JVC D-ILA NZ7 minitest

TBH mate, I wasn't expecting much of a difference. I was just confused by your post when you said the NZ7 is signifcantly brighter. Did you mean signifcantly brighter in the long term due to lamp dimming on the N7 as opposed to both of them fresh, new and out of the box?
Exactly, over time - based on my experience with N7 vs NZ8 and seeing NZ7 shouldn‘t be too far off.
 
Exactly, over time - based on my experience with N7 vs NZ8 and seeing NZ7 shouldn‘t be too far off.
Bulb dimming is mad. I had a 9300 1800 hours on bulb and I was so worried. My 150 inch image did look dim. Thought what do I do lumen wise from here. Popped in a new bulb and I was like god damn.

So I do totally get what u mean. I think that laser stability wise for lumens is so important. Especially when big screens in the mix. I’m thinking carefully about an np5 or nz7 at the moment but tbh before I do anything else I need to treat and decorate my room.
 
Also tomorrow Youthman will be sharing video on his channel from PJs shootout which happened on the weekend.

I think the had there NZ9 and 7 other PJs, with majority being versions and generations of JVC :)

EDIT - list of PJs taking part in the shootout:

JVC NZ9
JVC NZ8
JVC NZ7
JVC NX7
JVC RS420
Optoma 50X
Epson 6050
Epson 3800
Sony VW-295ES
 
Also tomorrow Youthman will be sharing video on his channel from PJs shootout which happened on the weekend.

I think the had there NZ9 and 7 other PJs, with majority being versions and generations of JVC :)

EDIT - list of PJs taking part in the shootout:

JVC NZ9
JVC NZ8
JVC NZ7
JVC NX7
JVC RS420
Optoma 50X
Epson 6050
Epson 3800
Sony VW-295ES
wow wow wow.

I am VERY excited for this one!

I do expect a GIGANTIC bias towards the NX7 though and he always has a massive love for whichever gear he has in his room but I do not blame him as he has 3 massive components I'm very jeaous of and he has every right to be biased towards - NX7, JTR front 3 noesis and JTR captivators. Damn USA people with their good deals.
 
Bulb dimming is mad. I had a 9300 1800 hours on bulb and I was so worried. My 150 inch image did look dim. Thought what do I do lumen wise from here. Popped in a new bulb and I was like god damn.

So I do totally get what u mean. I think that laser stability wise for lumens is so important. Especially when big screens in the mix. I’m thinking carefully about an np5 or nz7 at the moment but tbh before I do anything else I need to treat and decorate my room.
From the JVC X5000 and forward it seems to be 2000+ hours of life in the bulb with a limited light drop, that a significant improvement over previous generations like the X3 to X95 who had around 500 hours of useful lamp life, then jumping to the X35 to X900 that was around 1000 hours.
Personally, i would worry more about a laser unit failing just out of warranty. in 5-10 years time we will know the rate of laser dimming in real life, and how many will go bad.
 
wow wow wow.

I am VERY excited for this one!

I do expect a GIGANTIC bias towards the NX7 though and he always has a massive love for whichever gear he has in his room but I do not blame him as he has 3 massive components I'm very jeaous of and he has every right to be biased towards - NX7, JTR front 3 noesis and JTR captivators. Damn USA people with their good deals.

I asked him if it is going to be his opinion and that was his reply:

Mine as well as six others in a roundtable discussion immediately after the event. We started filming around 1230 and I think we finished after 130 lol

So we will get number of opinions recorded fresh after the shootout. Should be good.

EDIT: Unfortunately they were using 100" screens so in your case some "translation" of their views to 150" will be needed.
 
I asked him if it is going to be his opinion and that was his reply:



So we will get number of opinions recorded fresh after the shootout. Should be good.

EDIT: Unfortunately they were using 100" screens so in your case some "translation" of their views to 150" will be needed.

damn. thats actually a bit gutting for me but thanks sebna. i wish for these demos and oppurtunities they would test multiple screen sizes, 100''. 150'', 130'', etc.

