JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

[lygren]

That's interesting, as Kris said he couldn't see the laser dimming work while watching movies unless he really looked for it. I wonder why yours seems less well behaved ?

Yes, and it´s very visible, I mean like moving up and down 500 lumens in what basically looks like the same frame give and take some small alterations. Seems as if the steps in certain frame sequences are way too steep - on my unit at least...

[AVSCraig]

Yes, and it´s very visible, I mean like moving up and down 500 lumens in what basically looks like the same frame give and take some small alterations. Seems as if the steps in certain frame sequences are way too steep - on my unit at least...

In post 137 Kris said " I can say that the dynamic laser modulation has a PROFOUND influence on perceived contrast and so far has almost zero noticeable artifacts in use. ".

I wonder what is going on with your unit? Doesn't sound like what Kris described.

[ARROW-AV]

OUR TWO CENTS:

SUMMARY:
The JVC DLA-RS4500/Z1 is a mixed bag. It impresses with comparatively superior performance in some respects only to disappoint with respect to others. Whether overall one considers that what is intended to be the new flagship projector delivers an acceptable minimum quality standard of video performance for its price tag of $35,000 we will present the salient facts and let you draw your own conclusions.

THX CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL VIDEO CALIBRATION (by me) | EQUIPMENT USED:
- Colorimetry Research CR-300 0.8nm Spectroradiometer
- Klein K10-A Tristimulus Colorimeter
- SpectraCal C6-HDR Colorimeter
- AEMC CA813 Illuminance Meter
- Murideo SIX-G 4K HDR Reference Pattern Generator
- MSI TITAN X HTPC
- ChromaPure 3 Professional THX Edition (with special thanks to Tom Huffman for his invaluable technical support in getting our shiny new CR-300 spectro working properly with this)

With CEM DT-805 Sound Level Meter to measure operating noise.

SCREEN & ENVIRONMENT:
3.8 metres / 12.5 feet wide projection screen, with Seymour Screen Excellence Enlightor PRO Screen Material, within blacked-out room:

JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

POSITIVES:

● Excellent out-of-the-box performance as compared with calibrated

● Razor sharp image due to superior lenses and associated hardware

● Superb colour performance and accuracy

● Laser dimming feature perceivably significantly enhances the contrast and black levels

● Initial firmware is very good indeed with comparatively very few issues, bugs, and/or malfunctions that need ironing out with subsequent firmware updates

NEGATIVES:

● Disappointing ON/OFF Contrast that is less than forecast by JVC.

● Disappointing brightness output that is less than forecast by JVC.

● Laser dimming feature performance inconsistent and problematic (Mode 2 particularly).

● 40% reduction in brightness output with DCI-P3 colour filter.

● Prone to running hot and when it does the fans switch to 'turbo' mode and the operating noise hits the roof. MAXIMUM operating noise (when running hot): HIGH LASER [Max 70dB / 1m 63dB / 2m 56dB] | MEDIUM LASER [Max 63dB / 1m 57dB / 2m 54dB] | LOW LASER [Max 56dB / 1m 54dB / 2m 51dB]
That said, operating noise is easily remedied and becomes a non-issue via simply installing the projector into an air conditioned hush box/projection booth or outside the room.

● Expensive.

PRE & POST CALIBRATION MEASUREMENTS:

GRAYSCALE:

JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

CCT D65 ACCURACY:

JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

GAMMA: (Calibrated to just below 2.4 with deliberate curve toward 2.5 at low end to help compensate for low contrast performance)

JVC RS4500 (native 4K laser projector)

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[AVSCraig]

I wonder if screen size / manual iris position affects the laser dimming being visible? Jetsen, are you seeing laser dimming pumping or no ?

[jetsen]

I wonder if screen size / manual iris position affects the laser dimming being visible? Jetsen, are you seeing laser dimming pumping or no ?

It does pop up once in a while but i don't see the amount of pumping that is being described by arrow and Lygren.

[AVSCraig]

It does pop up once in a while but i don't see the amount of pumping that is being described by arrow and Lygren.

Sure - just about all dynamic iris's " pop up " once in a while. Sounds like something is not working correctly on Lygren's projector. Or settings are causing their's ( Arrow and Lygren's ) to misbehave, and yours and Kris to not misbehave. Odd !

[ARROW-AV]

Yes, and it´s very visible, I mean like moving up and down 500 lumens in what basically looks like the same frame give and take some small alterations. Seems as if the steps in certain frame sequences are way too steep - on my unit at least...

Jon, unfortunately we share your findings regarding this and personally we don't like the current functionality of the dynamic laser dimming feature... Perhaps JVC can improve its functioning with later tweaks but as of right now I would go as far to say that Mode 2 is not useable at all (it's distracting), and Mode 1 is inconsistent and problematic and so I would be inclined to keep it turned off for now... but that's just our opinion... Others might like what it does.

[AVSMike]

OUR TWO CENTS:

SUMMARY:
The JVC DLA-RS4500/Z1 is a mixed bag, in it both surprises with comparatively superior performance in some respects only to shockingly disappoint with respect to others.
Whether overall one considers that what is intended to be the new flagship projector delivers an acceptable minimum quality standard of video performance for its price tag of $35,000 we will present the salient facts and let you draw your own conclusions.

