Sony VPL-XW8100ES

In the world of serious home theatre there are projectors - and there are, well, projectors. With a price tag of £25,999 and high-end specs that almost feel deliberately designed to make grown home cinema fans have a little accident, Sony’s VPL-XW8100ES belongs very much in the latter category. But numerous very capable projectors are available for a fraction of the XW8100ES’s wallet-busting cost - what is Sony offering for all this money? 

Picture quality

It takes all of about 30 seconds watching the XW8100ES to answer the question of whether it can justify its price with a resounding ‘yes’. Imagine a ‘yes’ shouted, in fact, in much the same triumphant, defiant way William Wallace screams ‘freedom’ in Braveheart (the first time - not the unfortunate second time when he’s having his innards pulled out). 

To explain just how good the XW8100ES is, I first need to get into some of the specifications and features that make it a significant step forward from its already-spectacular XW7000ES predecessor. And I’ll start with the maximum brightness its laser lighting engine can deliver, which jumps to a very potent (for a dedicated and serious home cinema projector) 3400 lumens. Sony has also moved on from its previous Dynamic HDR Enhancement system to a proper dynamic tone-mapping system designed to rework incoming HDR video so that it takes full advantage of the XW8100ES’s capabilities. 

The XW8100ES also marks the debut of a new ‘XR for projectors’ processor that’s built squarely on the foundations of the Bravia XR processors deployed in Sony’s recent high-end TVs. Key elements of this processor include superior upscaling (the XW8100ES is, as always with premium Sony SXRD projectors, a native 4K model), advanced colour management that includes a Live Colour Enhancer (for achieving more vivid colours without losing tonal balance), some of the world’s most effective motion processing, and the ability to subtly auto-tweak various elements of the picture to deliver a three-dimensional effect that’s in line with the way our eyes perceive the real world.

The latest iteration of Sony’s long-running Reality Creation system is on hand to enhance sharpness - even with native 4K sources - and there are three different strength settings for a dynamic laser control system that adjusts the light the lasers emit in response to the requirements of the picture being shown. And the XW8100ES’s so-called Advanced Crisp Focus lens is a suitably premium affair, comprising a dozen glass and one plastic element (including a 70mm Aspherical front lens). This should ensure none of the potential precision made possible by the projector’s genuine 4K resolution gets lost on the image’s journey through the projector’s optics.

As I suggested at the start of this section, this fancy high-end stuff really is all up there on the screen. For starters, the extra brightness Sony has found makes a massive difference to the delivery of HDR movies - especially when the XW8100ES’s brighter laser output is combined with the stellar way Sony’s new dynamic tone-mapping system ekes out more dynamism, contrast, vibrancy and intensity from HDR sources than any other projector I’ve ever tested.

I realise this is a big claim to make - especially as I’ve also been lucky enough to test many of JVC’s fantastic D-ILA projectors. But it’s a simple fact that I’ve never seen a projector - or, at least, a projector costing under £70,000 - get so much value out of the brighter end of HDR’s potential light range while retaining convincing black colours at the same time.

This impact of HDR on the XW8100ES’s brightness plays out both in full-on bright shots (such as the daylight desert battles of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga) and, more remarkably, in the intensity of localised bright highlights (such as table lamps, reflections on glass or metal and so on). It’s hard to believe it’s possible for a projector to achieve such local brightness peaks simply by manipulating the overall light going into each shot, given that it can’t draw on true local light controls like a premium TV can. But here we are.

Clearly a huge amount of image analysis and light control is going on behind the scenes, certainly in the projector’s most enticing Film 1 and Film 2 picture modes. But the mechanics behind the projector’s trail-blazing images are never left exposed by stuff such as delayed brightness shifts between cuts, or in-shot brightness instabilities. Even in its most eye-catching film modes, the Sony doesn’t forget that consistency is essential to a truly immersive movie experience.

If you’re using one of the two Film modes with the Live Colour system in play, the XW8100ES’s ground-breaking brightness and contrast make for an exhilarating colour display that enjoys more volume than I have ever seen before from a projector. There’s nothing unnatural or forced-looking about the gorgeously saturated pictures, either - every tone retains the same immaculate sense of balance against every other in the image, and the projector’s ability to reproduce even the slightest tonal shifts ensures that nothing ever looks flat or cartoonish. 

So spectacular are the XW8100ES’s contrast, brightness and colour efforts that I don’t initially take in how gloriously detailed and sharp its images are. Actually, though, the XW8100ES’s pictures are so pristine that the idea of ‘picture resolution’ becomes kind-of irrelevant. You just feel like you’re looking through a window at another world (a world that typically looks a damn sight better than the one we’re living in).