Just to push projectors to limits of close iris contrast AND open full iris. oh well , still will be a good video.
 
damn. thats actually a bit gutting for me but thanks sebna. i wish for these demos and oppurtunities they would test multiple screen sizes, 100''. 150'', 130'', etc.

Just to push projectors to limits of close iris contrast AND open full iris. oh well , still will be a good video.
You just need to look it as more light= less contrast and less light =more contrast on the screen, The bigger screen the less contrast, so for the big screen the NZ9 will beat them all in calibrated contrast, and not by any insignificant measure.
You don't need any review to or test to confirm that, it's fairly basic.
 
damn. thats actually a bit gutting for me but thanks sebna. i wish for these demos and oppurtunities they would test multiple screen sizes, 100''. 150'', 130'', etc.

Just to push projectors to limits of close iris contrast AND open full iris. oh well , still will be a good video.

With my 133" it will neither be an exact but what I am missing more from the comparison is x7900/RS540 :), oh well it is never perfect :)

Not that I am planning or even thinking about changing my PJ. But it is still interesting to see what is happening on the market.
 
I asked him if it is going to be his opinion and that was his reply:



So we will get number of opinions recorded fresh after the shootout. Should be good.

EDIT: Unfortunately they were using 100" screens so in your case some "translation" of their views to 150" will be needed.
Sorry for the spoilers but of relevance for this thread.
Round 5
NX7 vs NZ7
voting NZ7 won 7 to 3


Round 7
NZ7 vs NZ8
voting NZ8 won 10 to 0

But if you really read the opinions all were quite close. Lots of different opinions also based on personal preference. I don’t think you can go wrong with any.
 
Sorry for the spoilers but of relevance for this thread.
Round 5
NX7 vs NZ7
voting NZ7 won 7 to 3


Round 7
NZ7 vs NZ8
voting NZ8 won 10 to 0

But if you really read the opinions all were quite close. Lots of different opinions also based on personal preference. I don’t think you can go wrong with any.


Awesome news that the JVC projectors from the laser series are providing reproducible benefits over the latter generations and the performance of models increases with price tags.

Lots of negativity and sceptiscm surrounded the NZ range, specifically the NZ7. A lot of people looking down on it but its looking as if JVC's faith in going lazer with the range is proven correct and there are tangible benefits over its bulb based brothers which won't dim away in 2-3 years.
 
Awesome news that the JVC projectors from the laser series are providing reproducible benefits over the latter generations and the performance of models increases with price tags.

Lots of negativity and sceptiscm surrounded the NZ range, specifically the NZ7. A lot of people looking down on it but its looking as if JVC's faith in going lazer with the range is proven correct and there are tangible benefits over its bulb based brothers which won't dim away in 2-3 years.
I have an RS600 that is around 6 years old with 2300 hours on it with the original lamp, has dimmed 5% compared to a new original lamp.

The laser is great if it delivers to specs on life, but it's not a user-replaceable light source, and there is a phosphor wheel as well who will likely also loos some energy like phosphor do.

So the main benefit of these lasers is the light output if you dont need that the lamp-based alternative will be just as attractive, you can buy a lot of lamps for the price difference, and JVC have always had some panel gamma drop, not bad on the N series, but that's something that likely still needs calibration over time, just as you will want to adjust for laser and phosphor aging.
 
I have an RS600 that is around 6 years old with 2300 hours on it with the original lamp, has dimmed 5% compared to a new original lamp.

The laser is great if it delivers to specs on life, but it's not a user-replaceable light source, and there is a phosphor wheel as well who will likely also loos some energy like phosphor do.

So the main benefit of these lasers is the light output if you dont need that the lamp-based alternative will be just as attractive, you can buy a lot of lamps for the price difference, and JVC have always had some panel gamma drop, not bad on the N series, but that's something that likely still needs calibration over time, just as you will want to adjust for laser and phosphor aging.
Thanks Strids.

