JVC DLA-NX9 Review

The time crew has arrived and our waiting is finally over. JVC announced the release of its new models N5, N7 and NX9 for this year and dealt us a big surprise, I speak of cource about the native 4k that feature all three of the new models.

The truth is that JVC had prepared us somewhat with the advent of the only Z1 last year, other secrets small basket since neither the reviews were exceptional, nor was the price considered “human” (35,000$).

This year, however, the big time has come and JVC has made the turn we have all been waiting for. New chassis, new optical, new electronics, new panel, new lens and of course…. new price for all three new models.

Gone how much? 8 years or so we have to see new design model from the Japanese company? From the distant X3 (X7, X9) to the x5900 (X7900, x9900) We measured not one, not two, other 7 different models which shared the same design on their chassis, enough anymore!

 

But let’s see a little more in more detail what new these three fresh models of JVC are bringing.

First of all all three make use of the new, fresh 4k panel of JVC with pure resolution 4096×2160 pixels.

 

 

 

A true technological marvel would say dimension 0.69 of an inch (1.5 cm approx) in which they have cornered 8,847,360 pixels. Its technological evolution does not simply stop in this huge number of pixels, but it also progresses to the ratio of the surface of the pixels. Over 99% surface cover the pixels and less than 1% gap between them. God… what will our eyes see…

These panels have been placed in a new design optical machine which supplies a new lens of 17 glass elements divided into 15 group diameter 65mm in the cases of N5, N9, and an 18 glass elements separated into 16 group diameter 100mm in Case of NX9. The new features of these lenses are the special crystals that have been designed in the light of the different refractive indicators of the three colors of panels (R/G/B) so as to completely eliminate the phenomenon of color aberration even under full using lens shift!

 

 

 

 

A few other elements worth mentioning are the ability of all three models to give a color palette greater than the DCI standard, the two 18gbps HDMI/HDCP 2.2 ports full compatibility with 4k hardware hdr10 other and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma) available, And finally the auto tone maping function which in effect changes the gamma settings automatically (or manually) depending on the mastering information contained in each UHD disk. The latter is a very important setting/innovation, because every time, regardless of the material, the projector will pay the maximum (and correctly) adjusted to the needs of each mastering information.

 

 

 

JVC DLA-NX9

The time has come, enough with information and imports. In my hands I have for a few days now the flagship of the series, the DLA-NX9. The projector came specifically from Japan for its presentation in the exhibition Sound & Picture Show 2018 in Greece to be held at the Park Hotel on 24-25 November.

This particular NX9 is a demo unit, one of the four pre-produced by JVC for the global presentation of the model. So surely since she announced that the production models will be sold with new firmware I keep small basket as far as its performance, others certainly an idea we will take it i believe…

 

 

 

Let’s make our natural tour first…

May is missing from lent? Well, of course not… 🙂

 

 

 

Finally, new remote control! Nice, quality with discreetly beautiful lighting. Unfortunately not practical since the keys are all on the same surface and on the same level as the chassis, so in the dark you will need to press the light (thankfully glow) and look at every time what you press because they do not give you any sense of touch.

 

 

The NX9 weighs 22 pounds and shows it. Compared to the old series of JVC is visible to the naked eye we would say the “bloating” suffered the new model…

 

 

 

 

Let’s get an idea of the NX9 settings menu which remains a classic JVC DLA menu.

 

 

Now the firmware upgrade can be done with a simple USB stick. You put the file there, you put the stick on the USB NX9, go to the corresponding menu and choose Software Update. So simple…

 

 

 

I will refer extensively only to the amazing regulatory convergence of the panels. With this slider you can simply adjust the convergence with a huge accuracy of 1/10 pixels. I’d have thought that in such a big analysis he’d find it difficult, my mistake. You can calibrate by area and bring the panels in perfect alignment. Convergence problem so finally, no more.

 

 

 

The test

The first contact with the NX9 is riveting, 22 kilos of a symmetrically designed huge projector with a huge 100mm lens in the center is a strange experience however you do it. This projector where it is hung indicates that everything will be under it. Imposing, beautiful, impressive, real jewel for every space. Hanging naturally only with two people, one only is impossible to handle both bulky and heavy headlight.

Set up opposite the Clipboard screen, focus the lens, connect to the Samsung 4k player, and we start…

First remark, in any use lens shift, change position, or flipping of the projector is necessary from the beginning the setting of the Pixel Adjust. Eight and a million pixels don’t joke. We talk that accordingly the placement can see and 3-4 pixel convergence difference! Of course no worries since within a few seconds and without moving from your sofa the correction from the menu restores the order, easily, simply, and the most important with huge precision of the tenth pixel.

lens sharpness; This is where we laugh. Perfectly perfect from edge to edge of screen. Actually, you think you are watching a TV panel and not a projection picture. Amazing things, and I didn’t even center the projector well (I used the horizontal lens shift).

10/10 this new lens.

