JVC DLA-X500: 3D playback

At first we were disappointed with the X500’s 3D efforts. Contrary to what we’d expected from what we’d heard about JVC’s new projectors at its press launch at the end of last year, there was some really quite aggressive crosstalk on show that made them quite uncomfortable to watch at times.

Fortunately, there’s an easy fix for this in the well-named shape of the crosstalk canceller. Shifting this down to its -4 level has a dramatic impact on crosstalk, removing it almost completely. You lose some brightness in making this change, but the results are well worth it.

With the crosstalk issue solved 3D becomes a much more appealing proposition. In fact, it becomes very good indeed.

Detail levels are outstanding, proving the worth of the full HD active 3D format, and 3D pictures still look actually pretty bright even with the crosstalk reduction setting activated as described earlier, and there’s a superbly natural sense of depth.

The only problem we didn’t resolve fully to our satisfaction was the way motion looks a little uncomfortable/shimmery unless you use the CMD on High yet a little processed if you do use the CMD on high. Nonetheless, overall the X500 delivers a massive leap forward over last year’s JVC 3D efforts.

Other things to consider

JVC D-ILA projectors have tended in the past to run a bit noisily, at least in 3D mode. But despite the X500 using a seemingly identical chassis design to its predecessor it actually runs impressively quietly, with the kick up in cooling noise for 3D now feeling minimal. Excellent.

Considerably less excellent, however, is the X500’s input lag. We measured this at a very high 130ms, which is easily enough to damage your performance with reaction-based games. Certainly we did not seem to achieve the same level of success when playing Call of Duty online on the X500 as we did when playing on a Sony 65X9005 4K TV.
 

Should I buy a JVC DLA-X500?

So long as you’re not looking at an X500 for serious gaming and you fully understand that it only gives you greater pixel density rather than a native 4K picture, you certainly should buy a DLA-X500. Its picture quality is quite simply unparalleled at its price point in both 2D and 3D mode.

If you want a true native 4K experience you’ll have to spend £3.5k more to get the Sony VW500ES, while for superior full HD images you’ll probably find you have to spend quite a bit more to get JVC’s own X700 and X900 models. In terms of its price point there’s really nothing truly in the X500’s league.

Verdict

The ultimately very simple message about the X500 is that you need to put all the 4K kerfuffle from your mind and focus your attention – and, potentially, your wallet – on the simple fact that the X500 produces the most deliciously cinematic picture quality you’ll find for anything like as little as five grand.

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