I have a Sony VPL-VW60 that we enjoy a lot. Fantastic picture.
A good buddy of mine is starting his home theater, and might be interested in my VW60. Is there a projector that would be a step-up for me, with:
1. a sealed light path
2. markedly improved contrast than the VW60
3. overall improved picture
4. reasonable price (~$5K)

Is the JVC RS15 in that category? Anything else?

Thanks,
Trey

Sony has some great new projectors but not in that price range. One is much less and one is quite more. The best projector in your price range (providing you don't want to spend more) would be either the RS15 or you could find a great deal on a new RS20 for around 5K. I would go for the RS20 personally because it gives you a much better engine to dial in the colors (JVC projectors are pretty whack out of the box).

I would go with the RS15 (550) over the RS20. You get an overall brighter PJ, Clear Motion (120Hz), Sharper image and it seems to handle motion better. The CMS is the bigger gain on the RS20 but the 15 (550) is pretty good (colorwise) in Cinema 1 and Natural pic modes anyway. Given straight up even I would take the 15. I am more of a "sharp" fan... Of course that's just me...

My suggestion is to give Jason Turk a call @ the AVS science store. Give him your budget and requirements and I'm sure he can suggest something that you'll be happy with.

P.S - Hello from Allen, TX!

I would go with the RS15 (550) over the RS20. You get an overall brighter PJ, Clear Motion (120Hz), Sharper image and it seems to handle motion better. The CMS is the bigger gain on the RS20 but the 15 (550) is pretty good (colorwise) in Cinema 1 and Natural pic modes anyway. Given straight up even I would take the 15. I am more of a "sharp" fan... Of course that's just me...

What are the differences in the projectors that make the new projectors sharper? Do they have a new lens? I didn't notice a sharpness difference between the 35 and my 20 but i didn't get to do a side by side comparison. Any info? I guess I could filter through the other five threads but I'll be lazy and just ask the question.

I hate reading to! :D I am not the only one to notice the sharpness increase. Jason mentioned it as more subtle but I think he was just being kind. My neighbor has a RS20 and that was his first comment. Besides sharpness though if he is into sports then using Dynamic with Clear Motion on high will seal the deal. ;)

Interesting....sharpness has not been something that I have had a complaint about. Either I have a pretty sharp unit or I've been oblivious to it. I'll be interested in seeing some shootouts. Overall this is good news though because I was afraid the new units were just rebadges with updated software.

Thanks, fellas. Appreciate the input.

My advice? Never change out a projector you are reasonably happy with.

There are always trade offs even when going to a higher end projector.

The VPLVW70 from Sony has come way down in price and blows the doors off of the 60 in every category. If your can swing a few extra bucks, I would go that route. We have both the Anthem and the Sony projectors on display, and at that price, I like the 70.

I have a Sony VPL-VW60 and have purchased a JVC DLA-RS15. I should have it up by the weekend and be able to give my impressions comparing the two soon.

I hate reading to! :D I am not the only one to notice the sharpness increase. Jason mentioned it as more subtle but I think he was just being kind. My neighbor has a RS20 and that was his first comment. Besides sharpness though if he is into sports then using Dynamic with Clear Motion on high will seal the deal. ;)

I try to be diplomatic as though I noticed it was a decent amount sharper, another may have a different level of expectation and may not see it as a huge improvement.

I have a Sony VPL-VW60 and have purchased a JVC DLA-RS15. I should have it up by the weekend and be able to give my impressions comparing the two soon.

Looking forward to your impressions. Would appreciate a link to your post if you choose to post in another thread.

What are the differences in the projectors that make the new projectors sharper? Do they have a new lens? I didn't notice a sharpness difference between the 35 and my 20 but i didn't get to do a side by side comparison. Any info? I guess I could filter through the other five threads but I'll be lazy and just ask the question.

The lens itself is the same, but there are some other improvements that yield the sharper image.

I had a VPL-VW60 for about 2 years, and recently replaced it with a JVC DLA-RS15. Overall the RS15 is quite a bit nicer, predominantly because of the increase in contrast ratio. It's like a veil is lifted away from many scenes in movies I've watched before. Both were installed in the same spot, about 13' away from a 110" Stewartfilm Studiotek 1.3 gain screen, in a totally darkened room with black walls. I always kept the dynamic IRIS OFF on the VW60, I didn't like what it did to some scenes and it cut light output frequently, and I never felt the VW60 really had enough lumens for my setup to be honest. Specific things I've noticed

1) The DLA-RS15 puts out more lumens in LOW than the VW60 does in HIGH. The RS15 is LOW lamp mode is bright enough for my setup.

2) The fan noise when on HIGH is greater than the VW60. On LOW they are about the same, virtually silent. When shifted to HIGH lamp the Sony remained more or less silent, the RS15 gets noticeably louder but it's not overly loud really, just loud compared to the VW60.

3) The red is overly saturated on the JVC compared to the SONY. Neither has perfect color, but the red on the JVC is pushed too much compared to the Sony.

4) The sharpness on the RS15 is noticeably better. Not night and day but it's a decent step up from the VW60.

5) The low black levels, combined with the increased lumens of the RS15 result in a MUCH more pleasing display for most material. The sony was pretty good but I found the Variable IRIS thing to be more distracting than useful, so the Sony's approx 3000:1 contrast ratio (native no iris) just wasn't that great. Comparing the two projectors, scenes on the RS15 have considerably more punch than they ever did on the VW60.

Overall I would say it's a worthy upgrade. Perhaps the new VW85 is better than the JVC though. I've not seen or tried it, I wrote it off because the VW85 is rated at 800 lumens or so and has a variable iris. The VW60 is rated at 1000 lumens and also has a variable iris. I disliked the variable iris in practice, and felt that the VW60 didn't have enough lumens for my setup, so I avoided the VW85 as a result. From what I hear the Iris on the 85 is better, and the actual lumen output on the 85 is much greater than that of the 60, putting it more on par with the RS15 as far as light output goes. So perhaps it's worth waiting for a few more reviews of the 85 before deciding, but comparing the 60 to the RS15, I'd say the RS15 is a decent upgrade.

-Roger

Roger(uzun),

Do you think the color thing is a big deal or is it just fine in comprison to the VW60.
Still trying to decide about getting the RS15 or a DLP?

Thanks for any and all opinion.
If you want ot PM feel free.

Thanks,
Scott

I think the color is a minor deal. It's not anything major. If you need really accurate colors you should buy the RS25, but for me having slightly oversaturated colors is not a huge issue.

The color accuracy difference between the VW60 and the RS15 is not major once you tweak them, but it favors the Sony.

I have a Lumagen Processor that lets me get the colors correct on most of my sources anyway so it's not really much of a change. I still send Blu-Ray and HD-DVD signals straight into the Projector, with no processing, and it's not bad that way either.

The color saturation isn't as major an issue to my eyes as I was led to believe it might be.

Thanks for the feedback Roger. Good to hear from those who have done direct comparison/upgrades.