JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour3 Posted on August 3, 2011 By Art Feierman 1. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Review - DLA-HD250 Projector Highlights - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Overview2. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Overview23. JVC DLA-HD250 Special Features - LCoS Projector - D-iLA - Individual SXRD panel adjustment - DLA-HD250 - First JVC in a while to lack CFI4. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour - JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Appearance - Control Panel5. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour2 - Input/Output - JVC DLA-HD250 Menus6. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour3 - JVC DLA-HD250 Remote Control - DLA-HD250 Lens Throw - DLA-HD250 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens7. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality - DLA-HD250 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones8. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality2 - Flesh Tones Image Comparison - JVC HD250 Black Levels & Shadow Detail9. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality3 - Black Levels Comparison10. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Thumbnail Comparison11. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality5 - The Night Train Comparison 12. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality6 - Overall Color & Picture Quality13. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality7 - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports14. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance - JVC DLA-HD250 Brightness - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - Un-calibrated - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - Calibrated - Effect of zoom on lumen output (Dynamic mode) - Effect of Lens Aperture setting on lumen output (Dynamic mode)15. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance2 - Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison - JVC DLA-HD250: Bottom Line Sharpness16. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance3 - Light Leakage - JVC DLA-HD250 Image Noise - DLA-HD250 Audible Noise17. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings - JVC DLA-HD250 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Best mode (Pre calibration) - For your convenience, these were the starting measurements18. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings2 - JVC DLA-HD250 Post Calibration Grayscale - Mike's calibration (saved to User 1) - JVC DLA-HD250 Basic Settings19. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings3 - JVC HD250 Gamma settings - JVC DLA-HD250 RGB Settings20. JVC DLA-HD250 – Screen Recommendations - JVC HD250 Projector Screen Recommendations21. JVC DLA-HD250 – Competitors - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8700UB, Pro 9700UB - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. JVC DLA-RS25/RS40 - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. BenQ W6000 - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. 22. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Warranty23. JVC HD250 – Review Summary - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - The Bottom Line - JVC DLA-HD250 Brightness24. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Pros - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Cons - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Typical Capabilities25. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Specifications JVC DLA-HD250 Remote ControlClick to enlarge. so close. I own the “old” JVC DLA-RS20 which comes with the same remote control as the HD250 and HD250Pro come with. I never was satisfied with the range on the remote, and I’m still not! JVC upgraded the remote to all their models when they brought out the RS15, RS25, and RS35, and their consumer equivalents, but with the new HD250 they have regressed. Perhaps they had bins full of these old remotes, to get rid of? Mind you once you get past the limited range, and also the slightly soft feel of some buttons, it’s a respectable remote. Still… To paraphrase what I said in last year’s DLA-RS15 review – ‘perhaps the single greatest improvement of the RS15 is the new remote’ – so you can see why I’m bummed with the switch back to the “old” one. If I shelf mount my RS20 behind me, there is no way I can get a good bounce off of the screen, I’ll be foolishly holding the remote up and pointing behind me, every time I need to change something. The same would be true for the HD250. Overall, the buttons are well organized and fairly well spaced. The buttons are of decent size. At the top are two power buttons. On the right is Power On, and on the left, is Standby (power off). You press Standby twice to power down. The next pair are Lens (brings up the Lens focus, zoom, and shift controls), and Input. Below those two are the Info button, Lens AP (aperture) for the manual iris, and on the right, Aspect ratio selection. Next come eight image controls, including: Gamma, Color Temp, Color saturation, Tint, N.R. (noise reduction), Brightness, Contrast, and Sharpness. Right above the four arrow keys in a round arrangement, are a Test button (toggles between test patterns) and a Hide button to black out the image. In the center of the four arrow keys is a very large enter button. Below the arrow keys are the Menu button on the left, and Back button on the right. There are 8 buttons for the modes, toward the bottom, Cinema 1, 2, Dynamic, etc. Three of the buttons are for your user defined modes User 1,2,3. Finally! the last button, a wide thin one is the backlight button. It’s in a good place. Since the remote itself is very dark, it’s nice that the Light button glows slightly in the dark. Not bad, could be better. But then, remember, we reviewers are constantly playing with settings as we test and view products. You owners, will, by comparision hardly use the remote at all except for powering up and down and changing presets. Other than the limited range, I have been pretty pleased with the rest of the remotes function. The amber backlight is just about right, in brightness, and easy to read the black labels placed on each lit up button. Click Image to EnlargeDLA-HD250 Lens ThrowJVC has been using this setup for about 4 years now, going back to the JVC RS1. The JVC HD250’s 2:1 aspect ratio zoom lens provides excellent placement flexibility for ceiling or shelf mounting. To fill a 100 inch diagonal, 16:9 aspect ratio screen, the front of the projector can be as close as 9 feet, 11 inches, or as far back as 20 feet, 2 inches. Using these measurements for 100 inches, you can