JVC - DLA-NZ900

That's a big screen in a big room it sounds like. There is no question that the NZ900 is a premium model. It is just better across the board in what it delivers. Bigger and better lens quality is the real key feature so you are paying for that quality for sure, but it also delivers on that. Is it worth it? Yes, if it is within your budget, I think it is a projector which will be fully capable for the next ten years. There will be small improvements made over those years, but nothing earth shattering. This is also a good question and topic of conversation over at AVS Forum in their $3,000+ projectors section.

Is the screen 16:9 or 2.35:1? Either way that’s a massive screen and you’d likely be better off going with the NZ900 and leveraging the internal tone mapping to get a punchy HDR image. Remember you’ll lose some brightness when you calibrate the projector, was that taken into account with the nit values provided above? Both projectors also have color filters to get you close to 100% P3 color coverage, but if you use them you lose roughly 30 percent light output. If you don’t use them you get somewhere in the range of 85-89% P3 color coverage, which may or may not be a big deal to you. If you go with a 2.35 screen you could also add an anamorphic lens down the road for more brightness.

The latest top jvc projector is finally offering on/off contrast performance of the previous king the rs640 and 20LTD, but at a considerable 2-4× cost increase. A calibrated nz900 is going to offer the best image a projection enthusiast has ever seen in the price range. You have to move up to a Christie to get to the next level. I'd also say you'll need to help the nz900 with a Lumagen or madVR to gain the very best tone mapping, which projection needs. A calibrated lg 97" G3 is simply operating on a different level, while you only sacrifice on potential maximum screen size. While a $15k 97" lg G3 is a relative bargain compared to a top end projection solution, there is another alternative to consider. We are on the doorstep of emerging big tv tech with rgb mini-led, and tandem layer oled. So, an intermediate step might be grabbing something like $3-5000 98" miniLED and building out the rest of your HT, with a plan to upgrade in 2-3 years. This has been my plan, having bought and calibrated a tcl 2024 98" qm851g miniLED. This gives me time for rgb miniLED and tandem layer oled to evolve a generation before spending 2-4× on a 100"+ panel. My peak projection experience was a jvc rs640 with tone mapping support from Lumagen DTM and HdFury LLDV Dolby Vision. In our 25x16 HT I ran a screen innovations 10' wide 2.35:1 ar scope screen. This was roughly a $10k all in value proposition. You have many options to consider, and it sounds like you have a great HT canvas to work with. Congrats.

JVC DLA-NZ900 And a matching screen.

OLEDs are infinite contrast device but real world there is a limit to perceived contrast. You can do it with a cheaper projector. It won't measure as well as an OLED, it will give you an OLED experience. A JVC NZ9 with a lumagen or Envy processor and a good quality screen will do it. You can't throw a 300" image but you can do a 130" scope image and keep in low laser and get a real world OLED contrast experience. I have that setup and it looks just as good as a LG C4 OLED to the human eye in a dark room, just a lot larger. I'm not the only person that has made the same observation. This is on a white Acoustically Transparent screen btw, grey screens just lower your brightness. There are black screens on the market such as the Screen Innovations Black Diamond but they didn't have AT screens when I bought mine. They do help out projectors with a bad native contrast. If you want to go crazy you can do a Christie Eclipse with a dedicated fiber laser head, it can do large screen sizes as it puts out 25K ANSI lumens at 20,000,000:1 contrast ratio....

I can say that the NZ9 setup in a well light controlled room can get that OLED quality picture. Not saying it measures as well, but I used to go from the OLED to my RS540u and feel like I was missing something. On a 120" diagonal scope format screen, 11' viewing distance screen at low/mid laser that feeling of missing out on something is gone. I've been using the same MADvr for tone mapping in both, 4k output on both on an AT screen......picture is contrasty, colorful, and razor sharp and I don't miss anything in picture quality going there from a C4 OLED...obviously the larger screen, sound coming properly from the screen etc make the immersion factor much better with the PJ so once again it's the premium movie experience in the house. I would not have believed it without seeing with my own eyes as no doubt the OLED is a superior technology in most ways....

