Advertisement
Sony is introducing two new 4K projectors for home cinema and semi-professional cinemas at IFA. The new VPL-XW8100ES replaces the previous model, the VPL-XW7000ES. Sony places the VPL-XW6100ES between it and the still available XW5000. All three use reflective LCD panels in Sony’s in-house SXRD technology (Silicon X-tal Reflective Display), which is a type of LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon). They have native 4K resolution with 4120 × 2160 pixels and project red, green and blue partial images onto the screen at the same time. This means that, unlike reflective DLP (digital light processing) projectors, there is no annoying rainbow effect.
The first important differentiating feature is brightness: According to Sony, the XW6100 achieves 2700 lumens with its laser diode, while the XW8100 achieves 3400 lumens. The second differentiating feature compared to previous models is the new image processor. It comes from Sony’s TV division and was optimized for projectors. According to Sony, developing a processor only for projectors is not worth it, the market is too small. Synergy was used here because the image optimizations are the same for projectors and televisions. As a result, Sony has coordinated the name of the new model series with the TVs: the XW8100, like the TVs with this processor, belongs to the 9 series, the XW6100 belongs to the 8 series.
The VPL-XW8100 is Sony’s top model for semi-professional home cinema. Its SXRD technology brings 4K resolution images to the screen and its laser LEDs produce a bright light of 3400 lumens.
(Image: Sony)
No 3D
Since the XR processors were developed for TVs and there is no longer 3D, the new Sony projectors also no longer support 3D. When running 4K at 120Hz, the projectors are capable of Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), so they can automatically switch to low-latency mode with a latency of 12ms. However, they cannot display variable refresh rates (VRR), although this function is now standard on high-end devices in the TV sector.
According to Sony, the 4K laser projector VPL-XW6100 brings 2700 lumens to the screen and produces colourful images for HDR playback. It is available in white and black.
(Image: Sony)
Four powerful image functions XR Dynamic Tone Mapping, XR Deep Black, XR Triluminos Pro and XR Clear Image ensure a clean, colour-coordinated display just like on a TV.
8K is not an issue yet
8K panels are currently no problem for Sony in the home theater sector, but they are working on 8K for other applications – the manufacturer did not want to disclose what these are. 8K has not yet established itself in the TV sector, also due to the lack of content. Particularly high resolutions are of limited use for video screens anyway. But you need them for autostereoscopic 3D, in which the images for each eye have to be distributed across as many segments as possible in front of the display. Several manufacturers are currently putting out feelers here and are also showing 3D monitors at IFA.
Sony says that the phosphor laser light in the new projector can now be reduced from 50 to 30 percent without harming the colors. Sony wants to further improve color gradation with dynamic tone mapping. Sony uses technology from its own camera range as the lenses in its home cinema projectors. Spherical, curved lenses are made of plastic, traditional spherical lenses are made of glass.
The question of price
Unfortunately, Sony has decided not to use Dolby Vision for its projectors. In the TV sector, the manufacturer offers both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ dynamic HDR variants. They said they don’t want to rely on external metadata but rather use their own. Sony might also want to save on the license fees it pays to Dolby.
However, given the high prices of brand new home cinema projectors, this would be surprising: the 8 Series XW6100 is said to cost 16,000 euros, the 9 Series XW8100 an impressive 26,000 euros. The still available XW5000, which uses an ultra-high-resolution SXRD panel like the new models, is currently priced at less than 4,500 euros.
(UK)
