This was very frustrating, and a far cry from the lens memories on the JVC 4K projectors, which work perfectly every time. The lens memory was something of a disappointment, and never correctly returned to one of the saved aspect ratios. There's also masking controls, so you can reframe content to its original wider aspect ratio, if presented opened up on a disc. This allows the projector to change from 1.78:1 material to other aspect ratios such as 1.85:1, 2.00:1, 2.20:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1 and 2.40:1, gradually filling up the scope ratio screen as the aspect ratio widens. The VW790 includes fully motorised lens shift, focus and zoom controls, and also has a lens memory feature for use with scope ratio screens. The lens memory feature is annoyingly inaccurate, never correctly returning to a saved aspect ratio This performance is helped by Sony's Digital Focus Optimiser, which uses optical analysis to apply an algorithm that compensates for any lack of focus in the lens, producing sharper and more detailed images. In terms of white field uniformity, this was also excellent with no colour shift or dark edges visible. Test patterns look sharp and uniform, without any soft edges or chromatic aberrations. The lens appears to be high quality, with precise and detailed images. There is a zoom function that scales up to the native resolution of the panel, but this introduces artefacts, and it makes more sense to zoom up the image to fit the screen using the lens controls. Since the VW790ES uses a 4096 x 2160 panel, 4K Ultra HD resolution material (3840 x 2160) is shown with a slight black border at the sides of the image. As the projector uses three SXRD panels, these need to be aligned properly, and on the review sample this was excellent, with no obvious misalignment. Other benefits include fast on and off (20 seconds to turn on and near instant off), along with higher quality colours, better black levels and improved shadow detail. A laser light source has a number of advantages over a bulb, other than long life, such as significantly less dimming or drifting, which results in greater consistency over its life. Instead of a traditional UHP lamp, it uses a Z-Phosphor laser light source which Sony claims will last 20,000 hours and deliver up to 2,000 Lumens. The Sony VPL-VW790ES is a native 4K projector with a chipset that uses 4096 x 2160 pixels and SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display) technology. So let's put the Sony VPL-VW790ES through its paces, and see if it's worth the upgrade. Unusually, the VW790 is £3,000 cheaper than its predecessor, and costs £11,999 as at the time of writing (December 2020). This is designed to improve the perceived HDR image by using scene-by-scene processing, although it should be stressed that it doesn't use dynamic tone mapping. The projector also adds a new feature – Dynamic HDR Enhancer.
The VW790ES adds the new 'X1 for Projector' picture processor, which ports over technology used in Sony's high-end BRAVIA TVs. This new projector uses an identical 4096 x 2160 chipset and Z-Phosphor laser light source as the earlier model with a claimed 2,000 lumens, along with all the same features such as motorised lens controls, lens memory, dual contrast control (dimmable laser light and dynamic iris), and digital focus optimiser for improved sharpness across the entire image. So that just leaves Brightness, which is something the Optoma excels at.The Sony VPL-VW790ES is the latest 4K HDR SXRD projector from the company, and replaces the previous VPL-VW760ES. As soon as you put the glasses on all of this shifts. My feeling with 3D from a projector is that a lot of the things that differentiate between models like the Sony and JVC or Optoma do not matter. It would be hard to say there was any difference, they do have slightly different tints, which you would calibrate for. They are all the same spec, but need different emitters. I tried out the Optoma, Hi-Shock and Xpand 3D glasses. I then compared the 3D VESA Sync against the DPL Link on the Optoma. The flicked on 96Hz was now very noticeable. The 144hz gives a much stronger, stable image.
I compared the 144hz triple flash against the Sony’s 96Hz, and after a couple of movies, the difference was so obvious it was hard to go back. My experience was that VESA Sync was preferable to DLP link. This does 144hz triple flash, using 3D VESA Sync. I ended up buying an Optoma HD39Darbee just for 3D. I have a Sony VPL-45HW as my main projector, but the 3D is 96Hz and suffers from ghosting on titles like Star Wars Rogue One. The conclusion I came to, is that you need a projector dedicated to 3D to get the most out of it.
For what it is worth I looked into this in great detail last year.