JVC’s New Lower-End Laser Projector

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As discussed recently, we believe there will be a new NZ7 replacement projector coming in October – November 2024. While the design isn’t yet known, we can speculate about what options JVC might have considered and possibly going with.

Manufacturers generally stagger product launches if they think that lower-end units could cannibalise the sales of higher-end ones. JVC has never done this – to my knowledge – so it is rather curious that they have decided to do it this time. There are rumours that the new projector will be an entirely new design and could pull people in who are still using X-series projectors and haven’t upgraded to 4K. The question is what is this brand new design?

Pricing

JVC needs a new low-end unit. While they can keep the NP5 going until end of 2025, from Jan 2026 they cannot sell lamp-based units in the EU. Additionally, the NP5 is still more expensive than previous X-series units that started at half the price. So I think at the minimum the new unit will launch at NP5 prices, but it could go lower still if JVC decides to drop the NP5.

Processing

For a lower-cost design, JVC almost certainly needs to drop the use of programmable FPGAs and replace them with fixed-pipeline DSPs. I think that 8K upscaling will be dropped entirely with only native / upscaled 4K processing remaining.

The other area of processing currently running on FPGAs is Dynamic Tone Mapping (DTM). Since JVC has released their second-generation DTM, it is feasible to create a fixed-pipeline chip that can take over this and reduce production cost. The issue is that custom chips aren’t that cheap to bring up either. However, we are not talking about cutting-edge 3nm here, as much older chip fabrication processes would do. What’s more, there’s cost advantage here by being able to lower cost of higher-priced units as well by sticking the same chip in those. Over time this could pay off.

The other option is that JVC drops DTM altogether and does an “Epson”, by allowing hard-coded EOTFs to be selected on a slider of 10 – 16 options. This works well enough for Epson’s projectors and lowers the cost. Obviously, since DTM is one of JVC’s competitive advantage, it would be better if JVC chose the first option.

Option 1: Native 4K

It is possible that JVC has a new chip design that has consumer 4K resolution instead of the current DCI 4K. As discussed in our previous speculative article on the subject, this could allow JVC to increase brightness efficiency or increase contrast.

If they increase brightness efficiency, just like Sony did, then it could allow them to use a lower-cost and lower-power laser unit to reduce the cost. While this will reduce contrast to the 10,000 to 15,000 range with iris fully open – current units have around 20,000 to 25,000, they might be able to mitigate this by using a hybrid dimming approach: more on this in a bit.

The other option is to increase contrast, so that the chips can be binned for low and high-end units over time as manufacturing of the chips gets better. This might be a more likely scenario if JVC is planning to push this new chip design to the full line.

Option 2: 1080p Panels + eShiftX

The other possible option is that JVC goes back to their trusted 1080p panels and shifts them 4x with eShiftX. The issue with this theory is that this approach actually requires more complex hardware and more processing. What’s more, the lower end units could have higher on/off contrast than the high-end units, which isn’t necessarily desired, as it could cannibalise higher-end unit sales.

Of course, one drawback is that 1080p shifted 4K isn’t really as sharp as 4K-sized pixels are, especially as DILA pixels have very large pixel fill. LCD pixels are quite small, so shifting them 4x means you get higher pixel fill, higher brightness and less chicken-wire effect while also keeping things sharp. But 1080p DILA panels might not get as much resolution shifted 4x, so processing would need to be good to mitigate this.

Option 3: 1/2 4K + eShift

I think this is the least likely option, but here it is. What if JVC did a Texas Instruments DLP approach and had panels that are half 4K resolution and shifted them twice.

This would definitely help sharpness, and contrast would fall in-between 1080p and 4K panels. Processing would be about the same as eShiftX, but you don’t need FPGAs to do it.

However, spending money on a new chip design that higher-end units wouldn’t be able to use is not smart investment.

Option 4: Hybrid DILA / LCD or DLP

It has been suggested that JVC might do a custom design with either LCD or DLP. They could either do this by modulating or steering light. Barco obviously uses LCOS chips to steer light, so the question is whether they are getting those chips from JVC. If so, JVC might be able to licence their tech for cheaper than anyone else, or create their own version of it without having to pay a licensing fee.

This would be an exciting new development and it’s definitely something that could come to higher-end units as well over time.

Dynamic Light Control

At this point JVC is committed to laser dimming. However, there are two flies in that particular ointment:

1. Once moving to dual and triple laser, it might be very difficult to implement laser dimming, as it requires synchronisation of the laser cycles. Unless they keep using blue laser and colour filters only.
2. Only using laser dimming means that we are stuck with the native contrast of the panels. This is because laser dimming can lower both white and black level equally but it cannot create more contrast.

The issue with using a dynamic iris is that it is a mechanical part that can and will fail. Generally, the iris in the X-series can last between 6000 and 11,000hrs – shy of the 20,000 hours that the lasers are rated for. JVC – and other manufacturers – are keen to phase out any moving parts that can break down. This means motorised lens covers and dynamic irises.

However, the massive upside to a dynamic iris is that it can create more contrast than laser dimming can – much more. For example, the iris in the X-series could get the contrast up from 40,000:1 to around 100,000:1 for actual content. A projector with only laser dimming is stuck at the native contrast, which is around 25,000:1 for a 4K JVC DILA panel.

Of course, laser dimming helps with perception of contrast by lowering the black floor in dark scenes, but it cannot create more of it.

JVC has invested a lot of time and R&D into both areas, and in my opinion are market leaders in both laser dimming and dynamic iris implementation. I do wonder if there is a middle ground… could JVC:

1. Use a dynamic iris that needs to work half as much as in the X-series. For example, instead of having 16 levels, having only 7.
2. Use a motor that is less fragile and less prone to failure. Alternatively, have a fall-back motor that can take over if the main one was to fail. Jet airplanes use redundancy for continuous operation, why not an expensive projector?
3. Use laser dimming to get to the rest of the way to improving contrast perception.

A hybrid dynamic iris / laser dimming solution was used on the Sony VPL-VW915ES for example. While it gave Sony performance much closer to a JVC, Sony was also keen to get away from this approach due to complexity and likelihood of failure.

I think JVC will be keen to improve laser dimming, just like they are doing in the NZ800 and NZ900 with a new balanced mode. The question is whether they are concerned about the lack of contrast with 4K panels (compared to the X-series) enough to do something more radical, such as reintroducing a more reliable dynamic iris or using Barco’s Dynamic Light Steering or something similar.

Closing Thoughts

Whatever the case, JVC obviously has something big up their sleeve, otherwise they wouldn’t have staggered the launch of this new low-end unit with the higher-end model refresh. The issue is there isn’t a lot of time between the NZ800 and NZ900 and this new unit, so I actually think that the NZ8 and NZ9 will have a proper follow-up next year. The NZ800 and NZ900 is more like the JVC RS520 / RS620 to RS540 / RS640 update… minor at best, with a brand new release a year or so later.