Quote:
Originally Posted by Canary_Jules 
Curiosity got the better of me a couple of weeks ago so I took the plunge and bought an HD87 to demo against my JVC HD750 (RS20). The HD87 is a damn fine machine. I love the lumens it puts on the screen. I have the lens iris closed down to 3 and it's wonderfully bright whereas to get roughly the same brightness on my HD750 (with 725 hours on the bulb) I have to open the iris completely. Obviously there's a difference in hours on the bulb which accounts for this but most people prefer a brighter image and the HD87 has it in spades. This brightness really sings in mid-high APL scenes. The other thing I love about the HD87 is it's high ANSI contrast level meaning that in mixed scenes blacks stay really black. Peak whites are really white and combined with the high ANSI contrast look stunning. The resulting image is simply terrific. Where the HD87 falls down compared to my HD750 is in it's absolute black level though. It just can't get down dark enough to match it even with the DI on. If I'd never seen a JVC I'd probably be happy though. For me the DI even in Cinema 1 mode is evident at times but I guess I have a sensitivity to DI, so I prefer to switch it off although this raises black levels a tad. A grey screen could be the perfect combination with the HD87. The thing is I like the size of my present 110" diag screen and in my room I can't get that with the HD87. I did think about this before I bought the HD87 but I thought I could get used to losing a few inches. In practice I've found that I'd prefer not to. Also, since I have an HD750 that does fantastic blacks I've found out that that's an area I don't want to compromise on either. There is so much about the HD87 I'd like to hold on to. That ANSI contrast and lumen power is so tempting and it's frustrating that the HD750 doesn't have it. I should add that the HD87 is quiet - much quieter than any previous DLP that I've owned. It also has a very good amount of lens shift - again, much better than any DLP I've previously owned. It looks great. I started a mini review/comparison thread at AVSForum if anyone is interested in more detail. In any case I've had to make a decision and I'll be keeping the JVC. I'm now grappling with the issue of how to get more lumens from my HD750 and am contemplating a Da-Lite High Power screen but that's another issue.
Curiosity got the better of me a couple of weeks ago so I took the plunge and bought an HD87 to demo against my JVC HD750 (RS20). The HD87 is a damn fine machine. I love the lumens it puts on the screen. I have the lens iris closed down to 3 and it's wonderfully bright whereas to get roughly the same brightness on my HD750 (with 725 hours on the bulb) I have to open the iris completely. Obviously there's a difference in hours on the bulb which accounts for this but most people prefer a brighter image and the HD87 has it in spades. This brightness really sings in mid-high APL scenes. The other thing I love about the HD87 is it's high ANSI contrast level meaning that in mixed scenes blacks stay really black. Peak whites are really white and combined with the high ANSI contrast look stunning. The resulting image is simply terrific. Where the HD87 falls down compared to my HD750 is in it's absolute black level though. It just can't get down dark enough to match it even with the DI on. If I'd never seen a JVC I'd probably be happy though. For me the DI even in Cinema 1 mode is evident at times but I guess I have a sensitivity to DI, so I prefer to switch it off although this raises black levels a tad. A grey screen could be the perfect combination with the HD87. The thing is I like the size of my present 110" diag screen and in my room I can't get that with the HD87. I did think about this before I bought the HD87 but I thought I could get used to losing a few inches. In practice I've found that I'd prefer not to. Also, since I have an HD750 that does fantastic blacks I've found out that that's an area I don't want to compromise on either. There is so much about the HD87 I'd like to hold on to. That ANSI contrast and lumen power is so tempting and it's frustrating that the HD750 doesn't have it. I should add that the HD87 is quiet - much quieter than any previous DLP that I've owned. It also has a very good amount of lens shift - again, much better than any DLP I've previously owned. It looks great. I started a mini review/comparison thread at AVSForum if anyone is interested in more detail. In any case I've had to make a decision and I'll be keeping the JVC. I'm now grappling with the issue of how to get more lumens from my HD750 and am contemplating a Da-Lite High Power screen but that's another issue.
Sounds like you might have been better off going with the HD87, with all its punch & ANSI-contrast and cleaner motion, then using a gray screen and/or filters to get the blacks down.
That way you would have had the best of both worlds!
I tried out the new JVC X3 a few weeks ago.
Too dim for 3D, but for 2D it's a huge jump up from their previous generations.
Even then - I still preferred coming home to my 3 year-old Benq W5000 with its sharpness and punch.
For the record, the Optoma HD86(00) is a modest but worthwhile step up from the W5000. It's smaller, spunkier, brighter, has better contrast with deeper blacks, and the DI with Cinema1 is usually invisible and doesn't hurt highlights.
Best of all, I can now zoom out to 240cm for scope movies!
This is a bloody terrific machine, and my love for DLP just never lets up.
However, I do slightly miss the Benq's motorised lens shift, faster & smoother signal switching, and no need to refocus when you zoom. It also had very slightly more sharpness, probably due to the optics and 0.95" DMD.
