Sony Delivers the Perfect Picture at Homeplay - Case Study

Based in Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex, the Homeplay Experience Centre is a dedicated a space designed to showcase how smart home technology can integrate seamlessly into the home to end users and the design community. After taking the top spot for Best Showroom in the 2019 EMEA CEDIA Awards, Homeplay has recently upgraded the cinema room with a Sony laser projector, supplied by AWE.

Opened in October 2018, the objective for the 2,000 sq ft space was to allow the team to demonstrate just want is possible when an integrator is involved in a project at the initial design stage, and to encourage the design community to think of integrators as a key member of the team. “We wanted to show clients and design build professionals what we’re all about, what we do, and allow them to experience what’s possible when technology is thoughtfully integrated with a luxury interior,” comments James Ratcliffe, Managing Director of Homeplay.

To provide the best of the best demonstrations, Homeplay saw the need to upgrade the projection system in the Dolby Atmos cinema room, a key area within the Experience Centre.

“I’d always planned on putting in a Sony laser projector, but budgets wouldn’t allow us to do that when we initially created the space. All the existing TVs in the showroom are from Sony, and we really like the quality and technological benefits that they offered.”

The decision was made to remove the existing projector and replace it with the Sony laser projector. Thanks to the projector’s 4K native resolution and true 4K HDR upscaling capabilities, visitors are wowed by the high-quality results and lifelike picture this brings to the viewing experience, showing that it is possible to create a cinema-like experience at home.

The projector boasts a wealth of technological aspects – its laser light source delivers a professional quality that homeowners may have never before experienced in a home environment, with the added bonus of up to 20,000 hours of operation, meaning no lamp replacement and virtually no maintenance needed.

Demonstrations are brought to life in cinematic detail thanks to the projector’s dual contrast control, which delivers richer and more vibrant TRILUMINOS colour and deeper blacks, whilst 4K MotionflowTM delivers the drama of fast action scenes with clarity and reduced blur. It is the perfect choice for the dark and compact room, offering high brightness performance.

“It’s a big improvement on what we had before. It provides great brightness, vivid colours and it turns on really quickly too, which is great when demonstrating the technology to clients. We don’t have to wait minutes for the system to kick in as with a lamp-based system.”

The sleek projector design allows the product to blend seamlessly into the room, showing customers how high-performance technology can be unobtrusively integrated into the home. The Experience Centre was designed to look like a luxury apartment, with virtually no technology on show when it’s not in use — an achievement since it is packed with technology.

“The Sony projector has made a huge difference. Before the upgrade, customers often commented on how impressive the sound was in the space, but they were underwhelmed by the picture quality. Now, we don’t get that – everyone says the picture is incredible.”

To complement the Sony projector, the cinema space also features a 3m wide projection screen, projector mirror lift, full acoustic treatments, luxury fabric wall system, cinema seating, and custom-built twin motorised pocket doors for the full home cinema experience.

With the help of Sony and AWE, the result is a high-tech showroom with a standout cinema room, fulfilling Homeplay’s objective to create a space that allows them to engage with designers and end users, and show them the true possibilities of integrated home technology.