Wasn't sony supposed to launch a 4K projector around 30K usd @ of 2011?

[Gabriele Turchi]

in September i read tab sony was going to launch in the market a new 4K projector for 30K usd before the end of 2011....
(For smaller screens (DI and home cinema) ...)
i am wondering if anyone know what happened ...and if that was just a rumor ....
thanks

g

[Stuart English]

in September i read tab sony was going to launch in the market a new 4K projector for 30K usd before the end of 2011....
(For smaller screens (DI and home cinema) ...)
i am wondering if anyone know what happened ...and if that was just a rumor ....
thanks

g


Yes they did announce that, and initial deliveries are expected in Feb 2012. Retail price seems to be about $23,000.

No end user feedback yet as far as I am aware, but solely based on the public demonstrations at CES earlier this month it seems to have rather milky blacks - as do the larger SXRD theatrical units when you compared to DLP projectors - which is disappointing, but the overall image was quite nice.

(the content shown was Girl With The Dragon Tatoo, "4K stills" - assumed to be from a Playstation 3 - and The Amazing Spiderman)

[Gabriele Turchi]

22k is a very interesting price .. does it cover P3 gamut ?

ps; well until you guys (RED) will offer something else (RED projector) i believe this is going to be attractive to many post house ....

g

[Thomas Maier]

Hi,

its already announced on the German Sony-Website.
http://www.sony.de/biz/product/fpjhomecinema/vpl-vw1000es/features

and here are some reviews (sorry, only German):
http://www.cine4home.de/tests/projektoren/Sony_VPL-VW1000/Sony_VW1000_Preview.htm
http://www.hcinema.de/pro/anzeigen.php?angabe=sonyvplvw1000
http://www.grobi-shop.tv/product_info.php?cPath=25_127&products_id=999

18.800€

It has a preset for DCI. Hoping it covers the whole P3 gamut 100%.

2 HDMI inputs for 4k.

Cheers

Thomas

[Gabriele Turchi]

pdf in english

http://www.hcinema.de/pdf/sonyvplvw1000-3-en.pdf

it does say that in cinema DCI mode the gamut is wider ...

wondering if anyone here is interested on it for DI purposes ...

g

[Blair S. Paulsen]

We are going to use it for a test DI on one reel of a show that is not yet to full picture lock. Have not actually seen or signed an NDA yet, but I will report to RedUser what I can.

The Sony ES-1000 4K SXRD projector is ostensibly aimed at the high end home theater crowd. I have actually spoken directly with some of the marketing people tasked with supporting sales of the unit and they were not even thinking about professional post production uses. I suspect it is the usual Sony (and many other large companies) arrangement where individual business units operate almost as separate entities.

In any case, as Stuart alluded to, the SXRD tech, even the big guns, suffer from lifted black levels. That said, they have excellent fill factor (percentage of output that is pixels vs the spaces in between) and when properly calibrated are quite accurate across the spectrum.

FWIW I think Sony, Christie, Barco, et al will make units for 4K DI work. Barco would be my bet for the first to market in that space unless RED can manage to get their projector out much faster than I predict. Jim and the Red Team aim high, and I LOVE that about them, but as the saying goes "its the Pioneers that get the arrows". In the case of a 4K laser projector they not only have to deal with the normal challenges but also safety concerns unique to lasers and humans co-existing. Nobody wants RED's projector in their DI suite today more than I, but the signs point to a long road - would love to be wrong about that.

One positive note in this journey is the interest in laser projectors as a potential retrofit for IMAX installations. This could drive the kind of testing needed to create safety regulations specific to the types of laser tech appropriate for display use. I am no expert, but I have been told that current regs designed to safeguard laser exposure in the workplace need significant updating.

Cheers - #19

[Marc Wielage]

I dunno, Blair. I've seen the SXRD 4K projectors at Sony Colorworks and at the facility Light Iron had at Red Studios, and the black levels didn't bother me. Is this a facility problem, or an actual technology problem?

To tell you the truth, when you put a piece of light-struck black film leader in a 35mm film projector, it still isn't absolutely black, either. The digital projector is typically better, provided the room is absolutely pitch black and there's no spill anywhere.

[Stuart English]

I dunno, Blair. I've seen the SXRD 4K projectors at Sony Colorworks and at the facility Light Iron had at Red Studios, and the black levels didn't bother me. Is this a facility problem, or an actual technology problem?

To tell you the truth, when you put a piece of light-struck black film leader in a 35mm film projector, it still isn't absolutely black, either. The digital projector is typically better, provided the room is absolutely pitch black and there's no spill anywhere.

I guess this quickly gets into an interesting discussion of "is it a problem" or "is it a characteristic" of the technology ?

As you say it may not bother you in practice, i'm just saying DLP technology projectors seem to have better blacks.


However in the big picture, we certainly welcome the arrival of a relatively affordable 4K projector, so thanks to Sony.