3D Projector Reviews

The color calibration results were obtained using SpectraCal’s CalMAN RGB Version 5.3.5.

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 363,000:1

All of the measurements were taken with the projector in the Reference preset with the lamp in Low. The gamma correction preset was selected as 2.4, and it measured nearly perfect. All of the calibration was done with the Advanced Iris off, and the contrast ratio measurements were done in a variety of different modes for the iris as noted. The lamp had 71 hours on it during the calibration. All viewing and measurements were done on a 120-inch-diagonal Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 100 screen (1.0 gain).

The full-on/full-off contrast was measured with a Minolta T-10 meter that was 4 inches away from the lens face. I tested various configurations in both High and Low lamp modes with the Advanced Iris in various conditions. The highest measured native contrast ratio (Advanced Iris disabled, High lamp mode) was 6,500:1. Using the Advanced Iris in Auto Full mode resulted in a peak contrast ratio of 363,000:1 in High lamp mode. Keep in mind, with the Minolta T-10 meter, a single-digit difference with low-level measurements results in a difference of nearly 100,000:1 in contrast, so these numbers aren’t absolute. They were repeatable, but measuring black levels this low results in a pretty large margin of error, even with the meter tolerances. Using the Advanced Iris in the Auto Limited mode resulted in a peak contrast ratio of 239,000:1 in High lamp mode.

I also tested contrast ratio with only a small lit object on screen to keep the image from going totally black. I was able to achieve about 11,000:1, demonstrating that there’s quite a huge difference in black performance when viewing a 100% black input versus an image that is black except for a small object (even something as tiny as a single star).

The Sony’s gray-scale tracking out of the box was quite excellent, with an average Delta E of 1.3 (anything under 3 is considered reference and imperceptible to the human eye). Gamma averaged 2.29 with my reference set to 2.3.

The color gamut in the Reference preset with the color mode set to BT. 709 was nearly spot on, with only one the blue color point escaping a Delta E of 3; it was a bit high, with a slight amount of oversaturation. I wasn’t concerned—blue is the color our eyes are least sensitive to, and the luminance value was nearly spot on, which is more important than saturation. The other colors tracked at a Delta E of about 2 or lower, and even the inner values lined up well. You’d need an external video processor featuring a CMS to get better results, and if you have the coin for this type of projector, I’d probably recommend picking one up and having a professional technician dial in the image to its best.—KRD