4k Projectors Buyers and Owners Thread (1 Viewer)

[John Dirk]

I get it, though - you ended up with a 4K TV, loved the look of it, and wanted to emulate that with your projection setup. It wasn’t a blind buy but an informed decision. And you were probably right to wait until you saw 4K at home to make that decision.

I found myself in a similar situation recently where I had to get a 4K TV. I ended up having the opposite reaction - I thought it was perfectly nice but it hasn’t triggered the upgrade itch for my projector yet. But whenever my (HD) projector reaches the end of its life, hopefully not for a long, long time, 4K will be next for me.

Josh. As always, eloquently stated. When the time arrives for me I'll also purchase a 4K replacement. I just wonder when that time will be.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Installed!

This thing is a BEAST!





Probably going to watch my first 4k tomorrow, FIRST MAN

 

[DaveF]

You install or hired installer?

What mount?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

You install or hired installer?

What mount?

Hired an installer. He was excellent!

Here are all my mounts:

1 x Chief Manufacturing RPAU Universal Projector Ceiling Mount Black (CHIRPAU)
1 x Chief Manufacturing 5-inch Ceiling Mount Plate (CHICMA101)
1 x Chief Manufacturing CMS006 Fixed Extension Column 6 (CHICMS006)

Chief SLB281 Custom Projector Interface Bracket for RPA Projector Mount
BH# CHSLB281

 

[Robert Crawford]

Installed!

This thing is a BEAST!

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Probably going to watch my first 4k tomorrow, FIRST MAN

I'm happy for you, but I do wonder if you'll enjoy that first film choice. I liked the film, but it's not for everyone.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I'm happy for you, but I do wonder if you'll enjoy that first film choice. I liked the film, but it's not for everyone.

Hmmm....

I have to watch that film at some point.

Perhaps, as a first watch instead, I will go with THE MATRIX. That is supposed to be an excellent 4k release.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Hmmm....

I have to watch that film at some point.

Perhaps, as a first watch instead, I will go with THE MATRIX. That is supposed to be an excellent 4k release.

I'm just saying is it's slow and talks more about the man, Neil Armstrong than the moon landing.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The grainy 16mm and 35mm that make up the majority of the movie won’t do much to show off his new PJ....but when it kicks into the IMAX footage for the moon landing, I bet that’ll be one hell of a transition with Ron’s new toys.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

My Thoughts...


J
Just had my JVC RS-2000/NX7 installed professionally.

I have not yet had it calibrated. So, these thoughts are on the picture just out of the box.

This is my first 4k projector. To date, I have had an exceptional Sony HW55ES 1080p projector, calibrated, that has shown exceptional picture quality.

To be quite honest, I really hemmed and hawed about upgrading to 4k. I was very, very satisfied with the PQ on the Sony. I mean, it's a great projector!


I spent this evening sampling a few titles. I started with INCEPTION and THE MATRIX in 4k. Those films are a little dark. The Matrix has a green teal purposely throughout most of its first act. I really thought both those titles would WOW me, but I think the fact that they are not well-lit films didn't give me a huge sense of improvement in picture quality.

Next, I went with BABY DRIVER, and there it was apparent how much better 4k was over the BD counterpart. The picture looked sharper. In fact, when I switched and compared scenes on the Blu-ray side, the picture definitely looked softer.

I am used to seeing 4k on my LG C8 OLED, and there the difference is just staggering. I mean, the picture looks night-and-day more stunning.

Projected, I don't see that kind of jump in PQ, but at the same time, I do see improved sharpness in the picture. I was kind of warned that I may or may not see a huge jump in projection 4k.

Black levels are not impressing me that much either. However, again, I am so used to seeing OLED 4k and I know it just won't match here.



3D looks fantastic on the JVC. Can't say it looks better than it did on my Sony HW55ES. I would rate it about the same -- and that's a good thing -- because I was always very happy with the picture output.

Amazingly, the JVC worked perfectly with these Samsung compatible 3D glasses.

However, based on recommendations, I switched over to the Hi-Shock glasses and they work equally as well.



My Logitech Elite Remote could not find the projector settings for the RS-2000 or NX7. However, it did find the codes for the NX9 and the projector is at least powering on and off with those commands. I have not gone any deeper into individual functions.


Of course, I need to get this projector calibrated. However, out of the box, I am very happy with the picture quality. I am a little disappointed that there isn't a substantial jump in PQ here, but I think that's the nature of the beast when dealing with projection. I mean, I see the difference. I appreciate the difference. I think in time I am going to become more in tune with the improved sharpness level and of course, the calibration will bring out more nuances in the picture.

 

[DaveF]

Thanks for the initial impressions, Ron. I’m bummed that your first take was amazing. I’ve got the Sony 40ES, which is the step down from the 55ES and lacks the dynamic iris. Presumably the N7 would be a bigger jump to my experience.

How is the brightness? I would expect HDR material to pop more than SDR did on the Sony 55ES, though it will lag your OLED direct view.

I’m especially curious how it calibrated. I’ve never calibrated. One of the reasons for buying the Sony were the reviews saying it had the best color out of the box for its price class, and was basically calibrated for practical purposes. But it I jump in with a $8000-class projector I may want to bring in a calibrationist.

 

[DaveF]

And looking forward to new impressions in the short term after you check your projector’s dynamic iris settings.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

And looking forward to new impressions in the short term after you check your projector’s dynamic iris settings.

Yeah, I need to make a few adjustments. Out of the box, apparently, the JVC is not fully optimized. I am going to play with it Tuesday night and will get back to you.

