JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

[AVSCraig]

A few screen shots from yesterday -

[AVSCraig]

[Pultzar]

I went and saw a demo of the new Sony $25K laser projector last night.  It was stunning in a lot of ways.  Dynamic range seemed fantastic so I cannot wait to see the RS4500.

However I also saw significant banding on videos like Planet Earth II, particular in the sky.  Does the RS4500 do this?  Not sure if it is encoded in the Blu-Ray or not.

[AVSCraig]

I went and saw a demo of the new Sony $25K laser projector last night.  It was stunning in a lot of ways.  Dynamic range seemed fantastic so I cannot wait to see the RS4500.

However I also saw significant banding on videos like Planet Earth II, particular in the sky.  Does the RS4500 do this?  Not sure if it is encoded in the Blu-Ray or not.

I haven't seen banding except in what I would consider inferior source material ( HDTV from AT & T / U verse ).

[Pultzar]

I haven't seen banding except in what I would consider inferior source material ( HDTV from AT & T / U verse ).

Good to know.  If that banding isn't in the source material/player then that is a show stopper for the Sony.  It was pretty obvious and not okay for a $25k projector.  Otherwise I was blown away.

[Kris Deering]

Not 100% sure on this but I could swear that Sony told me their panel drivers are limited to 10 bit. The JVC 5 and 6 series and the 4500 are 12 bit end to end, so banding is rare and typically always an encode issue with the software you're viewing (Lionsgate BD titles are notorious for this).

[jetsen]

Anyone interested in an almost brand new Z1 I am switching the demo unit for a new Sony VW760 lazer.

? Euros and the Z1 is yours

Drop me a mail.

[Dylan Seeger]

Not 100% sure on this but I could swear that Sony told me their panel drivers are limited to 10 bit. The JVC 5 and 6 series and the 4500 are 12 bit end to end, so banding is rare and typically always an encode issue with the software you're viewing (Lionsgate BD titles are notorious for this).

This is interesting to hear.  A few people are saying Dolby Vision is in the works for the 885ES. Supposedly Sony confirmed the hardware inside is powerful enough to process a DV chain. It just needs to be worked out from a software point of view. How does Sony plan on implementing DV properly if the video processing chain and panel driver is limited to 10 bit?  From what I understand, DV is 12 bit. I've heard the panel itself is a true 12 bit panel, but what good is that if everything before it bottlenecks the video to 10 bit or lower. Supposedly on the cheaper 4K units the video processing is limited to 8 bit with a 4K60 10bit 4:2:0 input and several reports are saying very bad banding occurs from Sony cutting off two bits from the input signal.

This isn't too much of a big deal for UHD bluray as only a few titles are 60p, but people hoping to game on one of the first relatively cheap 4K projectors are very upset about the news. Most hardware players also force 4K60 output for Netflix so I can see tbis as a potential issue for those hoping for clean HDR playback from Netflix.

[AVSMike]

Not sure what Sony has up their sleeve for DV, but it will be interesting to here if they can actually do this and then we will have to see if it is an actual improvement in HDR or just being able to put DV on the spec sheet. I don't know that DV for projectors is going to mean very much.

[AVSCraig]

Pretty amazing how good some Blu-rays look on the RS4500. Even 8 year old titles -

[AVSCraig]

[AVSCraig]

[Madfloyd]

Nice shots, Craig - what movie is that, btw?

But you're doing the RS4500 to suggest that 'even 8 year old titles' look good.  You can go much further back than that and have your jaw hit the floor.  Try the restored version of Lawrence of Arabia (if not the Blu-ray, the UHD version on Amazon), restored version of Spartacus... or Vertigo.  These are all crazy detailed and look stunning on this projector!

[AVSCraig]

Nice shots, Craig - what movie is that, btw?

But you're doing the RS4500 to suggest that 'even 8 year old titles' look good.  You can go much further back than that and have your jaw hit the floor.  Try the restored version of Lawrence of Arabia (if not the Blu-ray, the UHD version on Amazon), restored version of Spartacus... or Vertigo.  These are all crazy detailed and look stunning on this projector!

It's " Knowing " - http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Knowing-Blu-ray/5350/

I'm waiting for Lawrence of Arabia on 4K UHD Blu-ray. Hurry up Sony !!

[AVSCraig]

I re - visited one of my favorite movies last night - " Lone Survivor " on 4K UHD Blu-ray -