RS2/ PRO-FPJ1 Owners: Setup Discussion Thread - Page 115

I was in your situation and bought a second hand JVC HD100/RS2. I demoed the Epson too and it is a great PJ but too "digital" looking and artificially sharp to my tastes. JVC delivers a much more pleasant film-like picture and those blacks are unbelievable! Also the DI on the Epson was noisy and the contrast was obviously lower without it. Also the JCV is better constructed, the Epson felt plastic and flimsy... I'd say the brightness on both is about the same. I didn't like the Epson's interpolation at all! It makes everything look like a video game.

All in all the used JVC RS2 is a better choise if you want the best bicture. I love mine!

How much did you end up paying for the rs2?

Did you demo the epson 8500ub/9500ub or the 6500ub/7500ub?

Where shall I look for a used rs model?

Thanks

I demoed the Epson 5000, I don't know the equivalent US model number. It was last year's model. I bought the HD100 calibrated and lamp time only 280 h for under 2.500 Euros (new about 7.000 Euros). The Epson cost about the same.

I have problems with color uniformity and I send my projector for repairs under warranty. I'd like to ask what kind color uniformity can you expect from this projector before it's not a feature but a fault?

In one review the color uniformity in color temperature was about 150 degrees but with my unit it was 450 degrees. There was about 15% increase in red in the bottom of the picture and upper right corner.

As a general rule figure RS2's in the $2000ish range. Why? We just sold (well 6 months ago) JVC's last lot of RS2 refurb's for $2399 with virtually no hours and full warranty. That sort of set the market.

I have a Pioneer FPJ1 that I am really enjoying, my question is why does the picture look so much more vibrant with the lamp on high power? The picture is noticable punchier and seems to be more detailed. No matter what settings I change, I can't get a similar picture using the normal lamp setting. I am throwing 15 ft. on to a 103" Carada BW Gain 1.4 (in actual use 1.2) in a light controlled room. It would seem to me (given the throw distance and my smallish scren size) that I should be able to use the normal setting and get the optimal picture. I am using the exact picture settings recommended by Alan Gouger on the first page.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Sorry for my ignorance - what's an AT screen?

I would like to stay under $1k.

It appears that the Carada screens get a lot of positive comments for quality, value and service, so I'm certainly leaning that way currently. Thanks for your comments too, Tom.

Any thoughts on which of Carada's screens would be the best match and why? 16:9 vs. 2.35:1? Gain? Model? Size?

Cheers, Ian

Sorry - didn't recognize the abbreviation. No, I won't need an AT screen - all 3 front speakers are on stands in front of the screen.

Aspect ratio is totally your call.
I'd give Carada a call and talk to them about your options.

I bought a Carada Cinema White, Precision Series 100in 16:9 from them for my RS2. It was recommended by AVScience, and also Carada was more than helpful over the phone.

Few things to consider when purchasing:
- Light into the room - Mine is capable of being fully dark
- Type of projector - RS2
- Viewing distance
- Space on wall
- Type of frame - Criterion vs. Precision; I went with less-expensive Precision frames - same fabric is used on each one
- Viewing habits - We watch primarily movies, but some TV will make it's way when I buy a set-top box. We decided 16:9 (1.78) versus the 2.35 as it's most versatile.

Ideally, the Masking system gives the best of both worlds of 1.78 and 2.35, but price was bit high for me.

Give them a call, strongly recommend. Also, sending them pictures of your theater, explaining the light that comes in there, etc. will help.

Click my signature if you want to see what I did.

I'm in this process right now installing a Seymour.

Professional calibration on Thursday, so I'm under the gun to get it finished.

dave7,
As I remember, you ordered your XD screen right after I got mine set up.
Good luck with it.
BTW, just booked a date to have my RS2 calibrated.
I'm looking forward to the results.
I'm thinking Sin City & Braveheart double feature.

High lamp equals more light output. More light output equals more light to your eyes, which yields the appearance of a more poppy image. Drawbacks are raised black levels, shorter lamp life, louder fan, etc...

Be forewarned, after a steady diet of retinal burning brightness you will adapt to it and its current poppyness (is that a word?) will fade. You will constantly seek ever greater brightness until your bank account is drained, you're alienated from your family, and your life is ruined by this addiction. The first step to recovery is admitting you're a projector junkie.

True true.

OK - I finally have the Seymour up and all my equipment placed, and yesterday morning got the FPJ1 calibrated by Gregg Loewen. Man - he did a lot of work and got the gamma spot on. He told me all kinds of things the went in one ear and right out the other. He forgets more on this stuff than I'll ever know.

I had to build my own screen frame to fit my installation and am not totally finished, but the screen itself is done and up, and the center channel properly place (OK - it might be on the high side, but I can lower it whenever I want).

So now my screen is roughly 3 feet from my back wall. I can easily walk behind it. This allows me to retain my diffusors and absorbers on the wall, and hopefully improve on my two-channel performance. It might even improve on my acoustically certified room, but I'll have to re-submit some measurements to find out.

The picture quality is stunning as expected. The weave of the screen is not perceivable, but does rob some light output. Having the center placed behind it is great for sound, and great for simplifying my equipment placement and cable runs. Gregg turned up my lamp, but since the FPJ1 is inside a hushbox (partially in view in the upper right side of the Seymour 1 photo), there is no added fan noise.

I still need to tidy things up and finish building some more pieces, but in all due time.

Very cool dave.
I noticed you have Legacy Speakers and what looks like Jeff Rowland amps.
Very nice.
One of Greg's cohorts, Michael Chen, is scheduled to calibrate my JVC in early March.

Thanks-

I'm glutton for controversy on this one - yep, Legacy speakers, but Theta amps - please no flames...I don't base my purchases on tests or numbers, just my eyes and ears. The Seymour screen was a big leap of faith since I hadn't seen one before. I figured I could always go back to the Stewart if I didn't like the Seymour.

My Theta Dreadnaught did not work well at all with my previous Focus 20/20 main speakers. The combo was great on piano and vocals, but no bottom end to speak of, and the 20/20s measured solid down to 16 HZ, so the lack of low end was very noticable. The Dreadnaught worked really well with my center and surrounds though.

Some time after switching from the Focus 20/20s to the Whispers, on a whim, I tried the Dreadnaught on the Whispers just to re-verify what I heard with the Focus. To my amazement they sounded as good, if not better than my monster Krell, with good, solid bottom end and still excellent vocals and such. This was vastly different from the Focus experiment. Once I realized this, I got some Enterprises to try next to my Krell and I chose the Enterprises, which was a nice overall improvement, but mostly with SACD and DVD-A formats which suddenly became noticeably superior.

Before the Krell I had Mac, Bryston and others, but I digress...and this is a video forum.

So my conclusion is that it really is all about synergy. I don't feel the Theta's are amps that will "drive anything" like a Krell or Mac, or even maybe Rowland would, but they are wonderful with my speakers in my set-up, and I've demo'd some nice stuff to compare.

Congrats! Greg certainly knows how to make a display shine!

Thanks Jason - I booked him back in November based upon some recommendations from somewhere...I don't even remember now. We both had delays until now. Nevertheless, I don't recall knowing you guys also do this work...sorry. I usually support AVS whenever possible in appreciation for having this forum.

Has anyone who owns the Pioneer PRO-FPJ1 been able to use the discreet V-Stretch On and V-Stretch Off via RS-232?

Thanks

Sorry to throw out this question ... but does anyone use the RS2/FPJ1 with a PS3? I use my PS3 as my primary Blu-ray & DVD player with this projector. Could you please share your settings for certain options?

Like ...

VIDEO SETTINGS

BD / DVD Cinema Conversion - Automatic / Video
* Apparently people were saying on the RS20 thread that setting this to Video would fix the motion blur issue?

BD / DVD Upscaler - Off / Double Scale / Normal / Full Screen
* I have this set to Off since I read the Upconverter on this projector is better than the PS3 one

BD / DVD Video Output Format (HDMI) - Automatic / RGB / (Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr)
* I have this set to Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr

BD 1080p 24 Hz Output (HDMI) - Automatic / Off / On
* I have this set to On

DISPLAY SETTINGS

Video Output Settings - HDMI (1080p / 1080i / 720p / 480p)
* All selected

Cross Color Reduction Filter - Off / On
* I have this set to Off

RGB Full Range (HDMI) - Limited / Full
* I have this set to Full

Y Pb / Cb Pr / Cr Super-White (HDMI) - Off / On
* I have this set to On

Thanks for your help, just look to setup my PS3 with my FPJ1 at the optimum settings. Thanks.

* Please also feel free to share any other optimizations you might have made to get better PQ.

If you set RGB Full Range to full it will crush low level detail. I would set this to limited. Colors may look deeper but this would be similar to turning a black level enhancer to high on a TV.

I see motion blur will switch to that setting this weekend. Movie will be gamer so lots of motion. Will report back - great question

Really? I sort of know what your saying, but I always thought that Full would give more detail, not crush detail for blacks. Doesn't Full actually give more detail for black? So confused.

Please do jot them down. Would be interested to see what you got and are happy with.

I have noticed it alot too and just read about the Video setting. I am going to try it out tonight as well and report back if I see an improvement.

Also was curious if most of you forced the 24Hz(p) setting ON or left it to Auto. I am assuming NO one has set it OFF. Right? As most blu-ray's if not all are encoded at 24p ... right?

That was my understanding as well be try it out. and it will be immediately obvious to you. Loss of detail on my FPJ1, the Pioneer 6010 & 6020 plasmas I had and the Samsung B650 LCD that I have now. I lose quite a bit of detail with RGB set to full.