sony vpl-hw50es or sony vpl-hw95es or ?, and with which screen?

B

branchman5000

Enthusiast
So I am trying to decide between the sony vpl-hw50es or sony vpl-hw95es for a projector. It's will be in my bonus room which is on a second floor and unfortunately I cannot provide you with correct room dimensions at this time because the house has not been built yet but I do know it is a rectangle with a window on the opposite side of the projector screen.

The viewing will mostly be 75% movies and 25% sports. I want to be able to have a decent lit room while watching football, march madness, etc while I have friends over. A bunch of dudes sitting in a dark room drinking liquor is something I frown upon. Anyways, i've demoed various projectors from the Epson 6020UB to the Runco Q750i (which I could get for $8K which is the max on the budget, I would like to get the best deal possible and i'm one of those people that hates paying full price unless it warrants it). However, I would like to have the flexibility of having 3-D and watching movies in 2:35:1 is really important to me. I like what I've read about the Sony's but have not had a chance to demo them so I am here asking for advice.

Then I need some help with screen dilemma. I want to watch movies the way they were meant to be seen in 2:35:1 especially if I drop a bunch on a good blu-ray player but I also want to watch sports without being too stretched out. What would be the best brands and models to look at?

Thank you for your input. I really appreciate it.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
The Sony projectors offer a lot of quality. Which is good, because I've generally heard that their support is not the best if you do have an issue. You want to keep in mind that the 50ES will offer a stellar image for the money, so any increase in price you are paying for the 95es will be for a very marginal improvement overall. This is entirely your choice, but I would not spend the money on that small improvement, but would save the money for a few years and spend it on a new projector in 5 years which is better than anything on the market today. Kind of like buying a top dollar PC today... in five years something half the price (or less) will outperform it in almost every manner.

Now, you are talking about a decent lit room, but we need to talk about the entire room. The Sony is a class of projector which puts a lot of burden on you for the image quality.

The room must have dark carpet.
The room must have dark walls and ceiling.
It doesn't have to be black, but black is preferred.
Darker is better, always use flat paint... no gloss to the paint at all. Not satin... Flat dark paint.

If that is to much to ask, then you won't get out of a 95ES or a 50ES what it can deliver because the room will destroy the on screen image.

Now, that said, if you want some lights on, you have to plan for those lights to be positioned away from the screen and be directional (ceiling cans).

Please see: AV Integrated - Custom Audio Visual Integration In Washington DC Metropolitan Area

For a screen, once again I would tread carefully. The only way to do 2.35:1 properly is with a anamorphic lens. A good lens costs upwards of $1,000 and you will want it to be on a sled, maybe a motorized sled to move it in front of and away from the projector lens. This will give you proper aspect ratio 2.35 material on a 2.35 screen, and proper aspect for 1.78 material (16:9) on a 2.35 screen. But, since the aspect ratios don't match up, you will have black bars on the left/right of the screen.

You really do need the measurements of your room to make this decision. Anamorphic setups, done properly add thousands of dollars to your cost. Not a big deal for some, but expensive for others.

Beyond the cost of 2.35 setups, you have to look at your room...
Is the room wide enough to support a 2.35 screen and still give you enough size for a 1.78 image that is impactful?
Does it make more sense to just go with a 1.78 screen that is as wide as you want your 2.35 image to be?
Is the projector bright enough to support that size?
Will you need to go to an acoustically transparent screen to place speakers?
Are you prepared for the work involved with an acoustically transparent screen if you do go that route?

You will need to get everything planned out now. Prepare for dark surfaces everywhere - make the room a cave! Then light it up with plenty of zoned recessed lights that are dimmable. Sconces are pretty, but stupid in a theater. Rope lights under a raised platform are almost always improperly implemented. Stick with the basics for your theater lighting - put light above each location that needs it while the movie is on. Put separate lights above the rest of the space on a separate dimmer. Then add more accent lighting which will most often be off while the movie is playing anywhere else you want.
 
B

branchman5000

Enthusiast
BMXTRIX thank you for your input. I will be able to control where the lighting is put in however, I do want to be able to watch sports with lots of light on. Is there another few projectors I should be looking into with a room that will have more light?

Also, what screen manufacturers should I be looking at?
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
BMXTRIX thank you for your input. I will be able to control where the lighting is put in however, I do want to be able to watch sports with lots of light on. Is there another few projectors I should be looking into with a room that will have more light?

Also, what screen manufacturers should I be looking at?
If you look at the link I provided above, there is no reason you can't have a lot of light on in the room, but it must be well away from the screen. Directional light over the seating area, so you don't have a bunch of guys sitting in the 'dark'. The link above shows that you can have in excess of 300 watts of active lighting towards the back of the room with minimal on-screen impact. Keeping in mind that the projector I used in the demo shots was likely putting out about 300-400 lumens of brightness, which is far less than the Sony would be delivering. If your space is properly theater dark, then the Sony, or a JVC RS model will deliver about the best image quality you could get for the money.

For a screen, if you need a fixed frame screen I strongly recommend the Carada Criterion screen in Brilliant White material. It is one of the finest built screens I have come across over the years. Cheaper screens from Visual Apex (VAPEX screens), or Focupix, are all good, but not built nearly as well, and screens from Stewart are typically a lot more money for near identical performance. Projection Screens - Home Theater Projector Screens by Carada

If you are serious about the home theater aspect, then the Sony or JVC models are the way to go. But, being serious about your setup requires you to ensure the entire room is capable of delivering all aspects that you need, and that includes at least two zones of lighting in the space so you can get your lights on for sporting events while not impacting the on screen image.
 
S

Senact

Audioholic Intern
I can't overemphasis the importance of dark/flat paint colours, as BMX has said. I have the HW50 and I installed it into what used to be a bedroom with dirty white walls and white ceiling. While the picture quality was good, the light reflectance in the room was unbearable. I have since torn the whole room apart to rebuild.
 
G

Grador

Audioholic Field Marshall
The only way to do 2.35:1 properly is with a anamorphic lens. A good lens costs upwards of $1,000 and you will want it to be on a sled, maybe a motorized sled to move it in front of and away from the projector lens. This will give you proper aspect ratio 2.35 material on a 2.35 screen, and proper aspect for 1.78 material (16:9) on a 2.35 screen. But, since the aspect ratios don't match up, you will have black bars on the left/right of the screen.
Out of curiosity, I was wondering why anamorphic lenses were still required for a digital projector. When I look at the situation what I see is that you have a set resolution (1920x1080) and that any deviation in aspect ratio is throwing away the extra pixels. Is it not true that using anamorphic with a digital projector is just expanding the 2.35 image to take up the full space of 1.78 resolution (stretching being a bad thing overall) and then using the lense to stretch it back out to 2.35? I'm curious if i'm missing something, because that really doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
 

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