CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

opv · Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 202 Location: Emek Hefer,Israel

After 16 years of CRT love, including Barco graphics 808S and 1209S I have decided to leave the dark side and go digital.
The decision wasn't easy, as I still love the picture my 1209s throws and it has its cinematic magic look to the picture.

So, what drove me to do it?
1) I have much less free time and the CRT needs TLC
2) I have some issues with the picture, 16:9 tube burn, uneven focus, left geometry etc.
3) Reliability issues, that was actually the last straw . Every few months, I would get a new problem and while trying to solve it, my theater is down for the entire family. also, replacement boards availability is much lower.

I decided to go with JVC RS540, the JVCs are the closest thing you can find to CRT picture.
The JVC is sharper, brighter, quiet, better colors and more. it also requires much less devices in the video chain.

But the picture in BD SDR is very similar to what I had with the Barco. not something that will drive me to watch my movie collection again.

HDR, however, is really something else. once I watched content in HDR, I do want to watch my movie collection again, but in BD UHD.

I had wonderful hours with CRT and I think that the fact that the picture in SDR still compares with the JVC, is amazing.
I will always be a fan of CRT and it will always have a place in my heart.

I also love the CRT community here and I want to thank for for excellent advice through the years.

Thanks for reading,
Or

**kal** · Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 2:05 pm Post subject:

Enjoy the JVC! I did the same way back in 2013 and had similar results.

Kal

opv · Joined: 18 May 2010 Posts: 202 Location: Emek Hefer,Israel

Hi Kal,
I'm curious, how many lamps did you replace since 2013?

Thanks,
Or

**kal** · Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2020 1:45 pm Post subject:

CIR Engineering · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 1:52 am Post subject:

The JVC 540 is really a very nice projector. Of course it does not have a true 4k panel, but I find that less concerning because it makes up for that in spades with its outstanding native contrast ratio of over 60,000:1. None of the 4k panel JVC's can do that yet.

UHD's most outstanding feature is that of the larger color gamut in DCI-P3. I have to say my G90 looks better than my NX9 for HD, but the DCI-Pe gamut and HDR on UHD with the NX9 looks better than anything my G90 can do. So, not as much content at UHD, but what there is is awesome and only a small hit to performance on HD material.

Best and enjoy,
craigr

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

CIR Engineering · Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2020 6:09 am Post subject:

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

Klein K10-A L Colorimeter
JETI S 1501 Spectroradiometer
Calman Pro 2020

I also owned the X7900 I will say about the same as my NX9, The X9000 had some better.
But like I said can be different from unit to unit sample vs sample.

Also calibrated an RS3000 with poor contrast but still over 60000:1, but not fully open iris.

I calibrate different projectors all the time professionally.

I don't doubt your measurements just say that it depends on the unit.

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

Here 2 newly calibrated JVC N5 after 100 hours of runtime. Both iris -12 on a 110-inch screen, they don't manage over 60000:1 55nits, On HDR calibration Iris fully open of course.

SDR D65 Both around 20000-30000:1 fully open iris both around 40000-50000:1 calibrated iris -12. Measured on-screen, also verified with KleinK10A with diffusor measuring against the projector lens.

The N7 some higher around 60000-80000:1 fully closed iris, calibrated around 60000:1, but here also have had one unit of JVC N7 that had 51000:1 with fully open iris and over 90000:1 fully closed. Also verified with KleinK10A with diffusor measuring against the projector lens. But have not calibrated more than 14. N5, 5. different N7 units and 2. RS2000/Nx9.
Also, a JVC N7 with max 45000:1 fully closed. So what I try to state here is that units are different.

ElTopo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1640

Here a Cine9 with infinity contrast and real black.

Without background ‚glowing‘ or iris pumping.

pureaudio · Joined: 29 Mar 2015 Posts: 37

No CRT have infinite contrast, without clipping black, some have very high contrast, which makes them excellent for low light scenes.
On the other side they are not very good at mixed content with bright highlights, due to the not so good ansi contrast.
The question about the JVC projectors is not so much what is the contrast measured in the center, but whats the average contrast/ uniformity.
JVC can also have as low ansi contrast as a JVC depending the sample, however its rare. Personally i find that above 50000:1 on off and above 200:1 ansi, the contrast is no longer something you can complain about, as long as its fairly uniform across the screen.

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

No iris pumping on the NX9/RS3000 that you will see at all. On the N5 and N7, I don't remember. Because I always calibrate with auto iris off.

I'm sure its a nice picture with perfect black.
@ElTopo I don't know what scene, film, or photo you use here, and how its meant to be seen.

On a CRT it looks like this and looks good. I have owned several CRT projectors and still like the performance on them. But I moved on.

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

ElTopo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1640

I still like fade to black until it’s completely dark.

Always a wow effect.

I‘ve seen the N5 and it was very disappointing. Black Level was much much under that what i would expect for such a high dollar projector. Besides that the FI looks like a video game Rolling Eyes

pureaudio · Joined: 29 Mar 2015 Posts: 37

I think most of us have seen bad samples and badly calibrated JVC projectors, same can be said about CRT, whats you measured gamma of the 2% IRE?

ElTopo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1640

Here you go:
https://www.curtpalme.com/forum_archived/viewtopic.php@t=23746.html

pureaudio · Joined: 29 Mar 2015 Posts: 37

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18

Tested my Nx9 yesterday with settings: iris at -10 (17FL) to recalibrate my unit after 200 hours of use, also to check my unit.

The setting with 17 FL is the setting that I will use for film. This is without the Colour filter engaged so BT709. If Filter is used I will get even some more contrast.

Calibration is done manually with JVC software gamma editor. Results on ON/OFF confirmed turning KleinK10A with diffusor about 1 meter from the lens. It was some less than 88813:1, measured 81117:1. So not so accurate on-screen but close.

Fully closed Iris in low lamp mode 94893:1 against the lens with super stable measurements with variations only between 1-3:1 difference. This is the 100% accurate contrast on my NX9 in my B-cave. With Fully open Iris High lamp mode I would guess Over 100000:1 easy with fully closed iris. But my unit is on specifications and the only acceptable thing.

I will clearly say an NX9 with 60000:1 or less fully closed iris would be delivered back to my seller the same day, and no deal.
Sad that there are many bad samples out there that don't get returned for a fix.

If I think back I have delivered back and got a new JVC with 1 or 2 units as DOA. But that was the X/RS series, so far none N series. But know some in other countries that got a bad sample of the N series and returned it to the seller.

ElTopo · Joined: 07 Nov 2006 Posts: 1640

Looking good.

What i read the N9 does ‚only‘ have about 249:1 ANSI contrast. Is that correct ?

General BB · Joined: 29 Feb 2016 Posts: 18