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To start off I’d like to say that there were a total of 4 of us that participated. There was John the Depot Dude, Andy Lammer, one of his buddies & myself. I’m sure that the others will have something to add.
When we arrived at JVC Canada we were greeted by a wonderful gentleman named Cameron Morrison. In the front right as we got in through the main doors I noticed a 65†Rear Projection D-ILA TV! I said WOW! When is the street date for one of these? Cameron said that they were far away before any street date, maybe 2 years or longer. The model standing in front of us WAS a production model made in the USA but the demand is still not there for mass production yet. There were a handful of these units that were actually manufactured here & sold to good customers of JVC & that is it, now we wait.
We entered the board room/theatre room and took a seat in the middle section. The first thing I noticed entering the room was a poster of their QXGA model that I only wished I could demo. The other noticeable product that you couldn’t miss was a matt white 1.1 gain 197†diagonal MONSTER screen that I would love to call MINE! I sat right beside the SX21 & so did Andy.
The first half hour was spent learning the 3 technologies (LCD, DLP, D-ILA) from Cameron and how they differ from one another but I won’t go into that, I’m sure everyone pretty much knows about it by now. He sure knew his product! I sure hoped so, because he is the Senior Marketing Manager of JVC Canada & if he didn’t I think we’d all be disappointed..lol.
Now to the goodies…
We saw a total of 2 PJ’s, the 150CL & the SX21. He said that the 150CL has an MSRP of about $35,000 Canadian & the SX21 of about $17,000 Canadian. The first PJ we viewed was the 150CL, which has a CR of 600:1 & a lumens rating at 1000 with a Xenon bulb that costs $1300CDN for replacement. It was demonstrated in D-VHS running component out & component in directly to the unit without any external scaling. The first video we saw was a concert by YES & the first thing Cameron saw was my mouth DROP! This thing was absolutely stunning! It was 1080i compressed at 28Megabits per second with audio at more than 500 k/bits! The PJ was extremely clear & had no problem with brightness at that size, on the other hand, it lacked in the blacks from what I’m used to due to it’s low 600:1 CR of course. We then saw a recorded 1080i clip from a Canada Cup hockey game & was still amazed with this PJ/D-VHS combo. He then threw on a movie (still in D-VHS) called Galaxy Quest & the picture was VERY disappointing! I said to John who was sitting beside me WTF happened? It lost it’s depth, it lost MORE of the black that it was lacking in the first place & the answer to that was that it was a poor transfer. I gave him the benefit of the doubt but why even throw it on if you already know it’s a bad transfer? I didn’t get it..not at all. It is all we saw from that PJ.
Did I like it? Very much so! Is it worth it? Absolutely not! With $35,000 I can get myself a G90 (but I won’t) which I’ve seen with 1080i as well and has a better picture in almost every respect. Not knocking this little guy (150CL) but it is NOT in the same league as the G90. Just thought I’d bring it up because the price is in that same league so for someone that is contemplating spending this kind of money on this unit should re-consider & at least go out & see a G90 before making a decision. Hands down the G90 spits out the BEST 1080i picture that I’ve ever seen & many say it is the best PJ in the world under the $50k price point, who am I to argue!
Now for the PJ that we were there to see, the SX21 which has 800:1 CR & a lumens rating of 1500..
We never did get a chance to see this baby in HD but we did try several DVD’s, which is particularly what I care for since I don’t have HD at my place. Not to say that I never will, I would’ve loved to have seen it but the time was short, they needed to take the unit & ship it to JVC America for whatever reason. We used a plain DVD player, interlaced out with component of course with no external scaler here either. Now, when I say plain DVD player he didn’t even want to give us a model number, he says it was the bottom of the line player so that we could see it in the worst possible scenario, that way if we liked it, it would only get better with a different player. ARGH! We first demoed Shakespeare in Love for it’s wonderful colors. My first impression was NICE but not WOW, great colors! But for the life of me & I tried real hard and I just couldn’t see any depth? Maybe it was this particular movie but it lacked in depth, which really had me depressed. The other thing that bothered me was the blacks! Here we go again! I know, I know, I may be picky about blacks but THAT’S what gives me the depth & good detail in a movie, it MUST have nice blacks with good CR otherwise why bother? Get an el cheapo unit and be done with it!
