JVC DLA-HD1 Offers HD, 15,000-to-1 Contrast

JVC's new DLA-HD1 front projector for home theaters offers full HD capability and a stunning 15,000-to-1 contrast ratio.

Audio and Video gear maker JVC today announced its DLA-HD1 home threater projector, offering full HD capability and a 15,000-to-1 contrast ratio which—as of today, anyway—is the highest in the industry.

“High definition TV content is now widely available and a growing number of consumers are ready to move up to screen sizes that only a front projector system can provide,” explained Mike Holmes, VP of JVC America’s Consumer Display Division, in a release. “With the introduction of our DLA-HD1, a top-performing front projection system is now a real alternative for a broad range of consumers.”

The DLA-HD1 front projector uses offers full HD resolution (1,920 by 1,080 pixel) with three separate D-ILA devices to handle red, green, and blue color reproduction. The unit also offers a 2× zoom lens, lens shift, and fan intake/exhause placed to offer the increased flexibility so the unit doesn’t have to be installed in a dedicated home theater room. The DLA-HD1 also offers a new optical engine with wire grid polarizers, and a device contrast ratio of 20,000 to 1; combined with the system’s optical engine and 07-inch D-ILA device, decreased orientation irregularities, and other innovations, the projector delivers an overall contrast ratio of 15,000-to-1.

JVC says the system’s new optical engine improves the process of light polarization, preventing leakage into the lens, and preserving contrast—all without an iris mechanism. The video processing is handled by Gennum’s G9351 video processor, offering edge correction, “FidelityEngine” processing which improves detail while reducing noise, de-interlacing technology to convert 1080i signals to 1080p for playback, and upsampling for 4:2;2 (Y:Cb:Cr) signals to 4:4:4. The projector sports a large diameter all-glass Fujinon lens, and offers a 80 percent vertical and 34 percent horizontal lens shift, enabling ceiling, shelf, or table mounting.

Not that all this will come cheap: JVC expects the DLA-HD1 to be available in February 2007 for $6,299.95.