JVC used the recent IFA show in Germany to launch two new full HD (1920 x 1080) home cinema projectors, writes Paddy Baker. The DLA-HD950 and DLA-HD550 incorporate a number of advanced technologies for improved picture quality.
One feature claimed to be unique is that the projectors, alongside others in JVC’s D-ILA range, do not use a dynamic iris. Dynamic irises adjust the overall amount of light on the screen depending on the overall brightness of the picture; but doing this makes whites duller in dark images, and blacks duller in bright ones. By dispensing with a dynamic iris, D-ILA projectors can display deep whites and deep blacks in the same field of a picture. Quoted native contrast ratios are 50,000:1 for the HD950 and 30,000:1 for the HD550. Brightness levels are 900 and 1,000 lumens respectively.
Both models also feature Clear Motion Drive, which uses an interpolation algorithm to generate intermediate frames – and optimises the number of frames displayed regardless of the frame rate of the source material. This results in a smoother, less blurred picture in fast-moving scenes, such as in sports or action movies.
The two projectors also feature three screen adjustment mode, enabling the selection of the optimum mode to provide accurate colour reproduction depending on screen surface.
The HD950 has some extra features. It has been licensed with the ISF C3 (Certified Calibration Controls) mode. This enables the projector to be professionally calibrated to the user’s choice of screen surface, lighting environment and video sources; these can then be stored in the projector.
The HD950 has also passed the THX Certified Display Program, which indicates that the picture quality is faithful to the source to a level certified by THX.
