JVC DLA-X55R 3D DILA Projector Review

Tech News

Joined
Sep 15, 2004
Messages
29,589
Reaction score
470
Points
29,702
Location
Cyberspace
Reviewed by Stephen Withers, 28th January 2013. The JVC DLA-X55 offers an unbeatable combination of features, performance and price that delivers wonderful 2D and 3D images all wrapped up in a superb overall package. In fact, we can't think of another projector that comes close to it in terms of both performance and price and for that reason the X55 is the worthy winner of an AVForums Best Buy award.
Read the full review...
 
Hi Steve,

An excellent review as usual, but I would like ask you about the 3D performance. In you review you state that:

'We started by watching some scenes from our standard 3D 'torture test' Happy Feet Two and the X55 acquitted itself admirably, rendering the black penguins against the white snow with the minimum of crosstalk. In fact it was one of the best performers we've seen in this test since the Sim2 3D-S and the Sony VW1000.'

Now I know that you are not responsible for what is written in the forums, but the general opinion there is that if you are keen on 3D then look elsewhere (e.g. Sony HW50). How does that square with your experience of the X55, as it seems to be much better than it is being given credit for ?

You also did a review on the X35 - did you find that the 3D performance was broadly the same between the x35 and X55. (The reason I ask is that I have an X35 being upgraded to the new firmware at the moment).

It would also be worth mentioning the high lag time in the review for the benefit o our gaming brethren.

Thanks again for the review.

Mike.
 
Last edited:
Having reviewed both the HW50 and X55, I don't think there's any perceivable difference in the 3D performance, although I didn't get the chance to do a direct comparison. I'm a big fan of 3D and I was perfectly happy watching it on the X55. I know there have been some issues with the 3D on certain X35s but once the firmware is updated the performance should be the same as the X55.
 
Hi Steve

Thankyou for your review!

I have a panasonic PTAE4000 at the moment and I project from 4.5m away onto a 2.4:1 screen that is 112 inches wide in cinemascope and 96 inches in 16:9. My room is pretty dark with dark walls and ceilings for 2/3rd of the room. I have a darbee in situ too.

From your experience, could you give me a sense of whether the x55 would absolutely knock my socks off by comparison or would just be a moderate improvement. Obviously its hard to quantify but im wondering whether 3 years development and a step up in price category plus a move from LCD to DILA with all its native contrast strengths would really be that noticable.

Any thoughts would be gratefulyl received.
 
Yes, personally I think you would be impressed by the improvements in black levels, dynamic range, motion handling and resolution - plus of course you get 3D.
 
Hi ,Steve, Greetings and appreciation for your excellent reviews on JVC X35 and X55. I must choose one of the two-of course cash being the constraint but value for money more important. I have rather big HT room 16x34ft, screen 130 inch diagonal matt white ,2.35:1 and viewing distance is min 18 ft -could be more also. With this screen size and viewing distance ,will 4k e-shift be relevant or X35 would suffice? Regarding CMS, one seldom finds a qualified calibrator in my country Pakistan, so this feature of X55 will remain dormant. Probably X35 should be the way forward for me. What is your view on this issue?
Regards. Shamimul
 
If money is a factor and you don't plan on using the CMS on the X55 then you may as well buy the X35. It certainly won't have any problems with the screen size - I have something similar with my X3 - and its out-of-the-box setting is fairly accurate.
 
Thank you very much for the review Steve. I've cut down on women, booze, gambling, clubbing and sport so it looks like I'll now have to cut down on some of my pastimes if I am going to be able to afford one of these projectors.
 
Hi Steve,

I have exactly the same issue with my X55.
If JVC exchanged new sample for the test, does that mean JVC will possibly release new firmware to fix Green issue in X55?
Or does it mean there's some sample variation?
 
As I mentioned in the review, JVC replaced my original sample with one that had no problems with green. When I asked them if they had made any changes, they said no and that the original sample had just been faulty.

Obviously there are bound to be sample variations on any mass produced product but if you feel there is an issue with your X55 then I recommend you contact your retailer or JVC.
 
Hi

The test results were very interesting and most useful.

I have now got my X55 and am trying the different combos for the optimal viewing picture (2D).

I am impressed with the default Cinema setting and the Film resolution, but wanted to learn what the optimal final setting was in the main review test results posted. Is it possible to post all the final settings?

