The VW1025ES looks nearly identical to its predecessor, the VW995ES. The chassis measures approximately 22 inches wide, 8 ¾” high x 19 ½” deep, and weighs about 49 pounds. The unit is much larger and heavier than most DLP-based home theater projectors. The larger chassis is worth it for the benefit of better black levels, a motorized lens with horizontal/vertical shift, and quieter operation.
Sony claims a very quiet 24 dB which is significantly quieter than most projectors that I have reviewed. The unit’s fan intakes are on the front flanking the lens, and the unit's exhaust vents are located along the rear. Whether in a dedicated home theater, or a media room, it is very unlikely you will notice the nicely low-pitched background fan noise.
When looking at the projector from the front, the inputs are on the lower left side while the small control panel is on the right side of the chassis. The VW1025ES also has dual 18Gbps HDMI inputs, which is more than enough bandwidth to support 4K@60P HDR with 10bit color. The power connection is located on the back of the projector on the lower right side.
The VW1025ES includes Sony’s standard backlit projector remote control that comes with all their consumer 4K projectors. Since it is bigger than many projector remotes, the buttons are large and well-spaced. You can use dedicated buttons to quickly switch between the Calibrated Picture Presets. To make quick, fine adjustments to the image, there are buttons to directly access many of the picture quality settings including MotionFlow, Color Temp, and Gamma Correction.
Having direct access to the HDR Contrast Enhancer via a dedicated button is especially useful when viewing HDR materials. It’s quick and easy to switch between the High, Mid, and Low settings to adjust the look of HDR content.
The VW1025ES is bundled with a 2.10:1 motorized ARC-F zoom lens (VPLL-Z7013) which is center-mounted. The ARC-F Lens is the same 2.10:1 motorized zoom lens available with the larger and even more expensive VW5000ES.
The VW1025ES come bundled with a premium ARC-F lens (VPLL-Z7013)
The VW1025ES is bundled with an ARC-F lens (VPLL-Z7013) that has a throw ratio of 1.35:1 to 2.90:1. The zoom range is 2.15:1, which is a lot of zoom range compared to most home theater projectors whose zoom lenses usually range between 1.1:1 to 1.6:1, depending on the brand and model.
Below are the minimum and maximum throw distances for a variety of screen sizes.
VPLL-Z7013 Throw Distance for a 16:9 (1.78:1) Screen
Screen Size (Diagonal)
Min Screen Distance (in)
Max Screen Distance (in)
80”
93 (2350 mm)
202 (5150 mm)
100”
117 (2960 mm)
254 (6460 mm)
120”
141 (3560 mm)
305 (7770 mm)
150”
176 (4470 mm)
383 (9730 mm)
200”
236 (5990 mm)
511 (13000 mm)
VPLL-Z7013 Throw Distance for a 2.35:1 Screen
Screen Size (Diagonal)
Min Screen Distance (in)
Max Screen Distance (in)
80”
92 (2330 mm)
200 (5100 mm)
100”
116 (2930 mm)
251 (6390 mm)
120”
139 (3530 mm)
302 (7690 mm)
150”
175 (4430 mm)
379 (9630 mm)
200”
234 (5930 mm)
506 (12860 mm)
In addition to motorized focus and zoom, when equipped with the bundled lens, the VW1025ES offers plenty of horizontal and vertical lens shift as well.
Lens Shift Range: +/-80% Vertical and +/-31% Horizontal
When projecting a 100″ diagonal 16:9 image, 80% of the image height is approximately 39 inches. This means the bottom of the projected image can be shifted down 39”.
While +/- 31% horizontal shift means you can shift 100” image to the left or right about 27 inches. Just remember, like most projectors, the more horizontal shift you use, the less vertical adjustment you will have available.
Having a large amount of zoom and shift capability makes installation a breeze, especially when you are trying to replace an older unit that was previously fixed mounted.
For even more installation flexibility, there is also an optional short-throw ARC-F lens available (VPLL-Z7008). The throw ratio of this lens is 0.85:1 to 1.06:1 and it has a zoom range of 1.24:1. The VPLL-Z7008 lens does not offer any horizontal or vertical lens shift.
Optional Sony ARC-F Short Throw Lens VPLL-Z7008
When this lens utilized the VW1025ES would have to be less than 8feet away from a 120" screen. The minimum and maximum throw distances for common screen sizes are shown below.
VPLL-Z7008 Throw Distance for a 16:9 (1.78:1) Screen
Screen Size (Diagonal)
Min Screen Distance (in)
Max Screen Distance (in)
80”
59 (1500 mm)
75 (1910 mm)
100”
75 (1900 mm)
95 (2410 mm)
120
90 (2290 mm)
114 (2910 mm)
150”
114 (2880 mm)
143 (3650 mm)
200”
152 (3860 mm)
192 (4890 mm)
VPLL-Z7008 Throw Distance for a 2.35:1 Screen
Screen Size (Diagonal)
Min Screen Distance (in)
Max Screen Distance (in)
80”
59 (1490 mm)
74 (1890 mm)
100”
74 (1880 mm)
94 (2390 mm)
120”
89 (2260 mm)
113 (2880 mm)
150”
112 (2850 mm)
142 (3610 mm)
200’
151 (3820 mm)
190 (4840 mm)
Sony uses a common menu system across its full lineup of home theater projectors. While Sony has not changed the look and feel of their menus in years, they add extra menu items to control any new features and capabilities as needed.
The VW1025ES menu is similar to other Sony Home Theater projectors
Of course, the higher-end model projectors have more menus because of more features. For example, the step-up VW1025ES offers menus for Lens Memory which it supports, while the VW325ES does not. The type is slightly on the smaller side, but you will still be able to easily read them from a normal seating distance. Overall, the menus are well-thought out and organized.
