Sony VW590ES and VW790ES owner's thread

Hello Everyone,
First time on the forum! Glad to have found an owners tread.

Santa came early(yesterday) with a very fine VPL-VW590ES.

Sadly my JVC DLA-750 decided not to work anymore.

I am happy to be moving into the world of 4K projection.

I‘ll hack a simpl calibration. Then once we’re done with the current tier 4 thing I’ll get a professional.

Exciting times
 
Hello Everyone,
First time on the forum! Glad to have found an owners tread.

Santa came early(yesterday) with a very fine VPL-VW590ES.

Sadly my JVC DLA-750 decided not to work anymore.

I am happy to be moving into the world of 4K projection.

I‘ll hack a simpl calibration. Then once we’re done with the current tier 4 thing I’ll get a professional.

Exciting times
I've posted a bunch of setup tips throughout this thread. Most will apply as much to the 590 as to the 790. Take a look back through the thread if you want to find them. Congrats on the new PJ!
 
I've posted a bunch of setup tips throughout this thread. Most will apply as much to the 590 as to the 790. Take a look back through the thread if you want to find them. Congrats on the new PJ!

Brilliant. Thank you.
 
It's too quiet in this thread. I'm still in love with my 790ES. I've managed to clock 500 hours already. Lol. In two months. Lockdown, eh? :rotfl:
 
I'm loving mine too. Except they are yet again sending me a new one as my first replacement has a uniformity issue with a pink haze to one side. Arrives this week. Great service from Sony mind.
 
I'm loving mine too. Except they are yet again sending me a new one as my first replacement has a uniformity issue with a pink haze to one side. Arrives this week. Great service from Sony mind.
Wow, that is some bum luck!
 
I'm loving mine too. Except they are yet again sending me a new one as my first replacement has a uniformity issue with a pink haze to one side. Arrives this week. Great service from Sony mind.
Really? not much has changed then.
They are certainly great at shipping units out I will give them that. ;)
They have no choice but to replace if you find these issues so early on.
 
Indeed, perhaps there's a batch issue?. I'm just grateful that it is easily being resolved and no long drawn out issues etc.

The projector's picture is something to behold though, and I'm happy I bought one. I've really got to like the real fade to black in movies. I'm so surprised at how often it happens and the sight of everything completely disappearing in front of you is quite remarkable and very satisfying.

I've had a chance to watch quite a few movies now and the HDR is just lovely. Yes you do have a quick triple press through Contrast Enhancer level button just to make sure you are using the best option, but I don't mind too much so far. Beats £3.5k on a Lumagen just yet.
 
The projector's picture is something to behold though, and I'm happy I bought one. I've really got to like the real fade to black in movies. I'm so surprised at how often it happens and the sight of everything completely disappearing in front of you is quite remarkable and very satisfying.
Yeah it happens more than you’d think. Once you’ve been plunged into complete darkness once there’s no going back. :rotfl:
 
I added some additional lighting to my room over this weekend. Before you lose your minds, this is exclusively for gaming. Everything is pitch black for movies and shows. The keyboard and mouse are on a slide-out platform I made myself, modified it into a leather/wood coffee table I got from the local charity shop for £25.

I added RGB lighting on the underside, and crafted a backplate at the rear from a sheet of aluminium painted black — this prevents light spill to the screen from the keyboard and all of the under-lights.

The PC there is bottom-right. It is a light show unto itself, but again it is prevented from hitting the screen via the cabinet, which I built myself. I added the screen-surrounding RGB LED not really knowing how it would affect contrast etc. No light from them can directly hit the screen.

The effect is way better than I thought it would be. Very comfortable on the eyes for gaming, and even on their brightest setting, the 790 is much brighter, which actually increases perceived contrast. Black levels seem unaffected. All this lighting barring the very expensive kind in that very expensive PC I built, came to a grand total of £40. Photos always make the screen look small, but that’s actually 133” at 17:9. Perspective is weird.

25A4D2F5-28DD-4B28-B9CD-47A59506D80A.jpeg
 
That looks pretty cool. I can understand the need for it. Way back at the launch of the PS3 in 2007 I had a 90 inch screen which I also used for gaming. I should have done something like this as the fatigue was nuts in the dark.

I don't do gaming today, but such light would affect the picture in my room. I did some painting of door frames over the weekend to mat black. Looking at changing the carpet or getting a bigger rug next.
 
That looks pretty cool. I can understand the need for it. Way back at the launch of the PS3 in 2007 I had a 90 inch screen which I also used for gaming. I should have done something like this as the fatigue was nuts in the dark.

I don't do gaming today, but such light would affect the picture in my room. I did some painting of door frames over the weekend to mat black. Looking at changing the carpet or getting a bigger rug next.
Yeah, I’ve been very clever about light placement (if I do say so myself) and ensuring no ambient light is able to directly hit the screen. Almost everything in the room is black and non-reflective, so no light makes it back to the screen exceeding the black floor, amazingly. As I say, pretty chuffed with the result. Was a lot of work, but worth it.
 
Yeah, I’ve been very clever about light placement (if I do say so myself) and ensuring no ambient light is able to directly hit the screen. Almost everything in the room is black and non-reflective, so no light makes it back to the screen exceeding the black floor, amazingly. As I say, pretty chuffed with the result. Was a lot of work, but worth it.
What game is that?
 
Been playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint myself......
Must admit I have become a little addicted to just wandering/creeping around an open archipelago, popping bad guys who are minding their own business ('cos I feel like it) and avoiding T800's. Damn they are relentless! :eek:
 
Been playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint myself......
Must admit I have become a little addicted to just wandering/creeping around an open archipelago, popping bad guys who are minding their own business ('cos I feel like it) and avoiding T800's. Damn they are relentless! :eek:
I liked Breakpoint. It got a lot of flack from series fans, but as someone who didn’t bring along that kind of fan baggage I thought it was really fun. I made a sniper assassin 100% covered in tartan. It’s the small things that make me happy.
 
It's too quiet in this thread. I'm still in love with my 790ES. I've managed to clock 500 hours already. Lol. In two months. Lockdown, eh? :rotfl:
I guess there's two reasons for that, either:

a) Nobody in their right mind would buy one of these projectors, so there aren't many out there, or

b) They work brilliantly, and everyone who does own one is busy watching movies on it rather than asking questions about it on a support forum.

I bought my first projector (a Panasonic PT-AE2000) about 18 months ago, just to see if I ever actually bothered to use it once the novelty had worn off. The answer was 'yes', but side by side with my other recent display upgrade (an LG CX OLED), it really couldn't compare.

Since we're all sat around indoors watching movies anyway, if there was ever a time for a costly upgrade, now is it. Big shout out to my local dealer, PJ Hi-fi in Guildford, who lent me a demo 590ES over the holiday period. Ideally I'd also have demo'd a JVC or Epson side by side with it, but right now that's simply not possible. (If you want an N5 any time soon, join the queue or forget it.)

My own 590ES arrived last week, unexpectedly calibrated by Sony's distributor at no cost to me :)

(Incidentally - the demo unit was white and looked great... my own unit is black, but it's quite an unusual matte finish that marks very easily, and I do half wish I'd ordered a white one instead. That said, white ones are also on restricted availability right now and I didn't want to be without a projector while we're all stuck indoors).

With the right source material, it's spectacular - but it does seem as though there are quite a few ways to ruin the picture. I'm not keen on the 'reality creation' detail enhancement feature (way too sharp), and the noise reduction filter can do a fine job of smearing away perfectly clear detail across a surprisingly large area.

Turn those off, though, and it's a very revealing device indeed. Like a good sound system, quality source material can really shine, but bad sources are ruthlessly shown up. The BBC's "Seven Worlds, One Planet" UHD looks stunning. Last night's movie (Jurassic Park III UHD) was dim, gloomy and about as far from a "wow" presentation as I think I've ever seen. I've since seen some bad reviews for that particular UHD transfer, but the fact that I'm even bothering to look up BD reviews speaks volumes. For the last 9 years I've been sticking Blu-ray discs into my Oppo BDP-95, watching them on my Panasonic plasma, and thoroughly enjoying them without a second thought.

I've ordered the Spears & Munsil UHD test disc, and I'll be spending some time setting up at least one of the presets. With so many controls available on the Sony and on my DP-UB9000, I don't believe it's really possible to optimise the image by eye just by watching movie clips and trying to figure out what each control is actually doing and how they interact.
 
I guess there's two reasons for that, either:

a) Nobody in their right mind would buy one of these projectors, so there aren't many out there, or

b) They work brilliantly, and everyone who does own one is busy watching movies on it rather than asking questions about it on a support forum.

I bought my first projector (a Panasonic PT-AE2000) about 18 months ago, just to see if I ever actually bothered to use it once the novelty had worn off. The answer was 'yes', but side by side with my other recent display upgrade (an LG CX OLED), it really couldn't compare.

Since we're all sat around indoors watching movies anyway, if there was ever a time for a costly upgrade, now is it. Big shout out to my local dealer, PJ Hi-fi in Guildford, who lent me a demo 590ES over the holiday period. Ideally I'd also have demo'd a JVC or Epson side by side with it, but right now that's simply not possible. (If you want an N5 any time soon, join the queue or forget it.)

My own 590ES arrived last week, unexpectedly calibrated by Sony's distributor at no cost to me :)

(Incidentally - the demo unit was white and looked great... my own unit is black, but it's quite an unusual matte finish that marks very easily, and I do half wish I'd ordered a white one instead. That said, white ones are also on restricted availability right now and I didn't want to be without a projector while we're all stuck indoors).

