Sony VPL-HW40ES Owners Thread

Me too usually. Did that with my speakers anyway!

Always trust the reviews and the advice here :)

Sometimes the reviews don't always reveal some issues I find, also unit to unit variation can be petty vast!, I love my speakers and amp, Yamaha seems to be reliable... Touches wood...o_O, have to say I'm looking forward to getting my hw65 replacement, it's been boxed up 2 weeks now :thumbsdow.
 
Sometimes the reviews don't always reveal some issues I find, also unit to unit variation can be petty vast!, I love my speakers and amp, Yamaha seems to be reliable... Touches wood...o_O, have to say I'm looking forward to getting my hw65 replacement, it's been boxed up 2 weeks now :thumbsdow.

What are you replacing the 65 with?
 
What are you replacing the 65 with?

Another hw65 mate, the fan on the one I had started a high pitch whine which was very annoying. Hopefully when they have new stock my replacement will be ok.
 
Its me who changes projectors weekly:) I am onto the 3rd one this year and getting the 4ht:rolleyes:
 
Well the lamp arrived today - now I just need the projector back :)

So is the projector back yet and working as it should?

Was the lamp replacement easy enough?
 
So is the projector back yet and working as it should?

Was the lamp replacement easy enough?

Yes all back and working. Lamp replacement is very easy - one screw on the cover and three screws on the lamp. However, in a slight plot-twist, they seem to have replaced the bulb as well as sending a new one. It's not clear - the lamp time has been reset to zero and the engineer's report suggests they put in a new bulb. Shrug :)
 
Yes all back and working. Lamp replacement is very easy - one screw on the cover and three screws on the lamp. However, in a slight plot-twist, they seem to have replaced the bulb as well as sending a new one. It's not clear - the lamp time has been reset to zero and the engineer's report suggests they put in a new bulb. Shrug :)

Score!! :)
 
Yes all back and working. Lamp replacement is very easy - one screw on the cover and three screws on the lamp. However, in a slight plot-twist, they seem to have replaced the bulb as well as sending a new one. It's not clear - the lamp time has been reset to zero and the engineer's report suggests they put in a new bulb. Shrug :)

Nice one !!:D
 
^^
If you calibrate yourself, the 55 has Image Director software to really help with gamma control. Also, there are more presets.

Most users won't make the best of these, but if you do, then these, with the Iris, give better control. Worth the difference ? I don't think a short demo will reveal this TBH. It's a leap of faith to make it "fiddle proof". [emoji3]

If none of the above apply, I'm sure the 40 will be great too.
FWIW Image director does also work for the 40.
I initially thought it didn't but I was using the wrong cable, you need a crossover, null modem cable.
In reality it's a really poor bit of software and is mainly guess work.
I managed to get the 2.2 gamma setting to actually track 2.2 but it was very easy to completely "fubar" it.
 
The one thing that really bugs me about my HW40 is the vertical lens shift.

I normally shift a scope film down so I only have one black bar at the top. It stays like this 90% of the time to except for the few rare full frame films.

My lens shift wheel feels horrible, it goes tight and then suddenly jumps. I wince every time it does it.
Is everyone else's like this?
 
The one thing that really bugs me about my HW40 is the vertical lens shift.

I normally shift a scope film down so I only have one black bar at the top. It stays like this 90% of the time to except for the few rare full frame films.

My lens shift wheel feels horrible, it goes tight and then suddenly jumps. I wince every time it does it.
Is everyone else's like this?
mine was/is.
 
The one thing that really bugs me about my HW40 is the vertical lens shift.

I normally shift a scope film down so I only have one black bar at the top. It stays like this 90% of the time to except for the few rare full frame films.

My lens shift wheel feels horrible, it goes tight and then suddenly jumps. I wince every time it does it.
Is everyone else's like this?

Yes mine was, the 65 was a little better In that respect but not by much.
 
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The one thing that really bugs me about my HW40 is the vertical lens shift.

I normally shift a scope film down so I only have one black bar at the top. It stays like this 90% of the time to except for the few rare full frame films.

My lens shift wheel feels horrible, it goes tight and then suddenly jumps. I wince every time it does it.
Is everyone else's like this?

Mine is dog rough on the 55 too. No precision.
 
Now my end wall is a darkish grey I'm going to raise the screen up to eliminate the bottom bar rather than mess with vertical shift.
 
Now my end wall is a darkish grey I'm going to raise the screen up to eliminate the bottom bar rather than mess with vertical shift.
Yes that is a good option but my screen is a little higher than is ideal. I think I will end up raising the screen because the shift wheels feel so flimsy I don't think they will last if I keep using them.
 
