# D-ILA in the house!



## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

After many years of lusting after JVC's D-ILA projectors I am finally going to be an owner! :yay:

After five years of faithful service, 3200 hours, I sold my Sanyo PLV-Z2000 LCD projector on amazon for $425, after fees. It had the original lamp in it. 

Searching videogon I was pleased to find that a used JVC RS-1U could be had for $1000 shipped. However ended up getting a used RS-1X, which is an updated version of the RS-1U (namely custom gamma controls and upgrade to HDMI 1.3), for about the same price. It has 3200 total hours of operation, comes with original receipt, original box packaging and accessories, ceiling mount, an installed JVC lamp with 1600 hours on it, and two brand-new lamps (one MWave, one Apex). 

Now you might be asking yourself....

Old 2008 model? 
Definitely. 

Only a 2D projector? 
Yep, fraid so. 

Not the last word in clarity? 
That's what I hear. 

But, I ask you, when you have a projector that has a true 15,000:1 contrast ratio (sans a dynamic iris) do any of those questions _really_ matter? :laugh: 

Anyway, just thought I would share the great prices that these projectors are going for these days, check out the reviews:

http://www.projectorreviews.com/jvc/dla-rs1u/

http://www.projectorcentral.com/jvc_dla-rs1.htm

http://cineforhome.com/reviews/projectors/JVC-HD1/HD1Test.htm


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Congrats! I feel a whole weekend of movie time coming up


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## Starmaster (Jun 3, 2012)

Enjoy it to the fullest TypeA and congrats..now were is the popcorn..:clap:


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## mechman (Feb 8, 2007)

Congrats Ty!


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Nice one Ty..A new movie experience coming up!


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Thanks all, Ive purchased lots of gear in the past but this is one of the most exciting for me. Still surprised that I got it for $1085 shipped, especially considering the mount and two new lamps were included. Had a couple of emails and a long phone conversation with the seller before the purchase, really nice guy and very helpful. He has an impressive ebay feedback score of 800+ so Im pretty confident it will be a great projector. Asked if he had ever done a prism and mirror cleaning of the unit, he hadn't. So Ill be taking it apart and doing a cleaning, here's the instructions for that...

http://www.avforums.com/forums/proj...d-series-prism-cleaning-project-part-1-a.html

Spent $6 at Sam's club today on this kit:
Zeiss Lens Care Kit


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Congrats Ty! :clap:

I am looking forward to reading your impressions - they are always well thought-out and informative.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Fully installed and doing some light viewing. Its a massive increase in pq but Ill share more specifics when Ive had a chance to do more viewing. The new shiny black housing and install has already gotten the seal of approval from the gf, always a good thing. I agree the JVC looks a lot better than the big white rectangle that was the Sanyo projector it replaced, the sleek black (and very large) look is eye catching, especially with the ceiling still being white. Painting the ceiling is on the to-do list


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Ive spent some quality time with the projector; several blu ray movies, comcast cable and some xbox 360 gaming. So now that I have a good feel for the pq its time to get at 3000 hours of grime. Here is the very first step, all Ive done is remove the lamp and do a quick clean of the left side of the prism (obviously lamp side only), anyone see a difference? :laugh:


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Oh my, that is quite dirty! Out of curiousity, did cleaning it significantly change the quality of the picture?


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

ALMFamily said:


> Oh my, that is quite dirty! Out of curiousity, did cleaning it significantly change the quality of the picture?


Well I think at a minimum it will increase my brightness, thats for sure  




The picture instructions I linked, earlier in this thread, were pretty much useless as the design has changed a lot. But at least it gave me an idea of what to look for.

Heres a shot of the prism after the top half of the air duct has been removed, the black lid that you see in the center is covering the prism. This lid can not be removed because it catches on that horizontal metal rail seen directly above the lid (go figure). 










However once you remove the lower half of the air duct, and then the six screws holding the prism in place, the whole prism assembly comes right out. This reveals a lens


















Heres an interesting shot with the internal lens removed. Those gold-looking blobs would not come off, even tried lens cleaner, so Im not sure what they are.....


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Wow! Though its a subjective observation I dont think a full _20% increase_ in brightness is an exaggeration at all! Sadly I was so motivated to get this internal cleaning project done that I failed to take pre-cleaning screen shots. But, get this, here are two screen shots with a 120 watt overhead light on. I have _never_ gotten this quality of screen shot with so much light in the room, its far more impressive in person.



















Now for the serious screen shots, just keep in mind that I have some saturation and gamma adjustments to make. Forgive that Im using animation but I wanted to show the pop and contrast, eventually Ill get some skin tone screen shots also. Also notice shot one and two, all that light coming off the ceiling? Its even worst in person so that will be fixed very soon, likely painted tan to match the walls in the room.


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

Heres some skin tone and detail shots, gamma adjusted from 2.2 to 2.1 and blue went from 0 to -5. Pretty happy with these settings. Of course the camera adds lots of excess saturation to these shots but you get the idea....


