[Toe]

Originally Posted by The Luggage

Apologies if I'm going to much off topic. I currently own an RS1 and am thinking about upgrading. Sony is not an option for me (the throw range is too short for my situation).

I'm considering either an X35 or a second hand X30.

Toe: since you have the X30/RS45 and had an RS1 in the past, do you think it is a significant upgrade?

3D and gaming are not important for me.

Thanks

My personal opinion going from a RS1 to the RS40/45 (they are basically the same machine as far as 2d performance to my eyes) is that 2d is a significant improvement/upgrade all things considered. There is no night/day improvement in any area in my opinion as far as PQ is concerned, but ALL areas are improved to some degree and when you add all those up, going to the 40/45 was a major upgrade for me. To summarize the improvements off the top of my head vs my RS1 going to the 40/45

-Sharper pic
-brighter
-noticeably better contrast
-love the variable iris as you can customize your brightness much better vs the RS1 and also makes it easier to compensate for an aging lamp as you can open it up slowly over time.....LOVE this. Also, being able to clamp the iris down and maxing out the contrast (with my near max throw) is a PERFECT match for my HP 2.8 screen where I have plenty of brightness. The JVC/HP combo is a perfect match for this reason if you have the right setup/room for the HP.
-3d, even though I am not happy with it......its there.
-CMD........I absolutely love CMD mode 3 for all things animated. I dont like it for film based movies, but it takes animated movies to the next level....really wish this would have been available in 3d though!
-Custom masking.......this is HUGE in my setup since I have my screen maxed out in conjunction with my speakers. I am using a 2.35 screen and like to fill it out when watching a 2.40 film which means a bit of overspill off the sides of the screen. Without masking, this overspill will just reflect off the sides of my speakers and catch your eye which is distracting, but with the custom masking, I can mask this and its no longer an issue. My one complaint about the custom masking that JVC has still not addressed in the new models from the sounds of it is there is not enough room to mask a variable aspect film for those like me who use the zoom method on a CIH screen when the frame opens to 1.78. I would have to think this would be an easy tweak, but maybe not? Really hope to see JVC incorporate this next year!
-Motorized lens/optics. This was another significant improvement for me vs the RS1. I am running 4 subwoofers in a fairly small room which means a TON of LFE pressure. With my RS1/Z3/AE900, all of which used a manual lens, I had to pad up the lens so the LFE did not knock it out of whack which was an annoyance. The motorized lens is significantly more secure/stable and this problem is a thing of the past. The other huge improvement the motorized lens brought was that it made zooming in and out between 2.35 and 1.78 on my CIH screen MUCH, MUCH easier..........I cant tell you what a difference a motorized lens makes doing this drill! The lens memory took it a step further in the 45 and I love this feature (although the lens memory is not totally accurate, it gets you 95+% the way there each time with only a minor tweak needed to lens shift at times). Being able to stand with your nose at the screen to adjust sharpness not only is quicker vs the manual lens, but you can get it dead on accurate which is very hard to do standing at the projector with a manual lens.
-Less fan noise vs the RS1. Subjectively I would say the RS40/45 in HIGH lamp mode is about the same volume as the RS1 in low lamp mode. The 45/40 in low lamp mode is noticeably more quiet vs the RS1 in low lamp mode.
-Better overall motion even without using CMD.
-Much more accurate color with the "Standard" color setting on the 40/45. The RS1 as you know is known for its oversat colors which cant be tamed without external means. Even though the 40/45 is still not perfect since there is no CMS, the "Standard" setting is MUCH close to Rec709 and just looks much better in general to my eyes.
-Bright corners are not AS bad on the 40/45 vs the RS1. They are still there, but improvement has been made vs what my RS1 was showing here.

Only area the 40/45 STILL did not improve over the RS1 (and might have actually taken a step back? Cant remember what the RS1 clocked in at) in which you are not concerned with is gaming lag. 80ms on the JVCs is MUCH to high for gamers and I would love to see this improved at some point (hopefully this year and we will know soon enough when Zombie gets his hands on one).


That is just off the top of my head and I might have missed something. When you add all these things up, the RS1 to RS40/45 was a major upgrade IMO.

I would also like to say (I know this does not apply to you Luggage since 3d is not a concern) that I really enjoyed the 3d on the 40 when I first got it. This was my first 3d display and it was exciting! The problem is the more you watch and the more experience you get with other 3d displays (especially DLP!) the more you see the true warts of JVCs implementation and how ghosting/flicker significantly impact and drag down the overall experience. Ghosting/flicker have over time killed the 3d experience for me on the JVCs to the point that I dont watch it anymore on my 45, and I am not alone in this if you read through the owners threads at AVS in particular. I really hope JVC has made some MAJOR improvements here this year!

