Sony VW590ES and VW790ES owner's thread

What with RS selling the 790 for £9,999...

I found there are German sellers on eBay now offering 790s for less than £8k! Yes, 8k pounds sterling!
Less than a ton to deliver too!

Looks like dealers have seen the writing on the wall for the Sony's once the JVCs hit.
They are likely trying to shift stock now to get it gone at a decent profit, or they will have to reduce it even more once the JVCs are in the wild as the Sony's simply will not sell even for substantially less.
The JVCs just offer so much more.

So I reckon if you are set on a Sony, then wait until the JVCs are out and you will get an even better deal. If the 790s don't come down to £7k or less I will be surprised.

Makes you hope/wonder what Sony have in mind for next Sept, or maybe even CES time....
They have been available at these prices since the launch.

Mine originally came from Italy. It was swapped with a new one twice by UK Sony, due to poor geometry and convergence. The one I have now is lovely.
 
Look on the unit near the serial number, there should be a little sticker with the manufacturing date on it. These were only released at the end of 2020 so I wouldn't fret too much.
2021/09 - So assumedly was born September this year.
I'll try that Sony Pro Support number this afternoon as well - thank you so much.

Assuming it turns out to be OK and I keep it, just wait for the stupid questions I've got about it queuing up in my mind to ask you all! :-D
 
What with RS selling the 790 for £9,999...

I found there are German sellers on eBay now offering 790s for less than £8k! Yes, 8k pounds sterling!
Less than a ton to deliver too!

Looks like dealers have seen the writing on the wall for the Sony's once the JVCs hit.
They are likely trying to shift stock now to get it gone at a decent profit, or they will have to reduce it even more once the JVCs are in the wild as the Sony's simply will not sell even for substantially less.
The JVCs just offer so much more.

So I reckon if you are set on a Sony, then wait until the JVCs are out and you will get an even better deal. If the 790s don't come down to £7k or less I will be surprised.

Makes you hope/wonder what Sony have in mind for next Sept, or maybe even CES time....

I must admit, the recent talk in these threads about recent JVC's killing the value of these Sony models is another of the reasons I'm wondering if the 590 was a good choice, even at £5999.
I appreciate you are mainly talking about the laser models but do you think it is daft to have bought a Sony 590 in the current climate, even with £1k off? (Remembering I kind of do still have the option to undo that decision in my case.)
 
2021/09 - So assumedly was born September this year.
I'll try that Sony Pro Support number this afternoon as well - thank you so much.

Assuming it turns out to be OK and I keep it, just wait for the stupid questions I've got about it queuing up in my mind to ask you all! :-D
Sept 2021 means it is only 2 months old. There is no reason you should have any issues registering.
 
I must admit, the recent talk in these threads about recent JVC's killing the value of these Sony models is another of the reasons I'm wondering if the 590 was a good choice, even at £5999.
I appreciate you are mainly talking about the laser models but do you think it is daft to have bought a Sony 590 in the current climate, even with £1k off? (Remembering I kind of do still have the option to undo that decision in my case.)
I would personally not want a SONY, its better than it was, but they are just way behind, and to expensive in comparison to what you get. the 590 would fit right in between Epson TW9400 and JVC N5 at around 3500£, more its to little price difference to something much more capable.
These days its all a mess, so its a question if you want a projector now, or wait until sometime next year.
 
I must admit, the recent talk in these threads about recent JVC's killing the value of these Sony models is another of the reasons I'm wondering if the 590 was a good choice, even at £5999.
I appreciate you are mainly talking about the laser models but do you think it is daft to have bought a Sony 590 in the current climate, even with £1k off? (Remembering I kind of do still have the option to undo that decision in my case.)
I think you are thinking about it too much. At £5999 it is a great deal!

'Killing the value' is aimed primarily at the laser units and in a way that is equating to RRP.
Which for your 590 is was nearer £7-8k.
It is also with a view to trying to get Sony out of their torpor.
Still, just recently the laser Sony's have come down in price too.

The JVCs (that you still cannot get hold of) have many new features, but for a LOT more money.
BUT, there aren't any JVCs available on RS for less than £11.5k now.
You will have to go second hand JVC and they don't allow transferral of warranty. So a Sony with 3 or 5 years is a great buy.

