Around two years ago Sony launched the VPL-VW695ES along with several other native 4K Sony home theater projectors. The VW695ES is the last of these newest Sony projectors for us to review!

It sports a list price of $9999.99. What is particularly interesting is that it replaces two previous and popular models. In the past Sony had the VW3xx series and the VW6xx series – which was brighter, higher performance, but $14,999.99.

What the VPL-VW695ES, brings to the party, is a new projector, with higher performance and value than either previous model, at a price point much closer to the lower cost of the two earlier home theater projectors.  Prior to this new series, that VW375ES for example, was mostly identical to the lower cost VW295ES ($4999.99), except for the addition of Lens Memory, and a Dynamic Iris.  With the VW695ES though you got both of those, and a jump in overall performance.  

As with all Sony home theater projectors, the VW695ES uses 3 LCoS panels (Liquid Crystal on Silicon).  Sony and JVC, the two dominant home theater brands between $5000 and $30,000 both rely on LCoS panels.   JVC makes one lower cost DLP (under $4K) - one, that’s partially based on a BenQ projector – and not a core part of their primary lineup, rather the exception, and definitely not competition.

With a list price point right at $10K, this Sony competes with models from JVC, as well as the new BenQ HT9060, and others. We’ll discuss the competition at various points, but, have a whole section on the competition on our Summary page.

This Sony projector is about as feature laden as they come. Native 4K. HDR support for both HDR10 and HLG, Dynamic iris for better handling of very dark scenes, 3plenty of calibrated brightness to light up large screens in a home theater, 3D (Sony has long done a great job with 3D), an excellent set of controls (including for calibration), and the projector is somewhat sleek looking and mostly black – it will look great hanging from your ceiling or rear shelf.

No question about the performance of Sony’s VPL-695ES. It took about three hours of watching it on 4K (with/without HDR content), and quick analysis of black levels (on both 1080p and 4K with HDR), to determine this projector deserves one of our Hot Product Awards. Upward of 50 hours of viewing later, no reason to think otherwise. Of course our review will cover most aspects and provide the perspective for receiving our highest “regular” award.

Now I normally don’t like to give too many clues about the performance of a projector, before we really get started, but I thought I would share one surprise. Black level performance: I was certainly expecting better blacks than the older models, but they easily exceeded my expectations.

Will they rival the JVC competition? Black levels have been the JVC’s primary advantage – I’ve long felt Sony provided superior image processing (including 3D).

Sony definitely has the largest lineup of native 4K home projectors around (some very high end companies have more models), but usually many models are very similar. The rest of the line up beyond our focus today, the VPL-VW695ES, and the lower cost VW295ES I’ve mentioned, consist of two slightly older projectors priced right at $24,999.99 – one is the standard design VPL-VW885ES, and the other, an ultra short throw projector, the VPL-VW1000ES.

Both of those have laser light engines, as do Sony’s two – yes two – flagship models: The newest Sony – the VPL-VW995ES (reviewed months ago), at $40K (awesome!!!) And their now ancient VPL-VW5000ES a $60,000 5000 lumen model that’s been around for years, and gets a lot of upgrading but does still lack a few new capabilities that, say, the VW995ES offers for less.

“It’s a Sony!”

If you are a baby boomer – like me, then you almost certainly know that Sony was long known for legendary picture quality:  It was 50  years ago, that the Sony Trinitron picture tube set the standard for TVs and for professional studio monitors – Hey, we’re going back to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show!

Many to this day attributed the Trinitron as changing US perceptions of Japanese consumer tech products from “cheap junk” to “high quality”! My take is that Sony TVs back then helped also help Japanese auto companies. Back when the Sony TVs were dominating, Nissan’s were still sold as Datsuns in the US.

That’s the scoop. Sony has lower priced home projectors (two) but neither are 4K capable, and both have been reviewed, they start at $1999.99.

Meet Sony’s VPL-VW295ES: The only true native 4K resolution projector under $5000 MSRP!

Also learn about Sony’s other new 4K projectors and more.

Sony, with the launch of our three new models last month, including the VW295ES, is now on our fifth generation of native 4K resolution projectors.

No one has the experience with 4K that Sony has. When it comes to under $25,000 MSRP native 4K projectors, consider that right now, there’s only one competitor and they just launched their first generation!

This is an Advertorial created jointly by Sony and Projector Reviews!

The VW295ES is Sony’s least expensive 4K projector yet it supports pretty much everything!  HDR (both the HDR10, and HLG [broadcast] versions). And the VW295ES and all the other Sonys support BT.2020/P3 color space, the same superior color standard used in today’s better digital cineplexes.

