Meet the Sony VPL-VW285ES - a real 4K projector, and the first under $5000.

Bingo! The affordable 4K projector we've been waiting for, for a couple of years, has arrived! It is not only $3000 below anything that came before, but, in short, worth every penny.

Many enthusiasts have long been waiting for an under $5000 true 4K home theater projector, so there should be joy throughout the land with the new Sony VW285ES..  The VW285ES not only brings a new level of affordability to true 4K, but I'll say this up front, it also exceeded my expectations, which were fairly high.  

The VW285ES's place in the world

Less than two years ago, Sony brought out the VW365ES which you should consider this projector's predecessor, even if Sony also announced a $7999 VW385ES at the same time as this VW285ES.

You see, the old 365ES was also true 4K, at $7999, had motorized lens features although no lens memory, and it had no dynamic iris.

For those curious about the rest of the Sony line-up they have two 1080p projectors, starting at $1999 for their VPL-HW45ES - a nice projector with excellent color.  I've already mentioned the VW385ES.  Above that, the VW685ES for $14,999.

Then we get into their home theater laser projectors with the regular VW885ES (recently reviewed), and their ultra short throw VZ1000ES (reviews a few months back).  Both have list prices of $24999.

It gets better too, with the flagship of the line-up being Sony's VPL-VW5000ES, which tips the scales at 5000 lumens and $59,999.

Well, the VPL-VW285ES, also has a motorized zoom lens (improved, btw), without lens memory, and also lacks a dynamic iris.  By comparison the step up 385ES has Lens Memory and dynamic iris.

So, I was expecting a projector perhaps a slightly improved compared than that older, $3K more, VW365ES.  What I encountered, however was a significantly more capable, and noticeably superior projector.  All while being $3000 less money than what came before. Nice!

I do know that Sony says the lens (and I assume the light engine itself) are improved, but, I wasn't expecting the VW285ES lacking a dynamic iris, to perform as well as it does on dark scenes - in other words, I was surprised by how good black level performance turns out to me.

Enough on that for now, I'll go into much greater depth, of course, in the review.

What we have here, is that the Sony VPL-VW285ES is a serious 4K projector suitable for a dedicated home theater.  BTW it also is is fairly bright, (claiming 1500 lumens) so can be a good choice in other, brighter, room environments, as long as they have some respectable lighting control (and where necessary, the right type of screen for the room.

In the course of this review, we’ll look at some of the special features, including their Reality Creation (image detail enhancement), various “expert settings,” gaming input lag and suitability, networking capability, and more.

We’ll run through all the hardware features including the lens capabilities, inputs, and the remote control.

Of course, all that stuff is important, but even more so is the picture quality, which as I’ve already “hinted”, exceeded my expectations.

We then cover performance, including brightness measurements, and a section on calibrating the Sony for best picture. As usual, we provide the general settings and grayscale calibration on our first Calibration page, and our subscriber only Advanced Calibration page adds the CMS calibration – calibrating the individual primary and secondary colors. Naturally, we’ll finish with a summary of all the key findings.

Let's get this review into full gear.  Next page: Special features.

The Epson LS10500 laser projector is ready for prime time in your theater. Replacing the older LS10000 - one of the first 1080p projectors that could accept 4K content- the LS10500 adds one major capability - HDR support.

That's on top of all the capabilities that were new to the older Epson laser projector which  was a breakthrough for Epson on several levels:  4K processing and viewing of 4K content, dual laser light source, and quartz reflective panels.  That said, what counts most, is the picture, and the value proposition.

Update.  We have, of course, posted our calibration settings, but please be aware, there has been a firmware update since these were done. As a result, the only real change is in how the Auto (HDR/SDR) works, and the brightness of HDR 1 and HDR Auto 1.   For more on what impact that has, it has been discussed in the Epson 5040UB/6040UB review, which got the same feature upgrade, and we have a video posted on our site.

The Pro Cinema LS10500 is a 1500 lumen projector designed for best operation in a dedicated home theater.

This projector review is based on a full production LS10500.  As a member of Epson's Pro Cinema series, there are  a few extras thrown in for the price.   It comes with some extras in the box, as well as a great 3 year parts and labor warranty with 3 years of rapid replacement program.   That's pretty much the best warranty out there anywhere near its price.  Like all the Pro Cinema projectors, it will not be available for online purchase, rather sold through local authorized Epson Pro Cinema dealers. BTW:  So you understand how it works, just because some US dealer sells Epson printers, doesn't give them access to the projectors.

There is one other laser projector in the LS line-up, that's the LS9600e which launched the same time as the older LS10000.  There was no need on Epson's part to upgrade that $6000 laser projector.  It's primary difference is that the LS9600e doesn't support 4K, so the one big change to the L10500 - the adding of HDR support, wouldn't be relevant to a projector that can't accept any 4K.  If you don't care about 4K and want to save money, check out our review of the 9600e.

