New 2014 JVC Projector line-up announced - news discussion

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Boasts Industry’s highest contrast numbers but not a native 4K panel

JVC today announced a new, expanded line of home theatre projectors that they promise will deliver substantial improvements in image quality and achieve the industry’s highest native and dynamic contrast. The performance boost is driven by a new imaging device, an upgraded version of the company’s e‐shift technology, 4K source compatibility and a user‐selectable Intelligent Lens Aperture.

Of course, many were waiting for JVC to announce a projector with a native 4K panel, in answer to Sony’s VW500ES and, to a lesser extent, the VW1000, but it seems they’re waiting this one out, for now.

The already impressive native contrast performance of the JVC’s has been further improved this year by a new D‐ILA device and a new wire grid polarizer. JVC has also added a user‐selectable Intelligent Lens Aperture that can dial in even deeper blacks. And projectors equipped with 4K e‐shift3, the latest iteration of the company’s e‐shift technology, features a 4K signal input (60p) so that now both 4K and 2K sources can be displayed as 3840 x 2160 images.

JVC’s 2014 projectors are DLA‐X900R, DLA‐X700R and DLA‐X500R. All models are 3D‐enabled and offer 4K e‐shift3.

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The new JVC projectors use three sixth generation JVC D‐ILA imaging devices. This new device features a pixel gap that’s 40 percent narrower than the previous chip for a smoother picture, a 10 percent improvement in light efficiency for a light output of 1,300 lumens, and improved native contrast, which is also enhanced by a new, third generation wire grid optical engine. As a result, native contrast ratios for the new projectors are claimed at the following:

• DLA‐X900R 150,000:1

• DLA‐X700R 120,000:1

• DLA‐X500R 60,000:1

To further boost contrast, JVC has developed a user‐selectable Intelligent Lens Aperture. When engaged, JVC’s Intelligent Lens Aperture produces deeper black levels while maintaining white levels, The claimed dynamic contrast ratios are as follows:

• DLA‐X900R 1,500,000:1

• DLA‐X700R 1,200,000:1

• DLA‐X500R 600,000:1

The new JVC projectors can now process 4K signals, with picture performance optimised by a new Multiple Pixel Control (MPC) processor with eight‐band detection. The MPC processor offers four presets plus an Auto setting that automatically selects the best up‐conversion process by detecting the frequency of each pixel. Picture quality is also enhanced through a new Clear Black feature that provides local area contrast enhancement, and improved Clear Motion Drive (CMD).

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Other new enhancements for 2014 include two memory settings for pixel convergence that can be used to store correction settings for external lenses, a new smartphone app that provides remote control of the projector, including picture settings and an Adobe RGB picture mode on the top two models.

The flagship DLA‐X900R is built using hand‐selected hand tested components and has a 150,000:1 native contrast ratio and 1,500,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. The DLA‐X700R has a native contrast of 120,000:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of 1,200,000:1. The DLA‐X900R and DLA‐X700R offer ISF certification and are designed to pass the 400‐plus tests necessary to achieve THX 3D Certification (pending). All JVC THX Certified Projectors include THX 2D and 3D Cinema viewing modes.

The DLA‐X500R, available with a black or white body, has native contrast ratio of 60,000:1 and a dynamic contrast ratio of 600,000:1.

A current model, the DLA‐X35 remains in the line for 2014 as well as the optional 3D accessories RF emitter PK‐EM2 and RF glasses PK‐EM3, and the spare lamp PK‐L2312U.

The new JVC D‐ILA home theatre projectors will be available in November
 
Some excellent statistics regarding contrast ect, but I cant help but feel JVC has missed the UHD/4K boat a little bit. Surely 2014 will be the last year that the JVC line-up can run with an upscaling 4K profile rather than a native system. There's a real danger of them being left behind Sony, and RED (if their box of magic appears sometime soon!).

I'm assuming the 3D system will remain as is, so those that got into the RF kit last year, wouldn't have to fork out for new specs this time around.
 
