Clearly Sony is doing something right in the specialty and custom electronics markets with its line of projectors. With approximately 70 percent of the CE Pro Top 100 dealers using its projectors the company is aggressively ensuring its products remain an important piece of the home theater puzzle.
The latest announcement from the popular electronics manufacturer expands its range of 4K HDR (high dynamic range) projectors by providing dealers with a simple to execute update for the VW365ES, and Sony states the update will be available by the end of May as an easy-to-install download.
Sony's product marketing manager of projectors, Andre Floyd, says the company offers a total of five Ultra HD 4K projectors, and with the upcoming HDR update, he points out that the company will now provide the market with a choice of three HDR-capable projectors.
Floyd says the $10,000 VW365ES features a lamp rated to last for as much as 6,000 hours, and capabilities to produce up to 1,500 lumens. Some of the product's other features include an RF 3D emitter, IP control options, a USB port that facilitates product updates, and a customizable menu option that allows installers to add their companies' names to the projector menu greeting system.
HDR offers homeowners “three dimensional color and greater color luminance, a menu for picture quality that now includes HDR, and color gamuts includes BT.2020,” says Floyd. “It is not BT.2020 capable, but it can emulate the BT.2020 color space.”
Continuing, he says these color space options are much wider than the HD Rec.709 format, and the projector's Cinema Film 2 is preset to provide BT.2020 and HDR.
Reinforcing Sony's commitment to true Ultra HD 4K Floyd emphasizes that Sony is the only manufacturer offering dealers native 4K projectors. Explaining his statement, he says that Texas Instruments' (TI) upcoming 4K chip is 2,716 x 1,528 and it produces 4.1 million pixels. Going further Floyd points out that JVC's D-ILA and Epson 3LCD products utilize pixel-shifting three chip 1,920 x 1,080 systems that produce 6.2 million pixels, while Sony's SXRD three-chip 4,096 x 2,160 system produces 26.5 million pixels.
“Sony provides full pixel detail,” says Floyd.
Floyd adds that other provisions Sony offers to help dealers include its Projector Simulator App (Apple iOS and Android), which helps dealers to match the correct Sony residential and commercial projector to the right application, and training to maximize the performance of its products.
“HDR provides many more levels of color and brightness in the image. If you don't have enough pixels, HDR makes less of a difference,” he says alluding to Sony's native 4K solutions. “We support Joel Silver of the Imaging Science Foundation [ISF]. Joel has started to use our software, and we also provide training throughout the year.”
