SONY VPL-HW50ES unveiled at IFA in september 2012 - Page 2

$4000? While the Epson 5020 is being listed at $2599? And the JVC DLA-RS46 listing at $3499?

Guess the HW30AES will be holding its value then.

But as I understand it, JVC & Sony don't have a street price...

When we will see reviews? October?

So has a price drop been announced for the VPL-HW30AES? I heard it was going to still stay in the lineup. I don't know that the 50ES would be worth the difference in price (or the wait... kind of want a projector right now, especially now that I know there are only incremental improvements across most brands!).

But in calibrated mode (D65 I think?), didn't the 30AES outshine the Panny 7000U? Yes, I'd appreciate the extra lumens, especially if it isn't at the cost of black levels. Really helps for 3D, and one can run in low power mode for everything else. Or use a ND filter in the worst case. I am now a believer of the HP screens; the contrast is eye-popping, even in my room with virtually no light control.

I hope the lens is upgraded? I kept hearing the lens on the 30AES left a lot to be desired.

Perhaps a bit OT, but, is ANSI contrast somewhat similar to a 'worst case scenario' contrast where you have a bright scene with a few dark (black) features? If I measure the contrast of a small black square against a completely white frame, I get ~45:1 b/c I have so little light control on the HP screen, & 15:1 on a 1.1 gain diffuse white screen. Conversely, a small white square against a black background gives me a contrast of ~1500:1 with an Epson 8350... which I'm guessing is somewhere near the native contrast of that projector (not very impressive).

Thanks.

Great info about the HW50 from Art at projector review blog : http://www.projectorreviews.com/blog/2012/09/08/sony-vpl-hw50es-projector-sony-gets-it-right/

Sounds great! I've seen the 30ES and like it in 2D and 3D but the black levels were lacking. Art said this projector dazzled him the most at the show. He specifically mentioned blacker blacks so fingers crossed that the 50ES can compete with the JVCs. I'll give up lens memory, a motorized zoom and focus for equivalent 2D and better 3D compared to my RS45. Hopefully AVS will have good pre-order pricing.

Epson 5020 at 2499?

Wow, the Sony looks like a winner. Art isn't a Sony fanboy either. If anything he generally is very pro EPSON, and for him to straight up say that the Sony spanks my Epson 5010 is pretty awesome.

I'm still confused about this 4K processing they claim. It's nothing like the JVC that has an actual hardware element for upscale, and I think it's just clever Sony marketing to fight JVC.

I hope Sonys laser next year comes in at under 10k. That would be awesome.....

$2599

This year the HW50, with the new processing, more lumen output, better black and better 3D (I hope) should be a winner!

BTW, I just pre-order the Sony HW50 from my local dealer (Canada). The release date here sould be around mid-october. This year, I wont go for the big buck projector . I am looking for a good quality/price to hang me over until Sony or JVC launch a 4K projector below 10k $.

My dealer will have the HW50 this friday. It s NOT a pre-production model but official consumer model. Will report back here about his review (will have to translate because I m from the Netherlands)

It is possible... My dealer tell me 2 to 3 weeks delivery (confirm by Sony)

Nice, looks like I will be giving Mark a call today

Zombie - I am rolling with this one and the new Epson for review this year, I will probably leave the DLPs and new JVCs up to you

Just wanted to say I ordered one yesterday from AVS and as always got great service and was told that I'm first on the list so can't wait to see how this one stacks up against the HW 30 that I own right now.
Edited by shadow39 - 9/13/12 at 4:59pm

good deal, can't wait to hear about the new models. I'm eyeing the Mits 8000 and the RS56 to check out this year.

@ Shadow - please let us know what you think of the 30 vs 50

I got my order in as well and Mark is a class act as always. I will compare this model against the Epson 5010, 5020, and HW30 with a Darbee. I really wanted to give the Mitsu 8000 a try but I am affraid of limited placement options like I had on last year's DLPs and not enough zoom for my throw distance.
Edited by jmalto - 9/13/12 at 7:47pm

Once I have the 50 I will do a full comparison of the two, I also will have the darbee in the mix along with the lumagen mini. I will only be able to test them at their short throw though as I can't go any further than 11'7". They will be tested on a Stewart 110" 1.7 reflections screen so will be interesting to see how much brighter the 50 is vs the 30.

This new Sony 50ES sounds really nice. Once someone has it in place, I would really want to know how it's video quality (2D and 3D) is compared to the 95ES. Is the video quality worth another 2K (MSRP) for the 95ES? Plus the 95ES doesn't wouldn't have the newest internal hard or software. Can't wait to read and see the reviews of this machine.

Mike

Any word on if this has a RF transmitter for the 3D glasses? I'm assuming since it's internal that it's RF, since IR may have reliability issues when placed behind the viewer...

The HW50ES comes with an IR transmitter built in and 2 prs of IR.glasses..
Edited by AV Science Sales 4 - 9/13/12 at 4:26pm

Yes it's built into the unit; I was just curious if it was IR or RF. RF makes most sense. Thanks Mark!

I needed to correct my last post. It is ABSOLUTELY not RF, it is IR and last year's glasses remain. The change this year is that there is an IR transmitter built into the projector though an auxiliary IR transmitter, the salme one that came with the unit last year, can be purchased for those rare instances when the IR built is is not sttrong enough and one needs to mount the auxiliary up by the screen to transmit directly back to the audience instead of bouncing off the screen. In most situations, the built in IR transmitter will be more than sufficient.

JVC this year switched to RF from IR. Sony stuck with IR but built in the IR transmitter. The same DIY stuff remains from last year for those who want to use aftermarket RF glasses.
Edited by AV Science Sales 4 - 9/13/12 at 7:11pm

That's a shame. Hopefully the IR will work for a 12' throw & a HP screen...?

Last year I have own the HW30, VW95, Epson 5010 and now the Mits 9000.

The Mits it's really a great projector but the 3D is weak. The HW30 was a very good projector but of course the 95 was better. Better black and better sharpness.

I hope this year the HW50 will have better black, better 3D and more brightness.

Cant wait to here more about the Mits 8000.

I was struggling between the 8000 and the HW50. I finally decide on the HW50

One of the first disk I will test will be Sammy Adventure. Great disk to test the 3D...

Art at projector reviews stated blacker blacks and a that this projector is a major step up from the HW30. I'm just hoping 2D is comparable to the JVC RS45 and that the DI works in 3D. Nothing from JVC stands out that would want to make me upgrade so I'm hoping the HW50 will fit. The contrast in 2D is what was lacking for my taste last year and hopefully calibrated 2D brightness will be better as well.

My guess would be even though the RF glasses might work better I'm betting that will up the cost of the glasses. I have Xpands for my JVC now and the majority of the time I rarely have synching issues.

Don't you have an HW50 by now? You get all the Sony projectors early!

if you could match the Sammy 3D scenes I posted in the shoot-out thread, that would be great.

I know the HW30 well, so I'm curious to hear about the improvements.