3D Projector Reviews

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 43,100:1

All of the measurements were taken with the projector in the User 1 preset with the Cinema color profile and low lamp mode. The Gamma control was set to Custom 1, and Custom 1 in the Custom Gamma menu was set to 2.4. All of the calibration was done with the lens aperture at 0 (open), but the contrast ratio measurements were done in a variety of different settings for the iris as noted below. The lamp had 88 hours on it during the calibration. All viewing and measurements were done on a 120-inch-diagonal Stewart StudioTek 130 screen (1.3 gain).

The full-on/full-off contrast was measured with a Minolta T-10 meter 4 inches away from the lens face. I tested various configurations in both high and low lamp mode with the lens aperture in various conditions. The highest contrast ratio was obtained with the projector in low lamp mode with the aperture fully closed (–16). The highest contrast ratio achieved was 43,100:1. For general viewing, I left the projector in low lamp mode and the lens aperture at –7, which produced 14 foot-lamberts on screen and a contrast ratio of approximately 35,000:1.

Color-tracking charts were generated in SpectraCal CalMAN, www.SpectraCal.com

The RGB tables were captured from our calibration workflow in CalMAN Version 4.6. RGB and gray- scale tracking out of the box were quite good with an average Delta E of 1.5 (anything under 3 is considered reference and imperceptible to the human eye). Gamma averaged 2.18 with my reference set to 2.2.

The average Delta E for the color gamut was a bit higher at 3 with all of the primaries and cyan exceeding a Delta E of 3 individually. After cali- bration, the average Delta E fell to 1.6 with all of the colors under a Delta E of 3 with the exception of green. I could get green’s luminance spot on (the most important measurement for a primary color), but the hue was impossible to get dead on and gave me the most trouble. Overall, I could get the luminance values for all the primaries near perfect and the hues for the secondaries near perfect as well (most important measurement for secondaries).

Like any of the JVC projectors I’ve calibrated before, the DLA-X55R could benefit from a standalone video processor if you’re looking for abso- lute image perfection, but with just some minor touch-up of gray scale and color using the onboard tools, the DLA-X55R displays a very accurate picture that would satisfy most.—KRD