Randy,
I'm hardly an expert on much of anything..... I seam to recall you were the one who educated me on projectors, screens and CIH set ups. I just haven't stop spending money.
So, Mike, you have transcended even that nice Panasonic projector that you bought? In what way is the JVC more satisfying? My interest is, unfortunately, purely academic at this point. But I like to learn.
The major difference between the Panasonic PT1000 (and all other digital projectors for that matter) and the JVC projectors is native contrast ratio. JVC is the benchmark projector that you will see referenced in reviews when the reviewer starts talking about blacks. Many other projectors will list a CR spec, and it will be as high as the JVC’s, but they fail to note that they achieve that spec with the aid of a dynamic iris. When using a DI, brightness and ANSI CR suffers because the light path is getting pinched. The PT1000 I had, after I calibrated it, had a native CR of 1200/1 and an ANSI CR of 110/1. The JVC RS-20, after calibration, is at 36,000/1 native CR and 260 ANSI CR. What all that means, without writing a book, is that I can now see things in shadows that were nothing but dark grey mush before. Instead of seeing a black coat on the Joker in DK, I now can see the lapels of the jacket. Blacks are now black and not dark grey. I can see bright stars surrounded by black space. The difference between the two is dramatic. The JVC also has a much better lens, which means a much sharper image. There is a misunderstanding by most that if a display is 1080P, then it should be very sharp. This is not true. You do have increased lines of resolution, but they are being shot through a lens. If the lens is of so-so quality, then the image you see will be affected by that. This is why the better anamorphic lenses are so expensive; they are generally of better quality than the projector. Any photographer who has used a kit lens, then a pro-series lens can relate to this. There’s no comparison when you start look at the shots closely. There are other things that the JVC does better than the PT1000 I was using, but one that I appreciate greatly, is noise. The JVC is practically silent. When in Normal lamp mode, I can not hear it. When in High lamp mode, it’s still very quiet. My DVR’s hard drive is louder than the projector. The JVC is also considerably brighter than the PT1000; more than twice as bright. This makes the image look much more punchy, gives it more depth and pop. The Panasonic projectors are great units. I’m not bashing them. They just aren’t in the same league as the RS20. But, if I had not seen the JVC in action, I’d be perfectly content with the Panasonic and I would never have known what I was missing. Now I’m screwed. I will always be wanting something better.
