Thanks for the review. That should be very helpful to many folks. Everything you said made sense, and I have to agree with most of it, but I’ll still take the argument regarding 3D brightness. And one other comment, re Runco and what it might take to beat it…

OK, I’ll want to hear back from you when you’ve had a chance to watch some non-animated, non super CG enhanced things in 3D. It’s easy with animation, or laying CG on live (such as Tron Legacy), to have things very punchy looking, which definitely helps with the relative dimness of 3D (certainly compared to 2D). Even dark scenes in Alice, we’ve found to be dim and fatiguing, (from several folks), and that’s on a smaller screen than yours.

But there’s lots of content. It’s not a matter of if it’s watchable. No argument there, at least not from me, it’s whether it’s desireable, or just something you are willing to put up with to view 3D.

Consider – did you ever once raise those glasses and look at the same content without them, and think, wow, that’s way better? I don’t see how you couldn’t wish for that quadrupling of useable lumens. Every single person to view 3D here on any home projector so far (except the LG), has said, basically: “yep” would be much better if it was the brightness of the image without the glasses”.

But, enough of that. No question the JVC’s got the best blacks out there (short of a CRT).
Last year I got to view the RS35 – the X9′s predecessor. And not long after I got to work with the Runco 3 chipper, with 3 times the lumens and excellent – though not as good as the JVC’s blacks”. (and all the more noticeable by being 3x as bright). I liked the extra brightness (of the Runco), myself. As much as I’ve written the praises of the JVC’s blacks these past several years, and advanced the importance of black level performance especially as how they affect really dark scenes, offer me the Runco (twice the price) or the JVC, to use, and I have to go with the Runco (I’m just talking brightness). This brings me to the point.

You said what else might – short of one of those big Runco’s challenge the X9?

My answer is simple – and note I’m talking challenge, not beat:
The new Panasonic PT-AE7000 and the “rumored” Epson, which probably won’t be just rumors, even before CEDIA – I don’t see them waiting that long to spill the beans.

Oh, they won’t match the JVC’s blacks – I’ll presume a new Epson will roughly equal or be very close to the X3, but not the X7/X9 variations. Panasonic will have to up their performance a notch on blacks to get to the same place.

But these guys are going to likely double (or more) the light output of the X9 when fully calibrated, or using (the presumed Epson’s presumed THX mode – since they’ve had them for years).

The X9 will still produce a great image, with better blacks, and a clearer image due to better optics, and would be my certain choice (no surprise) almost certainly over those far less expensive projectors, for 2D, but, Either of them should be capable of putting up a 3D image close to as bright as the JVC can do in THX mode, in 2D. So, 3D with roughly, the JVC’s 2D brightness.

That’s what I’m waiting for, before I buy my next projector. I wouldn’t be surprised, if JVC rolls out new projectors that are 25-50% brighter than the X9, though I have no intel to support that.

Anyway, enjoy your X9. I had the RS35 long enough last year (and the RS60 briefly this year), to know how much you will enjoy 2D…. -art

Screen: 140 inch slight grey non accoustic 21:9 1.1 gain.

Projector: JVC DILA X9 low hours.

Environment: custom 7.1 surround, low light and dark. Level seating with centre of screen.

2D movie: Swordfish

BRIGHTNESS: Excellent with lights off. Lights on still no problem with screen. Dark detail still visible.

CONTRAST: Never seen better Dark detail and black levels. CRT yes can get absolute black. X9 If you put a hand in front of screen you can barely see an shadow if at all. Considering its dark detail, contrast and brightness. Nothing i have seen comes close to this balance.

NOISE: negligible to none, hard to tell with anamorphic lens because it has compression. Didn’t see in in native form.
Time viewed: 10-15 minutes. 50/50 lights on/off.

COLOUR: THX mode was best. Other modes were ok but THX had more subtly colours and better skin tones. On 140 inch screen and light output on normal brightness was not as issue. You may want more but it didn’t need it. You have to see for yourself to judge colour.

3D movie: Despicable Me

BRIGHTNESS: Good in 3D mode setting with bulb in high mode. I had no issue with brightness. It wasn’t bright but it certainly was not dim. 3D mode compensates for the lcd shutter glasses tint giving a comfortable experience on the eyes.

CONTRAST: excellent in 3D mode, In any other mode it lacked punch. Dark detail although there wasn’t alot, was clear.

NOISE: None at all but it was an animation, live would be a better way to judge.

TIME VIEWED: 8 minutes or more

Overall: I was impressed by the image qaulity over any other aspect. I found 2D a treat on to the eyes. the optical clarity i think is unrivalled for an lcd based unit.

The 3D performance is very good. Yes it could do with more light output ideally but its got enough light not to feel any discomfort or eye fatigue.

I am no expert and i use a mere 725 lumen ecp4500 crt projector. So clearly i am not the best reference for whats a bright image.

Crt has a very intense image. Shine any high lumen projector over it and the crt will shine through easily. To me I prefer a bright image on the screen and lumen output off the screen to be secondary. In regards to picture qaulity. But lumens is important for the eyes otherwise you’ll get eye fatigue.

For a home theater application the x9 will meet most of your needs on mid size screen. 3D Image qaulity is great. But its not as bright as most would want. But when your watching 3D in 3D mode, the image is so good you’ll be in awe of the qaulity rather than light output.

Its clearly designed to meet thx standards for 2D. 3D is just a very capable addition that it can handle to say 75% of what you’d expect for qaulity 3D, the other 25% is lack of high light output.

I think you would need the sim c3x lumis 3d stack or 6000 ansi plus 10 000:1+ contrast projector to meet what your looking for.

