It has been quiet for way too long in JVC’s projector division. The brand has not shown us any new models using its once class-leading D-ILA technology since the start of 2014, sailing past its customary end of year announcement slot last year and getting close to ignoring 2015 too.
It turned out after being ushered into JVC’s blacked out IFA booth that our demo was exactly going to be restricted to just one of JVC’s three new models ‘the DLA-X5000B/W.’
After all, its relatively affordable £4,000 price tag makes it likely to be the range’s most popular model. The X7000B/W and X9000B/W models will cost £5,700 and £8,500 respectively. The X5000B/W does not appear to have changed from JVC’s previous X500 model.
You still get the same attractive glossy finish in a choice of white or black plus the same well built and reasonably compact bodywork, and the same venting systems down each of the projector’s sides. The X5000B/W’s HDMIs are specified to deliver a transfer rate of 18Gbps enough to support 4K 4:4:4/36-bit color reproduction at 24 frames/second versus just 4:2:0/10-bit from Sony’s new HDR/4K-capable VW520ES projector.
The fact that even the new flagship X9000B/W uses e-Shift tech rather than going for a native 4K resolution really does feel like a disappointment, given that Sony has had an affordable native 4K projector for more than a year now.
Where a true 4K projector could reveal individual leaves on trees, for instance, after down-scaling the footage to 1920x1080p for feeding through the e-Shift system, the X5000B/W can only manage a little fuzzy general green area.
JVC has not completely lost its touch, though. Colours are bold, brightness is high but also extremely stable, and even in its reduced form the X5000B/W’s contrast is impressive for a sub-£4k projector.
Conclusion
The X5000B/W and its new siblings are at, and JVC has come with amazing amendment things between now and November.
