Posted on January 21, 2019 By Art Feierman
Sony VPL-VW995ES Projector Review – Special Features 2: As a Gaming Projector, Lens Memory, Motion Flow, 3D,
Darn, this Sony is one expensive projector for playing games. Fair enough, because it should be outstanding as a game projector.
Sony quotes 27ms input lag with 4K content (up to 60fps). Our input lag measuring device only works at 1080 so we can’t measure at 4K. Sony indicates that with 1080p games input lag will be a bit longer, but still in the 33-40ms range, which is still good performance for serious gamers. In a perfect world 0 lag is desired, but anything that’s 1 frame per second behind (16.7ms) is considered very fast.
Gaming is definitely shifting to 4K at 60 fps with HDR. Such content is stunning. I’m not a serious gamer, but I’ve seen some stunning games on my daughter’s boyfriend’s OLED LG TV. That looked ridiculously good on Horizon Zero Dawn, and other games he plays. If that looks great, imagine how amazing it would look on a seriously large screen.
The Bottom Line on the Sony for gaming: No question, the VW995ES projector has got game!
Yes, the Sony VW995ES has lens memory. You set it from the menus (using the remote). Once you have more than one set up, you can toggle between them using the Position button on the remote.
I have one lens memory set for 16:9, (HDTV, aka 1.78:1) and the other for 2.35:1 aspect ratio (Cinemascope type movies which is to say most movies). Works great, and is faster than previous Sonys I’ve reviewed, when it comes to switching from one to the other.
The primary purpose of lens memory, of course, is to allow you – if you are a big movie fanatic – to go with that wide screen. By doing so, when you are watching wide screen movies you use your entire screen. When you watch 16:9 like HDTV, then the image is the same height, but not as wide. With a traditional 16:9 screen your HDTV will be larger, than your wide screen movies.
This is to say, you want lens memory and a wide screen if movies are your first love.
By comparison, watching typical wide screen movies on a normal 16:9 screen will result in a dark letterbox at the top and the bottom of approximately 10% of the overall screen height, at the top and 10% more at the bottom. Thus, about 20% more area with the same height, but wider screen.
Motion Flow is where Sony deals with CFI and related. This Sony offers their True Cinema mode which should convert 60fps movies off or satellite/cable/broadcast, and convert them back to their original 24fps. The other four modes handle traditional smooth motion – creative frame interpolation with three levels Smooth Low and Hi, plus Combination, and Impulse.
I like Smooth Low for my sports. Other than that I leave it on True Cinema, which doesn’t affect all my 4K (and 1080p) movies on disc.
Yes, once again, another Sony supports 3D. While it’s true that most LCD and OLED TVs no longer support 3D, that’s understandable. To truly enjoy 3D, that’s all about 3D letting you more easily be immersed in the content – better able to “suspend disbelief.”
That’s the same reason we go to the movie theaters and watch on the big screen – to be immersed in the content. To appreciate 3D at its best, you should be looking at a very large image that fills a good chunk of your view. That’s just not reality for TVs in most people’s homes, but it is exactly typical of a good home theater projector setup or a commercial movie theater.
So, get some affordable 3D glasses, buy some 3D movies and have a blast.
Crosstalk is there, but minimal. Yes, passive glasses (like in the US movie theaters) are lighter and “easier” than active glasses, but the experience is pretty awesome. I only watched one 3D movie most of the way through, and part of another: Avatar (and a couple of scenes from my 3D copy of Ghostbusters 2016. In both cases the 3D was killer. Unfortunately, that always reminds me that the 4K UHD standards folks didn’t bother to also create a 4K standard for 3D. So, of course, the Sony when doing 3D is working with 1080p resolution movies. (Which still look crazy sharp for 1080p).
Bottom line: If you like 3D, you will love it on this Sony VW995ES. Now that I think about it, maybe I’ll put on another movie in 3D, because I’ll enjoy the experience. I’ll have to do that before I ship this projector back. Right after the CES show.
I discussed Lens Memory above, so why not put in the lens throw information here?
I’ll keep this easy. We provide closest and furthest distance the projector can be placed from a 100″ 16:9 screen. That’s measured from the screen to the front of the lens.
For Sony’s 2.06:1 ARC-F lens that comes standard:
Closest: 9 feet, 3 inches
Furthest: 20 feet, 1 inch
There is 80% vertical lens shift, and/or 31% horizontal, which is very flexible amount.
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