You could describe the VPL-VW295ES as an entry level native 4K projector. That would be true.  Other than being the least expensive 4K Sony, there’s almost nothing “entry level” about its performance and capabilities. Sporting 1,500 lumens, this Sony projector will put a bright image before your eyes, whether you place it in a dedicated home theater, or pair it with the proper screen and place it in your living room, media room, family room, or spare bedroom. The 2.1:1 lens (zoom, focus and lots of lens shift) are all motorized to offer you world class placement flexibility.

We would be remiss if we didn’t also tell you a little about the rest of our 4K line-up.

Moving up from the VW295ES with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $9,999 is the new VW695ES. This projector is superior to, and replaces, our just discontinued VW685ES, a $14,999 MSRP projector.

Overall, the VW295ES and VW695ES are very similar. Here’s how they differ: The VW695ES adds additional brightness, and a fast dynamic iris to dramatically improve “black level performance” on those very dark scenes. Another key addition is our Picture Position lens memories. Both projectors have the same motorized lens system, but if you are a movie fanatic first, and want to go “Cinemascope” type wide screen to match most movies, the 695ES lets you resize the image appropriately, at the touch of a button. With the lower budget 295ES you can also go wide screen by adjusting the motorized zoom and lens shift manually in about 30 seconds, using the remote.

Forget the hype. There’s native 4K, and there’s all the other 4K wannabes – you’ve heard about them: 4K UHD, 4K e-shift, 4K enhanced, etc. All of those are lower resolution projectors that use pixel shifting technology.

Supporting 4K is obviously important in order to match the latest available content. Doing it really well - putting a truly great image up on the screen - has long been Sony’s objective. That’s a key reason why Sony has long pioneered native 4K projectors, shipping their first-generation years (2012) before any of those lower resolution projector manufacturers were even close to supporting 4K content.

In a perfect world of projector sharpness and detail, whether lower resolution, or 4K, the goal has long been what is called 1:1 pixel mapping. That is, one pixel for each piece of data. That means the smallest possible pixels relative to the image size, and no overlapping “pixel shifting.” Today, while there are only a handful of native 4K projectors that cost less than a typically loaded mid-sized car, there are many projectors that can accept some types, or even most types of 4K content. It comes down to the quality of what ends up on your screen.

It’s certainly true that those other 4K capable projectors with larger overlapping pixels, can produce a sharp image. We could get technical and explain all the key differences in detail.

Instead, let’s just put it this way:

All else being at least equal, a native 4K resolution projector will simply provide the sharpest most detailed image possible with 4K content.

Why? Consider: Some of you who have owned projectors for years, may have started with a standard HD (1280x720 resolution) model, but they also let you watch the higher resolution HD – 1080p (1920x1080). Still when you upgraded to a 1080p projector, you definitely noticed everything was sharper. Same idea! You will love native 4K!

It’s not just about projecting the 4K content, it’s about doing it better. Sony, for example, has often been cited for having pretty great color right out of the box, something few competitors can claim.

“As part of our review process, we normally calibrate almost all the over $1,000 home theater projectors we review. The only frequent exception the past few years, has been Sony. After first firing up a new Sony, I am usually sufficiently impressed with the picture quality and color accuracy, in their best preset picture modes, that there’s little need for a calibration. Bottom line: Nothing like starting out with really good color, a great feature set and native, natural looking, 4K sharpness!” – Art Feierman, Editor, ProjectorReviews.com

Sony’s newest home theater projectors are all very competent gaming projectors that have reduced input lag to as fast as 27 milliseconds! For hard core gamers, that’s considered really very good. Great is around 15-18ms. OK is around 55ms. Put on your headset, gather your team. There’s nothing like 4K gaming at 60fps with HDR, on a large screen – be it 100” diagonal, 120.” With native 4K resolution, you can go large screen, yet sit pretty close, to be well immersed in the content. Take your gaming to new heights, whether your thing is League of Legends, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, or Madden Football…

Don’t just watch your favorite movies, sports and other content, take your viewing experience to a whole new level. You can live the experience in a dedicated home theater, or in a media room, or any convenient family room, living room or bonus room.

Immerse yourself with the large screen, feast your eyes on gorgeous rich colors, with exceptionally sharp and detailed imagery, that Sony’s natural looking native 4K projectors deliver.

We invite you to learn even more about our three newest 4K home theater projectors and our full line-up. Join us here.

