Wow! Even given that my own RS1 has about 1000 hours on the lamp (which means mine is not as bright as when new), the switch to the RS2 was immediately impressive (despite being rated at 600 lumens vs. 700 lumens for the JVC RS1). Black levels are improved, and noticeably so. I also put the RS2 side by side with the Sony VW60, and took a number of photos. I’d say, off the top, that the JVC DLA-RS2 has as much advantage over the new Sony, as the older RS1 had against the VW50. Some of those side-by-side images will appear in the review when published.

I immediately detected what seems to be a slight amount of black crushing (I haven’t measured or calibrated yet), however the quick fix, was not brightness, but to change the gamma from Normal to Theater 1. Better might be to go to a custom gamma of 2.1 (or maybe 2.0) instead of the default 2.2. I’ll know more as I progress…

OK, I started this post two days ago, but never posted it. Now I can tell you that I have measured the JVC RS2, and the review projector sent to me, if possible, is even more dead on the money, than an RS1. The combination of the Cinema setting and Low color temperature, is superb. For those who care, measuring at 100 IRE (white) and gray levels of 80IRE, 50IRE and 30IRE, are all within 110K a tiny variation, with 30 IRE bein the lowest at 6379K and white (100 IRE) the coolest, at 6488. And green is virtually in perfect balance at all IREs measured. In otherwords, the RS2 is ready to go, if all production projectors are as tightly tuned as this one.

One difference between the two projectors is fine tuning the color. With the RS2, there are now two Memory settings in addition to Low, Medium and High color temperatures. I did use Memory 1 to adjust the color temperature very slightly, to be even closer to the ideal 6500K. I’ll publish those numbers in the review.

BTW, a week ago I projected that the review would post Monday night. At the time I just wasn’t thinking ahead, and didn’t realize Monday night is Christmas eve.

So, look for the review to post Wednesday, probably early evening.

Some have asked me about motion blur, something associated with LCD and LCoS projectors (and absent from DLP’s because those chips are faster. The motion blur eludes me. I just don’t see it, and I do wonder if some are more sensitive to it than others. It may be like the rainbow effect with single chip DLP projectors, some are bothered by it, most never see it. So, I don’t see any motion blur, but others might.

Like the RS1, the JVC RS2 has plenty of brightness in best mode, handling my 128″ firehawk screen without any problem, when the room is fully darkened. And again, like the RS1, the RS2 doesn’t get a real boost in lumens when you select Normal or Dynamic modes. So, while the RS2 is, in best mode, one of the brightest projectors around (with only the Optoma HD81-LV and InFocus IN82 being significantly brighter) for movie watching, it doesn’t have a whole lot of extra power if you want sports with some lights on. That said, I’ve watched tons of TV and especially sports with modest lighting, on the RS1, and have no doubt that the RS2 will do just as well.

That’s enough for now, look for the review. Bottom line: Looks like the JVC RS2 will be the home theater projector to beat, in the under $10K range, unless you have need for one of the couple of projectors that is significantly brighter. None of the lower priced projectors though, can match its brightness, overall.

• See peer reviews of Home Theater Projectors at HomeTheaterForum.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2007 at 12:32 am and is filed under New Projector Reviews, Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.