# Looking for the best upgrade to a Sony 675ES



## Argelius (May 7, 2021)

I am looking to upgrade my Sony VW675ES projector (poor HDR performance) and have come down to the

[1] Sony ES915 vs JVC NX9 (laser beam vs 8K pixel shifting with 2200 lumens), in the $15-20K range, and

[2] Sony ES715 vs JVC NX7.My space is dark, but 24’ from projector to screen, so brightness is important. 

Curious about the thoughts of anyone who cares to weigh in.


----------



## Da Wiz (May 8, 2019)

You absolutely CANNOT get good HDR performance from ANY projector today. It's all a numbers game, and projectors just don't have the numbers. Even a $60,000 projector is "weak" in regards to HDR performance. As display panels become available (tiles that snap together to make LED screens as large as you like) and prices become reasonable, unless something magical happens, projection will disappear because of the limitations of the technology. HDR requires high luminance capabilities. But projectors are unable to deliver the 1000+ nits required (especially with large screens people are drawn to like moths to light) to make HDR look like an upgrade from Standard Dynamic Range. When you make projectors brighter, the screens end up getting much more light reflected back onto them ruining black levels. Even that $60,000 projector could only produce about 350 nits vs. over 3000 nits for a top line Vizio TV that sells for less than $1500. HDR and DCI/P3/D65 color space both require high luminance levels to bring HDR to life and projectors are simply the wrong technology to do that. Especially with the large screen sizes (that make projectors dimmer) most home theater enthusiasts select without regard for how dim the images will be. I've seen home theaters where the 100% white level for standard definition is 8 nits (measured). There's simply no way for a projector to do justice to HDR. Every time a projector manufacturer says "the new 20xx model makes HDR sources look better than ever" you can be CERTAIN that statement is hyperbole. The images may be a LITTLE BIT better than the previous years' projectors, but there's not going to be a drastic improvement because projectors just don't have the luminance. The ONLY POSSIBLE way projection can survive the HDR crisis is if they adopt RGB lasers and those projectors are just barely appearing now. But RGB lasers are just the start. If those lasers can't produce 1000 nits or more on-screen, they aren't really going to make HDR all that much better. 2200 lumens will likely translate to 50 or 60 nits on a 1.0 gain screen less than 100 inches wide for 100% white. You can get 2000+ nits in a new Hisense flat-screen TV for about $1000 in 65-inch diagonal size. The flat screen TV will produce 40 times more light than the projector. That is the amount of light that is needed to make HDR look impressive. If you are committed to projection you can only wait and see if anything develops; abandon projection and go for a high-performance and high luminance 85-inch diagonal flat screen (reasonably affordable compared to the projector you mentioned). All you have to do is move the 85-inch TV a few feet closer to have the same viewing angle as a 10-foot wide screen. Cinematic video is all about viewing angle, not screen size. An 85-inch TV and a 120 inch screen have precisely the same visual impact when the viewing angles are identical.


----------