Meet Sony’s VPL-VW385ES. I’ve been watching it for most of a month now as I start writing up this review. Looks like the VW385ES projector now has 156 hours on what was a new lamp when I received it. To clarify, the projector I’m currently reviewing is almost always on while I’m working. My captain’s chair sits around 8-12 feet from my screen (depending on the resolution of the content – and, of course, the projector). If I’m writing, I’ll be looking up every so often, especially when favorite viewing scenes come up. I probably managed 40-50 hours of insightful viewing on the Sony VPL-VW385ES (Insightful: When I'm paying close attention) out of that 150+, and I view segments from the usual 6-10+ movies that I know by heart, and most often use for the photo shoots. I often replay a scene over and over, and sometimes switch back and forth with the projector I use as a reference.

Once again, Sony has sent me a 4K projector that comes, right out of the box, with some really great looking color, even without doing any adjustments. I mention that up front, because, as has been the case with a couple of other recent Sonys that I’ve reviewed, we haven’t bothered to calibrate this one. How I decide to have a projector calibrated: It all depends on how good it looks when I first start watching a projector here in my theater. More about this on the special features page under “Calibration Not Needed?”

The VPL-VW385ES replaces the older VW365ES, and it’s a really significant improvement! Not revolutionary, but just plain better as a projector, overall. Three features – and their benefits – all addressed later, in more detail: Dynamic Iris added, Lens Memory added, and optical performance improved with changes to the lens and light path.

This is our top regular award for projectors. Other awards are given out in our reports.

The Sony VW385ES is just loaded with features: 4K with HDR and P3/BT.2020 support, Lens Memory, Dynamic Iris, CFI for smooth motion, Dynamic Detail controls, and a whole lot more features less important than those.  In terms of HDR, it supports both HDR10 (used for Blu-ray 4K discs, etc.) and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma) an even newer 4K standard designed specifically for streaming 4K content.

As you can see from the short specs here, this is a $7,999.99 home theater projector claiming 1,500 lumens, a nice number for today’s serious home theater projectors, although for viewing 4K with HDR – the more lumens the merrier. Let’s take a closer look.

The VPL-VW385ES is the second least expensive home theater projector to offer native 4K, that is, a minimum of, 3840x2160 discrete pixels without any pixel shifting (it is actually 4096x2160 native resolution - even higher but really – essentially, the same resolution, just a slightly different aspect ratio).

More to the point, this Sony projector uses pixels that are relatively either half, or one quarter the area of those produced by 4K UHD DLP projectors now flooding the market (depending on which model DLP). In this case, smaller (pixels) is definitely better.

Now, if you haven’t been following our reviews, here’s one basic piece of perspective on viewing 4K content:

As of today, there are four different “resolution” projectors that can put 4K content on your screen. Two start with “large” 1080p sized pixels – those would be the “standard” 1080p pixel shifters, the best known being those from Epson and JVC (1920x1080 x2 –the x2 means each pixel fires twice, shifting a bit but overlapping the original and adjacent pixels).

Then comes the new, smaller DLP 4K UHD chip. It, too, is 1920x1080, but x4 – two more rounds of pixel shifting! Is this better? In theory, yes. In reality, it’s going to be more dependent on how well the projectors’ processing are implemented (more later).  Then comes the “higher end” DLP chip at 2716x1528 x2, which, in theory, is slightly better, and finally, true 4K – at least 3840x2160 without any pixel shifting.

Consider: The old “365” didn’t have lens memory (even though lens features were motorized), this VW385ES does – a very convenient improvement for those of us movie lovers that choose to go with a wide screen (such as 2.35:1), which means no letterboxing at the top and bottom on most movies.

But more importantly still, is the addition of a Dynamic Iris to improve the black level performance – we’ll definitely get into that, since it’s really major! And finally, also important: the optics have been improved since the last generation. Expect minor, not major, but every little bit improves the picture. By the way, Sony uses far more expensive “glass” on their high end home theater projectors, which price from over $20K to $60K.

Captured from Valerian, in 4K. Click for a much closer look

What we have here is a $7,999 projector that offers true 4K, and some pretty respectable black levels. Well, if you have those things going for you, there’s not going to be much downside. But Sony also has all the trimmings – besides a Dynamic Iris for the black levels. It has a lot of image processing including “smooth motion” (CFI) which they call Motion Flow, impressive control of the iris (most offer only on or off) – you can even use it as both a physical iris (to limit brightness), while having it also function dynamically.  Add to that 3D, and over 1,400 lumens of brightness with excellent color, and one of the best implementations for tackling HDR, and BT.2020/P3, those picture quality “improvements” usually offered with 4K content.

Meet the Sony VPL-VW285ES - a real 4K projector, and the first under $5000.

Bingo! The affordable 4K projector we've been waiting for, for a couple of years, has arrived! It is not only $3000 below anything that came before, but, in short, worth every penny.

