JVC unveils best ever home cinema projector range

JVC has announced four new high-end D-ILA home projectors which promise significant improvements to picture performance and functionality over their predecessors. Representing the Procision Series are the DLA-NZ900/DLA-NZ800, with the DLA-RS4200 and DLA-RS3200 the flagbearers for the Reference Series.

Both the DLA-NZ900/DLA-RS4200 and DLA-NZ800/DLA-RS3200 utilise a newly developed 3rd generation 4K D-ILA device with higher native contrast, and a higher output power BLU-Escent laser light source.

This next-gen 0.69-inch native 4K D-ILA device is said to offer 1.5 times the native contrast ratio compared to the DLA-NZ9. As a result, DLA-NZ900/DLA-RS4200 can achieve a native contrast ratio of 150,000:1, with 100,000:1 for the DLA-NZ800/DLA-RS3200.

JVC’s original BLU-Escent Laser, which uses a blue laser diode as a light source, has been optimised to achieve a brightness of 3,300 lumens on the DLA-NZ900/DLA-RS4200 and 2,700 lumens on the DLA-NZ800/DLA-RS3200, both with a life span of 20,000 hours. Unlike conventional aperture control, JVC’s laser diode delivers instantaneous dynamic brightness control with little or no latency.

10 Installation modes can be configured with unique settings, to change aspect ratios and picture settings including brightness, contrast, pixel adjustment, and masking.

The new projectors will support full fat 48Gbps 8K60p signals, anticipating an increase in 8k video content from YouTube and gaming PCs, and second-generation 8K/e-shiftX technology to upgrade 4k sources.

The beamers can also be used for high frame rate gaming, with 4K120p input support and dedicated low-latency mode.

All iterations use glass lenses. The DLA-NZ900/DLA-RS4200 uses a large 100 mm lens to maximise 8K image fidelity. This 18-element, 16-group lens features a full aluminium lens barrel, and supports wide shift ranges of 100 per cent vertically and 43 per cent horizontally. The DLA-NZ800/DLA-RS3200 is equipped with a 17-element, 15-group 65-mm all-glass lens.

The projectors support a variety of HDR content, including JVC's proprietary Frame Adapt HDR Generation 2 technology, and boast BT.2020 wide colour gamut support, with 10-bit gradation.

Frame Adapt HDR 2nd Generation technology uses a proprietary algorithm to instantaneously analyse the maximum brightness of HDR10 content per frame and adjusts the dynamic range in real time to the optimum range for video projection.

There’s also a new picture quality mode, Vivid, for reproducing colour rich SDR. If that doesn’t appeal, there’s always Filmmaker Mode (with colour temperature set to D65). Cinema filters enable a wide colour gamut equivalent to DCI-P3, as well as BT.709.

JVC has also improved its Clear Motion Drive technology to work better with 4K and 8K sources.  Additional features include 3D compatibility, Ultra-high Contrast Optics, ISFccc certification for colour calibration, and Auto Calibration function for optimising image quality. A Screen Adjustment Mode allows users to input screen information for automatic image adjustment, ensuring natural colour balance.

The DLA-NZ900/DLA-RS4200 and DLA-NZ800/DLA-RS3200 projectors are scheduled to begin shipping in June 2024. JVC Kenwood will also be demonstrating the new DLA-NZ900 at this year’s High End Munich show.