[Chevyonfuel]

Apologies for the delay, only been back home a couple of hours. Not much to report at the moment as I'm awaiting my Techniq mount before the X55 goes up. In the meantime, just to check all was present and correct, it was powered up from somewhere near its final location just to check it all works, and so I can learn to navigate the various menus (it's my first JVC, but thus far is a joy to operate).

Bear in mind it's had no calibration at all, my thoughts upon watching some Blu-Ray material; the disc in my BD player at the time was The Spy Who Loved Me, from the Bond 50 set. In the 5 minutes viewing, my thoughts are that this little beast digs deeper into the detail than I thought possible. Motion is great, it just looks and feels natural and un-processed. Colour wise, perfect - and this is without any calibration and just using the standard presets.

The build quality is fantastic, it's beautifully put together, looks purposefully, and is quieter than the Optoma. In terms of 3D, I've only tried one disc to make sure it operates fine. Like the Optoma, there's a small change in audible tone (not quite the 'moo' that us HD33 users are used to).

In conclusion, I cannot wait until my mount arrives so I can get cracking on setting it properly, doing a small amount of calibration to suit my viewing area, and then break out the popcorn for TDKR.

Apologies for this not being a full and concise first impressions, but today was more about unboxing it and checking the fundamentals.

I do lots of gaming btw, or did until Virgin Media went down the toilet, so it'll be interesting to see what the lag's like once VM sort themselves out, but in all honesty, if I was that concerned about lag, I'd use my PC monitor in any case.

[KelvinS1965]

Good to hear positive things about the X55. I think I could be joining you soon, just having a think over my options tonight having seen RickyJ's demo X55 unit over at Jagdeepp's place.

[chienmetallique]

Originally Posted by KelvinS1965

Good to hear positive things about the X55. I think I could be joining you soon, just having a think over my options tonight having seen RickyJ's demo X55 unit over at Jagdeepp's place.

Quick and dirty review would be nice, please.

[Chevyonfuel]

Just a quick note regarding 3D on the X55. I've not tried out much in the way of difficult material yet, only Tron Legacy, which IMO is quite a good use of the format (depth, clarity and immersion). Bear in mind I haven't auditioned the HW50 or anything else, I can only compare it to the HD33, which is a fab 3D DLP PJ. Anyway, to sum up the X55 performance; brilliant, to my eyes at least.

The brightness is there (on a 92" 1.0 gain screen, dark walls, white ceiling). The sharpness and pop of the image is excellent, and the motion in 3D (which I was a bit worried about), is excellent straight out of the box. As much as tried to find cross talk, motion issues etc, they just aren't there. The glasses are light, look like regular specs (unlike the various weird looking contraptions that go with other 3D systems).

Once it's mounted properly, has some calibration done etc I'll have a clearer idea how good it really is. So far though, thoroughly chuffed

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Thanks for the early feedback Chevyonfuel, sounds promising, my X55 arrived today with the 3D kit but unfortunately it has had to stay in the box for now as I'm setting up for a big Naim event Wednesday evening but hopefully during Thursday I can get it up and running.

I never got round to trying 3D content on the X30 so it will be good to get stuck into that as well as eShift 2, can't wait to get to Xmas now where I can really enjoy sitting back and working through all the BD's I've accumulated lately.

Keep the feedback coming guys, looking forward to adding to it shortly

[Scifi]

Just thought I would post my personal view of the Sony HW50 and JVC X35 which we saw last weekend thanks to Allan, btw it's me that Allan mentions visited him for a demo on page one of this thread.

After having the demo of the Sony HW50 and the JVC X35 I must admit I don't think the Sony is such a clear winner for me, after watching Avatar in 3D on the JVC then switching to the Sony we noticed the picture was brighter but also looked washed out, although it did appear sharper in 3D it wasn't sharper all of the time, the scene where all the floaty things land on Jake the JVC was much sharper and the floaty things were wighter on the Sony they were grey and blurry.

The Sony also seems to loose colour in 3D this was easily seen when you remove the 3D glasses then put them back on whilst watching-is it due to the lenses being yellow?, JVC on the other hand had much more vivid colours and better blacks there was also more depth in the 3D, you felt you could see further into the jungle also the black panther like animals were blacker and looked wet, slimey and more scary!

I would say the Sony looked more like a TV picture and the scene where they get out of the helicopter thing in the jungle there are two tall blue people and a normal army person in the foreground the normal army person looked like he was not really there, that he was added in to the film post filming - ok I know a lot of it is added in digitally and some of the blue people rant real but the fact is you shouldn't be able to notice it, it was almost comical how he was just looking around and not part of the film.

I had pretty much made my mind up that the Sony was the one for me due to the reality creation and extra brightness yet when I demoed them both the JVC just wowed me with its colours and blacks, I did however notice some cross talk in despicable me on the JVC yet the overall picture was so vivid it was not a major problem and then when we saw Avatar there was no cross talk at all just an amazing picture.

