Sony VPL-HW10 Owners AND Calibration Thread - Page 18

From looking at your photo, I think the main problem is that you've got colour temperature far too cool. Low is closest to D65.

Here's a quick photo from my calibrated HW10 of that image you linked to. (just threw it on a thumbdrive and loaded it up on my PS3)



Any differences in colour/brightness are due to the camera more than anything else. (the photo looks a little dull compared to what I see)

Well I am still using a trusty NEC HT1100 DLP and its picture is nice enough to have carried me right past the 720 and 1080i upgrade paths and now I am almost ready to move up, this Sony seems to be most suitable. The fact that this Sony should work without me moving mounts and fiddling around just adds to the attraction.

No kidding, my thoroughly antique Davis DL-S8 (not selling this, I'll keep it mothballed and sell it to a museum in a few years ) still throws a nice DVD picture from HTPC. I made a mount specifically for it, but it's a bit low-hanging, not easy on the WAF. Shelf-mounting is a must for me now. BenQ W5000 is a rare exception in the DLP camp offering vertical lens shift, allowing for this, but its long throw made it difficult. Pity. Luckily there's this Sony, otherwise I'd have to go for one of those dust sucking LCD PJs

All this talk makes my fingers itch - can't wait to order mine!

Neko

I upgraded from a HT1100 to a VPL-HW10 in December. You will be very pleased/surprised at the difference in image quality. Go for it.

Great to hear! Just a few more pennies to squirrel away and I will be on to it. Did you end up with the projector in roughly the same mounting place? (distance - height)

[quote=Bytehoven;14962738]OK Sports Fans ... Calibration tip #1

I did experiment with the service menu calibration of the auto iris.

*** Warning ***

Before we begin, understand that diving into the service menu has risks. The risk that you could change a value, and having not written it down, be unable to go back. So, when going into the service menu to make adjustments, ALWAYS write down the factory settings your are about to alter.

*** End Warning ***

Use the following remote commands to enter service mode

ENTER ENTER <- ENTER then answer YES to the question asking if you want to enter the service mode.

You will note at the bottom of the main menu DEVICE has appeared in the blue border. Go down and click DEVICE.

You will see a number of sub-menus open.

For this adjustment, you will go to the OTHER menu.

Use the UP/DOWN arrow keys to scroll thru the menu. Adjustments to values are made with <- -> keys.

Look for:
(01) IRIS ADJ (0)
(02) OPEN REG (725)
(03) CLOSE REG (347) Change this to 140. It takes awhile to click your way down, so be patient.

Don't worry about the other settings.

What does this change? The auto iris is triggered by luminance values. OPEN REG controls at what value the iris become fully open. CLOSE REG controls at what value the iris starts top open.


Hey Bytoven,

Thanks for your insights into tweaking the IRIS. You saved me quite a bit of money from having to upgrade to a DILA. I brought my close reg setting down to 190 and it did wonders. Blacks are a lot more solid now and when the screen fades to black now the screen appears a lot darker as oppose to the shinny grey fade out.

How did you find out about the service menu?

[quote=hjones;15859302]I upgraded from a HT1100 to a VPL-HW10 in December. You will be very pleased/surprised at the difference in image quality. Go for it.[/QUOTE

I upgraded from my Mitsubishi Hc900u which has the same Matterhorn DLP chip, PQ is significantly better in every way...especially black levels...now I can watch The Dark Knight without a white fog in darker scenes. Especially if you close down the auto iris further.

Man, thanks to you I just fixed the problem , but I had to put the high lamp mode and the low temperature, thats the only way to have very good and vivid reds.

The problem is the high mode of the lamp, how many hours it will last this way? will the projector produce more heat?, any of you guys are running the projector in high lamp mode? hours? any premature dimming?

Thanks!!!!

Just another quick question, Im playing my movies in a htpc with the ati hd2600 DVI-HDMI, do you guys think that I will get better colors with a new video card? something with a native HDMI 1.3 connection?

Thanks!

Hi Guys,

I would like to start experimenting with color calibration on my HW10. Can you guys please recommend a purchase of a colorimeter (is that what you call them) system: hardware and software. I will be happy to achieve 90% accuracy so affordibility is the order of the day.

Cheers

Lyndon

i would also like to buy a colourmeter to clibrate my hw10

[quote=lyndonlim;15859503]
I also tried the auto iris adjustment. I didn't lower it as much as you, but even so I found that whilst the black level was lower, the image looked more flat and the brighter parts of the image, such as lights etc, were crushed.

Then X-Rite Eye-One Display LT and ColorHCFR software is what you want. Calibration patterns you get from commercial Digital Video Essential or Avia discs or you can use free AVCHD http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496.

Very usefull calibration quide: http://www.curtpalme.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10457

Excellent, I'm glad to hear that sorted your problem. You may want to switching the iris to manual and running it on the low bulb though. I find that the iris has a tendency to lessen the amount of red in skintones, and probably other things as well.

Bulb life probably is a bit shorter in high rather than Low, but as far as I can see, Sony don't give any estimation for the HW10's bulb life. (I would assume 2000/3000 for high/low based on other projectors)

What kind of screen are you projecting on? They can have an effect on the colour performance. (Carada's Brilliant White is the most neutral I have found)


It shouldn't really make a difference whether you're outputting DVI or HDMI.


