Vision Quest
IT TOOK a while, but JVC has finally updated its full consumer projector lineup to native 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution. Just over two years ago, Sound & Vision reviewed the company’s first native 4K model, the $29,995 flagship DLA-RS4500. For this review I am going to cover the flagship model from the new range, the DLA-NX9. At $18,000, the NX9 isn’t exactly a casual purchase, though it does deliver some new features at a price point we haven’t seen before from JVC.
THE PROJECTOR’S NEW CLOTHES
Nearly everything is new in JVC’s 2019 lineup. The projectors feature a completely new chassis, new D-ILA imaging panels, improved video processing, and even a new remote control. As the company’s flagship, the NX9 (also available as the DLA-RS3000) stands apart from the rest of the line with its slightly larger chassis (which is also quite a bit larger than previous JVC designs) and 100mm all-glass lens—the same one used by the DLA-RS4500. It’s also the first JVC projector to feature 8K e-shift.
While the NX9’s e-shift optical actuator mechanism doesn’t actually provide true 8K performance, it does increase onscreen resolution to near-8K quality. The big caveat here is that the NX9 doesn’t accept an 8K input signal, so it won’t be compatible with future 8K sources if and when they arrive. During my testing, I honestly didn’t notice e-Shift doing much to improve image quality. Even when viewing the crispest images I could find, I didn’t see any clear benefit to the increase in onscreen pixels, despite viewing on an 11-foot-wide screen. (I also didn’t see anything that took away from the
