The Best 1080p Resolution Home Theater Projectors of 2008

Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB vs. JVC DLA-RS1x

This is probably the most interesting (in my opinion) of the one-on-one comparisons. In part, because the Epson is only about half the price of the JVC. Despite the huge price difference, these two projectors can easily be considered competitors, based on performance! You can also draw conclusions about the Pro version of the Epson, and the older JVC DLA-RS1, from this comparison.

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons

Remember, please, that I haven't yet received an DLA-RS1x for review, but I have owned the JVC DLA-RS1, for close to a year, and I've got an Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB here, for an extended period of time, thanks to the kind folks at Epson. I've been sufficiently impressed, that I now have about 250 hours on the Epson, with 150+ of those hours put on its lamp, since I published the review.

Links to additional one-on-one comparisons:

Panasonic PT-AE2000U vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000
Mitsubishi HC4900 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U
Sanyo PLV-Z2000 vs. Mitsubishi HC4900
Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB vs. JVC DLA-RS1x
Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB
Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U
BenQ W5000 vs. Sony VPL-VW40
JVC DLA-RS2 vs. Sony VPL-VW60

The Basics: What is similar about these two home theater projectors - features?

When it comes to the physical attributes of these two projectors, they are extremely similar. Both have 2:1 zoom lenses (actually the Epson is 2.1:1, but that's not enough difference to quibble over). Both have extensive vertical and horizontal lens shift as well, combining for easy placement. In fact the two are very close, overall, in where they can be placed. It's very unlikely, that from a placement standpoint, that if one works in your room, that the other won't.

Above: Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB (left) JVC DLA-RS1x (right), not to scale, the JVC is much larger - figure their lenses are about the same size...

Both have two HDMI inputs, and both support HDMI 1.3 with Deep Color (not all projectors with 1.3 HDMI actually support Deep Color, for example, the two Sony's - the VPL-VW40, and VPL-VW60). Note, my older JVC RS1 is HDMI 1.2, and therefore lacks Deep Color support.

Both are three panel devices, with the Epson being 3LCD, and the JVC, being three LCoS panels (which they call D-iLA panels, just as Sony calls theirs SXRD).

Both have very good remotes. I like my JVC remote, but like the Epson even more. Both remotes have good range.

Projector Warranties

Since were talking hardware right now, I should mention the projector warranties. Both projectors come with a two years, parts and labor warranty, but Epson wins this one by virtue of offering a replacement warranty, for both years. (Side note: The more expensive, but almost identical Pro version of the Epson comes with three years with replacement.)

Time to consider the differences:

Projector Sharpness

Last year, the JVC DLA-RS1 almost universally received rave reviews by reviewers (myself included), and owners. When it comes to sharpness, however, the JVC was just average when it came to image sharpness. I know, it was a major consideration for me, when I was deciding on my "next" projector, back in March of last year. I did decide it was sharp enough, and haven't regretted the purchase decision at all. Mind you were are not talking large differences, but subtle ones. Most likely if you saw the JVC at one place, and then one of the sharpest 1080p projectors at another, an hour later, many people wouldn't notice any difference.

So, my point is, while sharpness varies on 1080p projectors, it doesn't vary much. The worst of the 1080p projectors, when fed 1080i or 1080p content will still be immediately sharper than the sharpest of the 720p projectors, and the difference will be far greater, than when comparing different 1080p projector models.

So, how does the JVC DLA-RS1x stack up against the Epson? First, remember, that I have not yet received an RS1x for review, so my assumptions here, and in some other areas, are based on the RS1 that it replaces. In this case, it's the same lens, lens shift, etc., so the two should be essentially identical.

And that means the JVC is a little soft compared to some of the competition. That competition definitely includes the Epson Home (and Pro) Cinema 1080 UB. I find the Epson provides a slightly sharper image, yet it is definitely not the sharpest in class, several other projectors being better.

