JVC reveals 4K, 1080p home theater projectors

JVC today marked its place at CEDIA by launching five new projectors, three of which fit into its high-end Reference Series. The SH4K is built around a new 10-megapixel liquid-crystal-on-silicon system that produces a full 4K HD resolution (4096x2400) without swelling the size of the projector. This smaller size makes it feasible to get about four times the resolution of 1080p in a very high-end home theater or some more practical applications, JVC boasts. A Xenon bulb also promises a bright picture at 3,500 lumens.

The projector is flexible, with 50 percent vertical and 25 percent horizontal lens shifting, and has four dual-link DVI inputs plus Ethernet, RS-232, and USB to link it to a network or to home automation systems. JVC says the SH4K is available immediately but declines to provide the price.

More conservative updates come in the form of the company's 1080p projectors. In addition to better image quality through a new video processor, the Reference Series models (RS10 and RS20) as well as the updated regular units (HD750 and HD350) all have a new 2X zoom lens that enables a better fit for the image to the screen. They also have a new option for adjusting the gamma levels and are more flexible than the SH4K, tilting the lens vertically by 80 percent and horizontally by 34 percent.

The updates are primarily separated by contrast. JVC claims to have the most consistently vivid images of any projector maker with a 30,000:1 static contrast ratio on the RS20 and HD750 versus the dynamic techniques other companies use. Stepping down to the RS10 brings a 17,000:1 contrast ratio, while the HD350 still manages a 15,000:1 native ratio. All four have HDMI 1.3 input.

Each of the projectors ships in November and sees the projectors each receive generic pricing, with the RS10 and HD350 priced somewhere below $6,000 while the RS10 and HD750 are promised for below $8,000.

HD350

HD750

RS10/RS20