You know the story. Street rat Aladdin finds a magic lamp, he rubs it, and a genie appears to grant his new master three wishes. It’s a tale of redemption, growth, love, treachery, and—oh, forget all that. Its Boy meets Genie, Boy loses Genie, Boy gets Genie.

2D Performance
3D Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Very good brightness for the price
Excellent contrast
Fully motorized lens controls
Minus
Slight enhancement artifacts

THE VERDICT
JVC’s DLA-X550R continues the company’s streak of producing high-value projectors that deliver high-contrast images.

Most projector manufacturers refresh their product lines every fall like clockwork, but JVC opted to sit things out for 2014. The main reason (I suspect) was the state of flux surrounding the HDMI standard, which at that point was evolving to a new 18-gigabit-per-second version designed to accommodate a full range of 4K/Ultra HD bells and whistles, including 60-hertz frame rate, 4:4:4 color sampling, and high dynamic range.

The 2016 lineup, featuring IPS 4K Quantum display technology, 10-bit color processing, and LG’s webOS smart TV platform, comprises nine models with 55- to 86-inch screen sizes. Models with 55-, 60- and 65-inch screens from the UH7700 and UH8500 series will be available later this month at prices ranging from $1,800 for the 55UD7700 to $3,000 for the 65UH8500.

LG said 65- and 86-inch models in the flagship UH9500 series will be available later this spring at $4,000 and $10,000, respectively. The 75-inch 75UH8500 is also slated for later introduction at $5,000.

The company said it is working with Amazon Video, Netflix, and VUDU to offer HDR content streaming via its webOS interface.

Most major studios have announced support for Dolby Vision and Dolby estimates as many as 100 titles could be available by the end of 2016.