JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Review – Performance Posted on April 14, 2014 By Art Feierman 1. JVC DLA-RS4910, DLA-RS49, DLA-X500R Projector Review - JVC DLA-RS49 and RS4910 Overview - JVC DLA-RS4910U Highlights2. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Special Features - RS4910 4K Eshift3, Accepts 4K content - JVC RS4910 Features a Dynamic Iris - RS4910 Lens Memory3. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Special Features 2 - RS4910 Projector - Smooth Motion - CFI - JVC Clear Motion Drive - LCoS (D-iLA) Panel Convergence - LAN Control, RS232 and Smart Phone Control - Environmental Controls - MPC Controls4. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware Tour - DLA-RS4910 Projector - Hardware Overview - RS4910 Control Panel - JVC DLA-RS4910 Inputs and Connections - Note on MHL5. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware 2 - JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, and X500R Remote Control - JVC DLA-RS4910 Menus6. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware 3 - JVC Projectors - Zoom Lens - Throw Distances - JVC Projectors Lens Shift Range - 3D Capabilities7. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - JVC DLA-RS4910 Skin Tones - Post Calibration - JVC DLA-RS4910 Picture Quality on Sports, General HDTV Content8. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Review – Performance - JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors - Brightness for Different Color Modes - Color Temperature of JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors - Post Calibration Measurements - JVC DLA-RS49, RS4910, X500R - DLA-RS4910 Projector Audible Noise - JVC DLA-RS4910 Image Noise9. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness - E-shift 3 Engaged - JVC RS4910 - 4K E-Shift3 vs true 4K Sony projector10. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Calibration and Settings - JVC DLA-RS4910 Color Temperature - Mike's Performance Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes11. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Advanced Calibration Information - About this Calibration Information - JVC DLA-RS4910 Color Management Settings - Mike's CMS Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)12. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Review Summary13. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Specifications JVC DLA-RS49, RS4910, X500R PROJECTORS PERFORMANCE: Out of the Box Brightness, Color Accuracy, Calibrated Brightness On these two pages we’ll consider all aspects of these JVC projectors in terms of brightness, both before and after calibration, as well as color accuracy. Also covered will be Sharpness (including more image comparisons of 4K e-shift3), Audible, and Image Noise… JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors - Brightness for Different Color Modes DLA-RS4910 and siblings Brightness, Color Temperature Color Mode Lumens Color Temp (K) Cinema 1235 6427 Natural 1205 6421 Stage 1285 6812 Animation 1285 6811 User 1-4 1205 6420 As you can see, all of the modes measure within 7% of each other, but other. User modes and Natural seem to be the same, as do Stage and Animation, as far as general modes both other features such as gamma settings, may vary, without affecting brightness. 1200+ lumens is serious brightness for a dedicated theater projector. Impressively it beats the Sony HW55ES (less money), which, just a few lumens shy of 1000 lumens calibrated has been the brightest (calibrated) of the series home theater projectors under $10,000, that we’ve reviewed. There are, though in that range, a number of projectors that go far beyond the 1285 lumens uncalibrated, for example Epsons can break 2000 lumens in brightest modes. As mentioned in Picture Quality, although Stage mode is insignificantly brighter than other modes, it has the most punch. It’s my choice for sports with ambient light present, even if a touch cooler in color. It has some serious “pop”. Color Temperature of JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors Color Temp over IRE Range (from brightest to dark gray) Cinema/User IRE Temp in Degrees Kelvin 100 6427K 80 6454K 50 6360K 30 6272K I agree with Mike’s measurements. The default Cinema mode seems just a touch on the warm side, with skin tones a touch of extra red it seemed. Still very good for “right out of the box”. Mike’s calibration “cooled off” the RS4910 projector but not by much, with all the IRE range measured stayed over 6400K, with only one IRE even exceeding 6500K. Check out the Calibration page for all our basic settings, and grayscale balance settings. Subscribers may also access the Advanced Calibration page, which has the calibration settings for the Color Management System, basically the calibrating of each primary and secondary color individually. In English – when that’s done, red should be pure red, with no trace of yellow or magenta, or green… Post Calibration Measurements - JVC DLA-RS49, RS4910, X500R Header Content IRE (Brightness) Color Temperature (in K) 100 6467 90 6461 80 6495 70 6486 60 6455 50 6426 40 6559 30 6428 20 6440 Nice calibration Mike! The entire measurable IRE range from white to dark gray (20 IRE) fits within a tight 133K range. More to the point, colors look rather good in terms of skin tone handling. Post calibration this JVC projector measured 1235 lumens. That’s plenty for any dedicated home theater / cave. None of the