Official Sony VPL-VW95ES Owners Thread - Page 57

Can we link any recommended tuning values for the Monster 3D Glasses? I saw some screenshoots from zombie but I didn't find the values from him.

Any recommendation? I will get my Glasses in the next days

Thanks

If you liked the 30 you will love the 95!

lovingdvd,

Nice shots for a cell phone screenshot!

Btw, sorry to be a picky AVS-type, but I'm noticing fairly pronounced hot-spotting in those photos. Do you perhaps own a specialty screen of some type - e.g. black diamond, stewart firehawk or similar? (Usually the hotspotting on such screens aren't noticed by most viewers during regular viewing, so no biggie)

Hey vegpwner,

You said you got headaches from the RS45, was in 3D or 2D?

WOW great shots for a cell phone camera. Yes I see what appears to hot spots too.

To get into tuning mode press and hold the joystick to the right, after some sec. the 5 led turn off and then one turn on, then two - then release the joystick and you are ready to tune ( up/down the delay and left/right the duty ( brightness ).

Monster home page : http://www.monstercable.com/max3d/default.asp and then at the bottom of the page
download the newest firmware and then you got the site to see the delay and duty numbers


dj

A great feature, but I wish JVC didn't have horizontal polarisation unlike the others...because with my screen material I lose brightness with vertically polarised glasses like the XpanDs and Monster. Fortunately not a problem for you Sony owners.

Great observation about the hot spotting. I wonder how much of this is the result of the camera. I say this in particular to the way I am taking the pictures...

With the iPhone 4S it will auto-focus if you just aim. However I find that with screen shots that usually results in them being over exposed. To compensate for this, I single tap on the center of the image before I take the photo. My understand is that this sets the focus specifically there and also adjusts the exposure. So maybe something in that process is making the hot spotting more pronounced.

However I do not want to put this entirely on the camera... Now that you mention it I have noticed when calibrating and looking at full field gray patterns that there does seem to be some hot spotting going on.

With regular material/viewing its not something I normally notice. But a few times when looking at stills or images that may not move a lot (like the PS3 Dashboard) I have felt like the center was brighter.

That is unusual because I have a 106" diag Firehawk 1.3 gain screen and the pj is ceiling mounted from about the furthest throw (about 10% from the end of the range) and clearly outside the hot spotting zone for the FH (its mounted about 2x screen widths from the screen). Also I have had this screen since day one and have not noticed hot spotting across any of my previous projectors.

Maybe Sony is doing something like darkening the corners to try and offset any bright corners and the result is more of a hot spotting effect? I wonder too if it could be related to the iris. I will try a few tests like switching from the Auto Iris to the Manual iris at various positions (such as fully open, mid and fully closed) as well as the Iris OFF.

Have any of you VW95 owners out there noticed this? Can you look for it? I would not think hot spotting is a uniformity issue / defect that would only affect some pjs, right?

What else do you guys recommend I check to try and narrow this down? Thanks!

Thanks Jon. I hadn't even considered it. I am glad that the Sony works well with the Monster glasses. I wouldn't have let that stop me from buying a JVC if that's what I really wanted, but the Monster glasses are so far beyond and above other 3D glasses I tried that its certainly nice to be able to use them as it makes the 3D experience that much more enjoyable.

I have the Firehawk and now that you mention it I think I did draw the same conclusion as you about its impact on JVC brightness - is that the same screen you have?

I have Vutec Greydove...I would say I see about a 15% loss when rotating the JVC glasses on their side. That doesn't sound huge, but it is enough to make me concerned about 3D brightness, because brighter is better for 3D...and as the bulb ages, it can become a problem.

I agree that 15% brightness is a bit too much to shrug off, especially since we are talking 3D where lumens are already scarce. How do the Monster glasses compare to the JVCs anyway. They are much better than the Sonys as well as much better than any other of glasses I've tried in the past with other sets including Xpand 103, Samsung and NXG.

Hi everyone,

First of all thanks to all the contributors to this thread, which I read entirely and found extremely useful.

I have one observation, and one question.

