Official Sony VPL-HW50ES Owners Thread - Page 17

You can use the crosshatch pattern built into the Sony, someone that is a Sony owner can help you further. You can also get the AVC Rec709 disk (just google that, burn it to a regular DVD, and play it in your Bluray player). There are many convergence and multiple other useful test patterns. Everyone should have a copy of the AVS Rec709 Test Disk burned, it has some very useful patterns for a multitude of purposes.

Thanks! I found this thread in the calibration forum that has links to various disc images in different formats:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/948496/avs-hd-709-blu-ray-mp4-calibration/0_60

I was all set to buy the HW-30 for my new home theater, and then I saw this model.

It is listed out of stock on several sites, any idea how long I would expect to wait if I make the switch, and is it worth it?

Hw50 review on AVForums.com is up: http://www.avforums.com/reviews/Sony-VPL-HW50ES-SXRD-3D-Projector-Review_413/Review.html

No, Nvidia 3D Vision is for 3D Vision DVI compatible (certified) monitors only. For HDMI 3D Displays you need Nvidia's 3DTV Play http://www.nvidia.com/object/3dtv-play-overview.html.

So you need a 3DTV Play compatible Nvidia video card, purchase the 3DTV play licence from Nvida for $40 and a compatible 3D display supported by the drivers or it won't sync up. I can confirm the HW30 is supported and works but the HW50 is not listed on Nvida's support page...yet. Anyone that has the HW50 and a HTPC should go here http://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2774 and submit a ticket to Nvidia. I did this for the HW30 and support was added to the drivers in a little over a month.
Edited by Zip3kx07 - 11/11/12 at 12:26pm

The bad thing about AVforums reviews is that my understanding is that they don't use the DI for their reviews. This is likely why they didn't praise the HW50 for black levels much at all.

Can someone do me a favor and measure the height distance from the bottom to the lens center? Thanks a bunch!

Not 1080p and you need 3DTV to get it in 3D mode with a pc.

Nvidia 3DTV Play does works with 1080p but limited to 24Hz, @ 60Hz your limited to 720p.

Nvidia has had HDMI checkerboard mode on there to do list for about 2 years now. I just read it has been added to the new beta 310.33 driver so 1080p @ 60Hz is now possible but I have yet to test it on my HW30.

Time to re-install Crysis 2.
Edited by Zip3kx07 - 11/11/12 at 9:18pm

does the DI work in 3D on the HW50?

No.

So less black level performance in 3D on the HW50 then

Still shopping and just curious ... anyone tried one of these? Or is the HDMI port on the back of the Sony too recessed?

I think I'll have one these laying around, I'll check and see if it fits the HW50.

And its not on the back, its on the left side, facing the lens..

If you look at this picture: http://www.cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/Sony_VPL_HW50/Sony_VPL-HW50_ES_Test_clip_image015.jpg

and if I see this right, then these adapters won't work since they'll face upwards.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it would fit because, judging by the pictures, the PJ port seems too recessed.

But then I just realized that I would be ceiling mounting, so it should work if I get this version.

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it would fit because, judging by the pictures, the PJ port seems too recessed.

But then I just realized that I would be ceiling mounting, so it should work if I get this version.



... so never mind (was having a dumb moment), but thanks for offering!

This review didn't mention DI or FI for the Sony (how effective they are) -- a very real failing of these reviews and shortchanges the prospective purchaser who wants to make comparisons.

I asked the question in the comments posts below the review and they confirmed that they did use the DI but that the measurements they gave for contrast we're using the DI. They also tried the FI but prefer not to use it on any 24p content.

As Kelvin quoted, these subject were covered, albeit very briefly. You find that the majority of online reviews are similar in that they don't cover every single feature and every piece of content in great detail - if they did, the review would probably be quite like reading a novel, spanning 100's of pages. You just need to look at the owners threads for these popular projectors and you see how much there is to discuss on each and every feature. The avforums reviews purposely try and avoid subjective opinion as much as they can and always suggest to try and demo to see how you like it. Of course, people will often buy based on internet research alone and don't have facility to demo but when you start making subjective observations, as professional reviewers, they would then leave themselves open to criticism and potential loss of credibility. For example, if they say FI is excellent, the best they have seen and people buy it based on those comments - if the purchasers opinion doesn't match the reviewers then they will think the reviewer is a crackpot.
Personally, I like FI on football but would never dream of using it on 24p movies - just like Steve Withers said. But thats just opinion, some people have said they like to combine FI with black frame insertion for 24p content - who's right?

In the test results section they do mention the use of DI on and off.

