Posted on February 3, 2009 By Art Feierman
The JVC DLA-RS10 is a larger, really good looking home theater projector (though smaller than the RS1 it ultimately replaces), finished in a shiny piano black finish with gold trim. TheJVC HD350, by the way, looks the same, but silver trim, not quite as elegant, for those who care. The JVC RS10 is sold by dealers authorized by JVC’s Pro group, the HD350 through their Consumer group.
The JVC DLA-RS10 has a big brother, the new RS20 (recently reviewed), which will replace the older RS2. The RS10 can’t match the better black levels of the RS20 (although, the RS10 seems to have the second best black levels around) The RS10 is about the same brightness as the RS20, which means it is one of the brighter projectors around in “best mode” although only a tad brighter in its brightest mode. Also, there are menu and color control differences between the two, with the JVC RS10 lacking the THX certification and advanced Color Management System (CMS) of the RS20. More on that later.
Overall, the RS10 is incrementally better than the RS1 and RS1x that it replaces. Still, they are very close in overall performance, although the RS10 offers better color controls than my very limited RS1 has.
As with the older JVC’s the RS10 is excellent when it comes to placement flexibility, with a 2:1 zoom lens and lots of vertical and horizontal lens shift. All lens functions are motorized, a very nice touch, and change from the older models.
The DLA-RS10 is physcially fairly large, though definitely smaller than my RS1. It is longer front to back, but narrower. Input connections are now located on the side (left side, if looking from the back of the projector).
Another improvement is that the RS10 is definitely a bit quieter than the older JVC models and is now average in audible noise, and should be reasonable even in high lamp mode, for all but those most critical of any audible noise.
JVC also has a new remote, however, that is about the only thing about the RS10, that comes up a bit short. I prefer the older one that came with my RS1.
Cutting to the chase, the JVC is a higher performance projector that should appeal to most enthusiasts, and also those that just want a great picture. It’s not into frills or fancy dynamic enhancement features. It’s about putting the best possible image on your screen. Sorry, no creative frame interpolation, although according to JVC, the RS10 outputs 24fps sources at 96fps – 4:4 pull-down.
The JVC projectors have always been more expensive than the typical 1080p projectors out there. The DLA-RS10’s price point is just more than double that of the most entry level 1080p projectors. It’s also more expensive than the Sony LCoS HW10, technically its closest competitor (in that both are LCoS based projectors).
The JVC DLA-RS10 has an MSRP of $4995, which is about $1000 less than JVC quoted when they first announced the projector at CEDIA last Sept, and it is just 2/3 the price of their top of the line DLA-RS20.
The JVC DLA-RS10 really isn’t about special features, but rather pure performance, so not much to report here. Like virtually all newer projectors the JVC RS10’s two HDMI inputs are 1.3 compliant, supporting 24fps, Deep Color and CEC.
The RS10, like just a few other projectors, including the Sanyo PLV-Z3000 and PLV-Z700 has a motorized door that closes automatically when the projector is powered down. That’s a nice touch for keeping dust and spiderwebs off of the lens, but hardly rocket science.
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