So...JVCs with dynamic irises then, who'd have thought it (though they give it a different name of course). Maybe all the excitement over the new Sonys will mean these get overlooked, perhaps chance of a decent deal later in the year? ;)
 
Agreed, really was expecting native 4k. So I either move to Sony now or wait another year.
 
I'm incredibly excited about these announcements, because I find contrast/black levels so important.

I'm wondering why people are clamoring for native 4K this year, when there's virtually nothing 4K to watch, and likely extremely little 4K content for years to come. Hence, for me an announcement of a good upgrade in contrast (assuming it's well implemented) is much more significant.
 
This is exciting news.......whilst 4k would be nice, I feel content is still several years away (at my budget anyway!) so could be tempted by one of these.

Any word on pricing? I felt the X55 was somewhat overpriced this year, was it something like £2k more than the X35 just to have eshift? I think if they could bring it in at say £3k with the X35 at £2k this could be a goer for me. Might be a little optimistic though!

The dynamic iris is a nice surprise! My HD350 still does great blacks for me, but in those really dark scenes having the iris clamp down and produce something close to a true black would be specacular.
 
Very interesting news. I really think it's going to be a hard sell for JVC this year when the native 4K Sony VW500ES sits right in between their two premium projectors. Also I can't quite believe that JVC have now put in a dynamic iris when for years they have been telling us that they're really no good. Sony's DI is the best that there is - virtually undetectable - and this year it will come with extra tweaking options too. So it remains to be seen how noticeable (and therefore usable) JVC's implementation will be at the first time of asking. It also remains to be seen how the Clear Black feature will operate to 'enhance contrast.' Darbee anyone? I'm sure Phil and Steve will have great fun reviewing this year's offerings. LOL.
 
Any word on pricing?

I had been led to believe that there would be no native 4K this year which is a shame but not really a deal breaker until more material becomes available, sounds like JVC have made another performance jump though which I can't wait to see, decision time, do we go with a X700 or X500 for demo :rolleyes:

I'm not sure if these are official prices just yet but this is what was mentioned on WHF, there should be more info at the official UK press conference next month -

'The new JVC projectors are priced at £10,299, £7,299 and £5,299 respectively'
 
I had been led to believe that there would be no native 4K this year which is a shame but not really a deal breaker until more material becomes available, sounds like JVC have made another performance jump though which I can't wait to see, decision time, do we go with a X700 or X500 for demo :rolleyes:

I'm not sure if these are official prices just yet but this is what was mentioned on WHF, there should be more info at the official UK press conference next month -

'The new JVC projectors are priced at £10,299, £7,299 and £5,299 respectively'

Wow, that is disappointing....4k inputs, eshift, dynamic irises are all very well, but £5,299 for the basic model when all the buzz is around native 4k? My optimistic head was hoping for £3k, but thinking £3.5 - 4k might be more realistic....but £5,299? If it had been £3.5k it might have provided a nice little stop gap until proper 4k, but this is serious money. Have no option now but to wait it out for a few more years for 'proper' 4k.
 
I really can't see anyone (or at least very very few) folks spending out for the X900/X700 with the 500ES being at under £9k even with the "improved" CR. Even though there may be little 4k content available in the next 6-12 months the Sony has reality creation and their 1000ES does a wonderful job with 1080p so there is no reason to think the 500ES won't be close to that.

The X500 is overpriced too as Stuart has said I would have thought £3999 would have been about right, you may get an outgoing X55 for that or even less.
 
The other think pj manufacturers need to realise with pricing, is larger & larger 4k tv's are appearing at less and less money as the weeks and months pass, I bet mid next year you will get an 84" 4k tv for under £8k so that will be big enough for many folks to forget about pj's and limited lamp life and needing a batcave to get the best from them.
 