THX CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL VIDEO CALIBRATION (by me) | EQUIPMENT USED:
- Colorimetry Research CR-300 0.8nm Spectroradiometer
- Klein K10-A Tristimulus Colorimeter
- Murideo SIX-G 4K HDR Reference Pattern Generator

With CEM DT-805 Sound Level Meter to measure operating noise.

3.8 metres / 12.5 feet wide projection screen, with Seymour Screen Excellence Enlightor PRO Screen Material.

POSITIVES:

● Excellent out-of-the-box performance with respect to grayscale and gamma in particular

● Razor sharp image due to superior lenses and associated hardware

● Superb colour performance and accuracy once calibrated

● Laser dimming feature perceivably significantly enhances the contrast and black levels

● Initial firmware is very good indeed with comparatively very few issues, bugs, and/or malfunctions that need ironing out with subsequent firmware updates

NEGATIVES:

● Disappointingly poor ON/OFF Contrast that is in reality very considerably less than promised / forecast to us by JVC.

● Disappointingly poor brightness output that is in reality very considerably less than promised / forecast to us by JVC

● Laser dimming feature performance inconsistent and problematic (Mode 2 particularly)

● Maximum screen size of circa 3.8 metres / 12.5 feet wide to achieve THX recommended 16fL with no lumens headroom and 8,200:1 ON/OFF contrast (without colour filter)

At minimum throw distance, with maximum zoom, iris set to fully open, and laser set to high, all of which to yield the absolute maximum lumens, this yielded 16.2fL, with 1,416 lumens on screen and 1,749 lumens factoring out the screen gain (with the screen in reality yielding a measured in-situ actual gain of 0.81).

● High operating noise: HIGH LASER [Max 70dB / 1m 63dB / 2m 56dB] | MEDIUM LASER [Max 63dB / 1m 57dB / 2m 54dB] | LOW LASER [Max 56dB / 1m 54dB / 2m 51dB]

● Expensive

● Updated ‘lesser’ models deliver superior video performance in more ways than one but at a fraction of the cost and hence we recommend the JVC X9500/RS620 as a possible alternative.

Sounds like JVC in your country is not inspecting all of the units. I will not comment on all the rest of your numbers, but your noise level is much higher than it should be. That unit should have been rejected for noise alone.

[Pultzar]

The Z1 is to the RS1 as the Z620 is to the RS620

I don't want to wait for the Z620.  Maybe the Z2

[ARROW-AV]

That's interesting, as Kris said he couldn't see the laser dimming work while watching movies unless he really looked for it. I wonder why yours seems less well behaved ?

I have a feeling that its performance may be influenced by a number of factors including how hard you are or not driving the projector... For example, it might perform more stable and better with the laser set to medium as opposed to high... But I am merely speculating here...

[ARROW-AV]

Sounds like JVC in your country is not inspecting all of the units. I will not comment on all the rest of your numbers, but your noise level is much higher than it should be. That unit should have been rejected for noise alone.

Mike, I am sorry to say that, after the fiasco at CES, this unit was hand-selected and delivered by JVC, JVC attended my evaluation where I showed them all my equipment, showed them my measurements and demonstrated the unit to them, they witnessed everything themselves including the noise... And with the utmost respect our performance numbers are far from unique... but are confirmed by multiple independant third parties, in other words we are only confirming what the likes of Jetsen and others have already reported... where I have to say, DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!

[AVSCraig]

I have a feeling that its performance may be influenced by a number of factors including how hard you are or not driving the projector... For example, it might perform more stable and better with the laser set to medium as opposed to high... But I am merely speculating here...

That may be true. I have a feeling this could be a reference projector for smaller screens. Kris's screen is higher gain and much smaller than the one you used. I'll bet he had the iris closed much more, so that the dynamic dimming doesn't work as hard. That said, it sure lit up a big screen at Cedia.

[lygren]

Hmmm, those noise levels simply don´t add up with my impressions either, Arrow... We´ve got a number of Alcons amps running closeby the projector though, might have camouflaged my initial impression to some extent, I´ll try turning those off and listen for noise from our unit tomorrow.

[mark_h]

I concur with Arrow's observations.  This projector CAN put out a huge amount of noise if room temperature goes up.  I've had to reactivate my cooling feed and ensure the room is up to temperature before running the projector to avoid the aircon dumping super heated air into the room and upsetting it.  Once the film is running it tends to get lost in the background until the soundtracks goes quiet.

Light output is poor - I measure ~1600 lumens @D65 from a 26' throw with iris wide open.

BUT, it's also the best image I've seen so far in my room, and the constant brightness light source means no dimming, like bulbs, so I'll probably be keeping it.  Need more viewing.

[AVSMike]

Mike, I am sorry to say that, after the fiasco at CES, this unit was hand-selected and delivered by JVC, JVC attended my evaluation where I showed them all my equipment, showed them my measurements and demonstrated the unit to them, they witnessed everything themselves including the noise... And with the utmost respect our performance numbers are far from unique... but are confirmed by multiple independant third parties, in other words we are only confirming what the likes of Jetsen and others have already reported... where I have to say, DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER!

All I can tell you is JVC US would not have passed that projector, with those noise levels. That noise level is higher than the VS version.