Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5 Posted on February 11, 2008 By Art Feierman 1. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review - Overview and Physical AttributesOur Runner Up for Best In Class Award2. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Highlights - Sony VW40 Home Cinema Projector: Basic Specs3. Sony PLV-VW40 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour4. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - The Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones5. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 Black Levels6. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-37. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-4 - Sony VPL-VW40 Shadow Details8. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-59. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-610. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-711. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-812. ony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-9 - Sony VPL-VW40 home theater projector: Sharpness13. ony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-1014. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-11 - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Overall Picture Quality15. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-12 - Sony VPL-VW40 Viewing - HDTV16. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - VW40 Menus - VW40 User Memory Settings - VW40 Projector - Remote Control17. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-2 - Sony VW40 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - VW40 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility 18. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-3 - VW40 Projector Brightness - VW40 Projector - Light Leakage - VW40 Audible Noise Levels - VW40 Projector Screen Recommendations19. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-420. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5 - VW40 Projector Measurements and Calibration21. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-6 - VW40 Image Noise 22. Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Warranty23. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080UB24. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. the DLP projectors - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. VW60 projectors - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U25. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons-3 - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000 - Sony VPL-VW40 projector, Pros, Cons, andTypical Capabilities - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Pros - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Cons - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Sony VPL-VW40 Summary: The Bottom Line VW40 Projector Measurements and CalibrationAhh, where to start. Since the VW40, is essentially a repackaged (it seems) VW50, it’s not surprising that the lumen measurements are similar. This time though, I spent more time setting up “custom” variations of the Cinema, Standard, and Dynamic modes, so measurements do vary. All measurements unless noted, were done with the lamp on high power. Before I get into numbers, I should report here, that overall, the VW40 seems to oversaturate colors in default mode. For watching, I decreased saturation slightly. I think different screen types will affect your take on the saturation, so I won’t get into numbers. Cinema mode – This is the traditional “best” mode – however the Sony is definitely significantly off in terms of color balance, and really does need adjustment to get a first class image. Ideal color temperature is D65 – which is 6500K (kelvin), for movie watching… White (100IRE) 6818K Light gray (80IRE) 6998K Medium gray (50IRE) 7373K Dark gray (30 IRE) 7668K As you can see the projector gets cooler (shift towards blue – higher numbers), as you move down from white to dark gray. The background color of the VW40 also exhibits a blue caste to its blackest blacks. Since setting lamps on low power tends to shift their color temperature, I measured white – with all other settings the same – at low lamp. It was very close at 6773K. After a grayscale calibration of the Cinema mode, I ended up with these settings: Gain: Red=1 Green=-1 Blue = -3 Bias: R=7 G=-5 B=-4 In reality this still ended up with a touch too much green at times, be advised. Still, the numbers were dramatically improved: 100IRE 6395K 80IRE 6496K 50IRE 6638K 30IRE 6471K Now thats a nice tight set of measurements staying extremely close to the ideal 6500K. For Standard mode, I only measured with the same settings that you see above for Cinema mode, in terms of Gain and Bias. This created results much better than, and very different from the defaults: Here’s the measurements after adjustment: 100IRE 6507K 80IRE 6618K 50IRE 6580K 30IRE 6718K For the Dynamic mode, this time I created several custom settings, some are focused on getting the best picture out, others on maximum brightness. Dynamic: Default settings: (way, way, too cool) – color temp defaults to high 1. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review - Overview and Physical AttributesOur Runner Up for Best In Class Award2. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Highlights - Sony VW40 Home Cinema Projector: Basic Specs3. Sony PLV-VW40 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour4. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - The Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones5. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 Black Levels6. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-37. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-4 - Sony VPL-VW40 Shadow Details8. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-59. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-610. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-711. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-812. ony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-9 - Sony VPL-VW40 home theater projector: Sharpness13. ony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-1014. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-11 - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Overall Picture Quality15. Sony VPL-VW40: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-12 - Sony VPL-VW40 Viewing - HDTV16. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - VW40 Menus - VW40 User Memory Settings - VW40 Projector - Remote Control17. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-2 - Sony VW40 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - VW40 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility 18. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-3 - VW40 Projector Brightness - VW40 Projector - Light Leakage - VW40 Audible Noise Levels - VW40 Projector Screen Recommendations19. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-420. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5 - VW40 Projector Measurements and Calibration21. Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-6 - VW40 Image Noise 22. Sony VPL-VW40 Projector Warranty23. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080UB24. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons-2 - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. the DLP projectors - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. VW60 projectors - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U25. Home Theater Projector Review: Sony VPL-VW40 LCD Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons-3 - Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000 - Sony VPL-VW40 projector, Pros, Cons, andTypical Capabilities - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Pros - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Cons - Sony VPL-VW40 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Sony VPL-VW40 Summary: The Bottom Line Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-4 Sony VPL-VW40 Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-6