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JVC DLA-X35 Projector Calibration and Settings

Posted on June 22, 2013 By Art Feierman

On this page we will repeat some of the measurements taken by Mike when he calibrated the projector.  That way, on this page, you  have both the calibration settings we used, and the effect they have on the JVC DLA-X35 projector’s measurements.

At the bottom are several paragraphs of Mike’s comments from measuring and calibrating the DLA-X35 projector.

JVC DLA-X35 Color Temperature

Out of the Box Measurements:

Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Cinema 712 @ 6506, 451 @ 6827 in default Low lamp mode
Film 676 @ 5967
Natural 721 @ 6510
Stage 793 @ 7736
Animation 775 @ 8377
3D 793 @ 7755
User 1-5 721 @ 6518

Essentially the User modes, and most of the others, are the same, but for some variation in which color temp is used.

Color Temp over IRE Range, Best mode (Pre calibration):Cinema (User and Natural are very similar)
30 IRE 6541
50 IRE 6668
80 IRE 6744
100 IRE 6815

Out of the box measurements above, show color temp rising slightly from the dark ranges up to white.  Overall, just a touch cool.

JVC DLA-X35 Projector Calibration and Settings
Cinema Film Natural Stage Animation 3D User 1-5
 Contrast (0)  -1 -2 -1 -1 -1 1 0
 Brightness (0)  1 1  1  1  1 1 0
 Color Sat.  (0)   (0)   (0)   (0)  (0)  (0) -6
 Tint = (0)   (0)   (0)   (0)   (0)   (0)  (0)  (0)
 Color Temp  (6500) (6000) (6500) (7500) (8000) (7500) (6500)
Gamma (A) (B) (Normal) (D) (B) (3D) (Normal)

In addition to calibrating Red, Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment.

Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis):

All other settings at default.

Ed. Note:  When setting the brightness, it’s always a tough call between the two closest settings (viewing black bars).  Mike favors the higher Brightness number (delivers maximum shadow detail).  I favor best blacks, so I’ll be one number lower, give up the slightest amount of shadow detail in exchange for the blacker black.  For example, above, Mike has 1 as the setting for Brightness in Film, User, etc.  I prefer to choose 0 as the better choice.  I found the jump from 0 to 1, and 1 to 2, to be significant.  As I mentioned elsewhere, the controls could be a bit finer.  We don’t need to have a +20.     A more precise contrast / black level setup could have been accomplished if, for example, there were 3 steps between 0 and 1, three more between 1 and 2…

JVC DLA-X35 Projector Calibration and Settings

JVC DLA-RS45 Post Calibration Grayscale: User 1 “Best” mode:

Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):
20 IRE 6592
30 IRE 6485
40 IRE 6458
50 IRE 6549
60 IRE 6567
70 IRE 6571
80 IRE 6550
90 IRE 6599
100 IRE 6625
 Average gamma = 2.22

 

 

Best Mode (User 1): Lumens at 100 IRE:    703 @ 6625K 

Brightest Mode (Stage) : Lumens at 100 IRE:   (no “quick-cal” needed):  793 lumens   

RGB Settings

Calibration settings for User 1:
Gamma Gamma
Color Space Standard
Color 0
Color Temp 6500K

JVC DLA-X35 Grayscale Calibration:

Calibration settings for User 1:
Gamma on Custom1 – Normal starting point, Color Profile on Standard

User 1, Custom Color Temp 1 w/ 6500 starting point
Gain (0) R = -20
G = 0
B = -18
Offset (256) R = 3
G = 0
B = 3
 Lumens at 100 IRE: 703

Mike’s notes: Performance was almost identical to the previously reviewed X55, with both the Stage and calibrated User modes matching the X55’s lumen output exactly.  The X35 did have a slightly higher lumen output than the X55 in other modes, with 3D the highest (856 vs. 793 in the X55).  Also like the X55, Grayscale is decent right out of the box in Cinema, User or Natural modes.  Typical of JVC projectors, gamma was too low in any of the presets (Normal was the high with an average gamma of 2.14).  Going to the Custom gamma allows for an actual gamma of 2.2 or higher

Grayscale calibrated extremely well, with an average Delta E of only 0.8.  The RGB balance was also very good and was consistent across the whole IRE range.  As with the X55, adjusting Gain has a greater effect on the total IRE range than it should, whereas Offset has less of an effect on upper IREs.  So, if you adjust Gain, then compensate for the adjusted gain effect with Offset, it works out pretty good.  3D (the brightest mode) is only 117 lumens more than Cinema mode, so while you could do a Quick Cal to split the difference, there wouldn’t be a noticeable improvement to justify losing the 60 lumens. 

Gamma:  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 2.22.  Luminance tracking is quite good as well. 

There is no CMS, but the Standard color space is decent, with only Blue being oversaturated.  Skin tones look quite natural without any adjustment to the Color Saturation control.  Using the Wide color space gives you an expanded gamut for all colors and doesn’t look natural with most material.  Setting the color space to Off results in a gamut that is similar to the Wide gamut.

JVC DLA-X35 Performance 2
JVC DLA-X35 Projector – Competitors