Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 2 Posted on March 4, 2014 By Art Feierman 1. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Home Theater Projector - VPL-VW600ES Overview - Highlights of the Sony VW600ES Projector2. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Special Features - VW600ES offers true 4K Ultra-HD resolution - Multi-functional Dynamic iris on VW600ES - Reality Creation3. Sony VPL-VW600 ES 4K Projector: Special Features 2 - CFI - Creative Frame Interpolation on the VW600 ES - Auto Calibration - VPL-VW600 ES Panel Alignment - Gamma Control - Blanking - Instead of Overscan or Masking4. Sony VPL-VW600 ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour - Hardware Overview: Sony VPL-VW600ES Projector - VPL-VW600ES Control Panel - Inputs and Connectors - VPL-VW600 ES Projector - Sony VPL-VW600ES Menus5. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour 2 - VPL-VW600ES Remote Control - VPL-VW600 ES 4K Media Player - Sony Xperia Tablet for VW600ES6. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - VPL-VW600ES Handling of Skin Tones - Skin Tones Depend on Lighting - Sony VPL-VW600 ES Black Level Comparison7. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 2 - VPL-VW600ES Dark Shadow Detail Handling8. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing on the Sony VPL-VW600ES - Overall Picture Quality of the Sony VW600ES9. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance - VPL-VW1100ES - Modes Brightness and Color Temp - Pre Calibration - Color Temp Readings for Reference Mode - VPL-VW600ES Post Calibration Color Temp and Brightness - Eco-Mode: Affect on Brightness, Power Consumption - Sony VPL-VW600ES Lens Position - Affect on Brightness10. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance 2 - VPL-VW600ES 4K and Sharpness Demonstration - Additional Sharpness / Detail Images - Sharpness and Detail - VPL-VW600ES Lens Throw Information11. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance 3 - Lens Shift Range - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector Warranty13. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Calibration - Sony VPL-VW600ES General Settings - VPL-VW600ES Grayscale Calibration14. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - Mike's Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)15. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Summary - The VW600ES is not just about 4K! - VPL-VW600ES Brightness16. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line: Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector17. Sony VPL-VW600ES Projector Specifications VPL-VW600ES PROJECTOR – PICTURE QUALITY PAGE 2: Black Levels con’t, Dark Shadow Detail VPL-VW600ES Black Level Performance (con’t) I can conjecture about how the Sony VPL-VW600ES compares with last year’s top of the line JVC projectors. Blackest blacks should be close, with the JVC’s likely being able to show a blacker black, and more dynamic range. That said, they are all so good at this level, that other factors should be dominating your decision. – Such as 4K vs 1080p! Note that the Sony algorithm for the iris is very sensitive to the least amount of bright area. Thus, our images are affected by the pause icon that appears when I pause Blue-ray discs, using Sony PS3 to shoot an image. With the Bond train scene, for example, several seconds leading up to where I shoot the frame is just as dark. When I hit pause though, the iris does open slightly, raising the black level above where it would be with no icon. In other words, the images would look even better, on a Blu-ray player that doesn’t put up a pause icon. VPL-VW600ES Dark Shadow Detail HandlingVW600ES Loses Almost no detail compared to most other projectorsEpson UB projectors hold their own in dark detail, but you can see black levels aren't as goodSony VPL-HW55ES also excellent on shadow detailEpson Pro Cinema 4030 is a touch better on shadow detail, no match on blacksJVC X95R (top of line) on left, Epson 5020UB on rightJVC X95R vs X35 both excellent on dark shadow detail (more overexposed)PreviousNext As the Bond night train image on the previous page also shows, this Sony VPL-VW600ES projector does an excellent job of revealing the darkest shadow detail. On those images, the shrubs and woods behind the tracks on the right and center right, show about as much as any projector. It should be noted, that per Mike, the default brightness setting is dead on, neither crushing shadow detail, nor unnecessarily raising the brightness of black. In the photo player on this page, you are looking at a very dark scene from The Hunger Games. Naturally, as with the Bond train scene, it is intentionally, and dramatically overexposed, to raise up the dark shadow detail so that it can easily be seen. Look to the large dark area near the bottom just left of center as one area where very near black detail can be spotted on the best projectors. Because we’ve only been using The Hunger Games in the past year, we don’t have as that many projectors where we took this photo, for comparison. Bottom line on revealing the darkest shadow details (with values near 0 on a 0-255 range, is that the VPL-VW600ES projector does an excellent job. The image isn’t quite as overexposed as some others, but the Sony should be comparable to the JVC X95R, the closest projector in price. Below, a few more images good for observing dark shadow detail: One thing that’s consistent. All of these dark images have a lot of pop to them. There’s no sense of the image being a bit washed out, which is something that projectors with less than great black levels suffer from when handling the darkest of scenes. Overall, the VW600ES may not have the best combination of blacks and dark shadow detail, but it’s right up there and competitive. Of course the Sony VW1100ES, Sony’s 4K flagship is a little better (at least on blacks). After all, if you were to spend the extra $12,000, you would expect “better” or “best” in a number of areas. 1. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Home Theater Projector - VPL-VW600ES Overview - Highlights of the Sony VW600ES Projector2. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Special Features - VW600ES offers true 4K Ultra-HD resolution - Multi-functional Dynamic iris on VW600ES - Reality Creation3. Sony VPL-VW600 ES 4K Projector: Special Features 2 - CFI - Creative Frame Interpolation on the VW600 ES - Auto Calibration - VPL-VW600 ES Panel Alignment - Gamma Control - Blanking - Instead of Overscan or Masking4. Sony VPL-VW600 ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour - Hardware Overview: Sony VPL-VW600ES Projector - VPL-VW600ES Control Panel - Inputs and Connectors - VPL-VW600 ES Projector - Sony VPL-VW600ES Menus5. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour 2 - VPL-VW600ES Remote Control - VPL-VW600 ES 4K Media Player - Sony Xperia Tablet for VW600ES6. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - VPL-VW600ES Handling of Skin Tones - Skin Tones Depend on Lighting - Sony VPL-VW600 ES Black Level Comparison7. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 2 - VPL-VW600ES Dark Shadow Detail Handling8. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing on the Sony VPL-VW600ES - Overall Picture Quality of the Sony VW600ES9. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance - VPL-VW1100ES - Modes Brightness and Color Temp - Pre Calibration - Color Temp Readings for Reference Mode - VPL-VW600ES Post Calibration Color Temp and Brightness - Eco-Mode: Affect on Brightness, Power Consumption - Sony VPL-VW600ES Lens Position - Affect on Brightness10. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance 2 - VPL-VW600ES 4K and Sharpness Demonstration - Additional Sharpness / Detail Images - Sharpness and Detail - VPL-VW600ES Lens Throw Information11. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Performance 3 - Lens Shift Range - Image Noise - Audible Noise12. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector Warranty13. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Calibration - Sony VPL-VW600ES General Settings - VPL-VW600ES Grayscale Calibration14. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - Mike's Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)15. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector – Summary - The VW600ES is not just about 4K! - VPL-VW600ES Brightness16. Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line: Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector17. Sony VPL-VW600ES Projector Specifications Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality Sony VPL-VW600ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 3