Posted on December 10, 2011 By Art Feierman
Both the performance and the price make the Sony VPL-VW95ES projector a premium product. Last year we liked the VW95ES’s predecessor, but had a few issues and reservations. That older Sony was one of the very first home 1080p projectors that was 3D capable. The VW95ES is definitely improved, in a number of ways. Sony’s second generation 2D/3D projector simply has much better performance than the 90ES, so let’s start with some of the differences, between the VPL-VW95ES and the VPL-VW90ES.
VPL-VW95ES Brightness: We really appreciate the boost in brightness in this year’s Sony VPL-VW95ES. It really makes 3D a better experience, and of course, provides the option of handling larger screens in 2D than the less bright 90ES could deal with. Mostly, though, we see the brightness increase, as taking Sony from a “you can play with 3D” projector, this year’s projector that’s bright enough to really get into 3D content on a regular basis.
As with previous VW series home theater projectors, the Sony VPL-VW95ES projector relies on a dynamic iris to produce some very nice “ultra high contrast” type blacks. As has been the case for the last few years, Sony does a really nice job, but it’s one area where the Sony has been playing catch-up for a few years, to JVC and Epson. Not so the VPL-VW95ES. Black level performance has improved – noticeably!
The Sony VPL-VW95ES comes with a pretty impressive feature set. The lens has good range and is fully motorized as is the lens shift. All that and more will be discussed in either in the Special Features section below, or on the Tour page.
While not as expensive as the VPL-VW90 Last year ($9995), even with a street price around $7000, this Sony VW95ES is out of reach, price wise, of a lot of our readers, but then, there are roughly 120,000 homesi in the US alone, that will purchase a home projector this year. That inclues a low cost home entertainment projectors (and even all-in-one systems), entry leve home theater projectors, mid-priced home theater projectors ($2000-$3500) and yet, that probably still leaves a few thousand people/households out there buying premium projectors, with some really rich folk spending up to $100,000 for their projector.
For those familiar with last year’s VW90ES, the VW95ES is not only a much better value, it is a significantly improved projector.
This Sony has been especially enjoyable to watch. It’s been my primary projector now, for almost two weeks. It’s very well behaved. I am noticing that I am not really noticing the projector. And that’s exactly how it should be. That’s a great starting point.
© 2021 Projector Reviews
