NABCS
07-15-08, 11:08 AM
When announced the JVC HD100 (RS2) was projector I hope that will substitute my C3X 720 without a big investment (the C3X 1080 is too much money). But in February I saw a JVC HD100 (RS2) in a store, and I remember the picture wasn’t impressive, and my urgency to upgrade to a 1080 machine stopped that day.
All my past projectors were DLPs...NEC HT1000, SIM2 HT300e and SIM2 C3X 720.
I am not a DLP freak but when I bought the C3X, I compared against the Sony VW100 and I liked more the picture of the C3X (in that time I only used SD DVD pictures).
The big problem with my C3X is the jerky motion with 1080p pictures. The blacks are good, very good sharpness, and the punch of the picture is outstanding. The colours are a little oversaturated but I corrected them in the service menu.
In the end of June my dealer received a Pionner KRF-9000FD (hd100 clone), and I had the opportunity to test it in my home, with my screen (110" Screen Research 1.0 matt white) and my players (PS3 for BluRay, Denon A1XV for DVD).
This review is based in almost 30 hours of viewing movies (i don’t use my projectors with TV broadcast), 60% SD DVD and 40% BluRay (PS3).
I have a good control of light in my room, with a dark grey back wall and partially painted dark grey ceiling.
I started without any calibrations, and the first thing I saw was the standard menu of my PS3. What a fantastic black, almost as dark as my back wall. With the C3X the black in the menu of PS3 is good but a little light when compared to the 9000FD.
Then I put the BluRay 5th element, and the picture was fantastic, with good brightness and very good black levels, but a little soft compared to the C3X.
Then I started playing with the menus and find the pixel adjustment menu. Only the Red Pixel was corrected, but what a difference...now the sharpness is very close to the C3X.
Reading the forums I tried the famous gamma 2.4 with little tweaks in the IRE 5 and high lamp mode, and what I can say? Simple outstanding! With gamma 2.4 the blacks are even blacker and the shadow detail is fantastic. The punch of the pictures is very good almost on par with the C3X in high APL scenes, much better on low APL scenes.
The colours are very vivid and with good saturation (I am not a colour perfectionist), and with little tweaks seems right to my eyes. With 30 hours on the lamp the brightness is very good...Hope with 500h the brightness will remain good.
I don’t tested the Gemnum VXP onboard, because I use the Realta HQV on my Denon A1XV, but I can say the picture on SD DVD have less noise and artifacts then the C3X (maybe the extra brightness of the C3X shows the imperfections of less than perfect DVD transfers).
In the end I bought the Pioneer KRF-9000FD, and I am very happy. The sharpness is very good (I don’t see why some guys says the picture is soft!), the colour reproduction is good (at least to my eyes), the brightness with only 30 hours on the lamp is very good in my 110" Screen Research, the black levels with gamma 2.4 are simple outstanding (much better than my C3X) and the 1080p picture is very fluid and I don’t see any smear on fast motion like I read in many posts.
Resume (compared to C3X 720):
Better contrast and shadow detail
Better motion with 1080p movies
Good sharpness with pixel adjust (C3X a bit more sharp but not much)
Good brightness in high lamp mode (in a room with good light control)
Very good image depth in low APL scenes (better than C3X)
Good punch images in high APL scenes (C3X is better here but not much)
I don’t know if there are any differences between the Pionner and JVC, but the Pioneer KRF-9000FD is a fantastic projector and very good value for money when compared to the C3X 720 (almost $20.000 2 years ago!!)
Maybe there are better DLP projectors in this price range, but I have my doubts because I compared against a 3 chip DLP and overall I think the pioneer have a better picture.
My settings with my screen:
Contrast (-3)
Brightness (+4)
Colour (-3)
Sharpness (+5)
Gamma (2.4)
High Power Lamp
Movies used:
5th Element (BluRay)
Pans Labyrinth (BluRay)
Apocalypto (BluRay)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (DVD)
Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (DVD)
Matchstick Men (DVD)
NABCS
All my past projectors were DLPs...NEC HT1000, SIM2 HT300e and SIM2 C3X 720.
I am not a DLP freak but when I bought the C3X, I compared against the Sony VW100 and I liked more the picture of the C3X (in that time I only used SD DVD pictures).
The big problem with my C3X is the jerky motion with 1080p pictures. The blacks are good, very good sharpness, and the punch of the picture is outstanding. The colours are a little oversaturated but I corrected them in the service menu.
In the end of June my dealer received a Pionner KRF-9000FD (hd100 clone), and I had the opportunity to test it in my home, with my screen (110" Screen Research 1.0 matt white) and my players (PS3 for BluRay, Denon A1XV for DVD).
This review is based in almost 30 hours of viewing movies (i don’t use my projectors with TV broadcast), 60% SD DVD and 40% BluRay (PS3).
I have a good control of light in my room, with a dark grey back wall and partially painted dark grey ceiling.
I started without any calibrations, and the first thing I saw was the standard menu of my PS3. What a fantastic black, almost as dark as my back wall. With the C3X the black in the menu of PS3 is good but a little light when compared to the 9000FD.
Then I put the BluRay 5th element, and the picture was fantastic, with good brightness and very good black levels, but a little soft compared to the C3X.
Then I started playing with the menus and find the pixel adjustment menu. Only the Red Pixel was corrected, but what a difference...now the sharpness is very close to the C3X.
Reading the forums I tried the famous gamma 2.4 with little tweaks in the IRE 5 and high lamp mode, and what I can say? Simple outstanding! With gamma 2.4 the blacks are even blacker and the shadow detail is fantastic. The punch of the pictures is very good almost on par with the C3X in high APL scenes, much better on low APL scenes.
The colours are very vivid and with good saturation (I am not a colour perfectionist), and with little tweaks seems right to my eyes. With 30 hours on the lamp the brightness is very good...Hope with 500h the brightness will remain good.
I don’t tested the Gemnum VXP onboard, because I use the Realta HQV on my Denon A1XV, but I can say the picture on SD DVD have less noise and artifacts then the C3X (maybe the extra brightness of the C3X shows the imperfections of less than perfect DVD transfers).
In the end I bought the Pioneer KRF-9000FD, and I am very happy. The sharpness is very good (I don’t see why some guys says the picture is soft!), the colour reproduction is good (at least to my eyes), the brightness with only 30 hours on the lamp is very good in my 110" Screen Research, the black levels with gamma 2.4 are simple outstanding (much better than my C3X) and the 1080p picture is very fluid and I don’t see any smear on fast motion like I read in many posts.
Resume (compared to C3X 720):
Better contrast and shadow detail
Better motion with 1080p movies
Good sharpness with pixel adjust (C3X a bit more sharp but not much)
Good brightness in high lamp mode (in a room with good light control)
Very good image depth in low APL scenes (better than C3X)
Good punch images in high APL scenes (C3X is better here but not much)
I don’t know if there are any differences between the Pionner and JVC, but the Pioneer KRF-9000FD is a fantastic projector and very good value for money when compared to the C3X 720 (almost $20.000 2 years ago!!)
Maybe there are better DLP projectors in this price range, but I have my doubts because I compared against a 3 chip DLP and overall I think the pioneer have a better picture.
My settings with my screen:
Contrast (-3)
Brightness (+4)
Colour (-3)
Sharpness (+5)
Gamma (2.4)
High Power Lamp
Movies used:
5th Element (BluRay)
Pans Labyrinth (BluRay)
Apocalypto (BluRay)
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (DVD)
Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (DVD)
Matchstick Men (DVD)
NABCS