other modes are brighter by any signifiant amount, so it doesn’t quite get to “light canon” status which I consider having a bright mode with watchable color of at least 1500 lumens. Going along with the calibration, Mike points out that Brightness should be a +5 (or perhaps +6 to eliminate crushing dark shadow detail. I found a very slight crushing of dark shadow detail at +5, and a fair amount at the default 0 setting. Mike recommends using the basic 2.4 Gamma setting, which looked just about right, and which he says averaged 2.22, which is pretty much right on the money – with the target being 2.2. DLA-RS4910 Projector Audible NoiseI am impressed. True it’s been a while (over a year) since the last JVC projector was here for review, but it definitely seems to me – specs notwithstanding, that this year JVC managed to make their projectors quieter. I have no doubt that the DLA-RS4910 is quieter at full power than the Epson 5030UB, and also the Sony VPL-HW55ES, although to a lesser degree. The Bottom line though is that few will have any issue at all with the JVC running full tilt – maximum brightness, as it is still fairly quiet. Not once did I ever (sitting 3-4 feet from the JVC) feel the need to switch to Eco, due to the audible noise. The JVC is very quiet in Eco mode – you won’t find many projectors that can do better. JVC doesn’t seem to be publishing a spec for audible noise this year, at least not in the manual, or in the brochure we have here. That leaves me to guess. I would estimate that at full power, the RS4910 and it’s siblings are probably in the 26-28 db. range. Nicely done JVC!!! JVC DLA-RS4910 Image NoiseImage noise didn’t rate as well with me as did audible noise. I have little to complain about, although the RS4910 did seem to have a touch more image noise than Sony or Epson competitors, but definitely less than the only DLP I have here at the moment, the BenQ W7500, which is about half the price but a nice projector. Where image noise becomes an issue to some extent is with the use of 4K E-shift3. Since as of this review, the various settings for eShift3 don’t seem to work, I’m assuming that the default setting is 25, which should be a very low setting. I had attempted to see what raising it to 50 or 60 would do to perceived detail and sharpness, but adjusting the controls had no apparent effect. I would though, expect that by the time one cranks the controls in the 50-60 range (out of 100), that noise (including over the top contrast), gets definitely more visible. You could check our last year’s video on E-Shift2, to see how “cranking it up” has a real, and significant affect on noise. If about the same as last year, you’ll see everything get rather contrasty, and therefore hard looking, at 50 or above. I wanted to try it though, to see how it allowed e-Shift3 to do, compared to a true 4K projector doing 1080p content. Alas, I could only speak to using what I assume is the lower default setting. Click Image to Enlarge 1. JVC DLA-RS4910, DLA-RS49, DLA-X500R Projector Review - JVC DLA-RS49 and RS4910 Overview - JVC DLA-RS4910U Highlights2. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Special Features - RS4910 4K Eshift3, Accepts 4K content - JVC RS4910 Features a Dynamic Iris - RS4910 Lens Memory3. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Special Features 2 - RS4910 Projector - Smooth Motion - CFI - JVC Clear Motion Drive - LCoS (D-iLA) Panel Convergence - LAN Control, RS232 and Smart Phone Control - Environmental Controls - MPC Controls4. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware Tour - DLA-RS4910 Projector - Hardware Overview - RS4910 Control Panel - JVC DLA-RS4910 Inputs and Connections - Note on MHL5. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware 2 - JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, and X500R Remote Control - JVC DLA-RS4910 Menus6. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Hardware 3 - JVC Projectors - Zoom Lens - Throw Distances - JVC Projectors Lens Shift Range - 3D Capabilities7. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Picture Quality - Out of the Box Picture Quality - JVC DLA-RS4910 Skin Tones - Post Calibration - JVC DLA-RS4910 Picture Quality on Sports, General HDTV Content8. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Review – Performance - JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors - Brightness for Different Color Modes - Color Temperature of JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projectors - Post Calibration Measurements - JVC DLA-RS49, RS4910, X500R - DLA-RS4910 Projector Audible Noise - JVC DLA-RS4910 Image Noise9. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Performance 2 - Sharpness - E-shift 3 Engaged - JVC RS4910 - 4K E-Shift3 vs true 4K Sony projector10. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Calibration and Settings - JVC DLA-RS4910 Color Temperature - Mike's Performance Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes11. JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Advanced Calibration Information - About this Calibration Information - JVC DLA-RS4910 Color Management Settings - Mike's CMS Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)12. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Review Summary13. JVC DLA-RS4910, RS49, X500R Projector Specifications JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Picture Quality JVC DLA-RS4910 Projector Review – Performance 2