RS2/ PRO-FPJ1 Owners: Setup Discussion Thread - Page 3

Don't worry the G stands for Groovy!

Well your focus issue could be several things, but my guess is that it is being caused by your lens shift. Try shifting back closer to center and see what happens. Is your projector perfectly square to the screen? That might change it a little (but not much).

Although this lens is versatile, it isn't the greatest in the world for sharpness at the edges especially when you take it out of it's centered sweet spot. I see that mine loses a small bit of focus in the extremes. It may have to be the price you pay for position flexibility.

Anyhow, I hope you can get it resolved or figured out.

Well guys my dollar store Optoma Panamorph arrived and I unboxed it for closer examination. The sled was not working out of the box. I took it apart and fixed the problem. At MSRP the sled is way way way overpriced for what you get and its relative quality. The lens is definitely a higher quality product than the 1st generation Panamorph lens that I have. I am going to hook it to the projector as soon as I get a chance.

I also found a really good buy on the Lumagen Radience XD so I ordered that as it will help with a lot of useability issues that I was going to have. It will be cool setting them all up for some good HT fun. It will be interesting to see how well the Lumagen does the VStretch versus the RS2. I sure hope it will be noticeably better. Helps to justify the expenditure.

Thanks Cameron.

The blurriness is fairly minor and I suspect that it is from the lens shift. I'll have to troubleshoot in a couple weeks (crunch time for me). I'm just glad that there are others who think that it may be the lens shift.

Unfortunately my room dictates I use the current setup........for now. I'll keep you guys up to date when I have more time to troubleshoot.

I set my RS2 up with the Panamorph system that I picked up.

I can't see any visible ca with the current setup, but I haven't put up any hardcore test patterns to really check it. Nothing visible yet on that side so that is good. I was starting to worry about that. The pincusion is very minor and will not be a problem for me at all.

Starting to play around with the settings and found some interesting (but not necesarily good) stuff:

1.) VStretch mode looks really good with the panamorph. It is still a pain to go into menu-> Select the image mode->Select VStretch ->Arrow down to on- > Press enter -> hit exit 3 times to get out. Then do the same to get out of VStretch mode.

2.) There is no VSTretch mode for SD sources. Instead you have to use the aspect button and select zoom to do the same thing as VStretch.

With those two above items, it makes things difficult for remote automation of switching modes. First you have to know what resolution you are in and then do the clunky process accordingly. Hopefully JVC will release better RS232 and IR maps.

Fortunately for me I have my Radiance arriving today so that pretty much the above moot for me, but it is a bummer for those without a vp.

Woe is me.

So my HT is in the basement and the location of the projector is right below a high traffic walking area. I noticed that when the kids ran around or an adult heavily walked up above, there was some decent flexing of the ceiling joists. As I had a similar situation in the last install (which bothered me a good bit). So for this install, we put in a separate free-floating joist between two floor joists that rests on the top plate. I then have a pole that attaches to that and connects to the RPM mount that I am using.

After hanging the mount, this method worked pretty good for most situtations. If the kids were really being crazy, it even shook the top plate so there wasn't much that could be done. Another minor problem is that there is some flex to the joist that could make it bouncy, but has not been a problem.

So this week I recieved a Panamorph with the M380 sled as well as the metal adapter plate. Yesterday I set it up on a cart and it worked well. Tonight was the night to stick it all up on the pole.

Well after getting it mounted up on the ceiling, I discovered a huge problem. As the lens slides out, the whole projector tilts to the side. At the screen, this tilts the image about 2" up on one side and 2" down on the other. Very disturbing.

The Panamorph comes with some support chain stuff to hook it into the ceiling to add stability, but if I do that, I tie the whole projector to the ceiling that flexes a lot. It looks like the adapter plate flexes a bit too so I probably need a bit more support there.

If I tie into the ceiling for support, it negates all of the work that I have done to isolate the projector from above. I am not sure what to do. It is a total bummer.

Any suggestions appreciated. I am glad I tested this out before the drywall went in as if there is some minor structural trick I can do, it is better to do it now.

So much for playing with the new radiance.

Cameron I feel you pain; you might want to post here as well http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forum...aysprune=&f=19

Some pretty inventive people hang out there that may not see your post here.

Man, I have my RS1 mounted to a little mount area/bulkhead that is tied into the joists and it is right below my family room so whenever someone above walks by it causes the image to jiggle a bit if one steps in the spot right above where this mount box is. So annoying but I deal with it especially since it isn't frequent. The worst part is the pj is only a few feet from where a support beam is but the spot above that gets walked over (maybe a 2.5x4 sized space) is in the worst spot for the jiggling. hehe

Yeah I used some zip ties and cable staples to simulate the chains late last night and had much better success. Now the total tilt is 1/2". I am working on a proof of concept stabilization system that will tie the chains back to the original floating joist. I will take some pics when I get a chance so you can see.

thanks

Cameron

OK with a $10 investment of plumbing parts and zip ties I have been able to come up with a prototype that keeps the movement down to about 1/8" total. I can probably get it down to 1/16" inch when my design goes into production. Great relief from my side.