At the end of the day it all comes down to personal preference so it always pays to go see them all for yourself

[mikeybabes2]

Well I've just got home and found some rather large boxes awaiting me

A very nice man has dropped off my new X35 (two days earlier than I was told) mount and 3D starter kit.

I've just got it out (ooo Err) and my wife is a little concerned as to how big it is ! I am more concerned that it will pull the ceiling down - it's a lot heavier than my old Sharp Z10000.

However, I am now in serious trouble as a few hours later another nice man dropped off a Yamaha RX-A2010 that I had somehow neglected to mention.

It's rather frustrating as I will have to wait till the weekend to get it all set up as I am snowed under with work.

I have the Blu Ray of Ben Hur lined up for the premiere. If the X35 can handle the saturated colours of Charlton's toga, I don't think there's much it wont handle.

Happy Days !

[Chevyonfuel]

Just a quick note regarding gaming - unfortunately the X55, in accordance with the quoted 80ms lag input, makes it a little difficult to use in fast paced online gaming (single player stuff which doesn't require the manic inputs, looks wonderful). It's not a big issue as I've migrated over to using a 32" LCD for gaming, but those intending to game competitively* I wouldn't recommend it.

On the plus side, having watched a bit of The Dark Knight last night to see how good the Eshift was when handling the IMAX scenes - oh my word...and I still haven't got round to purchasing TDKR yet (I've been a bit ill the last couple of days). Whether the X55 is worth the extra over the X35, I cant comment, but I do know that I'm chuffed at the performance.

* Denotes: Get really angry at your console, damage controllers, have a hissy fit, develop gaming tourettes etc.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

Originally Posted by mikeybabes2

It's rather frustrating as I will have to wait till the weekend to get it all set up as I am snowed under with work.

I feel your frustration, in the end temptation has got the better of me and I've roped a friend in to help me lift my X55 in to position this afternoon, Dark Knight Rises at the ready, I feel we may be shutting up shop early today

[Geof G]

Changing the subject slightly I have a question for GaryB....Did JVC add any IR commands this year for MPC/eShift2?

[GaryB]

Originally Posted by Geof G

Changing the subject slightly I have a question for GaryB....Did JVC add any IR commands this year for MPC/eShift2?

There are a few new codes and a new version of the Remote Control Guide is in the works, but it's a bit slower than usual this year as we've taken Customer Services back in-house and I'm also running that now.

[Vipers @ HiFi Lounge]

I know it's early days but I am nothing but impressed at the moment with the X55 and especially eShift2, I'm also really impressed with the Pixel adjust, far more accurate than my 750 with really fine tolerances, never really go too involved with my X30 as I didn't have it too long, it's also excellent how you can then break down the grid into smaller sections for a more accurate fine tune, not really sure how JVC achieve that but very clever non the less, on my 750 I could never get the red to sit perfect but on the X55 it is absolutely perfect.

I had a quick play with eShift, I really wasn't expecting it to be this good, from switching it from on to off and on again it is like going from SD to HD, the extra level of apparent detail is amazing, it reminded me of a few years ago when you'd increase the sharpness a little but then you'd get all sorts of issues, this gives the detail and sharpness but without the issues, very clever.

I used Dark Knight as usual, just because I've seen this on many a screen and PJ in the past and I can honestly say I have never seen a picture like this, ridiculous black levels with astounding levels of detail, especially on close ups of faces and fine detail like the clowns masks hair that they are wearing at the beginning, I shudder at the thought of how good a X95 must be.

I'm sure this has all been said before, but I have been out of the PJ scene for a couple of models really and it is great to see that JVC have really moved things on but at the same time have kept that beautiful filmic, rich quality to the image.

I'll hopefully get some more time to tinker over the weekend as I'm looking forward to giving the 3D a whirl, although with an image this good in 2D I can't see me spending too much time watching 3D to be honest.

[Geof G]

Originally Posted by GaryB

There are a few new codes and a new version of the Remote Control Guide is in the works, but it's a bit slower than usual this year as we've taken Customer Services back in-house and I'm also running that now.

Thanks Gary!!

[Chevyonfuel]

It's finally up, and after some eshift tweaks, and finally purchasing a certain IMAX demo film...some obligatory screenshots. As ever these are 25% of the image quality witnessed - but for pure perfection visually, oh my...

[SED Rules]

Looking sweet! What e-shift2 adjustments did you make? Is it on film? And what numbers do you have for the enhance, dynamic contrast, and smoothing? Thanks!

[Phil Hinton]

Oh, look what turned up with Steve Withers today.

And I got one as well...

Full in-depth reviews soon.

