Product Previews

Sony VPL-GTZ270 Ultra HD Projector Preview

Incredibly bright images, deep black levels, and reference color from the Sony VPL-GTZ270 Ultra HD Projector adorn the films on my home cinema screen. Projecting true 4K images from the best Ultra HD 4K films bring post-production quality home at last.

Filmmakers are very demanding as to how their films look. Their mind’s vision is translated to screen by many artists along the way and the result needs to satisfy this vision. One of a post production studio’s most important needs is a reference video display. I perform calibration work for several post-production facilities in Toronto, Ontario, and they all have extremely strict demands to ensure that their CGI artists’ reference monitors and projectors meet the latest video standards as closely as possible. There is little time for supervisors to correct work due to erroneous video display variations under the pressure of looming film release date deadlines.

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When it comes to pleasing film-makers who will eventually visit their facilities to see the completed work on a large projection display, there is no room for error. Thus, many of these houses have installed the reference Sony VPL-GTZ270 pro laser projector. Having calibrated several of them in professional settings, it’s now time to evaluate one personally in my home setting using media content available for consumers. While the VPL-GTZ270 is a Pro Division model number, there is a very similar consumer version of this model available – the Sony VPL-VW5000ES – with an equally amazing reference image.

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Since I’ve installed the Sony VPL-GTZ270, I’ve watched countless UHD 4K Blu-rays and HD Blu-rays over the last several weeks just to take in exactly what I’m seeing. In short, it’s breathtaking. I don’t see any other video projector competing at this level of performance in my home cinema any time soon. An in-depth review is forthcoming for those who are ultimately serious about reference UltraHD 4K performance and bringing the magic of movies home in its entirety without compromise.

Mike Osadciw

Mike was unexpectedly lured into hifi as a 10 year old when he first spun the vinyl of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Intrigued by the album cover and inserts, he wasn’t aware that he’d find a connection with music through stereo sound and atmospheric effects. Finding similar music to enjoy and a great stereo to play them on became a new quest for his young, moldable, budding audiophile mind. The laserdisc player later converted him to a videophile too, and he was determined to earn his ISF certification while working at a HiFi shop that was paying his tuition. It was here where high fidelity audio and video collided at full force; video calibrator by day and music lover by night (and his studies whenever he could fit them in). He continued to work at various HiFi shops once graduated with his B.A. (Hons) in Political Science and Anthropology at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. The dream of becoming a politician or an archaeologist soon faded into oblivion. After receiving M.Ed. at Daemon College in Amherst, NY, Mike changed his full-time career path to teaching but remains ever-present in the audio-video community in Ontario. As a highly active and respected THX/ISF calibrator, Mike has contributed articles to Canada HiFi Magazine and can still be found speaking at video seminars, measuring product performance for manufacturers, and performing calibration work for both consumers and Toronto’s post-production community. He has a strong commitment for video performance with an emphasis on measurement but understands that you can’t get blood from a stone, especially when most environments are compromised. It’s not all about pretty looking graphs, it’s about making good pictures.