Among the major brands active in the field of projectors, and undoubtedly among those with a longest history in the sector, the Japanese brand Sony has raised the curtain on the new models, laser source, VPL-XW5000ES and VPL-XW7000ES.
The Japanese brand Sony is about to celebrate 50 years of its expertise in the projection branch, having started in ’73 with the VPP-2100 color system: the opportunity turned out to be propitious, after the roundup of its progress in the sector, to present the new laser projectors, IMAX Enhanced certified, VPL-XW5000ES (5,999 euros) and VPL-XW7000ES (14,999 euros).
The new models, which retire the VPL-VW790ES laser iteration and the lamp models, renounce the basics, in terms of SXRD panels and frame, putting in place, in the sign of a renewed environmental commitment, a new design, with laser sources brighter flanked by various technological innovations. On a more concrete technological level, the new models exploit light sources with blue lasers that interact with the color wheel containing phosphors: the reflective LCDs used, or the SXRD panels that place the liquid crystals on the silicon, have transited to a smaller size, from 0.61 “, abandon the 4K resolution (in 17: 9) for UltraHD (in 16: 9), and also change in other respects since, resulting more flat and reflective, they ensure greater color volume and, as a result, more luminance and contrast ratio, a higher dynamic range.
The TRILUMINOS technology here in the PRO version, already appreciated on the premium Bravia TVs of the brand, ensures almost total (95%) coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. The X1 Ultimate for projectors processor operates at the control rudders in both projectors, which makes use of artificial intelligence, to reduce noise and support HDR content (HLG and HDR10) on two “tracks”: in particular, recognized the significant objects in the source contents (Object-based HDR Remaster), even by adjusting the laser light source, offers them a wider dynamic range. With a view to tone mapping, which creates a synchrony between the brightness of the projector and that of the contents, it takes care (Dynamic HDR Enhancer) of adjusting the light and dark of the images, with the result of restoring more details to the images.
Silent (24 decibels in the first vs 26 decibels in the second), the new Sony VPL-XW5000ES and VPL-XW7000ES projectors cater to gamers through a pair of HDMI 2.0b ports, with low input lag (21 ms on UltraHD @ 60p sources, 13 on FullHD @ 120p) and 18 Gbps bandwidth, so as to be able to support video streams at 60 fps with 10-bit color depth in UltraHD resolution.
In terms of major differences between the two models, the XW5000ES has a projection ratio of 1: 1.38 – 2.21 and mounts 10-element lenses (9 of which are glass and 1 plastic): the user will be able to move manually via lens shift the projection area, of ± 25% horizontally and ± 71% vertically, still benefits from a focus area made wider by the 54 mm aspherical front lens. Zoom and focus are also subjected to manual adjustments.
The XW7000ES model (also prepared for 3D content, by purchasing the special XpanD goggles separately has a different shooting ratio, from 1: 1.35 – 2.84 and mounts Advanced Crisp Focused 13 elements lenses (12 glass, 1 The aspherical front lens here is 70 mm (always with the benefits of being able to use the entire surface of the lens without worrying for example about chromatic aberrations or curvature of the field) while the lens shift, from ± 36% horizontally and ± 85% vertically, it is motorized here, as well as the other controls, being able to recall on the fly (for a panel in the 21: 9 format), by pressing a button, the previously set settings (for a 16: 9 aspect ratio panel) and stored in the memories.In both cases, the imperfections caused by focusing can be corrected via Digital Focus Optimizer.