[soupdragon]

Nice one guys - Can't wait for the reviews!

[chienmetallique]

Personally I think Steve has the tougher job, there are alot of people waiting on his review.

[Phil Hinton]

Originally Posted by chienmetallique

Personally I think Steve has the tougher job, there are alot of people waiting on his review.

Advantage of being the Editor and delegation LOL.

[Chevyonfuel]

Originally Posted by SED Rules

Looking sweet! What e-shift2 adjustments did you make? Is it on film? And what numbers do you have for the enhance, dynamic contrast, and smoothing? Thanks!

From memory, not a lot of changes so far; turned down the smoothing a bit (which makes a microscopic difference but is visible) but generally left the rest alone (4K profile set to film etc). The iris was set to half, and the Darblet set to HD/50%.

Having not calibrated it at all, it's difficult to say how close to accurate it is, but I'd say out of the box it's damn close to being spot on.

I've avoided using frame interpolation in 2D thus far as I found on a low setting it made little difference, and on high is a bit juddery and VHS looking. It might benefit 3D more, but I'll see about that when I get around to trying more BD material out.

[chienmetallique]

Originally Posted by Phil Hinton

Advantage of being the Editor and delegation LOL.

Nicely dodged Mr Hinton.

[gloupy]

why there is not a separate thread for each machine? x35, x55 etc...

[mikeybabes2]

Originally Posted by gloupy

why there is not a separate thread for each machine? x35, x55 etc...

It's an environmental thing, Global Warning, Carbon emissions and all that.

Honest

[gloupy]

Originally Posted by mikeybabes2

It's an environmental thing, Global Warning, Carbon emissions and all that.

Honest

so...we're soon in a deep sh..

[gloupy]

I think it's too messy, one thread about 4 products, no matter they are all JVC.

[KelvinS1965]

Originally Posted by gloupy

I think it's too messy, one thread about 4 products, no matter they are all JVC.

However, they are all very similar. In fact apart from the X35 which doesn't have the Eshift (or CMS) they are all just further refined versions of the same thing, so apart from the X95 being sharper and having deeper blacks than the X55 and X75 they are effectively the same machine. Installation configuration (throw distance, light output lens shift) is the same on them all too (apart from the X35 has an extra 100 lumens).

I don't know how many X95 owners will post as previously we've not seen many of the owners of the top model (X9 or X90) post. Possibly because these aren't as popular due to the higher price and perhaps the type of buyer might not be a typical forum member (thinking of custom installations with a much higher overall budget). However, it would be good to hear from them, especially if they have upgraded from the budget model and to hear if the X95 lives up to their (our?) expectations.

[SED Rules]

Kelvin, isn't the X75 supposed to be sharper and have deeper blacks than the X55?

[gloupy]

good point Kelvin. I am myself interested in x35. I just hope, despite you are right, they are mostly offering the same basic quality, that x55 owners and x35 owners (future owners) won't start a cheap war about the benefit of an eshift or not...etc....

[KelvinS1965]

Originally Posted by SED Rules

Kelvin, isn't the X75 supposed to be sharper and have deeper blacks than the X55?

There isn't strictly any reason to think that the X75 would be any sharper than the X55, though it should have deeper blacks. In another thread it was discussed as to whether the X75 and X95 have the 'new improved wire grid' and the X35 and X55 use the older version from last year's model. I don't know if this was ever confirmed as one 'plus' for the improved wire grid might be higher ANSI contrast.

Originally Posted by gloupy

good point Kelvin. I am myself interested in x35. I just hope, despite you are right, they are mostly offering the same basic quality, that x55 owners and x35 owners (future owners) won't start a cheap war about the benefit of an eshift or not...etc....

The X55 also has a CMS as well as the Eshift, so there is some extra value in the dearer model, though there is a possibility that the X55 has slightly less ANSI contrast than the X35 because of the Eshift glass: It was suggested over on AVS that the old Eshift did cause a slight loss of ANSI contrast. Of course this may have been improved, but the extra glass does seem to be to cause of 100 lumens less, so it does have some effect optically (apart from obivously providing the Eshift). I also wonder if this may account for the X55 looking a little 'soft' when Eshift is turned off, or it could just be suffering by comparison (not unlike when you turn off the Darbee it makes the image look soft even though I was previously happy with my sharpness ). Until someone does a side by side comparison of an X35 and an X55 with Eshift off, then my theory can't be proven.

As for whether it starts any wars...I hope not, but I've seen some pretty heated threads about all kinds of AV subjects. However, for an X55 owner trying to put down an X35 owner's choice, they are on a sticky wicket as the X75 and X95 owners could do the same to them. There's always someone with something better/more expensive in AV, houses, cars, whatever, but often those with the best don't need to brag about it either judging by the few wealthy people I have come across in the real world.