3D Projector Reviews

For the picture settings used in this review, go to HomeTheater.com. Except as noted, all of the measurements were taken with the projector in User mode, adjusted for the most accurate image, with the Lamp Control on Low, the Gamma Correction on Gamma 3, and the Advanced Iris set to Auto 1. There were just under 200 hours on the lamp. The screen was a Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130, 78 inches wide, with a gain of 1.3.

The full-on/full-off contrast ratio shown above was first measured directly off the projection lens using a Minolta T-10 (illuminance) light meter (the value shown here is the average of three separate, closely clustered results). Additionally, a White foot-lambert reading of 17.61 was taken off my 78-inch-wide Stewart StudioTek 130 screen using a Minolta LS-100 (luminance) spot light meter. A Black level on screen (0.00044) was derived by using that reading together with the full-on/full-off contrast from the T-10.

With the Auto Iris off, in the Low lamp mode and Gamma 3, the VPL-VW90ES produced a contrast ratio of 11,219:1 (17.7 ft-L white, 0.0016 ft-L black—using the same derivation method as above).

These black and white levels apply only to a screen of this size and gain (1.3); the full-on/full-off result is specific to the projector at the settings indicated, irrespective of the screen.

The black level on the full screen is well below a level directly measurable with any meter available to us.

The T-10 should provide a more accurate result from this method compared to the method we’ve used previously, so comparisons to black levels and contrast ratios in earlier reviews should be made with care. But even allowing for that, this VPL-VW90ES’s full-on/full-off contrast ratio and black level are the best I have yet measured on a video projector.

The Before Calibration result is for the Low 2 Color Temp setting. After calibration, the result is exceptional, with Delta E values ranging between 0.25 and 1.95 from the lowest brightness level we can measure with reasonable accuracy (20 IRE) to the highest (100 IRE).

The 3D result (not shown) was nearly as good from 30 IRE to 90 IRE but diverged significantly at the extremes, witha Delta E of 8.1 at 20 IRE (an excess of blue) and 12.46 at 100 IRE (too little blue). The latter errors were not visibly distracting. A 3D calibration is recommended; when I used the 2D calibrated results for 3D, I obtained Delta Es ranging from 29 to 37.7.

The CIE chart shows the Sony’s color gamut in the Normal Color Space setting. While the luminance values of each color were not optimum (somewhat excessive, though never distracting), the actual color gamut was very accurate—fortunate, since the projector lacks a color management system. The three Wide color gamut options (not shown) were progressively wider—and less accurate.—TJN