Comments on: OMG – SONY shows VPL-VW1000ES 4K Home Theater Projector

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:36:13 +0000

Hi Jeffrey, A number of good points, thanks. I’d like to address a couple of things, based on what you said:
a. “new movies shot in 4K” well, that’s never been a problem since 70mm film is more than up to the task of 4K. So it’s really about the studio’s decision (on film based content), to convert to 1080p or 4K…
b. While they aren’t often blatant, the compression on DirecTV, etc. is very poor in dark areas, – very blotchy, flat, etc. I sure hope that doesn’t also become the trend for downloads, and “next gen” blu-ray. By the same token, cleaning up such messes at the projector level is a drastically inferior solution to starting with a clean stream, with limited compression…
c. 1080p on sat, etc. an easy step, these days for Satellite, etc. even with frame packing – either way – barely a doubling of file size…, 2160p (4K) would be a 4x increase over 1080p broadcasts in file size, and more compared to 1080i…
d. ethernet, etc. – First, the trend should be wifi, such as Epson’s WiHD on the 5010e. Same problem as with hard wiring, the PJ is usually a long way from the other gear. Go WiHD, and you only need to find power for the projector- a much easier task. As to putting the support for netflix, et al. Sure, the projector folks could, and probably will, but is it really important, when every blu-ray player and satellite box, and PS3, and… all offer that. Even without my projector supporting netflix directly, for example, in my theater, I’ve got a PS3, a Panasonic blu-ray player, my satellite box all capable of netflix and many others. And if I upgraded my 7 year old Marantz THX receiver, to a newer model, that too should have those things. While it makes sense to have all that in the projector, I don’t worry too much about it. Also, home theater projectors don’t generate the sales numbers to make a lot of licensing practical. 2011′s estimated home theater projector sales I believe was 120,000. vs. 10′s of millions of LCDTV’s and many millions of every game console. A fully modern home theater, could conceivably have 5-6 devices all capable of doing the same thing you need done only once… (technically a waste of money). Also if you go with whole room or whole house – stuff like Crestron, Savant, Control4, etc. Most of those are offering it as well.
So, while it would be a nice touch – there’s no hurry. In 2 years, I figure, all such devices will be in harmony, in that you won’t even necessarily need to know if your ps3 or receiver, or TV, or projector, or satellite box, is downloading your netflix movie, or youtube video, or some other download. You’ll simply tell your “gear” to “go get me this” and all those devices will sort it out for themselves and all you’ll see is “ready”. -a

By: Jeffrey Hurst

Jeffrey Hurst — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:09:54 +0000

You’ll get your greedy wish surprisingly soon I think. New movies are getting shot in 4K 3D and the studios will find a way to sell it to us. I’ve heard there’s a new compression format that would allow a full 4K movie to fit on a normal 2-layer blu-ray disc. Of course, MP4 format would allow an HD movie to fit on a normal DVD, but that’s not what the industry chose. Several beyond-blu formats are brewing and More likely is that you’ll soon see true 1080P streaming from Netflix, satellite, and maybe the cable providers. A huge new realm of competion (and work for reveiwers) will be how well devices (including projectors) clean up and scale streamed video. I’m surprised we’re not already seeing 1080P projectors with ethernet ports and built-in streaming video clients, since that’s already amazingly widespread in flat panel TVs. Pretty soon you won’t be able to buy a flat panel over $300 that doesn’t include 3D and Netflix. I think consumers will insist on those features on $1000-plus projectors, probably via WiFi or some higher bandwide wireless.

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:14:26 +0000

Hi Jeff, Sony looked great yesterday. Hey I’m greedy, I want 3d, and 4k. Still as good as up scaling technology is, give me 4k content. Meantime until true 4k projectors are affordable to me, and most of you out there, I’ll continue to enjoy my 3d content and 2d, at 2k

By: Jeffrey Hurst

Jeffrey Hurst — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:14:07 +0000

Hometheater magazine’s new cover story is the Sony VPL-VW1000ES. The coolest part was not the native 4K performance (which was amazing) but the fact that it upscales normal Blu-Ray 1080P to near 4K resolution! That’s 4x the pixels, and yet Sony’s intelligent upscaling looked almost as good as the native 4K material. I for one, would be much more interested in a 4K upscaling projector than 3D. For one thing, it would improve the experience of my whole existing HD collection, whereas a 3D projector only helps on 3D specific content.

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:24:06 +0000

polk, you are dead on the money. Jordy came to my mind immediately too. Got a second look at them. And they will send me a pair. You can see some pixelization, and I did detect a bit of jerkiness, but in a show environment, that may not have been the glasses/display’s fault. We shall see. -art

By: polk tsi400

polk tsi400 — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 02:21:19 +0000

I saw a pic of the sony 3d glasses/visor online…I couldn’t help but think of Jordy, from star trek next gen. Hope to hear about what you think about them.

By: Art Feierman

Art Feierman — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 15:24:32 +0000

Sorry Stephen, you are correct. I blew the call. I hadn’t been paying much attention to it at the press conference, until I tried them on, afterwords. they are 720p, and you can see some pixel structure. My bad. Will update the blog. Thanks for the heads up. -art

By: Stephen Chu

Stephen Chu — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:48:11 +0000

Art.

From the Japanese spec, HMZ-T1 is 720p, not 1080p:
http://www.sony.jp/hmd/products/HMZ-T1/spec.html