JVC LX-NZ3 Review: The Sub-$4000 Laser Projector!

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If you have followed the video-world, you have probably heard a lot about the latest picture technology, HDR, and particularly, HDR10. HDR greatly improves color and contrast. The brighter parts of the picture become much brighter, while the shadow-details in blacks get even closer to real-life. Colors are also richer with more variants in color. This all sounds great, but there is a catch for front-projectors. The HDR-standard wants the display-device to be able to output at least 1000 Nits. In other words, the metadata in the video-feed expects the display to be able to get really bright. For flat-panel TV’s this is no problem, but most front-projectors can produce about a max of 200 Nits - far short of the 1000 Nit minimum. JVC developed a system they call Auto Tone Mapping, which looks at the incoming signal and makes adjustments so the picture is best-suited for a front-projector. This is the same technology they use in all of their high-end front-projectors, all the way up to their $30,000 model.
For those of you who are contemplating a do-it-yourself installation of the NZ3, you’ll be happy to know it’s also compact in size and fairly lightweight. It’s just a shade over 13 pounds and it’s about 16 inches wide by 13 inches long and almost 6 inches tall. Coming from a company that has installed thousands of front-projectors, we like the fact the NZ3 has a large amount of both horizontal and vertical lens shift. You do not have to worry about getting it precisely centered on your screen to less than an inch since you can easily dial it in if you get pretty close. Since this projector is so easy to physically install, we expect many people will do a D.I.Y. installation. For those who purchase their NZ3 from Audio Advice, we will send you our exclusive tips-and-tricks guide on how to get the best picture for your system. Some early laser-based front-projectors were pretty noisy to keep the light engine cool; this is not the case with the NZ3 at all. In Eco-mode, which for most rooms will give you plenty of light output, it is almost inaudible at 29db. Even in full-mode for maximum brightness, it is only 34db which is pretty astounding. The NZ3 has two HDMI inputs, but HDMI 1 is what you’ll want to use, since this is the one that supports HDCP2.2 and all of its wide range of colors up to 4k at 60P. You can control the NZ3 with its included remote and JVC also gives you an RS232 input for home automation control systems.
If you have an older projector and you’ve been thinking about getting a new 4K model, or if you are considering moving to the fun of big screen home theaters, you should definitely have the JVC-NZ3 on your list. It’s just simply amazing that you can get a laser light engine and JVC’s great HDR Auto Tone Mapping with the stunning image that the NZ3 produces for well under $4000. We hope this review has given you a better idea on how this new JVC front-projector might fit in with your home theater or media room!

[@ErnieChartier]

The colors are so vibrant on this projector in the Audio Advice showroom!

[@douglade6202]

On the next model up, they kept saying NZ5, isn't it the NX5?

[@vasanthj6774]

there is no NZ5 model in JVC. can you share the link for the same ?

[@adrianbarac3063]

Is there any difference between the Tone Mapping on this and the NX5, NX7, etc?

[@sixstringjc]

I have one. Pixel issue happened about 1 1/2 years so I'm out of warranty. I hear it's about $600 repair. Be sure to wrap and extended warranty if you can. Aside from that, the projector is awesome! Sports, movies, games - works great! What happens once you exceed the 20,000 hours for the laser? Do we have to buy a new projector? I'm not finding anything about laser "bulb" or "module" replacements.... Please help.

[@AudioAdvice]

Reach out to our team of experts at audioadvice.com to see if they can potentially help you out with that. Thanks!

[@sixstringjc]

@@AudioAdvice Thank you - I did just that and got the answer I was looking for thank you.

[@cdjonis]

Rainbow effect?

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

How does this compare to the Barco Cine 9 CRT projector?? I have a dedicated theatre room and it is completely dark. When the Barco shows a fade to black scene there is ZERO light output, and the room is 100% pitch black, can't see your hand infront of your face if you hold it up while looking to where the screen is. Total black. I don't expect that from this machine, but still interested to know if it might be worth looking at an upgrade in terms of other aspects.

[@AudioAdvice]

CRT projectors have true blacks but the JVC is very good with far more output. Thanks for watching

[@CaseTheCorvetteMan]

@@AudioAdvice yes they do, i have well over two decades experience with them and have quite a few still in use here. Even the faithful old Sony VPH1001-QM (which i have two of here) have a pretty incredible contrast ratio in a dark room, and image quality is very good if a 15.7kHz signal is all you want to do. The Barco is a monster of a machine with a lot of light output, and will quite capably display 2560x1600 and 2560x1440 without an issue, but it does get a bit too soft when fed with 3840x1440, and will not go all the way to 3840x2160, so it does ok for UHD content. The other huge advantage to CRTs is there is absolute zero added input lag. Whilst this is no issue when watching movies, it is an issue if i play games on it. The two biggest concerns i have always had is black level and input lag. I know Optoma has the input lag side of things solved, but i love my black levels

[@dlberker]

How does this compare to the Sony VW295ES?

[@AudioAdvice]

Please hop over to www.audioadvice.com to chat with one of our experts. There are several variables that relate to your question. Thanks for watching!

[@rts100x5]

Sony is not even close ...1500 vs 3000 lumens ? no ....bulb vs laser ? no

[@jamest6504]

@@rts100x5 Except for the fact that the Sony is a true 4K. Also I would be curious what the actual light output is.

[@sickjohnson]

4K "UHD"... Single-chip DLP system has 0.47" DMD imager with 1920 x 1080-pixel native resolution 1080p NATIVE for almost $4000.00 ???

[@michelcouture7026]

Is there an price frendly hush boxe for this projector?

[@AudioAdvice]

We stopped using hush boxes when projectors dropped their noise level to what is below the noise threshold in most rooms. This model is very quiet. Thanks for watching

[@michelcouture7026]

@@AudioAdvice the noise floor of the sitting position is 30 dBA It is 36 dBA with the projector lx-NZ3 I would like to lower the noise to 32dBA

[@AudioAdvice]

@@michelcouture7026 Ah, you have a very quiet room. There are just not many hush boxes being made, but if you can hang a 3' by 3' acoustic panel about 2" under it, that would probably get you where you want to be.

[@michelcouture7026]

Tanks

[@user-nl7cm5ls2v]

Is NZ3 nature 4K?

[@AudioAdvice]

It is not native 4K.

[@user-nl7cm5ls2v]

@@AudioAdvice Which one is the cheapest native 4K, thanks

[@AudioAdvice]

@@user-nl7cm5ls2v the NX5

[@salehkambijo1849]

How it's HDR?

[@AudioAdvice]

It is, here are the JVC specs www.us.jvc.com/projectors/dlp/lx_nz3b/

[@adrianbarac3063]

6:30 to 6:45 is incorrect. You can still have a 2.35 screen and fill it. You just need to manually zoom out rather than have it automated.

[@jon1913]

Could he be talking about the option to stretch the image for an anamorphic lenses? I know the higher end JVCs have this option, and my research indicates that this projector does not offer that mode.

[@adrianbarac3063]

@@jon1913 Well that's just silly if it's true! A trip to ProjectorCentral's calculator will clear that up...

[@dippledap6787]

Lots of inaccurate info!

[@AudioAdvice]

Please share what we've missed. Thanks for the feedback.