JVC DLA-N5 £6495
This projector certainly costs a fair amount, but it still sits short of where the law of diminishing returns kicks in. And you don’t quite need to be in financial super-yacht territory here to get a taste of what JVC’S native 4K projectors can do.
The JVC DLA-N5 has 4K resolution, a claimed 40,000:1 contrast ratio and fully motorised, all-glass zoom lens. This 17-element lens produces an image between 60in to 200in with a 100in picture possible from a distance of 3.16m to 6.45m. With 1800 lumens brightness, the DLA-N5 is a lights-off projector. You can expect around 4500 hours of use from the bulb. There’s HDR support (HDR10 and HLG) but HDR10+ and Dolby Vision are off the menu.
The DLA-N5 gives an exceptionally good performance. Colour production is impressive and effortlessly nuanced, with skin tones natural and expertly blended. Thor: Ragnarok in 4K HDR is simply stunning on our big screen. The contrast handling of the DLA-N5 turns the dingy skirmish in Surtur’s underground lair into a rare treat. When the craggy caverns are flooded with the fire giant’s near-black minions, none of the fight action is lost to the shadows. Even at Full HD, colours are still a sight to behold. The N5 has no problems scaling the detail into a 4K picture, but it doesn’t upscale standard-def content to full screen size. Any content below 1920 x 1080 will be scaled by four times the native resolution of the source.
Even at this price, the DLA-N5 is a bargain. It offers a decent slice of the range-topping performance at a fraction of the cost, and that’s enough for us to lavish it with an Award this year.