How useful is the light output if the numebrs reported by Sir Master put them at the same numbers as the NX series though give or take 50-100 lumens?

The insane lightoutput numbers I'm seeing is in the bright setting which every user is saying isn't usable due to massive green cast.
 
Sorry for the spoilers but of relevance for this thread.
Round 5
NX7 vs NZ7
voting NZ7 won 7 to 3


Round 7
NZ7 vs NZ8
voting NZ8 won 10 to 0

But if you really read the opinions all were quite close. Lots of different opinions also based on personal preference. I don’t think you can go wrong with any.
Can you post the link to the forum thread where it is discussed and reported?
 
I have an RS600 that is around 6 years old with 2300 hours on it with the original lamp, has dimmed 5% compared to a new original lamp.
am I reading this correctly as you saying that the lamp lost only 5% over the course of 2300 hrs of use?
 
Thanks Strids.

How useful is the light output if the numebrs reported by Sir Master put them at the same numbers as the NX series though give or take 50-100 lumens?

The insane lightoutput numbers I'm seeing is in the bright setting which every user is saying isn't usable due to massive green cast.
Depending on who and how its calibrated, it looks like the NZ series loos less than the NX series with calibrated settings compared to specs, but then again it depends on native panel contrast/ start point as well.
As i see it the NZ8 might be the one to beat the entire NX series, but the NZ7 being more of a light tuned N5 the NX7 still holds some ground in case the extra light is not needed, as it will have higher native contrast than the NZ7 +- JVC tolerances if the NZ7 realistically can reach 35000:1 on an optimized set up for that projector, the NX7 will be able to go higher like 65000:1 ish +0-75% JVC tolerances.

Its still more about the sample than the model, bad convergence, poor lens sample, super-bright corners, completely messed up color uniformity is stuff you will see on JVC samples more often than not.
 
Last edited:
am I reading this correctly as you saying that the lamp lost only 5% over the course of 2300 hrs of use?
yes compared to a new lamp mounted in the same projector. That's my sample, others might be different, but i think its a fair guideline +- Room temp, and how its operated comes into play.
 
Depending on who and how its calibrated, it looks like the NZ series loos less than the NX series with calibrated settings compared to specs, but then again it depends on native panel contrast/ start point as well.
As i see it tne NZ8 might be the one to beat the entire NX series, but the NZ7 being more of a light tuned N5 the NX7 still holds some ground in case the extra light is not needed, as it will have higher native contrast than the NZ7 +- JVC tolerances if the NZ7 realistically can reach 35000:1 on an optimized set up for that projector, the NX7 will be able to go higher like 65000:1 ish +0-75% JVC tolerances.

Its still more about the sample than the model, bad convergence, poor lens sample, super-bright corners, completely messed up color uniformity is stuff you will see on JVC samples more often than not.

I remember reading your other post some months ago about, let's call it JVC loterry, and I wonder where my x7900 fits into all of it. I hope to have my unit calibrated in next month or so, so I should have my answer then. My friend has a confirmed very good x7900 unit so I know for a fact that what you say saying about them is in fact the case.
 
I remember reading your other post some months ago about, let's call it JVC loterry, and I wonder where my x7900 fits into all of it. I hope to have my unit calibrated in next month or so, so I should have my answer then. My friend has a confirmed very good x7900 unit so I know for a fact that what you say saying about them is in fact the case.
We all hope, if i get time ill go out looking at an old X500 more one of these days, had 3 of those now, one of them is truly a unique sample that for my setup challenges the RS600, and even one of the lesser samples overall outperformed both my N7 / RS2000 samples, I would love to have an N series sample as good as my best X500, so I'm still looking.

No doubt that the N series has some unique qualities, the biggest obstacles are the bright corners, dust blobs, and color uniformity.

I for sure have seen and calibrated an X7900 with bright corners, and fair to say that unit was impossible to calibrate for other reasons.

today i swapped a lens on an X5900 that was impossible to get good focus uniformity on, had a spare part X30, that lens was much better, so a successful transplant.
 
Depending on who and how its calibrated, it looks like the NZ series loos less than the NX series with calibrated settings compared to specs, but then again it depends on native panel contrast/ start point as well.
As i see it the NZ8 might be the one to beat the entire NX series, but the NZ7 being more of a light tuned N5 the NX7 still holds some ground in case the extra light is not needed, as it will have higher native contrast than the NZ7 +- JVC tolerances if the NZ7 realistically can reach 35000:1 on an optimized set up for that projector, the NX7 will be able to go higher like 65000:1 ish +0-75% JVC tolerances.

Its still more about the sample than the model, bad convergence, poor lens sample, super-bright corners, completely messed up color uniformity is stuff you will see on JVC samples more often than not.
So its kind of a Gamble…
Do you think its better to get a used NX5 that is known to be good over a new NX7 that i would know nothing about ? Or its worth it and the NX7 will anyway outperform the NX5 even if its an average NX7 ?
 
We all hope, if i get time ill go out looking at an old X500 more one of these days, had 3 of those now, one of them is truly a unique sample that for my setup challenges the RS600, and even one of the lesser samples overall outperformed both my N7 / RS2000 samples, I would love to have an N series sample as good as my best X500, so I'm still looking.

No doubt that the N series has some unique qualities, the biggest obstacles are the bright corners, dust blobs, and color uniformity.

I for sure have seen and calibrated an X7900 with bright corners, and fair to say that unit was impossible to calibrate for other reasons.

today i swapped a lens on an X5900 that was impossible to get good focus uniformity on, had a spare part X30, that lens was much better, so a successful transplant.
Never heard of an N series having dust blobs? I think the light path is sealed. NX7 and NZ8 experience I have zero color uniformity issues either. In both cases big improvements over Espons anyway. I think you have to take into account the 4K resolution as well vs. the old 1080 panels. I could never go back to 1080 e-shift after becoming used to the significantly improved resolution.

With all due respect to your vast experience,@Stridsvognen, I sometimes think we get lost in measuring nitty gritty things like corners etc. and miss the fantastic overall picture.
 
Last edited:
Never heard of an N series having dust blobs? I think the light path is sealed. NX7 and NZ8 experience I have zero color uniformity issues either. In both cases big improvements over Espons anyway. I think you have to take into account the 4K resolution as well vs. the old 1080 panels. I could never go back to 1080 e-shift after becoming used to the significantly improved resolution.

With all due respect to your vast experience,@Stridsvognen, I sometimes think we get lost in measuring nitty gritty things like corners etc. and miss the fantastic overall picture.
Well its all great if you got a good sample, no doubt, but its not fun to get 2 samples with 75% contrast drop in the corners, and dE 15 in color uniformity error with fully closed iris.
You can try setting the iris to -15 on your N7 and put a white test pattern up, ill bet the corners get quite yellow. You might not have a problem with that as you might run it much more open where its not a problem, but people with 90" screen will.
Also had a dust blop on the blue panel on one of them right out of the vox, along with multiple stuck pixels.
No doubt that's extremely unlucky getting 2 projectors that bad, but it happens, even the NZ series goes back with dust blops and defects.

No light path on any projector is sealed, not sure why anybody thinks so.

As you have both the N7 and NZ8 it would be interesting to see the paper test on both your samples.

Here is a N/ example, the dust problem is biggest on hanging units, not so much on standing units
JVC N7.jpg
 
yes compared to a new lamp mounted in the same projector. That's my sample, others might be different, but i think its a fair guideline +- Room temp, and how its operated comes into play.

Is this comparing to the same lamp at the beginning of it's life or a new one that replaced it?
 
Is this comparing to the same lamp at the beginning of it's life or a new one that replaced it?
A new one replacing it.
Dimming might not only be the lamp, it can also be changed in the ballast, and dust buildup on the optical elements.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is Home Theater DEAD in 2024?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom