Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 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 Here we will discuss the picture quality of the Sony VPL-HW50ES home theater projector, in terms of “out of the box” color, shadow detail, and black level performance. From that we assess overall Picture Quality (which in this case is truly impressive). Also found on this page of the VPL-HW50ES projector review, is a section on HDTV and Sports viewing. This page also includes a variety of images from movies, HDTV, Sports, for you to view, to get a better feel for this Sony projector. Sony VPL-HW50ES Out of the Box Picture QualityWe found Cinema 1 to offer up the best color, right out of the box. Overall, Cinema 1, after adjusting the brightness and contrast slightly, had the best picture, and color, without calibration. Overall, for those of you not planning to have your projector calibrated, and aren’t even planning to try out our recommended settings, then consider this one of the better projectors out there for just turning it on, and enjoying. Click Image to EnlargeThe color shift from an ideal 6500K, is slight, and only slightly cool (a touch more blues than red strength), with the color temp ranging from just over 6700K to just over 7000K. About these photo images: The images in this review can give you a very good idea of the VPL-HW50ES picture quality, but with some reservations. First, as with all other projectors, when you get this Sony projector home, it is going to look a lot better than the images. In general though, there is noticeable shifting of color and dynamics as the process goes from the projected image, to my 60D Canon dSLR, though Photoshop (for resizing, cropping), jpg compressing them for web,, your graphics card in your computer, and your display’s own lower contrast, and color shifts. It’s almost amazing the pictures look this good, all considered. Nonetheless, they do provide you with a very good representation, just not a dead on one suitable for comparing the exact color balance of different projectors. So take these images with a grain of salt (or several). On the bright side, images designed to show black levels and shadow detail work effectively when compared to other projector’s images. With the Sony HW50ES, the images as seen on my MacBook Pro, tend to show just a slight touch more yellowish tint in the colors than were on the screen. Such shifts are not unusual in our images, and we tend to identify them. Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Flesh TonesBefore calibration they are pretty good. Post calibration The HW50‘s reproduction of skin tones becomes really excellent. If you don’t plan a full calibration of the VPL-HW50ES, then please try our calibration settings found on the Calibration page. If you like those better than the defaults (you should) let us know. Above and below, as always – Gandalf and Arwen, from Lord of the Rings, on Blu-ray to start off our skin tones images.. Of the movies I viewed and took images of, many provide skin tones that I can only call natural and easy. Lord of the Rings and the modern Bond flicks I use, fit that description. By comparison, movies like Red, and Star Trek (the new one), the Bourne movies, and many action movies in general, seem to push the dynamics, and therefore provide a projector with less accurate, and less forgiving skin tones to reproduce. Below are our three James Bond images from Casino Royale. Each has a different lighting scenario, the first – full sunlight, the second image; indoor fluorescent, and finally, filtered sunlight in the third image. And as one would expect, that causes each image of James Bond – Daniel Craig – to have different looking skin tones. All look pretty good! Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector - Flesh Tones SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES SKIN TONES 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 – Physical Tour 2 Sony VPL-HW50ES Projector Picture Quality 2 LnRiLWhlYWRpbmcuaGFzLWJhY2tncm91bmR7cGFkZGluZzowfQ==