The observation is regarding the CMS of the vw95. It is true that after calibration, saturations don't track very well, but unlike other implementations which produce undersaturated calibrations when you aim for the rec-709 targets because of the undersaturation at 75% and below, the CMS in the vw95 produces calibrations which are slightly oversaturated at 75% (where it matters most). This, in my view, is much less of a problem than a calibration that would be undersaturated, but of course others might disagree.

This could explain why LovingDVD found that his calibration was slightly more saturated that the standard preset.

The other remark is that the wide profile tracks fairly well (75% sat is not undersaturated) before correction which means that it can be a fairly good starting point for an external VP, which might achieve slightly more linear results. Again, this is much better than profiles which are already undersaturated at 75% sat and below, as this cannot be easily corrected with an external VP unless you try to find manually the best balance between the levels, especially 75% and 100% (which often rules out any good autocalibration).

So overall, I don't think the CMS of the vw95 should be written off, it looks like it could be better than others.

My question is very simple: when you set the iris manually on the vw95 (to get the amount of brightness you need in your room), can you also use the auto iris (which would then take into account the maximum output you selected manually) or is it one or the other?

Many thanks again to all the contributors, all this information is great when trying to evaluate different products and the reviews were excellent.

A special thanks to the thread starter, who has done a great job organising and referencing a quick access to reviews and posts. I know how much work it represents, and how helpful it is, especially for late comers like me. And to LovingDVD of course who was kind enough to give me some of his time.

Its one or the other. There are several options in the service menu however for tweaking how the iris works (favoring bright vs dark, how open/closed etc) but I don't think anyone has tackled or messed with that too much yet on the 95.

Thanks Ric. So that means that if the PJ is too bright in your setup with a new bulb, there is no way to reduce the max output without losing the auto iris? That probably rules out the vw95 for me then. I have a fairly small screen (88" diag 16/9 carada bw effective 1.1) in a true bat cave with a throw of 3.4m and either the pj will be too bright with a new bulb, or too dim when the bulb ages. I don't really want to go for it if it means I can't use the auto iris without losing the ability to modulate the max brightness/contrast.

Your screen is on the small side but "too bright" IMHO won't be an issue. Use something other than Dynamic for a start. 1.1 is barely a gain of anything past standard and 3D is a dimmer experience. You can read that JoeRod is getting to prefer Dynamic for 3D content, which kind of implies he prefers brightness over accuracy for 3D. From my reading of this thread and the more extensive recently released reviews, the 95 is fairly bright given its performance but is no way a massive light engine.

I don't have mine yet but am looking forward to better brightness on a 106, StudioTek 1.3. I just don't think I"ll be complaint about too much light output. If I do, it's a 120 inch screen for me.

Yes Jon
Its a pity, because if the MV´s would act like on the Sony´s I think the JVC´s could get even better on the ghosting ( I think the X70 is very good in this area, so long its BR in 1080P24 - I did find it better then the 95ES ) and then I think, you would end up with an allmost ghostfree picture

Maybe the loss on brightness isnt so much ( I did find the X70 to be very bright too ) or have you tried it ?

dj

Thanks for the reply, but this is precisely my worry.

With a new bulb, my rs20 gave my 14fL with the iris down to -15, which meant I could get the max contrast (50000:1 native) for a while and it gave me a nice headroom for when the bulb dims.

With my rs50 - which is too dim - and a new bulb, I have to crank the iris fully open to get 14fL and 35000:1 native on/off max (so less than my rs20) unless I compromise brightness. As the bulb dims, there is no headroom. You start low, and you end lower, which is a huge concern for 3D, which needs as much light as it can get.

So with the vw95, either you start fine and you run out of brightness quickly as the bulb dims, or you start with too much brightness and you can't really control it without losing the benefit of the dynamic iris (and you then end up with 22000:1 native contrast, which doesn't suit my needs).

I mostly watch bluray movies, in a true batcave, so it might just be that the PJ is not for me. Unless high lamp is as silent as normal lamp, in which case I could use that (I can't on the rs50, it's just above my head so fine in normal but not useable in high).

I use about 1200-1500 hours a year, and don't really fancy buying 3-4 bulbs a year to keep useable brightness at D65 and in 3D.

I might also be missing something - it wouldn't be the first time - so please let me know if it's the case.

