The JVC NX7 is a premium projector that features a native 4K D-ILA imaging device and an all-glass lens. It also includes automatic calibration, a wire grid polarizer to deepen blacks, and an advanced HDR tone mapping mode. Check from Amazon >>>
Kris found the JVC to have some of the best native contrast in the industry. When engaged, its dynamic iris was exceptionally effective on challenging dark scenes.
Enhanced Color
JVC’s NX series has a wide array of picture control options. One particularly impressive feature is its Frame Adapt tone mapping. When enabled, it uses either the embedded HDR metadata or frame-by-frame readings to determine the best tone map for a given scene.
Kris was impressed with the image quality in demanding scenes like First Man’s moody interior shots of shadowy cockpits and spacecrafts punctuated by bright highlights of earth or moonlight through windows. JVC’s black levels are exceptionally good.
On other scenes, the NX7’s tone mapping sometimes erred on the side of brightness too much at the expense of contrast and depth. A shot of a ship on the ocean pumped up sun reflections too much, for instance.
Enhanced Black Levels
The JVC’s iris closes to restrict light in truly dark scenes to improve contrast dramatically – up to 500,000:1 dynamic APL contrast. This compares to 330:1 for the Epson and much lower for most other LCD projectors.
The NX7’s on-board HDR tone mapping does a good job of matching content meta-data and can be manually adjusted if you prefer. It also allows you to fine-tune the tone-mapping baseline. Increasing the setting raises screen brightness but clips more highlights, while decreasing it maintains a higher contrast ratio.
Enhanced Contrast
JVC’s NX7 has twice the contrast spec of its predecessor, delivering stunning black levels. Combined with its wide color gamut, the NX7 is an incredible performer that delivers cinema quality images.
In one demanding HDR scene from First Man, where Armstrong’s space suit is seen during his moon walk, the NX7 showed crisp white and natural reflections. The NX7 also made the texture of the suit and ribbing stand out.
The NX7’s new Frame Adapt feature lets you customize the projector’s auto tone-map based on content metadata or dynamically on a frame-by-frame or scene-by-scene basis. I found this setting to be preferable over the regular auto-tone map for most scenes.
Enhanced Detail
The JVC NX7 does a terrific job of revealing detail in even bright scenes. The bright highlight on Armstrong’s bald head in the close-up shot of him during his moon walk leaped off the screen with vivid punch, and his skin tone was natural without excessive pink or red lean.
JVC’s Frame-Adaptive HDR tone mapping is able to sample the brightness levels in a scene or frame and adjust for an optimal tone map on a frame-by-frame basis. It also offers a deep adjustment menu and a self-calibration function that rivals the kind of calibration a professional can do. You will need to buy an optical meter like the Video Spyder for under $200 to take advantage of it.
Enhanced Dynamic Range
JVC’s updated version of their frame-by-frame tone-mapping mode is now available as a firmware upgrade on the NX9, NX7 and NX5 projects. They call this feature Theater Optimizer and it allows you to input your screen size and gain information so the projector can intelligently adjust its internal settings for optimal HDR performance.
When I watched First Man, a demanding HDR showcase of astronaut training and the moon landing, the NX7’s 4K imagers ably rendered fine details such as the makeup on Neil Armstrong’s nose and craggy facial features and the texture of his gray suit with black pinstripes. The projector’s excellent lens also aided in showing off the bright lunar surface against deep space.
Enhanced Gamma
The JVC NX7 offers a full range of picture modes including Natural, Cinema, and Film. Each provides a different image with varying color and brightness settings. During my tests the Cinema mode provided the brightest and most neutral image while the Film mode was a little cooler with increased contrast.
The NX7 also supports HDR and has a frame Adaptive HDR tone-mapping mode that adjusts the projector’s settings based on the content. Combined with the NX7’s high contrast ratio of 800,000:1 and wide color gamut it produces life like images for latest HDR content.
I viewed the NX7 with a Carada 104″ diagonal 16×9 fixed frame 1.0 gain screen and SeymourAV 115″ wide 2.39:1 motorized retractable 0.8 gain screen.