The image of the 590 is utterly superb. Try it and you will see.
You are fretting about things that simply aren't worth it in my view.

Enjoy your bargain.
 
I would personally not want a SONY, its better than it was, but they are just way behind, and to expensive in comparison to what you get. the 590 would fit right in between Epson TW9400 and JVC N5 at around 3500£, more its to little price difference to something much more capable.
These days its all a mess, so its a question if you want a projector now, or wait until sometime next year.
Well, no one on here really knows what would satisfy you my friend. ;):D:thumbsup:
 
My 290 is now up and running for a few weeks and apart from being slightly louder in operation than the Epson 9400 it replaced the image it throws is very impressive, particularly since I’ve increased my screen size from 100 to 120”.

@b1gly enjoy your 590, the only advice I’d offer is to consider having it professionally calibrated, for such an expensive item I genuinely think it would be worth the money.
 
Well, no one on here really knows what would satisfy you my friend. ;):D:thumbsup:
Thats quite easy, deliver to specs, and price-performance is related.
SONY image is to processed/ artificial for my taste, to low bit resolution, and the digital uniformity correction they do to compensate for panel uniformity have to many negative side effects, compared to the price class the projectors is in.
Then there is the whole DTM discussion, that comes on top.
 
Thats quite easy, deliver to specs, and price-performance is related.
SONY image is to processed/ artificial for my taste, to low bit resolution, and the digital uniformity correction they do to compensate for panel uniformity have to many negative side effects, compared to the price class the projectors is in.
Then there is the whole DTM discussion, that comes on top.
I see.
Well getting any display tech completely uniform etc is a big ask, especially in all units all the time.
I personally have always liked how the Sony image looks, however I agree that they have rested on their laurels a bit too long by relying on processing over fixing what's underneath.
They still produce and awesome image when watching actual content though, and that is what matters most, to most.
 
Sept 2021 means it is only 2 months old. There is no reason you should have any issues registering.
I got an email response from the Sony Prime Support registration stating support is now active and you are covered for 3 years so my biggest concern has now been removed. (I don't know whether they checked or cared where it originally came from but I'm going with the assumption that it no longer matters to me.)
Thank you @Apollo & @DB9S for steering me to them.

I think you are thinking about it too much. At £5999 it is a great deal!
You are fretting about things that simply aren't worth it in my view.
Other than my car and my previous Epson it's the most expensive thing I've ever bought and I know I will have to live with it for many years before I can justify another change.

I've had about 10 browser tabs open of the usual suspect reviewers across the globe saying the 590 is awesome for as long as I can remember (lowest score being 4.5 out of 5) and it was actually reading the threads here this week that made me fret the most.
Lots of talk about failing units, terrible panel alignment, that the HDR was unusable without outboard DTM, black floor and measurable image qualities being half that of equivalent priced JVCs when calibrated like for like etc.

After making sure I'm covered if I've got a bad un after being kicked around the Amazon warehouse, it's the HDR handling (and panel alignment) I'm worried about most from reading this thread.
I appreciate JVC might have snuck real DTM into their latest offerings but the mainstream reviews were touting these Sonys as potentially the best or among the best HDR handling projectors available only a few months ago so I'm hoping it isn't true that I need to add a £4k+ lumagen to make HDR watchable! ;)

@b1gly enjoy your 590, the only advice I’d offer is to consider having it professionally calibrated, for such an expensive item I genuinely think it would be worth the money.
Thanks. This upgrade justifies some more effort being put into the light control of my environment. Once I know I've pushed my missus to the limit of what I'm allowed to do in that respect I'll probably reach out for calibrator recommendations.
 
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I see.
Well getting any display tech completely uniform etc is a big ask, especially in all units all the time.
I personally have always liked how the Sony image looks, however I agree that they have rested on their laurels a bit too long by relying on processing over fixing what's underneath.
They still produce and awesome image when watching actual content though, and that is what matters most, to most.
There is nothing wrong in liking it, but i find that the 590 price is around the same as JVC N5 and N7, they run 18bit processing, calibrate very well, have one of the best DTM out there, much better contrast, and no funky digital uniformity correction creating all sorts of banding.
The sony have a slight advantage in its 1:1 pixel resolution when you get into the service menu and deactivate the zone convergence and find a uniformity table that is more neutral, but you cant turn all processing off.
 