The images above were all taken with content projected by the LS10500.  The first three and last two images are from 4K HDR content, the rest from 1080 or 720 resolution content.  Of course, as with our other photo shoots of projected content,  there's no way these highly compressed images (and your display)  can really give you a great idea of how good the actual projected image appears when in the room!

So far, the LS10500 is the only laser projector shipping, under $24,995K (I think) that has the ability to accept 4K content and HDR.  That "exclusivity" will end in the next 12 months, I guarantee it!

I'm giving the Pro Cinema LS10500 one of our hot product awards.  It deserves it.  The picture is stunning, the 4K capabilities excellent, and it's a laser projector!    There are only a couple/three (at this time) serious competitors under $10K, and while they all have trade-offs, the LS10500 is able to do serious battle with all of them, but more on that later.   The LS10500 will also be competing, later this year, in our 2017 Best Home Theater Projectors report.  I should mention that previously, the older LS10000 won two awards in our annual report.  Best In Class awards in the  Projectors $3500 - $10,000, and for 4K and Blu-ray UHD Capable Projectors.

A few more things:  This Epson has a superior 2.1:1 zoom lens than we've been used to on all the older UB projectors.  Add to that, all motorized lens functions, and Epson is able to offer Lens Memory, which in turn makes it practical for movie lovers to go "wide screen" with a wider Cinemascope shaped screen instead of a typical 16:9 HDTV shaped screen.  My primary screen is a widescreen.  At the touch of a button I can resize the image depending on it's aspect ratio, so that I have the largest possible projection area for that image.

Some quick background on 4K.  This Epson supports 4K content from sources including Blu-ray UHD and cable.  But this is still a 1080p projector.  But it uses a technology called pixel shifting.  (FYI:  JVC and Epson were the first two companies to introduce pixel shifting to home projectors, but were now seeing a lot of pixel shifting DLP projectors being announced and starting to ship.)

Don't get me wrong, pixel shifting 4K content isn't going to do the same job as a true 4K projector, where the size of each individual pixel is 1/4th that of 1080p pixels.  Still, a 1080p pixel shifter  just might fool you on a lot of content, especially if you aren't paying close attention.  Remember the projector is a means to an end.  You want to be watching the content, not analyzing the projector while watching it!.

The LS10500, like it's predecessor happens to be one cool, "Euro" looking projector.   Physically its a bit taller than the competing JVCs and Sonys, but has a smaller footprint.

I should mention now that as a Pro Cinema series, it comes with these extras in the box:  Ceiling mount, cable cover, two pair of lightweight, rechargeable 3D glasses, and a cable cover for the back for a clean, neat installation. Of course, this is a laser projector so there's no free spare lamp, which comes with each lamp based Pro Cinema model..

Pricing is the same as the older LS10000.  The Pro Cinema LS10500 is priced at $7999.

Let's talk resolution for just a second.  This Epson projector is using these same liquid crystal on quartz (they call them 3LCD Reflective) panels.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, that's sort of fitting since Epson's watch division - Seiko pioneered quartz watch movements.

• 4K processing using pixel shifting
• Accepts true 4K content
• Support for HDR
• Dual blue laser light engine (30,000 hours), 1500 lumens
• Excellent 3D quality
• Firmware upgradeable, via hard wire networking to your router
• Bright for a dedicated Home Theater projector
• Pretty sweet looking
• Motorized 2.1:1 zoom lens with Lens Memory to support wide screens
• Maintains color accuracy and brightness for far longer than lamp based projectors
• Extremely quiet
• 3 year warranty with rapid replacement program

OK, let's get into some details!  Special Features time...

We have posted our Epson LS10500 Projector At A Glance video, which is an overview of the projector’s features and some images of the projector in action, with a few comments. This is not summary of this full in-depth review.

The Sony VPL-VW365ES is the least expensive true 4K home theater projector currently available, at $9999 list price.  It supports 4K HDR for dazzling picture quality, and has an impressive feature set.  It replaces the older VW350ES which we previously reviewed, and awarded.  The VW365ES is designed to be nicely bright - just enough to be paired with a light rejecting (ALR) screen in rooms with good, but not great light control, and of course, it's great in your dedicated home theater or cave, should you have one or are about to create one.

We'll start off with an overview of the VPL-VW365ES, and a list of its highlights.  From there, other pages will consider special features, a tour of the hardware, our take on a number of aspects of picture quality, and performance measurements.  Finally, a summary of the whole VW365ES review, including a pros and cons section.

Let's get started.

The VPL-VW350ES is the lowest cost true 4K projector to hit the market to date, at $9999 US.  It sports a beautiful picture and 1500 lumens.  Impressive!

It is the least expensive of Sony’s three 4K projectors, and so far, they are the only company offering true 4K.