JVC DLA-RS1000/N5 & RS2000/NX7 Owners Thread

[Kris Deering]

That's correct. The Auto, Low, Medium, and High settings are simply the peak nit clip points that the tone mapper uses. Though, the names are a bit counter intuitive. The High setting is actually the lowest peak nit clip point. Though maybe the names imply how bright the image appears.

Hmm. Not sure about this. I think JVC analyzes the APL and peak nits of the scene to determine which mode to use (similar to evaluating FALL and CLL before with HDR10) but you don't "clip" if you pick HIGH and leave it there. The curve is far more aggressive (compressed) so the image will be brighter, so not really recommended for those with a lot of light output to use. Really for either REALLY dark content or people that have a lower level of light to work with.

[DLCPhoto]

I just upgraded to an NX7 from an RS400, and thought this might be useful to others considering a similar upgrade.  I posted this 'elsewhere' but thought it might be of some interest here as well.

I've had the RS400 for 3 1/2 years. I use a Screen Innovations 160" diagonal 2.35:1, Nominal Gain 1.3, Solar White screen. so I have a large area to fill. I redid the Autocalibration a month ago. I use a Panasonic UB-820 for my source, using the HDR Optimizer, with HDR output. I have an HDFury Linker between AVR and JVC, to enable Dynamic Iris and prevent Gamma D auto-switching. I use an Arve-based Custom Curve, tweaked with Dominic Chan's assistance (thanks Dom!).

I think I have a fairly good eye in terms of picture quality, with 15+ years of professional Wildlife Photography experience (DLC Photography). I've been quite pleased with both the SDR and HDR images I've had with the RS400, although I was aware that the HDR 'pop' with it didn't compare with what I see with my 75" Sony 900E Series LED TV.

The NX7 was received 2 days ago, and I quickly checked that the basic functions were intact: Iris moved without noise, focus was crisp, and convergence was near perfect out of the box (which was virtually free of nicks or dents). It came with 2.08, so I then updated to 3.10, with zero difficulty. For HDR, I set it to Frame Adapt, Frame-by-Frame, on Auto, just for a starting point.

I had purchased a 2nd Premium Certified HDMI Cable, so I could use the Dual HDMI outputs from a Marantz SR7010 for direct A/B comparisons.

In terms of resolution/detail, Native 4k of the NX7 vs the eShift of the RS400, there is a subtle improvement, more apparent when standing right at the screen, and not especially obvious from my 15' seating distance. But this is based on only a few hours viewing, no patterns used as yet, so this impression might change. But I've always felt that my RS400 was a good 'sample' with excellent sharpness.

When viewing HDR content (I used the 'Golden Morons' scene in GOTG2), however, there was simply no contest: the NX7 blasted the RS400 out of the water. This actually came as quite a shock. I was hoping for, half-expecting a reasonable improvement, but this was way more than I had hoped for. I am not one for hyperbole, but this was a proverbial 'night and day' difference. I asked my wife to have a look, who isn't tuned into this type of thing at all, and she was blown away.

The NX7 was dramatically more like my Sony TV in terms of vividness of the color, overall contrast and visual 'pop', giving it an almost '3D' like appearance at times.

The difference was startling enough that I spent considerable time double and triple checking my RS400 settings, switching HDMI Cables and Inputs, watching with only one projector at a time connected to the Marantz, in case something funky was going on with dual video outputs. But I've found nothing amiss. I watched that scene just on the RS400 when I got up yesterday morning, to see it with 'fresh eyes', and it looked great. But then I switched to the NX7, and once again, it was far superior.

Now perhaps my Custom Curve is poor, perhaps my Spyder 5 is off (it was used for Color Autocal), perhaps there's something 'wrong' with my RS400. But I don't think so. I'm pretty sensitive to color balance, saturation, contrast, blowing out of highlights, presence/absence of shadow detail, etc., from my Photography experience. And the RS400 looks pretty darn good to me. And people I've had over to watch have been blown away by what they've seen. So I think my RS400 is set up properly, and doing what it is able to do. Would a professional calibration narrow the difference? Perhaps, but it would be hard to believe it would make this huge a difference. But it is possible.

The NX7 just seems to be in a different category.

I also did limited comparisons with SDR material: for this I used that opening credit scene in Skyfall, which has all the colors, dragons, etc. Here the NX7 once again delivered a superior image, but this difference was not nearly as dramatic. Certainly not 'night and day.' I'd categorize this is as a definite improvement, but more on the subtle side.

Last night, I set aside my testing, and just watched Aquaman in HDR. It was the best it has ever looked, with some scenes just startling for their visual impact.

And remember, this is straight out of the box for the NX7. Just basic configuration settings, no tweaking of brightness, contrast, saturation, or anything.

I also considered overall light output between a fresh bulb, and one with about 1800 hours on it. I don't have a good light meter, so just used a Light Meter app on my Note 8. I realize the absolute Lux measurements are likely not accurate, but thought it should reasonably show relative differences. At High Lamp, Iris fully Open, the RS400 showed 200 lux, the NX7 showed 245, so about 22% more light. I honestly don't think that accounts for the difference with HDR, although I could certainly be wrong.

