JVC X35 projector
Discussion
bxlbaz said:
Hi folks
does anyone have any experience of using the x35 projector, I've read the reviews, and I've had a demo, but I'm interested in what users or installers say.
Any other options ?
Cheers
Barrie
Kelvin will be along shortly hopefully (OldSkoolRS) - he's got an X35 IIRC. Very good bit of kit does anyone have any experience of using the x35 projector, I've read the reviews, and I've had a demo, but I'm interested in what users or installers say.
Any other options ?
Cheers
Barrie
bxlbaz said:
Hi folks
does anyone have any experience of using the x35 projector, I've read the reviews, and I've had a demo, but I'm interested in what users or installers say.
Any other options ?
Cheers
Barrie
You rang? does anyone have any experience of using the x35 projector, I've read the reviews, and I've had a demo, but I'm interested in what users or installers say.
Any other options ?
Cheers
Barrie
What is it you need to know? I've had mine since early December 2012, clocked just over 400 hours on it now and the lamp has only dimmed about 15% from new (measured, not by eye). This put to bed the issues of the previous X30/70/90 models which had issues with early dimming and vindicated my decision to buy an X35 rather than an end of line deal on the X30 I was offered.
My set up is a bit non standard though: I use mine with two other items which individually cost similar amounts to the X35. One is a Lumagen video processor and the other is an Isco II anamorphic lens as my screen is 2.35:1 so no black bars for the majority of my film viewing. I also have a Darbee DV5000 which is now about £300 but I find adds a worthwhile effect to the image.
My set up is fully calibrated (I spent circa £600 on a good sensor and software). However, before I calibrated mine I did a baseline check and the settings I'd used weren't too bad at all, so if you don't have the 'extras' I use you can still get a very good picture from it.
I've recently seen a friend's Sony HW50ES and in some ways I prefer this projector: The motion is better and the image had more punch to it. The issue is that I can't fit one to my screen as the throw distance is too far; if you can then I highly recommend getting a demo of one to see how you find it compared to the X35.
Feel free to ask if there's anything else you need to know, a couple of pictures of my set up below:
Front of room with my newMK MP150 on wall speakers:
Back of room:
Close up showing it with the Isco lens (floating shelf I built myself with a welded steel frame under the MDF):
Thanks, that's really helpful, I'll try and give as much info as I can
Set-up
The projector is around 4.5 - 5.0 meters, the room doesn't have windows and will be used only as a cinema room with the seating around 4.00 - 4.5 meters
Usage
I'm looking to use the projector for films, tv and games, the focus will be movies and hd tv. I also want to watch formula 1 and football, and I wouldn't mind using it for gaming
Questions
Screen size, at the moment I'm looking at a 2.00 meter screen but I wouldn't mind going bigger but I'm not sure what size is a good one given the distance from the screen
What is the quality of the TV through the projector
Is the x35 ok with games ?
I'm interested in the Darbee, maybe you could tell me more about it and the effect of it, I'm thinking it might help with the tv pic. I imagine its places between the av amp and the projector ?
Are there any other things I should consider as, it my first home cinema set up
I really appreciate the help
Barrie
Set-up
The projector is around 4.5 - 5.0 meters, the room doesn't have windows and will be used only as a cinema room with the seating around 4.00 - 4.5 meters
Usage
I'm looking to use the projector for films, tv and games, the focus will be movies and hd tv. I also want to watch formula 1 and football, and I wouldn't mind using it for gaming
Questions
Screen size, at the moment I'm looking at a 2.00 meter screen but I wouldn't mind going bigger but I'm not sure what size is a good one given the distance from the screen
What is the quality of the TV through the projector
Is the x35 ok with games ?
I'm interested in the Darbee, maybe you could tell me more about it and the effect of it, I'm thinking it might help with the tv pic. I imagine its places between the av amp and the projector ?
Are there any other things I should consider as, it my first home cinema set up
I really appreciate the help
Barrie
Edited by bxlbaz on Tuesday 7th January 17:42
To answer in turn:
Set-up:
Based on 5 metres from the front of the projector to the screen you could have between a 3.6 metre WIDE screen (ie 161" diagonal) or down to 1.8 metre wide (ie 81" diagonal). However, the X35 is quite deep, so perhaps you need to take off 50cm from the 5 metre 'throw' distance to allow for this. These give you 1.6 to 3.2 metre width range. The higher end is probably best avoided as the image will not be as bright and also will tend to be less sharp the more zoom you use.