Regarding "In creating the final calibrated setting, we used the User 1 Picture Mode and chose the Cinema Colour Profile and a Custom Gamma setting with the 2.4 curve selected. We also chose a Custom Colour Temperature to access the two-point white balance control and a Custom setting on the CMS."

I have tried the Gamma 2.4 curve and it is a nice finish but was not sure how to set the colour temperature two-point white balance?

In the calibrated measurements, did you leave anything from the previous 2 settings, ie what was the final setup? would really appreciate your view.

I have the Spears & Munsil test disc and it is hard to match all their results unless I start changing a lot of other things and I am not sure I am getting optimal results, so any quick tips on the major settings would be most appreciated :O)

Thanks, Chris.
 
Chris, you've got yourself a fantastic projector there and if you follow my suggestions in the review for a basic setup - "For our basic setup we chose the Cinema Picture Mode, which used the Cinema Colour Profile, the Normal Gamma and the 6500K Colour Temperature setting. We then set the MPC control to Film, turned the CMD off, closed the Lens Aperture (-15), left the Lamp Power on Low and set the HDMI Input to Super White. We also moved the Brightness control up to 3 because at the default setting of zero it was crushing the blacks slightly." - you should get a very nice picture. Depending on how dark and light controlled your viewing environment is, you might want to select a Gamma of 2.4 instead of Normal.

I would avoid using the custom colour temperature and colour controls because you need specialist equipment to set them correctly. There's also no point using my detailed settings because they're totally dependent on the individual bulb and how many hours are on it. Hope that helps.
 
Thanks Steve

I have found that a very good setting, ie Cinema with MPC Film at 6500k and the 2.4 Gamma is better with the brightness up 3 with Super White on.

However, I find if I put the Lens Aperture down from 0 to -15 it goes a little too dark for me, likewise the same when I switch from Lamp power High to Low. I also have the CMD on Low vs Off.

The room is quite bright (ie light walls) and Im at about a 5M distance on a 106" (8" foot) Grandview Cyberseries screen.

Understand your colour recommendations :O) but would be interested on the 3 around CMD OFF, Lamp LOW and Aperture -15.

Thanks again for all your great advice. I am walking amongst the PJ gods :O)
 
OK, if you've got white walls then using a lens aperture of 0 makes sense and personally I'd probably go for the 2.2 gamma instead. I'd still the Low lamp setting however and just use high for 3D content. As for CMD, that's a matter of personal taste but I think it robs movies of their film-like motion, so I always turn it off.
 
Thank you very much Steve for you valuable expertise and advice - I shall go and test your recommendations. Much appreciated.
 
Hi Steve
Applied your settings and its looks good. Surprised I dont need the Lamp to High.
The only thing I notice with the brightness up (which does help get better definition on dark scenes) is the black in general is a tad lighter than complete black.
From your experience with the X55, do you have any recommendations for grain? I find that older movies like Apollo 13, Casino Royal (the modern one) are all very grainy and the X55 amplifies the grain - Like you I had already changed from High Resolution to Film on the 4K Profile and that did help, but I still think the X55 almost makes the grain too lively - did you find that?
Thanks again Chris.
 
JVC projectors crush black a little at a Brightness setting of zero but if you increase it to get better shadow detail you do lose a bit in the back levels. It's a trade off but you could experiment with different Brightness settings to get the look you like best. The JVC projectors are just reproducing what's on the source, so if grain is part of the original photography then so be it. I found that with Blu-rays the images produced by the X55 were very accurate and just beautiful to look at.
 
Thanks again Steve. Agree the images from a good source, like Skyfall, Avatar etc are truly stunning and amazing for the money! I dont mind original movies looking "grainy" as they were intended, but on the X55 with (more so with High Resolution eShift vs Film) the grain is almost like moving mini tadpoles, ie the pixels rotate around and around somewhat distracting from the movie. When I watch the same on a Sim2 the grain is just grain and not moving animated grain if that makes sense. I found Film lowers the effect and I guess turning it off will balance it back. But again, totally agree with you that some sources are just beautiful to look at. Thanks for the tip on black. Think Ill have to watch a few more movies and decide. Appreciate your wisdom ;o)
 
Had a 15 minute demo of this at The Gadget show.

Not the best material but the were showing the 4k conversion, wasn't overly impressed.
The picture was great but a friend noticed judder and I could see a blur/fuzzing around the edges of faces in motion, subtle but was there to see.

Is the fuzzy effect the upscaling in action? I know little about these but wasn't blown away as I thought Id be, the choice of content wasn't the best though.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom