Sony VPL-VW590ES 4K SXRD Projector Review & Comments

[Phil Hinton]

The VPL-VW590ES is a native 4K SXRD projector from Sony which replaces the outgoing VW570 and adds some new picture processing thanks to the X1 for Projector chip and some new HDR processing. So is it worth the upgrade for existing users and how does it compare to the JVC DLA-N5? Let's find out...
Read the review.

Write your own review for Sony VPL-VW590ES

 

[mb3195]

Thanks Phil. I’d never noticed the lens memory issue on my 760 as I don’t really use it, but alas, last week I did and you’re right, my screen was a cm or so lower than I’d previously set it to. I thought I’d saved the wrong preset, but trying again, it did the same thing, so it’s obviously as issue which is pretty poor for the cost of the PJ.

Sounds like you liked it though apart from a few obvious quibbles (HDR tone mapping).

 

[Slinkywizard]

An absolutely outstanding review, Phil. Highly detailed with no stone unturned. Excellent stuff.

 

[Rocketrazor]

Thanks Phil, just wondered what the 3D was like? Was it tested at all and if not are there plans to?
Thanks
Rocket

 

[Trophy hunter]

That was a really good review.

 

[AndyC_772]

The 3D experience is fantastic.

I've had a 590ES for about a month now. It doesn't come with 3D glasses, but Sony recommends the Xpand X105-RF-X1, so I went with these.

I have a fairly light lounge, not a batcave, and the darkening effect of the 3D glasses helps it produce deeper blacks than are possible with 2D... a really worthwhile improvement to picture quality that's often overlooked.

I sold my 3D TV recently and really didn't miss it; 3D on a small screen I always found underwhelming and it gave me eyestrain. On the big screen (120 inch), though, it's not just easier on the eye - the depth makes the entire screen look like a window into the movie, and it's easy to get absorbed into a good film without really thinking about the equipment. That's always the goal of good quality kit, IMHO.

 

[DB9S]

Thanks Phil. I’d never noticed the lens memory issue on my 760 as I don’t really use it, but alas, last week I did and you’re right, my screen was a cm or so lower than I’d previously set it to. I thought I’d saved the wrong preset, but trying again, it did the same thing, so it’s obviously as issue which is pretty poor for the cost of the PJ.

Sounds like you liked it though apart from a few obvious quibbles (HDR tone mapping).

The manual even states:
The Picture Position function is not guaranteed to reproduce the
lens settings precisely.

Also, I remember reading somewhere that when adjusting the lens position on the Sonys you need to adjust down 5 cm from where you want it before moving it back up into position and then saving the position.
As for horizontal positioning, I guess it is the same, but in either direction before moving it back to where you want it.

I will post up where I read it when I can remember.

 

[AndyC_772]

The manual even states:
The Picture Position function is not guaranteed to reproduce the
lens settings precisely.

Translation: "We know it doesn't work very well".

If I had a fixed screen and a permanent installation, an inaccurate lens memory might well be an issue.

I don't, though. I unpack the Sony and set it up for movie night, then put it back in its case when it's not in use. It's never in quite the same place or pointing in the same direction twice.

Fortunately the motorised shift and zoom controls are very quick and easy to use, so it's really not a big deal.

 

[mb3195]

The 3D experience is fantastic.

I've had a 590ES for about a month now. It doesn't come with 3D glasses, but Sony recommends the Xpand X105-RF-X1, so I went with these.

I have a fairly light lounge, not a batcave, and the darkening effect of the 3D glasses helps it produce deeper blacks than are possible with 2D... a really worthwhile improvement to picture quality that's often overlooked.

I sold my 3D TV recently and really didn't miss it; 3D on a small screen I always found underwhelming and it gave me eyestrain. On the big screen (120 inch), though, it's not just easier on the eye - the depth makes the entire screen look like a window into the movie, and it's easy to get absorbed into a good film without really thinking about the equipment. That's always the goal of good quality kit, IMHO.

Do you need an emitter? I’m assuming you do, I’ve had my 760 for almost a year and never even tried the 3D even though I’ve got some other makes glasses sitting about....

 

[THX1138UK]

Shame the out of the box colours were off by quite a high margin. Nice to see it is very accurate once calibrated, but for the price you expected it to be more accurate out of the box.

Thanks for the in-depth review.

Regards
James.

