JVC DLA-RS15 Projector Calibration and Settings
The JVC DLA-RS15 home theater projector lacks the full CMS - color management system - found on the more expensive JVC's. This means that you can only calibrate it "so far". That happens to be plenty far, however, as we obtained a rather great looking image with fine skin tones, with a standard grayscale calibration.
3/2/2010 - Art Feierman
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The JVC RS15 lacks the rather excellently pre-calibrated THX mode found on the more expensive JVC's. A good calibration will be needed to get the most out of an RS15. It looks pretty good out of the box, but it does get better.
JVC DLA-RS15 Color Temperature
All of the JVC presets offer a bit cool white, with white (100 IRE) at 7142K or higher, instead of our "optimal" 6500K.
That said, the JVC RS15's color temperature gets warmer, as we go down the grayscale, until it's actually very warm by 30 IRE.
These are the measurements, taken "right out of the box."
Color Temp over IRE Range, Best mode (Pre calibration):
Cinema 2
30 IRE 5865K
50 IRE 6486K
80 IRE 6832K
100 IRE 7165K
For your convenience, these were the starting measurements. You can see that Cinema 1, 2, Natural, and the User modes start out the same, with the differences here, simply relating to the level of accuracy of the gear.
Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Cinema 1= 711 @ 7142
Cinema 2= 722 @ 7165
Cinema 3= 751 @ 8504
Natural= 721 @ 7183
Stage= 751 @ 8297
Dynamic= 763 @ 9125
User 1 or 2= 721 @ 7180
JVC DLA-RS15 Post Calibration Grayscale
Here's a look at the results of Mike's calibration (saved to User 1):
Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):
20 IRE 7141
30 IRE 6517
40 IRE 6567
50 IRE 6648
60 IRE 6623
70 IRE 6526
80 IRE 6548
90 IRE 6574
100 IRE 6737
After calibration Mike's got this small color temp spike over 7100K in the darkest ranges that's mostly a blue tinted green. It's just there, a little off, but rarely of any consequence. White is still technically a touch cool, but that's real close to right on. The RS15 does not calibrate as well as the more expensive JVC's, but we are still talking about some pretty good numbers, and a great picture, to match.
While the end result looks extremely good, including skin tones, this JVC is not as dead on as the other JVC's or some of its competitors.
JVC DLA-RS15 Basic Settings
In addition to calibrating Red Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment.
Our final settings (the default settings for Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Tint are all 0, in all modes). Mike made adjustments to these, and the Color Temp settings for each of the seven modes:
|
Cinema 1 |
Cinema 2 |
Cinema 3 |
Natural |
Stage |
Dynamic |
Contrast = (0) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-2 |
Brightness = (0) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Color Sat. = |
(-25) |
(-3) |
(-3) |
(0) |
(0) |
(10) |
Tint = |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
Color Temp = |
(5800) |
(6500) |
(7500) |
(6500) |
(7500) |
(High Bright) |
Gamma = |
(C) |
(A) |
(B) |
(Normal) |
(D) |
(D) |
Both User modes have same default settings as Natural mode
Lamp Mode=High (unless noted otherwise)
Lens aperture fully open (3) for all
All other settings at default (untouched)
Zoom set at mid-point for all measurements
Note, the JVC does not have User savable settings (you can customize all modes). The RS15 has those two User modes. When we say "not savable", understand: If you make changes, the next time you go to that mode, those changes will still be there. But, if you make more changes, the older ones are lost. With a true User Savable memory, once you hit save, you will always get those settings back, unless you make changes and resave the User mode.
To get the very most out of the DLA-RS15, a calibration is necessary. You can try our settings, but, we feel projectors in this price range should be individually calibrated.
JVC RS15 Gamma settings:
The gamma controls on the RS15 allow for detailed customization, including different gamma curves for each primary color! You can have about as much fun as you would like, customizing gamma for your screen, room conditions, personal tastes, etc.
Ultimately though, Normal is the default. Mike measured an average of 2.08, a little lower than the theoretically ideal 2.2 gamma. (There's a lot of variation out there, in terms of the actually gamma of the content.)
In addition there are three Custom gamma modes (1,2,3) which you can tinker with. You can start with any one of the preset gammas (Normal, A-D), copy that into a Custom, and modify from there. You can even set different gamma settings for the different primary colors (red, green, blue), or all at once with white. This is one of the more comprehensive customizable gamma modes I've encountered. (and much fun to play with). of the Preset Gammas, I tend to favor Normal C, or D.
The A setting lifts the brightness in the very darkest areas, making dark shadow detail more visible, but, by doing so, removes a small amount of the punch on very dark scenes. B setting mostly lifts brightness in the 40 to 80 IRE range. It adds punch and also makes those sunny days seem sunnier. Gamma C is much like B, but a little less push in those brighter ranges, and a little push added at the low end to bring up the very darkest shadow detail. In other words, C, is very much like a cross between A and B, and personally preferable to either. Gamma D lifts the mid-tones only slightly. It is closest to Normal, but "brightens" the mid-range just slightly.
Basically I tend to favor D over Normal, but it's not uncommon of me to change a gamma setting once I start watching. C is my choice when I want to make the image more dynamic looking. B will also do that but is often "over the top" and typically "distorts" the original too much for my taste. (when I'm being an image snob)
And of course, you can create your own, similar to any of these, with your own preferences, if you like to play.
JVC DLA-RS15 RGB Settings
These are the adjustments we made to Red, Green and Blue for the grayscale balance. Mike placed these settings into User 1.
Calibration settings for User 1: Quick cal settings for User 2:
Gamma on Normal, Color on –12 Gamma on D, Color on 0
Custom Color Temp 1, 6500K ref. Custom Color Temp, High Bright ref.
Gain R = 9 R = 0
G = -7 G = 0
B = -21 B = -30
Offset R = -11 R = 0
G = -2 G = 0
B = -1 B = 0
Brightness Post Calibration (mid-point on the zoom lens):
657 lumens 746 lumens
If you wish, you've got everything you need to copy our calibration efforts on your shiny new JVC DLA-RS15 projector.
Keep in mind, there will be slight variations due to the lamp (and lamp performance will change over time). We calibrated with the lamp virtually brand new, as opposed to waiting a couple hundred hours, which is generally considered more ideal. There will be a continuing very slight shift in color over the life of the lamp.
Bottom line: With these settings, this DLA-RS15 projector puts a really impressive image up on the screen.