figure out the range for any other screen size. These are the same as with previous few years JVC projectors. Same lens… In this case, the logic “if it works, don’t change it” seems to fit nicely. DLA-HD250 Lens ShiftJVC’s DLA-HD250 and HD250Pro have plenty of lens shift. As a bonus, it’s even motorized. For that same 100 inch screen, the projector can be placed anywhere between 15 inches above the top of your screen surface, to 15 inches below the bottom of the screen surface. Those are approximates, as JVC doesn’t have exact numbers in its manual. Certainly there are projectors with a more lens shift, and plenty with less. All considered, the JVC’s lens shift offers pretty good flexibility. The JVC supports horizontal as well as vertical lens shift. The horizontal lens shift allows a maximum of about 30 inches to the left or right of the center point on that 100″ screen, and appropriately more on larger screens. Note: The more vertical you use, the less horizontal is available, and vice versa. If you have maximum vertical, there is no horizontal lens shift. Thanks to the large zoom range, plus motorized features, including lens shift, allows me, and other owners of Cinemascope shaped screens (2.35:1, 2.4:1…), who can place the projector within the front half of the zoom lense’s range, can fill their 2.35:1 screen with a movie, no letterbox on the screen (and therefore no letterbox visible at all, if your walls are dark). When we then want to watch standard HDTV aspect ratio, be it HDTV, or some movies, and lots of other content, all we have to do is zoom out, to make the image smaller and fit the vertical. (The letterbox ends up on the sides.) I’d rather have not letterbox for movies, than sports, etc. What I’m describing is essentially what Panasonic does at the touch of a button with their Lens Memory feature (and I figure they have that patented, since no one else has automated it). In this case, though, manually, you have to adjust the zoom first, then adjust the lens shift, and finally refocus, as working all those controls is likely to leave the lens just slightly out of focus. How much time does it take me, to go from Cinemascope to HDTV, making the adjustments, or doing it in the reversde direction? Typically the process was taking me about one minute. I can live with that. If you can’t, buy a Panny, or a 16:9 screen! Anamorphic LensEven though the JVC DLA-HD250 and the DLA-HD250Pro are their entry level home theater projectors, they offer the necessary vertical stretch aspect ratio to support an external anamorphic lens for Cinemascope. Although I failed to confirm it (I just realized), I don’t believe the JVC offers the second anamorphic lens mode, that would allow viewers to watch conventional aspect ratios (16:9, 4:3) with the anamorphic lens still in place. This would basically mean you not only need the anamorphic lens, but also a motorized sled, to move it in and out of the light path. Technically a sled is better than the second aspect ratio, but as that can add $2000 more, beyond the anamorphic lens price, one ends up spending more for the lens and sled, than for the projector. That tends to make one want to look at alternatives, or skip going “anamorphic” altogether. 1. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Review - DLA-HD250 Projector Highlights - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Overview2. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Overview23. JVC DLA-HD250 Special Features - LCoS Projector - D-iLA - Individual SXRD panel adjustment - DLA-HD250 - First JVC in a while to lack CFI4. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour - JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Appearance - Control Panel5. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour2 - Input/Output - JVC DLA-HD250 Menus6. JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour3 - JVC DLA-HD250 Remote Control - DLA-HD250 Lens Throw - DLA-HD250 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens7. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality - DLA-HD250 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones8. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality2 - Flesh Tones Image Comparison - JVC HD250 Black Levels & Shadow Detail9. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality3 - Black Levels Comparison10. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality4 - Shadow Detail Performance - Thumbnail Comparison11. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality5 - The Night Train Comparison 12. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality6 - Overall Color & Picture Quality13. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality7 - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports14. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance - JVC DLA-HD250 Brightness - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - Un-calibrated - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - Calibrated - Effect of zoom on lumen output (Dynamic mode) - Effect of Lens Aperture setting on lumen output (Dynamic mode)15. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance2 - Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison - JVC DLA-HD250: Bottom Line Sharpness16. JVC DLA-HD250 – Performance3 - Light Leakage - JVC DLA-HD250 Image Noise - DLA-HD250 Audible Noise17. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings - JVC DLA-HD250 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Best mode (Pre calibration) - For your convenience, these were the starting measurements18. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings2 - JVC DLA-HD250 Post Calibration Grayscale - Mike's calibration (saved to User 1) - JVC DLA-HD250 Basic Settings19. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Calibration and Settings3 - JVC HD250 Gamma settings - JVC DLA-HD250 RGB Settings20. JVC DLA-HD250 – Screen Recommendations - JVC HD250 Projector Screen Recommendations21. JVC DLA-HD250 – Competitors - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8700UB, Pro 9700UB - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. JVC DLA-RS25/RS40 - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. BenQ W6000 - JVC DLA-HD250 vs. 22. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Warranty23. JVC HD250 – Review Summary - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector - The Bottom Line - JVC DLA-HD250 Brightness24. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Pros - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Cons - JVC DLA-HD250 Projector: Typical Capabilities25. JVC DLA-HD250 Projector Specifications JVC DLA-HD250 Physical Tour2 JVC DLA-HD250 Projector – Image Quality