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Which company makes the best projector? That’s a question any home theater enthusiast planning an upgrade from a flat-screen TV to the much greater viewing experience that a projector offers will regularly ask themselves.
The answer, at least according to the results of the Projector Shootout 2022, an event hosted by AV retailer Value Electronics this past weekend in New York City, is JVC.
The Shootout pitted some of the best 4K projectors against each other, with all major brands represented. The main focus of the competition was on long-throw projectors, although a separate event was used to evaluate ultra-short-throw models in a manner similar to the Laser TV Showdown where I was a judge earlier this year.
For the past two decades, Value Electronics has hosted a similar event for flat panel TVs. That particular Shootout collects the best 4K TVs and lines them up for a side-by-side evaluation by a group of expert judges. (This year’s winner: Sony’s XR-A95K QD-OLED, a good looking TV by all accounts.)
The projector evaluation procedure is basically the same as for TVs, with each model set to the most accurate picture mode and then optimized for both standard and high dynamic range viewing. To ensure a level playing field, all screens are fed the same test patterns and movie scenes over a video distribution network, and each projector is linked to an identical projection screen.
The Projector Shootout 2022 grouped the long-throw models into three price categories:
$4000-$7000
- JVC DLA-NP5 D-ILA ($6,999 / £6,999) [Winner]
- Sony VPL-XW5000ES SXRD ($5,999 / £5,999)
- Epson ProCinema LS12000 LCD ($4,999/ £4,399)
- LG AU810PB DLP ($3,999 / £3,999)
$11,000 – $16,000
- JVC DLA-NZ8 D-ILA ($15,999 / £15,795) [Winner]
- Sony VPL-XW6000ES SXRD ($11,999)
- JVC DLA-NZ7 D-ILA ($10,999 / £10,999)
$25,000 – $30,000
- JVC DLA-NZ9 D-ILA ($26,000 / £25,400) [Winner]
- Sony VPL-XW7000ES SXRD ($28,000 / £28,000)
Analysis: Which JVC projector is the best choice?
Clearly a clean slate for JVC, although Sony seems to have put up a good fight, with its projectors in the budget and mid-range categories trailing JVC slightly in the overall score. Since the mid-range XW6000ES and budget XW6000ES are priced lower than the JVC models (by $4,000 in the case of the XW6000ES), there’s a strong value proposition to be made for both models.
The JVC DLA-NZ8 which won the mid-range category tops our list of the best 4K projectors, so we’re not surprised it takes home an award. Does its big brother DLA-NZ9, the overall top scorer in the Shootout really deserve a $10,000 price bump?
Both laser light-powered models use native 4K D-ILA (JVCs term for liquid crystal on silicon) display chips along with the company’s 8K/e-shiftX technology to effectively display images at 8K resolution. (The HDMI 2.1 ports on both projectors accept video input at 8K resolution.) They are 120Hz capable, making them a great option for gaming with a PS5 or Xbox Series X console. Both projectors also support HDR10 and HDR10+ high dynamic range sources and are equipped with JVC’s extensive range of HDR-specific features, including Frame Adapt HDR dynamic tone mapping and Theater Optimizer, a feature that takes into account the size and gain of the specific projection screen is used to further refine the HDR presentation.
The main difference between the two is peak brightness, with the NZ9 rated at 3,000 lumens and the NZ8 at 2,500 lumens. Both models also have slightly different native contrast ratio specs, with the NZ9 rated at 100,000:1 and the NZ8 rated at 80,000:1.
I had the chance to view actual 8K images projected onto a 124-inch screen by the DLA-NZ9 in a demo set up by JVC at CES 2022, and the image quality was nothing short of breathtaking. If the NZ8 can even reach 75% of that performance level – and based on the stories I’ve read about the Shootout, I feel it can – it would the projector I would like for my home theater.