Sony VW325ES 4K HDR Home Theater Projector VPL-VW325ES, Black

A superb projector with amazing color, brightness and contrast. Compared to my previous projector, the Epson 5040UB (which was a fantastic projector as well), the 325ES blows it out of the water when it comes to color and contrast. On paper it has a lower lumen output than the 5040, but I have complete light control in my room, with no windows and walls painted black, so it actually looks brighter than the 5040 when both are on low power due to the better HDR processing and contrast. If you don't have complete light control and watching with bright ambient lighting, you may have some trouble getting it bright enough to cut through. The HDR and color on the 325ES appears richer and brighter than the 5040 thanks to the SXRD panels and not needing a color filter which the 5040 uses on some picture presets to improve color accuracy but at the expense of brightness. The native 4K resolution makes UHD content very sharp and crispy, noticeably sharper than the pixel shifting the 5040 uses. As an added bonus, the Reality Creation feature adds some extra enhancement to give things a little more pop and realism. I've added some off-screen shots to help show the contrast, brightness and color qualities, but of course they can't fully replicate the image quality that you see with your own eyes. The 325ES is pretty pricey, especially when compared to the Epson 5040/5050 which is still a great value projector. But if you're willing to pay a premium price, you'll get a premium picture quality that'll be worth it.

I've had this projector for ~6mos now and have used and fiddled with it extensively. The worst thing about this projector is that you may have to fiddle with it extensively to get the results I describe. The same settings are not appropriate for all content either! But when you get it nailed, I almost can't imagine ever needing or wanting a different projector. First though to have the experiences I'm talking about you really want HDR content, and you really want the device driving the projector to be tonemapping. I've not found any foolproof setup for this, so expect to do some learning and some experimentation. Tonemapping Rec.2020 content down to the Rec.709 gamut is a good start. Let me walk you through the projector's abilities in terms of a couple films (all UHD) I've watched on it. The Lord of the Rings: The colors are just amazing. Shots of The Shire are such an incredibly vibrant green that I didn't feel like I was in my living room anymore. These movies include a lot of flashes of vision, occasional stabs from the Eye of Sauron, or glimpses of the Lady Galadriel. With no dynamic iris, the projector can go from full dark to full bright in the span of a single frame. Flashes of blinding vision really can be blinding! Scenes lit by fire or candlelight also feel incredibly realistic. Even relatively conservative picture settings like "Ref" mode at 50% contrast. Jurassic Park: The remaster of this animatronic classic is brilliant for being full-frame 4k, and honestly way scarier than I remember when presented in such a technically immaculate fashion. The movie itself isn't super contrast-y, so it's safe and quite desirable to use more aggressive settings like "Brt Cine" mode at 75% contrast. This makes the bulk of the lighting in the movie feel highly realistic, especially the daytime outdoor scenes which looked decided dim without adjustments. While some highlights may be at the white point I can't say I noticed even a single puddle of solid white anywhere. Dune: This movie is HDR-native and probably the most challenging film I've attempted to screen. It has both very low-light scenes, and very bright desert scenes. Getting the settings right does involve picking a bit of a balance, and you probably need to sample some of the later scenes to make sure you don't blow out the desert in an attempt to made the low light easier on the eyes. The 4k resolution really shines for this movie.

After purchasing a 4-year-old house that had a custom media room with middle-of-the-road professional equipment (22K install) I had numerous issues with the current installed Epson Pro Cinema 6040UB projector that was not 4K native ready. The main issue was a lack of clear focus and shortly after as moved in things started to go wrong with its optical system. I had started to look for a new 4K projector and came across this new model. My A/V dealer recommended this projector as a base entry to the Sony 4K projectors. I purchased on Amazon thru Gramophone and had it shipped across the country by UPS. Only complaint was that it was not in a protected outbox protecting the factory shipping box. This projector is freaking amazing for the price point. Yes, it’s expensive, but if you want to get into the new current release of Sony 4K projectors, this one is the way to go. Vivid, extremely sharp, and amazing detail. It was less light our point the our old projector, but you would never know by watching on a good basic level screen from 2017 (2K). Now I want to upgrade my screen to a new grey light reflecting 2.35:1 wide angle screen. This projector accepts all screen settings, although I think there is not a memory setting to go from one version to another without scrolling thru the aspect settings. Disney movies, sports, streaming TV and movies, and Nintendo switch games are world class. If your budget is between 5 to 6K, I think this is one of the best projectors currently available. I hooked it up to a new Yamaha Yamaha Aventage RX-A6A. It’s singularly outstanding. Gramaphone was great to deal with and expertly guided me thru the selection and installation process. The proper mounting bracket was another $200 I think and utilized my current ceiling drop pole.