There will be one downside in that every time you take the projector and lens down for something, you will have to readjust that system which takes more effort than the normal leveling etc. of the projector on the Chief mount. I will probably stub in a few more pipes as a failover backup system just in case. Better to spend $10 more than have a post-drywall mounting problem.

This whole problem has shot two days of wiring work which will ultimately delay my theater finish date by a week. I am glad to be working on this problem now as opposed to post structure work though.

So what exactly are the differences between Cinema and Natural on the RS2.
Reading the manual I can't figure out what it does differently.

I got my RS2 yesterday and spent last night setting it up and playing. At first I was rather dissapointed with the image as it seemed VERY dim and seemed to lack depth. After playing with the controls a bit I was able to make it look pretty good for a couple of movies.

I still have a lot of tweaking and learning to do but I think it's a keeper.

Bad news:

When it arrived, it was in a plain box. I opened it to reveal the actual JVC inner box. The problem is that the inner one was really damaged! One side was hit so hard that the box was totally split from top to bottom. The top had a crease in it so deep that it actually crushed the inner 'documentatnion box'!

Luckily the unit was far enough away from the sides that I couldn't discern any damage. IMHO, who ever double boxed it should have sent it back and nailed the shipper instead of just passing it along. Since the JVC box wasn't opened they had no way of knowing if it was crushed or not.

This thing is surprisingly dim. I was expecting a new screen purchase but wow, it is a downright necessity!

Good news:

Just for the heck of it, I got down my G15 and hooked it up in parallel, giving each half the screen to play on. It turns out that the RS2 is as bright with a new bulb in high lamp mode as the G15 with 750/1000 hours. So what's the good news? I can now move from a GrayHawk to a Studiotek130 and reclaim the brightness while still improving black level.

The only downside is that, while the colors of the RS2 looked a bit off, they looked really bad compared to the calibrated G15.

Bottom line, it is, overall, an incredible improvement in picture quality which can only get better with the addition of the Radience.

Other observations:

When putting the unit up near the top of the screen and using V lens shift, the top of the image has a red shift. If I move the red pixel down then the bottom has it. My guess is that the lens shift is the culprit so I'll try to limit that as much as possible.

The lens shift knobs seem rather cheap, something you'd see on a 5 year olds' toy. The good news is that they work and they're only used once.

The best news is that it was reasonable enough that I can upgrade in a year or two, (lasers? ), without feeling guilty.

Well, that's my $0.02. A little dimmer than I expected but better overall image than I expected. While the color is off it is still watchable to the point that I am in no hurry to get out Colorfacts, at least until my Radience gets here.

Now if someone could discover the super secret code that allows access to the real guts of the machine the serious tweaking can begin.

Thanks for your initial observations!

Several questions...

How far away is your projector from the screen?
How large is your screen?
What gain is your screen? Aren't the original Grayhawks different than the current ones in gain?

I have my RS2 setup on a temporary Grayhawk screen. I have it the same size as my Scope screen that I have not reinstalled yet.

It is a 1.5 gain with microperf and therefore has just a slight bit more gain than the studiotek 1.3. When I previewed the RS2 with this screen it was plenty bright for me where as I would say the grayhawk is decent, but not quite as much as I would like. I haven't had any convergence problems worth complaining about yet, but I haven't been using the lens shift that much at this point. I figure it will affect the convergence a bit down the road.

I agree on the lens shift knobs. Total cheap crap, but so far they work for me. They kinda feel like they could easily break. Fortunately I will only really need to set the system up once and leave it.

I haven't compared colors to my Phelps calibrated G15, but maybe I will get a chance over the weekend.

I have a Radiance also and have only had a chance to hook it to the projector for a quick test last night. So far so good.

I don't like hearing that the RS2 is dim. Most reviews have said it's less bright than the RS1, but still quite bright.

I hope I'll be ok with my 120" wide screen and a 1.4 gain Carada screen.

Well it is dimmer than a G15. WM measured 870 post calibration on my G15. That thing had a 450 watt Zenon bulb and generated a huge amount of heat and fan noise.

It is less bright than the RS1 (which is very bright).

Dude you are totally going to be OK with your Carada.

Hi Guys
I am new to the forum with a recent purchase of an RS-2. I am a newbie to do it yourself video coming over from a Dwin CRT 700. I installed the RS-2 on my 9 ft. ceiling and mounted it 192" away from a Stewart Studiotek 130 110" diagonal sreen. I have to say the picture is very similar to my Dwin in black levels and brightness. My Dwin was professionally installed and calibrated by an ISF guy. The colors are not quite as good but are close using the Cinema setting. I tweak it by eye using "The Fifth Element" as that is what the ISF guy always used on my Dwin and I.ve seen certain scenes so much I know what they are supposed to look like but I would like to do it with HD sources like Video essentials or the like. That leads me to my next comments.

