Why You Can Trust CNET Sony VPL-VW1000ES
It might be the price of a VW Polo, but the VPL-VW1000ES allows you to have bragging rights to one of the first 4K home theatre projectors.
In brief
In a setting that wasn't quite Monaco, CNET Australia yesterday had its first look at Sony's new 4K home theatre projector.
With its 330W lamp, the projector's output is rated at 2000 lumens, and bulb life is expected to be between 2000 and 2500 hours. The powered zoom mechanism can magnify the image to around 2.1 times its original size and can create a viewing area of between 60 and 300 inches.
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See all pricesAt the base of the hefty 20kg body — finished in a tough-wearing metal — you'll find the VW1000ES' suite of inputs and outputs, including two HDMI ports, component inputs, a mini D-sub video port and an Ethernet port.
Given the dearth of native 4K media, let alone devices capable of pumping out content at that resolution, the VW1000ES features a next generation upscaling chip, dubbed Reality Creation. Despite our initial reservations, Reality Creation actually does a pretty good job of interpolating extra detail, without adding too much extra noise and artefact.
From a specially created PC server, we watched some native 4K content, including Rocky Mountain Express and a trailer for The Amazing Spiderman, on a 186-inch screen. Detail and clarity were amazing, but there was a noticeable strobing effect during camera pans — whether this is because of the projector, the PC or the source material, we won't know for sure until we get the projector in for review.
The VPL-VW1000ES also comes bundled with a download code for the PS3 app PlayMemories 4K, which is able to display photos, but not videos, in native 4K. As the PlayStation 3 only supports up to 1080p output, the app and the projector interleave eight separate streams to produce one static 4K image.
Outlook
The Sony VPL-VW1000ES is available now for a cool AU$25k — or AU$24,999 if you're being pedantic.