It Happened: JVC Officially Unveils Three True-4K Projectors

It Happened: JVC Officially Unveils Three True-4K Projectors​

(JVC) JVC's new projector line up features true 4K imaging(August 31, 2018) JVC has long been heralded as one of industry’s best – if not the best – manufacturers of sub-$10k projectors, with one tiny sticking point in our newly found 4K world: 4K eShift. And despite the fact that JVC’s faux-4K technology looks amazing to the eye, Sony’s choice to deploy true 4K imagers has made JVC’s models feel somewhat compromised.

Well, it’s time to check any notions of inferiority, because JVC is officially embracing native 4K purity with the release of three new lamped based models.

As revealed at IFA 2018, JVC has a trio of new projectors that will likely be priced considerably more than its current crop of eShift offerings. As reported by Forbes’ Johnny Archer, the European models are designated as the N5, N7, and NX9, with prices ranging from £6,499 to £18,599. If a current pounds to dollars conversion holds correct, that means US pricing could fall in the $8,500 to $25,000 range (we’ll confirm pricing at JVC’s CEDIA presser next Thursday).

Last year, a senior member of JVC’s marketing team told me the choice to rely on eShift technology came down to affordability: true 4K imagers were simply too expensive and JVC felt its margin for error was too slim to risk increasing pricing. Sony’s size and market share across all products, as it was explained, was large enough to allow the company to absorb mistakes in their projector division. Not the case for JVC. So, it will be interesting to confirm JVC’s new US pricing and – hopefully – why the company felt the need to abandon its old strategy.

According to Archer, all three new models also feature Automatic Tone Mapping, which allows the projectors to better process HDR metadata for the best image presentation. That’s huge news. Also, the top-of-the-line NX9 carries THX certification along with 8K video support using (you guessed it) 8K e-shift!

AV NIRVANA will have full coverage of JVC’s US reveal at CEDIA 2018.

 

[mechman]

It's my understanding that true 4K in projectors causes them to take a hit to brightness. With the human eye incapable of telling the difference between shifting technology and true 4K, I can't imagine why JVC would want to take a hit in lumens. Maybe they found a way around that?

 

[Todd Anderson]

I believe we’re talking between 1,800 and 2,200 nits, but will confirm

 

[Matthew J Poes]

This is really exciting. I can’t wait to hear more about these new models. The specs sound out of this world.

 

[Isaac Sykes]

Sony must have seen this coming, as they just released 3 new 4K models and upgraded their specs through the entire lineup.

 

[bkeeler10]

This is exciting. Hopefully the US pricing is not as high as Todd is speculating, but regardless I will be happy with my new Rs440 e-shift for a few years until the 4K pricing comes down. But I'm gonna eventually want a 4K unit and it'll probably be a JVC if their other picture quality strengths continue to be top-of-the-line.

 

[phillihp23]

Looking forward to future reviews and price release of these JVC projectors. When a solid 4K projector in my price range finally does hit the market I intend to upgrade.......and keep it for the foreseeable future.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I’m attending an 8am JVC presser on Thursday morning. I won’t have a write up right away, but will tweet pricing (if discussed) on @theavwoofer and @AV NIRVANA (note all one word... website autocorrects with a space). Of course, will spend some time watching the JVC demos in action, will deliver some unbiased impressions!

If you’re not following those, this thread will be updated at some point too!

 

[phillihp23]

I like the idea that it is 8K ready also....kinda like the bonus. Although if they had left that off could they have lowered the price.....

 

[Todd Anderson]

That’s only on the top model... the first two models - I believe - do. It feature 8k eshift

 

[Isaac Sykes]

For those that are interested this is the link to the sony annoucement I mentioned: