Sony VPL-VW50 (Pearl) Review – Continued
October 12, 2006
Image Quality:
Continued from Sony VPL-VW50 (Pearl) Review – Part 1. I had a bag full of SD and HD DVD’s on hand for the review but this being a Sony projector it just felt appropriate to pull out the Superbit version of ‘The Fifth Element’. Yes this disc has many a mile on it but that familiarity was also comforting; considering I was about to critically analyze a display technology (SXRD) that I’m admittedly less than thoroughly familiar with. I’ve viewed many a disc on 1080p (DLP) rear-pros but this was a different animal.
My first impressions were quite favorable, we happened to have just un-boxed a new Denon DVD-3930ci, so hey why not right? I’m not sure if the Pearl just clicked with the Denon’s YCBR color-space at 1080p or we just lucked out, but what I was seeing in those first few minutes of standard-definition DVD viewing was promising.
To say that detail was present would be a gross understatement. Close-ups were quite impressive; it was only when the shot panned back, that it became overly apparent we were watching a SD source. The presentation was very film like, slightly different than I’m used too but the colors were very vibrant. I noticed newfound hues in the uniforms of the policemen that were trying to apprehend Leeloo, as she made her way out onto the buildings ledge.
The Pearl’s tiny pixel structure didn’t really come into play much with the standard definition source but the increased resolution afforded by the projector did seem to smooth out the up-scaled video from the Denon, which resulted again, in a very pleasant film-like presentation. At this point I lost all patience and just had to move onto some high definition.
The first HD DVD up for evaluation was Warner Brothers knockout ‘Batman Begins’, we skipped forward to the glacier scene and while it looked quite nice I could tell a full calibration was in order. Low level shadow detail appeared to be a bit muted in some shots and altogether absent in others. I wanted to move onto something I was a bit more familiar with so I chose ‘Training Day’ on HD DVD. At first, I wasn’t all that impressed with the shadow detail but this was somewhat remedied with a bit of fine tuning of the brightness, contrast and lamp settings.
As soon as I increased the brightness and reduced the contrast a bit I was seeing a more familiar color palette and level of detail with the HD disc. It was at this point I realized even a cursory impression of the VPL-VW50′s video performance was out of the question without a full calibration. So the review came to full stop until that was complete.
The Pearl’s video setting controls bear little operational resemblance to my SP-7205’s video settings, which was no doubt exacerbating the difficulties I was experiencing fine tuning the projector. For example the Pearl’s contrast can be cranked way up before noticeably affecting the image adversely, whereas even the slightest bump up or down with the InFocus ScreenPlay line [among others] will give a perceptible difference.
Long story short, once the full calibration was complete, I was still a bit leery of certain aspects of the Pearl’s video performance but satisfied overall. Next I popped in ‘Blazing Saddles’ [HD DVD]. This was much better, very film like, fleshtones were accurate, black level and shadow details were acceptable. But the Pearl just wasn’t displaying that pop I’m used to from DLP, the image was still a bit flat in comparison.
I wanted to see a bit of animation so I popped in ‘Shrek 2’, again very vivid colors, smooth film like presentation and after even further tweaking I was able to get much of that 3-D pop back. I found it interesting that I had to deviate from absolute reference numbers to accomplish this, but all in all this wasn’t that troublesome, as I have 3 image presets saved for my own projector at home, essentially breaking with true reference as the source material dictates.
One interesting note about my observations before and after considerable tweaking of the Pearl compared to the InFocus 7210, perched for comparison below. During the opening sequences of ‘Shrek 2’ there’s a bit of CGI depicting fairy dust falling down onto a storybook, as the individual pages of the book turn you can make out gold leaf script; as the pages continue to turn the light reflected off the gold leaf script bends and refracts light from the cameras point of view.
The sparkling gold dust and gold leaf just wasn’t as pronounced as with the SP7210, noticeably so, however I’m happy to say after considerable tweaking [yes more tweaking] I was able to recreate that sparkle and pop present on the 7210 with the Pearl. Overall (as with many animation titles) the image quality I achieved through the Pearl with ‘Shrek 2’ was quite impressive.