Using an NZ900 with a 200-inch screen is a poor match, it would lack the brightness needed for a vibrant image. JVC projectors excel in contrast and deep blacks, but they aren’t light canons. You can’t have both deep blacks and ultra-high brightness; it’s a trade-off. For a screen this size, a high-output projector is essential to avoid a dim, unwatchable image. In home theater groups, I’ve seen setups with 200-inch screens, like one using a Griffyn projector, a commercial-grade beast with around 32,000 lumens. It was an incredible setup and a great fit for that size. While the NZ900 is an excellent projector, it’s best paired with a more appropriately sized screen to maintain the perfect balance of brightness and contrast. My 2 cents, and that’s all it’s worth.

Appreciate your opinion on this. I'm about to pull the trigger on a JVC NZ900. I bought a huge screen, 200 inch, that I'm going to experiment with to see how large an image I want. I'm a mad scientist type of guy so I'm always messing with things. I have a cache of 6 foot tall line source drivers that I'm going to use for sound. I took the last of the inventory when they stopped making them. I went with a couple of 85" Samsung 8K QLEDs for other rooms. One of them faces a wall of southern windows and I wanted to be able to see it well. Bought the same unit for another room just to keep it simple. I also leave these TVs on in the background while I read etc so they are on for a lot of hours, so I was worried about burn in as well. I just hitched up a Kaleidescape system a few days ago to one of these TVs temporarily, it's meant for that projector.

That's good to hear. I read and watched several reviews and it seems like the best option for a projector now, that is remotely reasonable in price. Do you have any pixels that are stuck bright when the image is dark?

Thanks. There’s a big jump in lumens for the 900 and I’m hoping to get many years out of it, plus I don’t want to be second-guessing myself if I get the 800. I’ve placed an order for the 900.

No idea - I haven’t seen either. I think the significant jump in lumens would be useful in my setup and it was 6,200 Euros more than the discounted NZ800 price I was offered.

20k in what currency? I’ve got it for less than that in Euros. Assuming it arrives of course…

Euro and USD prices seem to end up the same numbers on these projectors from what I’ve seen. I’ve got it for a decent amount under 19K.

Good information thanks. I’ve got a NZ900 on the way. I believe the screen is 16:9 - it’s almost 4m wide. Perhaps in the future I’ll look into the best way to use the room in terms of screen size and aspect ratio, maybe MadVR to manage it - one step at a time though. Initially I’ll need to use a switch as the AV processor is an Anthem D2V 3D - I’m toying with the idea of swapping it out now rather than later. I only need a processor as there are lots of amps in the system for the speakers.

Have not :( I have the nz900 and Bravia 8 right now; never had the nz800 and Bravia at the same time. Now that Cyber week is over, we’ll be taking some side by side pics this week.

I have a 97" oled and barely use it over my NZ9. There's just something about the big screen experience that is so fun. To be fair I also have a much better sound system in the theatre room, but I would not say that OLEDs are the best 'money is no object' purchase right now. A microled video wall definitely would be up there, but barring that, a very high end projector for me is the best.

I have a 97 oled and a 165” screen with JVc nz9. The oled is objectively better, but I never use it. Always prefer the big screen and better sound. But both are valid. But dedicated room? Projector all the way. Even a much cheaper projector will be great.

Or find a used NZ8/9.

The way I chose was to ask myself what level of quality would I accept before “bigger” stops being better. I hate low contrast, and most projectors have low contrast. So I got the JVC NZ9. Now, that’s way more than most want to spend and I agree. If you won’t want to get something around $5k then absolutely your best bet is to get a TV and sit closer. TVs just look better than most projectors. I’ve tried more basic projectors and the grey blacks just frustrate me. In any case your mileage may vary but I’d get a big 100” tv for $2k if that’s in the price range. Then sit closer.

Nope. You can get a native 4k jvc for 6k