AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Digital Hi-End Projectors - $3,000+ USD MSRP › JVC DLA-RS1 + Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 = advisable?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

JVC DLA-RS1 + Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 = advisable?

post #1 of 9
4/25/07 at 11:12pm
Thread Starter 
The screen that is going to be used in my parents' HT is just about the only aspect of the room that I have not personally researched. The result that was come up with was the Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 (motorized). I can't shake my foreboding about anything I didn't find out about myself.

The room will not be a "bat cave", but the ceiling, back wall, and acoustic panelling will all be dark (speakers, too). I expect the floor carpet and remaining walls to stay beige, since the room is still going to be intended to be a place where people can hang out in the manner of a typical living room, but nothing is set in stone at this point.

Is this screen a good choice? Any major issues with "sparklies?" Anything I should know before finalizing a purchase? I've seen "Firehawk" mentioned at least twice. I looked them up. Immediate downsides are the price and the enhanced hotspotting. But if the point is to reduce the phenomenon of the screen accumulating light reflected from room surfaces, then maybe that's enough?

Anyway, thoughts appreciated.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 9
4/26/07 at 6:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colmino View Post

The screen that is going to be used in my parents' HT is just about the only aspect of the room that I have not personally researched. The result that was come up with was the Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 (motorized). I can't shake my foreboding about anything I didn't find out about myself.

The room will not be a "bat cave", but the ceiling, back wall, and acoustic panelling will all be dark (speakers, too). I expect the floor carpet and remaining walls to stay beige, since the room is still going to be intended to be a place where people can hang out in the manner of a typical living room, but nothing is set in stone at this point.

Is this screen a good choice? Any major issues with "sparklies?" Anything I should know before finalizing a purchase? I've seen "Firehawk" mentioned at least twice. I looked them up. Immediate downsides are the price and the enhanced hotspotting. But if the point is to reduce the phenomenon of the screen accumulating light reflected from room surfaces, then maybe that's enough?

Anyway, thoughts appreciated.


Video Spectra should never be used for HT--it is ok for presentations--but for HT it is not appropriate because it presents a visibly grainy image. I am not sure what to recommend becaue you don't mention what size screen you are buying. Do you need a retractable screen?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 9
4/26/07 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by leckian View Post

Video Spectra should never be used for HT--it is ok for presentations--but for HT it is not appropriate because it presents a visibly grainy image. I am not sure what to recommend becaue you don't mention what size screen you are buying. Do you need a retractable screen?

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass this information along.

The screen must be retractable because the plan is to eventually install a good plasma on the back wall. The retractable screen would hang in front of that. Speaking from experience, I know that a projector is a fun idea but it ultimately does not (and cannot) get the kind of day to day use that a plasma can and does. Setting up a nice HT room with only a projector seems sort of a waste of good audio.

Oh, and the screen size was, if I remember correctly, 96 inches (diagonal). That's the best we can do, due to the odd shape of the ceiling (almost like a steep pyramid with a flat top).
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 9
4/26/07 at 2:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colmino View Post

Thanks for the heads up. I'll pass this information along.

The screen must be retractable because the plan is to eventually install a good plasma on the back wall.

Oh, and the screen size was, if I remember correctly, 96 inches (diagonal). That's the best we can do, due to the odd shape of the ceiling (almost like a steep pyramid with a flat top).

Since they're not needing a huge screen a matte white screen should work nicely and it avoids all of the issues with higher gain screens.

edit:
If their ht allows you might look into the Da-lite high power. Say you went with a 92" or 106" high power and paired one with an RS1...you would pretty much have similar brightness to a plasma. Again though, the high power screen has some fairly tight viewing angle tolerances but if it would work they'd have a VERY bright punchy image even in lower power mode. Some might argue that it'd be too bright.

I have this screen in a 133" fixed frame and really enjoy it. It yields a very clean texture free image.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 9
4/26/07 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWH View Post

Since they're not needing a huge screen a matte white screen should work nicely and it avoids all of the issues with higher gain screens.