Like i said i am no expert but if you have a relatively short throw distance the brightness will be better at expense of black and contrast.

Even the guy at castle hill hi fi said the x9 has the best picture they have seen. He said the high end sim 3 chip dlp projectors have more punch due to light output and slightly better handling of fast scenes. Also have triple flash instead of double for 3D. But jvc x9 still has better blacks/contrast.

It all comes down to application and budget.
2D is what you buy it for with 3D as a capable bonus. For 3D specifically look elsewhere but expect to pay alot for a projector that retains good 2d picture.

I could be wrong but i think the 100 000:1 figure might come from the iris being reduced to get the number up in black levels. Otherwise i don’t know.

Thanks, i apologise for my ramblings and hope i helped a bit.

Glad to hear it. I’m surprised, of course, regarding your comments about brightness, of the X9. Cnn you clarify, hard sometimes to tell when you are talking about 2D and when, 3D. ie. you said color was very accurate in the paragraph mentioning Sword Fish (2D) and Despicable Me 3D. (BTW what type of screen – brand and surface) And you say brightness is perfect, but again, for Swordfish or Despicable Me. The science of it makes 3D 1/4 the brightness, or worse, so, theoretically, if 3D were bright enough, 2D should be extremely bright. I just had the HC9000D in here, running 3D as large as 124″ on my StudioTek 130, and the brighter Mitsubishi, still didn’t cut it for me, or friends at that size. Down at 100″ the Mits was “decent” at best for 3D. Even if the JVC with colour profiles off, matches the Mitsubishi in brightness, I really have a hard time with the idea of 140″, especially with a grey surfaced screen.

However, I suspect – just a guess – why you found 3D to be adequately bright at 140″, to be two fold:
1. Your viewing time in 3D was limited. I’d guess well less than a hour (without interruption), and probably less than 15 minutes.
2. You only saw an animation. They do far better than “live” in terms of watchability, when it comes to brightness, and it’s always been the case, not just 3d. In aninmations, t’s easy to keep contrast high in scenes and to not have a lot of dark scenes, and dark shadow detail. Even Tron Legacy, a hybrid, is all dark world bright “neon-ish” type lights for contrast… The challenge is watching traditional films with dark scenes. Even Alice was very dim, by my taste, and again, a lot of CG to keep things lively, but, in Alice’s case, “wonderland” is a somewhat dark place.

So, how was the colour in 3D, with colour profile off? The other’s so far, to comment, who have viewed (including owners) have been saying that the colour really is not good with the profiles off.

As to the RS40 X3, vs. Naw, the RS40 and X3, have cinema modes very similar to THX, much as the RS60/50/X9/X7 do. While I didn’t get an RS40/X3 to review, there have been plenty of comments from folks who have seen, and in cases, measured one or the other. It sure sounds like the RS40/X3 is brighter? We only were able to measure shy of 550 lumens, and we measure from mid-point. Thus, about 600 lumens maximum in THX (not looking at my review – working from memory), at wide angle. Typically with JVC the difference between best and brightest, is about 25-30%.

Other readers will be curious, re some of the questions I asked you, and I in particular, about the time you spent (without interruption in the dark watching 3D), and don’t forget more info on the screen. thanks! -art

great guys by the way.

i saw sword fish and despicable 3D and in all modes. Swordfish with john travolta looked fantastic. the contrast and blacks were spot on, sharpest non dlp i have seen. Fast action was smoot, no discernable latency. claimed 2.5ms response. The brightness in a hometheater is perfect i thought. everything looks like solid materials, no sense of being a projection. Colour was very accurate.

In 3d it has excellent picture. no ghosting or flicker at all I didn’t have issue with brightness on high mode. in thx or normal mode its dimmer but perfectly acceptable. 2D brightness is good, clearly where it was developed for. 3D as a bonus is very good and aslong as you don’t go too big brightness is fine.

I think in regards to brightness of rs40 vs rs60 etc. The rs40 is only brighter because there is no calibrated thx mode. You’ll loose a bit of brightness for contrast and colour balance. If you turn colour profiles off, leave iris open and leave on high you’ll be on par with rs40.

x9 is the best film like projector i have seen.

My guess is you would not get the black level performance. But, from all accounts the RS40 should be the brightest RS that JVC has shipped (barring their use of the RS designation on their big commercial projectors). -art

Coming from an RS2 with lumen issues, I’ve considered either a 950 or the RS40.

My RS2 with 285 hrs has dropped to under 300 lumens. JVC is replacing my light engine block (again) saying it was to dark and admits something is wrong.

So getting a 950 or RS40(with an external CMS) I think would fix my light issue I hope.

Hi, any word from JVC from the NAB event? It’s become evident there is a 30-35% delta in lumen output between the RS40 vs the RS50/RS60. JVC did a number this year on those willing to invest in the midrange and high end models.

If they don’t acknowledge the difference and offer a resolution soon (refund or swap to an RS40 + refund) they are going to damage their previously positive reputation. This is bordering on false advertising since all 3 models are advertised with the same 1300 lumen output.

Thank you for reporting on your actual findings. Many so-called ‘professional reviews’ in the magazines do not post the important information one needs to make a wise purchasing decision.

I am upset as my RS50 isn’t working to my expectations with my current screen size, but my previous RS40 was no problem. I am down to 350 lumens with only 250 hours which is terrible. JVC is going to turn away current and potential customers if they don’t act on this now.

Thank you,

Jason

P.S. I finally heard back from the Sony store about a demo of the 90ES. Basically they said, no. They aren’t bringing in any except for special orders and if they special order it, it will be a final sale. I don’t think I will be getting the Sony then. As good as online reviews are, I really want to look at the projects myself before dropping 10k on one.