JVC DLA-RS35 - Screen Recommendations

Posted on February 10, 2010 by Art Feierman

JVC RS35 Projector Screen Recommendations

Please note, this is a repeat of the RS25 review page on screen selection. From any practical standpoint, the two projectors behave identically as far as screen choices go:

Great projectors tend to look great on any good screen. The trick with the RS35 is to match the screen to your room, and your viewing requirements. Essentially, this section is also the same as for last year's RS25 as there are no significant differences that would have any impact on projector screen selections.

For example, the RS35 does the best black levels around, so you really don't need to consider a high contrast gray screen, like the Firehawk G3 I use in my main theater, unless it is to deal with some (side) ambient light. For those with a fully light controlled room, for example, the StudioTek 130 G3, or other moderate gain white surfaces should be an excellent match. I had no issues with the black levels when switching to my Carada Brilliant White 106" screen (gain 1.4), in terms of black levels, beyond closing down the iris to reduce overall brightness for movie watching (due to the smaller screen size).

The RS35 projector filling my 128" screen, has black levels just barely noticeable on dark scenes when looking at the letterbox area. Not perfect, but close, and the best yet. Personally, I like that, and probably favor a screen like my Firehawk over a tyical white surface. That said, a lot of that, is my personal preference. I'm willing to give up a little corner roll-off for those even blacker blacks.

Thanks to the RS35's brightness in THX, or calibrated Cinema 2, the RS35 has plenty of horsepower to handle the full 128" diagonal size of my Firehawk G3. In fact it still had enough lumens to spare, so that I even tried stopping the manual iris a small amount from its maximum setting of 0, to -5 for movie viewing, and the JVC still has enough brightness (That was playing around. I do like bright images, so most of the time I've got the iris wide open.)

For those of us who also like to watch sports, or typical TV/HDTV programming in an environment with some intentional ambient light, the THX and Dynamic modes are just a tad brighter, so there's not a lot of spare lumens to deal with ambient light. In a room like mine, while I don't need the Firehawk surface for great movie watching (room fully darkened), the screen's handling of side ambient light really comes in handy for dealing with the intentional ambient light I like for sports viewing, much of which comes from the sides. For that, the Firehawk does a great job.

Bottom line, get a good screen that meets your lighting requirements. Preferably it should be a very fine surface, designed for 1080p projectors. For those wanting really large screens, higher gain screens may do the trick but remember, they have a narrow viewing cone (where you sit) and tend to roll off brightness in the corners.