In any event, we then tried the Fifth Element in Superbit & my opinion went 180 degrees the other way! I said WOW! Now THAT’S a GREAT picture! This movie did it, it at least put my doubts behind me & proved that the blacks ARE better & the detail WAS there. I could only imagine what it will do with HD!
Anyway, I then asked Cameron if we could see this unit with an HTPC that Andy had in the car & he said no problem. Andy had a hard time at first trying to get it to play but with a little luck we were rolling again. First I’d like to say that we couldn’t get the HTPC to sync with the SX21 at it’s native 1400x1050 format but had no problem in the 1280x768 wide screen ratio. I’m sure it would have looked even better in its 1400 format.
Now, the HTPC added a better-detailed picture with better depth & better blacks NO doubt whatsoever so, if HTPC is in question then DON’T let it be. It is DEFINITELY a better way to go in terms of EVERYTHING to better the quality of what you want to watch. Just about any movie we tried looked beautiful. Scenes from FE Superbit rocked the screen. The dark scenes were good and at times great but good most of the time. We also threw on Brotherhood of the Wolf, which is a pretty dark movie shot mainly at night, and the level of enjoyment watching this movie was not the same as watching it with a DLP unit that has good CR. That is if you’re not susceptible to rainbows of course & the unit doesn’t display any artifacts.
The fan on this unit was pretty good, rated at 35db according to Cameron, not as quiet as the DLP’s out there but I didn’t see a reason for a hush box. This PJ has no problem finding it’s way into my living room. The light spill was minimal, I could live with it, wasn’t an issue, kudos to JVC.
Now..
Is it the king of PJ’s? Does it beat the other DLP’s? Is it worth the money? Well, most people would answer yes to these questions had they seen this unit & they have every right. If a nice bright picture is what you’re after then this baby will do, AND it will provide good blacks. This is one gorgeous PJ that spits out one great picture but to me I still think that the NEC HT1000 KILLS this projector when it comes to the black level & the detail in the blacks. It may sound crazy but I would have NOT believed it hadn’t I seen the HT1000 set up at my place either. Not to say that the HT1000 doesn’t rival the SX21 in colors either, it may not have AS good colors as this SX21 but I’ll tell you first hand it’s pretty darn close.
Now, if I had to pick which one over the HD2 units out there, I’d first consider the price, then the black level & then the colors. At this given MSRP and with a street price of about $15,000 CDN and out here in North America if we’re lucky by end of Feb. 2003 I’d say I’d buy this one over the Seleco 300+ that streets here for about $24,000CDN NO question. It is worth the wait. Since it is the only unit that I’ve seen from the new HD2’s 16:9 out there I give the edge to the SX21 no question. Sure the 300+ has better blacks & that’s what I like in a PJ but it has a difference in price of $9,000CDN, which is more important than blacks. If money was no issue than I may have chosen the 300+ but it is an issue so I don’t want to even go there..hehe.
Bottom line is this, if you are not bothered by the latest DLP’s then the NEC HT1000 is going to be a HARD unit to beat & I don’t care what you want to throw at it, DILA’s, LCD’s or what have you because it is LESS than $4000US & the SX21 will street at close to $10,000US. Now, if you were to buy 2 HT1000’s & stack them? You’d still be a couple of grand cheaper than the SX21 & I can only imagine the image that it will produce. If the HT1000 ever comes out with a long throw it has me as a customer. The SX21 is not for me as it is overpriced & not what I expected although great for many. I am a BLACK & CR level kind of guy & the DLP’s spit out a better picture than this D-ILA in that department which means everything in a movie to me. I know the colors on the HT1000 are AWESOME as well so comparing that unit to this one was actually a good thing, it allows me to give the 2 biggest thumbs up & an overall winner thus far to the HT1000. I can’t buy it because of the throw distance but if I could I wouldn’t wait for the SX21.
That’s all folks; I hope I didn’t let a lot of you D-ILA’ers down.
When we arrived at JVC Canada we were greeted by a wonderful gentleman named Cameron Morrison. In the front right as we got in through the main doors I noticed a 65†Rear Projection D-ILA TV! I said WOW! When is the street date for one of these? Cameron said that they were far away before any street date, maybe 2 years or longer. The model standing in front of us WAS a production model made in the USA but the demand is still not there for mass production yet. There were a handful of these units that were actually manufactured here & sold to good customers of JVC & that is it, now we wait.
We entered the board room/theatre room and took a seat in the middle section. The first thing I noticed entering the room was a poster of their QXGA model that I only wished I could demo. The other noticeable product that you couldn’t miss was a matt white 1.1 gain 197†diagonal MONSTER screen that I would love to call MINE! I sat right beside the SX21 & so did Andy.
The first half hour was spent learning the 3 technologies (LCD, DLP, D-ILA) from Cameron and how they differ from one another but I won’t go into that, I’m sure everyone pretty much knows about it by now. He sure knew his product! I sure hoped so, because he is the Senior Marketing Manager of JVC Canada & if he didn’t I think we’d all be disappointed..lol.
Now to the goodies…
We saw a total of 2 PJ’s, the 150CL & the SX21. He said that the 150CL has an MSRP of about $35,000 Canadian & the SX21 of about $17,000 Canadian. The first PJ we viewed was the 150CL, which has a CR of 600:1 & a lumens rating at 1000 with a Xenon bulb that costs $1300CDN for replacement. It was demonstrated in D-VHS running component out & component in directly to the unit without any external scaling. The first video we saw was a concert by YES & the first thing Cameron saw was my mouth DROP! This thing was absolutely stunning! It was 1080i compressed at 28Megabits per second with audio at more than 500 k/bits! The PJ was extremely clear & had no problem with brightness at that size, on the other hand, it lacked in the blacks from what I’m used to due to it’s low 600:1 CR of course. We then saw a recorded 1080i clip from a Canada Cup hockey game & was still amazed with this PJ/D-VHS combo. He then threw on a movie (still in D-VHS) called Galaxy Quest & the picture was VERY disappointing! I said to John who was sitting beside me WTF happened? It lost it’s depth, it lost MORE of the black that it was lacking in the first place & the answer to that was that it was a poor transfer. I gave him the benefit of the doubt but why even throw it on if you already know it’s a bad transfer? I didn’t get it..not at all. It is all we saw from that PJ.
Did I like it? Very much so! Is it worth it? Absolutely not! With $35,000 I can get myself a G90 (but I won’t) which I’ve seen with 1080i as well and has a better picture in almost every respect. Not knocking this little guy (150CL) but it is NOT in the same league as the G90. Just thought I’d bring it up because the price is in that same league so for someone that is contemplating spending this kind of money on this unit should re-consider & at least go out & see a G90 before making a decision. Hands down the G90 spits out the BEST 1080i picture that I’ve ever seen & many say it is the best PJ in the world under the $50k price point, who am I to argue!
Now for the PJ that we were there to see, the SX21 which has 800:1 CR & a lumens rating of 1500..
We never did get a chance to see this baby in HD but we did try several DVD’s, which is particularly what I care for since I don’t have HD at my place. Not to say that I never will, I would’ve loved to have seen it but the time was short, they needed to take the unit & ship it to JVC America for whatever reason. We used a plain DVD player, interlaced out with component of course with no external scaler here either. Now, when I say plain DVD player he didn’t even want to give us a model number, he says it was the bottom of the line player so that we could see it in the worst possible scenario, that way if we liked it, it would only get better with a different player. ARGH! We first demoed Shakespeare in Love for it’s wonderful colors. My first impression was NICE but not WOW, great colors! But for the life of me & I tried real hard and I just couldn’t see any depth? Maybe it was this particular movie but it lacked in depth, which really had me depressed. The other thing that bothered me was the blacks! Here we go again! I know, I know, I may be picky about blacks but THAT’S what gives me the depth & good detail in a movie, it MUST have nice blacks with good CR otherwise why bother? Get an el cheapo unit and be done with it!