With the right source material, it's spectacular - but it does seem as though there are quite a few ways to ruin the picture. I'm not keen on the 'reality creation' detail enhancement feature (way too sharp), and the noise reduction filter can do a fine job of smearing away perfectly clear detail across a surprisingly large area.

Turn those off, though, and it's a very revealing device indeed. Like a good sound system, quality source material can really shine, but bad sources are ruthlessly shown up. The BBC's "Seven Worlds, One Planet" UHD looks stunning. Last night's movie (Jurassic Park III UHD) was dim, gloomy and about as far from a "wow" presentation as I think I've ever seen. I've since seen some bad reviews for that particular UHD transfer, but the fact that I'm even bothering to look up BD reviews speaks volumes. For the last 9 years I've been sticking Blu-ray discs into my Oppo BDP-95, watching them on my Panasonic plasma, and thoroughly enjoying them without a second thought.

I've ordered the Spears & Munsil UHD test disc, and I'll be spending some time setting up at least one of the presets. With so many controls available on the Sony and on my DP-UB9000, I don't believe it's really possible to optimise the image by eye just by watching movie clips and trying to figure out what each control is actually doing and how they interact.
Welcome to the thread and to the owners' circle!

I'm not sure how they calibrated it not in-situ, since calibration of colour, black and white levels and so on requires measurement with your particular screen, material, available light (dependent on zoom, throw distance, screen gain, ambient room light level, reflected light and so on). It's worth knowing, for you, that if they calibrated it elsewhere, it is not calibrated for your set-up, and many aspects of the picture could be sub-optimal.

Like you say, an image is only as good as its source material. I have a Lumagen, so no matter what I throw at it, it is making maximum use of its abilities. I had a VW760ES before, without the Lumagen, and my workaround was to set up four different presets with varying degrees of added 'Pop' (gamma, contrast enhancer, contrast, brightness). Then when sticking a disc in or streaming something I could make a visual assessment of how dark and/or unpleassing the image is (usually streamed HDR material was the worst offender) and choose the preset that fixed the issues.

With the Lumagen I don't have to worry about any of that anymore, but yes. In the world of projectors more broadly, with the projector doing the processing, setting up some shorthand settings for different kinds of content is a good idea. Like, I'll bet I could get JPIII looking great, but I have had years of experience with these models. You'll get there. Just remember that in all but the most dire source material, settings exist to make it watchable, if not gorgeous.
 
I liked Breakpoint. It got a lot of flack from series fans, but as someone who didn’t bring along that kind of fan baggage I thought it was really fun. I made a sniper assassin 100% covered in tartan. It’s the small things that make me happy.
I too came to it with no fan baggage and find it extremely compelling. Great fun. I like mowing people down with the helicopters.:thumbsup:
Did you have the Terminator content when you played it? Adds a level of jeapordy that makes it truly nerve wracking at times. Then there is that ominous Terminator music as they relentlessly pursue you over great distances and sometimes with great speed.
 
They did ask about the size and gain of my screen (122 inch / 1.1).

Even if it's not adjusted for my specific room, at the very least it should be calibrated to produce an accurate neutral grey scale without tinting - and it is. I tried turning the colour right down to zero and the resulting B&W image was perfectly neutral to my eyes. I was really impressed.

Hopefully with the Spears & Munsil I'll be able to make sure nothing is set too far out, and I'll know where the sensible limits are for adjustment to suit different sources.
 
They did ask about the size and gain of my screen (122 inch / 1.1).

Even if it's not adjusted for my specific room, at the very least it should be calibrated to produce an accurate neutral grey scale without tinting - and it is. I tried turning the colour right down to zero and the resulting B&W image was perfectly neutral to my eyes. I was really impressed.

Hopefully with the Spears & Munsil I'll be able to make sure nothing is set too far out, and I'll know where the sensible limits are for adjustment to suit different sources.

for the cost of the projector I’d recommend a professional calibration. The S&M test disc will only get you so far.
 
for the cost of the projector I’d recommend a professional calibration. The S&M test disc will only get you so far.
Yeah, it’s entirely up to you of course, but you’re not going to get the best results until it’s professionally calibrated on-site. And a few hundred quid is a fractional cost compared to this projector. Our advice is to add it to your to-do list. :thumbsup:
 
Into the fifth month of its launch and this forum still has no review of the 790ES, or the 590ES for that matter ?????. Arguably the only new units released so far in a year filled with almost nothing, and yet no review.

The 790ES has already received Reference Status by Home Cinema Choice magazine mentioned earlier.
 
Into the fifth month of its launch and this forum still has no review of the 790ES, or the 590ES for that matter ?????. Arguably the only new units released so far in a year filled with almost nothing, and yet no review.

The 790ES has already received Reference Status by Home Cinema Choice magazine mentioned earlier.
They have units in-hand... it was in their podcast a month ago. So they are coming. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to waiting their turn for review units I think.
 

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