RS2/ PRO-FPJ1 Owners: Setup Discussion Thread - Page 124

Yep. I have one of those universal mounting brackets for the Chief mount which works perfectly with the RS2 (or any other PJ you end up getting down the road.

Hope I didn't offend with my heavy-handed rant against digital key-stone adjustment. For someone just getting into front PJ there are a lot of brand-new concepts and terms that never really factored into the world of direct-view displays, so there's a lot to explore.

One thing you'll notice is that if you have any classic 2-channel audiophile tendencies, front projection is a lot like high-end audio listening. Things like "separation" and "air" and "layering" apply metaphorically to high-end HD projection as well. Subtle differences that don't impart any distinction on small screens suddenly make an "emotionally compelling" difference on your projection system... things as elemental as the scaling chip in a BD player can make or break whether or not you can really enjoy a DVD movie. Also like 2-channel audio, the quest to improve video fidelity gives a thrill factor... as does having your movie loving friends and family say "wow, I thought I had seen that movie before but I never really saw it until now on your projector". That last statement is especially true for the legions of "movies" that most of us have only seen on television/DVD... have you seen Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm? Or seen The Sound of Music or The Wizard of Oz projected properly in a theater from a archival-quality print? Finally, Blu-ray and home projection allow many of us to finally "see" movies that we never really saw before.

Enjoy!

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

So True, Nice comments.

I have to add, that I have had mine for over two years now and I still find tweaks to all of the equipment that to my eyes improves the picture.

I am still getting that wow factor and I watch about 3-4 movies each week.

Ta

Dono

Hello everyone. I am having the urge to upgrade from my rs1. My most important criteria is contrast ratio. Would you say that getting an rs2 would be worth upgrading to? I know the rs2 has twice the contrast ratio. However have any of you contrast fiends seen this difference for yourself?

My budget will not allow to go for an rs15, so if I wanted to improve contrast ratio, it appears that an rs2 is my best option.

Oh yes, if it matters, brightness isn't a huge deal since I have a 106" diagonal High Power with the pj mounted behind just above eye level.

So I have 2 options. Keep the rs1 until a rs15 comes down in price, or get an rs2 now.

Thanks!

You didn't state your budget, but have you considered B-stock?

Put your money aside and start adding a little each week.... give up some vices and put the money into the projector fund and try for a RS25 or RS35. $50/wk will get you $2600/yr..... The RS2 is an improvement, however, the RS2 as well as the RS1 need external CMS for a proper image.

Well the RS20 have am internal cms an a LOT closer in price...,

And there is old A-stock RS20's out there, too.

I would love to get an rs20 or rs25. However my budget is $2500.

What is b-stock? Where could I find those?

At times AVS has had B-stock units that they sold for JVC. They were units that originally had something wrong with them that JVC corrected. I don't know the hours etc on those units.

My B-stock RS2 had 0 hours on the bulb and I am very happy with it and the picture. Full manufacturer warranty etc

With that said there is currently no such stock (if it comes back it has in the past been posted here on AVS). The last batch went for an amount over your budget, but really not very far.

The RS2 is a great machine. I have never seen the RS1 so I can't compare. If this is only an urge I would personally stealth myself against it for a bit. Put the $2,500 aside and add some money to it until an RS20 or RS25 could be had for my budget. The main reason would be the external CMS so that I could control the colors.

I would believe the RS15 would have better colors than the RS2 (oversaturated - but don't get me wrong a great picture and many is either happy with it or choose to ignore some unnatural fleshtones etc) but the RS15 thread will have to confirm that

I've got the RS2 and after getting a VideoEQ (full CMS control) It can have a stunning picture, almost 3d quality looking. I've got just under 100hrs on mine now and with my present system, my cheeks hurt from ginning when I'm watching and listening to it

Surprisingly on Ebay, several HD100's can still be had for $2400. I just checked it out. Same as the RS2.

Good luck
Dave

OMG I was watching "The Book of Eli" last night and noticed (I thought) severe posterization. But a quick check on the reviews showed this was intentional I guess in the movie. Freaked me out when one has a video EQ and wondering if you might be over-driving it.

But from the Blu ray review - One thing worth noting is some noticeable posterization, particularly at the beginning, and it occurs very faintly in a few more sequences later, only not as strong.

Ya right?

