The Best 1080p Resolution Home Theater Projectors of 2007
04/25/2007-Art Feierman

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons

1080p Home Theater Projectors - Summary and Comparisons:

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

Panasonic PT-AE1000U vs Epson Home Cinema 1080
Epson Home Cinema 1080 vs Mitsubishi HC5000
3LCD: PT-AE1000U vs Home Cinema 1080 vs Mitsubishi HC5000
BenQ W9000 vs Panasonic PT-AE1000U
Sony VW50 Pearl vs Mitsubishi HC5000
Optoma HD81 vs. Sony VW50 Pearl
Optoma HD81 vs BenQ W9000 and W10000
BenQ W10000 vs JVC RS1
JVC RS1 vs Sony VW50 Pearl
JVC RS1 vs Optoma HD81
JVC RS1 vs Panasonic PT-AE1000U
Summary - The Bottom Line

JVC DLA-RS1 vs Sony VPL-VW50 Pearl

Ahh, finally! The battle of the two LCOS projectors. Both companies have been pioneering LCOS projectors for years, but finally, they each have a great projector, that not only competes with other technologies, but is superior to the other technologies, in many ways.

The Sony VPL-VW50 Pearl projector. Sony Pearl VW50 (right) relies on dynamic systems (iris, etc.) to get great black levels. By comparison JVC, it seems, has re-engineered their LCOS chips to rather phenomenally, leapfrog past DLP in contrast and black level performance. And to think a year or so ago, LCOS was considered dramatically inferior to DLP in this regard.

Back to these two projectors. The battle joined, is easy to call. Overall, the JVC (below) is just the better projector. As great as the Sony's black level, and shadow detail performance is, the JVC is simply, better. Unlike comparing the JVC to the BenQ, or if I dared, one of the LCD's, the black level difference is not HUGE, but is still very significant and visible. Lucky for Sony, I received theirs first, and was wow'd. Had I received The JVC DLA-RS1 projector. the JVC first...

Sharpness, is virtually a tie, at least between the review JVC RS1 I had, and the review Sony Pearl I had. I had them both for about two days, and stared at them extensively, projecting images side by side on my screen. I do believe the JVC has a tiny advantage in sharpness, but more often than not, I couldn't tell a difference.

Physically, these are two relatively large projectors, so no advantage. Both have wide range zooms - 1.8:1 for the Sony vs. 2:1 for the JVC. The Sony has powered focus, zoom and vertical lens shift (a really nice touch for setup), whereas the JVC has manual lens and lens shift, but also has horizontal lens shift. Note, Sony let's you make a very minor horizontal lens shift if needed, but we are talking fine tuning, only an inch or three, either way.

Both have two year warranties, and both have very nice remotes (although I'll definitely give the remote advantage to the RS1).

Brightness a huge advantage for the JVC, which I measured to be 773 lumens vs the Sony's 430, in their "best" modes. In brightest mode, that changes dramatically; the JVC increasing to 893 (without tweaking) but the Sony which I did fiddle with, beat that with 925 lumens. Let's just say I can probably adjust the JVC to beat the Sony overall, perhaps by more than 100 lumens, but I'll call them about a tie, for when you want max lumens and are willing to sacrifice some image quality.

Those of you who are fans of Sony, despair not, the Sony has an ace in the hole - price. To put it simply, the Sony sells for about $1500 or so, less than the RS1, and that is going to win it lots of customers.

I figure two groups, the first, with limited funds, who appreciate that the Sony is one fine projector, especially for a price they can reach, without having to go out and rob 7-11s. The other group, simply want's a great projector, and may realize that while the JVC ulitmately is the better of the two, it's just not worth the extra cost to them, or they believe that they can put that money to uses that may offset the advantage. For example, take that extra $1500 and put it towards a Stewart Firehawk screen, instead of an Elite or Da-lite.

Bottom line: The Sony VW50 Pearl is certainly good enough for all but the fanatic (who will never be perfectly happy). The JVC RS1 is just definitively better. My best analogy (although not that great) will have to be cars again. Let's say the Sony is a fully loaded Camry, and the RS1 is a fully loaded Lexus: Very similar, but a step up, and comparably more expensive.

Someone already asked me this question: Which is the better value, considering the price difference? My response was - about tie. The Sony is an excellent value for its price, and the JVC RS1 is worth the difference!

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So, look in your wallet, check your credit card line, and make your call. From what I hear on the street, is that many agree with me about the incredible performance of the JVC RS1, causing a huge backorder situation for the JVC. Over the next month or two (from late April '07), many will have to wait a month or more to get their RS1's as JVC has to catch up with the huge initial demand. Having to wait may also make a difference to some who will just as soon say, "I can live happily with the Sony, get it right away, and save some big bucks." You'll have to figure out if you fit that description.

Me? I bought the JVC. I was lucky, thanks to the JVC folks, and only had to wait a couple of weeks. Having it hooked up for a week now, I know I made the right choice!

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

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons

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