JVC did not do it to be annoying. They did it, because from an engineering standpoint, that is the correct way to do it. When you maintain polarization in the projector and glasses, you gain brightness for free.
WAY easier said than done. I have a motorized Black Diamond so 1) recouping much of the cost of that would be very difficult; 2) getting my wife to let me even look into something like this is not a battle I want to even think about any time soon. It'd probably be less expensive and far easier logistically to sell the JVC and move up the 385, and that isn't happening either.
Sorry for dragging this out... but lol. I'm not talking 385 budget, I actually mentioned in that quote that isn't on the table. (If something laser based like the 885 or a true 4K version of Epson's LS10500 shows up at that price point, maybe then.) At the moment I'm somewhat less than gracefully starting to accept that 3D isn't a preferred format by Hollywood for most movies, except for animated content. (Which I do greatly enjoy.) Given that the object oriented soundtracks aren't always on the 3D movies but are reserved for the UHD versions, that is pushing it even more towards making this just an occasional issue as my 3D viewing wanes. So bottom line... I'm not taking an $8k hit for a few 3D movies, to change screens at this point.
Excellent review, Seegs! I had to leave Avsforms because of the obnoxious, snarky little 60fps gamer kids blowing up every 285es thread! Nice to see a review in thread full of adults!!!!!!!
Some people don't want to hear that their expensive new projector has flaws. Then again, if the banding is mostly with 60fps gaming, and not a problem on 24p movie content, it won't be a problem for non gaming movie watchers. Like everything, it's about a realistic assessment of the strengths and weaknesses vs what you plan to use it for.
I see they've started a dedicated thread for the 60hz HDR banding issue. I'm assuming that will keep the talk more about the 285ES/385ES in general in those threads now. Part of the problem is that some owners were trying to shut up some of the more vocal people discussing that issue, of which many were owners as well, and I think that made things worse. I think that it made the conversation about the problem go on longer than it needed to. This seems to be a reoccurring theme over there in the Sony threads. I get that Sony projector owners might be upset that they're under constant attack due to many issues over the years (banding, posterization, panel degradation, ect), but the issues brought up are real and it seems like some owners want to deny outright that these issues exist and that creates a conundrum for those who see these issues and feel they aren't being discussed and brought to light. If Sony is going to fix problems with their projectors, they need to see that people are upset about the problems. Negative discussions about these projectors are actually a good thing in the end. I get a very strong vibe over there that many Sony 4K owners expect constant validation about their purchase and this is something I don't see happening in the Epson and JVC threads. Maybe it's the high cost of these units? I don't know what it is but that entitled/expected validation makes them lash out to any negative comments or criticism towards the projector they own. You just don't see this happening anywhere near as often as you do in the Epson and JVC threads. And the projectors from these companys have plenty of problems too. In general, the conversations in those threads seems far more civil when discussing problems. You just don't see that in the Sony threads and I don't know the exact reason why.
That's definitely true. Now that we have a native 4K projector under $5000 we're seeing a lot more gamers enter the projector market. I think that's why we're seeing more criticisms as 60hz is important. But on top this, you need to remember that a ton of people are going to be consuming 4K HDR content via Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and other streaming services and devices. Most of the streaming devices for these services only offer a 60p output mode. This means that all of this content, regardless of what the actual frame rate of the content is, will have added banding within the image. But yes, if you're watching UHD BD only you should be fine as there are only a couple 60p titles out at the moment. But I think we're grossly misunderstanding how most people consume HDR content right now if we're going to assume most are watching UHD BD only. The aforementioned services and devices are how most people consume that type of content and the 285/385ES unfortunately will cause major image artifacts when paired with these HDR streaming services and playback devices due to forced 60p output modes. Then add to this all the gamers out there who only game at 60p with their consoles and I think it becomes clear as to why a lot of people are upset that these projectors have banding issues. The fact remains that 60p HDR is important and these Sony's need a fix.
Is it possible that the Sony 385 will be able to display 4k 60Hz HDR without banding? I am one of those that intends to do quite a bit of gaming in all its 4k 60Hz HDR Atmos/DTS:X glory and am still on the fence about shelling out the cash for something I feel is hamstrung.
Never buy anything hoping it will get fixed later, unless that fix is already available.
Good advice. No one can predict whether a fix will be successful anyway, although in the case of JVC's CMD fix, it appears to be.
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