 

Test I placed the 4k disc of the film Lusy to see basically if the player is locked correctly with the projector. Straight the NX9 saw 4k HDR material, turned all of the sliders into HDR mode, and the view started…

 

 

 

(The photos and screenshots that you will see in this review have been compressed at a resolution of 1080 for understandable WEB reasons, impossible anyway to catch the camera this huge analyticalness provided by the NX9 in our eyes)

 

 

 

Shock, it is the first time in many years that the image of a projector shocked me in such a way. A real slap. No, it is not possible I thought to see what I see…

I went around to see what I was going to see. I went even closer. I almost stuck my face on the screen. Visible pixel anywhere. When I say nowhere, I mean no suspicion.

It is impossible to distinguish pixels in the NX9 even from a few centimeters away. The image is completely compact and you are given the impression that it is not made up of pixels. When I say that there are no pixels literally…

 

 

What it means in practice that the image we see is not made up of pixels and gives you an absolutely solid feel? That as much as an oxymoron sounds, NX9 is the ideal projector for small spaces. You can comfortably sit at 2.5 meters opposite a 100-inch screen and enjoy such a compact and lucid image, as much relaxing as you could not imagine until today.

For those with a projector already, you’ve certainly seen how much more relaxed and compact your projector image is as you move away from the screen. In NX9 this sensation exists even in a projection that you sit at 1 metre from the sail. Unbelievable and unprecedented things. With Panagiotis (who without his valuable help, it would be difficult to make this review here, thank you, Panagiotis!) gazing like children who saw Santa Claus alive, flesh and blood:)

 

Let’s get over the shock and move on…

After I started viewing 4k HDR hardware I found that the NX9 menus are completely unlocked.Tthe user is able to select when viewing HDR hardware that setting he wants. Can choose color profile REC. 709 If he wants, or another gamma or even another picture mode! I give this such an information…

 

Also very important setting is the aforementioned setting of tone maping.

 

 

 

In addition to auto tone mapping, you can manually touch the mapping level and bring the image to the desired location. In essence the mapping level corrects the HDR gamma as it sees it as an adjunct to auto mapping. Very useful arrangement as demonstrated in practice.

From a subject of chromatic uniformity, NX9 touches perfection. On a white tab he gave change really. where he didn’t do well is on the Black tab. It had some bright spots like seeing a medium panel LCD TV, but it only appeared when the color DCI was entering the filter, which led me to conclude that some dust or some alteration was in the filter. I don’t know any more details, but I think this has something to do with the fact that this pre-production piece has turned almost the entire planet before it reached my fingertips and perhaps the suffering it suffered has affected its performance in some Areas. Of course, in any case these bright spots did not affect the image even purely obscure scenes.

Let’s go to see the measurements of NX9 and proceed to impressions from the test…

 

 

 

 

Measurements

I got out my magic kit and I started…

 

 

 

 

I got measured grayscale in the following factory settings

 

 

 

Excellent behavior that just a few clicks became this…

 

 

 

What to say, perfectly balanced across the grayscale with dE2000 at 3.8 factory, excellent!

 

 

The big surprise was in the measurements of the color triangle. Without even activated the CMS of the projector I took the best measurements I have ever taken on a projector regardless of class or price.

 

 

Fine saturation and nuances. However, in color brightness (which is a very important part of the color rendering), I have never seen anything like this in factory projector measurements. Apart from the slight deviation of the red (which you see in the photo above) the brightness of the colours were so precise that I stayed with my mouth open.

In the intermediate 25%, 50% and 75% de2000 has the unimaginable price for factory measurements below the unit!

That is, we see the greatest in terms of the chromatic rendering of our projector as soon as we press on, what to say…

Keep in mind, this is a pre-production projector that according to the people of JVC needs a change of firmware and in performance is quite inferior to those that will reach the shelves of stores, that is how they will attribute if he plays like that??

 

Brightness measurements (measurements were made in the above factory settings)

1140 lumen with low light bulb

1630 lumen with lamp in high

Native on/off contrast 28.700:1 (Iris completely open, low mode lamp)

lumen output measurement had been made with lux meter CA813 on the screen facing the projector (projection at 100′ from ~3.5 meters). Contrast measurement had been made with lux meter CA813 facing the projector from 30cm distance. 

The numbers are far from the reportable of the company, but on the other hand I did not try to get the maximum values (to play with the manual iris, to put lenses in position tele, etc.), I measured exactly as I saw the 100 inches I set him up. Indeed I do not know what the projector does when viewing HDR because its brightness and the contrast blow up your eyes…

 

 

updated measurements

A lot of you ask me to make detailed measurements on contrast. Here they are

 

Lamp low/iris full close   82.043:1

Lamp low/iris full open  28.992:1

Lamp high/iris full close  69.411:1

Lamp high/iris full open 22.965:1

Contrast measurements have been made with lux meter CA813, 24cm from projector lens (lens in tele position)

 

 

 

Impressions

Where to start and where to finish…

NX9 ‘s analyticalness strikes. I honestly think that we have reached the top of the evolution of analysis, and any suspicion of going to 8k in the future only causes laughter. Even from viewing at 1 meter the image of 100 inches shows surprisingly compact and the purity of the detailed makes you be. With NX9 I think that many will change their standards as far as viewing distance is concerned, since enjoyment grows as you approach the screen and not the other way around!