I've had about 10 browser tabs open of the usual suspect reviewers across the globe saying the 590 is awesome for as long as I can remember (lowest score being 4.5 out of 5) and it was actually reading the threads here this week that made me fret the most.
Lots of talk about failing units, terrible panel alignment, that the HDR was unusable without outboard DTM, black floor and measurable image qualities being half that of equivalent priced JVCs when calibrated like for like etc.

After making sure I'm covered if I've got a bad un after being kicked around the Amazon warehouse, it's the HDR handling (and panel alignment) I'm worried about most from reading this thread.
Firstly, no projector can do HDR 'properly'. They dont have the zonal/pixel level contrast control or brightness required.
The best you can do if you want HDR to look A1 on your projector is to either:
1. Buy a Lumagen
2. Use HDR/SDR BT2020 conversion on your source device(s)
3. Buy an HD Fury Vertex 2 or similar to make use of LL Dolby Vision.

As for panel alignment, it is something that needs paying attention to but it is entirely adjustable by you, the end user. No 3 chip device will ever be spot on out off the box, but it is correctable.
Leave the unit on for an hour to warm up properly and then use the panel alignment to match the red green and blue up.

The black floor on the Sony's is not as bad as can be made out. JVC are exceptional in that area so any reports of 'bad blacks' need taking in that context. Sony have stunning blacks.

Rest easy and enjoy it.
 
There is nothing wrong in liking it, but i find that the 590 price is around the same as JVC N5 and N7, they run 18bit processing, calibrate very well, have one of the best DTM out there, much better contrast, and no funky digital uniformity correction creating all sorts of banding.
The sony have a slight advantage in its 1:1 pixel resolution when you get into the service menu and deactivate the zone convergence and find a uniformity table that is more neutral, but you cant turn all processing off.
Everything is a personal preference at the days end.
Good luck finding an n5 or n7 for sale with a warranty now though.
 
Everything is a personal preference at the days end.
Good luck finding an n5 or n7 for sale with a warranty now though.
Thats the current situation, that has not been an issue until recently, so yes if you want something to scratch your itch right now SONY might be the only one who can deliver. If we wait a few months you might find thats different again.
 
Indeed. Many things can change in a few months.
 
I've had my 590 for around 6 months now. STONKING machine. I paid 6k for mine and never regretted it for a minute. It's taken a bit of getting the settings right but it's a MAJOR step up from my Epson 9300. Enjoy your projector and stop thinking about what you could have had if you waited. It's a fabulous machine!
 
Thats the current situation, that has not been an issue until recently, so yes if you want something to scratch your itch right now SONY might be the only one who can deliver. If we wait a few months you might find thats different again.
Thanks Stridsvognen and for your other technical comparison posts. Some of them caused some of my significant concerns but I appreciate the under-the-hood detail.

I had already been waiting far too long to pull the trigger on an upgrade.
I can't remember the last time I bothered firing up my Epson 9200 since getting a 65" 4K HDR OLED TV 2 years ago as my mind wouldn't let me do 1080p SDR just to get a 120 inch image when almost everything I watch has a 4K (Dolby Vision) HDR source.
The N5 & N7 were also in my shortlist and I had concluded that they were technically better machines but I didn't like the extra cost to add 3D and I knew the extra few pounds of weight would make me paranoid that the peerless mount wasn't up to it (although it is still within 3kg of the peerless' weight handling claim).
But even when they were available, the N5 would come in at £6800 (inc 3D) so £900 more than I paid for the Sony when I was already stretching to go above a £5k budget.

Firstly, no projector can do HDR 'properly'. They dont have the zonal/pixel level contrast control or brightness required.
The best you can do if you want HDR to look A1 on your projector is to either:
1. Buy a Lumagen
2. Use HDR/SDR BT2020 conversion on your source device(s)
3. Buy an HD Fury Vertex 2 or similar to make use of LL Dolby Vision.
Yes I was expecting to have to live with the reduced dynamic range of projection HDR. The only thing I've tried watching on the Sony so far is HDR and I must admit, out of the box, it is much worse than I expected.
Sat down to watch the latest series of Lost In Space last night which has some amazing visual production quality and ended up switching back to the TV as the Sony image was so dull. Like the entire image was dulled just to hit a small specular highlight in each frame. (Conversely, there was one very dark scene where I was amazed by the shadow detail in the dark rocks!)
I'm not scared off yet though. I realise there's a ton of things to tweak and a Vertex 2 might be in my future if I can find a definitive guide from someone pairing it with this Sony.

As for panel alignment, it is something that needs paying attention to but it is entirely adjustable by you, the end user. No 3 chip device will ever be spot on out off the box, but it is correctable.
Leave the unit on for an hour to warm up properly and then use the panel alignment to match the red green and blue up.
I also gave this a go last night but I ended up putting all my adjustments back to 0 because even with my eyeballs 30cm from the screen I couldn't be sure anything was bad enough to need moving. And when moving for one element you notice, you end up knocking off another element on the other side of the screen.
I know we've got zone adjustment options but I remember from doing this on my Epson that once you do zone level adjustments you are forcing the processing algorithms into pixel level scaling which removes the 1-to-1 pixel mapping and reduces resolution. Whereas moving the entire image is just that, moving the entire image so you may lose a bit of edge resolution but it is still 1-to-1 pixel clarity.
I assume the same applies to this Sony and any projector doing software based panel alignment.

I've had my 590 for around 6 months now. STONKING machine. I paid 6k for mine and never regretted it for a minute. It's taken a bit of getting the settings right but it's a MAJOR step up from my Epson 9300. Enjoy your projector and stop thinking about what you could have had if you waited. It's a fabulous machine!
Thank you. Hoping I will feel the same after going through the settings pain barrier.
 
Yes I was expecting to have to live with the reduced dynamic range of projection HDR. The only thing I've tried watching on the Sony so far is HDR and I must admit, out of the box, it is much worse than I expected.
Sat down to watch the latest series of Lost In Space last night which has some amazing visual production quality and ended up switching back to the TV as the Sony image was so dull. Like the entire image was dulled just to hit a small specular highlight in each frame. (Conversely, there was one very dark scene where I was amazed by the shadow detail in the dark rocks!)
I'm not scared off yet though. I realise there's a ton of things to tweak and a Vertex 2 might be in my future if I can find a definitive guide from someone pairing it with this Sony.


I also gave this a go last night but I ended up putting all my adjustments back to 0 because even with my eyeballs 30cm from the screen I couldn't be sure anything was bad enough to need moving. And when moving for one element you notice, you end up knocking off another element on the other side of the screen.
I know we've got zone adjustment options but I remember from doing this on my Epson that once you do zone level adjustments you are forcing the processing algorithms into pixel level scaling which removes the 1-to-1 pixel mapping and reduces resolution. Whereas moving the entire image is just that, moving the entire image so you may lose a bit of edge resolution but it is still 1-to-1 pixel clarity.
I assume the same applies to this Sony and any projector doing software based panel alignment.
Try putting your source on SDR/BT2020 and see how HDR looks. You can adjust the nit slider then to get it how you like it. Makes a big difference if native HDR presentation isn't to your satisfaction.

Check here for Sony/Vertex2 settings.
There are also threads on the whole LLDV on projectors subject.

As for panel alignment, yes, it is software based. It is also very important for proper colour rendition and uniformity. Taking your time to get it right will pay dividends.
Don't forget that that these are native 4k devices and so you have a lot more scope before any scaling would even be noticeable and the improvement in colours and image clarity is worth it.
Many people come to projectors after a really good emmissive panel display experience only to be disappointed.
The two are quite different in the environments they have to be in to shine.
You have a good good projector there, that is bettered by very little.
 
When I had a 590 on home demo for a week and a half it took just over a week of me tweaking the settings each evening until I had it how I liked it, so a bit of perseverance should pay off. But I wouldn't class myself as any expert so a lot of my tweaks were somewhat trial and error, so if you know what you're doing a bit more you may get it looking good a bit quicker. Professional calibration once run in would be worth it.
 
