Sony Launch VPL-VW300ES 4K Projector for €7K at IFA 2014

Sony has announced the launch of an even more affordable 4K projector at IFA 2014 in Berlin this afternoon. The VPL-300ES will sit below the Japanese company’s popular VPL-VW500ES and its flagship VPL-VW1100ES projectors, priced at only 6,999 Euros, truly making a native 4K beamer more accessible to the masses.

Sony VPL-VW300ES

Projector enthusiasts will remember that this time last year, Sony also used the IFA trade show as the platform to unveil its VPL-VW500ES projector with a native 4K Ultra HD resolution of 4096×2160, at only half the price of the £17,000 VPL-VW1000ES. The Sony VW500 truly set the benchmark within the video projector industry at a time when no other manufacturer has even launched a consumer-grade 4K projector, and with the VPL-300ES the company has done the unfathomable and gone one better.

Of course, it’s expected that to achieve this unbelievable price point, some compromises will have to be made, though a company spokesman reassured HDTVTest that picture quality will not suffer significantly. Compared with the step-up VPL-VW500ES, the Sony VPLVW300ES features slightly lower light output (1500 lumens versus the VW500’s 1700 lumens), no dynamic iris, and no lens memory.

Otherwise, Sony told us that the VPL-VW300 uses the same chassis, lens configuration and optical pathway as the VPL-VW500ES, complete with 4K SXRD panel, TRILUMINOS technology, HDMI 2.0 (YCbCr 4:2:0 8-bit, i.e. Level b) and HDCP 2.2 support (only HDMI input 2), as well as the usual flexible installation options like 2.06 zoom-powered lens and 12V trigger.

Picture

We wandered into Sony’s pitch-black demo room after Sony’s IFA press conference, and at first glance the image produced by the Sony VW300ES appeared silky smooth (as you would expect from a native 4K projector fed with true ultra high-definition source) and plenty bright. We are scheduled for a dedicated presentation and demo later at IFA, and will update this article with our impressions.

The Sony VPL-VW300ES is available to buy with a black finish from October 2014. UK pricing to follow.