Have to say, that I dont think its your projector, on my 1.3 studiotek 130 I cant see any ( or its extrem little ) hotspotting and even on my 2.8 gain screen, I think there is almost none ( the projector is allmost in the center of this screen, only 20-30 cm above center )

dj

It's called the contrast control...

Yes, yes... I know it lowers the over all on/off and ansi contrast, but it will work just fine.

Hi,
The 95es is silent even in high lamp mode,isn't distracting even you will seat very close to the PJ.
With my previous HD750 i couldn't do that because it was to loud and distracting at low volume in my HT.
Maybe you should check this by yourself if it is possible.

I am confused. You say your pj doesn't have it so then you feel that means my pj would not be the cause. Can we rule out brightness uniformity as a possible cause for hot spotting?

I seem to very vaguely recall that I may have had a similar phenomenon with my Sony Ruby (checking with a friend to see what he remembers). Other than that I have never had an issue with hot spotting. My throw is 2x screen widths which should be plenty safe for the Firehawk.

I think Stewart recommend a minimum of about 1.5x. Yes just looked it up "Minimum throw distance 1.6x image width". Maybe that means some hot spotting is still possible to be expected at 2.0x (as opposed to 1.5 being a "100% all clear").

But again that brings up the point why have I not had this issue with other pjs, which have been brighter than this one like the RS20.

Its also possible that it is there slightly and for whatever reason I notice it more with the Sony, and that the screen shots I took made it look more prevalent than it is. I'll be watching a movie tonight so I'll revisit what this actually looks like in person vs screen shots.

This is actually an excellent and very important point...

In the past all pj's I've owned were too loud in high lamp mode so I never used it. The RS20 was close to being acceptable, but wasn't quite there. It doesn't help that the pj is ceiling mounted directly overhead.

Anyway, now that I have 3D and am watching a lot of it, the pj is running in high lamp mode a LOT. Having it operate so quietly in that mode is a huge plus that is easy to overlook. I'd describe the high lamp mode as sounding like most very good pj's low lamp mode, and the 95's low lamp mode is almost silent.

Sure, but the second part of your statement is why I wasn't considering it.

By the way SOWK, thanks a lot for your detailed calibration reports in your review, these were extremely useful.

I know the concept is a bit dated at this point now that the manual iris option has gotten popular, but what about using a ND filter that cuts 25% or 50% of the light (or both)? I bet the blacks would be insane like that if you have the room for the reduced lumens that go along with it.

Hi,
Do you think is possible because the picture on 95es is seems brighter with a better ANSI contrast then on JVC?
I check it on mine,and i didn't see any of those problems.
I think that when you made your comparison between 95es and RS20 you couldn't miss that,if it is so evident.
Maybe is related to you contrast value on picture settings?

Can you get to much brightness ? ( thank you, zoombie10K, now I begin to sound like you ) when I makes a 80" 16/9 picture on my 2.8 gain screen its very bright( looks like a big tv flatscreen ), but not to bright, even if I never has been a brightness sucker ( lived happy with a 2-4 Fl on 92" from my CRTér for many years - but maybe Im become one now ).

What I mean is, did you not like the RS20, when you turned the iris up ? so you get say 16-20 Fl on the 88" ?

BTW. I allways watch bluray movies and tv etc. in my true batcave in completly dark, I never have any lights on.


dj

When I turned the iris open with a new lamp in the rs20, I got more than 18fL. This was unwatchable (as in blinding), and gave me half the on/off contrast the projector was able to offer, so it would have been doubly stupid to use it that way.

Cranking down the iris gave me 12-14fL (my usual target in my bat cave, and even that is on the bright side) and at least twice the on/off (although on the rs20 you had to find a compromise between on/off and ANSI, as closing the iris gave you more on/off but less ANSI. Less the case on the new models with dual aperture, but still present).

Thanks, that's a good suggestion, but I'd rather avoid this if at all possible, because there are situations (like watching sport with friends) when there is ambiant light and I do want max brightness in that case. Don't really want to mess up with filters, I'd rather have a day and a night setting.

Anyone seen the 95 and a Runco LS5 (or 8150) and care to compare the two?

This is with a 100% white picture on the 1.3 gain screen 16/9 and 2.4:1 2.8 gain screen

dj


BTW. the green/blue tint is not there ( or allmost invisible ) when looking at screen "live".

here some more away.

dj