the projector provides those two User
color temperature memories. If you have
a need to alternate between lamp levels,
perform two color temperature calibra-
tions and save each one separately.
While less than specified (not uncom-
mon), the JVC’s contrast ratio still pro-
vides state-of-the-art performance for a
digital projector (See”Measurements.”)
The only chink in the JVC’s black-level
armor is a slightly brighter level in the
four corners of the screen, noticeable
mainly when the projector is displaying a
completely black or very dark image. (I
saw this same artifact on the Sony VPL-
VW100 or”Ruby,” but not on the Sony
VPL-VW50”Pearl.”)
If I had never seen a CRT projector, I
would be tempted to call the JVC’s blacks
spectacular. Typically, the full-screen video
black levels on the best DLP projectors
have measured between 0.005 and 0.008
foot-Lamberts. The Sharp XV-Z20000 set
a new record of 0.002fL. And the JVC, to-
gether with the Sony VPL-VW50”Pearl,”
measured approximately the same (I say
approximately because the Minolta LS-
100 we and nearly everyone else in the in-
dustry use for this measurement is only
good to three decimal places and then
ultimate
AV
With a component 1080i input, the
JVC’s black and white (luminance) re-
sponse to the multiburst patterns on my
AccuPel HDG-3000 test-pattern genera-
tor held up well to 37.1MHz with no un-
evenness, though the output there was
clearly down in level compared to the
18.5MHz burst. There was also some
very
slight
edge enhancement that could not be
defeated by reducing the Sharpness control
without excessively softening the image.
At 720p, component, the response was also
still visible at 37.1MHz, though more re-
duced in level and with a bit more edge-
enhancement. Both 480i and 480p looked
good to their specified limits (6.75MHz
and 13.5MHz, respectively), though there
was clearly visible, non-defeatable edge en-
hancement.
With an HDMI input at 1080i or 720p,
both the color and black and white re-
sponse were still visible and clean at
37.1MHz, though subtly down in level—
just a hair short of the best I have seen
from a projector (the Marantz VP-11S1).
There was no visible edge enhancement at
all at 1080i, and the Sharpness pattern was
crisp and clean. The same for 720p, though
at that resolution a bit of edge enhance-
ment was added. The 480i/p responses
were essentially the same as component.
With the Mask control off, the overscan
was zero on all sides in 720p or 1080i,
HDMI or component. In 480i/p it ranged
between 2% and 3%.
The JVC’s color points were typical of
most new digital projectors and short of
ideal. Red and blue were a little
oversaturated, green was very
oversaturated. While the subjec-
tive color of the projector was
good, I wish manufacturers
would at least give us the option
to select accurate colors.
Before calibration, the JVC
produced its best grayscale in the
Middle setting. The Low setting
dropped down to about 6000K
across the full brightness range,
and the high setting was over
10,000K. The Before and After
results of the calibration I per-
formed are shown in the chart
(using the Normal lamp setting). The After
results don’t differ all that much in their
Kelvin temperatures, so the Before and
After results appear to be very similar. But,
as usual, the accuracy of the points them-
selves came closer to the D6500 standard
after calibration (6500K is a line on the
color chart, but the D6500 standard is the
exact point on that line we’re aiming for).
The single adjustments for red, green, and
blue proved sufficient to get a good result.
This is not true of all displays, which often
need high and low adjustments, but don’t
always provide them.
I measured the JVC’s contrast ratio by
placing the projector very close to a
screen, producing an image less than 2-
feet wide. This not only raised both the
black and white levels to a point where
the black level could be read by my Mi-
nolta LS-100 light meter with greater ac-
curacy, but also limited the light reflected
around my non-black room so that I
could determine a modified ANSI con-
trast (measuring just the four center
squares of the 16 squares on the standard
ANSI checkerboard pattern). I measured a
peak contrast ratio of 8752:1 and a mod-
ified ANSI contrast of 139:1, both with
the Lamp on Normal. (I also ran these
measurements on the Sony Pearl under
the same conditions, in Auto Iris 2, Low
lamp, and obtained readings of 5949:1 and
133:1, respectively.)
In the Normal Gamma setting (which
I used for all of my testing and viewing)
I measured a gamma of very close to 2.2
across most of the brightness range from
dark to bright, increasing to 2.5 at 20IRE
(the lowest point measured) and decreas-
ing slightly to 2.1 at 90IRE at the top
end.
Measurements
