2016 Holiday Guide To Four Great Home Theater Projectors Over $2500 - Part 3

Time to tell you about the last two products in our guide!  Our featured projector screen on this page is from Elunevision – they have launched their Aurora 4K Nano Edge, which is a pretty amazing light absorbing screen.

Our last projector in this Guide is Sony’s flagship consumer projector, the rather amazing $60,000 VPL-VW5000ES 4K laser projector!  It certainly has to be considered the best in the world, short of a true commercial Cinema projector (and comparable, though not as bright as many of those).

Here’s a relatively new screen from EluneVision, optimized for 4K content and projectors.  The finer surface means less sparkle, among other advantages.  But perhaps its key ability is its light absorbing abilities.

The EluneVision Aurora 4K NanoEdge (talk about a long multi-name), seems to be all the latest and greatest, rolled up into one relatively affordable light “rejecting” screen.

The Aurora Nano Edge, I should note, prices above the Elite screen on the previous page, but still far below the price of the Screen Innovations Slate (which we featured last year, and which I use in my own living room, or SI’s even more expensive Black Diamond series -art). On paper, the specs of the Aurora are even better than my Slate.

The Nano Edge, is a “fixed” screen.  Motorized versions do not exist, or not yet, at least. (None are announced as of this writing.)  It features the latest “no edge” type styling, and includes with an RGB LED backlight package, adding backlight is pretty popular these days, but many screen manufacturers charge a few hundred plus, for optional lighting kits.  With EluneVision, it’s part of the price.  Nice!

A bit of background.  EluneVision started out as a “private label” screen sold by a Canadian dealer a number of years ago.  Then they started selling them to other dealers.  However, in the past year (or so?), EluneVision has expanded and now sells their wide range of screens, (mostly the higher end screens in terms of performance), such as this one with an ALR surface in the US as well.

They sell directly into the US market.  As is the case with most screen manufacturers, you’ll order from them, including size and surface, and they will “build” your screen and ship it to you in 1 to 4 weeks.  (As an example, that’s how it also works when ordering most home theater screens from Da-Lite, Screen Innovations, Stewart FilmScreen and others.)   Direct sales is not an unusual way for imported screens to be sold in the US.  For example, large projector online reseller Visual Apex offers their popular Vapex screens.)

OMG!  5000 lumens of true 4K firepower. At the moment this has to be the best true 4K consumer projector shipping. Laser light engine, roughly 90 pounds (it’s even water cooled) and $60,000 it isn’t exactly your average home theater projector. It is the gold standard.

I have one here in my home theater right now for review (thank you, Sony, thank you). I haven’t even started writing up the review, I’m too busy enjoying watching it. Sadly, I will have to return it sooner, rather than later.

This Sony VW5000ES is the brightest 4K projector currently shipping, this side of your local Cineplex (where Sony is perhaps the largest provider of commercial 4K projectors).  And that helps make it the best projector for tackling 4K HDR content, which demands a lot of brightness.  It delivers.

About the images in the player above:  All of these are from true 4K content (Journey To Space, and Lucy), except:  Third from the last is the closeup of Lucy’s eyes (Scarlett Johansen), with the 2nd last image a closer look at one eye in 4K, and the last image in the player is the same eye from the standard 1080p Blu-ray, for comparison.  Thanks to BT2020 and HDR, the 4K version has more contrast, more pop to the image, and is, of course sharper.  

I’ve got, at this point in time, over 20 Blu-ray HDR movies and other content, and I have watched at least part of most of them on the Sony… Nothing else I’ve had here including all of Sony’s less expensive true 4K projectors, can touch it. Wow!

I won’t get technical on you. This is a projector for folks who want the best, and can afford it. It is, so break out that platinum card, and visit your local installing high end home theater dealer that carries Sony.

These images were all taken with the VW5000ES (and will also appear in the review). Too bad after compressing them and shrinking them in resolution (and you are viewing them on some small, inferior monitor) that they don’t begin to give you a feel for how awesome movies (sports too) look projected by this Sony!