JVC DLA-RS10 Projector Screen Recommendations
Great projectors tend to look great on any good screen. The trick with the RS10 is to match the screen to your room, and your viewing requirements.
For example, the RS10 has excellent black level performance, so you really don't need to have a high contrast gray screen, such as the Firehawk G3 that I use in my main theater. That is, unless it is to deal with some (side) ambient light.
That's not to say that I don't appreciate the "blacker" blacks I get with the Firehawk. I'm simply saying that even on a white surface, blacks are pretty impressive. For those with a fully light controlled room, for example, the StudioTek 130 G3, or other moderate gain white surfaces, should be an excellent match. I had no issues with the black levels when switching to my Carada Brilliant White 106" screen (which is used for almost all of our images).
Thanks to the RS10's brightness in calibrated Cinema 1, the RS10 has plenty of horsepower to handle the full 128" diagonal size of my Firehawk G3, in fact it still had enough lumens to spare that I can reduce the iris from its maximum setting of 3, to 2, and still have sufficient brightness.
For those of us who also like to watch sports, or typical TV/HDTV programming in an environment with some intentional ambient light, the Dynamic modes is just slightly brighter, so there's not a lot of spare lumens to deal with ambient light. In a room like mine, while I don't need the Firehawk surface for great movie watching (room fully darkened), the screen's handling of side ambient light really comes in handy for dealing with the intentional ambient light I like for sports viewing, much of which comes from the sides. For that, the Firehawk does a great job.
Bottom line, get a good screen that meets your lighting requirements. Preferably is should be a very fine surface, designed for 1080p projectors. For those wanting really large screens, higher gain screens may do the trick but remember, they have a narrow viewing cone (where you sit) and tend to roll off brightness in the corners.
Just in case it helps you choose: With my Firehawk G3, I was very concerned about having enough brightness for sports viewing the way I like it. I probably would not have been fully happy with the brightest output the RS10 can offer (a safe bet, because that's exactly how I have felt about my RS1). Fortunately, though, we just re-painted, with dark rust wall color and darkened the light ceiling several shades. This made the viewing much better than with the light walls, etc.
Now, however, that the window frames are dark, I have less uncontrollable outside ambient light coming in from the sides of my motorized window shades. With the light from the windows less significant, I compensate by using my ceiling lighting controls, to get the room the way I like it for sports. I am pleased with the results. That's not to say I wouldn't rather see the RS10 have an extra 500 or more lumens in brightest mode.
