JVC DLA-RS440U Review – A Serious, 4K Capable Home Theater Projector-Performance

JVC DLA-RS440U Projector Review – Performance: Brightness, Contrast, Audible Noise

If there's one thing JVC home theater projectors have long been known for, it's their having the projectors with the highest native contrast.  Even without, the RS440U's dynamic iris engaged, there are few projectors (mostly more expensive) that can come close to handling dark scenes, like this JVC.

Iris engaged, you have to start looking at some Sony projectors that start at about double the RS440U / X590's to find comparable blacks.  (Of course, in fairness, that Sony - the VW685ES, is native 4K, not a 1080p pixel shifter, so it is inherently sharper, for that extra price difference as well.)

Still, the point is, you love deep blacks on very dark scenes, you can't beat this JVC without spending a lot more!

We take most measurements with a projectors's zoom lens set to its mid-point. On projectors with a lot of zoom range, like this JVC with its 2.1:1 zoom lens, means a significant change in brightness depending on where you place the projector relative to your screen.  The closer you place it, the brighter.  How much?

Well, most modes including Users 1-5 (which we used here) measured 1894 at mid-zoom.

Brightness ncreased just over 5% to 1986 lumens at full wide angle (closest position possible).

At maximum distance (relative to your screen size) the JVC drops to 1601 lumens, or a drop of almost 20%. That's actually a total range of about 25% and that's not a big drop for a 2.1:1 zoom lens.  (In a perfect world you don't want to be at the exact closest or furtherest, based on the simple logic, that no lens is going to be performing at its best at the extremes of its range!

Per Eric's measurements:

The JVC DLA-RS440 produced 25.2% less lumens in its eco mode than at full power.  User mode (pick one) was measured at 1412 lumens, still plenty of brightness.  The good news is, unlike most projectors