Sony VPL-VW285ES 4K Home Theater Projector - Advanced Calibration

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Art Feierman

Sony VPL-VW285ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review – Advanced Calibration: CMS Calibration, Calibration Charts

CMS Settings for "Best Mode" - Reference Mode

Below you will find additional charts, and most importantly, the VPL-VW285ES'es CMS - color management system - calibrations of each individual primary and secondary color.

Comments below, on this page are from Eric based on his calibration of the Sony projector.

During calibration, I lowered contrast to 95 to help with grayscale tracking and white clipping. I upped sharpness to 15 from 10. I left Reality Creation on and at its default settings. With 1080p test patterns, you can see a little artifacting, but I felt it was not perceptible with normal content.

After calibration, everything tightened up and the VW285ES became a stellar performer. My target gamma of 2.4 showed good linearity except for two tiny bumps at 70 & 90IRE. White balance kept close to D65 across the entire range. The BT.709 color gamut improved to near perfection and the DeltaE was less than 1 across the entire grayscale except for 100IRE which is 1.4. Very pleased indeed.

Reference Mode Post-Calibration RGB Balance / Grayscale Tracking (target D65)

Reference Mode Post-Calibration Gamma Log 2.43 Average Gamma (target 2.40)

❮ ❯

Note: Color temp presets are global, so I had to use a different preset for Bright Cinema. Had I used D65 it would have messed up my Reference mode calibration.

RGBCMY	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	1	- 2	0
Green	0	3	4
Blue	2	- 5	0
Cyan	0	3	4
Magenta	0	- 5	0
Yellow	0	1	3

Reference Mode Custom Color Correction w/BT.709 starting point.

CMS Settings for Brightest Mode - Cinema Film 1

After calibration, results were good but not quite as stellar as Reference. Gamma was a little dark on the low end and a little too bright on the high end (S-curve) of the grayscale. White balance shifted a little plus blue at 100IRE. DeltaE stayed at or under 1 across the IRE range, except for 100, which was a 3. Color gamut, again, like Reference mode, was the standout showing off extremely accurate BT.709 triangle.

Cinema Film 1 Mode Post-Calibration RGB Balance / Grayscale Tracking (target D65)

Cinema Film 1 Mode Post-Calibration Gamma Log 2.07 Average Gamma (target 2.10)

❮ ❯

RGBCMY	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	1	- 2	- 9
Green	0	0	- 8
Blue	5	- 6	- 7
Cyan	2	- 6	- 9
Magenta	- 3	- 3	- 10
Yellow	1	0	- 6

Cinema Film 1 Mode Custom Color Correction w/BT.709 starting point.

Sony VPL-VW285ES Cinema Film 1 Mode DeltaE 2000 Post-Calibration — Cinema Film 1 Mode Post-Calibration DeltaE 2000 (target below error of 3)

CMS Settings for 4K/HDR - Cinema Film 2

Sony VPL-VW285ES Cinema Film 2 Mode RGB Balance Post-Calibration — Cinema Film 2 Mode 4K/HDR Post-Calibration RGB Balance / Grayscale Tracking (target D65)

After trying to improve the 4K / HDR color I decided it was best to leave color correction off.

I did not make too many adjustments to the 4K/HDR mode. Based on a suggestion from a Sony Rep, I upped the Contrast to 80. Although this may result in a tiny bit of content clipping, it helps improve the ETOF (gamma) at the brightest point. White balance was a bit blue from the Custom 3 starting point. Making a few adjustments to the projector, gain controls brought the white balance closer to D65.

Sony VPL-VW285ES Cinema Film 2 Mode DeltaE 2000 Post-Calibration — Cinema Film 2 Mode 4K/HDR Post-Calibration DeltaE 2000 (target below error of 3)

Sony VPL-VW285ES Cinema Film 2 Mode EOTF Post-Calibration — Cinema Film 2 4K/HDR Post-Calibration (Electro-optical Transfer Function) aka gamma

Sony has a setting called Contrast Enhancer, which raises the dark end of the grayscale. By default, the projector is set to low. With it off, the ETOF tacks the most accurate, but you may feel the shadow detail is too dark. I felt it best not to go past low. Sure, med and high look and (track) brighter but that does not mean they are accurate. As you may know, there are no projectors that come close to the light output (need for HDR) of flat panels, which is why projector manufactures give their users these adjustments. Season to taste, as it were.

