I totally agree with Gordon.
I have tested both a 500ES and an X500 in my room (fully dedicated, black velvet covered, but screen size only 88" diag 16/9).
In my room, as I don't need the extra brightness and can make the most of the better on/off on the JVC as the iris is fully closed, the X500 better fits my needs, as I like watching dark sci-fi, thrillers, etc. I just bought one as a transition projector, until UHD Bluray and fully compatible native 4K projectors become available.
I don't even use eshift with SD or 1080p content because in my room with the narrower pixel gap in the new JVC models, I can't take advantage of the increased resolution. Even sitting at 1.15SW, I can't see any pixel structure so e-shift only adds a bit of fan noise for 1080p content. It's nice to be able to play UHD/4K content for test/demo, but most of the time eshift is off here.
The 500ES is a great projector, displays upscaled 1080p beautifully, and doesn't add the small amount of video noise that the JVCs add to the picture (the picture is slightly cleaner). Its colors are also fantastic, and out of the box it's very accurate. The JVC needs the JVC Autocal software (and a Spyder4) to get as close without an external VP.
But given that it's not fully compatible with the upcoming UHD Bluray and UHDTV (it lacks DCI gamut compatibility and HDMI 2.0 Level A), the fact that it's 4K and supports HDCP 2.2 isn't really relevant if you don't need the brightness or can't make most of the added resolution.
So here is my advice:
- If you watch mostly TV and favour bright movies (comedy, drama) over dark movies (thrillers, sci-fi), especially if you like having a bit of ambient light, the Sony might be a better choice.
- If you have a fully dedicated room, with velvet or dark material on the walls, ceiling, floor at least 1.5m into the room, and if you don't need the extra brightness offered by the Sony (i.e. your screen is smallish like mine) the JVC is probably a better match.
- If you play games, the Sony is a better choice as its lag is much lower than the JVC (I don't have the exact numbers but I think it's something like 28ms in game mode for the Sony vs 120ms for the JVC)
- If you like 3D, the Sony has a bit less ghosting and is able to upscale 1080p 3D bluray to UHD, which produces the best 3D I've watched outside of DLP projectors. The Sony 3D glasses stink though IMHO, so I'd buy 3rd party glasses like the xPand 105.
- Remember that the JVC only has a better native on/off contrast if you can use it with the iris fully closed or near closed. With the iris fully open, they is much less of a gap between the two. so if you need to fully open the iris of the JVC, getting the Sony might be a better choice due to the better ANSI and higher true resolution, lower lag, HDCP 2.2 support etc.
- If you have native 4K content to display, then the Sony does a better job as it has native 4K panels. However, its lens is not as good as the VW1x00ES and it doesn't resolve the full 4K. It's more than what e-shift resolves, but it's less than what the VW1x00ES resolves with its better lens. If you want to be able to play commercial 4K/UHD content like Bluray 4K or UHDTV, then the Sony is the better choice, even if it won't be able to do so in full quality.
Remember that neither of these two projectors is fully compliant with the upcoming standards. While the Sony will allow you to display something, it won't make the most of the quality of either UHD Bluray (it doesn't support the wider gamut as it doesn't have a DCI filter) or UHDTV (its bandwidth limited to 10.2Gb/s, same as HDMI 1.4 means that it can't display UHD in 4:2:0 10bits as UHDTV requires, but is limited to 4:2:0 8 bits in 50/60p). The JVC won't display any commercial UHD content due to the lack of HDCP 2.2. It might be able to display UHD Bluray in 1080p, but no-one knows yet the restrictions for UHD Bluray content when the HDCP 2.2 protection chain is broken.
Whether all this matters to you or not, only you can tell, but given the price difference of the two models today (the X500 can be had around £3200 new with a 3 year warranty), I went for the X500 as it fits my set up and my needs better.
Another option you might want to add to your list is the Epson LS10000, which is expected to land in the UK next month. Laser, eshift (like the JVC) but with HDCP 2.2 (unlike the JVC) and DCI gamut support (unlike the 500ES). Unfortunately, it's HDMI 2.0 is limited to Level B (same as the Sonys), so UHD is limited to 4:2:0 8bits at 50/60p. Not a problem for bluray movies, but a limitation for UHDTV or bluray concerts/sports titles.
I plan to upgrade to a native 4K projector later this year or early 2016, when they offer models with DCI gamut support (like the VW1x00ES), HDCP 2.2 and HDMI 2.0 Level A (which the VW1x00ES doesn't have).
If you tell us more about your set up (screen size, viewing distance, room) and favoured content (2D/3D/Game/4K/bright/dark), we might be able to advise further.