The other think pj manufacturers need to realise with pricing, is larger & larger 4k tv's are appearing at less and less money as the weeks and months pass, I bet mid next year you will get an 84" 4k tv for under £8k so that will be big enough for many folks to forget about pj's and limited lamp life and needing a batcave to get the best from them.
Excellent point. I'm preparing a dedicated room for audio and video, and therefore I've been dreaming with projectors, but since I'll be buying only in 12 months or so, I'm starting to think that instead of spending 1000 in a projector, by then a nice 60 or 65 inches plasma for 1000 pounds may be a better bet.

Not sure about the high-end, but for the not so fortunate, having a projector is starting to be less attractive.
 
someone at JVC has got their head up their a***!
They really think they can sell these and compete with Sony at that price.
at least lower the price for old 1080p tech :)
 
Moderate contrast improvements notwithstanding I don't know why anyone would buy either an X900 or X700 this year when we can be almost certain that next year JVC will produce a native 4k projector with HDMI 2.0. Those with that kind of money to spend and who need a projector in the next twelve months would no doubt be better suited to buy the Sony VW500 or just wait a year for the next wave of JVC projectors. Sony have been very aggressive in Europe with their VW500 pricing and IMO are in a commanding position, not only because of JVC's lack of a native 4k projector to compete with the VW500, but also because they own a movie studio. With the PS4 and (hopefully) the FMP-X1 4k movie server shortly bringing 4k source material to European homes folks can soon buy the Sony 4k projectors and TVs and be enjoying 4k material much earlier than many anticipated.
 
Some of us value contrast improvements over pixel count improvements, so this year's JVCs are very intriguing. Especially as significant contrast improvements would be immediately beneficial across all sources (SD, DVD, HD-Broadcast, Blu-Ray, Games, etc) vs a negligible benefit of simply more projected pixels, especially when there's virtually no 4K sources available and won't likely be available in any significant proportion for quite some time. And the first JVC 4K projectors are likely to be more costly than this year's E-shift models (if Sony is an example) so you'll likely have to pony up extra bucks next year as an early adopter of JVC 4K machines.

Hence, it's actually a sound strategy for some people to use this year's JVC as a nice stop-over. Enjoy the higher contrast ratio while true 4K models become more affordable over the next few years, which also hopefully coincides with 4K source material actually becoming more available as well.
 
Contrast improvements are always welcome, but native 4k panels shouldn't be so easily dismissed as a mere improvement in pixel count. If experience with the VW1000 is anything to go by (and I think it is because the VW500 uses the same 4k panels) the value of native 4k isn't just to be confined to native 4k material. Sony's Reality Creation combined with a 4k native panel gives a very valuable increase in the perceived detail and quality of 1080p material too - more so many would say than E-shift (see here). As indicated, I believe that there will be 4k sources available soon via the PS4 and, hopefully, Sony's hockey puck FMP-X1 4k media server - though the latter has yet to be confirmed for Europe. Sony's 4k movie store is already operational in the US and you will shortly be able to pick from a list of 100 movies for download. Of course this will only work with Sony TVs and projectors.

Some of us value contrast improvements over pixel count improvements, so this year's JVCs are very intriguing. Especially as significant contrast improvements would be immediately beneficial across all sources (SD, DVD, HD-Broadcast, Blu-Ray, Games, etc) vs a negligible benefit of simply more projected pixels, especially when there's virtually no 4K sources available and won't likely be available in any significant proportion for quite some time. And the first JVC 4K projectors are likely to be more costly than this year's E-shift models (if Sony is an example) so you'll likely have to pony up extra bucks next year as an early adopter of JVC 4K machines.

Hence, it's actually a sound strategy for some people to use this year's JVC as a nice stop-over. Enjoy the higher contrast ratio while true 4K models become more affordable, which also hopefully coincides with 4K source material actually becoming more available as well.
 
Yes, I'm aware of the potential of processing when it comes to 4K resolution.

It's one of the benefits I enjoy with my JVC - in it's E-shifted mode and higher projected (virtual 4K) pixel count, it has a type of processing very similar to Sony's RC. And it really does add some nice clarity and dimensionality to images. (Some who've demoed both Sony's RC and JVC's MPC processing have preferred JVC's processing of upscaled images).

So, I do get that.

However, I'd take significantly better contrast over this processing any day, because I know just how beneficial the higher contrast is overall, and how much richness and believability it adds to all sources.

The RC and JVC MPC processing works better as your source gets better and more high-resolution - it highlights detail that's in the source. Whereas a significant increase in contrast stays significant across virtually all sources, whether we are talking about the range of Blu-Ray quality, or even enhancing DVDs..HD Broadcast...games...etc.
It just has potential to be an all around more significant upgrade, until 4K sources become more widely available.
 
Excellent point. I'm preparing a dedicated room for audio and video, and therefore I've been dreaming with projectors, but since I'll be buying only in 12 months or so, I'm starting to think that instead of spending 1000 in a projector, by then a nice 60 or 65 inches plasma for 1000 pounds may be a better bet.

Not sure about the high-end, but for the not so fortunate, having a projector is starting to be less attractive.

If you like watching films you need to see a demo of 2.35:1 screen with masking setup.
No black bars and no reflection of yourself sitting on the settee:laugh:
 
Rich, I agree with pretty much all of what you say. Contrast improvements are eminently desirable. However, these are usually as a result of tiny improvements in black levels which can add up to big numbers. In the vast majority of cases though an owner will not be able to appreciate these precisely because most people's rooms aren't set up properly. Speaking as a calibrator I can say that out of the hundreds of calibrations I have performed I have rarely had the pleasure of calibrating a JVC projector (or any other projector for that matter) in a room that would permit that maximum contrast to be seen. Many of the folks I come across regularly switch their projectors to newer models in search of better black levels and contrast when it's the room that's the real problem. On one occasion I had to calibrate an X95 that had been placed in a large all white room with insufficient light control. It wasn't good ;) But it doesn't have to be as extreme*as that to slash contrast. I suppose what I'm really trying to say is that for the vast majority of people the kind of contrast improvement JVC are offering this year is unlikely to be seen.
 
I've got a really black-velvet pit for viewing so I get a very solid sense of contrast across all types of scenes.

That said...I've certainly found the benefits of contrast can still be seen in much less heroic circumstances.
For instance, I sold my previous JVC RS20 projector to a pal, which replaced his older Panasonic projector.
He simply uses a cheap grayhawk screen in a room otherwise not treated (whitish ceiling, mid-blue walls, wood floor...). The contrast difference he saw between the JVC and his Panasonic was huge. It blows him away.
In fact, it blows ME away when I watch movies at my house, almost to the point I wonder why I went to the lengths I did.

But then, I return home, flip on the projector and remember...(it's especially nice for the sense of immersion).
 
I am tempted by the 700, if I can find a new place and have some cash left I'll be speaking to Vipers ;-)
 
PS Vipers I assume your question was rhetorical......
 
PPS I better stop buying Leica lenses and start saving !
 
A question about e-shift3 when compared to native 4k, as I am a little confused.

Do the new projectors accept 4k (and 1080P) content and are then able to display this as 3840 x 2160 picture using e-shift3, effectively imaging four 1080P images from the panel each frame? Or is the e-shifted 3840 x 2160 image somehow different from the original 4k content, such as being downscaled and then upscaled?

If the first is true, how is this different from 'native' 4k if it accepts a 4k input and can image a full 4k picture? It is obviously using a different methodology to do this than using a 4k panel, but it sounds to me like it is building a 4k image up from multiple pixel exposures much in the same way a single chip DLP projector builds up an image from multiple colour exposures.

If the second is true, then clearly this is another form of upscaling as used on previous iterations of e-shift and is an improvement over 1080P, but not as good as using a 4k solution.

Cheers!
 
JVC at CEDIA 2013

See from 2:20 on the video link above for a sort of explanation of the 4k & e-shift although it does not go into to much detail.
 

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