Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Calibration and Settings Posted on July 25, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Sony VPL-HW50ES Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Highlights - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Overview2. Sony VPL-HW50ES Special Features - VPL-HW50ES Detail Enhancement - Reality Creation - Sony VPL-HW50ES 1.6:1 Zoom Lens - VPL-HW50ES Projector 3D Capabilities - 3D Glasses (two pair provided standard): - VPL-HW50ES MotionFlow - Creative Frame Interpolation - Sony VPL-HW50ES Pixel Adjust3. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Physical Tour - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Appearance - VPL-HW50ES Control Panel - VPL-HW50ES Projector - Input/Output4. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Physical Tour 2 - VPL-HW50ES Menus - Sony VPL-HW50ES Remote Control - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen5. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality - Sony VPL-HW50ES Out of the Box Picture Quality - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Flesh Tones6. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels Comparison - Sony VPL-HW50 Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Comparison - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: VPL-HW50ES Projector - Bottom Line7. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES - Overall Color & Picture Quality8. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 4 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV and Sports9. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance - Sony VPL-HW50ES Brightness - Post Calibration: User "best" mode = 992 lumens - VPL-HW50 Projector Low Lamp Mode10. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Pre-Calibration Color temp, Cinema Mode11. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison Images - Reality Creation - Detail Enhancement - Continued12. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 4 - Sony VPL-HW50ES: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise13. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Calibration and Settings - Sony VPL-HW50ES Color Temperature - Sony VPL-HW50ES Basic Settings - Sony VPL-HW50ES Post Calibration Grayscale: User Mode - VPL-HW50ES RGB Settings14. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Projector Screens - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Screen Recommendations - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Screens For Dedicated Home Theater - Placing the HW50ES Projector - The Right Screens for Living Rooms, Bonus Rooms...15. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Epson Pro Cinema 6010/6020 and Home Cinema 5010/502016. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Sony VPL-HW30ES and VW95ES - VPL-HW50ES vs. Sharp XV-Z3000017. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Panasonic PT-AE7000 and PT-AE8000 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Runco LS518. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Warranty19. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - The Bottom Line20. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary 2 - VPL-HW50ES Color and Overall Picture Quality21. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary 3 - The Very Bottom Line on the VPL-HW50ES projector: - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Pros - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Cons - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Typical Capabilities22. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Full Specifications Virtually every home projector we review gets calibrated. Note we do not calibrate many all-in-one, and gaming projectors. This Sony VPL-HW50ES is no exception. Mike got to calibrate it before I really started watching the VPL-HW50ES. Our calibrations, including this Sony VPL-HW50ES, are normally limited to a grayscale calibration, along with brightness, contrast, color saturation, tint (where applicable), etc. Only in very special circumstances will we calibrate the individual colors, in which case we discuss why. Here are some pre-calibration numbers for the Sony VPL-HW50, our calibration settings, and the final results. Sony VPL-HW50ES Color Temperature Color Temp over IRE Range (Best Mode, Pre calibration) Reference Cinema Film 1 30 IRE 7357 7050 50 IRE 7342 7087 80 IRE 7339 7057 100 IRE 7369 7360 Before we provide our settings, lets see what we started out with. The default setting, Cinema 1 comes in just a little cool (shift towards blue), Reference was a bit cooler still but consistant from white to blacks. Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom) Reference 1044 @ 7369 TV 1054 @ 7356 Cinema Film 1 1047 @ 7360 Cinema Film 2 773 @ 6112 User 1054 @ 7357 Game 1281 @ 7815 Photo 794 @ 6121 Bright Cinema 1132 @ 8477 Bright TV 1131 @ 8480 According to Mike, the variation in brightness is tied to the different color temperature settings in the modes. In other words, changing the color temp of a mode, will cause the measured brightness to change, as well as the color. Sony VPL-HW50ES Basic Settings Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis): Reference TV Cinema 1 Cinema 2 User Contrast -90 -90 -90 -90 (90) 91 Brightness (50) 51 Color -50 -50 -52 -50 -50 Tint -50 -50 -50 -50 -50 Color Temp (D65) (D65) (D65) (DCI) (DCI) Color Space (BT.709) (Color Space 1) (Color Space 3) (Color Space 3) (D65) Gamma (Off) -2.4 -8 (Off) -2.4 iris (Off) (Auto Full) (Auto Full) (Auto Ltd.) (Off) In addition to calibrating the HW30’s Red Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment. Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis). Lamp Mode=High (unless noted otherwise). All other settings at default (untouched). Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis): Photo Bright Cinema Bright TV Game Contrast -90 (Max) 90 -90 – (Max) 90 Brightness (50) 51 Color -50 -55 -55 -55 Tint -50 -50 -50 -50 Color Temp (D55) (D75) (D75) (Custom 5) Color Space (BT.709) (Color Space 3) (Color Space 2) (Color Space 3) Gamma (Off) -9 -10 -9 iris (Manual – 50) (Off) (Off) (Off) Sony VPL-HW50ES Post Calibration Grayscale: User Mode Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration) 20 IRE = 6396 30 IRE = 6545 40 IRE = 6494 50 IRE = 6514 60 IRE = 6517 70 IRE = 6504 80 IRE = 6479 90 IRE = 6432 100 IRE = 6804 Average gamma = 2.22 Mike’s notes: A number of modes are almost identical when it comes to default grayscale. Reference, Cinema Film 1, TV and User modes all have roughly the same RGB balance that has a lot of green and blue and a deficiency of red (see graphs). Some use different color spaces that make overall picture look different. The RGB balance is also consistent across the entire IRE range. It might be the case that with a different lamp, you could have little need for calibration. The User mode calibrated extremely well, with a Delta E of less than 1.0 from 20 to 90 IRE, rising above 5 at 100 IRE. There are some uniformity issues with red tinting along the sides of an all white screen, but it’s not noticeable in normal scenes. As usual, Sony provides a range of color spaces that tend to make using a CMS unnecessary. BT.709 is pretty close to the Rec. 709 standard. Color Space 1, 2 and 3 expand the gamut to varying degrees, with Wide 3 being the largest gamut of the three. Really nice picture with almost 1000 lumens calibrated and still has decent blacks. Motion artifacts are pretty noticeable but can be eliminated by turning on MotionFlow. VPL-HW50ES RGB Settings HC5020 Post Calibration settings Custom 3 Color Temp Offset R 3 G 0 B -4 Gain R 11 G -16 B 11 Lumens at 100 IRE 992 @ 6814 Color Temp on Custom 3, Iris off, Gamma on Off, Color Space on BT.709, Color on 44, all other settings on default or as previously stated. 1. Sony VPL-HW50ES Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Highlights - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Overview2. Sony VPL-HW50ES Special Features - VPL-HW50ES Detail Enhancement - Reality Creation - Sony VPL-HW50ES 1.6:1 Zoom Lens - VPL-HW50ES Projector 3D Capabilities - 3D Glasses (two pair provided standard): - VPL-HW50ES MotionFlow - Creative Frame Interpolation - Sony VPL-HW50ES Pixel Adjust3. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Physical Tour - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Appearance - VPL-HW50ES Control Panel - VPL-HW50ES Projector - Input/Output4. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Physical Tour 2 - VPL-HW50ES Menus - Sony VPL-HW50ES Remote Control - Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen5. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality - Sony VPL-HW50ES Out of the Box Picture Quality - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Flesh Tones6. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Black Levels & Shadow Detail - Black Levels Comparison - Sony VPL-HW50 Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Comparison - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: VPL-HW50ES Projector - Bottom Line7. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES - Overall Color & Picture Quality8. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 4 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV and Sports9. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance - Sony VPL-HW50ES Brightness - Post Calibration: User "best" mode = 992 lumens - VPL-HW50 Projector Low Lamp Mode10. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Pre-Calibration Color temp, Cinema Mode11. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison Images - Reality Creation - Detail Enhancement - Continued12. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 4 - Sony VPL-HW50ES: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise13. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Calibration and Settings - Sony VPL-HW50ES Color Temperature - Sony VPL-HW50ES Basic Settings - Sony VPL-HW50ES Post Calibration Grayscale: User Mode - VPL-HW50ES RGB Settings14. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Projector Screens - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Screen Recommendations - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Screens For Dedicated Home Theater - Placing the HW50ES Projector - The Right Screens for Living Rooms, Bonus Rooms...15. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Epson Pro Cinema 6010/6020 and Home Cinema 5010/502016. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors 2 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Sony VPL-HW30ES and VW95ES - VPL-HW50ES vs. Sharp XV-Z3000017. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Competitors 3 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Panasonic PT-AE7000 and PT-AE8000 - Sony VPL-HW50ES vs. Runco LS518. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Warranty19. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - The Bottom Line20. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary 2 - VPL-HW50ES Color and Overall Picture Quality21. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Review Summary 3 - The Very Bottom Line on the VPL-HW50ES projector: - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Pros - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Cons - Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector: Typical Capabilities22. Sony VPL-HW50ES – Full Specifications Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector – Performance 4 Sony VPL-HW50ES – Projector Screens