Sony VPL-HW55ES Projector - Hardware Tour 2

Sony Remote Control

Sony's remote control

Sony's remote control for the HW55ES is a long well balanced remote control with a reasonably bright blue LED light when you press the button on the top left.

In the center position on the top row is the input selector.  The Sony has an auto sensing feature so it will search for  a live input source, but to switch manually (if there are two or more live sources), pressing that button once brings up the list of inputs. Each additional time the input button is pressed, it moves through the list to the next source.  Power is the upper right button, in green.  As is most common, press once for on, twice for off.

Moving to the next section of the remote control, there are nine buttons for the 8 pre-programmed picture modes, and the last one is the User button (which we'll save the calibrated settings in).

Navigation is next.  The four navigation arrows are in a round formation.  They are surrounded by three other buttons, the bottom one is the menu.  The upper left has a test pattern for focus and overscan.  Opposite on the right is the Reset button.  I thought it a strange place.  Don't worry, pressing it once won't get you into trouble.

The next second has 9 buttons, including direct access to most of the image controls.  I'll just run through top row first, left to right:

Aspect Ratio, Motion Enhancer, 3D

Color Space, Color Temp, 3D

Gamma Correction, Advanced (dynamic) Iris, Reality Creation

That's about it, except for the three rocker switches at the bottom:  Sharpness, Brightness, and Contrast.  That covers it for the remote.  Next...

The next section has all the major and most minor menus.

Sony VPL-HW55ES Menus

Sony VPL-HW55ES Menus

Main Picture menu

Main Picture menu, the other main menus are displayed as icons on the left side

Picture - Calibration Preset menu

The various modes/preset calibration settings.

Picture - Reality Creation menu

Reality Creation - dynamic detail enhancement, first menu

Picture - Reality Creation ON menu

Adjust the "resolution" and the sharpness - I vary depending on content. The text changes back and forth about every second

Picture - Reality Creation Resolution menu

The slider goes from 0 to 100. 20 is probably as high as anyone critical would consider for movie viewing

Picture - Cinema Black Pro menu

Dynamic/Manual/Auto iris, and lamp menu (High / Low)

Picture - Advanced Iris menu

Auto Full, is full dynamic iris mode, max brightness on bright scenes. Auto Limited lets you set a maximum threshold in dynamic mode

Picture - Advanced Iris Manual menu

Picture - Motionflow menu

Film allows you to engage 3:2 pull-down, Motion Enhancer is Creative Frame Interpolation - smooth motion.

Picture - Expert Setting menu

Advanced Picture menu

RCP Real Color Picture, color management

Advanced Picture - Real Color Processing menu (Red)

RCP menu (Red)

Advanced Picture - Real Color Processing menu (Magenta)

RCP menu (Magenta)

Screen menu

Setup menu

Function menu

Function - 2D and 3D Settings menu

Installation menu

Installation - Panel Alignment menu

Installation - Panel Shift Alignment menu (close)

Installation - Panel Shift Alignment menu

Information menu