(You can click on the photos and see them in 1080 analysis, for your information)

 

 

 

In a matter of contrast what exactly to describe and exactly what to say. In 4k HDR material NX9 gave me the most contrast picture I’ve ever seen. With Panagiotis watching and discussing, and we concluded that the NX9 has a very high ANSI contrast, dare I say the highest I have seen my eyes so far? Certainly far better than all the previous projectors of JVC…

 

 

 

The bright highlights of the image dazzle without a hint of exaggeration though, the dark ones in the same frame are “black”. The details all there, to make your brain work overtime in decoding the electrical signals it receives from the optic nerve. Apparition…

 

 

 

The purely dark scenes in 4k HDR material are simply enjoyable. Impossible to be photographed, at least by my existing equipment. Here to say that the NX9 features besides manual iris and automatic. Automatic has two settings. In both (one more and the other less aggressive) its function is exemplary and the improvement it brings to the dark scenes is visible and important without ever bothering, even in the appearance of subtitles!

 

 

 

Chromatic the DCI triangle over somewhat, especially if the mastering has made full use of it. It is extremely impressive though, in any case…

 

 

 

We put the NX9 4k material from the World Cup to see his performance there as well. We were laughing.

Okay, where we thought we’d seen it all came up this…

 

 

 

Amazing details that blow your mind up. It’s not usually easy to know how to be able during a football game to discern what a spectator drinks in the bleachers.

In the above scene, where the sun falls in the bleachers, the effect was really dazzling while at the same time seeing totally details (the ones you could see if under these circumstances you were in the position of the camera, realistic viewing Really).

The 4k HDR material simulates the real viewing conditions in the outside world, and does it well, very well.

 

Next stop? Playstation 4pro. One I’ll tell you, I put the Red Dead Redemption 2 on trial, and where I had completed some 5% of the story I found myself 20% when finally closing it! What to say… I found myself in the wild west facing a gunslingers and hunting animals in nature, all on a screen 100 inches that blowing your mind away. Unprecedented experience really…

 

 

 

Here somewhere to say that the Ps4pro does not give native 4k analysis. It gives upscaling analysis to the 4k with the real being somewhere in the 1600p (if I’m not mistaken). Such a difference is visible. Believe it. It is so analytical the NX9 that you understand directly any change in the material. Surely Xbox X users who give real 4k analysis will see an even better picture than the one I saw.

However, the experience of RDR2 in NX9 left me indelible scars. I put last night the game on my 50′ 1080p TV that I have and almost bummed. This feeling of being part of the world of the game magically is gone, and the feeling of just playing a game on your TV was more intense than ever. The conclusion? Ignorance is a delight sometimes…

 

Of course I did and test on Netflix via Ps4pro, the results are amazing! Those there on Netflix do not know what the hell they have done to their algorithms and give so good quality image through streaming, honestly. Unfortunately, two pictures I took proved to be very “blur” and could not be saved so you could see them, so for the formality of the case. (note, all photos are hand-drawn with Samsung S7 mobile:))

 

In motion the NX9 has to display an improved algorithm that works excellently. The frame interpolation in position low gives an excellent result, zero snagging, minimal artifacts. In the high position works equally well, the movement becomes butter but the artifacts multiply, but not to an extent annoying, very well you can see in this position your film.

 

In the movement of 24 frames, I just saw the typical movement of 24 frames:)

Personally, it doesn’t bother me, I’ve gotten used to it for so many years, Panagiotis the other way around, anything under 60 frames causes vomiting:)

 

 

A few words about 4k HDR material. We all had our doubts when it started running us as the next high-resolution format, including me. We were already screwed with the 3d, don’t forget.

I’ll just tell you that the 4k HDR came to stay. The result of viewing in a similar medium is top enjoyable. Particularly in large dimension (in small, 50 inches and below I still maintain my reservations) really gives other meaning to the viewing. You can move closer to the screen and enjoy relaxing even more image detail, basically changing the theory as we knew it to date.

Now if you have a 4k projector and play the appropriate 4k material, there are no limits, you must, and viewing standards. You can sit as close as you want and see as big a picture as you want, and most importantly? rested! This in the movies, but especially in gaming changes the data as we knew it to date for me.

 

 

 

Epilogue

This projector is a dream. That’s my opinion of DLA-NX9. I could write hours more about what my eyes saw, but I’m not going to do it, it’s going to be tiring, plus NX9 is the definition of “no more describing”, that’s the kind of thing you have to see with your own eyes to understand.

Indeed, those few lucky people around the world who will be able to part somewhere 17,000$, will live an unprecedented viewing experience. Personally I find that although the smaller models of the series move to similar performance levels we are talking about reinvent of home cinema projectors from JVC, as was mentioned by the great Steve Jobs in the presentation of the first iphone.

 

God bless you all!

Nikos Tsolas