Well. In our own HT room, which is either dark or pitch black on almost every surface, we have a screen which has some gain like 1.2 - something like that. We use a JVC which provides 700 lumens. The screen is actually only around 84 inches. In spite of all of this, the brightness just isn't there. In fact, I would say that's the main reason we haven't watched very many things on the projector. With every light off, it's meh. With some lights on (which fail to provide more than a dim glow to the room since everything is dark), there is basically no point in staring at the screen.

That is probably what prompted the search for a 1.5 gain screen in the first place. The DLA-RS1 may be a great projector but it is definitely also a very dim one. In any event, a screen with no gain is something I just can't picture being adequate.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 9
4/26/07 at 3:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWH View Post

If their ht allows you might look into the Da-lite high power. Say you went with a 92" or 106" high power and paired one with an RS1...you would pretty much have similar brightness to a plasma.

Ah. That sounds more like it!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KenWH View Post

Again though, the high power screen has some fairly tight viewing angle tolerances

I'll have to research this. Rear projection has me gun-shy when it comes to angle tolerances. It doesn't do to have a screen whose tolerances are so extreme that there's a perceptible and nagging difference between what a person's left and right eyes are seeing.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 9
4/26/07 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colmino View Post

Well. In our own HT room, which is either dark or pitch black on almost every surface, we have a screen which has some gain like 1.2 - something like that. We use a JVC which provides 700 lumens. The screen is actually only around 84 inches. In spite of all of this, the brightness just isn't there. In fact, I would say that's the main reason we haven't watched very many things on the projector. With every light off, it's meh. With some lights on (which fail to provide more than a dim glow to the room since everything is dark), there is basically no point in staring at the screen.

That is probably what prompted the search for a 1.5 gain screen in the first place. The DLA-RS1 may be a great projector but it is definitely also a very dim one. In any event, a screen with no gain is something I just can't picture being adequate.

Are you using an rs1 now or another JVC pj? The reason I ask is that RS1 is fairly close on it's rated lumen even after proper calibration where most pjs rated lumen is reached only with all the setting set to yield high brightness which gives you basically an unwatchable image.

Either way though some folks just like an extemely bright image...I'm one of them. I'd definitely look into a high power and see if it'd work.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 9
4/26/07 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 
Well, that didn't take long. Unfortunately for our Da-Lite High Power prospects, not only will the projector be ceiling mounted, but it won't be all that far from the screen, either. In fact, the DLA-RS1's unusual flexibility when it comes to projector positioning relative to the screen is one of the things we've been planning to take full advantage of. So no retroflective screen for us, sadly.

What else shall I look into? ;/
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 9
4/26/07 at 4:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colmino View Post

Well, that didn't take long. Unfortunately for our Da-Lite High Power prospects, not only will the projector be ceiling mounted, but it won't be all that far from the screen, either. In fact, the DLA-RS1's unusual flexibility when it comes to projector positioning relative to the screen is one of the things we've been planning to take full advantage of. So no retroflective screen for us, sadly.

What else shall I look into? ;/

You might look into the Draper M2500 material. It's angular reflective so it should have a pretty forgiving viewing angle and from what I've read most recently it yields around a 2.0 gain. There are some reports from awhile back of quality control problems but Draper is supposed to have them worked out. I'd maybe contact them for a sample. From what I've read it's basically a love/hate thing with this screen...if the reviewer got a good problem free screen they loved it but those that got bad screens with the "tire track" problems hated it.

There's just not too many good options when it comes to " fairly affordable" retractable high gain screens. There is also the optoma greywolf but again there seems to be a love/hate thing with it also from what i've read.

Good luck.

edit:
Here's a link to a pdf file from draper that shows the gain/viewing angles.
http://www.draperinc.com/images/2006...VC06pgs3_5.pdf
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Digital Hi-End Projectors - $3,000+ USD MSRP › JVC DLA-RS1 + Da-Lite Video Spectra 1.5 = advisable?