Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 2 Posted on August 27, 2016 By Art Feierman 1. Sony VPL-HW45ES Home Theater Projector Review - VPL-HW45ES Overview - VPL-HW45ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Special Features - REALITY CREATION - Panel Alignment - 3D Performance - Sony VPL-HW45ES Input Lag - for Gaming3. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Special Features 2 - 3D Glasses Are Optional - About Dynamic Irises - or lack of them, and Black Levels - SONY Wireless HDMI Option - Sony Motion Enhancer - Creative Frame Interpolation4. Sony VPL-The VPL-HW45ES Projector – Hardware Features and Tour - VPL-HW45ES Projector: Overview - From the Front - Lens Controls - Sony VPL-HW45ES - Control Panel: VPL-HW45ES - Inputs and Connectors: Sony HW45ES Projector5. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Hardware Tour 2 - Sony Remote Control - Sony VPL-HW45ES Menus - Bottom Line on Hardware and Menus6. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector: Picture Quality - "Out of the Box" Picture Quality - Skin Tones - Sony VPL-HW45ES Black Level Performance - Descriptions of the Images Above7. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Sony VPL-HW45ES Dark Shadow Detail - Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector For HDTV And Sports - Overall Picture Quality: VPL-HW45ES - Mode Comparisons8. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 1 - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness - Effect of Lens Zoom on Brightness - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness: Calibrated - Reference vs Bright Cinema - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness: Calibrated, Eco-mode9. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness and Image Noise - Audible Noise10. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Calibration & Settings - Sony VLP-HW45ES Calibration Presets notes - Pre-Calibration Color Temp (D65 pre-set) over IRE Range - Sony VPL-HW45ES Pre- and Post-Calibration Settings, By Mode - Reference Mode Pre-Calibration - Bright Cinema Mode Pre-Calibration - Post-Calibration Color Temperature11. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Reference Mode Post-Calibration - Bright Cinema Mode Post-Calibration12. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector: Summary - The HW45ES Picture - and the Competition - Sony VPL-HW45ES Picture Examples - Sony HW45ES Brightness13. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Summary 2 – The Bottom Line, Pros and Cons - The Bottom Line: Sony VPL-HW45ES - Sony VPL-HW45ES Pros - Sony VPL-HW45ES Cons14. Sony VPL-HW45ES Home Theater Projector Review – Specifications SONY VPL-HW45ES PROJECTOR – PERFORMANCE 2: Sharpness and Image Noise, Audible Noise Sharpness and Image Noise I normally discuss these two aspects of performance in separate sections, but this time it seemed appropriate to combine them. In this player I’ve got an assortment of images to demonstrate the Sony’s overall sharpness. Reality Creation, Sony’s “smart” sharpness and detail enhancement features was set to 20 for all of the images in the player, except for the Secretary images from The Fifth Element, which show RC Off vs. On, and settings on minimum, 20, and 50. Those “Secretary images were taken with the older HW40ES when reviewed. The HW45ES should perform the same as you adjust RC. When viewing those, look at skin texture, and also the background noise in the purple and blue areas. The differences are definitely noticeable! Reality Creation is effective at sharpening the image, although as with most heavy processing, the more you use it, the more artifacts. While for the price, this Sony does a great job, I don’t think the HW45ES’s Reality Creation alone, is a match for some of the pixel shifting projectors that also have detail enhancement equivalents. Still, since the least expensive of those (the Epson 5040UB) costs 50% more – $2999, (and t’s the only pixel shifter under $3999) that seems more than fair. I will suggest that this is an area where Sony’s HW65ES may do a better job, although they were here many months apart, so I’m mostly going on subjective impression. It may be the higher end Sony, at the least, has more flexibility to come up with both a sharp looking image without as much image noise. BTW, Sony’s Noise control as part of RC on the HW45ES doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of difference. I should mention that as the HW45ES is a 3 chip projector, there is inherent misconvergence. I used Sony’s digital alignment function to compensate. It takes just a few minutes to run. Just follow the instructions! Easy. Bottom Line on Sharpness: (or rather perceived detail and sharpness). The Sony looks crisp, and very sharp, but at the trade-off of a little hardness in close ups of faces with the Reality Creation engine on its default of 20. At 10 it still looks similar. Turning it off softens the faces, but at the same time, the difference in perceived sharpness between a setting of 20 on RC, and turning RC off, is pretty significant. Again, keeping in mind that the Epson 5040UB is a whole lot more expensive, it has the advantage. Both can be a bit hard if you use the effects more than a little, but I believe that the Epson can achieve more perceived sharpness using pixel shifting and it’s Image Presets, than the Sony can, thanks to both the firmware, and the pixel shifting, with less visible artifacts. Audible NoiseThe Sony projector does especially well when it comes to keeping fan noise under control. In fact, Sony claims a very impressive 21 db in it’s low power (eco) mode, which is excellent. Only rarely, over many years, have we seen any projectors capable of getting under 20 db, and the models that come to mind were mostly Mitsubishi projectors (they got out of the projector business). Note that Mitsubishi projectors were almost all what I described as small screen projectors, in that they were below average in brightness. How low? Well, this Sony calibrates around 1500 lumens and those Mitsubishi’s were mostly under 500 lumens calibrated. The Sony claims 28 db at full power, which is nicely a few db quieter than most competitors, including that Epson mentioned, and just about every DLP projector. Let me put it this way, even most really noise adverse projector folks shouldn’t have an issue with this Sony running at full lamp. I can’t say that for the others. 1. Sony VPL-HW45ES Home Theater Projector Review - VPL-HW45ES Overview - VPL-HW45ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Special Features - REALITY CREATION - Panel Alignment - 3D Performance - Sony VPL-HW45ES Input Lag - for Gaming3. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Special Features 2 - 3D Glasses Are Optional - About Dynamic Irises - or lack of them, and Black Levels - SONY Wireless HDMI Option - Sony Motion Enhancer - Creative Frame Interpolation4. Sony VPL-The VPL-HW45ES Projector – Hardware Features and Tour - VPL-HW45ES Projector: Overview - From the Front - Lens Controls - Sony VPL-HW45ES - Control Panel: VPL-HW45ES - Inputs and Connectors: Sony HW45ES Projector5. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Hardware Tour 2 - Sony Remote Control - Sony VPL-HW45ES Menus - Bottom Line on Hardware and Menus6. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector: Picture Quality - "Out of the Box" Picture Quality - Skin Tones - Sony VPL-HW45ES Black Level Performance - Descriptions of the Images Above7. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Sony VPL-HW45ES Dark Shadow Detail - Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector For HDTV And Sports - Overall Picture Quality: VPL-HW45ES - Mode Comparisons8. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 1 - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness - Effect of Lens Zoom on Brightness - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness: Calibrated - Reference vs Bright Cinema - Sony VPL-HW45ES Brightness: Calibrated, Eco-mode9. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness and Image Noise - Audible Noise10. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Calibration & Settings - Sony VLP-HW45ES Calibration Presets notes - Pre-Calibration Color Temp (D65 pre-set) over IRE Range - Sony VPL-HW45ES Pre- and Post-Calibration Settings, By Mode - Reference Mode Pre-Calibration - Bright Cinema Mode Pre-Calibration - Post-Calibration Color Temperature11. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Reference Mode Post-Calibration - Bright Cinema Mode Post-Calibration12. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector: Summary - The HW45ES Picture - and the Competition - Sony VPL-HW45ES Picture Examples - Sony HW45ES Brightness13. Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Summary 2 – The Bottom Line, Pros and Cons - The Bottom Line: Sony VPL-HW45ES - Sony VPL-HW45ES Pros - Sony VPL-HW45ES Cons14. Sony VPL-HW45ES Home Theater Projector Review – Specifications Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector Review – Performance 1 Sony VPL-HW45ES Projector – Calibration & Settings