JVC DLA-RS20 – Performance

JVC DLA-RS20 Brightness

While there are a number of improvements in the JVC DLA-RS20, compared with the RS2, perhaps the most important to many, is a substantial increase in brightness. Certainly it is important to me, in considering buying an RS20, as the older RS2 simply did not have the horsepower (lumens) to fill my 128″ Firehawk G3 screen. I’m pleased to report that the JVC RS20, by comparison, has no trouble filling my full screen for movie watching. As with all the other JVC home theater projectors I have reviewed, the RS20 is only slightly brighter in its brightest mode, than in its “best” viewing mode. That may still cause some consternation for folks who like to watch sports and TV with some ambient light present. Let’s start with our measurements, “right out of the box”:

DLA-RS20 Projector - Uncalibrated

Cinema 2: 722 lumens

The Effect of zoom lens positioning on brightness

Our standard measurements reported are done with the zoom at its mid-point. Here are relative numbers from the Cinema 1mode, for different lens positioning

Thus at the maximum zoom distance, the lumens are 18% lower. At the closest distance (wide angle), they are 15% greater. (The same ratios should apply to any preset mode)