JVC DLA-HD100IntroductionThe JVC DLA-HD100 sports a native contrast ratio of 30,000:1, an industry first and achieved without the use of a dynamic iris. The DLA-HD100 is simply, the best home theater projector you can buy under $10,000. When you take its natural, film-like characteristics DLA-HD100 has no competition. Outside When you open the box the very first thing you will notice, is that the DLA-HD100 is a pretty large device. From the front , you will see a center mounted, recessed zoom lens, and a small infra-red sensor just to its right. On the far left is the fan outlet port exhausting hot air at an angle away from the lens, and on the far right, the air intake. The lens has a focus ring protruding slightly from the projector body's protective trim ring. There are two sliders 180 degrees apart, for adjusting the zoom function.
Recessed into the bottom just below the lens, are two small rotating rings. The one on the right is a manual control for the vertical lens shift, and the one on the left, controls the horizontal lens shift. The amount of lens shift is very generous being 80% vertical and 34% horizontal. On the bottom front and rear of the projector you will find adjustable feet. Looking at the top of the DLA-HD100, there is a vertical control panel, consisting of small buttons and indicators. There are three indicator lights: Warning, Lamp, and Standby/On, next to these, is the power button. Like with many other projectors you need to press it once to turn the projector on, twice to power it down. The Input button is next for source selection, followed by a video mute button that blanks the screen. Next come two buttons side by side, Menu on the left, Exit on the right, followed by the traditional navigation keys.
On the back of the DLA-HD100 projector, you will find two HDMI inputs (ver 1.3), one component video input (3 RCA jacks), and the usual S-video and composite video inputs. In addition, there is an RS-232 port for command and control from a computer, and the rear infra-red sensor. Inside The JVC DLA series projectors use a three chip LCOS, LCOS standing for Liquid Crystal On Silicon. LCOS is a reflective technology, like DLP, however JVC DLA projectors do not suffer from a rainbow effect caused by the spinning color wheel affecting single chip DLP projectors. LCOS projectors have almost invisible pixel structures thus you will not be able to see any dots at normal seating distance. When compared to DLP or LCD technology the picture may appear to be soft, but the LCOS projectors still reveal as much fine detail as other technologies, where the pixel structure is more visible. At the core of the video processing, the projection system features the GF9351, a video processor by Gennum Corporation. The video processor ensures the faithful reproduction of high-quality images thanks to a high-precision scaling function and four VXP™ technologies. A door on the side of the case gives you access to the lap which can be replaced without taking the unit down from a ceiling mount. JVC rates the lamp life at 2000 hours, whether in Normal or High mode. This isn't really surprising to have one rating for both modes, for the DLA-HD100 only reduces brightness by 15% in its lower power mode. DLA-HD100 has a V-Stretch function which allows for a more efficient projection of 2.35:1 anamorphic movies, this feature was not present in DLA-HD1. User Experience The buttons on the remote control light up, making it easy to operate even in a dark room. The remote control includes direct keys to adjust frequently used functions such as contrast and brightness, in addition to video input selection. The DLA-HD100 configuration is straight forward, all settings can be accessed by on-screen menus that are well organized and easy to navigate. The DLA-HD100 comes precalibrated to D65, so no adjustments are necessary to get beautiful color balance right out of the box.
The DLA-HD100 has three user programmable profiles. You can save all your current settings into either one of them, or clear them to start over. In addition you can select one of the three primary presets: Cinema, Natural, and Dynamic, which will set all options and settings back to factory defaults. The DLA-HD100 truly stands out in well a designed theater room. Ambient light will degrade that amazing high contrast, and wipe out the deepest shadow details. Of course this occurs with any projector, its just that the DLA-HD100 delivers such an amazing picture that it is much easier to notice. Even in conditions where some ambient light is present, DLA-HD100 still has the advantage over other projectors, but the amount of advantage will significantly diminish. If you want modest ambient light for sports for example, you probably will have wiped out just about all of the difference that makes the DLA-HD100 so good at what it does, and in such a case, you likely would prefer a different, brighter projector. Specifications
Final Thoughts The DLA-HD100 image quality makes it an exceptional projector. No other reviewed projector to date comes close to matching its shadow detail or black levels. The cooling system could be a little bit quieter, but that is arguably not a serious issue considering the rich, dynamic colors and excellent color accuracy that creates an exceptionally natural looking image and the most enjoyable movie watching experience. |
