’s HD sources to 4K, there remains the matter of the true 4K program material needed to take maximum advantage of the projector’s capabilities. Although Hollywood has digitally released more than 70 movies in 4K theatrically to date, significant 4K video material doesn’t currently exist in the consumer video world, nor is any imminent. But Sony is the only consumer electronics manufacturer that owns a major motion picture studio with an extensive catalog of new and older titles. You can be certain that it’s taking the issue of consumer 4K source material seriously. The matter is being looked into by Top Men. Pardon the familiar Raiders of the Lost Ark reference, but this time I suspect the results of their work won’t end up in an obscure warehouse in the desert.