JVC DLA-RS1 and Sharp XV-Z20000 Home Theater Projectors: A Comparison Review - Overview-3

Posted on July 22, 2007 by Art Feierman

JVC DLA-RS1 and Sharp XV-Z20000 Home Theater Projectors: A Comparison Review - Overview
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Sharp XV-Z20000 and JVC DLA-RS1 1080p Home Theater Projectors Reviewed: Image Quality
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JVC RS1 and Sharp XV-Z20000 1080p Projector Comparison Review - General Performance
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Sharp XV-Z20000 and JVC DLA-RS1 Projector Comparison: Warranty
1080p Home Theater Projector Comparison Review: Sharp XV-Z20000 and JVC DLA RS1: Summary, Pros, Cons
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1080p Home Theater Projector Comparison Review: Sharp XV-Z20000 and JVC DLA RS1: Summary, Pros, Cons-3

The JVC can be positioned much closer to your screen. For that 100” screen, as close as 9 feet, 10 inches, compared to the Sharp projector’s closest; 13 feet, 5 inches.

If you planning to shelf mount in the rear of your room, the JVC, still has a real advantage; back as far as 19 feet, 10 inches, compared to 18 feet, 2 inches. That extra foot and a half plus, may make a critical difference for a significant number of users' rooms. Of course, those with the Sharp could solve that problem by going to a slightly size larger screen, if practical. Overall, for those preferring shelf mounting (and that usually saves money on installation and wiring, compared to ceiling mounting), think this way: If your room is fairly square, and you like a medium to large screen size for your room, the Sharp probably won’t work on a rear shelf, as it would need to be too far back – further then the depth of the room. In addition, some folks with very long rooms, will find that the RS1 will work on a rear shelf, but the Sharp won’t, as it would need to be closer to the screen. There’s no good way to estimate what percentage of people might find the RS1 a good fit, and the Sharp, as impractical, but, if I had to take a guess, probably twice as many people could work with the JVC, as could work with the Sharp, shelf mounted in their room. It might be something like 45% could fit the Sharp, and 90% the JVC. (This is just my best guess.)

Quicktip; Generally, single chip projectors (DLP), have zoom lenses with limited range, and typically no lens shift, or just vertical, and even when they have lens shift, it is typically less than three chip projectors (LCD, LCOS, and the much more expensive 3 chip DLP projectors).

Both home theater projectors have vertical lens shift, but only the JVC has horizontal. Lacking horizontal is not normally an issue for the large majority, but it does mean that your ceiling mount must be perfectly positioned, left-to-right. Certainly having it, assures the correct image even if you are slightly (or dramatically) off-center.

Comparing vertical lens shift, the JVC DLA-RS1 has a slight, but significant advantage.

The Sharp XV-Z20000 projector can be placed, anywhere, as long as the center of the lens is located no higher than the top of the projector screen surface, and no lower than the bottom. The JVC RS1, though, can be as high as roughly 15 inches above the top, all the way down to 15 inches below the bottom of the screen surface.

If you are ceiling mounting, and have a taller ceiling, the advantage is that the pole supporting the projector, from the ceiling mount can be shorter, and the projector, higher, less noticeable in the room.

If you are shelf mounting, again, higher is less out of the way. As an added benefit, since neither of these projectors are especially quiet, a bit further from your ears, making it a touch quieter.

And, should you be setting your projector on a table, (not likely for people buying a projector in this class of performance), with the JVC, the table wouldn’t have to as tall as the bottom of your projector screen is from the floor. In other words, the JVC will probably work fine on a cocktail table, while the Sharp would need to be higher up.

You may want to stop right here and start thinking about your room.

If you find that placing the Sharp XV-Z20000 where you want/need it, in your room, is not possible, or a major hassle that you don’t want to deal with. And, if the JVC, on the other hand, works well in that same place, then you might want to go with the JVC. There really isn’t a major difference in image quality, so choosing the JVC projector would essentially be giving up nothing, and your life would be simpler placing it in your home theater.

Sharp XV-Z20000 and JVC DLA-RS1 Inputs and Controls

Here the tide turns a bit, to favor the Z20000. The Sharp simply has more high resolution inputs. The JVC has the better laid out control panel, but I don’t see that as a big thing, you’ll be using the remotes, or 3rd party remote, or a room control system, not the on-board control panel.

Perhaps the only truly annoying thing about the RS1, is its lack of a standard computer input, even though there are workarounds. I’m talking the standard analog input that will allow you to easily hook up a desktop or laptop computer. The Z20000, like virtually every other home theater, has one. Now, if you are like me, and do want the ability to hook up a PC or Mac, it still can be done. However, it certainly complicates things a bit. My solution, using a MacBook Pro, is to output from the laptop’s digital DVI port (it comes with a DVI to HDMI connector), into one of the JVC’s two HDMI inputs. It works! Unfortunately not many computers today come standard with a digital output. If you have a computer without, you can solve the problem with a new graphics card. For a laptop, that means a graphics card in one of your PC card or similar, slots. Then there’s configuring your computer for a new graphics card.