NEWS: Sony launches native 4K VPL-VW290ES and VW890ES projectors

My old PJ was -19dB (-17dB in eco mode), and although I’ve lost touch with most recent projectors, nothing came close last time I looked. Again, I couldn’t go for a projector any louder than that as it wouldn’t sit very far away from me.

I’m fully resolving 4K, no need to worry about that. I’m about 6ft from a 55” screen. It would’ve been a 65” but there’s too much stuff in the room.
Depending on the projector setting condition and usage environment, the noise level SONY has in their specifications for the VW290ES is 26dB and the VW890ES is 24dB.

Have never seen any projector specified as low as 17 to 19 dB. What projector did you have?
 
Depending on the projector setting condition and usage environment, the noise level SONY has in their specifications for the VW290ES is 26dB and the VW890ES is 24dB.

~
every projector have owned has been around that ball park of db level...
 
I wonder if ever measured the noise floor of your room ... might be shocked :D

None modern projectors noise wise are consequence ... what to look for is large casings abs large fans :) also don’t go silly screen size and then don’t have to crank to high lamp or high power on lasers which agree can be loud :)
Just want to say that davidf sold projectors for a living and I'm sure he would know about noise.
 
"Make it so!" :)
Make it sew.jpg
 
I bought my HW40 after he arranged the demo at his work place. Lovely demo room it was.
The HW40 was a rather quiet projector too, specified at 21dB.

"Whisper-quiet Fan 21dB The VPL-HW40ES runs very quietly with an advanced air discharge system. Through a highly efficient cooling system, fan noise is suppressed to a mere 21dB. With whisper-quiet fan noise, you can concentrate on a movie or game in a quiet environment without distraction."

So to get a reference of what sound pressure level of 19 dB can be compared to, it's the intensity sound level equivalent to what 1 mosquito positioned 0.50 m from a decibel meter can produce.
I guess many more than me find that noise characteristic very annoying in a bedroom at night even at greater distances with some doppler effect added to it too, so the characteristic of what the noise sounds like and what it represents of secondary effects is part of this too... :D

To be fair to what davidf wrote "My old PJ was -19dB (-17dB in eco-mode)", so if the (-) is some kind of a reduction from one higher noise level to something lover, then I could "buy" into it.

As an engineer, i often find myself a little skeptical about some of the information coming from people working with sales but don't know davidf like others here do, and only reply to the posted information, not about the person.

My loudest Sony projector at the moment is the Sony VPH-G90, funny to think that it was a redesign of the even louder 12x fans 9" Sony model VPH-1292, guess it was more at the 60dB noise level with a noise characteristic that can remind of a jet airplane taxiing ....

I will say Sony has come a long way producing only a 24dB noise level from a 4K laser-based projector like the VW890es. Compared to the G90 price when new, the price is not that high either...
 
I’m fully resolving 4K, no need to worry about that. I’m about 6ft from a 55” screen. It would’ve been a 65” but there’s too much stuff in the room.

If even a 65" direct view 4K flat screen is too big for the room and setup, I have a hard time understanding why the price and noise level of these new Sony 4K models is a problem and even fit into the equation? :confused:

And about fully resolving 4K and viewing distance, diagrams like this comes to mind.
1618744715620.png


My biggest reservation against these new Sony models is the native panel contrast compared to the native 4K models from JVC, and knowing if the SXRD panel degradation problem is fixed by Sony or still can be a problem in the future.
 
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Depending on the projector setting condition and usage environment, the noise level SONY has in their specifications for the VW290ES is 26dB and the VW890ES is 24dB.

Have never seen any projector specified as low as 17 to 19 dB. What projector did you have?
Was one of the old Mitsubishi projectors, chosen partly because of their very low noise level compared to most. I’ve never seen anything match them since.
 
@alebonau

I’m well aware of noise floors etc - my own room is pretty quiet. The projector I had was partly chosen because of its low noise level, as it sat about a foot and a half away from my head.

The current (genuine) 4K projectors all have very large casings, but they’re still quite noisy. Nothing has progressed, it seems. Even laser projectors don’t seem to be that quiet either, which you’d sort of expect them to be as they’re not using a bulb - anything has to produce less heat than a bulb. And I’m not going back to a bulb now, as that is the reason why I no longer have a projector.

As for those graphs regarding what we can and cannot see at whatever distance, sorry, I’m not interested. I can see the difference between a Bluray and a UHD Bluray at the distance my TV away from me, and I’ll be able to tell you which one is playing if faced with a blind test. If I couldn’t resolve the difference between 2K and 4K in my room, I wouldn’t have well over 100 4K Blurays in my collection. Most of my current purchases, and future purchases, will be 4K media.
 
If even a 65" direct view 4K flat screen is too big for the room and setup, I have a hard time understanding why the price and noise level of these new Sony 4K models is a problem and even fit into the equation? :confused:
If I ever got back into using a projector, it’d be sitting a foot and a half away from my head. It needs to be under 20dB (some manufacturers out a minus in front, some don’t).

A 65” TV leaves me very little room for the speakers - as I said previously, I have a lot of stuff in the room - but a projector screen doesn’t limit me in the same way. I can fit an 8ft wide screen in quite easily, although I did that initially and dropped down to a 7ft as the 8ft just looked a bit too big in the room and was more comfortable for the viewing distance.
 
@alebonau

I’m well aware of noise floors etc - my own room is pretty quiet. The projector I had was partly chosen because of its low noise level, as it sat about a foot and a half away from my head.

The current (genuine) 4K projectors all have very large casings, but they’re still quite noisy. Nothing has progressed, it seems. Even laser projectors don’t seem to be that quiet either, which you’d sort of expect them to be as they’re not using a bulb - anything has to produce less heat than a bulb. And I’m not going back to a bulb now, as that is the reason why I no longer have a projector.

As for those graphs regarding what we can and cannot see at whatever distance, sorry, I’m not interested. I can see the difference between a Bluray and a UHD Bluray at the distance my TV away from me, and I’ll be able to tell you which one is playing if faced with a blind test. If I couldn’t resolve the difference between 2K and 4K in my room, I wouldn’t have well over 100 4K Blurays in my collection. Most of my current purchases, and future purchases, will be 4K media.

Hi david I respect your choice of not wanting a projector for your own reasons let alone without being able to fit a 65” telly in... all your choices ... but the. what might be doing in a projector thread bemoaning them is beyond me ..

Re your interpretation of the charts. You are sitting at a distance you will fully resolve 1080p and start to see the benefits of 4K. Hence you can see benefit if 4Kuhd which by the way are not just resolution but also Wcg and hdr... and also why you would pick them in a blind test

However there isn’t a pigs flying chance of you fully resolving 4k at the distance you are viewing said 55” telly from. Not a chance in Hell !

I’ll leave it there, as quite clear there is really no reason to be discussing projectors with you in this thread :)
 
“Bemoaning them”? All I said was that I’m surprised the price of genuine 4K tech hasn’t come down yet, and that it’d be nice for home theatre enthusiasts to be ab,e to enjoy genuine 4K projectors instead of pretend ones.

You’re making a lot of presumptions about my viewing capabilities though.
 
I think the real issue surrounding the lower end of the market isn't whether something does 4k or not, it's literally that there isn't a low cost new pj out there with decent black or high native contrast levels. I'll dispute with most people that 4k as a RESOLUTION is particularly amazing (disclose, I do have an LG B6 as well as both an apple tv 4k and panny UHD player) and we all know that pj's still struggle with HDR within anything like real world pricing.

I've had to make reasonable budget choices on how I approached replacing my very venerable 720p Sanyo Z5 recently.. Yes, the old girl managed it 15 years in the house! (£699 from new at the time, with a free bulb!) In the end I decided that I'd be better off getting a genuinely enjoyable picture, and not worry about the faux 4k aspect of things. So last week I picked up a second hand JVC x3 for £460. I dread to think how much money I'd have to spend to get a comparable picture on a brand new pj right now.
 
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Some of the viewing distance graphs make me laugh. I’ve had iPhones over the years and when they’ve upgraded the display, I can appreciate the improvement on a tiny screen at arms length. But at the same time I can understand the reason for the graphs, do their is a reference point of sorts.
 
Feels like projectors are dead in the water, to be honest. I feel like I've been waiting 5 years plus now for a native 4k replacement of Epson's EH-LS10500. With 83 inch OLEDs on the way, I think projectors are only going to get more niche, unless they make a true generational leap and make bright 4k laser based projectors affordable.

I continue to wait for a native 4k non-DLP Laser, with low input lag, that isn't priced as much as a new car. I'd like to think we are not that far away now from achieving that, bigs TVs have their place, but having owned a JVC projector in the past, there's still nothing that beats home projection even with the various comprimises.

 
Feels like projectors are dead in the water, to be honest. I feel like I've been waiting 5 years plus now for a native 4k replacement of Epson's EH-LS10500. With 83 inch OLEDs on the way, I think projectors are only going to get more niche, unless they make a true generational leap and make bright 4k laser based projectors affordable.

I continue to wait for a native 4k non-DLP Laser, with low input lag, that isn't priced as much as a new car. I'd like to think we are not that far away now from achieving that, bigs TVs have their place, but having owned a JVC projector in the past, there's still nothing that beats home projection even with the various comprimises.

My perception is that enthusiasts on sites like AVS run down anything non JVC whilst simultaneously dismissing any need for replacement models.

I appreciate the real world difficulties of refreshing hardware in a Covid affected niche market. Really though neither the industry nor a lot of its pundits seem motivated to innovate. No one terribly arsed frankly.
 
They probably run down anything non JVC because they’re purely looking at black levels and contrast ratios - a bit like the subwoofer crowd where the frequency response is the only thing that matters - few look beyond the basics to assess whether a product is actually doing a lot more right than they think. The lack of a 4K PJ aside, Sony, for me, look the most natural. DLP does black very well, but always seems to look artificial. My brother says the same of my Sony TV compared to his Samsung. Still wish I had my Sony Profeel monitor for non HD sources... :)
 
The current (genuine) 4K projectors all have very large casings, but they’re still quite noisy. Nothing has progressed, it seems. Even laser projectors don’t seem to be that quiet either, which you’d sort of expect them to be as they’re not using a bulb - anything has to produce less heat than a bulb. And I’m not going back to a bulb now, as that is the reason why I no longer have a projector.
I'm not sure where the logic for this comes from. JVC NX9 is 400W for rated 2200 lumens; Sony VW890ES is 490W for rated 2200 lumens (though as the JVC lamp ages the Sony may take the lead in the lumens / w stakes).
 
just Wait and see year from now there +30% on projectors when inflation starts hitting hard.
 
Im interested on the new 290 but yeah the sound levels bother me abit.
I also am running an older 1080p model mitsubishi HC5 and even it´s making "some" nois at 20db
And you realize 26db is double the noise level 20db. Im not shure do i wan´t that.
So im thinking should i just get a hw65 and go few years with it. I mostly watch 1080p anyways.

Anyone here have experience how 4k netflix content lookes on a hw65 ?
 
One thing I will say is that you won't get 4k Netflix on an hw65. Netflix will only see a 1080p device so you will only be watching 1080p SDR on any case.
As for noise, the VWxxx projectors are I believe generally considered to be very quiet, especially in low bulb mode.
 
Im interested on the new 290 but yeah the sound levels bother me abit.
I also am running an older 1080p model mitsubishi HC5 and even it´s making "some" nois at 20db
And you realize 26db is double the noise level 20db. Im not shure do i wan´t that.

Depends on noise floor of the room ... check it .. might be surprised ! If 26db is below that a non issue ... worth checking actual noise of the Mitsubishi ... likely higher :D

As for noise, the VWxxx projectors are I believe generally considered to be very quiet, especially in low bulb mode.
Agree, low bulb on 290es will be fine for sdr, for HDR likely need a special calibration to get away with low lamp :)
 
has anyone here who can say i can definetly get more out of 1080p with the sony entrylevel 4k ?
the new vpl-vw290es is nicely priced and for some reaons it feels stupid to get a hw65 in 2021 even if most of the content i use is fullhd.
 
has anyone here who can say i can definetly get more out of 1080p with the sony entrylevel 4k ?
the new vpl-vw290es is nicely priced and for some reaons it feels stupid to get a hw65 in 2021 even if most of the content i use is fullhd.
Personally, I would go for faux 4K instead of 1080p, like Epson.
 

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