JVC’s new 85-inch Ultra HD TV will not be cheap, but will debut for a few thousand dollars less than brand-name Ultra HD TVs of the same size. The monster TV from JVC will cost $8000 when it hits stores in January 2015.
An 85-inch Ultra HD TV
You need a big TV to fully enjoy 4K resolution and on a 85-inch TV those 4K pictures will surely look pretty amazing. JVC, once a proud Japanese brand, has sold the rights to make “JVC” TVs to AmTran, and is using panels from other manufacturers such as Samsung and LG.
The 85-inch “Diamond” DM85UXR offers Ultra HD resolution and a full array local dimming (FALD) backlight with 64 zones. That is not a lot, but it should help improve black levels. JVC is also highlighting a wider color gamut (no words on how wide) and 10-bit color depth.
Since this is an Ultra HD TV it is good to see that JVC has also included a HDMI 2.0 port and HEVC decoding, which is required for 4K streaming. However, Netflix 4K has not been confirmed, and neither has Amazon or any other 4K streaming services. JVC says that some kind of announcement is coming later. A Roku streaming stick is also included in the box.
It is probably worth mentioning the TV relies only on the Roku streaming stick for TV apps, which means there is no 4K streaming in sight, as the streaming stick does no support 4K, nor will it. You will need a new box.
JVC DM85UXR will launch in January 2015 for $8000. Comparable TVs from Samsung and LG usually sell for around $9,000 to $10,000.
