JVC DLA-RS35 Projector Calibration and Settings
We calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. Normally we just do a basic grayscale calibration, but the JVC DLA-RS35 projector also benefits from having its individual colors calibrated in its Color Management System.
If you are seriously considering the RS35, and aren't doing your own calibrations, it makes sense to bring in a pro. At this level in the game, calibrating can go beyond the projector to the input devices, room conditions, etc. Keep in mind that this projector is about as good as it's going to get in terms of under $10,000 projectors. The "out of the box" performance of the JVC DLA-RS35 is rather very good, it definitely improves with a proper calibration.
3/2/2010 - Art Feierman
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JVC DLA-RS35 Color Temperature
First, here are the color temperature measurements for the Cinema 2 mode, as well as the THX mode.
Important clarification: Cinema 2, and THX modes are almost identical, but for this important difference. The CMS for THX is already "calibrated" and is not user adjustable. Cinema 2 allows you to use the CMS system.
Out of the box, THX is definitely superior to Cinema 2. The color temp and brightness may be essentially identical, but the THX mode's individual color adjustments (RGBCYM) are better, and you get better skin tones, etc.
Like with the recent RS25 and last year's RS20 the thing is, we believe, that we can improve slightly of the THX settings, by calibrating Cinema 2.
That said, THX is extremely good. One of the best "out of the box" performances we've encountered.
These are the measurements, taken "right out of the box."
Color Temp over IRE Range (Pre calibration):
Cinema 2 THX
30 IRE 6463 6462
50 IRE 6670 6670
80 IRE 6752 6755
Essentially identical, but in THX mode many image controls are not accessable.
Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Cinema 1= 624 @ 5979
Cinema 2= 680 @ 6870
Cinema 3= 726 @ 8030
Natural= 670 @ 6892
Stage= 724 @ 8033
Dynamic= 774 @ 10161, 781 @ 10143 with Color Sat. set to 0
THX= 677 @ 6877
User 1 or 2= 677 @ 6891
JVC DLA-RS35 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 |
THX |
Contrast = (0) |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
-1 |
Brightness = (0) |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Color Sat. = |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(10) |
(0) -12 |
Tint = |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
(0) |
Color Temp = |
(5800) |
(6500) |
(7500) |
(6500) |
(7500) |
(High Bright) |
(6500) |
Gamma = |
(B) |
(A) |
(C) |
(Normal) |
(D) |
(D) |
(Normal) |
Both User modes (1 and 2) have same default and adjusted settings as THX mode
Lamp Mode=High (unless noted otherwise)
Lens aperture fully open
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 RS35 has those two User modes that start out the same as THX. 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-RS35, a calibration is necessary, but will only yield a slight improvement over THX mode. Dynamic mode seems improved in terms of color, compared to last year's RS20.
The CMS is much improved, as noted. This allows for a pretty straightforward calibration, without the hassles encountered by early buyers of the RS20 last year.
JVC DLA-RS35 Post Calibration Grayscale
So, how good does the final calibration look? Let's say the on screen image looks even better than the measured grayscale would anticipate.
Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):
20 IRE 6715
30 IRE 6571
40 IRE 6665
50 IRE 6649
60 IRE 6527
70 IRE 6581
80 IRE 6553
90 IRE 6537
100 IRE 6586
Average gamma= 2.26
Wow, that's pretty - except for a slight cooling trend down in the darkest ranges, the RS35 is superb. The color temp averages about 6575K.
Gamma settings:
The gamma controls on the RS35 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 and averages 2.26 (ideal is 2.2) over the range. Each of the four other preset gammas - A-D, have different curves, and do noticeably different things to different ranges of the image (bright, mid, dark, etc.).
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 some of the punch on 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, depending on the movie. C is my choice when I want to make the image more dynamic looking. B will also do that but is more "over the top" and typically "distorts" the original too much for my taste.
And of course, you can create your own, similar to any of these, with your own preferences, if you like to play.
JVC DLA-RS35 RGB Settings
These are the adjustments we made to Red, Green and Blue for the grayscale balance of THX mode. This is accomplished by placing these adjustments into one of the three Custom settings (1, 2, or 3). We placed all of these into User 1 (which starts out as a copy of THX).
Calibration settings for User 1:
Custom Gamma on 2.4, Color on -25
Custom Color Temp 1, 6500K ref.
Gain R = 1
G = 0
B = -11
Offset R = -4
G = 0
B = 0
CMS Settings: H=Hue, S=Saturation, B=Brightness
Red: H= 12, S= -18, B= 0
Yellow: H= 9, S= -46, B= 35
Green: H= -44, S= -46, B= 36
Cyan: H= 5, S= -59, B=55
Blue: H= 50, S= -20, B= 8
Magenta: H= -13, S= -20, B= 11
NOTE: In addition to the usual grayscale calibration, I tried two different methods of adjusting color via the CMS controls. The first one, on CMS Custom 1, uses the standard method of adjusting the controls with 75% Brightness windows for each color. The second one, on CMS Custom 2, uses 75% Saturation windows for each color. The second method results in a slightly better picture quality (less washed-out looking than the first method.
OK, you've got everything you need to copy our calibration efforts on your shiny new JVC DLA-RS35 projector. Of course, 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. Still, any shifts are fairly slight. If I end up purchasing the RS35 (with hand picked components and tighter quality control), I'll be calibrating it when new, and then likely redoing the calibration after about 300 hours. If that all happens, I'll post those numbers as well.
Bottom line: Skin tones, no, everything, tends to really look great, and natural, on our review RS35 using these settings. Gorgeous! I've run my RS20 against the RS35 with these settings, and no question, the RS35 looks better! In terms of faithful color accuracy and skin tones, this RS35 wins. The two projectors have the same flavor - feel - but the RS35 gets the gold.