Colorimeters should be ok for greyscale adjustment, but may not be suitable for colour adjustments.

I have an i1Pro, a Chroma 5 and a DTP-94 that I'll try comparing on the HW10 this evening.

If you can afford it, I would recommend an i1Pro with CalMAN: http://www.curtpalme.com/EyeOnePro.shtm (should be the cheapest price)

If not, I'd say that a colorimeter will get you within 80-90% for greyscale, a basic spectro like the i1Pro within 90-95%, and the really expensive meters get you that last 5%.

For colour, depending on the display/colorimeter used, a colorimeter may get you quite close, or it may be very far offthe only way to find out is to test against a known "good" meter.

No... Your 2600 will look identical to any other ATI card .. a 4000 series will just give you proper HD sound over HDMI as well.. if you dont have an amp that can decode that then keep your old card.

I stumbled upon that site the other day and ordered the Display 2.

Yes, I mounted the Sony at the same distance, but I moved it over a couple of inches for the difference in lens position - NEC is offset, while the Sony is centered.

BTW, the NEC mounting plate can be drilled and used on the Sony - that is what I did. I used a spacer to accommodate the vertical offset built into the NEC plate.

Im using auto 2, I will try to use manual and see what kind of effects do with the reds.


Ok, I just figure out that using the low mode is fine with the colors, no need to use high really... but to intensify a little bit the reds I just add +2 in the RCP options.


My screen is a low gain white fixed screen, btw, Im projecting in a bat-cave.


Thanks! I will keep the hd2600.


Im not really interested in HD sound right now.


Thanks guys, really!!

Ok.... so you preferred to centre the lens by moving the mounting position rather than use lens shift? Was that because you thought in might introduce distortion? I am not using an nec mount so would have to make other arrangements, or I could just use lens shift? I guess the difference in lens position does not amount to a great amount of lens shift but if it was going to compromise image quality I would have to go to more trouble.

Is there somewhere where the official lamp life figures are published? Projector Central has 'Not Specified' and the Sony website specs list I looked at didnt mention it. Does anyone know what they are and perhaps where I can see them published officially? Are they in the manual by any chance?

Lens shift works fine with no noticeable distortion. I am using it for vertical alignment to the screen. I have a suspended ceiling and needed to replace the tile and make a new hole for cables to the side connections to the Sony. While I had it down, I scooted the mounting bracket over about the same distance as the difference in lens offset. But, it was not necessary - only a matter of choice.

I have read screen forum and could not find recommendation.

What would be the maximum screen recommended with still good brightnes for Sony HW10 projector?

I am interested only in Carada BW screen and preferably 2:35 aspect ratio. Screen is for movies watching only on DVD and Blu Ray. No sports, no HDTV, just movies.
It is light controlled room, with black ceiling, black carpet, and very dark walls.
Room size is 21X15X8 and sitting distance from screen unfortunately is 16' and can not be closer.
Is 136" diagonal 2:35 Carada BW too big if I want to have good brightnes?

Thank you!

Thanks so much for these useful links. In your opinion, it adjusting the greyscale and color worthwhile on the HW10? Can you please share your experience and what areas of improvement you saw ?

The color of the HW10 out of a box in medium setting seems fine to my eyes but it may be the case of not knowing what you are missing. It also seems like quite a modest expenditure when you consider how much you have spend on your HT gear.

In my case the HW10 was really good out of the box with Cinema mode, Low color temperature, High lamp and Normal colourspace. Only minor adjustments to the white balance and colour space was needed. Difference when watching is also quite small. But if you want to be sure of the performance and like to fiddle with adjustments then colorimeter is a very good investment.

I am joining the ranks of owners here on the HW10. I just puchased it from a fellow AVS Forum member and it will be here Wednesday. I have ordered a 133" HP 16:9 Da-lite Model C Screen and it will be here in a week or so. I just can't wait!

Well I think its time to talk about dimming.

Anyone here running the bulb in high mode? how many hours do you guys have? any premature dimming like with the pearl?

Im running in high mode with 187H, no dimming yet...

Btw, I have a luxmeter to measure the lummens.

They just snuck the price up overnight here in Aus by a cool $800-$1000 so that puts an end to it for me unfortunately.

The economic situation is a good excuse for a few ripoffs by some companies I reckon!

Okay thanks for that feedback. I am not into tweaking as I am quite results oriented so if you say that the practical gains are incremental then I am not going to bother with a calibration. One has to limit how much you will spend on your hobby.

However, a decent calibration system these days is dirt cheap so I may just get into it just as a distraction from all the economic doom and gloom.

Most of the professional reviews were of the opinion that the gains to be had from calibrating grey scale to be quite significant so I am surprised that you did not notice any difference.

Considering where the Oz$ is now and what the likes of *************** are charging for the HW10 and VW80, the local Sony distributor could hardly be acussed of ripping us off.

Edit: The *************** wasn't my idea, evidently mentioning a certain online Japanese retailer that usually sells Sony projectors for less than you can buy them for in Australia is frowned upon on this forum.

The place i am talking about already had stock (and paid the old price for it)

Friday night it was the old price...... Sunday night it changed to new price.