Sony VPL-HW65ES Projector – Performance

As you can figure out from a quick look at the numbers above, while there are 8 different preset modes plus user, that there are really only 5 really different ones in terms of brightness and color temp.

In other words, the first three look the same on the chart, but things like gamma, as well as other image functions have different default values, from otherwise similar modes.

Mike, our calibrator, started with Reference, which he reported to be the most accurate mode, as the basis for his “best” mode calibration.  That finished calibration was placed in the User mode!   Our calibration page will give all the basic settings (Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, etc.), as well as the grayscale calibration putting Red, Green, and Blue in proper balance around 6500K across the IRE range from full white to dark gray (as low as our gear will go).

Take note – if you own, or at least looked at our HW55ES review, you would have found that most modes measured about 35% lower than the HW65ES measured here.

The thing is, the HW65ES is officially only 100 lumens brighter – less than 10%.

I know a significant amount of the remaining difference is that in the 2 years or so since the HW55ES review Mike replaced his calibration and measuring gear.  We know that his new gear is almost 10% brighter than mine, and mine was roughly 5% brighter than his old equipment.  So that explains some of it, but I’m at a loss for the rest of the difference.  For example Reference mode, uncalibrated measures 1560 on the HW65ES vs only 944 on the HW55ES.  Calibrated it’s 1533 lumens vs 964 lumens on the older Sony.  It may well be that the HW55ES we reviewed was less bright than average, but the bottom line is that this Sony proves to be much brighter than the 55 that we reviewed.

For our member subscribers, typically there’s an additional page with “advanced” settings, essentially the individual calibration of each of the primary and secondary colors. There are before/after CIE charts and other graphic info as well as a few comments from Mike, our THX certified calibrator.  In the case of the HW65ES, however, Mike did not bother to calibrate the CMS as some of the presets are virtually perfect.  You will be able to read his notes and recommendations about that.  The  small image above shows you what the menu for calibrating a specific color looks like.

Sony’s 1.6:1 zoom lens must be very well designed from the standpoint of maintaining brightness.  While not as much range in the zoom as some (JVC 2:1, Epson 2.1:1), Sony’s 1.6:1 zoom has dramatically less brightness drop off as you place the projector further away from the same sized screen. Note that the drop is less than 15%.

By comparison, those 2:1 type zoom lenses often lose up to 40% if you place the projector all the way back. True, the Sony won’t allow you to go as far back as those others, but it still has enough zoom lens range to even allow shelf mounting in a decent percentage of rooms.