Sony VPL-VW665 ES 4K Projector: Special Features 2 Posted on December 18, 2015 By Art Feierman 1. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-VW665ES Overview - Sony VPL-VW665ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector – Special Features - VW665ES 4K Ultra-HD resolution - Multi-functional Dynamic iris on VW665ES - Reality Creation3. Sony VPL-VW665 ES 4K Projector: Special Features 2 - CFI - Creative Frame Interpolation on the VW665ES - Auto Calibration - VPL-VW665ES Panel Alignment - Gamma Control - Blanking - Instead of Overscan or Masking4. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour - Hardware Overview: Sony VPL-VW665ES Projector - The VPL-VW665ES Control Panel - Inputs and Connectors - VPL-VW665ES Projector - Sony VPL-VW665ES Menus5. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour 2 - VPL-VW665ES Remote Control - Sony FMP-X10 4K Media Player6. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - VW665ES Handles Skin Tones Really Well - Skin Tones Depend on Lighting - Sony VPL-VW665 ES Black Level Comparison7. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 2 - VPL-VW665ES Dark Shadow Detail Handling8. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing on the Sony VPL-VW665ES - 4K Picture Quality of the Sony VW665ES - 1080p (and 1080i) Content on the VW665ES - VPL-VW665ES: Overall Picture Quality9. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Performance - VPL-VW665ES - Modes Brightness and Color Temp - Color Temp Readings for Reference Mode - VPL-VW665ES Color Temp and Brightness - Reference mode - VPL-VW665ES Gamma Measurement - Eco-Mode: Affect on Brightness, Power Consumption - Sony VPL-VW665ES Lens Position - Affect on Brightness10. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Performance 2 - VPL-VW665ES 4K and Sharpness Demonstration - 1080p Sharpness and Detail - More 1080p images, 4K vs 1080p content compared - VPL-VW665ES Lens Throw Information - VPL-VW665ES Lens Shift Range - Image Noise and Audible Noise11. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector – Summary - The VW665ES is not just about full 4K resolution! - VPL-VW665ES Brightness12. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector: Summary 2 - Feature Performance - The Very Bottom Line: Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector13. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review – Specifications VPL-VW665ES PROJECTOR – SPECIAL FEATURES PAGE 2: CFI – Smooth Motion, Auto Calibration, Panel Alignment, Gamma Controls, Blanking CFI - Creative Frame Interpolation on the VW665ES No real changes here compared to the older Sony, so only minor rewriting: The VPL-VW665 ES offers two speeds of (creative) Frame Interpolation. In addition it offers several options which relate. The image here shows the MotionFlow (as Sony calls it) options. Interestingly Smooth High, Sony indicates is best for working with typical 24 fps content if you want smooth motion. I am not a fan of using “smooth motion” with 24 fps movies, but I must admit it wasn’t bad, Low was even less noticeable. Oh still a touch of “soap opera” or live digital look to the movies, but not bad. Some of you will like it, it’s a personal call. I won’t use it normally. I used the Smooth Low setting for the football (and some hockey) that I’ve recently watched. It works well enough. There are always detectable artifacts around the fast moving objects with CFI, but on this Sony, not normally noticeable (to me). I’m one of those who likes having CFI for sports mostly, but generally figure it’s a feature that most can live without. There’s also a mode called Impulse, and one called Combination. Combination should be a very viable compromise mode, it is a little brighter than when engaging Smooth High. I’m not up on the tech, but it may have to do with whether black frames are used in between the regular ones. One comment which I’ll repeat on the performance page when I discuss image noise. This Sony VW665ES projector like all the other Sonys I’ve reviewed in the last few years has an achilles heel. When the camera in a typical movie is panned at one very specific slow speed, the Sonys show more bouncing of the image than any other projectors I’ve worked with. The movie I alway see this in, is Red (with Bruce Willis), near the beginning with a pan of the neighborhood in the first chapter. I just wanted to point out here, that using the Smooth Low or High setting almost completely eliminates that extra judder. Better if it wasn’t sensitive to that one panning speed, but at least it can be corrected. Of course, to do so, you are watching with CFI engaged. Hmm! Click Image to EnlargeAuto CalibrationThis is an important feature. The manual was helpful. It describes the feature as a coarse setting, and compares and adjusts back to the original factory default, if I understand it correctly. There’s even a comparison mode, pre vs. post. Thus, the assumption here, is that over time, the color (due to lamp aging in) will shift slightly, but the projector will adjust to take you back so it matches how the projector was, right out of the box in default. That’s great assuming the color is perfectly calibrated from the factory, but that isn’t the case (although it’s darn close). I’d like to really explore the benefits of the feature over time, as the lamp shifts color slightly, but