If viewing from 4 metres (same as mine) then something around 106" diagonal 16:9 screen would be a typical size to aim for. Not too big for the projector to light up, plus the X35 allows the user to adjust a setting for the 'aperture' which controls light output and increases contrast if you don't need full light output. You can also open up the aperture (AKA 'iris') as the lamp dims to maintain brightness. However screen sizes are a bit personal and I know some people prefer to go smaller. Mine is nearly 10' wide but it's 2.35:1 aspect so for TV type content I get around 102" diagonal (with black side bars).
Usage:
Pretty much any BluRay player will give you the same image quality for 1080/24p discs a cheap Sony and a £500 Oppo looked exactly the same on my screen, but I wanted some features the Oppo has so I kept it. For TV type content I use a Humax PVR which has Freeview HD so I can watch BBC1, 2, ITV, Channel 4, plus BBC 3&4 in HD which usually gives me enough content. I have watched SD channels on it (usually when its something my son wants to see) and it does suffer in the large size, but it's watchable if a little soft. The low bitrate channels (like the +1 channels) are pretty poor though.
Football I can't help with since I'm not a fan. I have had MOTD on when my parents visited as my Stepdad likes to watch it. It seemed fine on the larger screen, especially from BBC 1 HD, but of course I wasn't really watching that intentlydue to lack of interest...
Gaming: Again something I don't do myself, but I do know that the X35 has a bit of lag. So if it's the sort of game where this is critical like FPS ones then you might be better off with the Sony VW50ES which has much less lag (you may have trouble keeping the image small enough to fit on the 2 metre wide screen from 5 metres throw distance though with the Sony).
As it's your first projector then there are some things you need to consider:
1. The room needs to be completely dark for best image; you can watch with low lights on, but obviously this will tend to wash out the image of course.
2. If the room has light coloured walls and a white ceiling then this is almost like leaving a light on when viewing as the light will reflect back to the screen and washout the image. As it's a dedicated room then at least you could decorate in darker colours. If this really doesn't appeal then you could at least decorate round the screen in a dark colour ( not unlike a stage) as the first few feet out from the screen makes the biggest difference. A grey screen can help in a lighter coloured room, but tends to have less gain (see below) so you need to increase the light output of the projector by using the aperture (if applicable) or by using high lamp power setting.
3. Screens come in different 'gains' as well as being grey or white (I'd recommend avoiding anything glass beaded due to texture issues). Higher gain can help with brightness (useful for 3D though I don't bother with 3D myself), but can introduce other issues such as hotspotting where you get a brighter circle in the middle of the screen or just generally less uniform brightness or even texture. Cheap ones will curl and wrinkle eventually, so treat them as a stop gap, or buy/make a fixed screen or spend a lot more on a tab tensioned screen. Mine is 6 years old and is still completely flat and unwrinkled, but cost about £1500.
4. You need big sound to go with a big screen: I tend to watch TV at about -25dB below reference, but when I lower my screen the volume goes up to -10dB. A big screen with tinny speakers would be a bit disappointing IMHO.
5. I don't want to add too much confusion/information overload, but many films are in 2.35:1 aspect, but from what you've said you'll be watching TV type content/gaming which is mostly 16:9. If you really think that you'll watch a lot of films on it then consider getting a 2.35:1 screen; the X35 has a lens memory feature so you can zoom the black bars off a 2.35:1 screen and zoom back for 16:9 content at the press of a button once you've set them up.
Set-up:
Based on 5 metres from the front of the projector to the screen you could have between a 3.6 metre WIDE screen (ie 161" diagonal) or down to 1.8 metre wide (ie 81" diagonal). However, the X35 is quite deep, so perhaps you need to take off 50cm from the 5 metre 'throw' distance to allow for this. These give you 1.6 to 3.2 metre width range. The higher end is probably best avoided as the image will not be as bright and also will tend to be less sharp the more zoom you use.