Given the circumstances of my review environment, I didn’t have access to live cable or satellite but I did have some pre-recorded content on a DISH HD-DVR. We viewed an airing of Soundstage featuring Tom Petty on Rave. Again with further tweaking I was able to get the kind of shadow detail I was used to with my 7205. Tom Petty’s black jacket no longer appeared as a single shade of black, I could now see subtle shades and fine detail in the jacket. By this point I had pretty much alleviated all the calibration headaches and was satisfied with the image on-screen.
Getting down to brass tax, I threw in something I was very familiar with, the HD DVD of ‘Serenity’. Right off the bat I was able to pick out details in River’s imagined-instructors clothing and detail in her face. Finally I had the color balance, black level contrast set to my likings and was able to just sit back and enjoy the video.
New found detail was popping out at me; I couldn’t go for more than a few minutes without seeing something new. Earlier I mentioned that I would give some general impressions about the differences between 720p front projection and front projection at 1080p. Well; if I fumble for the right words on this one, its because I’m still formulating my own opinion.
I suppose if pressed I’d have to say resolution is only half of the story, while I absolutely enjoyed some of the eye candy the additional resolution provided, if I hadn’t been able to correct the previously mentioned issues I was having with the Pearl, I would have never gotten this far into the review. My advice when shopping for a display, any display is to make sure it’s capable of the fundamentals color/black level/contrast in an accurate manner, then and only then worry about resolution.
I’m afraid the resolution trumps all mentality may leave many with a technically competent but real-world disappointment on their hands. To put some of my findings into a better perspective, if the Pearl retailed for 7-8k I’m afraid my review would differ significantly thus far. However since that’s not the case and we’re talking about a projector that does indeed make ample use of its increased resolution, I have to admit I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.
Further Comparisons:
For kicks I wanted to re-visit the last earth shattering DVD experience I had with the InFocus 777 driven by the Denon DVD 2930ci. (easy as that very set-up was two rooms away) To my eyes the combination of the XA1 and the Pearl with chapter 23 of ‘The Raiders of the Lost Ark’, really gave the 777 and 2930ci combination a run for its money. Was it as good? No but at over $10k less, it damn well shouldn’t be. But this does affirm that resolution isn’t always the last word in real-word performance, especially considering that the 777 was projecting onto a 123” screen versus the Pearl at 110”.
Given the experience I had with the InFocus 777 in Chapter 16 of ‘Kill Bill Vol.1’ and its uncanny ability to faithfully render the night sky and falling snow-flakes above Beatrix and O’ren, I was anxious to compare the same scene on the Pearl. The snowflakes didn’t seem quite as “3-D” as on the 777, nor did the night sky appear as realistic. [even though in all likelihood, it was a soundstage] The VPL-VW50 still rendered a good presentation but not quite as satisfying as the 3-chip InFocus. Again the $10k+ price difference made this minor difference a lot easier to swallow.
Summary:
The Sony VPL-VW50 with a MSRP of $4999 makes for an easy recommendation, not simply for the fact it’s the first 1080p front projector on the market for under 9k, but because it’s actually a solid performer in other areas as well. The Pearl’s sharp, colorful images combined with the projectors tiny pixel structure really impressed me. In the end the biggest complaint I had for the VPL-VW50 was the occasionally flat, one dimensional video. It would appear as if this is one area DLP still trumps SXRD.
However I have to temper this recommendation with one caveat. The 1080p Mitsubishi HC5000BL is scheduled to launch sometime before the end of the year, the HC5000BL at $4495 is actually a tad brighter, offers a longer lamp life and incorporates the impressive HQV Reon-VX video-processing chipset. Consider my recommendation of the Sony VPL-VW50 somewhat provisional until I complete my review of the HC5000BL.
•Product Details – Sony VPL-VW50
•Retail $4999 – Available now
•Resolution – 1920×1080
•Brightness – 900 ANSI lumens
•Contrast – 15000:1
•Inputs – HDMI (2), Component (1), S-Video (1), Composite (1)
•Display Technology – 0.6″ SXRD (3)
•Native Aspect Ratio – 16:9
Posted by B.Greenway | | Filed Under Projector Reviews, Reviews
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