that won’t be possible. [sam_pro id=1_65 codes=”true” VPL-VW665ES Panel AlignmentSony’s VPL-VW665ES offers a Panel Alignment feature which is digital in nature. It is typical of other such controls. When you engage the feature, you select which of 2 colors you want to align first, Red, or Blue (against Green as the fixed). The screen turns to a grid and you work the corners then middle in terms of getting first Red to line up better with green. Then you go back, switch to Blue, and do the same. It works. It’s not perfect, but it does improve sharpness by eliminating mis-alignment, and those trailing red edges, that can sometimes be visible if the alignment is off more than 1/2 pixel. It’s about a 10 minute job to do the panel alignment. No rocket science involved, its really easy. Do it. (Images shown were taken from a different Sony projector with the same panel alignment feature) Gamma ControlThe VPL-VW665ES, like it’s predecessor, offers up 10 different gammas, (and Off, which should be the same as 2.2). The range, as you can see in this image, runs from 1.8 to 2.6. With 2.4 or 2.6 having that dark mid-range content sometimes described as film. But officially, 2.2 is where most people want to be. There are also four unique gamma’s which we’ll call “non-linear” in that thy favor bright or dark areas. For most, stick to 2.2, or perhaps 2.0 for some TV type content that you don’t want to be quite so dark in the mid ranges. But, if you like those other gammas for some content, go for it. At the end of the day, watch things the way you like them best, not the way you are “supposed to.” Check out the manual for more info. Click Image to EnlargeBlanking - Instead of Overscan or MaskingIn reality the Sony’s Blanking feature is a masking feature, but lets you control all four sides separately. The Sony does not offer Overscan (which you use to eliminate noise around the edges as you might find with some TV signals) by zooming in a bit. Overscan means no 1:1 pixel mapping, for less precision, a less sharp image, but it eliminates the edges while still filling your screen. Typical masking is different. It simply crops off the edge all the way around, removing the data, so that area is black, thus also elimnating the noisy edges. The result is a slightly smaller image that no longer fills the entire screen, but 1:1 pixel mapping is maintained, for a precise, sharp image. Sony’s Blanking is just like masking, but you only need do one side at a time. So, if the noise is only on the top edge, just knock off (blank) 1,2, or 3 rows across the top, and leave the sides and bottom alone, for an image that suffers the least changing. I like this feature, it’s a plus for dealing with edge noise, although a separate masking option that does all four edges at once would be an additional convenience. 1. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review - Sony VPL-VW665ES Overview - Sony VPL-VW665ES Highlights2. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector – Special Features - VW665ES 4K Ultra-HD resolution - Multi-functional Dynamic iris on VW665ES - Reality Creation3. Sony VPL-VW665 ES 4K Projector: Special Features 2 - CFI - Creative Frame Interpolation on the VW665ES - Auto Calibration - VPL-VW665ES Panel Alignment - Gamma Control - Blanking - Instead of Overscan or Masking4. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour - Hardware Overview: Sony VPL-VW665ES Projector - The VPL-VW665ES Control Panel - Inputs and Connectors - VPL-VW665ES Projector - Sony VPL-VW665ES Menus5. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour 2 - VPL-VW665ES Remote Control - Sony FMP-X10 4K Media Player6. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - VW665ES Handles Skin Tones Really Well - Skin Tones Depend on Lighting - Sony VPL-VW665 ES Black Level Comparison7. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 2 - VPL-VW665ES Dark Shadow Detail Handling8. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Picture Quality 3 - HDTV and Sports Viewing on the Sony VPL-VW665ES - 4K Picture Quality of the Sony VW665ES - 1080p (and 1080i) Content on the VW665ES - VPL-VW665ES: Overall Picture Quality9. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Performance - VPL-VW665ES - Modes Brightness and Color Temp - Color Temp Readings for Reference Mode - VPL-VW665ES Color Temp and Brightness - Reference mode - VPL-VW665ES Gamma Measurement - Eco-Mode: Affect on Brightness, Power Consumption - Sony VPL-VW665ES Lens Position - Affect on Brightness10. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Performance 2 - VPL-VW665ES 4K and Sharpness Demonstration - 1080p Sharpness and Detail - More 1080p images, 4K vs 1080p content compared - VPL-VW665ES Lens Throw Information - VPL-VW665ES Lens Shift Range - Image Noise and Audible Noise11. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector – Summary - The VW665ES is not just about full 4K resolution! - VPL-VW665ES Brightness12. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector: Summary 2 - Feature Performance - The Very Bottom Line: Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector13. Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Home Theater Projector Review – Specifications Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector – Special Features Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Hardware Tour