Color gamut performance was a bit of a disappointment. A lot of projectors do have trouble reaching to 100% P3/DCI saturation points. Many average 90% or so coverage. The VW285ES looks to also be in that same territory. However, a few of the colors seem to have tint linearity issues, like yellow, but it’s green that is the most problematic, with it arching towards yellow the further it moves out to 100% saturation. Like with Sony’s VW365ES, I felt it best to leave the CMS alone. Any adjustments I tried to make seemed to make things worse.

Sony VPL-VW285ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review – Advanced Calibration: CMS Calibration, Calibration Charts

CMS Settings for "Best Mode" - Reference Mode

Below you will find additional charts, and most importantly, the VPL-VW285ES'es CMS - color management system - calibrations of each individual primary and secondary color.

Comments below, on this page are from Eric based on his calibration of the Sony projector.

During calibration, I lowered contrast to 95 to help with grayscale tracking and white clipping. I upped sharpness to 15 from 10. I left Reality Creation on and at its default settings. With 1080p test patterns, you can see a little artifacting, but I felt it was not perceptible with normal content.

After calibration, everything tightened up and the VW285ES became a stellar performer. My target gamma of 2.4 showed good linearity except for two tiny bumps at 70 & 90IRE. White balance kept close to D65 across the entire range. The BT.709 color gamut improved to near perfection and the DeltaE was less than 1 across the entire grayscale except for 100IRE which is 1.4. Very pleased indeed.

Reference Mode Post-Calibration RGB Balance / Grayscale Tracking (target D65)

Reference Mode Post-Calibration Gamma Log 2.43 Average Gamma (target 2.40)

❮ ❯

Note: Color temp presets are global, so I had to use a different preset for Bright Cinema. Had I used D65 it would have messed up my Reference mode calibration.

RGBCMY	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	1	- 2	0
Green	0	3	4
Blue	2	- 5	0
Cyan	0	3	4
Magenta	0	- 5	0
Yellow	0	1	3

Reference Mode Custom Color Correction w/BT.709 starting point.

CMS Settings for Brightest Mode - Cinema Film 1

After calibration, results were good but not quite as stellar as Reference. Gamma was a little dark on the low end and a little too bright on the high end (S-curve) of the grayscale. White balance shifted a little plus blue at 100IRE. DeltaE stayed at or under 1 across the IRE range, except for 100, which was a 3. Color gamut, again, like Reference mode, was the standout showing off extremely accurate BT.709 triangle.

Cinema Film 1 Mode Post-Calibration RGB Balance / Grayscale Tracking (target D65)

Cinema Film 1 Mode Post-Calibration Gamma Log 2.07 Average Gamma (target 2.10)

❮ ❯

RGBCMY	Hue	Saturation	Brightness
Red	1	- 2	- 9
Green	0	0	- 8
Blue	5	- 6	- 7
Cyan	2	- 6	- 9
Magenta	- 3	- 3	- 10
Yellow	1	0	- 6

Cinema Film 1 Mode Custom Color Correction w/BT.709 starting point.

CMS Settings for 4K/HDR - Cinema Film 2

After trying to improve the 4K / HDR color I decided it was best to leave color correction off.

I did not make too many adjustments to the 4K/HDR mode. Based on a suggestion from a Sony Rep, I upped the Contrast to 80. Although this may result in a tiny bit of content clipping, it helps improve the ETOF (gamma) at the brightest point. White balance was a bit blue from the Custom 3 starting point. Making a few adjustments to the projector, gain controls brought the white balance closer to D65.

Sony has a setting called Contrast Enhancer, which raises the dark end of the grayscale. By default, the projector is set to low. With it off, the ETOF tacks the most accurate, but you may feel the shadow detail is too dark. I felt it best not to go past low. Sure, med and high look and (track) brighter but that does not mean they are accurate. As you may know, there are no projectors that come close to the light output (need for HDR) of flat panels, which is why projector manufactures give their users these adjustments. Season to taste, as it were.

Color gamut performance was a bit of a disappointment. A lot of projectors do have trouble reaching to 100% P3/DCI saturation points. Many average 90% or so coverage. The VW285ES looks to also be in that same territory. However, a few of the colors seem to have tint linearity issues, like yellow, but it’s green that is the most problematic, with it arching towards yellow the further it moves out to 100% saturation. Like with Sony’s VW365ES, I felt it best to leave the CMS alone. Any adjustments I tried to make seemed to make things worse.