How great a difference? With casual viewing you are not likely to notice. When viewing hi-def movies (Blu-ray), the difference is very slight, because there's a lot going on, due to the content starting out on film, with film grain. In most cases, if I walk back into my theater, and look at the screen, I'm just not going to be able to use sharpness as a way of telling whether I'm running the Epson or JVC.

HDTV hi-def material is a little different, as the best of it (production qualities, not content), is now being shot with digital camcorders, not film. That means no film grain, and a perfect one-for-one pixel mapping (if overscan is off, and you aren't using keystone correction). With content like that, from Discovery-HD and other channels, the difference is definitely more apparent, but still just a small difference.

I'll definitely give the Epson the advantage, but, from my own experience, the difference in sharpness, is going to be a very minor issue, and not likely to affect the final buying decision.

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Out of the Box Projector Performance

Again, this is based on the RS1's performance, not the RS1x. However, I would expect the two to be similar.

The JVC RS1x (based on that assumption) is about as good as it gets out of the box. That's a good thing, since the older RS1 had very limited color management controls. I'll go as far to say, that it offers less than any other 1080p projector.

The Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB (and the Pro Cinema 1080 UB), by comparison is more of a mixed bag. Epson's primary "best" mode, is Theatre Black 1, and it is very good out of the box, but not the exceptional color balance of the JVC DLA-RS1 (and hopefully the RS1x) when you first turn it on.

The JVC has only three modes, compared to seven for the Epson. All three JVC modes are at least very good. That's definitely not true for a few of the Epson modes. Most significantly when you need a brighter mode than Theatre Black 1, then Living Room mode, and Dynamic become your top choices.

I can say with confidence, that Epson's default Living Room mode is way off, I mean big time! Dynamic you expect to be off a fair amount, as most projectors push color saturation, the color green, and other aspects to cut through ambient light. Both Dynamic and Living room though can be fixed however, or rather significantly improved, reasonably easily.

Bottom Line: The JVC is no fuss at all, out of the box, when it comes to color. The Epson by comparison does very well, but not as good as the JVC in its best mode, but when you go to the brighter ones, something should be done, even if you are not an enthusiast.

Black Levels and Shadow Details

Last year the JVC DLA-RS1 set a new standard for black level performance for today's home theater projectors. In fact, until the even better JVC DLA-RS2 hit the streets, I'm not sure there are any home cinema projectors other than the old huge CRT types (CRT's do not have black level issues - they can produce pure black - no color at all), that could do better than the RS1, at any price.

So, here comes the RS1x. Its black level performance should be identical to the RS1 it replaces.

Generally contrast ratios have been a good guide to black level performance, but that changed when some (now most) home theater projectors added dynamic irises to provide superior black level performance on darker scenes.

The JVC RS1x claims 15,000:1 contrast ratio, but the JVC's as a group, do not use dynamic irises, instead they re-engineered their LCoS panels for superior black levels.

By comparison, the Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB (and the Pro version) do have dynamic irises, and claim a record breaking (in terms of non-CRT home projectors) 50,000:1 contrast ratio! (The next closest to that number is the JVC RS2, with 35,000:1.)

Even on very dark scenes with no bright areas, the Epson can't quite match the JVC, although with dynamic irises, there are a lot of variables. Perhaps better would be to say, that at its very best, the Epson rivals the JVC on those dark only scenes. When there are bright areas on the content, though the JVC definitely has the advantage. My point is, though, that the Epson, while not as perfect in this regard, is so close, that I have only tested one other 1080p projector, the Sony VPL-VW60 - which competes directly with the JVC projectors. I'll also give the Sony VW60 the advantage over the Epson, but it is very, very slight, at best.

The black level performance of the Epson is one of the things I love best about it. Not the best, but "close enough" for all but the most discriminating, and close enough for those guys, if the budget doesn't allow for a JVC.

Overall Picture Quality

The JVC, produces the more natural or "film-like" image of the two, but the Epson, although slightly "harder" looking is still very good.

