Sony's new VPL-VW665ES true 4K Projector is a substantial improvement over its predecessor.
No, the VW665ES isn't a revolutionary new home theater projector. Let me qualify that: Perhaps you could count all Sony 4K home theater projectors as revolutionary, since they are the only game in town. Compared to 1080p, 4K is "the revolution." It's what we large screen folks have yearned for, and deserve, and NEED!
The Sony VPL-VW665ES is a "next gen" projector based on the older VW600ES. The key differences are huge: First, black level performance has been taken up a notch. When I reviewed the older model, if I had a complaint it was really good black levels. Certainly respectable, but not dramatically better than the best $2500-$4000 1080p projectors. This new Sony's black level performance on dark scenes is definitely a step up, and that changes the value proposition significantly. The other significant area of change is simply supporting more of the advanced performance capabilities specified by 4K Blu-ray UHD. The standards weren't set when the original 600 hit the market. This includes at minimum, support for 4:2:0 color depth, and support for HDR. In other words, better picture quality with a lot more dynamic range and color depth. That's major. Sweet!
OK, that gives you a "taste" of what's to follow. Let me just say that I have been more impressed with the VW665ES in the first couple dozen hours of viewing, than I ever was with its predecessor (which was pretty impressive.)
So, let's get started with an overview, and a list of highlights. From there we'll get into the goodies.