I am presently one who doesn't seem to notice inaccurate colors. I don't notice any problem with the rs1. With that being said, does an rs2 make even more sense for me?

As I said earlier contrast ratio is the biggest thing for me. With that being said, is the rs20's contrast ratio that much better than the rs2's?

Check out these reviews. One even compares the two projectors your talking about and as I said, Ebay has NEW HD100/RS2 for $2400.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/jvc_..._projector.htm

and

http://www.projectorreviews.com/jvc/dla-rs2/index.php

Best of luck

Thanks Dave.

I'm kind of disappointed because by the time I was thinking of getting a new pj, I noticed that someone here locally had already sold 2 rs2's for $1700 each. DOH!

Now $2400 doesn't sound so great.

I know Buy.com also is selling the HD100 for about the same, new. I'm trying to find out if it comes with a manufacturer's warranty.

The thing with the RS2 is that all of the colors are "out" in pretty good proportion to each other with the exception of green which is a little more saturated.
IOW you don't get sunburned faces and other really noticeable color anomalies, imo.
You say you don't seem to notice inaccurate colors but I'd be willing to wager than once you see a properly calibrated JVC, you will notice how good the colors look.
The RS20's contrast is a good bit better than the RS2 but it also depends on your room configuration in order to get the best balance between contrast and brightness.
I suggest doing a search for greg roger's thread on the JVC projectors.
Personally, I would wait for the announcements from CEDIA before buying a pj since it's so close.
But if you can get a solid RS20 for $2500 I'd say got for it.
I'd also look at the Sony VW85. No idea of price but it's a really nice pj.

I think I should wait for cedia for sure if for nothing else but to give people with rs20's reason to sell their's.

The RS20 and RS2 have the same native contrast....30000:1. However the RS2 only outputs about 600 lumens max. The RS20 does 900 max. Moreover, the RS20 has a manual iris where if you don't need the full 900 lumens, you can close it down some thus decreasing the light output, but then increasing the contrast (up to 50000:1 if wanted).

I still find it amazing that people believe the fixed iris increases native CR. If the projector is 30K:1 @900 lumens and you reduce the lumens 20% with the Iris, to 720, then, to achive 50K:1CR, the black level needs to be reduced to 48%.

When I have tried this, measuring off the screen, I have seen the opposite...... total lumens are reduced more than the black level, causing a reduction in CR.

900 Lumens @ 30K:1 = .03 Lumens for black
720 Lumens @ 50K:1 = .0144 Lumens for black

A fixed Iris does not function disproportionally between light and dark.

I have never had a problem measuring these results, though I don't admittedly know the physics behind it.

How are they being measured?

Thanks Jason for that comparison. Since I run a High Power that is only 106" diagonal and mount the pj behind at just over eye level brightness isn't an issue. The rs 20 with the iris shut all the way down sounds likeit would work for me, thus yielding the 50,000:1 contrast ratio.

As for adjustable fixed irises, I had a Sharp 12k and with the iris shut down, while it was dimmer, the contrast ratio was noticeably better.

Glen, besides your measurements, do your eyes tell you that the contrast ratio is reduced when you shut down the iris?

There is more to it than just CR. Yes, I can see a difference, but there is more to it. Even though the black level had some improvement, with the Iris closed, the image appears to have more dynamic range with the Iris open. Room conditions can also have an impact.

It looks like I may be able to start offering high quality (not China/HK) replacement bulbs for the RS series projectors. This is done by replacing the lamp in the housing. I will probably offer the lamp for the DIY'er or replace the lamp in your housing for an additional $20.

I should be testing the lamps next week to see how the lumens track in the initial hours. I am trying to find a lamp that will be more consistent in initial lumens and not loose as much light output as the OEM in the first 100-200-hours. I have had multiple OEM bulbs here in the same projector and all had different initial lumens, one even had to be returned due to low initial lumens.

Anyone interested?

Yes, please keep us posted. I'm going to wait out a couple more years before I upgrade from my FPJ1 so I'm interested in your lamp replacement options.

+1

+1

Yeah, duh!
How much?

Well, not sure at this time...... the person quoting me parts and prices got it all wrong..... Waiting to see if the right parts are available and pricing.

Cool. I'm sure you'll keep us posted.

Absolutely, I'm all for finding a better performing bulb, cheaper too I hope.