Why Control4 Users Should Care About The Sony VPLVWPRO1

There are so many projectors on the market these days why would another projector matter? Well the good people at Sony figured out a way to pack a lot of goodies into a projector that has extra bonuses for the integrator. In this article I will touch on the integration potential of this awesome projector.

I tested this projector on a Control4 system. I have to say the new Control4 Certified driver/partner program has prompted tons of great new drivers and control options. This projector is no different. To get right to Rs232 control I will mention that it requires a null modem cable and has a lot of options if you choose this route! I must say you should choose this route as this is a projector that will talk back to you! It is nice to see a company give a projector the ability to give a control system status feedback that we can use programmatically. Before I give you all the little toys of programming with this projector I will give some examples that I thought were awesome. First is the most obvious problem with just about every projector on the market. It uses a lamp. I mean really don’t you hate the fact that all the sudden the lamp goes out and you have to go digging through the garage, closet, or attic to find your spare lamp? What if you were psychic and knew ahead of time that you would need your lamp in a couple of weeks? Well forget about having to be psychic this projector will let you know when it’s time. In testing through very basic programming I was able to send myself an email when the projector got to a certain amount of hours used. This is great as I could tell my set up to send me an email when the projector was at 2500 hours of use. So no more wasting valuable movie time, before the lamp is dead I already have it ready to go! Also of note is error reporting. You also have the ability of logging errors that the projector sends out. How about discreet codes? Sure this projector has them and we all need them, but what about discreet feedback? This projector will give you a true message as to whether it actually turned on or off. This is great from a system management point as it is so nice to be able to base programming on the true device status. Quick example is “false starts” and “ghost starts”. We are all familiar with the false start at one point or another. This is when we crank up the theater and one device or another doesn’t start. Well for this projector this is not an issue. Simple programming with true 2way feedback allows us to state that if media is queued and the projector doesn’t “turn on” resend the power on command. To go a step further we can tell a control system that after 3 failed attempts to email the integrator or service contract provider for a service call or to remotely check the error logs. Some of the fail safes involved with this projector for the integrator and consumer are worth the buy alone.

Here is a list of functions available that I was able utilize in programming. For those of you that install or have Control4 equipment please feel free to check out a full programming write up on C4central.com to see the full programming potential.

Lamp_Use_Time <<>> Lamp_Use_Time_Changed [NUMBER, (Running time of lamp by hours)]

Error_Status <<>> Error_Status_Changed [STRING, (See list below.)]

NO_ERROR

LAMP_ERROR

COVER_ERROR

TEMP_ERROR

D5V_ERROR

POWER_ERROR

NVM_ERROR

Error_Status2 <<>> Error_Status2_Changed [STRING, (See list below.)]

NO_ERROR

LENS_SHUTTER_ERROR

HIGHLAND_WARNING

Projector_Operating_Status <<>> Projector_Operating_Status_Changed [STRING, (See list below.)]

STANDBY

START UP

START UP LAMP

ON

COOLING1

COOLING2

SAVING COOLING1

SAVING COOLING2

SAVING STANDBY

This next set off commands can be programmed to and custom button or unused buttons on the remote.

DEVICE SPECIFIC COMMANDS:

Picture Mode: Dynamic

Picture Mode: Standard

Picture Mode: Cinema

Picture Mode: User1

Picture Mode: User2

Picture Mode: User3

Color Temperature: High

Color Temperature: Middle

Color Temperature: Low

Color Temperature: Low2

Color Temperature: Custom1

Color Temperature: Custom2

Color Temperature: Custom3

Color Temperature: Custom4

Color Temperature: Custom5

Lamp Control: Low

Lamp Control: High

Black Level Adj: Off

Black Level Adj: Low

Black Level Adj: High

Advanced Iris: Off

Advanced Iris: Manual

Advanced Iris: Auto1

Advanced Iris: Auto2

RCP: Off

RCP: User1

RCP: User2

RCP: User3

Film Mode: Off

Film Mode: Auto1

Film Mode: Auto2

Wide Mode: Full

Wide Mode: Normal

Wide Mode: Wide Zoom

Wide Mode: Zoom

Wide Mode: Full1

Wide Mode: Full2

Wide Mode: Anamorphic Zoom –VW85 Only

Gamma Correction: Off

Gamma Correction: Gamma1

Gamma Correction: Gamma2

Gamma Correction: Gamma3

Over Scan: Off

Over Scan: On

Screen Area: Full

Screen Area: Through

NR: Off

NR: Low

NR: Middle

NR: High

Block NR: Off

Block NR: Low

Block NR: Middle

Block NR: High

Mosquito NR: Off

Mosquito NR: Low

Mosquito NR: Middle

Mosquito NR: High

Picture Muting: Off

Picture Muting: On

Color Space: Normal

Color Space: Wide

Color Space: Wide2 –VW85 Only

Color Space: Wide3 –VW85 Only

Advanced Iris Sensitivity: Recommended

Advanced Iris Sensitivity: Fast

Advanced Iris Sensitivity: Slow

Film Projection: Off

Film Projection: Mode1

Film Projection: Mode2

Film Projection: Mode3

Motion Enhancer: Off

Motion Enhancer: Low

Motion Enhancer: High

xvColor: On

xvColor: Off

Lens Shift Up

Lens Shift Down

Lens Focus Far

Lens Focus Near

Lens Zoom Large

Lens Zoom Small

V Keystone+

V Keystone-

So there you have it. Sony put a lot of thought into how a device can work better in a Control System Environment. This is only one of the first of many we will see coming from Sony with true integration in mind. I would definitely consider this projector as your next buy. It is worth every penny.

Want to know more? The full Exclusive Review will be at CePro.com!

Joe Whitaker

Senior Development Director / The Soho Shop

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