JVC DLP 1080p - Optoma - Pearl

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At 10:41 PM 3/1/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>Robert,
>
>I agree 100%.
>
>With only 7.5" ceiling the Optoma is not an option, some people have made
>inclined installations to slightly tilt both the projector and the screen to
>compensate for the offset in low ceilings but is a juggling act,
>additionally, the lack of lens shift would make such odd installation very
>expensive in labor costs. One has to absolutely be in love with this pj to
>accept that challenge.

This is a challenge that is not necessary as long as I choose
projectors with the right installation parameters.


>At the CES shoot out the JVC looked a clear winner against the Pearl (now
>tested with the dynamic iris on for max CR), the blacks of the JVC were much
>deeper than the washed look on the Pearl blacks, which gave the images on
>the JVC a 3D look.

I saw a similar (but not identical) shootout at CEDIA 2006 in
Denver. At the time JVC couldn't get their hands on a "Pearl" so
they substituted a "Ruby." And, in addition, the JVC FP was a
prototype and they couldn't answer some questions regarding final
specifications. At the time the JVC did, indeed, look better when
compared to the Ruby, but they turned off the automatic iris on the
Ruby (because, they said, the JVC doesn't use AI). Of course, it's
the AI that improves the contrast on the Ruby and, by extension, the
Pearl. JVC was also non-committal about final specs and performance
so I knew I was looking at a "work in progress." I was glad to hear
of your report of the actual shootout in CES (as well as the reports
of several others) and the fact that the RS-1 bested the VW50 (Pearl).


>The JVC has very flexible settings for making the installation simple. Pay
>attention to the fan noise, at 7.5" ceiling the pj would be about 2-3" above
>you ears, too close for noisy fans. Check if the lumens you need can be
>produced on the low light setting for low fan noise, otherwise the bright
>mode might make the pj unacceptable for that ceiling position.

I assume you meant 2-3', right? In any event, my first FP (located
in exactly the same position which is about 5 feet from my ears) was
the venerable Sony VPL-VW10HT (their first 16:9 LCD) and it had a
noise level of 30dB. This was fine for me and went unnoticed unless
you listened REALLY hard in soft spoken scenes. My next (current)
projector was (is) a Runco CL-710 which seems to be about the same
noise level as my Sony was. My first sample (since replaced by Sam
Runco at no cost) suffered from a problem where the fan kept changing
speeds (almost like breathing) on occasion. At those times, the fan
noise became something you were aware of because of the variation in
speed. My replacement unit no longer had this "breathing problem"
and I don't even think of the fan noise - which is much like my
experience with the SONY.

The JVC DLA-RS1 is rated at 27dB in "high" lumens mode and 25dB in
"low" lumens mode so I see no reason why it should be a factor in
either mode. Since dB is a logarithmic scale a 3-5 dB drop is
significant. To me the choice of lumen output will be more one of
extending the bulb life rather than a brightness or ambient noise
situation. My HT is completely light controlled so brightness is not an issue.


>I would not buy the pj until Greg Rogers does a review to discover all the
>weaknesses before it is installed on your ceiling.

In all likelihood I won't receive my unit until the "formal" reviews
start pouring in. However, based on what I've seen (and thanks to
reports like yours from people whose opinions I value) I'm confident
that the RS-1 is a nice fit for my current situation.


>At $6300 MSRP I agree that one could change the projectors more often to get
>the best possible image all the time.

Add to that the fact that I'm able to get dealer pricing through an
associate, my actual cost for this unit is far, far less than
MSRP. And with a 2 year warranty from the JVC "Professional" line
I'm confident that if there are any bugs they will be handled
properly. My main goal at the moment is to bring 1080p to my "Big"
screen (110") experience to complement my 58" 1080p HP MD5880n. With
Blu-ray and HD-DVD I've become hooked on the picture (and sound!)
quality so I find myself watching more and more movies on the HP even
though the 720p Runco DLP has a pretty darn good picture itself.


