Sony VPL-XW6000ES 4K HDR Laser Projector

After assuring that this product could be returned to the seller, I ordered this product, hesitant because of its discount. But the product arrived by freight a week later in perfect condition, apparently never unwrapped. There were zero hours on the lamp.

The VPL-XW6000ES is in the middle of a line of laser-lit projectors using Sony’s proprietary SXRD technology. It is my fourth model in 20 years. This one is 40% brighter than my previous 7-year-old VPL-VW675ES and has a fantastic image in my dedicated home theater. It is so bright that I had to turn down the laser emitter. The less expensive 5000 is an excellent entry-level choice, but not much brighter than my previous unit. The MUCH more expensive 7000 is a lot brighter but overkill for a dedicated blackout theater.

One feature this new Sony does exceptionally well is playing 3D movies. It is so bright that even with the glasses on, the experience rivals sitting in a commercial theater. It is too bad that Sony makes you buy a third-party 3D transmitter instead of installing it in the projector like the previous models. For a high-end device this sophisticated, not installing a part that probably would cost them fifty bucks seems ungenerous at best.

At this price point, the projector fetishists complain about its black level, sharpness at the image edges, and the relative difficulty of calibrating the image. But right out of the box, looking at movies I know very well, I was pretty gob-smacked, and I am not easily impressed.

Upgrading from a 5 year old Sony 4k native projector. This projector is MUCH brighter. I’m measuring 260 lumens of white on a 150″ screen using the Light Meter LM-3000 app on my iPhone. It would help if I remembered the measurement for the old projector, but this projector a) is much brighter b) has much better color and c) is sharper. In looking at online review for this and the JVC, Sony has better motion and general sharpness/definition and JVC still has better black level details. For me personally, watching streaming 4k movies form an Apple TV and playing games on a Sony PS5 is stunning. The PS5 graphics are almost hard to believe. 4k at 60 fps on 150″ screen with brightness and clarity is a wonderful thing to behold. The subjective evaluation is that I always felt like my last projector was dim and didn’t work well unless it was completely dark in the room. With this projector I feel like I’m getting a tan in the reflection.