Does anyone have or seen the JVC DLA-HX1 (1 Viewer)

[SteveFred]

Hi everyone,

I think I am leaning toward a DLA-I projector, but I do not have anywhere around milwaukee(that I know of) that displays this type.

Does anyone have the projector?

Has anyone seen this projector in person?

I do have about 3 more months before purchasing my equipment(house will be done then, hit my web button to see the progress).

Also:

Are there any major drawbacks to DLA-I technology??

My room will be about 15x19-20ft and a total dedicated theater room, no ambient light. Screen will be a 110" or 119" 16x9.

Thanks

Steve

 

[alan halvorson]

It's D-ILA (or, more properly, LCOS). I know of someone that owns one, but not well enough to ask to see it.

The HX-1 is basically a JVC SX21 with its 4:3 panel masked to 16:9. The masking reduces light spill when viewing 16:9 material, an advantage. With the exception of the megabucks Sony Qualia and the coming JVC HD projector, the SX21 and HX1 have the highest resolution (4:3 = 1440 x 1050, 16:9 = 1440 x 768) available to consumers. They have the highest fill ratio. They are also 3-chippers, so no color wheel and no possiblity of rainbows or headaches. It is conceded by many that the JVC's produce the most "film-like" picture of all the digital projectors. The HX1 is HDCP capable; the SX21 is not.

D-ILA's do have flaws. First of all, price. There are no cheap D-ILA's. Blacks and contrast ratio are not nearly as good as a decent DLP. For maximum performance, the JVC's should be calibrated (~$800). The scaler on the SX21 is nowhere as good as it ought to be and so many use an external scaler. I am not certain of the scaler used in the HX1.

If you don't care about HDCP capability, the SX21 with an anamorphic lens (~$800+) might be the way to go. An anamorphic lens allows full use of the 4:3 panel when viewing 16:9 material. Panamorph Corporation produces a lens specifically for the SX21, or you can use an universal lens.

It is a huge downside that JVC's are rarely on demo anywhere. Their market share of the consumer digital projector market is quite small as a result. You might try The AVS Forum for more complete information on these projectors.

 

[Levesque]

I own a JVC HX-1U since 2 months. I use it with a Denon 5900.

Best buy I have ever made. Smooth, natural and film-like picture.

I did try the marantz S3 and the Sharp 12K, and CR is not everything. The color dynamics of the D-ILA won over the better blacks to my eyes and my wife also.

The CR thing is really overblown. In my completely black room, with total lighting control, the blacks are good enough on the D-ILA. The S3 was not that much better. But the colors on the HX-1U are more pleasing.

With the HX-1U, you can sit where YOU want. I don't see any pixel at 5 feet from the screen! So i sit at 10' from a 110'' screen w/o any problems.

The only draw back to D-ILA is the complete inability of JVC to do any marketing on those. Seeing one in a showroom is really tough!

If you have any questions, just post them here.

It's really a matter of taste. But don't let the CR dictate your choice. Try to see a good single-chip DLP and the HX-1U before buying...

But a 3 chip projector is so sweet. No dithering, no rainbows, no headaches, no distance ratio for seating...

 

[SteveFred]

HI,

Thanks for the information. Whoops DIL-A

I have watched almost the entire Matrix 3 movie on the Sharp 12000, it was a nice picture, black seems pretty good and I did not see the rainbow effect.

Yes maybe in the next few months I will be able to find a dealer(maybe in Chicago) that I can see it in person.

I would want HDCP, so the HX-1U is the model I am leaning towards at the moment.

I have seen the HX-1U for about $8500(If thats was the correct model) so that is well inside my budget. I would love to have the new JVC model coming out with True 1920x1080 res, but Im afraid the price will be 15k+.

How do you like your Da-Lite Hi-Power 110" diagonal screen? Does it work well with the JVC projector?


Steve

 

[Levesque]

In the viewing cone, the HX-1U is simple awesome with the hi-Power. I'm at 40-45 ftl, and my neighbor that own a Sony plasma told me last week that my set-up is like having a ''giant plasma on the wall''.

I have 2 rows of 2 seats, so everyone is in the viewing cone. There is a ''snap'' to the picture with the Hi-Power that I didn't found elsewhere. I did also try the Silverstar, but the Hi-Power was equally good for a much better price...

You really have to see a single chip DLP and a D-ILA before buying. There is some pro and cons to both technologies.

For us, the better colors and smoothness (like at the theater) won the day over the ''artificial'' sharpness and the ''better'' blacks (really small difference in a completely black room) of the DLP's.

But it's your call. If you can, bring your WAF/GF with you. They don't have the crazy expectations that we have and can really solve a choice ''problem'' in a heartbeat with a plain ''this one looks better''...

