Impressions of my new JVC DLA-RS1 Front Projector (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Bennett]

Someone already posted the price
It was a darn nice price. I wouldn't have had the money for it when they first took preorders anyway, so I don't feel too bad about it.

 

[johnathan]

No money needed until product shipped. I also bought a Mac 3 year 2 bulb warranty ! So now I am not concerned about pilling up hours on the projector.Now with 150 or so hours the bulb has settled down and looks great.

Pat I wish everyone had the chance to get one of these ! They are very nice . Johnathan

 

[johnathan]

Patric
Just read you first impression of the RS1. It really is a great projector. Years ago I bought a Sony 400Q from MVS I think it was Bill at MVS ? They were great to deal with.

I am going to buy a Blu Ray player to be format neutral in the future but haven't decided which one yet. I have a MY HD card that I use for HD on the RS1. Cheers Johnathan

 

[Patrick Bennett]

If you haven't bought a BluRay player, the Panasonic DMP-BD10A is coming out any day now and will be $600 *list* (so you'll be able to get it cheaper) and will come with *5* BD's in the box (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Transporter, Fantastic Four, and Crash). That's a heck of a deal.

I've got a Samsung BD-P1200 and it's phenomenal. It does a steller job on upconverting SD discs to 1080p with its Reon video processor. Blu-Ray wise, most players are pretty much equal. My biggest concern with the Samsung is whether or not they'll update it to support passing TrueHD/DTS-HD bitstreams to HDMI 1.3 compatible pre-amp/receivers. There's no reason they won't, but there's no guarantee they will.

Given that, the Panasonic (which already supports those formats) is the probably the better overall choice.

 

[Robert Walker]

Has anyone tried a HTPC on the RS1? A review I read said it will only take 720P & 1080P. Which I don't have a problem with that, just wondering if its a fact. My HTPC goes into a VP50 anyway, so it handles all the different different resolutions a pc can output.

I been dragging my feet getting into one of the DVD HD formats, mostly because I will use a pc for that. I now have all the hardware and software I need, but not the drives. Pioneer has a blu-ray coming on this month, hopefully soon for 299.00 retail. Then of course there is the 360 drive for HD-DVD.

The longer the greedy people cannot get together allowing managed copy, without crazy rules, the worse its going to get for them.

Regarding posting the pre-buy price, never understood the big deal, anyone could have called and got it, plus its been 6 MONTHS and counting ! I assume maybe JVC didn't want the distributors and dealers upset, but the attention the RS1 got from all that talk, worked out well for them. Which was the plan of course.

 

[Patrick Bennett]

For an HTPC, I'd just run 1080p to it (why wouldn't you?). You can set most decent graphics cards to always run at a fixed resolution anyway (automatically scaling if a game for eg runs at a lower resolution).

 

[Robert Walker]

Yes, 1080P at 1:1 mapping would be what I'd use. But sometimes might need to see what's going on, like at start up if there is a problem with the computer. But the vp50 should take care of that, but hooking it straight to the RS1, I could see where it could be irritating.

 

[Patrick Bennett]

No, you should be able to hook the pc straight to the projector. Using an external scaler wouldn't make much sense at all. It's very common for video cards to have to output to fixed-resolution devices (like Dell's 30" widescreen monitor - it only accepts 1 resolution) and scale any modes not in that target resolution.

 

[Robert Walker]

Of course I'm going to use the Dvdo VP50, with any projector I get. I already have it and using it now. It can only improve the picture, which by how much is a matter of opinion probably.

The PREP feature works well for a progressive signal and it showed a improvement rather than going straight into a 1080P PJ, in a recent projectorcentral review, for whats it worth.

I output 480P for SD into the vp50, using PREP, and no doubt I see a difference, plus all the other features.

If I had the RS1 then I'd use 1080p24 into the vp50, then on to the RS1. Regarding the other computer resolutions, I was just going by a review, that stated it will say out of range, for anything other than 720 or 1080P.

I haven't really read many posts in the vp50 threads over at AVS regarding the RS1, but I know people are using it. Its just I use a HTPC, not a stand alone box, for DVD.

 

[Patrick Bennett]

It's one thing to use the VP50 for sources not feeding 1080p, but I can't possibly see how going 1080p into your vp50 then on to the RS1 could possibly help you. You'd want nothing more than a straight pass-through - so at that point, the vp50 is adding nothing (and just adding more opportunities for signal degradation and delay).

 

[Robert Walker]

I'm not a expert on that subject, and my current projectors are all 720P, so I don't even own a 1080P unit to test for myself. But, according to this link, and also reading comments in many forums, apparently it can help and doesn't hurt any at all.

I also see that RAF, the Administrator here, uses the same processor I do.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/dvdo_iscan_vp50.htm

 

[Patrick Bennett]

It definitely hurts - it's going to add additional delay to the video, and doesn't support HDMI 1.3, so none of the newer audio formats will be passed.
Personally, I think the VP50 for an RS1 is kind of a waste of money. (and I've spent thousands on video processors in the past, so I'm definitely not against them).

 

[Robert Walker]

Just from the standpoint of playing 1080P content, I would agree the VP50 or any processor shouldn't be necessary. Whether or not it improves the video is usually a opinion, and until I get a 1080P projector for myself, I don't know the answer.

But I use the VP50 for other things, including other resolutions like from a satellite receiver, and I like the picture control it gives me. I also prefer to shift 2:35 movies down to the bottom of the screen. I cannot comment on whether the RGB gamma controls on the VP50, helps deal with the over saturation of color. I see complain's about it but again, I cannot see it for myself. But some say it does.

Regarding HDMI 1.3, it would be good if it handled that, the audio anyway, but according to what is being said, HIrez pcm out into the VP50 will let it pass on to HDMI. But I could also split the HDMI or go in the audio receiver first. But right now 1.3 isn't something I worry about.

