All posts by Steve The Geek

Home Theater fanatic since 1999, I've been writing for multiple sites over the last 15 years regarding technology, mostly in French. I also blog for TousDesGamers.com and occasionally do technology talks with Jeff Fillion on RadioPirate.com and NRJ.

Finally a new DTS:X title plus some new Atmos and 4K releases

Sorry for being so late on this one, but here are some new releases information on object based audio and UHD Blu-ray.

The Secret Life of Pets

No date yet or official announcement for this one, but all confirmation confirms that this will be launched by Universal on Blu-ray 2D, Blu-ray 3D and Ultra HD Blu-ray all with Dolby Atmos.

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Nerve

Finally, we have a new DTS:X title announced ! Starring Emma Roberts, Nerve will be released by Lionsgate on Blu-ray with DTS:X on October 25th.

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Game of Thrones Season 6

Quick confirmation also on Game of Thrones Season 6 being offered with Dolby Atmos on November 15.

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All Four Hunger Games Movies On Ultra HD Blu-ray

Lionsgate announced that all four Hunger Games movies will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 8th and that all of them would be provided with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Please note that for the first movie it will be a complete new home remix while Catching Fire was released in theaters with Atmos. On their side, the two Mockingjay movies were already available on Blu-ray with Atmos.

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Impressions on the JVC DLA-X550R e-Shift 4K Projector

Since Ultra HD Blu-ray came along, I found myself in the annoying situation of watching 4K Blu-ray movies on my TV set instead of leveraging my dedicated home theater room. I felt like going back to the beginning of HD where I watched HD material on a HDTV because my projector was still 1080P, which again was not ideal.

I started to read on what would be possible for an updated in the home theater and with the pricing of true 4K projectors, I felt like I needed an option to do a bridge between now and when native 4K would become affordable. That’s when I started to read about e-Shift products and became extremely interested by the JVC line based on discussions on AVForums and other online sources.

Still hesitating, I was lucky enough to have support from JVCKENWOOD Canada to get my hands on a review unit for a couple of months. Or so I thought ! After all this time, and some more, I still have the projector at home and there is no way you could convince me to part with it. To be honest, the second I started my first Blu-ray disc on it (did not even need 4K), I completely fell in love with the projector. I hope this review will explain why !

Image Quality

Of course this is the most important element of this review and as I just said the reason why I am extremely positive about the device. Just so you know, I was coming from a good quality HD projector, but clearly not to that level of quality. I had read everywhere about the quality of the blacks and the contrast on the JVC line and this is true. But what really impressed me is how crisp and precise everything look at 120″ with the extra density added by e-Shift. The fact that it really remove the screen door effect of the projection really makes a difference.

But on top of this, the color reproduction quality and the brightness of the device in general is extremely impressive. My dedicated room is completely light controlled and before calibration, whenever a clear image was shown, it was literally looking like daytime in the room, enough to be tough on the eyes. After adjusting everything though, the image just looks great and is always impressive. And with the auto-iris, the dark scenes look also really good. It’s always surprising how black the projector can get and then really bright again once the scene warrants it.

4K Video Playback

I must say that I had initial issues with connectivity between the projector and the Samsung UBD-K8500, that were not reproducible on JVC’s side, but all of that got fixed 100% after a firmware update (more on that later).

I was not convinced after reading on e-Shift if it would really make a difference, but I was proven wrong. The definition upgrade, even if it is not a true 4K display, are worth it and clearly noticeable when sourced with the right material. Of course, native 4K digital intermediate Ultra HD Blu-rays like The Amazing Spiderman 2 or Chappie really shine more than anything else.

HDR support is also there, of course not to the level of what the X750R can do, but it’s also showing visual improvements over SDR content. One thing I had to do though is raise brightness to +3 on the player side for HDR content, to prevent a little bit of black crush.

3D Performance

If there was a surprise to me doing that review, it is the 3D performance of the projector. I have been willing to experiment with 3D in my room for a while, and I am amazed by the quality delivered by the projector for it. Of course there is a loss of brightness, but it can be easily compensated by adjusting the configuration for 3D compared to 2D playback. The depth level was impressive and there was limited crosstalk. As my image is projected on a wall, there is no retention of polarity on the image, so I ended up using extremly cheap 3D glasses for the kids (I kept the JVC ones for me :)) and everything is flawless. At 10$ a pair, no reason to not have some on hand for friends.

Menus and Configuration

Nothing negative to say here, everything is pretty straightforward to access and configuration was pretty smooth. Everything that needs to be configured is quickly accessible. Lens shift, zoom and focus are all digitally configured which of course allows for extremely precise adjustments.

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Firmware Updates

On the more negative side, I need to say that I don’t believe JVC does not have an USB based firmware update method in 2016 for those projector. Needing to purchase a USB -> COM adapter and a DB9 cable was a deception when those technologies are things of the past now. It really felft like 1995 at this point, and JVC should fix that as soon as possible.

Resolution Switch Responsiveness

The other thing that annoys me, and this is more of an issue because it’s every time I use the projector, is that switching between resolution, most importantly between Full HD and 4K is ridiculously slow. We’re talking about sometime 15s between resolutions, which make you miss a trailer on the Blu-ray or sometime even the beginning of the movie, forcing you to do move a chapter back once the switch is done. Again, not a showstopper by any means, but I hope this will get fixed by a firmware update.

Appearance

Quick note about the great visual appearance of the projector, extremely slick presentation. Coming from a smaller projector, it was a suprise to see the size of that thing in real life, but this is done with a quality build in mind.

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Conclusion

As I said in the into, I fell in love with the JVC DLA-X550R and I believe it is a huge improvement in my room, not only for 4K playback but also for the general image quality. I fell this is a perfect step to wait for 4K native projectors to become affordbable in a couple of years. This is also a confirmation that if they play their cards well, JVC will be my choice for a while to power my home theater room.

Again, thanks to JVCKENWOOD Canada from providing the device and letting me purchase it afterwards! If you are reading this site from Canada, I recommend you visit their website here to find a dealer and look at it for yourself.

A Lot of News on the Dolby Atmos Front

Dolby is continuing to dominate the immersive audio landscape in the last couple of weeks with a lot of announcements of new titles. In fact, as it stands right now, there is zero DTS:X title in the queue to be released. I’m always interested to see how the next couple of months will happen, but its starting to feel like it’s going to be really difficult for DTS to reverse the situation.

Enough ranting and or fanboyism (I’m always rooting for the innovator and it’s that case, it’s clearly Dolby) and on to the new Atmos announcements of the week including some new UHD titles.

The Legend of Tarzan

The movie will be available on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and UltraHD Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. It’s always interesting to see Warner continuing to support Atmos on Blu-ray and not keep it only for UHD.

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Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

Going along the UHD release of the movie, now confirmed with Atmos, Sony will also release a 15th Anniversary Blu-ray edition with the Dolby Atmos soundtrack.
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Independence Day: Resurgence

The follow up to the science-fiction movie will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on Oct 18 with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

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News From Last Week

Here’s a quick post to catchup with all the new announcements from last week.

Suicide Squad

The action movie coming from Warner has been confirmed for a Ultra HD Blu-ray release with a date to be confirmed.

X-Men: First Class

The movie has been confirmed by the 20th Century Fox on Ultra HD Blu-ray with a release date of October 4th. No details yet on the audio format.

Argo

Warner announced a UltraHD Blu-ray release for Argo on October 4th. No details on audio yet.

The Great Gabsy

Warner also announced that the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Great Gabsy will see light of day on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 4th.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Without much surprise as its 4K transfer has been out there for a while on streaming services, Sony Pictures announced that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 18th. No details yet on the audio, but being Sony we can imagine a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

The Legend of Tarzan

Warner will release the new Tarzan movie on October 11th on Ultra HD Blu-ray, no details yet on the audio side.

Pacific Rim

It was confirmed this week that the already announced Ultra HD Blu-ray release of Pacific Rim from Warner would  on October 4th and that it will feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

Ice Age: Collision Course

The 20th Century Fox will release the animation movie Ice Age: Collision Course on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 11th. No word yet on the audio format.

The Shallows

Sony will release The Shallows on Ultra HD Blu-ray on September 27th with Dolby Atmos audio.
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Jupiter Ascending

The space opera movie will be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on October 4 with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack.

Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates

The comedy from Fox will see light of day on Ultra HD Blu-ray on September 27th. No details yet on the audio side.

IMAX: Extreme Nature Collection

This Ultra HD Blu-ray release coming on September 13th will regroup Antarctica On The Edge, Titans of the Ice Age and Great White Shark in 4K with a DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

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IMAX: Extreme Adventure Collection

This other Ultra HD Blu-ray release coming on September 13th will regroup Tornado Alley, Grand Canyon Adventure and Hidden Universe in 4K with a DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack.

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Sausage Party

Finally, the new animated comedy for adults will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray, no release date or audio details yet.