At CEDIA Expo 2024 in Denver, Sony Electronics surprised show attendees with two new home theater projectors, the first to sport Sony’s BRAVIA badge. The company recently expanded the BRAVIA brand to include home theater speakers and soundbars, and now projectors are part of the BRAVIA family. But it’s not just the name that has changed. These projectors are also first to include the company’s highly acclaimed XR Cognitive Processor found in their OLED and MiniLED TVs. The XR processor has been optimized for projectors specifically to improve HDR tone mapping, detail and black level reproduction.
The two new projectors are the BRAVIA Projector 8 ($15,999) and BRAVIA Projector 9 ($31,999). The BRAVIA 8 (VPL-XW6100ES), replaces the VPL-XW6000ES. The BRAVIA 9 (VPL-VW8100ES) replaces the VPL-XW7000ES, and is one step down from the flagship VPL-GTZ380 ($80,000) which is still being sold.
Both the BRAVIA Projector 8 and BRAVIA Projector 9 feature 4K native resolution thanks to a 3-Chip SXRD imaging engine. SXRD is Sony’s proprietary version of LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). Both projectors also feature a laser light engine capable of lasting up to 20,000 hours or more before reaching half brightness. These require little to no maintenance and can last 10 years or more with 5 hours a day of active use.
The BRAVIA Projector 8 and BRAVIA Projector 9 are identically sized at 18-1/8 x 8-9/32 x 20-11/32 inches (WxHxD) and each weighs 31 pounds. This puts the projectors on the smaller side for a high-end 4K home theater projector. Sony says the units are about 20% smaller in volume and about 30% lighter than an earlier Sony model, the VPL-VW915ES They’re also both very quiet, generating only 26dB of background noise while in operation.
Where the two projectors differ are in their peak luminance. The BRAVIA Projector 8 is rated for 2,700 Lumens while the BRAVIA Projector 9 is rated for 3,400 Lumens of light output. The BRAVIA Projector 9 also includes the company’s Live Color Enhancer technology, which is designed to provide “more vivid and vibrant images, even in brighter environments.” The BRAVIA 8 is available in both white and black finishes while the BRAVIA 9 is only available in black. Otherwise, the specs on these two projectors look quite similar. Both include the new XR Cognitive Processor for Projectors with enhanced HDR tone mapping.
To understand why HDR tone mapping matters, it helps to understand a bit about the HDR mastering process when theatrical films and TV shows are mastered for home release. Movies and TV shows which are mastered with HDR (high dynamic range) frequently use a reference level of 1,000 or even 4,000 nits for peak brightness. But even the brightest projectors can’t match this level of light output. So any time you’re watching 4K/HDR content, whether on disc, on a streaming app or in a Kaleidescape movie download, you’ll want to make sure your projector or TV has good HDR tone mapping for the best visual experience. Sony’s XR Cognitive processor offers advanced frame-by-frame Dynamic HDR tone mapping which should make it quite good at adjusting the scale of brightness in the content to match the luminance capabilities of the projector. But the “proof is in the pudding” as they say. Fortunately we got to taste that pudding.
At CEDIA Expo 2024, we attended Sony’s demonstration comparing the BRAVIA 9 to its predecessor, the VPL-VW7000ES. Both projectors lit up a 150-inch Studiotek 130 screen from Stewart Filmscreen and they switched back and forth between projectors to show the differences. It was immediately clear that the company has made significant improvements in HDR tone mapping with the XR processor. Sony put on a scene from the movie “Alpha” which was mastered for 4,000 nits of peak luminance. On the BRAVIA Projector 9, the sunset showed a clear round sun, with fine details visible in the clouds. On the VW7000 projector, the outlines of the sun disappeared. The sky was bright, but diffusely lit with no detail visible in the bright areas of the screen. This was probably not the director’s or cinematographer’s intent when filming the scene.
On the other end of the spectrum, we were treated to a scene from the aptly named “Zero Dark Thirty.” In this scene, shadow details in a late night special ops raid were revealed on the BRAVIA 9 which were invisible on the VW7000. So the BRAVIA 9 does seem to offer a more accurate representation of 4K/HDR content, given the brightness limitations of a projector at both ends of the brightness spectrum.
Another area of improvement in the BRAVIA projectors over their predecessors is in the gaming department. Both the BRAVIA 8 and BRAVIA 9 projectors offer HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate). Both offer 4K/120Hz and 4K/48Hz input support. Early measurements of the BRAVIA 9 show a screen lag time as low as 12 milliseconds, which is as good or better than many flat panel TVs.
We liked the BRAVIA Projector 9 so much, we named it “Best in Show” for consumer home theater projectors at CEDIA Expo 2024. Hopefully we’ll get to see the Sony projector up against the flagship JVC projector soon as the new Sony is sure to give the JVC a run for its money.
The Bottom Line
From our first impressions, it looks like Sony has a couple of winners here with the BRAVIA Projector 8 and BRAVIA Projector 9. Each features strong performance in home theater projection at prices which are comparable to competitive products. We can’t really figure out why there’s a price premium of $16,000 between models with only a 700 Lumen increase in brightness and that mysterious “Live Color Enhancer” which is only available on the BRAVIA 9. Maybe there’s more going on under the hood than Sony is letting on? In any case, the BRAVIA 8 should be an excellent pick for most home theaters and the BRAVIA 9 will provide that extra bit of performance for those willing to pony up the difference.
Where to Buy
The BRAVIA Projector 8 and BRAVIA Projector 9 are available from authorized Sony dealers and can be ordered online:
- BRAVIA Projector 8 – $15,999 at ProjectorScreen
- BRAVIA Projector 9 – $31,999 at ProjectorScreen
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Robert Zohn
September 17, 2024 at 2:46 pm
We have Sony’s new BRAVIA Projector 9, VPL-XW8100ES and the BRAVIA Projector 8, VPL-XW6100ES on display/demo in our new 2nd A/V Showroom where we built 18 high-end Cinema Demo rooms.
The big upgrade is Sony’s new 2nd Generation of the XR Processor that does frame by frame tone mapping and the new brighter and blacker SXRD laser light source renders exceptional depth and detail from all content and images.