JamesOr

Impressions of my new JVC 52" HD-ILA - Problems?

I bought the HD52Z585 model about 2 weeks ago for $2000 from Hhgregg. They had just dropped the price down from $2400 since they have the newer model now(which I think is $2600). It's a beautiful looking tv even when it's off with its all black frame. I'm not an expert so my observations will be fairly general. I do have a 57" Hitachi RPTV I bought 2 years ago that I can compare this with directly though. My main reason for posting is to get some feedback on some possible problems with this set so please read through this- problems are at the end of the post.

First off the High-def stuff. I have Time Warner cable HD and HD programming looks unbelievable. This is a very bright tv. The factory settings have everything zero'd out unlike the DLP's I've seen where contrast is at 100. I did pop the Avia disc in to try calibrating but honestly I hate that damn disc. Is the DVE disc easier to understand? I did my best and ended up turning the brightness and contrast down to around -14/-12 or so and the sharpness and color down a little less. It's fairly hard to make anything look bad on this screen so I don't feel too bad about my settings.

For dvd stuff I tried out Hellboy and Finding Nemo first. Finding Nemo looked flawless to my eyes. Hellboy was important to me because the biggest knock I heard about the D-ILA sets was the black level being less than even the new DLP's. It's definitely not as deep a black as my CRT but I still think it's deeper than the older DLP's. It doesn't bother me regardless.

One thing I heard a lot of comments about was fan noise on the tv. When it's first turned on the tv doesn't make much noise at all. It might be comparable to the noise level of a DLP, but I never listened to a DLP that closely before. When the lamp heats up however, the fan does kick on and make quite a bit more noise. I have wood flooring in the room this tv is in so it might be louder because of that. It isn't really distracting to me when the audio is at a normal level so it doesn't bother me.

There is only 1 HDMI input on the back so I'm not crazy about that. I plan on buying an Xbox360 in the fall and I'll end up swapping cables for that. The new model of this set may have 2 HDMI inputs, not sure.

Here's the things that are worrying me about this tv. When I watch anything that is 2.40 or 2.35 aspect ratio, the black bars are slightly slanted. I even measured with a tape measure how wide the bars are at the top and bottom on both sides. The bar on the top is 1/4" higher on the right than it is on the left side. On the bottom the bar is 1/4" lower on the left side than the right. It was noticable to me the first time I saw something at that aspect ratio. It does this on both component and HDMI sources. I noticed it on the Avia disc with the grid patterns too. Is a digital set like this supposed to have perfect geometry out of the box? I was under the impression that with a set like this I wouldn't have to spend money on ISF calibration for geometry problems. My CRT is in bad need of calibration but rather than spend $600 right now I decided to get this new tv.

The other problem is a little more scary for me. I was watching the 24 season three dvd and noticed that when there was a closeup of a person's face, I would see a kind of shimmer or heat wave effect on certain areas of the face. It looks like the person's face is distorting for a few seconds. It doesn't seem to do it when I watch the same scene in slow motion so it may be motion related. It's distracting and not something I would have to really look for to see.

Should I be calling JVC about this? If these are things that are definitely faulty, I would have no problem returning it and getting a replacement from them. I would like to hear some feedback first though. It's a really great tv but I hate having doubts nagging me about whether it has defects. Especially if they will get worse. Thanks for any help

JamesOr

One other thing I forgot to mention. When watching 4:3 material, the sidebars are slightly concave. I have my cable box set to grey sidebars for 4:3 material(there is no option for black bars)I also have my cable box outputting all resolutions. I figured it was better to have the tv scale everything to 720p than have the cable box do it.

Mort Corey

I'd first examine another display...just to see if it's common. Calling JVC will get you a voice in some far off land that will tell you everything is OK. If other units seem to not show these flaws, do a search on JVC's web site for authorized repair centers and give them a call directly. Let them deal with the corporation.

Mort (who has been there with JVC and was not happy)

videobruce

No one would argue that! Either standard or theater mode tones it down. All Microdisplays have fans. Some have FIVE. Just as rainbows are a issue to some, fans are also.Can you put a crosshatch pattern up to check geometry? Both discs have help sections on their web sites. I don't have the Avia. Neither are for beginners. It is a mass produced comsumer device. It can't be "perfect"! But, it can be very close. Common problem for many of these sets (not just JVC).

I would have it swaped out for another.