Sony HW50 / BenQ W7000 / Epson 5020 / JVC RS55 / JVC RS 46 / JVC RS4810 / JVC RS56 Mini-shootout... - Page 116

The projector party isn't over yet...

thanks to Ravex911 for offering to send in his new Panasonic 8000 for review... very much appreciated!

Some folks have been waiting to see a good comparison between the Epson 5020 and the Panasonic 8000. The battle of the Epson LCD panel's starts soon.





Digital storage fans - I've had some issues with 3D BD ISO's and DTS-MA audio tracks on my HiMedia 900B and Micca EP950 (same hardware). I've read some positive reviews about the 'Mediator' and decided to try one out.

No it's not a home theater George Forman Grill. Yes it's the strangest looking piece of hardware in my setup. Yes it plays 3D BD ISO with DTS-MA with no issues.

More info on this later when I get some time to go through the settings. In it's raw form, I played back 15 random 3D movies, mostly with DTS-MA tracks and had good luck streaming via SMB from my new 18TB storage array. Very promising so far.

if it works as expected, I'll replace it with 600x which is smaller and more 'normal' looking. I don't need the internal HD space.



I don't actually mind what it look it like.. it just needs to work. I really like the 'direct' play which makes it very easy to jump from movie to movie without being held prisoner by the BD JAVA menus / intros.

you would be correct. At least from what I am seeing in the first few hours of direct A/B. I was hoping there was a factory setting with 1/2 decent color, but this particular copy is off by a mile. It needs a serious calibration right out of the box.

This is 1 time I fully agree with Art.

http://www.projectorreviews.com/projectors/pt-ae8000_vs_hc5020/bottomline.php

I thought something was wrong at first, checking HDMI levels, brightness settings, etc.. but it appears the Epson has a noticeable and obvious advantage here with overall contrast / black floor. I'm reserving any judgement until I do a full calibration on it.



On a similar topic - since I blacked out my ceiling and floor, neither the Epson or the Panasonic satisfies my preference for good contrast / black floor.

I see a lot of discussion about DI and how it compensates for lower native contrast. This just doesn't work in with my setup. I have a large, very bright HP screen with a pitch black room. There is only so much the iris can do with a low light scene. The Dark Knight Rises is a perfect BD to test this.

The HW50, 5020 and Panasonic 8000 look relatively 'flat' compared to the JVC RS55 @ -11 in these low light scenes. The JVC PQ jumps off the screen with an excellent black floor and bright whites at the same time.

some folks like to rag on JVC for various reasons (i'm one of them for 3D) but for my particular setup, none of these projectors I've seen this year can touch the 2D PQ of my 'old' RS55 + e-shift1. That includes the RS4810 since I don't really like what they did with e-shift2.

I do watch a lot of stage concerts, dark movies, sci-fi, etc and the JVC brings them to life on this big HP. High native contrast rules my particular setup and it looks amazing.

I wasn't expecting it to be this substantial, but it is. Without a light treated room, folks are really missing out on what the JVC is capable of. It starts distancing itself very quickly from the other models.

I'm not sure, I only have 3D BD ISO's to test. Let me know how it works for you when you get.

@ rick - thanks for the heads up on the beta, I'm going to sign up an test the 3D framerate that never got fixed on the Micca 950 / Himedia 900B. The only thing I don't like it is the Mediator remote control, I much prefer the Mica 950 style.

I don't think he's looking to pay top dollar, there's been some well priced, lightly used X70/RS55's in the market. More importantly, he's looking for a cherry picked model. One with excellent convergence and focus. Some people will pay a premium for golden sample. They do exist, but there's a bit of luck involved in getting one.

Sample variances can make a difference in the overall PQ. The perfect sample imo has excellent convergence, focus and consistent color and gray field uniformity.


regarding e-shift 1 and 2, several other owners have stated a preference for e-shift 1. Something has changed as I can't quite match the natural appearance of the original e-shift process. How this translates to a difference in PQ, I can't put a number on it. But I do have a preference for the original e-shift process after seeing them side by side. Most folks are going to like both processes, others will prefer RC, etc. It's good to have options.

it's the older model RS55. There are no menu settings changes that will make it look the same. The e-shift sensor is definitely different this year, so perhaps that might explain the difference.