It sounds like the RS1 is a very good projector, but I've always used DLP. If nothing changes though, I'm going to try one when they are more available.

 

[RAF]

As Robert Walker already pointed out, if your sole reason for getting a VP50 (or any external processor) is to pass a 1080p signal from a 1080p source to the RS1 (or any other display that accepts 1080p natively without altering it) then I would agree that you should save your money. However, as was stated, the reason for the existence of external video processors is not for what they do with the source video signal if it matches the display's native resolution - it's for all of the wonderful things it does with non-1080p sources. I still have an extensive non-1080p collection (well over 5000 titles) including a huge number of SD titles which contain information in native 480i format. What the VP50 does with that in converting it to 1080p is almost magical. And the latest version of the VP50 supports the heralded PReP system which actually corrects for "lesser" deinterlacing algorithms (see the DVDO site for more details). And the VP50 (or any other external scaler) can act as a video switching source (like it does for me and Mr. Walker.) I've taken a position that owning an external VP (rather than relying on the internal VPs of players, displays, etc.) not only counters a lot of obsolescence but can actually save you money in the long run (if the other components let you choose models without VP forced on you). And I still hold that position. (See my web site for the complete discussion on the "component approach").

As to HDMI 1.3 and audio - this is, as far as I'm concerned, a non-issue as long as you place the video processor after your AVR or Pre-Pro. All HDMI passes 1080p and this might only become an issue if and when Deep Color becomes something actually delivering content on the non-experimental level and when displays appear which are up to the task. One should normally not be passing the audio through a VP in an Home Theater environment anyway in most cases. Your Pre-Pro or AVR takes the incoming audio signals (decoded or not depending on your equipment and passes it to your amps while passing the video through to your display. And delays in sound and or picture can be handled in a number of ways without resorting to passing audio into the VP - if that becomes an issue by the careful choice of other components.

Nobody here is suggesting spending money on an external video processor if your needs are very simple and if straight-through video to the display (native resolution to native resolution w/o processing) is your situation. But the real world of sources and displays is far more complex than that. 1080p to 1080p (for now) is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Alan Kurland]

Thanks for your thoughts on this unit guys! I have this Lumagen scaler which is providing 1080i to the 8500 currently. It doesn't scale to 1080p, though. There may be an upgrade. Anyway, I suppose I could send my other sources (SD DVD and LD) through that for now. I have comcast HD cable (Still 1080i, right?) and I'm heading in the blu-ray direction right now.

 

[RAF]

A thread was started in the BASICS area of the forum which talks about the JVC DLA-RS1. In the interest of keeping all discussions in one location I've decided to close the thread over there (with a redirect to this thread). I'm going to reproduce the original message in that thread here to add to the dialogue:

Originally posted by member KDavidP1987 (Kris) on 06/18/07:

Thank you.

 

[logan8246]

I am doing an add on to my house and decided on the RS1 last year after reading about it. I am happy to hear all the happy response from owners because I have yet to be able to see a demo from any of my local home theatre stores (Dallas Texas area). I have been shopping to find the best price I can on the unit. All of the local dealers I have checked with are selling it for 5995 to 6295. Is this the best price I can get? I saw a lower price in this thread about AVS, are you able to purchase through them? I see lower listings on some sites on the internet, but am wary.
As to the warranty from authorized dealers only, you might find it humorous, that when I called JVC to inquire about a couple of sites and see if they were authorized dealers, they were unable to tell me. They informed me they have no way to know who is an authorized dealer on the web. My only choice was to check the links on their site. I dont quite understand how a company cannot know who they have and have not authorized to be a dealer.
I look forward to trying out the RS1. We just finished the Electrical rough in for the Media room yesterday. I have some general design questions about how to proceed with the media room, cables, speakers etc but will ask those in a approprate thread.
Thanks

 

[Lenard]

I became a member of HTF myself about 6 years ago while searching for information for any cutting edge projector. Those were the days of early DLP and I thought that was the direction I was headed.
I believe it was RAF who had just purchased a Sony 10ht and had posted a good review. A few weeks later I was able to visit a Sony dealer near me and thought it looked great. My first projector was the Sony 10ht.
Well here I am years later and looking for a new projector. I again visit HTF and fine another thread started by RAF, this time giving a good review on the JVC RS1. It sounded interesting and I spent the next few weeks reading everything I could find about this new JVC offering. Last week , I made up my mind to go with it. Here I am taking down the Sony 10ht and putting up the JVC RS1. What do I think of it? it is Super! The fan is quite! The JVC is right over my head, and I have to look up see if the green lite is on when turning it on, and again later to see if the red lite is blinking when turning it off during lamp cool down. The colors look great right out of the box. I may do some minor adjustments after I get a 100 or 200 hours on the lamp. The set up was simple and the remote a breeze to navigate. The Blacks are outstanding, 1080P never looked so good. It gives my 100" screen some real visual pop! I made the right choice selecting the JVC RS1 and I am not looking back. I think as many others do, that this is the best projector under 10,000 dollars.
I purchased my Sony10ht from Projector People and they offered the JVC RS1 for 4795 w/shipping. That was a no brainer for me. Again, thanks to all who have posted here at HTF, you make this a invaluable resource.

 

[RayJr]

Here is a picture from the Toshiba HD-DVD Demo disc.
Projector: JVC RS-1
HD-DVD Player: Toshiba A-1
Screen: 106" Da-Lite Matte White high Contrast 1.1 gain
Camera : Canon 20D w/ Sigma 28-70mm f:2.8-4 DG




Hope you enjoy it

RayJr

 

[Fred333]

Very nice. Thanks for the pics.