If viewing from 4 metres (same as mine) then something around 106" diagonal 16:9 screen would be a typical size to aim for. Not too big for the projector to light up, plus the X35 allows the user to adjust a setting for the 'aperture' which controls light output and increases contrast if you don't need full light output. You can also open up the aperture (AKA 'iris') as the lamp dims to maintain brightness. However screen sizes are a bit personal and I know some people prefer to go smaller. Mine is nearly 10' wide but it's 2.35:1 aspect so for TV type content I get around 102" diagonal (with black side bars).
Usage:
Pretty much any BluRay player will give you the same image quality for 1080/24p discs a cheap Sony and a £500 Oppo looked exactly the same on my screen, but I wanted some features the Oppo has so I kept it. For TV type content I use a Humax PVR which has Freeview HD so I can watch BBC1, 2, ITV, Channel 4, plus BBC 3&4 in HD which usually gives me enough content. I have watched SD channels on it (usually when its something my son wants to see) and it does suffer in the large size, but it's watchable if a little soft. The low bitrate channels (like the +1 channels) are pretty poor though.
Football I can't help with since I'm not a fan. I have had MOTD on when my parents visited as my Stepdad likes to watch it. It seemed fine on the larger screen, especially from BBC 1 HD, but of course I wasn't really watching that intentlydue to lack of interest...
Gaming: Again something I don't do myself, but I do know that the X35 has a bit of lag. So if it's the sort of game where this is critical like FPS ones then you might be better off with the Sony VW50ES which has much less lag (you may have trouble keeping the image small enough to fit on the 2 metre wide screen from 5 metres throw distance though with the Sony).
As it's your first projector then there are some things you need to consider:
1. The room needs to be completely dark for best image; you can watch with low lights on, but obviously this will tend to wash out the image of course.
2. If the room has light coloured walls and a white ceiling then this is almost like leaving a light on when viewing as the light will reflect back to the screen and washout the image. As it's a dedicated room then at least you could decorate in darker colours. If this really doesn't appeal then you could at least decorate round the screen in a dark colour ( not unlike a stage) as the first few feet out from the screen makes the biggest difference. A grey screen can help in a lighter coloured room, but tends to have less gain (see below) so you need to increase the light output of the projector by using the aperture (if applicable) or by using high lamp power setting.
3. Screens come in different 'gains' as well as being grey or white (I'd recommend avoiding anything glass beaded due to texture issues). Higher gain can help with brightness (useful for 3D though I don't bother with 3D myself), but can introduce other issues such as hotspotting where you get a brighter circle in the middle of the screen or just generally less uniform brightness or even texture. Cheap ones will curl and wrinkle eventually, so treat them as a stop gap, or buy/make a fixed screen or spend a lot more on a tab tensioned screen. Mine is 6 years old and is still completely flat and unwrinkled, but cost about £1500.
4. You need big sound to go with a big screen: I tend to watch TV at about -25dB below reference, but when I lower my screen the volume goes up to -10dB. A big screen with tinny speakers would be a bit disappointing IMHO.
5. I don't want to add too much confusion/information overload, but many films are in 2.35:1 aspect, but from what you've said you'll be watching TV type content/gaming which is mostly 16:9. If you really think that you'll watch a lot of films on it then consider getting a 2.35:1 screen; the X35 has a lens memory feature so you can zoom the black bars off a 2.35:1 screen and zoom back for 16:9 content at the press of a button once you've set them up.
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 7th January 18:16
That's really good input, I appreciate it, I'm also needing an av amp and speakers
Watched and listened using an NAD 758 and focal speakers, but I'm not keen on them, seemed good for movies but less good with music concerts ( adele )
I'm looking at the pioneer lx57 and also the sony 5800es as I am also getting some control 4 system set-up
I'm recommended a high contrast cinema vision screen ?
Thanks again
Barrie
Watched and listened using an NAD 758 and focal speakers, but I'm not keen on them, seemed good for movies but less good with music concerts ( adele )
I'm looking at the pioneer lx57 and also the sony 5800es as I am also getting some control 4 system set-up
I'm recommended a high contrast cinema vision screen ?
