Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 1 Posted on July 10, 2014 By Lisa Feierman 1. Sony VPL-HW40ES Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-HW40ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Special Features 1 - Dynamic Iris? No - MotionFlow (aka Creative Frame Interpolation) - 1.6:1 Manual Zoom Lens3. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Special Features 2 - 3D - CMS - Color Management System4. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Hardware Tour 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Layout - Sony VPL-HW40ES Control Panel - Sony VPL-HW40ES Inputs and Connectors - Some quick thoughts on MHL5. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Hardware Tour 2 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Remote Control - Sony VPL-HW40ES Lens Throw - Lens Shift6. Sony VPL-HW40ES Home Theater Projector – Hardware Tour 3 - Sony HW40ES Menus - Menus - Comments7. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 1 - VPL-HW40ES Projector – Right Out of the Box - Skin Tones8. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Black Level Performance - Dark Shadow Detail9. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing - VPL-HW40ES Overall Picture Quality10. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated, Eco-mode11. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness and Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Calibration and Settings - Sony VPL-HW40ES Pre-calibration - Sony VPL-HW40ES: Calibration - Mike's General Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes13. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Advanced Calibration Information - Sony VPL-HW40ES CMS Calibration - Calibration Charts14. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Summary 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Summary - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness Summary - HW40ES 3D15. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Summary 2 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Picture Quality Summary - Other Features and Benefits - Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector - The Bottom Line16. Sony VPL-HW40ES Review – Specifications SONY VPL-HW40ES PROJECTOR – PERFORMANCE 1: Brightness (Pre- and Post-Calibration) Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector – Brightness by Mode, Mid-zoom (at 100 IRE) Mode Brightness (Lumens) Color Temp at 100 IRE Reference 1497 6721 TV 1509 6723 Cinema Film 1 1497 6721 Cinema Film 2 1354 5720 Game 1722 6860 Photo 1330 5725 Bright Cinema 1592 7787 Bright TV 1616 7789 User 1497 6722 1500 lumens calibrated makes this Sony a veritable light canon. Oh, there are some much brighter projectors out there that can be had for the home, but those few are more expensive, and not really true home theater projectors. There are a few other projectors that are somewhat brighter, but most can’t match this Sony in terms of brightness, and the ability to handle larger screens or ambient light. Mike measured each of the modes, measuring lumens, and the color temperature at 100 IRE (white) as seen in this chart. As you can see, all the modes are similar in brightness, well, within a few hundred lumens. We measure, as noted, with the zoom lens set to mid-point. Interestingly the Sony’s optics produce about the same brightness at mid-point as in full wide angle. Most projectors with similar lenses get an extra 15 to 25% more brightness, an advantage if its convenient to mount your projector relatively close. Here’s a sampling of the color temperature range across different brightness levels, pre calibration, for Reference mode, which we noted is essentially the same as Cinema Film 1 and User. It exhibits a slight shift from a bit too much red in the darker ranges to a touch cool by the time we approach white. Effect of zoom on lumen output (Game mode): Zoom out 1731 Mid-zoom 1722 Zoom in 1588 This table shows the effect of the lenses zoom on brightness. As discussed in greater depth the Special Features page, the lens is unusual in that there’s no significant loss of brightness going from wide angle to mid-point on the zoom. Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration): 2.2 Gamma 2.4 Gamma 20 IRE 6413 6219 30 IRE 6432 6376 40 IRE 6476 6375 50 IRE 6578 6500 60 IRE 6647 6598 70 IRE 6695 6675 80 IRE 6711 6690 90 IRE 6725 6721 100 IRE 6721 6721 Average gamma 2.11 2.30 The settings changes made when calibrating were slight enough to make almost no change in measured brightness, within our margin of measuring error. Let’s just call it 1500 lumens calibrated, even though Mike’s official number is 1512. Or as Mike put it, no real difference in brightness – calibrated or not. We did not calibrate low power mode, but it should work out to about 975 lumens calibrated in Low lamp. As discussed below, the color temp balance in Eco is not the same as at full power. Therefore, while this Sony VPL-HW40ES was nearly perfect out of the box in terms of color, that is definitely not the case for the Sony’s Eco mode. Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated, Eco-mode Brightness (Game mode) – Full power vs. Eco High Power 1722 lumens Low (eco) Power 1117 lumens To drop the projector into “eco-mode” the setting is found in Cinema Black Pro, on the main menu. The choices are simple: High, and Low. Switching to Low reduced brightness by 35.1 percent – let’s call it 35%. In a home theater type room, many owners will be able to run in low power for typical movie viewing thanks to still having almost 1000 lumens calibrated. The big advantage of using eco-mode is cost related. Here’s the thing: While brightness drops 35%, there is a huge gain in lamp life according to Sony. My general recommendation is that the HW40ES is a great projector for the money, but for roughly an extra $1000, I consider the HW55ES to be the better investment and worth the difference. I mention this now, because lamp life comes into play. The HW40ES claims a very impressive 5000 hours in Eco-mode (aka Low lamp), but things start getting expensive if running the projector at full power where the lamp is rated only 2000 hours, which, these days, is way below average. For a “worst case” comparison, consider that the Sony lamp lists for $369, while the Epson 5030UB’s lamp lists for $249 (both get discounted), but the Epson lamp at full power is rated 4000 hours compared to 2000 for the Sony. (The Epson is 5000 hours, just like the Sony, when in Eco-mode. So, the point is, if you run in full power you definitely should factor in unusually high lamp costs into a Sony HW40ES purchase. A reminder: Lamp based projectors do not calibrate the same in full power and eco-modes. Therefore, in theory, if you plan to switch back and forth, you would want both calibrated. We don’t do that, but I can say from playing with the HW40ES, that the out of the box color definitely isn’t as good in “eco-lmode” on this HW40ES I have here. 1. Sony VPL-HW40ES Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-HW40ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Special Features 1 - Dynamic Iris? No - MotionFlow (aka Creative Frame Interpolation) - 1.6:1 Manual Zoom Lens3. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Special Features 2 - 3D - CMS - Color Management System4. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Hardware Tour 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Layout - Sony VPL-HW40ES Control Panel - Sony VPL-HW40ES Inputs and Connectors - Some quick thoughts on MHL5. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Hardware Tour 2 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Remote Control - Sony VPL-HW40ES Lens Throw - Lens Shift6. Sony VPL-HW40ES Home Theater Projector – Hardware Tour 3 - Sony HW40ES Menus - Menus - Comments7. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 1 - VPL-HW40ES Projector – Right Out of the Box - Skin Tones8. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Black Level Performance - Dark Shadow Detail9. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing - VPL-HW40ES Overall Picture Quality10. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness: Calibrated, Eco-mode11. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness and Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Calibration and Settings - Sony VPL-HW40ES Pre-calibration - Sony VPL-HW40ES: Calibration - Mike's General Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes13. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Advanced Calibration Information - Sony VPL-HW40ES CMS Calibration - Calibration Charts14. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Summary 1 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Summary - Sony VPL-HW40ES Brightness Summary - HW40ES 3D15. Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Summary 2 - Sony VPL-HW40ES Picture Quality Summary - Other Features and Benefits - Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector - The Bottom Line16. Sony VPL-HW40ES Review – Specifications Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 3 Sony VPL-HW40ES Projector Review – Performance 2