JVC DLA-HD100 D-ILA projector review

JVC’s DLA-HD100 is a substantial beast for any AV room to accommodate. Just as well, then, that it wears its dimensions well, thanks to a reassuringly robust and  glossy black exterior, finished off by tastefully curved edges. Even the front-mounted fan ports to either side of the centrally-positioned lens fail to spoil the aesthetic pleasure.

Having achieved notable success with the HD1 through the custom install market, JVC seems keen to build on that success by making the HD100's images far more tweakable than those of its cheaper sibling. Examples of this include customised gamma controls, extensive noise reduction flexibility, and a far more comprehensive suite of colour adjustments. The unit also sports an RS-232 port for integration into AV systems, but oddly still doesn't include a 12V trigger output for driving an electronic screen.

Key features include a Full HD resolution; a zero overscan mode for direct pixel-by-pixel representation of 1080-line sources; full compatibility with 1080p24 sources; and DeepColour-capable HDMI v1.3 inputs.

Considering its level of sophistication, the HD100 is quite easy to set up and use. A handy x2 optical zoom means it can adapt to a wide variety of room sizes, and you can shift the image as much as 80 per cent vertically or 34 per cent horizontally.

With the HD1 now selling for under £3,000, the HD100's performance really needs to blow the competition away if it wants to justify its price tag. Thankfully, that's exactly what it does.
The perennial darkness of Deckard's apartment in the Blu-ray transfer of Blade Runner, for instance, looks as rich, deep and plain cinematic as on any sub-£10,000 projector I've seen. And yes, the black level prowess really is better than that of the HD1.

What's more, black levels are remarkably stable, with none of the slight variance or stepping of brightness seen with projectors that use dynamic irises.

The fact that the HD100 doesn't need a dynamic iris, in my opinion, hands it a crucial advantage over what's arguably its closest direct rival, Sony's VPL-VW200. With the Sony I definitely spotted moments of distracting brightness variance, whereas the HD100's images are nearly perfectly stable.

Another area where the HD100 clearly improves over the HD1 is with its colour fidelity. The muted palette of Blade Runner's cityscape is portrayed with startling authenticity, for instance, as the HD100 shows off a clearly wider, more subtly-nuanced colour palette than the HD1 could muster.

This colour difference is even more pronounced when showing Blade Runner's brighter moments, such as the huge flying electronic billboards, with colours being propelled off the screen with an intensity I've not seen before on a
D-ILA projector. In fact, I'd argue that it even outdoes Sony's VW100 'Ruby' projector, with its Xenon lamp.

Picture sharpness is excellent. With the projector's overscanning deactivated, Ridley Scott's flick looks stunningly crisp, doing full justice to the superb job Warner has done of remastering the film in HD. However, the clarity of the HD100's presentation is such that it also highlights the odd bit of grain and dot crawl in the transfer, but that's hardly the projector's fault now, is it?
As expected of such a sharp presentation, the HD100 excels at revealing the fine detail in the encode; for instance, you can see particles of dust in shafts of light.

During Deckard's showdown with Batty, meanwhile, especially if you're watching in 1080p24, the HD100 excels with its motion resolution. Actually, the HD100's D-ILA technology doesn't seem to generate any video noise at all, which helps you forge a terrifically direct connection with what you're watching - one that's merely enhanced by the fact that the HD100 also runs surprisingly quietly for such a powerful unit.

Standard-definition DVD also looks excellent, thanks to the HD100's Gennum image processing. So is the HD100's picture performance state- of-the-art?

Probably not. In my experience, some really high-quality DLP models can produce slightly richer colours, but you'll need to pay significantly more for minor quality increments. Perhaps this is why the brand is signing up other brands to produce their own badged versions of the model - most notably Pioneer.

I genuinely believe it's difficult to see how JVC will be able to improve things further for future generations of its D-ILA technology. But that doesn't prevent me from looking forward to seeing the brand try.
The projector market is swamped with Full HD models at this price range - including quality units from Sony, SIM2 and ProjectionDesign - but you should definitely audition this JVC as well if you've got a £6K budget

HCC verdict 4/5

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