Official JVC X30 / RS45 owner's thread! - Page 9

I have to decide soon too. At this point I am leaning towards the Epson 5010 for about same money. I think 2D is almost as good (blacks, contrast, colors) and 3D is superior.

If it makes you feel any better you're not alone. I also have a the Pioneer FPJ1 but I'm going to take the chance. The only second thoughts I have is if I should go the Sony HW30 route. The 3D performance, motion, and cheap bulbs (though I've had my FPJ1 for 2.5 years now and I don't have 600 hours on it yet) is attractive but I think I'll be the one who notices the difference in contrast if in fact there is a difference between the RS2s and the HW30.

If you plan to do most of your viewing in 2D the JVC will be better than the Epson. The blacks have been the selling point for JVC and the 45 will not disappoint. Regarding 3D, we don't yet know if the Epson will be better.

Since I should be getting my projector soon I'm trying to get everything in order. Based on my screen size I can see that I'm going to need a neutral density filter. Does anyone know the size I would need?

Only issue with the 5010 might be the 32db of fan noise at normal lamp power.
At ECO/low it's only 22db which is whisper quiet.

I believe the JVC is rated somewhere in the low 20db's for fan noise at normal power - can anyone confirm the noise level of the JVC fan at normal/high lamp mode.

Yep..same here. Currently have the HD250 and recently purchased a Benq6000 at a great price. Very happy with both and not for sure how much of an improvement that a RS45 will have in 2D over those two. Not really interested in 3D.

Just a short impression.

Got my X30 today. Set it up and played a bit with the settings. No time for calibration yet.

But Picture in Natural Mode is stunning and very close to a good calibration (Had it side by side to my calibrated X3) Skin tones very natural and deep inky blacks.

Lamp is visible brighter in ECO mode and contrast has improved. My X3 was a tad sharper. Convergence is better on the X30 and near perfect. I would say the best i have ever seen on a 3-chip in the priceclass.

Just got my call from AVS that the RS45's are in !! Also, got my call from my other vendor I ordered from, so happy to say, someone here will get my RS45 from AVS as the other vendor had the same price and giving me a second bulb as well!

Good times, can't wait for Saturday !!

If you are talking about the RS45 there shouldn't be many situations where an ND filter is necessary, since it has an iris that dims things down and improves on/off CR at the same time. If you go to low bulb and minimum iris position and it is still too bright for you then you could consider an ND filter.

--Darin

Yeah, I would love to know how the Sony HW30 compares to the Pioneer in terms of contrast. I really want my next projector to be in my HT for at least 3 years. 3D is the biggest reason I want to upgrade from my Pioneer so will the 45's be good enough? I only plan on watching 3D movies not sports. I just can't live without JVC's contrast so DLP or a more expensive projector are not options.

Tom

FWIW, I'm going with the RS45. I'm on the preorder list and expect my projector to be shipped in the near future.

For the price and 2D performance you can't beat the RS45. Yes there are better projectors, but there always are. I'll take the money I'm not spending on a higher end projector and put it aside for a future upgrade. I'm sure my family can "make do" with the RS45.

This will be my first real projector ! I bought a used floor CRT projector (remember those ?) back in the early 90s and promptly sold it. Our house has a burnt out Pany hanging from the ceiling right now. I watched 2 movies on it before I couldn't stomach it.

I can't wait to get mine.

It looks like I need to decide asap. CRAP

Tom

Will you be testing it's 3D performance?

Thanks,
Tom

I'm confused, the x30 had better convergence, but the older x3 was still sharper with worse convergence?

Thanks for your initial thoughts. They are very helpful to many of us trying to make the decision whether to upgrade this year. From them, I am taking it that the only real significant benefits in the 2D picture are that it is brighter (I am sure your X3 has hours on it, so we can't be sure how that equates) and the contrast might be somewhat better (again could be new lamp related). Are my assumptions accurate, am I incorrectly stating anything? I am only including the variables that apply to me, as the converegence on my RS40 is dead-on.

+1......does not make sense.

On a side note, my 45 is in and will most likely hook up with my dealer Fri to grab it

Me too. I am on the pre-order list, but haven't been contacted yet. Upgrading from a Sony VPL-60 (Black Pearl). Can't make up my mind between this and the Sony 30. Maybe AVS won't call me until next week.

I too was struggling to decide between the RS45 and the Sony HW30. I ended up deciding on the RS45 the main reason being the excellent CEDIA pre-order price. I'm going on faith that the bulb issues have been resolved. For my uses (mainly HDTV viewing) I believe the HW30 would have worked out slightly better, but the price difference between the two was pretty significant.

I've thought about the Sony myself a few times, but I'm sticking with the JVC, going with my gut on 2D PQ.

Remember no lens memory on the hw30, and I think all manual controls, plus the imperfect focus uniformity (although this isn't that big of a deal for most people, but I'll take the comments I've seen on this as "probably true"). Add darker blacks for the JVC with NO DI needed.

Maybe if I stopped eating unhealthy my GUT wouldn't be the thing that always makes my decisions

My viewing is 50% movies, 50% tv and sports. I think the sony might be better for me, (from what others say here), but the price is hard to beat.

Got word my unit ships tomorrow from the dealer. Probably be here early next week. Would have loved to check it out this weekend... Oh well!

Could you please comment on the CMD. I have an RS15 and CMD is useless on that model, IMO. I really need/want improved motion over the RS15 because fine detail diapears when and object moves and then is sharp again once is realtivily still. Please let us know if the RS45 is an improvement over the RS15 or even the RS40 (which I have never seen).

Thanks,

I was using coderguy's calculator and with a 92" 1.4 gain screen it is listing iris closed (lamp low) of 550 which gives me 31.7 fL. Assuming those numbers are correct I would think the ND filter would be a wise decision.

Yeah, I'm more like 70% TV and 30% movies. I didn't feel that the price difference would justify the added performance - especially when not viewed A/B. JVC has other benefits whereas the Sony has the motion (or so I've been told). I'll never know firsthand and intend to stay blissfully ignorant. None of my friends have projectors so i should be just fine.

The cost of the JVC 3D glasses seems rather high. I am wondering how the new universal Xpand 104 glasses will work. On a British forum they give them great reviews and claim that Xpand makes the regular glasses for JVC.

http://www.avforums.com/review/XpanD...es-Review.html

I'm not sure how far the lumens can really go down with the IRIS closed though. You might still be ok.

ND filters are cheap anyhow, I'd worry about it after getting the projector in hand.

Anyone put a DB meter up to the fan or exhuast outlet on normal/high mode yet?
Just curious how loud it is about 1 feet or less.

You can close the iris WAY down on these...you'll get benefits all around! I had an HD250 for a while, and the iris can close quite a bit.

Yes, thats the case. The optics of the X3 where a little bit sharper so the pixelsborders are somewhat "harder" . The X30 is very sharp but has a little bit of a softer look when close up to the screen.

Nothing to think about because from the dozens of JVCs i have seen over the past years there was allways some small spread between the units. Some where sharper, some where better in terms of convergence.

My X3 had only 138h on the lamp and brightness has not dropped.

Some more observations:

Movie setting ootb is even better than Natural. Skin tones more lifelike. In Natural mode the picture is a little bit too cool looking.

Will start my calibration with the new i1 Display Pro and the i1Pro on the weekend.

Fan noise of X30 is lower, perhabs its a different frequency.

Native contrast seems higher even without calibration.

Lamp warmup of the X30 is shorter. My X3 had a little red tint the first 10 minutes after powerup.

2D -> 3D upconversion works quite good. Flicker and ghosting seem reduced by a small amount with the X30. Also the new glasses are nice with the reduced weight.

The X30 has additional LAN port for remote not only RS232.

For the lowered price the X30 is a steal and very hard to beat. I would favor it in most aspects against all other units in its pricerange.