What a coincidence. Just 10 days after we reviewed the Sony VPL-HW65ES, the Japanese manufacturer has today announced the launch of a new VPL-HW45ES step-down model which will succeed the company’s immensely successful VPL-HW40ES.
While the chassis design remains unchanged, Sony claims the internal technology has been completely upgraded, so the VPLHW45ES can offer not only higher brightness, contrast and resolution, but also less background picture noise than its 2-year-old predecessor.
As always, a 1080p SXRD panel and Sony’s Reality Creation video processing technology are on board. The VPL-HW45’s lumens output is specced at 1800 which is slightly higher than the 1700 quoted for the outgoing VPL-HW40. Although this wasn’t explicitly stated in the press release, we expect the absence of dynamic iris to be the key difference between the Sony VPL-HW45ES and the step-up VPL-HW65ES (which we recently tested), just like how the VPL-HW40ES differs from the VPL-HW55ES.
Other features including Motionflow enhancement technology, quiet operation, long-lasting lamp up to 6000 hours, an inbuilt RF 3D transmitter, as well as a USB update function to keep the device’s firmware up-to-date with the latest software releases. Flexible installations are permitted by the VPLHW45’s compact size and front-facing exhausts. The projector is available in either black or white finish.
The Sony VPLHW45ES will arrive in the UK next month. European price has been set at €2199, but we’ll update this article with UK pricing when we receive it.