>By the time you are ready for something different the same technology could
>cost $3K or you get the double of features/quality for the same $6K, either
>one is an invitation for more frequent upgrades.

Absolutely. The JVC won't cost me much more than I paid less than 2
years ago for my 1080p HP 58"er and if I decide to sell my Runco
CL-710 instead of giving it to one of my kids could actually cost me
only a fraction of the list price.

"Frequent Upgrades:" The mantra of the HT-obsessed. <g>


-- RAF


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The JVC DLA-RS1 can be had currently for under $5K.

My questions are does it have HDMI 1.3 and what kind of light environment
does it require to view a quality picture.

JVC's FP might be the way to go if it does not require total darkness to
perform well.


Larry







-----Original Message-----
From: HDTV Magazine On Behalf Of Dr
Robert A Fowkes
Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 5:32 AM
To: HDTV Magazine
Subject: Re: JVC DLP 1080p - Optoma - Pearl

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At 10:41 PM 3/1/2007 -0500, you wrote:
>Robert,
>
>I agree 100%.
>
>With only 7.5" ceiling the Optoma is not an option, some people have made
>inclined installations to slightly tilt both the projector and the screen
to
>compensate for the offset in low ceilings but is a juggling act,
>additionally, the lack of lens shift would make such odd installation very
>expensive in labor costs. One has to absolutely be in love with this pj to
>accept that challenge.

This is a challenge that is not necessary as long as I choose
projectors with the right installation parameters.


>At the CES shoot out the JVC looked a clear winner against the Pearl (now
>tested with the dynamic iris on for max CR), the blacks of the JVC were
much
>deeper than the washed look on the Pearl blacks, which gave the images on
>the JVC a 3D look.

I saw a similar (but not identical) shootout at CEDIA 2006 in
Denver. At the time JVC couldn't get their hands on a "Pearl" so
they substituted a "Ruby." And, in addition, the JVC FP was a
prototype and they couldn't answer some questions regarding final
specifications. At the time the JVC did, indeed, look better when
compared to the Ruby, but they turned off the automatic iris on the
Ruby (because, they said, the JVC doesn't use AI). Of course, it's
the AI that improves the contrast on the Ruby and, by extension, the
Pearl. JVC was also non-committal about final specs and performance
so I knew I was looking at a "work in progress." I was glad to hear
of your report of the actual shootout in CES (as well as the reports
of several others) and the fact that the RS-1 bested the VW50 (Pearl).


>The JVC has very flexible settings for making the installation simple. Pay
>attention to the fan noise, at 7.5" ceiling the pj would be about 2-3"
above
>you ears, too close for noisy fans. Check if the lumens you need can be
>produced on the low light setting for low fan noise, otherwise the bright
>mode might make the pj unacceptable for that ceiling position.

I assume you meant 2-3', right? In any event, my first FP (located
in exactly the same position which is about 5 feet from my ears) was
the venerable Sony VPL-VW10HT (their first 16:9 LCD) and it had a
noise level of 30dB. This was fine for me and went unnoticed unless
you listened REALLY hard in soft spoken scenes. My next (current)
projector was (is) a Runco CL-710 which seems to be about the same
noise level as my Sony was. My first sample (since replaced by Sam
Runco at no cost) suffered from a problem where the fan kept changing
speeds (almost like breathing) on occasion. At those times, the fan
noise became something you were aware of because of the variation in
speed. My replacement unit no longer had this "breathing problem"
and I don't even think of the fan noise - which is much like my
experience with the SONY.

The JVC DLA-RS1 is rated at 27dB in "high" lumens mode and 25dB in
"low" lumens mode so I see no reason why it should be a factor in
either mode. Since dB is a logarithmic scale a 3-5 dB drop is
significant. To me the choice of lumen output will be more one of
extending the bulb life rather than a brightness or ambient noise
situation. My HT is completely light controlled so brightness is not an
issue.


>I would not buy the pj until Greg Rogers does a review to discover all the
>weaknesses before it is installed on your ceiling.

