JVC DLA-RS1 1080p LCOS Home Theater Projector Review - Image Quality 2

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Art Feierman

JVC RS1 1080p D-iLA projector: Black Levels and Shadow Details

Click enlarge. So close. OK, while the JVC seems to be pretty impressive at most things, as I noted before, when it comes to black levels, it seems to be a class of one. Certainly nothing has entered my testing room that really comes close enough to give the RS1 a run for the money.

Click Image to Enlarge

I have taken far more images of dark scenes than usual, because of this, but I'll start with the usual "star field" scenes from those sci-fi flicks I like so much. Directly below, from Space Cowboys (HD-DVD), the blacks of the sky are deep and neutral with no apparent shift to any color. Thanks to the very dark black levels, more stars are revealed than with any other projector (with this exposure), by overexposing the scene far more stars become visible, but I have other images to demonstrate that in a bit. You'll find this image on just about all of the 1080p reviews to date (except the first - the Mitsubishi HC5000).

Next is the "starship" image from The Fifth Element, (standard DVD) that I have been using "for years". I normally show only one version, but in this case, I have provided a second image, overexposed slightly. Never before on any projector, have I been able to see this many stars, or even close: If you compare this image same on other projectors, you'll find that the starfield is most impressive, even though this image is a bit underexposed than others. But check this out below: