Hey guys. Just mounted the projector and spent 3 hours watching a bunch of content to give some first impressions. My dealer told me I'm the first person in North America to get an X70
and a couple of dealers got a few demos in the UK.
Anyhow, if you wan't the quick review this is it. Damn, this thing is awesome! It improves upon the X7/RS50 in every way imaginable. I really can't wait until more people get this projector. It produces a picture that is better then any other projector I've seen/owned (I have not seen any 20+ K projectors and don't plan to.)
For now, I'll post 2D impressions only, as I've not had to time to test the 3D yet. I've been busy with the Sony HMD and I'll tell you what. The Sony HMD pretty much makes any other 3D device obsolete, that's another post though. The HMD for 2D doesn't compare to a good projector however.
1. Brightness. Definitely brighter then the RS50. It looks about as bright on low as my RS50 was on high lamp mode.
2. E-shift is for real. I was skeptical that it would produce a noticeable improvement but WOW!. I sit about a screen width away and I can't believe how smooth, sharp, and 3 dimensional the image looks. It brings out details that I've never seen from my test clips. Example, the opening of the Dark Knight. You can see every fiber, every tiny facial pore, every little nick in the clown masks. The pixel structure is completely INVISIBLE. I though it was already invisible with the X7, but until you see the 4K eshift image in person. You wont really be able to appreciate what I'm saying. Also, there is no way to enable or disable eshift in the menu. Have to find out how to get into the service menu to check it out.
3. Sharpness. Not sure how this is affected by e-shift, but the sharpness is outstanding. About as sharp as a good DLP. Just had the Infocus Sp8602 (had to sell because of mounting issues), and I would say sharpness is very close between the two.
4. Motion. Not sure again if it's the e-shift, but the 24p motion on this thing is DLP like. VERY GOOD, with almost no judder, and amazing levels of detail during motion. Better then the x7.
CMD has been improved. I was actually shocked to notice less artifacting around objects as I was led to believe that JVC didn't do anything to CMD, but they made some improvements. I would say it's gone from a poor rating to a good. Not as clean as the Sony VW90, but it's more aggresive and creates a better SOE. (if you like that sort of look)
I will run the FPD motion benchmarks ASAP, for a more detailed review of the motion.
5. Depth/Pop. The x70 has a more dynamic picture then the X7, and really looks more like a DLP. If I had been subject to a blind test I would have said that the X70 was a DLP (the lack of rainbows would have given it away, but you know what I mean). Really awesome, and I was surprised at the "pop". I even turned down to IRIS to try and match the X7, but is still had the depth and pop.
I can't wait until you guys get this projector. I would seriously consider the X70 over the X30 because the e-shift feature works, and produces an image that is VERY sharp, yet still feels analogue and not digital. It's kind of weird that you get a picture that is both sharper and smoother at the same time.
I'll post more impressions over the days. I've already found 1 issue which may be a defect, but I'm not sure and I'll post a picture of what I see. Also, there is some visible noise in the image, but it's barely ever noticeable, and I remember having some visible noise with the X7 that wen't away after the projector was broken in for a few hundred hours. Also it's still unclear how the lamp will hold up, as it's the same lamp as the X7 (I'm sure your all aware how many issues there were with them).
The one thing that I noticed that kinda bothers me is on a black background, something like a pause icon will have white streaks above and below it on the black background. Not sure what is causing it, and it may have something to do with e-shift, not sure. It's not really apparent on actual content, but it may be as I watch more stuff. I'll post a pic.
I haven't messed around with settings, or convergence (they have zone convergence now) just did most of my watching in THX mode. I used to have a friend who did my calibrations for me, but he moved
I may have to learn to do it myself now. So I can't really help with questions on greyscale, gamma, or CMS functionality. I'm just giving eyes on reports.
The remote now has extra 3D buttons (3D setting, and 3D format) and also a Lens memory button where the Lens aperature button was before(I miss that button already
)
You may call this over excitement, or the honeymoon period, but I can assure you that I've never seen a picture like this before! Of course there may be issues like the one I described above, or sudden lamp dimming, or 3D that's unusable after a few hundred hours, etc But I'll report that too. If you guys read any of my previous posts, you will realize that I'm not a JVC fanboy at all and the X7 gave me serious issues, and the X7 was my first JVC projector. As of now the picture is incredible, and I think this is the projector of the year (VW95 should be a contender too, but if it's about the same as the VW90, then the X70 has it beat for Film) I still haven't watched enough live action sports, or Docs to have a firm opinion as to how it stacks up to the VW90.
I'll be busy the next few days with more critical viewing, and motion tests will be forthcoming, and of course I'm still testing the Sony HMD (which of course I've found a few issue already which no ones has mentioned, lucky me!) Oh and some 3D testing too!
Just took a break from writing this post to quickly watch 20min of stuff. LOL. Again, WOW. If nothing crazy happens within the next while, I don't see my observations changing much
Ask questions but please be patient as I'm busy, and won't respond 24hours aday
I think you guys who preordered from AVS, or are going to preorder will be very happy with your decision. I really can't wait to hear what people think when they get these into their homes. I really wasn't expecting a big improvement from the X70 and was way more excited in getting my HMD then the projector, but the X70 makes the X7 look like a prototype. X70 is better in every way and has surpassed my expectations.
Anyhow, if you wan't the quick review this is it. Damn, this thing is awesome! It improves upon the X7/RS50 in every way imaginable. I really can't wait until more people get this projector. It produces a picture that is better then any other projector I've seen/owned (I have not seen any 20+ K projectors and don't plan to.)
For now, I'll post 2D impressions only, as I've not had to time to test the 3D yet. I've been busy with the Sony HMD and I'll tell you what. The Sony HMD pretty much makes any other 3D device obsolete, that's another post though. The HMD for 2D doesn't compare to a good projector however.
1. Brightness. Definitely brighter then the RS50. It looks about as bright on low as my RS50 was on high lamp mode.
2. E-shift is for real. I was skeptical that it would produce a noticeable improvement but WOW!. I sit about a screen width away and I can't believe how smooth, sharp, and 3 dimensional the image looks. It brings out details that I've never seen from my test clips. Example, the opening of the Dark Knight. You can see every fiber, every tiny facial pore, every little nick in the clown masks. The pixel structure is completely INVISIBLE. I though it was already invisible with the X7, but until you see the 4K eshift image in person. You wont really be able to appreciate what I'm saying. Also, there is no way to enable or disable eshift in the menu. Have to find out how to get into the service menu to check it out.
3. Sharpness. Not sure how this is affected by e-shift, but the sharpness is outstanding. About as sharp as a good DLP. Just had the Infocus Sp8602 (had to sell because of mounting issues), and I would say sharpness is very close between the two.
4. Motion. Not sure again if it's the e-shift, but the 24p motion on this thing is DLP like. VERY GOOD, with almost no judder, and amazing levels of detail during motion. Better then the x7.
CMD has been improved. I was actually shocked to notice less artifacting around objects as I was led to believe that JVC didn't do anything to CMD, but they made some improvements. I would say it's gone from a poor rating to a good. Not as clean as the Sony VW90, but it's more aggresive and creates a better SOE. (if you like that sort of look)
I will run the FPD motion benchmarks ASAP, for a more detailed review of the motion.
5. Depth/Pop. The x70 has a more dynamic picture then the X7, and really looks more like a DLP. If I had been subject to a blind test I would have said that the X70 was a DLP (the lack of rainbows would have given it away, but you know what I mean). Really awesome, and I was surprised at the "pop". I even turned down to IRIS to try and match the X7, but is still had the depth and pop.
I can't wait until you guys get this projector. I would seriously consider the X70 over the X30 because the e-shift feature works, and produces an image that is VERY sharp, yet still feels analogue and not digital. It's kind of weird that you get a picture that is both sharper and smoother at the same time.
I'll post more impressions over the days. I've already found 1 issue which may be a defect, but I'm not sure and I'll post a picture of what I see. Also, there is some visible noise in the image, but it's barely ever noticeable, and I remember having some visible noise with the X7 that wen't away after the projector was broken in for a few hundred hours. Also it's still unclear how the lamp will hold up, as it's the same lamp as the X7 (I'm sure your all aware how many issues there were with them).
The one thing that I noticed that kinda bothers me is on a black background, something like a pause icon will have white streaks above and below it on the black background. Not sure what is causing it, and it may have something to do with e-shift, not sure. It's not really apparent on actual content, but it may be as I watch more stuff. I'll post a pic.
I haven't messed around with settings, or convergence (they have zone convergence now) just did most of my watching in THX mode. I used to have a friend who did my calibrations for me, but he moved
The remote now has extra 3D buttons (3D setting, and 3D format) and also a Lens memory button where the Lens aperature button was before(I miss that button already
You may call this over excitement, or the honeymoon period, but I can assure you that I've never seen a picture like this before! Of course there may be issues like the one I described above, or sudden lamp dimming, or 3D that's unusable after a few hundred hours, etc But I'll report that too. If you guys read any of my previous posts, you will realize that I'm not a JVC fanboy at all and the X7 gave me serious issues, and the X7 was my first JVC projector. As of now the picture is incredible, and I think this is the projector of the year (VW95 should be a contender too, but if it's about the same as the VW90, then the X70 has it beat for Film) I still haven't watched enough live action sports, or Docs to have a firm opinion as to how it stacks up to the VW90.
I'll be busy the next few days with more critical viewing, and motion tests will be forthcoming, and of course I'm still testing the Sony HMD (which of course I've found a few issue already which no ones has mentioned, lucky me!) Oh and some 3D testing too!
Just took a break from writing this post to quickly watch 20min of stuff. LOL. Again, WOW. If nothing crazy happens within the next while, I don't see my observations changing much
Ask questions but please be patient as I'm busy, and won't respond 24hours aday