Thanks Stridsvognen and for your other technical comparison posts. Some of them caused some of my significant concerns but I appreciate the under-the-hood detail.

I had already been waiting far too long to pull the trigger on an upgrade.
I can't remember the last time I bothered firing up my Epson 9200 since getting a 65" 4K HDR OLED TV 2 years ago as my mind wouldn't let me do 1080p SDR just to get a 120 inch image when almost everything I watch has a 4K (Dolby Vision) HDR source.
The N5 & N7 were also in my shortlist and I had concluded that they were technically better machines but I didn't like the extra cost to add 3D and I knew the extra few pounds of weight would make me paranoid that the peerless mount wasn't up to it (although it is still within 3kg of the peerless' weight handling claim).
But even when they were available, the N5 would come in at £6800 (inc 3D) so £900 more than I paid for the Sony when I was already stretching to go above a £5k budget.


Yes I was expecting to have to live with the reduced dynamic range of projection HDR. The only thing I've tried watching on the Sony so far is HDR and I must admit, out of the box, it is much worse than I expected.
Sat down to watch the latest series of Lost In Space last night which has some amazing visual production quality and ended up switching back to the TV as the Sony image was so dull. Like the entire image was dulled just to hit a small specular highlight in each frame. (Conversely, there was one very dark scene where I was amazed by the shadow detail in the dark rocks!)
I'm not scared off yet though. I realise there's a ton of things to tweak and a Vertex 2 might be in my future if I can find a definitive guide from someone pairing it with this Sony.


I also gave this a go last night but I ended up putting all my adjustments back to 0 because even with my eyeballs 30cm from the screen I couldn't be sure anything was bad enough to need moving. And when moving for one element you notice, you end up knocking off another element on the other side of the screen.
I know we've got zone adjustment options but I remember from doing this on my Epson that once you do zone level adjustments you are forcing the processing algorithms into pixel level scaling which removes the 1-to-1 pixel mapping and reduces resolution. Whereas moving the entire image is just that, moving the entire image so you may lose a bit of edge resolution but it is still 1-to-1 pixel clarity.
I assume the same applies to this Sony and any projector doing software based panel alignment.


Thank you. Hoping I will feel the same after going through the settings pain barrier.
If you ever get the Vertex 2 let me know - I planned to get one but never found a set up to match the projector and don't fancy pulling my hair out. As for the Peerless mount - I've just this week taken mine off it and built a shelf to put it on. It never felt safe on it and I couldn't get it balanced - although it held it fine
 

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As for the Peerless mount - I've just this week taken mine off it and built a shelf to put it on. It never felt safe on it and I couldn't get it balanced - although it held it fine

Your shelf looks fantastic.
It took some playing to find a way to get the peerless mount on centre of gravity.
A year too late for most new buyers but this is how I managed to get perfect centre, balance and working adjusters with the peerless and the Sony.
The crucial hack was to screw the single back most mount on the inside of the peerless ring. It meant raising the adjustable legs so the back arm can stick out and clear the rubber foot along the back of the Sony.
Looks a bit weird but is perfect centre and as strong as the typical 3 arm out approach.

20211205_092746.jpg
 
Your shelf looks fantastic.
It took some playing to find a way to get the peerless mount on centre of gravity.
A year too late for most new buyers but this is how I managed to get perfect centre, balance and working adjusters with the peerless and the Sony.
The crucial hack was to screw the single back most mount on the inside of the peerless ring. It meant raising the adjustable legs so the back arm can stick out and clear the rubber foot along the back of the Sony.
Looks a bit weird but is perfect centre and as strong as the typical 3 arm out approach.

View attachment 1614024
Yes - that's what I never figured out lol
 
Well I am joining the club, placed my order for the Sony VW790 from the sound counsel. Hopefully arrives Tuesday, now need to get Gordon out to calibrate with my Lumagen. Upgraded for 5 year warranty so do not plan on changing this projector for at least 5 years.
 
Congratulations. The extended warranty is worth it on my opinion. What is the 790 replacing?
 

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