Yes that is a good option but my screen is a little higher than is ideal. I think I will end up raising the screen because the shift wheels feel so flimsy I don't think they will last if I keep using them.

I think they will last ok but the amount of slack then Jerk isn't confidence inspiring is it.
Perhaps you could rearrange your cabinet beneath the screen so you can lower the drop, you have your PJ a bit lower than mine on a shelf right way up so I think your safer to use more downshift than me.

What with all the issues surrounding projectors and HDR etc I'm thinking more and more about that 75" Sony 4K tv.... :blush:
 
I think they will last ok but the amount of slack then Jerk isn't confidence inspiring is it.
Perhaps you could rearrange your cabinet beneath the screen so you can lower the drop, you have your PJ a bit lower than mine on a shelf right way up so I think your safer to use more downshift than me.

What with all the issues surrounding projectors and HDR etc I'm thinking more and more about that 75" Sony 4K tv.... :blush:
I have heard good things about that TV but even 75" is well short of 106".
With the falling price of large TV's and the quality of picture from the current top LED's and OLEDS I can see the amount of people buying projectors falling.

Most "youngsters" these days seem happy to watch films on a 4" phone display....

My view is if you can't fit a bigger screen than say 90" in you might as well get a 75" TV. You will have a better picture than a projector and with less faff.

Still love the Sony though, for the money they are unbelievable. The JVC's are better but so they should with the entry level one more than twice the price of the HW40/45
 
Guys. I'm looking to replace my BenQ W1070. Finally gotten sick of the lack of brightness uniformity, my inability to get perfect focus across the screen and a rather ridiculous amount of dust blobs i've picked up over the last year and a half. I suppose these things are expected with a budget PJ but i'm finally ready to upgrade and do things better.

I'll work my way through the thread tomorrow but if someone can do a quick pros/cons list that would be great. Especially interested in any niggles or quirks as i don't like surprises.

Also, i read something about brightness fluctuations to achieve better blacks. If this is a thing can i disable it 100%?

Thanks
 
Well, had my demo of the 40 & 55 today, Not a lot in it once I got hold of the remotes and set them both up on a level playing field..the 55 was originally set up on high lamp mode and the 40 on low, plus other settings to make the 55 seem far more impressive than the 40. The killer for me though was the 55 had nearly 1850 hours on the bulb, and the 40 just 2 !!
 
Well, had my demo of the 40 & 55 today, Not a lot in it once I got hold of the remotes and set them both up on a level playing field..the 55 was originally set up on high lamp mode and the 40 on low, plus other settings to make the 55 seem far more impressive than the 40. The killer for me though was the 55 had nearly 1850 hours on the bulb, and the 40 just 2 !!

Yes, that makes a hell of a difference. As far as I can tell the difference is auto iris and more calibration options for different settings. i am more than happy with the blacks and contrast on my 40 and I know would find auto iris annoying and so have it turned off.
 
Yes, that makes a hell of a difference. As far as I can tell the difference is auto iris and more calibration options for different settings. i am more than happy with the blacks and contrast on my 40 and I know would find auto iris annoying and so have it turned off.

But you don't have auto Iris on your 40 ?. The manual Iris is useful on a 55/65.
 
The more I read about the HW40 the more I'm thinking it's a no brainier for the price.
I'm an Epson fan (only because that's what I'm used to) and was leaning towards a TW9100, but I'm seriously considering a HW40 instead now. Especially with RS now quoting a 6 year guarantee. :thumbsup:

On paper it looks like the Sony wouldn't come close to the contrast ratio and light output of the Epson, but from reading reports and reviews it seems this isn't the case in real world usage. Perhaps the Epson doesn't put out the lumens quoted in it's spec, but the Sony comfortably does? People don't seem to have a problem with the Sony's brightness.

Also I like a sharp image. Not so sharp it strains your eyes but nice and crisp, and I think the Sony would excel here.
Out of the box settings also seem hugely impressive at this price.

A couple of niggles for me are probably the manual lens cap and no trigger but I can work around that. Trigger I can sort and if the image I'm watching is really impressive and the noise level is very quiet so it doesn't distract I'm sure taking the lens cap on and off each time isn't really going to bother me. Viewing experience is paramount.

One question regarding the lens cap/cover:

Is it easy to mess up the lens setup while removing or replacing the cover?

Thanks in advance.

Mike.
 

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