 

[John Dirk]

Congrats, Ron! I'm sure you'll see improvements after the calibration is complete and your [along with others] pioneering efforts are greatly appreciated by those of us still on the 4K sidelines. BTW - What brand and model UHD player are you using?

 

[Ronald Epstein]

John,

Thank You.

I am using the Oppo 203 with the JVC NX7/RS-2000. I also have the Panasonic UB820 but that is connected to my 4k OLED.

 

[david hare]

Fascinating to read Ron. I think once you get over the chasm between OLED (or even LED) flatscreeen HDR viewing and projected HDR 4K you start to notice subtle picture improvements in other things. I think the PQ is altogether more cinematic on a high quality PJ. With both the 820 and the 203 players you can optimize the tone mapping for PJs of course. I have an Optoma UHD 65 playing from an 820 and have ended up setting it at 800 lumens. Your JVC should be capable of more than this I suspect. I now always take PJ viewing over Flatscreen viewing for movies. The greatest and most agreeable surprise is what a great job in 4K upscaling they do (or in my case the players do) and how much more satisying color saturation and contrast generally are with the 4K uprez switched on. My older PJ was the Sony 55 also. I only miss the lack of 3D on the Optoma.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

UPDATE


I want to apologize again to everyone for posting initial impressions of the JVC-2000/NX7 out of the box without knowing what additional settings needed to be made.

Though I have owned a 1080p (Sony HW55ES) for several years, I have relied on a professional calibration to get me optimal picture quality. I don't know anything about properly setting up a projector on my own, and I had hoped that out of the box, this JVC would be somewhat optimized for immediate jaw-dropping clarity.

Obviously, it was not.

I did a little tinkering with the picture mode. Right now I am using NATURAL as my picture mode but I do know that the projector automatically goes into HDR10 mode when a 4k is playing. So, I concentrated on making adjustments within both those modes.

I went into Picture Settings and could not find the Iris control. I finally found it in ADVANCED settings. As all of you suggested, I set it to AUTO 2. Did this for both NATURAL and HDR10 modes.

Next, I went into MPC and leveled both ENHANCE and SMOOTHNESS down to "0"

I didn't fool with any color settings. Just chose to play with those functions.


I watched two titles tonight. The first, Mission Impossible: Fallout

For most of the feature, I did see an uptick from Blu-ray. The best way I can describe the improvement is that everything is "tighter." By that, I mean the focus, the color stability, and details --- especially in close-ups of faces where skin traits really come to the surface.

The closing act of the film takes place in Kashmir, India. The film opens up to IMAX aspect and I find myself looking at a helicopter chase high above the snow-peaked Himalayan Mountains. This is where my jaw dropped wide open. Looking down upon the mountain terrain with its valleys of pristine blue water, my eyes just widened with delight. It actually looked OLED quality -- something I did not expect to see.

So, absolutely opening up the IRIS and making the necessary adjustments was exactly what needed to be done to appreciate what projected 4k is all about.


I then popped in A Beautiful Planet, which is an IMAX 4k release from Mill Creek.

This was an exceptional title to show off black levels as well as some stunning imagery of our planet from space. The black levels were excellent, though still a bit short of what I would expect from OLED. I really don't know if you can get OLED blacks from a projection. However, they were absolutely better than they were out-of-the-box before I made the additional adjustments.

The images of inside the Russian spacecraft and of the Earth below are remarkable. Razor sharp would be the best way to describe it. I came to that conclusion after I swapped out the 4k for the Blu-ray version and started watching again at the 8-minute mark. What was pinpoint sharp on the 4k, now looked softer and a bit blurred on the Blu-ray version. There was no doubt that I was seeing an additional level of precise detail when looking at the 4k picture over the Blu-ray.

I will say I am absolutely impressed with the picture that the JVC-2000/NX7 puts out. Once this is calibrated by Gregg Loewen, I am certain I am going to be even more impressed.


For those sitting on the fence...


Back in December, as I was waiting for my RS2000, I did a 2-week marathon of GAME OF THRONES on my Sony 1080p projector. I was very happy with the images I was watching and didn't think it could get any better. I was really worrying that I had spent a lot of money for an upgrade I may not see a benefit from. I mean, Blu-ray does look spectacular when projected. For most people, it's a highly satisfying visual experience.

Now that I have seen 4k projected, there is a new appreciation in what I am watching. There is a noticeable uptick in detail which sometimes does provide a jaw-dropping effect. I mean, that IMAX sequence at the end of Mission Impossible is just incredible! It's during those moments when you see what your home theater setup is cable of producing that you realize your hard-earned money was well spent.

 

[Robert_Zohn]

Thanks for the very nice update. Glad to hear your new JVC NX7 is living up to your expectations .

 

[DaveF]

I hear JVC's sync time is still a stupidly long 12 seconds. I don't understand how that's so. My Sony's is 3 seconds and that's too long. I can't imagine missing the first 12 seconds of a movie waiting for it to synch up.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I hear JVC's sync time is still a stupidly long 12 seconds. I don't understand how that's so. My Sony's is 3 seconds and that's too long. I can't imagine missing the first 12 seconds of a movie waiting for it to synch up.

Interesting you brought this up.

I noticed that there's all kind of handshake issues when I start a movie that my Sony never went through.

Sometimes it clips the very start of a film.

Now I find out this is normal for JVC and cannot be corrected?

 

[DaveF]

This is normal for JVC. They've had long sync (handshake) times (like 4x Sony) for the past two or three years that I've been considering projector purchases.