Brightness, Black Levels and Dynamic Range

"One of the big selling points of the HW50 is its claimed brightness of 1,700 lumens, which Sony hope will make the projector better suited for use in peoples' living rooms and boost the brightness in 3D mode. The HW50 not only uses a 200W bulb but also includes Sony's Dynamic Lamp Control Technology which is designed specifically to boost the brightness of 3D images. Sony have also included Bright Cinema and Bright TV modes, which they claim can boost the brightness whilst retaining colour accuracy and contrast, to allow the projector to be used in well-lit environments. The reality is that these brighter settings quickly lose any semblance of accuracy, although it could argued that it's not as important when using a projector in a well-lit room. In actual fact, the brightness begins to drop very quickly as soon as you start using the low lamp mode (which is much quieter) and a more accurate preset such as Reference. This brings the brightness down to around 1,000 lumens which, in fairness, is still quite bright and can certainly light up a decent size screen.

Of course this brighter image was achieved with the manual iris wide open but this results in a fairly poor black level of 0.84cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 6,500:1. By closing the iris fully, you can improve the black level to 0.25cd/m2 and increase the contrast ratio to 10,700:1 but of course this is at the expense of overall brightness. Sony has certainly made improvements in their black levels over the last few years and whilst not at JVC levels, the blacks on the HW50 were certainly very good and so was the shadow detail. Ultimately it becomes a trade-off between a brighter image or better blacks and a higher contrast ratio but we'd go for the latter. The better the blacks on a projector, the better the dynamic range and the more solid and film-like the image appears. Depending on the size of your screen and the viewing environment, even with the iris fully closed the HW50 should have plenty of brightness and you can then open the iris as the bulb dims with age. You can always use the dynamic iris and contrast features to improve the perceived dynamic range but there's no such thing as a free lunch and you'll end up losing detail as you crush blacks and clip whites."

This was pretty much what I was referring to. They did test black levels and brightness albeit with the manual iris. This last sentence pretty much states their feeling about a DI which appears this feature wasn't a main part of their testing which IMO should be as many customers will likely use the DI. Many reviewers don't use the FI much either as purists typically hate FI on movies.

As a consumer your best bet is to take multiple reviews and weed out each reviewers personal preference and hopefully you'll be able to gather helpful information. Unfortunately there's not many reviews available with many overseas and some important details are difficult to understand due to poor translation. Another issue that's frustrating for one who is very concerned about black levels is that the term "very good" can be applied to various projectors with noticeable differences in the depth of black levels. Unless you have a local dealer with multiple projectors where you can A/B them you have to make a guess. And if you're somewhat picky it makes your decision very difficult.

I'm not as concerned about FI on the Sony's as from all that I've read their FI is pretty good and I've seen it in person on the Low and High and at least in the scenes that I've seen it didn't have as many artifacts as my RS45 has. Plus, I really want FI in 3D as (dare I say it) I'm not opposed to the video look on movies if motion is very smooth. I really like it on animated movies.
Edited by xb1032 - 11/12/12 at 6:45pm

Huge thanks guys !
I didn't knew 3DTV Play, that's terrific !

xb1032: Keep in mind that the DI does not work in 3D so the black in 3D won t be at reference level

Since you loose lots of light in 3D, the blacks also are darker and I would say they're good in 3D although not using the DI.


Actually I'm in doubt of the functionality of the DI even in 2D: It only seems to close noticeable with totally dark frames. If there are even small portions or white in the picture, I see no big difference between DI on or off.

I'm planning to do some measurements with white rectangles on black background with different sizes (5%, 10%, etc..)



And I ask again: Has anyone here a lamp flickering issue in Ecomode?
Edited by audiohobbit - 11/13/12 at 4:00am

I would like to know the exact demensions/distances of the 3 (or 4?) screw propellers of the bottom plate of the HW50. Can t find a manual anywhere...... Someone could check this for me?

I found this on page 92 of the manual:

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/VPLHW50ES.pdf

but it's unclear to me if these 3 mounting holes are on the projector itself, or if they're on the add-on projector suspension support. Can someone check this?

thanks for your reply

On page 9 of the manual you posted as a link I can see 3 holes and the manual says these are 'Projector suspension support attaching holes'. I need to find out if they have riflings (I need that for sure), what type of riflings they are (m6, m7, m8 etc) and the exact distances from the 3 riflings

Yep, now I see what you mean on page 9 too.

I'm currently using a Chief RPA mount on my old projector. I have heard others say that this mount will work with the HW50, but I am confused as to how it attaches ... can anyone clarify?