Thanks again
Barrie
I can't help with the Focals or NAD amp since my recent experience is with PMC and now MK that I've only recently bought. However we have the Adele concert (the one at the Albert Hall?) and the bass is pretty weak on it TBH. I've even heard it on a £££s system at Gecko and it's still lacking bass, so it's just the way it's mixed. Of course if it's other reasons you didn't like the sound then fair enough. Although I went over to MK as I found I wasn't listening to music very much (they have a reputation for being good with films) I've found that I have ended up listening to more music as well, so it's not mutually exclusive.
The LX57 seems well thought of over on AVforums where I spend (too) much of my time. However, I've been really impressed at how well Audyssey XT32 (via an Onkyo AVR818) has improved the sound in my living room set up, so I would also recommend looking at perhaps the Denon X4000 or AVR4250 (these are on a good deal if you shop around for about £1,200 down from £2k+ and the '4000 can be found for £800 or so). I don't know anything about the Sony, despite having various Sony TVs their AVRs aren't really on my radar.
How do you plan to decorate the room? If you've been recommended a high contrast screen then it sounds like it is to help combat reflections from light decor. I would also recommend having a demo of the Draper ReAct 2.1 screen if this is the case (though IMHO a dedicated room should really be decorated dark colours and have a plain white screen). I'm going for a demo of the '2.1 in Feb myself as I plan to buy a 3 metre wide one, but it will cost more then the X35 did...
The LX57 seems well thought of over on AVforums where I spend (too) much of my time. However, I've been really impressed at how well Audyssey XT32 (via an Onkyo AVR818) has improved the sound in my living room set up, so I would also recommend looking at perhaps the Denon X4000 or AVR4250 (these are on a good deal if you shop around for about £1,200 down from £2k+ and the '4000 can be found for £800 or so). I don't know anything about the Sony, despite having various Sony TVs their AVRs aren't really on my radar.
How do you plan to decorate the room? If you've been recommended a high contrast screen then it sounds like it is to help combat reflections from light decor. I would also recommend having a demo of the Draper ReAct 2.1 screen if this is the case (though IMHO a dedicated room should really be decorated dark colours and have a plain white screen). I'm going for a demo of the '2.1 in Feb myself as I plan to buy a 3 metre wide one, but it will cost more then the X35 did...
Thanks for the comments, the Adele concert was light with bass, but it was when I was listening to some Pink Floyd cd,s and the separation wasn't there. I'm not expecting hi fi but just a higher level of sound performance for music but not at the expense of the movie soundtracks
Regarding the room, the walls are a flat mid deep blu, the ceiling is a flat ivory colour. So it's not pitch dark, but it doesn't have a lot of white in it
I'll have a look at these other av's you mention. The MK speakers I've read about, but they may well be above my budget which is around 2000 pounds (ish)
Cheers
Barrie
Regarding the room, the walls are a flat mid deep blu, the ceiling is a flat ivory colour. So it's not pitch dark, but it doesn't have a lot of white in it
I'll have a look at these other av's you mention. The MK speakers I've read about, but they may well be above my budget which is around 2000 pounds (ish)
Cheers
Barrie
I was going to suggest getting to Gecko near Newbury for a demo of various MK speakers (they start much lower priced than the 150 series I have), but then I checked your profile and see you are in Belgium. I'm sure it's just a matter of going for more demos until you find something you like the sound of though as speakers are so personal.
If you can, try to get the speakers at home on sale or return even or just the demo set (against a credit card deposit perhaps). They can often sound quite different compared to the dealer's demo room.
The room sounds like it might still be a little on the light decor side (compared to set ups with jet black walls and ceilings which work best with a plain white screen), so perhaps that's why the dealer recommended the high contrast screen. Is it a Beamax screen as they used to do a 'high contrast grey' model? My current screen is Beamax, so I'd recommend one.
If you can, try to get the speakers at home on sale or return even or just the demo set (against a credit card deposit perhaps). They can often sound quite different compared to the dealer's demo room.
The room sounds like it might still be a little on the light decor side (compared to set ups with jet black walls and ceilings which work best with a plain white screen), so perhaps that's why the dealer recommended the high contrast screen. Is it a Beamax screen as they used to do a 'high contrast grey' model? My current screen is Beamax, so I'd recommend one.
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