 

[DB9S]

Translation: "We know it doesn't work very well".

If I had a fixed screen and a permanent installation, an inaccurate lens memory might well be an issue.

I don't, though. I unpack the Sony and set it up for movie night, then put it back in its case when it's not in use. It's never in quite the same place or pointing in the same direction twice.

Fortunately the motorised shift and zoom controls are very quick and easy to use, so it's really not a big deal.

Yeah, they would almost be better omitting the feature than having it and it being super unreliable.

 

[AndyC_772]

Do you need an emitter? I’m assuming you do, I’ve had my 760 for almost a year and never even tried the 3D even though I’ve got some other makes glasses sitting about....

No, there's no extra hardware required. Just switch the glasses on, hold the button for a few seconds to pair them with the Sony and you're good to go. The RF emitter is built in.

Shame the out of the box colours were off by quite a high margin. Nice to see it is very accurate once calibrated, but for the price you expected it to be more accurate out of the box.

When I bought mine it received a "THX" calibration at the distributor at no extra cost to me. It might not be as good as a bespoke in-situ cal, but the grey scale is definitely accurate to my eyes with no tinting at any level.

 

[Wollie]

What do you guys think of the iris?
I really see it working when a dark scene jump into a light scene.
My 590es is calibrated and it's around 45 hours old. I tried dynamic iris full, and limited no difference.

 

[Phil Hinton]

Thanks Phil, just wondered what the 3D was like? Was it tested at all and if not are there plans to?
Thanks
Rocket

Hi, yes I briefly tested with 3D content and it works perfectly well, with only the odd occasional sign of crosstalk in faster moving scenes. I'll add a line to the review to make that clear.

 

[Phil Hinton]

What do you guys think of the iris?
I really see it working when a dark scene jump into a light scene.
My 590es is calibrated and it's around 45 hours old. I tried dynamic iris full, and limited no difference.

I ended up with the Iris limited and off for most viewing as it was obvious with some content. I would avoid full.

 

[Phil Hinton]

Translation: "We know it doesn't work very well".

If I had a fixed screen and a permanent installation, an inaccurate lens memory might well be an issue.

I don't, though. I unpack the Sony and set it up for movie night, then put it back in its case when it's not in use. It's never in quite the same place or pointing in the same direction twice.

Fortunately the motorised shift and zoom controls are very quick and easy to use, so it's really not a big deal.

I'm using a scope screen so the lens memory is an important feature for me. There may be some workarounds for using the Sony, but the JVC N5 I have at the moment manages to change time after time with no issues at all. I would like to see Sony fix this issue and hopefully, they respond to the feedback.

 

[AndyC_772]

Unfortunately the JVCs simply aren't available right now - out of stock everywhere I called, and the one place that had one on permanent demo closed their showroom the day before I was due to visit.

In purely practical terms, the option I had was basically, "want a 4K projector to watch during the current lockdown? It's the Sony, take it or leave it".

I'm glad I took it. There certainly were some PQ issues at first - crushed shadows and an over-sharpened, processed look - but not any more thanks to some adjustments in the menus of both the 590ES and my UHD player. Set sharpness around 30 (not zero!) and Reality Creation > Resolution no higher than 20.

(If you have the Spears & Munsil UHD test disc to hand, I'd recommend calling up the sharpness test pattern and examining the diagonal and circular lines carefully; I found that setting zero sharpness introduced artefacts all of its own, which was completely unexpected).

I'd also add that one of the things I was struck by very early on was just how uniform the picture is edge to edge. There's no banding, vignetting or noticeable loss of focus anywhere across the image. In that respect it's a lot better than my local cinema, which is modern, up-to-date and (paradoxically) also uses a Sony 4K projector.

We've been enjoying a Hobbit 3D session this weekend and the image has been wonderful. Smaug in 3D, setting blazing orange fires in the dark underground caverns, will be my go-to demo scene.

 

[Rocketrazor]

Hi, yes I briefly tested with 3D content and it works perfectly well, with only the odd occasional sign of crosstalk in faster moving scenes. I'll add a line to the review to make that clear.

Thanks Phil

 

[Slinkywizard]

Unfortunately the JVCs simply aren't available right now - out of stock everywhere I called, and the one place that had one on permanent demo closed their showroom the day before I was due to visit.

In purely practical terms, the option I had was basically, "want a 4K projector to watch during the current lockdown? It's the Sony, take it or leave it".

I'm glad I took it. There certainly were some PQ issues at first - crushed shadows and an over-sharpened, processed look - but not any more thanks to some adjustments in the menus of both the 590ES and my UHD player. Set sharpness around 30 (not zero!) and Reality Creation > Resolution no higher than 20.

(If you have the Spears & Munsil UHD test disc to hand, I'd recommend calling up the sharpness test pattern and examining the diagonal and circular lines carefully; I found that setting zero sharpness introduced artefacts all of its own, which was completely unexpected).

I'd also add that one of the things I was struck by very early on was just how uniform the picture is edge to edge. There's no banding, vignetting or noticeable loss of focus anywhere across the image. In that respect it's a lot better than my local cinema, which is modern, up-to-date and (paradoxically) also uses a Sony 4K projector.

We've been enjoying a Hobbit 3D session this weekend and the image has been wonderful. Smaug in 3D, setting blazing orange fires in the dark underground caverns, will be my go-to demo scene.

If you think The Hobbit looks good on one of these, you will sh** the bed when you see The Lion King remake in 3D.

 

[Stridsvognen]

How is it possible to double contrast in HDR mode, was it also measured with calibrated to D65 in HDR mode?

 

[DB9S]

I'm using a scope screen so the lens memory is an important feature for me. There may be some workarounds for using the Sony, but the JVC N5 I have at the moment manages to change time after time with no issues at all. I would like to see Sony fix this issue and hopefully, they respond to the feedback.

Good luck with that. The issue has been known about for years.

 

[alebonau]

Good luck with that. The issue has been known about for years.

the jvc, and have visited a few folk over the years using lens memory and scope screens ....seems to return time and time again without issue. that said ... as a jvc owner(3 times) and epson prior(twice). they both do seem to slip their lenses now and then... so you will switch on and find they have moved a tad. the last gen jvc n5 and n7 both were heavily beefed up in their lens mounts I beleive because of this. I still saw some initial slippage now and then we are talking few mm on the n7. but then its been fine since only seen it slip slightly once and moved back in. I tend to line mine up almost exactly with the black screen masking though - why waste any image but if did as supposed to ... ie about say 1/4 to half inch or 5-10mm all around in masking unlikely see any issue.. note i do run a bit of lens shift to move image a bit down for better immersion... so possibly this exacerbates this where many folk might run their image a tad higher ? or mount their projectors lower...

 

[THX1138UK]

Unfortunately the JVCs simply aren't available right now - out of stock everywhere I called, and the one place that had one on permanent demo closed their showroom the day before I was due to visit.

In purely practical terms, the option I had was basically, "want a 4K projector to watch during the current lockdown? It's the Sony, take it or leave it".

I'm glad I took it. There certainly were some PQ issues at first - crushed shadows and an over-sharpened, processed look - but not any more thanks to some adjustments in the menus of both the 590ES and my UHD player. Set sharpness around 30 (not zero!) and Reality Creation > Resolution no higher than 20.

(If you have the Spears & Munsil UHD test disc to hand, I'd recommend calling up the sharpness test pattern and examining the diagonal and circular lines carefully; I found that setting zero sharpness introduced artefacts all of its own, which was completely unexpected).

I'd also add that one of the things I was struck by very early on was just how uniform the picture is edge to edge. There's no banding, vignetting or noticeable loss of focus anywhere across the image. In that respect it's a lot better than my local cinema, which is modern, up-to-date and (paradoxically) also uses a Sony 4K projector.

We've been enjoying a Hobbit 3D session this weekend and the image has been wonderful. Smaug in 3D, setting blazing orange fires in the dark underground caverns, will be my go-to demo scene.

It's not that rare for Sharpness 0 to be the wrong setting (I've seen this on various TVs and projectors). It's definitely a case of using the test pattern (as you describe) and finding the correct value.

Regards,
James.

 

[Harkon321]

Thanks Phil. I’d never noticed the lens memory issue on my 760 as I don’t really use it.

When you did the Open Day, did you not use lense memory? I thought your set up was CIH but I can't remember whether we watched anything in 16:9

 

[mb3195]

When you did the Open Day, did you not use lense memory? I thought your set up was CIH but I can't remember whether we watched anything in 16:9

I used my lumagen mate. I have no need for the lens memory 99% of the time.

my setup is also CIW