While excellent for such an intensely bright projector, the XW8100ES’s black levels aren’t as deep or consistent as those of JVC’s best D-ILA projectors (though those JVCs can’t match the new Sony for brightness). Also, after I experience the glories of the XW8100ES’s Film modes, I can’t help but feel the accurate Reference picture mode looks a little flat and dull. This is more a reminder, though, of the issues all projectors face when trying to do HDR properly than a true failure of the XW8100ES. In fact, I’d argue the much flatter feel of the Reference mode mostly underlines how brilliant the new dynamic tone mapping system is. 

Living with

Despite improving its picture quality so much it revolutionises the sub-£50K projection world, the XW8100ES is even easier to install and manage than its predecessor. For starters it’s much lighter, making it more straightforward to move around and ceiling mount. It also provides more extensive calibration options for both HDR and SDR playback, despite also working hard to ensure that its default picture mode gets excellent results right out of the box. 

A more advanced keystone correction system enables you to reshape the picture to accommodate even the most awkward room shapes, while XR Clear Image processing works to ensure the image retains uniform clarity right into its corners. There is plenty of optical zoom at your disposal, too, as well as true optical image shifting (both horizontally and vertically). And all the XW8100ES’s core image adjustments are achieved via a finely calibrated motorised lens system.

Sony has added support for the ultra-wide 2.40:1 aspect ratio to the XW8100ES’s image ‘blanking’ options, as well as introducing more picture position memories (beyond the previous three) for users wanting to set up different image presets for different aspect ratios. The projector can be added to all manner of wider home control systems from the likes of Control4, Crestron, Savant, AMX, and URC, as well as being maintained remotely via services such as OvrC and Domotz. 

The XW8100ES’s connections are robust, including a pair of HDMI 2.1 ports, an RS-232C port, an IR mini jack, a 12V trigger port (for, say, firing up a motorised screen), a LAN networking port and a USB port for applying software updates. A third HDMI might have been nice, but at least the two HDMIs provided finally introduce support for 4K/120Hz games to Sony’s premium projector world. Gamers will be pleased, too, to hear that the XW8100ES can detect gaming sources and auto switch into its Game mode - where it’s capable of getting input lag down to a very impressive 21ms with 60Hz sources, or 12ms with 120Hz sources.

It’s a little disappointing, perhaps, that a £25k projector only supports the HDR10 and HLG HDR formats, with no Dolby Vision or HDR10+ on the table - though the success of the new Dynamic tone-mapping system provides a seriously good alternative “active HDR” solution. Sony’s bold new processing and imaging system sees the XW8100ES lose the 3D support that many generations of its predecessors had. While 3D still undoubtedly has its fans, it’s a simple fact that 3D content is becoming increasingly hard to find.

Despite its extreme brightness for a true home theatre projector, the XW8100ES runs quietly enough to mean there’s no need to worry too much about placing it miles away from your seating position. And one last point that’s worth making is that despite it having a ‘bright room’ preset and being much brighter than its predecessor, you really do owe it to yourself to install the Sony in a dedicated, blacked-out cinema room rather than just sticking it in your regular living room.

Verdict

The Sony VPL-XW8100ES delivers truly next-level home cinema performance - especially with the HDR images AV fans have grown to know and love. In fact, its pictures can look so good you might almost believe you’re at an actual commercial cinema - except that you’re not having to listen to screaming kids or other people munching popcorn. 

Test samples

Deadpool & Wolverine 4K Blu-ray

The XW8100ES’s extraordinary combination of brightness and enhanced, HDR-friendly colours makes the bright, vivid colours of Deadpool’s red-and-black and Wolverine’s yellow-and-blue super suits look nothing short of spectacular. And without losing subtle shading details or overall colour balance. 

Blade Runner 2049 4K Blu-ray

The pristine 4K master of Denis Villeneuve’s masterful Blade Runner sequel provides one of the sharpest, cleanest 4K pictures I’ve ever seen. Which makes it the perfect film for showing off the advantages of the XW8100ES true native 4K resolution. 

It 4K Blu-ray

While the darkest scenes of the first of the two most recent It films reveal the XW8100ES’s black levels aren’t quite as deep or consistent as those of JVC’s D-ILA projectors, they still look believable and full of detail. And the film’s bright, deliberately heavily saturated daytime sequences look more intensely HDR than I’ve ever seen from a projector.

If you’re putting together a high-end home cinema, there’s no better centrepiece than the XW8100ES. Its high brightness, stunning colour range and new dynamic tone mapping system join forces with a true native 4K resolution to deliver the most all-round compelling HDR home theatre experience I’ve ever seen. 

A display as high-end and awesome as the XW8100ES deserves to be partnered with the best quality sources available. And the best quality you can find right now is a high-end 4K Blu-ray player, such as Magnetar’s UDP-900 or Panasonic’s DP-UB9000. 

In keeping with most dedicated home theatre projectors, the XW8100ES doesn’t carry a built-in smart system. So, you could also add a 4K Apple TV box to both give you access to lots of streaming services as well as the best all-round streaming quality.