Sony VPL-VW90ES Projector Calibration and Settings

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Art Feierman

We calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. It is a pretty standard calibration, there's always more that can be done by some of the "hi-end" calibrators. Our calibrations, including this VPL-VW90ES, are normally limited to a grayscale calibration, along with brightness, contrast, color saturation, etc. We did not adjust the individual colors.

Sony VPL-VW90ES Color Temperature

Let's start with the color temps measured for each of the preset modes, for white: 100 IRE.

Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):


Dynamic	633 @ 11437
Standard	681 @ 9659
Cinema 1	619 @ 7757
Cinema 2	603 @ 7099
Cinema 3	629 @ 7728
User	629 @ 7743, 753 lumens with Color Temp on Custom 5

Sony VPL-VW90ES Basic Settings

A closer look at the best of "out of the box", :best modes", Cinema 2, shows these color temps across the brightness range:

Color Temp over IRE Range (Best Mode, Pre calibration):


Cinema 2
30 IRE	7921
50 IRE	7766
80 IRE	7329
100 IRE	7099

That's definitely a good bit cooler than the ideal 6500K.

Sony VPL-VW90ES Basic Settings

In addition to calibrating Red, Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment.

Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis):

All other settings at default.


	Dynamic	Standard	Cinema 1	Cinema 2	Cinema 3	User
Contrast=(90)	86	88	86	(90)	(90)	(90)
Brightness=(50)	53	53	54	(50)	(50)	(50)
Color =	(60)	(55)	(50)	(50)	(50)	48
Tint = (50)	(50)	(50)	(50)	(50)	(50)	(50)
Color Temp =	(High)	(Middle)	(Low 1)	(Low 2)	(Low 1)	(Low 1)
Color Space =	(Wide 3)	(Wide 3)	(Wide 1)	(Wide 2)	(Normal)	(Wide 3)
Gamma =	(8)	(7)	(9)	(6)	(Off)	(Off)
Iris =	(Auto 1)	(Auto 1)	(Auto 1)	(Off)	(Off)	(Off)

Lamp Mode=High (unless noted otherwise)
Auto Iris = Off (unless noted otherwise)
All other settings at default (untouched)

Please note, Mike's settings for User call for color saturation of 48. I've tried to watch at 48 and find it too saturated, or a combination of too contrast and saturation. Judging it by eye, I wasn't happy until I had the saturation down to the 41-44 range. It sure made a difference.