Let me put it this way, which I have published previously, in my blog, or on one of the forums: When I recently had in-house, the BenQ W5000, Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB, and Sony VPL-VW40, all at the same time, and could compare them to my JVC RS1, here is my conclusion:

If I had to give up my JVC RS1, I favor the Epson. It is the one, that would keep me happiest. The Epson, although less perfect than the JVC, has strengths that make it more different, than lower quality. By comparison, the other two, were to me, simply not serious competition to the RS1, switching from the RS1 to the BenQ or Sony, left me wanting. Switching to the Epson left me fully satisfied, even though it's not quite as good. I hope that make sense, because that is a key reason I chose th Epson as the winner in its price range. If I couldn't afford the JVC RS1 or RS1x, the Epson would definitely be my lower cost choice!

JVC DLA-RS1x, and Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB Cinemascope and Aspect Ratios

Neither Epson, nor the JVC RS1, or RS1x support use of an anamorphic lens, so you cannot go pure Cinemascope (2.35:1) with no letter boxes, with either projector. Or, rather, you can, but to do so, you will need to buy an outboard processor, which can cost as little as around $1000, but most are $2000 - $3000+. Epson does not offer any such processors in their lineup, but there are plenty out there to choose from. JVC now offers two different ones, both over $3000.

Projector Pricing

These projectors are in two completely different price ranges (and different categories in this comparsion report). The Home version of the Epson is selling for upward of $2500, and the Pro version for about $1000 more. (The Pro comes with a ceiling mount, and also a spare lamp, which together could be valued around $500. Also the Pro Cinema 1080 UB, comes with a third year warranty, for that difference).

By comparison, the JVC DLA-RS1 typcially sells for around $5000, or now, I would assume (don't know) less, now that it is being replaced by the DLA-RS1x, which should stay closer to $5000 for the immediate future.

So, that means that the Epson can be not much more than half the price, if you go with the Home version. That makes the Epson my choice if you can't afford a JVC. Whether to buy the JVC, if you can afford one, compared to the Epson, will depend on how much you are willing to spend for a slightly better, slightly more natural, overall picture quality. When comparing these two, it's about diminishing returns.

Projector Value

The Epson's value proposition is probably the best of all the projectors in the review, although one could argue for the less competent, but far less expensive Sanyo PLV-Z2000. The JVC's value lies in unmatched performance, for its price or less. Bottom line: If you are an enthusiast, or in this case, maybe I should say, "a purist" , the JVC is worth every penny, although those with even more money to spend must also consider the even more pricey DLA-RS2.

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Art's Two Cents

I think you've figured it out. If you want a great projector in your home, but are limited on the bucks, one of the Epsons is the way to go. If you are seeking that last extra bit of exceptional performance, and budget allows, spring for the JVC.

That's my general guideline. Another reason, for spending more on the JVC projectors, is that the JVC's are definitely brighter than the Epsons when both are in "best" picture quality mode, so for larger screens, the JVC definitely has a significant advantage for movie watching.

Of course, there's always a catch. If you are also a big TV / Sports fan, and can live with less than "best" mode performance for that type of viewing, the Epson is almost twice as bright as the JVC. With a "tuned" Dynamic mode on the Epson putting out over 1500 lumens, while the JVC measured just less than 900 in its best mode. I think that extra horsepower on the Epson's in brighter modes is another key reason why the Epson is an exceptional value.

Click on these links to read more in-depth comparisons.

Panasonic PT-AE2000U vs. Sanyo PLV-Z2000
Mitsubishi HC4900 vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U
Sanyo PLV-Z2000 vs. Mitsubishi HC4900
Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB vs. JVC DLA-RS1x
Sony VPL-VW40 vs. Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB
Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB vs. Panasonic PT-AE2000U
BenQ W5000 vs. Sony VPL-VW40
JVC DLA-RS2 vs. Sony VPL-VW60

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons