Sony has taken the wraps off a new duo of high-performance laser projectors designed to both substantially improve on the picture quality of their predecessors and introduce some of the sort of cutting edge gaming capabilities you’d hope to see from the brand that brought us the PlayStation 5.
In keeping with Sony’s 2024 TV releases, the two new projectors have been christened with new ‘Bravia’ names: The Bravia Projector 9 and Bravia Projector 8. Though for continuity’s sake, both new projectors also carry more traditional VPL-XW8100ES and VPL-XW6100ES model numbers.
Both models use laser lighting (offering up to 20,000 hours of uninterrupted movie viewing) and Sony’s proprietary SXRD optics, complete with a true 4K resolution delivered from a remarkably compact 0.61-inch imaging chip.
Front view of the white version of Sony’s new VPL-XW8100ES (AKA Bravia Projector 9) projector.
Both support high dynamic range playback too, in the HDR10 and HLG formats, and in a great move for gamers both models finally introduce full HDMI 2.1 support to Sony’s projector range, complete with the ability to take in the 4K/120Hz feeds now deliverable from the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and powerful PC graphics cards.
Sony’s new projectors both feature the same eye-catchingly compact (considering how powerful they are) designs, which are both available in either black or white finishes, and are powered by the latest version of Sony’s XR Processor for projectors – an adaptation of the much-acclaimed XR processing created by Sony’s TV division.
The star attraction of this new processor is XR Dynamic Tone Mapping. This detects the peak brightness of incoming content frame by frame and then optimizes playback of the gradation of bright scenes and the brightness and shadow detailing of dark scenes. The two new projectors mark the first time Sony has provided true dynamic tone mapping technology for its projectors – and from what I could see during a genuinely dazzling demonstration of the XW8100ES, its impact on the new projectors’ HDR performance is profound. I was pleased, too, to find Sony providing more choice over how aggressively the dynamic tone mapping works than you usually get with either TVs or projectors.
The processor in Sony’s new projectors also features an XR Deep Black feature that controls the light output of the lasers, dimming them down for dark scenes, to deliver improved black levels and dark scene performance. As with the new projectors’ predecessor, this laser control is clever enough to increase gain in bright picture areas of a mostly dark image even while dimming the image down generally to improve black levels.
Both of Sony’s new projectors are available in black as well as white.
Sony claims to have improved the algorithms used for the XR Deep Black implementation on the XW8100ES and XW6100ES so that dark scenes enjoy both more subtle detailing and richer color saturations. This latter improvement in particular was clearly apparent during Sony’s demonstrations of what its new projectors can do.
The new projectors’ XR Triluminos Pro system, meanwhile, claims to deliver more than a billion colors across a range wide enough to encompass 95% of the DCI-P3 HDR gamut, while an XR Clear Image element in both projectors uses advanced frame by frame object analysis to offer improved upscaling of sub-4K sources by first identifying and removing noise in the source signal and then optimising the appearance of different textures in the upscaled 4K final image.
These specific attributes of the XR processor are joined by a more general feature that uses depth mapping and focal point recognition to give the image a three-dimensional feel more akin to the way our eyes see the real world. An effect that works well on Sony’s TVs, and could be even more effective at the sort of image sizes XW8100ES and XW6100ES can deliver.
Both of Sony’s new projectors introduce a few new installation enhancements to Sony’s laser projection range for the first time, too. There’s now gamma correction for HDR (previously this was only available for SDR), as well as keystone correction to help you get the edges of the image parallel even in awkward installation set ups. The keystone correction works with the new projectors’ impressive motorized lens shift flexibility, and there’s now also improved blanking flexibility for 2.40:1 aspect ratios as well as more picture position memory slots for storing picture setups for different aspect ratios.
You don’t have to have a home as nice as this to own one of Sony’s new home theater projectors, but … [+]
The XW8100ES and XW6100ES each benefit from one of Sony’s 13-piece Advanced Crisp Focus Lenses, designed to stop the crispness of the native 4K resolution from being lost on its journey through the lens. The AFC lenses feature one plastic and 12 glass elements with a 70mm Aspherical front lens, and support 1:1.35-2.84 throw ratios and powered lens shifting of +/-85% vertically, or +/-36% horizontally.
The main difference between the XW8100ES and XW6100ES is that the higher model claims 3,400 lumens of maximum brightness, versus 2,700 lumens on the XW6100ES. The XW8100ES’s 3,400 lumens means it’s capable of delivering up to 210 nits of brightness even on a 150-inch screen (or as much as 330 nits on a 120-inch screen).
Plus, of course, there’s a price difference… The XW8100ES is set to retail for $31,999.99/£25,999, while the XW6100ES will be $15,999.99/£15,999. Both models are scheduled to go on sale in November, replacing the previous XW7000ES. The existing XW5000ES will continue in Sony’s range, though, as an entry level Sony laser projector option.
As I’ve mentioned in passing on a couple of occasions through this article, Sony put on a short but varied demonstration of the XW8100ES on a huge four meter screen, and the results were honestly nothing short of jaw dropping. Needless to say I’ll be moving heaven and earth to get my hands on these new projectors for more in-depth testing as soon as they’re available.
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