JVC DLA-RS40 3D
Projector
Review by: JoeRod
So after it not being a long time since I had a JVC projector in my theater I was pretty much knowing what to expect when I put up the new RS40. I was a big fan of the 550 from last year. It was pretty bright and did a nice job with all material. So will the RS40 surpass it? This year seems somewhat different since the RS40, 50 and even 60 share many of the same specs. Even the manual is for all three models! The RS40 lacks a few features but to many who have a good VP with a CMS they should be perfectly fine. Even if you don't there should be enough tweaks to get a satisfying image. So how does it perform?
As you can see Disney's Tangled is going to look incredible on Blu ray. The RS40 did a very good job showing detail and bright day scenes. I also viewed the Facebook movie (The Social Network) which had many night scenes. It is very easy to crush blacks and does require a little effort to find the best settings. I will say the image was crystal clear. The reflection of a black bus in the movie was jaw dropping. Sharpness was as good as the HD990 I recently had. Motion was very similar as well. I will say the Sharpness adjustment needs to be turned down some. Especially the Detail Enhance. If you have that up even slightly higher than it should you will see excessive background noise. No worries though since all you need to do is turn it down. I also checked out Salt and a preview for The Tourist. Both looked very good. It is amazing how good of performance you can get for a projector under $5,000 these days! Of course with that there is some trade-offs. More on that soon...
I have been able to use my Chief RPAU with every single projector I have here in my theater. From $800 to $36,495!!!
Behind the little cover is the mini USB which you use to do firmware updates. It is a very simple procedure to perform...
Setting up the RS40 was a breeze. I do need to say when doing the Focus be ready for it to "jump" right after it reaches the "sweet" spot. I suggest go right to that point then stop. I don't remember the JVC models doing that before but the good news is it is a "set it and forget it" feature. I included various pics of the set up GUI which with JVC have always been easy to navigate and easy to understand. There has also been reports of some buyers having HDMI syncing issues. I can say my RS40 has not had a single instance when it did not connect immediately and show the image. I will say when selecting the picture modes the screen goes black for a couple seconds. Again as long as you have all your movie, sports, animation, 3D and other modes set this should never be a problem. The remote (pic below) also is very easy to use. I am just glad to have direct input selecting. Other companies like Sony make you go around the horn. Not JVC. You get JVC's Lens Aperature (allows adjusting from dark to bright), CMD (Clear Motion Drive), and Lens Control. Also the various pic modes and some other common adjustments (Gamma, Color Temp< Color Space and Pic Adj)...The last I will say about the remote is it is very light in your hand and yes it lights up!
One of my favorite "features" has always been the JVC's telling
us which upconverted color bit level is coming in...
Someone asked me for a close up of the Oppo logo. I must have gotten lucky because this RS40's convergence is very good!!!
So going over various adjustments I quickly noticed when picking Color Space Wide 1 I had a red push. Wide 2 seemed more of a yellow push. Normal was the only one which did not do anything but the colors were a little bland which is not what I am used to. I do have a DVDO DUO whith a CMS so I can easily tweak color to my liking. Even at Normal though you can still adjust the colors enough with the projector to bring them to life! Another thing I want to point out is with High Lamp on the projector is noticeably louder than the Sony 90ES. It is not a dealbreaker by any means and with your sound at an average level it should not be an issue. It is just a little louder than I am used to. When turning on and off the lens cover is much louder as well. With the risk of sounding like a broken record it sure does sound like my electric razor. Whereas the Sony is very quiet. Speaking of the Sony I don't think it is fair to expect a projector with a msrp of $4495 to go head to head with one that has a msrp of $9999. There will always be value versus performance. I think it would be fair to put JVC's RS60 or possibly their RS50 against it. As for 3D I hate to say I won't be able to view it. My 3D Emitter is still not here. I am supposed to have it next week sometime. So how does DirecTV football do on the RS40?
Many have said you just can't get a good "pop" using the JVC projectors for sports. Are they right? Yes and no. Yes, it is very difficult and since there is not a Dynamic pic mode this round I just made User 1 my "sports" mode. I set Color Temp to High Bright, Gamma at C (I used to prefer JVC's B), Color Space Wide 2, Lamp on High and Clear Motion Drive either 3 or 4. Don't forget the Black Level adjustment on the JVC!!! I have it to 5 for sports! Those are after spending 30 minutes or so tweaking and tweaking. I am sure there are others with better settings but so far that is my User 1. Now using a DVDO DUO video processor I like sending in upconverted 36 bit (12 bit for each color) at PC level. This expands the level to 0 to 255. Contrast is expanded and the "pop" is pure eye candy. I should point out I only do this for SPORTS. Without the DUO the image still looks pretty good (use SUPERBRIGHT under the HDMI settings in Input Settings on the JVC) but I can get that next level which really brings out the colors using it. The field shows different shades of green and the uniforms really stand out. A good gameplan could be getting a Duo and RS40 combo!!! You still could get both for less than even a RS50...
So what else can I say? I will make a couple comparison statements to the VW90ES since it is up and running along side the RS40. Motion is better with the Sony. The Sony is slightly sharper. Plus it is easier to dial the Focus in. I had a few guests over last night and we watched the first hour or so of The Social Network using the RS40. The second half of the movie using the 90ES. They all voted for the Sony. They liked the colors and the shadow detail a little better. The JVC did get some good compliments though. Mainly on how clear the image looked. It was not a blowout by any means. I should point out I have an Oppo BDP-93 with dual HDMI outs so I bypass my DUO for Blu ray playback. The field was 100% equal. Motion was also noticeably better on the Sony with panning and fast action scenes like from The Expendables. I then showed them football using the DUO and the colors still won on the Sony. As did the motion. It was cleaner with less artifact. Maybe next year JVC will go 240hz with their Clear Motion Drive. Still the RS40 did have "pop" and would and should satisfy just about anyone! Everyone did say if we did not have the Sony here they would be totally content with the RS40. I think the best I can say about the RS40 is it does beat the 550 of last year. I also think it beats the 950. The 990 is still a terrific projector and I would still take it over even the RS40 (as long as I didn't want 3D). Great convergence is hard to find these days! Still the RS40 is a near complete package for under $5,000! JVC claims never has so much performance been packed into a home theater projector as economical as JVC's DLA-RS40U. Whether its movies in 2D, 3D, live sporting events, or concerts, the DLA-RS40 will please the most discerning viewers with image quality found previously only from the highest priced projectors. I couldn't agree more. If you are looking now the RS40 should definitely be on your short list. It is the higher end economical piece of today...
Commercials looked equally impressive!!!
JVC DLA-RS40 3D Projector, Sony VPL-VW90ES 3D Projector, DirecTV HR24 500, DVDO DUO Video Processor, Monster Power HTS 5100, Oppo BDP-93 3D Blu ray play, Onkyo TX NR3008 Receiver/pre-pro, Emotiva UPA-1 AMP, Sherwood Newcastle A-965 7 Channel AMP, Antec Component Coolers, Vutec SilverStar 120.5" screen with a Carada Masquerade Masking System... Pinnacle Speakers- Center BD600, Heights BD500 OWs, Left and Right and Surrounds Super K555s and the KLCR for surround back. Subwoofers- Pinnacle Dig 600, plus four MTX Lolita Low Profiles. 7.6 Sound! Remotes: Harmony 1100 and a Sony Navitus. Monster M1000 Ultimate HDMI cables top to bottom...
Equipment used for all or part of this Review:
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@joerodhometheat
