Sony VPL-VWPRO1 Special Features

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Art Feierman

Sony VPL-PRO1 Gamma Modes

Sony offers seven preset gamma modes (one of them is "off"). Per Mike's measurements, the gamma mode closest to the target of 2.2 is gamma 4, which averaged 2.22 gamma. Nice. To me, 4 was great for movies but too dark in the mid-tones for sports and some other types of content.

Sony SXRD panels - (LCoS)

(This paragraph taken right from the older HW10 and HW15 reviews.) The vast majority of home theater projectors use either DLP or 3LCD technology. Sony uses Liquid Crystal on Silicon, a reflective panel, as opposed to the translucent typical LCD panels. Sony calls their LCoS implementation SXRD. In the under $10,000 price range, JVC and Sony are the primary manufacturers of LCoS home theater projectors. The advantages of LCoS, these days, are two fold: First, LCoS panels have, for all practical purposes, invisible pixel structures, way below visibility at normal seating distances with a 1080p projector. Only the 3LCD Panasonic PT-AE4000, with its addition of their SmoothScreen technology, has less visible pixels, and it comes with a price, a slightly softer image.

Pixel visibility, and screen door effect are, effectively non-issues, with this Sony, thanks to the LCoS panels.

The second advantage, it seems is in terms of black level performance. While some 3LCD and DLP projectors can match some of the LCoS projectors, at this point in time, the Sony but more so, the JVC LCoS projectors outperform almost most of the non LCoS competition, in black level performance.

Individual SXRD panel adjustment

A very nice, touch, this Sony allows individual adjustment of each panel for more precise alignment. This feature carried forward from the HW10 and their older more expensive models too. This isn't an end all, there are still limits to the coarseness of the adjustments. If a panel is off 1/3 a pixel, that's too small to compensate for. Still, having 9 sections, does give you more precise results than say JVC's single image, single pixel shift design. This is a worthwhile feature for those who go to the trouble to more precisely align the Sony, than they could do with other projectors.