Many enthusiasts have long been waiting for an under $5000 true 4K home theater projector, so there should be joy throughout the land with the new Sony VW285ES..  The VW285ES not only brings a new level of affordability to true 4K, but I'll say this up front, it also exceeded my expectations, which were fairly high.  

The VW285ES's place in the world

Less than two years ago, Sony brought out the VW365ES which you should consider this projector's predecessor, even if Sony also announced a $7999 VW385ES at the same time as this VW285ES.

You see, the old 365ES was also true 4K, at $7999, had motorized lens features although no lens memory, and it had no dynamic iris.

For those curious about the rest of the Sony line-up they have two 1080p projectors, starting at $1999 for their VPL-HW45ES - a nice projector with excellent color.  I've already mentioned the VW385ES.  Above that, the VW685ES for $14,999.

Then we get into their home theater laser projectors with the regular VW885ES (recently reviewed), and their ultra short throw VZ1000ES (reviews a few months back).  Both have list prices of $24999.

It gets better too, with the flagship of the line-up being Sony's VPL-VW5000ES, which tips the scales at 5000 lumens and $59,999.

Well, the VPL-VW285ES, also has a motorized zoom lens (improved, btw), without lens memory, and also lacks a dynamic iris.  By comparison the step up 385ES has Lens Memory and dynamic iris.

So, I was expecting a projector perhaps a slightly improved compared than that older, $3K more, VW365ES.  What I encountered, however was a significantly more capable, and noticeably superior projector.  All while being $3000 less money than what came before. Nice!

I do know that Sony says the lens (and I assume the light engine itself) are improved, but, I wasn't expecting the VW285ES lacking a dynamic iris, to perform as well as it does on dark scenes - in other words, I was surprised by how good black level performance turns out to me.

Enough on that for now, I'll go into much greater depth, of course, in the review.

What we have here, is that the Sony VPL-VW285ES is a serious 4K projector suitable for a dedicated home theater.  BTW it also is is fairly bright, (claiming 1500 lumens) so can be a good choice in other, brighter, room environments, as long as they have some respectable lighting control (and where necessary, the right type of screen for the room.

In the course of this review, we’ll look at some of the special features, including their Reality Creation (image detail enhancement), various “expert settings,” gaming input lag and suitability, networking capability, and more.

We’ll run through all the hardware features including the lens capabilities, inputs, and the remote control.

Of course, all that stuff is important, but even more so is the picture quality, which as I’ve already “hinted”, exceeded my expectations.

We then cover performance, including brightness measurements, and a section on calibrating the Sony for best picture. As usual, we provide the general settings and grayscale calibration on our first Calibration page, and our subscriber only Advanced Calibration page adds the CMS calibration – calibrating the individual primary and secondary colors. Naturally, we’ll finish with a summary of all the key findings.

Let's get this review into full gear.  Next page: Special features.

The Sony VPL-VW365ES is the least expensive true 4K home theater projector currently available, at $9999 list price.  It supports 4K HDR for dazzling picture quality, and has an impressive feature set.  It replaces the older VW350ES which we previously reviewed, and awarded.  The VW365ES is designed to be nicely bright - just enough to be paired with a light rejecting (ALR) screen in rooms with good, but not great light control, and of course, it's great in your dedicated home theater or cave, should you have one or are about to create one.

We'll start off with an overview of the VPL-VW365ES, and a list of its highlights.  From there, other pages will consider special features, a tour of the hardware, our take on a number of aspects of picture quality, and performance measurements.  Finally, a summary of the whole VW365ES review, including a pros and cons section.

Let's get started.

The VPL-HW45ES offers great color and a bright picture.  Ideal for media rooms, and home theaters, this 1800 lumen 1080p projector is Sony's most affordable for the home, listing for only $1999.

Sony's VPL-HW45ES is another "evolutionary" update for Sony, in this case from the just "retired" HW40ES.

When I reviewed the step up model, the VPL-HW65ES a few months ago, I was surprised by how much improvement that projector represented vs the HW55ES that came before. Much brighter, and more.  Sony delivered enough extra performance to even be able to rationalize an effective increase in street price of roughly $500.

The Sony VW-HW45ES also improves its value proposition, but performance improvements are a small part of that, bigger is the 20% price cut to $1999! Think of it this way, the way Sony packaged the older models, there was roughly a $1000 street price difference.  This time around, the difference is roughly $2000.

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.

The VPL-VW350ES is the lowest cost true 4K projector to hit the market to date, at $9999 US.  It sports a beautiful picture and 1500 lumens.  Impressive!

It is the least expensive of Sony’s three 4K projectors, and so far, they are the only company offering true 4K.