I'll continue to test and play with this, but at this point, I'm extremely happy that I was able to upgrade.

FWIW!

[AVSMike]

I keep telling people there is a pretty big difference with HDR, when comparing the E-shift to the native 4K projectors, but all the E-shift guys, many of which have never seen the native JVC's, keep talking about how the E-shift has better contrast. so, no way the native 4K could throw a better image, unless you are sitting real close to the screen so that you can see the resolution difference. As I keep saying, the improvements in the new, native 4K projectors is more than just resolution.

[DLCPhoto]

I keep telling people there is a pretty big difference with HDR, when comparing the E-shift to the native 4K projectors, but all the E-shift guys, many of which have never seen the native JVC's, keep talking about how the E-shift has better contrast. so, no way the native 4K could throw a better image, unless you are sitting real close to the screen so that you can see the resolution difference. As I keep saying, the improvements in the new, native 4K projectors is more than just resolution.

Definitely.  If the only improvement were in the resolution, I would feel I'd wasted my money for an upgrade.

But throw in the HDR and WCG performance, along with the uptick in resolution, and the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.

In my case, moving from the entry level to the middle level was a move up in Contrast for me, which adds yet another layer of improvement.

Overall, I'm a pretty happy camper.

[Dylan Seeger]

The contrast difference isn't that much between the 4k and eshift models to make a large meaningful difference. JVC fixed the internal reflection issue the eshifters had and I think this makes mid-brightness content pop more. The image just feels more refined. Almost smoother and more analog. It's far more "looking through the window", too. I thought the difference in image quality was very noticeable.

[David Vaughn]

The contrast difference isn't that much between the 4k and eshift models to make a large meaningful difference. JVC fixed the internal reflection issue the eshifters had and I think this makes mid-brightness content pop more. The image just feels more refined. Almost smoother and more analog. It's far more "looking through the window", too. I thought the difference in image quality was very noticeable.

I agree. When I first installed it, my wife swore that I bought a bigger screen and didn't tell her about it. The image is just more inviting and has a lot more depth. 

[AVSMike]

For those on the fence. I heard that American Express is dropping their extra warranty coverage January 1st and I bet within the next year, sales tax will automaticlly be collected in all states.

[AVSMike]

Revised JVC control document.

[Dylan Seeger]

For those on the fence. I heard that American Express is dropping their extra warranty coverage January 1st and I bet within the next year, sales tax will automaticlly be collected in all states.

Places like eBay and Amazon have already implemented their tax collections for all states. It's getting harder and harder to find tax loop holes online. 

[Manni]

Revised JVC control document.

Thanks Mike, great to have this updated version!

[AVSCraig]

There is literally no better time this year to buy a new JVC projector than this Friday through Monday. 

[bondo1459]

Even with the RS2000 price increase it is still better than you could have gotten back in Jan, Feb 

Better not be better than the price I got waiting 8 months for the projector 

[Dylan Seeger]

These JVC's really are the best consumer projectors that money can buy for screens around 12 feet wide and smaller. Just a reminder for those who are on the fence buying one.

[kenreau]

I just upgraded to an NX7 from an RS400, and thought this might be useful to others considering a similar upgrade.  I posted this 'elsewhere' but thought it might be of some interest here as well.

When viewing HDR content (I used the 'Golden Morons' scene in GOTG2), however, there was simply no contest: the NX7 blasted the RS400 out of the water. This actually came as quite a shock. I was hoping for, half-expecting a reasonable improvement, but this was way more than I had hoped for. I am not one for hyperbole, but this was a proverbial 'night and day' difference. I asked my wife to have a look, who isn't tuned into this type of thing at all, and she was blown away.
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The NX7 just seems to be in a different category.
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And remember, this is straight out of the box for the NX7. Just basic configuration settings, no tweaking of brightness, contrast, saturation, or anything.

I'll continue to test and play with this, but at this point, I'm extremely happy that I was able to upgrade.

FWIW!

Thanks for posting this. I'm in the exact same upgrade process and moving from the RS400, etc.  I was never happy with the eshift HDR performance of the RS400 - and I had it professionally calibrated 2x over the 3 years I had it.  Time to move on. I think I'll be following your NX7 upgrade path.

Thx
Kenreau

[DLCPhoto]

Thanks for posting this. I'm in the exact same upgrade process and moving from the RS400, etc.  I was never happy with the eshift HDR performance of the RS400 - and I had it professionally calibrated 2x over the 3 years I had it.  Time to move on. I think I'll be following your NX7 upgrade path.

Thx
Kenreau

You're quite welcome.

I never had mine professionally calibrated, and was using Custom Curves and an HDFury Linker.  I was actually fairly pleased with what I was seeing with my RS400.  But I know it didn't have the visual 'pop' that HDR should provide, and which I saw in my 900E series Sony TV.  Not a fair comparison perhaps, but you know what I mean.

I continue to be really happy with my NX7.  If you do make the move, I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts.

Don