In all likelihood I won't receive my unit until the "formal" reviews
start pouring in. However, based on what I've seen (and thanks to
reports like yours from people whose opinions I value) I'm confident
that the RS-1 is a nice fit for my current situation.


>At $6300 MSRP I agree that one could change the projectors more often to
get
>the best possible image all the time.

Add to that the fact that I'm able to get dealer pricing through an
associate, my actual cost for this unit is far, far less than
MSRP. And with a 2 year warranty from the JVC "Professional" line
I'm confident that if there are any bugs they will be handled
properly. My main goal at the moment is to bring 1080p to my "Big"
screen (110") experience to complement my 58" 1080p HP MD5880n. With
Blu-ray and HD-DVD I've become hooked on the picture (and sound!)
quality so I find myself watching more and more movies on the HP even
though the 720p Runco DLP has a pretty darn good picture itself.


>By the time you are ready for something different the same technology could
>cost $3K or you get the double of features/quality for the same $6K, either
>one is an invitation for more frequent upgrades.

Absolutely. The JVC won't cost me much more than I paid less than 2
years ago for my 1080p HP 58"er and if I decide to sell my Runco
CL-710 instead of giving it to one of my kids could actually cost me
only a fraction of the list price.

"Frequent Upgrades:" The mantra of the HT-obsessed. <g>


-- RAF


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day) send an email to:
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[email protected]

----- HDTV Magazine Tips List -----

At 08:37 AM 3/3/2007 -0800, you wrote:
>The JVC DLA-RS1 can be had currently for under $5K.

Yes, and dealer cost is considerably under $5K.


>My questions are does it have HDMI 1.3 and what kind of light environment
>does it require to view a quality picture.

While I can't vouch for how much ambient light will take away from
the JVC's quality picture (maybe Rodolfo could expand on this) I do
know that in my HT (which has already used a SONY VPL-VW10HT and a
Runco CL-710) I have no concerned regarding the performance of the RS1.

As to HDMI 1.3 input jacks, I would suspect not (I can't tell from
the various spec sheets on the web and would think that JVC marketing
would be emphasizing this specification if it was applicable). That
said, as far as I'm concerned, the lack of HDMI 1.3 on the JVC
DLA-RS1 is absolutely no problem at all and actually a
non-issue. For one thing, the video enhancements that 1.3 offers
over 1.1 can't be taken advantage of by the JVC (nor by any consumer
grade video display at this time) so I can see no advantage of having
an HDML 1.3 jack if you can't use its video potential. Add to that
the fact that there isn't any source material that I know of which
takes advantage of HDMI 1.3 video potential (increased bandwidth and
color depth) and I'm absolutely fine with HDMI 1.1 (or whatever the
RS1 has) with this projector. I don't think I'm missing anything
significant regarding not needing HDMI 1.3 for video displays -
especially when the current generation of 1080p units can't perform
beyond their specs even if fed a "Tru-Color" and expanded video
bandwidth signal. HDMI 1.3 for audio is a different issue altogether
and even in that case HDMI 1.1 is just fine if the player does the
decoding of the HD audio codecs. Rodolfo, am I overlooking anything
significant regarding HDMI 1.3 and our current state of the art
consumer displays? I don't want to give anyone incorrect information.


>JVC's FP might be the way to go if it does not require total darkness to
>perform well.

As Rodolfo and others have stated, there are a lot of exciting
directions that one can take in the land of 1080p front
projection. Both the Sony "Pearl" and now the JVC DLA-RS1 offer
great "under $5K" solutions and even some excellent 1080p single chip
DLP units (like the Optoma 81) are not too much more expensive if
that's the direction you wish to take. It all comes down to a matter
of personal preference and room requirements. As I mentioned in
another message, the Optoma 81 just didn't fit into the geometry of
my own HT after I investigated it. None of the devices mentioned
here (as well as several others) provides a "bad" viewing
experience. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly the technology has
matured with a corresponding drop in pricing. And I'm not usually
surprised by the march of technology (Moore's Law and all that.)

We live in interesting (and less expensive) HT times.


-- RAF


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