JVC DLA-RS6710 Projector Review – Calibration and Settings

Posted on April 22, 2015 By Art Feierman

Recommended Basic Calibration Settings for JVC DLA-RS67U, RS6710U and X900R.

The calibration settings for the CMS (color management system), which is the calibrating of the individual primary and secondary colors, is found on the Advanced Calibration page (available to our subscribers – for a tiny annual subscription fee).

On this page we re-post some of the measurements taken by Mike when he calibrated the projector (also found on the Performance pages). That way, on this page, you have both the calibration settings we used, and the effect they have on the JVC DLA-RS6710 projector’s measurements in one page.

Also found below, are Mike’s comments from measuring and calibrating the DLA-RS6710 projector.

JVC DLA-RS6710 Color Temperature

DLA-RS6710 and siblings Brightness, Color Temperature
Color Mode	Lumens	Color Temp (K)
Cinema	756	6381
Natural	940	6287
Stage	989	6683
Animation	989, or 1262 in H.B.	6700, or (not meas.)
User 1-4	940	6283
THX	940	6278
Film	748	5830
Photo	748	6619

Lumen Output (Low Lamp, Animation mode): 643

Interesting note: The RS6710 measures exactly 200 lumens less than the lower cost RS4910 we reviewed. But understand that lower cost JVC is rated brighter.

Color Temp over IRE Range, Best mode (Pre calibration)
	Cinema (User THX and Natural are very similar)
30 IRE	5487
50 IRE	5830
80 IRE	6380
100 IRE	6377

JVC DLA-RS6710U Pre-calibration – Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis):
	Cinema	Natural	Stage	Animation	User 1-4	Film	Photo	THX
Contrast=(0)	-1	-1	-1	-2	-1	-1	-1	8
Brightness=(0)	1	3	3	4	3	3	3	3
Color Sat.=(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)
Tint = (0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)	(0)
Color Temp =	(Xenon 2)	(6500)	(7000)	(7000)	(6500)	(Xenon 1)	(6500)	(6500)
Gamma =	(Grad. Priority)	(Normal)	(Bright Priority)	(Cont. Priority)	(Normal)	(Film1)	(Normal)	(THX)
Color Profile =	(Cinema)	(Standard)	(Stage)	(Animation)	(Standard)	(Film 1)	(Adobe RGB)	(THX)
Lens Aperature =	(Auto 2)	(Auto 1)	(Auto 2)	(Auto 2)	(Manual – fully open)	(Manual – fully open)	(Manual – fully open)	(Manual – fully open)

THX mode is the basis for Mike’s calibration. Changes are stored in User 1. In the above table, look to THX mode for those final settings, User 1-4 are showing just basic adjustments.

Lamp Mode=High (unless noted otherwise).
All other settings at default () = default settings

RS6710U Post Calibration Color Temperature (Grayscale balance)

Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):
20 IRE	6985
30 IRE	6560
40 IRE	6428
50 IRE	6437
60 IRE	6560
70 IRE	6587
80 IRE	6602
90 IRE	6624
100 IRE	6507
Average gamma = 2.22

Except for very dark gray – 20 IRE, this JVC measured very tight, post calibration, with all other brightness levels within 125K of the targeted 6500K. Also, excluding the cool 20 IRE, the rest of the range stays within a total temperature variation of just under 200K. Overall, rather excellent!

Coinicidentally, this JVC projector measured the same 940 lumens pre -calibration in THX mode as it measured post calibration (based on THX, but stored in User 1). That rarely happens. Typically post calibration measures lower.

Effect of Lens Aperture setting on lumen output (Animation mode):
0 (maximum opening)	989
-7 (half open)	643
-15 (minimum opening)	281

Using the iris manually you can easily limit overall brightness. For example you might use the -7 setting if you are only filling a 92″ or 100″ screen in a proper home theater, as officially that’s more than enough brightness.

Alternately, you might instead use Eco mode and the iris wide open. The advantage, though of using the iris to lower the brightness, is that a calibration at full power will have different color results than switching to lower power eco mode. The iris, on the other hand, would not affect color.

RGB Color Balance (Grayscale)

Calibration settings for User 1:
	User 1, Custom Color Temp 1 w/ 6500 starting point
Gain (0)NOTE: Gain can only be adjusted down	R = 0
	G = -2
	B = -0
Offset (0)	R = -25
	G = 0
	B = 6
Lumens at 100 IRE: 1235 @ 6467

NOTE: Gamma on Custom1 – 2.4 starting point. Here Mike and I differ. Technically 2.4 is providing the better gamma, but I found that with 2.4 there is some not very pretty action in very very dark scenes where dark colors appear oversaturated – over the top. I dialed down to 2.2 and found that helped.

Mike's Performance Notes

The first time I got to review JVC’s “hand selected components” top of the line projector was JVC’s DLA-RS60, now several generations gone. That was definitely the most impressive projector overall, that I had reviewed in that time frame, including a couple of far, far, brighter 3 chip DLP projectors, thanks to having awesome black level performance.

The one drawback to the RS60 in my opinion, was that it measured less than 600 lumens calibrated. By comparison, this JVC clocks in over 50% brighter, allowing for much larger screens, and, the ability to maintain reasonable brightness as the lamp ages.

Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes

Performance:
The 6710 was not as bright as last year’s 4910, with an average drop of about 250 lumens from that model. It is equally bright in most modes and dropping an average of 200 lumens in Cinema, Film and Photo modes. All of the modes were set to Low lamp power by default, which reduced the lumen output by another 35%, but grayscale was slightly better by default in low lamp mode. Unlike other JVC projectors, grayscale in Cinema or THX modes was much too red in the lower IREs. Gamma was too low in the Normal preset, averaging right around 2.0, but was right on 2.2 for the THX preset.

Grayscale Calibration:
Grayscale calibrated reasonably well, with an average Delta E of only 1.8, only exceeding 3 at the 20 and 40 IRE levels. The RGB balance was also good and other than a bump in red at 40-50 IRE, was consistent across the whole IRE range. As we’ve seen with other JVC projectors, adjusting Gain has a greater effect on the total IRE range than Offset does. So, if you adjust Gain first, then Offset, you don’t need to check back and forth between the two more than once.

Again, as with prior JVC projectors, I used the custom gamma of 2.4 to achieve an overall gamma of 2.2 or higher. This results in a pretty smooth gamma with an average of 2.18. There’s also the ability to do custom gamma adjustments, but the presets work well enough if you choose the appropriate one.