In any event, we then tried the Fifth Element in Superbit & my opinion went 180 degrees the other way! I said WOW! Now THAT’S a GREAT picture! This movie did it, it at least put my doubts behind me & proved that the blacks ARE better & the detail WAS there. I could only imagine what it will do with HD!
Anyway, I then asked Cameron if we could see this unit with an HTPC that Andy had in the car & he said no problem. Andy had a hard time at first trying to get it to play but with a little luck we were rolling again. First I’d like to say that we couldn’t get the HTPC to sync with the SX21 at it’s native 1400x1050 format but had no problem in the 1280x768 wide screen ratio. I’m sure it would have looked even better in its 1400 format.
Now, the HTPC added a better-detailed picture with better depth & better blacks NO doubt whatsoever so, if HTPC is in question then DON’T let it be. It is DEFINITELY a better way to go in terms of EVERYTHING to better the quality of what you want to watch. Just about any movie we tried looked beautiful. Scenes from FE Superbit rocked the screen. The dark scenes were good and at times great but good most of the time. We also threw on Brotherhood of the Wolf, which is a pretty dark movie shot mainly at night, and the level of enjoyment watching this movie was not the same as watching it with a DLP unit that has good CR. That is if you’re not susceptible to rainbows of course & the unit doesn’t display any artifacts.
The fan on this unit was pretty good, rated at 35db according to Cameron, not as quiet as the DLP’s out there but I didn’t see a reason for a hush box. This PJ has no problem finding it’s way into my living room. The light spill was minimal, I could live with it, wasn’t an issue, kudos to JVC.
Now..
Is it the king of PJ’s? Does it beat the other DLP’s? Is it worth the money? Well, most people would answer yes to these questions had they seen this unit & they have every right. If a nice bright picture is what you’re after then this baby will do, AND it will provide good blacks. This is one gorgeous PJ that spits out one great picture but to me I still think that the NEC HT1000 KILLS this projector when it comes to the black level & the detail in the blacks. It may sound crazy but I would have NOT believed it hadn’t I seen the HT1000 set up at my place either. Not to say that the HT1000 doesn’t rival the SX21 in colors either, it may not have AS good colors as this SX21 but I’ll tell you first hand it’s pretty darn close.
Now, if I had to pick which one over the HD2 units out there, I’d first consider the price, then the black level & then the colors. At this given MSRP and with a street price of about $15,000 CDN and out here in North America if we’re lucky by end of Feb. 2003 I’d say I’d buy this one over the Seleco 300+ that streets here for about $24,000CDN NO question. It is worth the wait. Since it is the only unit that I’ve seen from the new HD2’s 16:9 out there I give the edge to the SX21 no question. Sure the 300+ has better blacks & that’s what I like in a PJ but it has a difference in price of $9,000CDN, which is more important than blacks. If money was no issue than I may have chosen the 300+ but it is an issue so I don’t want to even go there..hehe.
Bottom line is this, if you are not bothered by the latest DLP’s then the NEC HT1000 is going to be a HARD unit to beat & I don’t care what you want to throw at it, DILA’s, LCD’s or what have you because it is LESS than $4000US & the SX21 will street at close to $10,000US. Now, if you were to buy 2 HT1000’s & stack them? You’d still be a couple of grand cheaper than the SX21 & I can only imagine the image that it will produce. If the HT1000 ever comes out with a long throw it has me as a customer. The SX21 is not for me as it is overpriced & not what I expected although great for many. I am a BLACK & CR level kind of guy & the DLP’s spit out a better picture than this D-ILA in that department which means everything in a movie to me. I know the colors on the HT1000 are AWESOME as well so comparing that unit to this one was actually a good thing, it allows me to give the 2 biggest thumbs up & an overall winner thus far to the HT1000. I can’t buy it because of the throw distance but if I could I wouldn’t wait for the SX21.
That’s all folks; I hope I didn’t let a lot of you D-ILA’ers down.
