JVC DLA-X95R Home Theater Projector - Review Summary 2

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Art Feierman

The Very Bottom Line on the JVC DLA-X95R Home Theater projector:

❮ ❯

If the JVC X95 was perhaps 50% or 60% brighter in 3D, I don't know what I'd have to complain about. The extra lumens aren't needed for normal 2D movie viewing, but would come in handy (though not necessary) for things like sports viewing in 2D allowing more intentional ambient light present in your theater. The real need for the extra brightness though, is for 3D. Everything I watched in 3D was "watchable" at just under 100" diagonal (16:9) size, with a 1.3 gain screen. Everything watched at that diagonal would have been more enjoyable with extra brightness. And a 50%+ boost in brightness would also allow perhaps a 120" diagonal instead of 96" with the same brightness. If only the X95R projector could really put a good looking 1200 lumens on the screen like they claim. Oh well.

The Fifth Element image from the JVC DLA-X95R projector.

But other than yearning for extra brightness, there is nothing I can really complain about. Having Lens Memory is great. The CFI modes are typically effective, although the lower setting still adds enough "live digital video" feel to the movie, so that a real purist is unlikely to engage CFI while watching a movie. Crosstalk issues from last year are essentially gone, the X95R is now good in that regard. OK I guess I can also complain about gamma modes. I think there are 9 not counting the 3 custom ones. You would think with 9 choices one would be right on the money at 2.2, but according to Mike, everyone of them is 2.16 or lower numbers. Fortunately Mike says creating an accurate gamma is very doable as one part of your overall calibration. His Custom gamma setup proved to look pretty much right on!

Katniss image from the JVC DLA-X95R projector.

Overall, color was pretty excellent after calibration. Not the very most natural skin tones, but natural, nonetheless. Unless you start pumping up controls like Sharpness and MPC (e-shift2), which will "harden" the image and skin tones.

Last Word: As a dedicated projector for viewing 2D movies, my take is that you really can't beat this JVC without going to the Sony 4K. Yes there's some really good competition, but overall, the JVC X95 has to be considered certainly to be at least as good as any of the others we've worked with.