Compare Projectors - JVC DLA-RS25 vs. JVC DLA-RS35 6

Overall Look and Feel of the Picture

These JVC's are very natural looking. They have occaisionally been accused by some as lacking that wow factor. I won't go that far, rather say, they seem to be about right on, it's just that many enjoy a bright image with a bit more pop, but its more that others are a touch too much, than the JVCs lacking. When it comes to dark scenes, though, the superb blacks of the JVC come into play. As a result few other projectors can come even close to the "pop and wow" of the RS25 and RS35 projectors on scenes like the Bond night train scene, the MIB saucer scene above, or almost anything in outer space. These JVC's like mine, never look over the top. Skin tones feel right, even if I have seen slightly better.

Bottom Line in terms of image quality

JVC DLA-RS25, DLA-RS35 Projector Performance

Projector Brightness

As it turns out that RS35 - built from all those "best" quality controlled components, measured a little less bright than the RS25. I asked JVC about this. It sounds like more brightness isn't an advantage of the RS35, nor is it inherently less bright. Seems that brightness will be in part, the "luck of the draw" and may well be tied to the normal variation from one lamp to the next.

For all practical purposes, therefore, consider the RS25 and RS35 to be a tie when it comes to brightness.

What about sharpness

The one advantage of the RS35 is the extra sharpness that, at least my review unit had, for having exceptional pixel alignment. JVC folks did tell me that the alignment is tighter on the RS35s. That, to me gives the RS35 a bit more sharpness, and with it a feel of a touch more depth.

It's the sharpness, though, that is the most noticeable difference. It's not great, but it is enough to matter to a lot of folks. I've heard from a lot of JVC owners, and about the only complaint I ever hear, and usually from someone who previously owned a DLP projector, is that the JVC could be sharper. Well, the RS35 I had, is sharper. It's what I've always wanted. The RS35 definitely benefited, and for the first time, I was able to watch a lot of high quality Discovery-HD type digital content, and not feel the JVC projector was a tad soft.

Since film based content is inherently a little soft, I have always been happy enough with JVC's sharpness for (film based) movie viewing, but wished for more for my sports and digital content. The JVC RS35 meets my demands for that extra sharpness. The RS25 is like my RS20 (actually my 20 is a hair better by virtue of slightly better pixel alignment, but the RS20 and RS25 were pretty much the same in terms of alignment, when compared to the far better RS35.