My wife really prefered the D-ILA. So it did stop all my hesitations about CR, fill-factor, blah blah blah...

 

[Telalun]

I work for a television station and we have 9 of these. They are used to display live taping and are shown on a wall with screen goo painted on it. The image is amazing with complete lighting control. One of the projectors are in a room with a tinted window and on a full sunlit day I don't notice much difference over the others. This is the projector that I am holding out for, just waiting on a refurb special or a really good sale from a local vendor.

Good luck with finding one to preview.

 

[Levesque]

Update...

My HX1 have been calibrated by William Phelps 3 weeks ago, and the difference is totally incredible.

Better shadow details, better blacks (perceived...), colors are dead-on (D65), better color dynamics, shading is better.

Totally recommend.

With the calibration by this well known D-ILA calibrator, my HX1U now totally outclass (IMHO) the best single chip DLP I have seen (Marantz S3 and Sharp 12K).

To my eyes, night and day differences before and after the calibration. Everyone thinking of buying this projector or owning this projector SHOULD plan on sending it to M. Phelps.

It's like owning a totally different projector after the calibration...

 

[Leo Kerr]

Perhaps the best way to see a D-ILA projector is to not visit Home Theater suppliers and the like.

Go track down a JVC Professional/Broadcast Products supplier and see if they can help you out. Or contact a JVC Pro Products sales rep.

I don't know your zip code, but go visit
http://pro.jvc.com

Of note, if you're buying before the end of August, their website is advertising a free GR-HD1U H-DV camcorder with the HX1 projector.

The DILA market is one of those where the numbers don't really help you out. There is nothing quite like a D-ILA image - at least until you get to the $50,000+ 3-chip DLP units.

Leo Kerr

 

[Levesque]

''The DILA market is one of those where the numbers don't really help you out. There is nothing quite like a D-ILA image - at least until you get to the $50,000+ 3-chip DLP units.''

I totally agree.

If JVC's marketing strategy to sell those units would have been just a little bit better (it's almost totally inexistant...), the projector market has we know it today would have been totally different IMHO.

DLPs are dominating the market not because they are better, but because you can find them everywhere... Good luck finding a D-ILA that is well set-up in a showroom...

I was able to compare the Sharp 12K and the Marantz S3 with my calibrated HX1U, and the D-ILA was the clear winner.

But OOTB, the HX1U was far from beeing the best of those 3. I would have choose the S3 in a heartbeat... But after the calibration by M. Phelps, the S3 is not in the run anymore...

Good luck!

 

[alan halvorson]

Lévesque (or anyone): Do you use an external scalar with your HX1U? If so, which one? And how do you get ahold of Mr. Phelps?

 

[Levesque]

I use the Denon 5900. I will probably perform a SDI mod myself soon, to pair it with the IScan HD.

M. Phelps e-mail:

[email protected]

Really nice person to deal with. Highly recommend.

 

[Mike Boniferro]

Well I just saw the 52" HD-ILA lcos at Best Buy last night. It looked fantastic on HD, but when it was switched over to DVD (I only saw Shrek and Finding Nemo) the colours looked all washed out and the picture was very pixelated. This could have been a setup issue, but I played with it for quite a while with no luck. But it was very strange that a DVD image would look so much worse than the crappy HD signal that is in those stores.

Also, the set did have some problems with black levels. It was very impressive though

 

[Levesque]

Mike.

The HX1 is a 3chip LCOS projector. Not a RPTV...

 

[Mike Boniferro]

The one I was talking about was a 3 chip RPTV, which is why I thought I would comment since there are usually similarities between the FP and RP units from the same technologies.

 

[alan halvorson]

Mike: JVC D-ILA FP's are not known for their excellent scaling (excepting, probably, their big buck HD D-ILA FP that comes with an external Faroudja scaler). Perhaps this has carried over into the RP world.

 

[Levesque]

You just have to bypass the scaling of the JVC by performing a 1:1 pixel mapping with a DVD-player that can do custom resolutions, by using another scaler, or with an HTPC using Powerstrip.

For exemple, A Momitsu or Bravo D2 at around 300$ will perform a 1:1 pixel mapping easily...

Like I said in this thread before, the HX1U is not really good OOTB, and definitely needs a professionnal calibration. But sending a 15pounds FP for calibration is easy to do, but an RPTV is another story...

Pixelation? I'm suprised about that comment by Mike, because a 3chip LCOS design is usually pretty good to avoid that culprit present in other technology like 1chip DLP.

I have to be at 1' from my 110'' screen to start seeing any pixel structure or any ''pixelation''.

Does the optical path is the same between the FP an the RPTV?

I ask this because the new JVC HD2K projector is suppose to have a contrast of around 3000:1 and this better contrast ratio is suppose to be because of an improved optical path compared to the HX1 and SX21 projectors.