Sony VPL-VW665ES 4K Projector: Performance 2

Posted on December 18, 2015 by Art Feierman

VPL-VW665ES PROJECTOR - PERFORMANCE PAGE 2: Sharpness and 4K demonstration, Lens Throw, Lens Shift, Image Noise, Audible Noise

VPL-VW665ES 4K and Sharpness Demonstration

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Above in the first photo player, you'll find 4K photo pairs. One is basically uncropped, the other far more so. Remember, that even if you expand our images normally they are only 1000 pixels wide, barely half of a 1080p image. That's why the close ups. And in this case, most closeup 4K images are 2000 pixels wide for better detail observation.

You can tell the difference between 1080p and 4K content, all of which is more detailed than any less expensive projector.

1080p Sharpness and Detail

Sony PS3, PS4 Icons

Epson's G6900WU high power media room projector

JVC's 2nd best

Sony's flagship 4K projector, the VW1000ES

Sony's VPL-HW55ES ($3500)

BenQ W1070 a sub $1000 single chip DLP projector

Mid-tier JVC projector ($4999)

Panasonic PT-AE8000U

Typical Epson UB series projector (up to $3500)

More 1080p images, 4K vs 1080p content compared

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The first six images are of 1080p content.

Note that Reality Creation is on, at default levels for all of these images.

The last three images are from a scene in The Fifth Element. The first two are taken using the 4K version of the movie, which I downloaded. It is a shot of the Secretary (with greenish hair), and a close up of her at higher resolution. That's followed by a third image of her, but from the 1080p version of the film. (Similar frames).

The closeups again are 2000 pixels wide, but both the full frame 4K and 1080p images are the usual 1000 pixels across, yet you can still see the difference in sharpness and detail.

I downloaded my copy of The Fifth Element in 4K from the 4K Download service ($29.95.)

As you can tell, 4K-Matters! (Especially when viewing from 8-15 feet back on a 124" screen!) BTW the difference in color between the two 4K images compared to the last image (1080p) is due to the different production and storage values of the older Blu-ray vs. the 4K download service. (I expected them to be closer.)

VPL-VW665ES Lens Throw Information

We provide (as usual) the placement distance for this projector, to fill a 100", 16:9 diagonal screen. It's easy enough for you to use that info to figure out the throw range for any sized screen. The distance is measured from the front of the lens, perpendicularly to the screen.

From a percentage standpoint, the total vertical lens shift is +/85% vertical, and +/- 31% horizontal. Just remember the more you use of one, the less range is left for the other.

VPL-VW665ES Throw Distances for 100" Diagonal Screen
Closest (Wide-angle)	10 foot 1 inch
Furthest (Telephoto)	20 foot 7 inches

VPL-VW665ES Lens Shift Range

The Sony offers lens shift equal to 80% of screen height of vertical lens shift.

That translates into allowing the center of the Sony's lens to be located anywhere from roughly 15 inches above the top of a 100" diagonal 16:9 screen surface when mounted, all the way down to 15 inches below the bottom of the screen when not inverted (table top). That's plenty. There's also some horizontal lens shift. Remember, if you need a few inches of horizontal shift, that will eat into the total amount of vertical shift that is available. And vice versa!

Image Noise and Audible Noise

Image noise handling is extremely good with very little mosquito noise. Motion artifacts are not a problem either except for the issue already discussed with panning at a certain slow speed on 24 fps movies.

Audible noise is not an issue at all. You can't here the iris action, and the fan noise at full power is typically as quiet as most good projectors in their Eco modes, and the VPL-VW665ES in Eco mode is close enough to silent to be no issue at all.