Sony VPL-HW55ES Projector - Pros and Cons

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Art Feierman

SONY VPL-HW55ES: PROS AND CONS

PROs

One of the brighter 3D capable projectors under $5000
The best "right out of the box" picture I can think of in terms of color accuracy
Almost 1000 lumens in "best" mode, can handle 150" diagonal screens without difficulty
Excellent overall color, and especially skin tones
Lots of preset image modes
Calibrates beautifully for really good color handling, natural look
Good shadow detail, really good black levels
Very good placement flexibility
HDMI 1.4a inputs (2) allows for support for Blu-ray 3D content
Wireless HDMI is an option
3D glasses provided (2 pair) These are IR glasses, same as last year's
Very good CFI (motion smoothing) MotionFlow
Reality Creation really raises the bar for dynamic sharpening and detail enhancement
Get extra brightness in 3D with glasses control (the brighter, the more crosstalk - it's your call)
Excellent 3 year warranty
Fairly quiet, even at full power
Really good remote control
Near black finish works well in dedicated theaters, or if in the EU, choose white finish for lighter rooms
Very good menu layout, very good manual
A top contender for this year's "Best In Class" award
Very good price performance proposition

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CONs

Lacks lens memory for those who would prefer a 2.35:1 screen instead of the standard 16:9 screens
Others offer lamps with longer claimed life (although low power is improved to 5000 hours)
I don’t like the Reset button where it is on the remote control on around the navigation, but a single press won't get you into trouble
Could use a third HDMI input
Could offer wireless HDMI… No! Wait! That was a CON from last year's HW50ES. This projector has wireless HDMI, as an option!
Projector could be brighter – I’m thinking primarily for 3D, but also for non-theater placement - still it is one of the brightest serious projectors
Sony needs new, more comfortable, lighter weight 3D glasses - Hold on! That's what I said last year, but we've still got them as the standard, provided glasses. I recommend (but it costs) the new RF emitter. That way you can buy extremely light weight, 3rd party glasses inexpensively. Emitter works with Epson glasses, and some very low cost Samsung glasses
White finished version not available in the US. (Most will will want the dark finish)
A side by side, or picture in picture mode would be nice (but both are rarely found features)
I do not believe you can use the IR glasses and RF glasses at the same time (not able to verify) Not surpassing, no one else switching from IR to RF has offered that ability to my knowledge

Everyone, that's a wrap. The only think left is the specs page.

Last thoughts: Will there be videos based on this review? Yes, by 12/20/13 If Sony does a Permission, the the videos will both be public. If not, the full length video will be only for subscribers. It will include video clips of the projector performing!

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