I would LOVE to see some posts like the RS-1 had by some of you great video guys ( starting point for settings etc.) as this RS-2 discussion continues to help out us novices to make the projector look as good as possible.
I also have a few questions like -- can someone describe how to use the Gamma control? What is a good HD video to help me set the contrast, brightness, color etc, .Please forgive the basic questions.
I would like to add a Lumagen and go to widescreen in the near future so I will have many more questions to come. Hope you guys don't mind.
This forum has been a great source of info-- but it does take up a good amount of time to read it all as I have alot of catching up to do.
Thanks in advance.
Joe

Hmmmm. I'm about to order an RS2... but reading Joe-C's note has me thinking as I don't have an opportunity to do a local demo. I have a Marquee 9500LC that will not be mounted in my new home... the Dwin is 7" vs. 9" for the Marquee. Is the RS2 only as bright as a 7" CRT??

The RS2 should be way brighter than a 7" CRT. Heck it should be brighter than a 9" as well. Even in Low bulb mode. For example....

Our calibrated HD2K was a good bit brighter than the 9" CRT that it replaced. The RS2 on low bulb mode is brighter than the HD2K.

Thanks. I feel better already

My screen is 12'x5' so rather large. It is the old GrayHawk microperf.

The current throw is about 21' so that doesn't help brightness either.

The G15 is indeed brighter with a new bulb. Since it is basically at it's terminal brightness, (~750 hrs), it has dropped down to where the RS2 is with a new bulb.

The image is still very watchable so I think I will be able to live with the Studiotek130, (I came from Runco 900>Runco980>G11>G15 so I got used to CRT lumens).

Also, for some reason, I think it actually got a little brighter after the initial hour or two. Is that possible?

I would say that I am probably pushing the limit of useability so I would think that anyone with higher gain or smaller screen or less throw would be fine.

On another note I watched BR theatrical release last night. Great movie but I noticed some black crushing. What gamma are people using for darker movies?

If I recall, William Phelps once told me that the secret to great DILA images is to get the thing out of 0 IRE as soon as possible then do the standard gamma. Has anyone tweaked the lower end of their gamma? Can this be done in the RS2 or does that require the Radience?

Speaking of Radience, where's mine? I ordered it a week or so ago and haven't heard a word. Is that normal?

I'd really like to tweak the color to look as good as my G15

Well there are gamma adjustments so you can tweak that with your RS2 sans radience. I'm hoping with my Radiance, I can get my color better than my G15.

I am in transitional mode right now as I am still building the new theater, so I have not gotten into hardcore tweaks at this point. When you saw the black crush were you using Cinema or Natural?

Ah, now it makes sense. Phew, I should be ok with a smaller screen of similar gain.



It may be the actual movie.

If you are talking about the recent release of BladeRunner, the contrast was bumped way up in that transfer vs the old transfer, making for very rich black levels. Some have complained about the lost shadow detail, others have felt the increased contrast, and the new image being purportedly "what the film makers wanted" was a fine trade off.

FWIW.

One other thing to note is that without a direct comparison, it can be difficult to judge the scale of brightness. From what I have seen and read, even if the image has twice the brightness, it will look brighter but not twice as bright. In other words the perceived brightness isn't linear in scale to the increase. It is nice that he mentioned that the black levels looked the same though. That is quite an accomplishment.

I didn't mean to imply that the RS-2 is dim but only meant that I liked the way the Dwin looked and I can make the RS-2 look similiar in brightness. All this talk about the RS-2 being to dim is puzzling to me as it is plenty bright on my screen but I do have aroom that has full light control.
Does anyone care to explain the Gamma controls and how to adjust them on the fly?
Also I was wondering if I input a 480i DVD through the COMP input does the RS-2 upsample to 1080p -- the display says 480i but I'm assuming that it means the input only and not what the projector is doing to it?

Yeah the projector upconverts to 1080p. If you can feed it a really good 480i from DVD, that is best as the RS2 has an excellent Gennum processor which does a great job at upscaling and deinterlacing. I should also note that if you wanted to improve on its processor you would need to shell out another 3K for a VP that would give you an incremental improvement.

VPs have a lot of other great functionality, but you should be quite pleased with the RS2's processing ability.

which oppo?

I would think that the Gennum would do a much better scaling job than the 970. The 970 does a pretty good job, but the RS2 processor should do better. Try it and see if you like it.

Well, I'm liking this thing the more I watch it! I found the gamma controls and would like to tweak some when I have more time. I also found out that my Radience may be shipped next week so that should spur me on.

I did do a primaries measurement with Colorfacts and found red and green way off while blue was quite close. The secondaries were way off as well, with yellow looking more orange for instance. Lilu's hair looked on fire! Still watchable but after the G15 side by side, I'm anxious to fix it.

I was able to uncrush the blacks by moving brightness up to +9 but that isn't kind to black level overall. After viewing the gray ramp one TFE Blueray it looked like anything below 20 IRE was pretty slammed. This was true for all of the gamma's.

I think if I can move that down a bit it would really help black detail without ruining contrast all together. Too many tweaks, not enough hours!