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## Starmaster (Jun 3, 2012)

Looking real good TypeA, and it must have been fun taking that one apart..but in the end it is all worth it by the look of your pics..nice job done on this PJ.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Wow Ty, those look great! Sounds like this was an all-around great purchase - not only with a great projector but a good learning experience with cleaning it as well. 

Enjoy!


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

TypeA, I love your enthusiasm! Great work! Great thread!


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## TypeA (Aug 14, 2010)

*JVC DLA-RS1X*
I waited many years. JVC projectors were just out of my price range and most of the new models still are today. But I couldnt resist tapping out a quick and informal review when I _finally_ managed to get in on a used JVC projector I could afford. Ive got 30 hours of post-cleaning viewing on the RS1X, I think Ive got a good handle on its performance so heres my impressions of my first-ever LCOS projector.

*Apparently not all 'black plastic' is created equally.*
This is my third projector, and definiately the best looking unit Ive ever owned. The gloss black housing is classy but the front design of the housing is just plain _cool_. The intake and exhaust vents, with their honeycomb mesh, remind me of air intake louvers like you might find on a high performance sports car. Having removed the housing for an internal cleaning I was left with a whole new appriciation for the elegant cooling system found in this model. In fact, in my uneducated opinion, the RS1's horseshoe-design cooling system is an engineering marvel in and of itself. The silver lens assembly and flat black front face really sets this projector apart in terms of a well thought-out look and design. From a cosmetic standpoint this projector screams quality well before you ever hit the power button. 






















*Can you hear me now?*
The JVC is not as quiet as the Sanyo PLV-Z2000 LCD projector it replaced. Operating the lamp in "high" mode I found the noise downright intolerable, so this impression is from the lamp in "normal" mode, and thats the quietest mode the JVC can muster. To its defense this particular 3,000 hour projector has a fan that whines a little, but even disregarding that I was still surprised to find that it makes more noise than the Sanyo did. My install may be slightly to blame as the projector is ceiling-mounted directly overhead of the seating area. From what Ive read most of the noise from the JVC originates from the front of the unit, rather than from the back and side like my former Sanyo. Its not serious noise, and Im probably being picky, but theres still no mistaking that the JVC is easier to notice during the quieter passages than the Sanyo that it replaced.

The internal cleaning, and more specifically the prism cleaning, made such a profound differnece that I feel the need to split the picture quality into two sections, pre and post cleaning observations respectively...



*10 hours was plenty, thanks.*
Ill be honest, the Sanyo-JVC upgrade was not the huge upgrade I was anticipating. Sure, it was an obvious improvement in contrast but it also seemed to be a big loss in brightness and pop when compared to the Sanyo. Strange, I had installed a new lamp and my initial settings were based on what I had read as being the most _accurate_ settings: Normal lamp power, Cinema mode, gamma 2.2, color -5, blue -5, and then everything else at factory defaults. To my surprise this projector just wasnt that impressive, and certainly not worthy of all the hype I had read so much about! Now, at this point, Im beginning to wonder if my high-gain gray screen and moderate beige-colored walls were playing a larger adverse role on my PQ than I had anticipated they would. I started tinkering with the settings a bit, and even went so far as to start researching matte-white screens, in anticipation of squeezing every ounce of brightness out of this dim projector that I could! 

Well, before going off the deep end and ordering a new screen, I remembered that the internet was littered with JVC owners raving about the difference a prism and mirror cleaning has made for them. But, frankly, I was a bit skeptical that it would make *that* much of a difference. But then I removed my lamp and did a quick cleaning of one side to reveal this level of gunk on my prism: 










Yes indeed, _very_ quickly my hopes grew as I tore down my new projector and did a full cleaning of all the prism and most-all of the mirror assembly! 


*All that, and a bag of chips.*
The cleaning went off without a hitch, far easier than I thought it would be. What's cool is that the projector's internal components are modular, meaning individual components can easily be removed and replaced. Now, I would imagine most might feel that a rookie, with zero electronics repair experience, tearing into a nice piece of electronics is just plain crazy talk. Well I would tend to agree with that, if it werent for the fact that it was _fun_ to see what made my new projector tick! :laugh: 

However I did take my time; took pictures and bagged-and-tagged all screws as I disassembled. Once it was disassembled to the level I needed it was obvious that this projector had the total hours stated by the former owner. It was also quite obvious that it was used in a clean and smoke-free environment, but I did take the time to clean the fan blades and any place that air-circulation dust had accumulated. So what were the results, was it an improvement in picture quality? Take a look at the expression that was on my face....











I would say this cleaning made a _huge_ difference. The JVC (new lamp and all) went from being dull and dim when compared to the Sanyo (with its 3200 hour lamp), to a fire-breathing-dragon with brightness to _spare_, certainly much brighter than the Sanyo! All of a sudden I was seeing this picture "pop" that I had read so much about. With these new results, and eye-watering picture quality, I was now beginning to feel much better about my upgrade. The gamma settings that everyone had recommended as a starting point were brutally dark, eventually I settled on a gamma setting of 2.0, a higher setting than any number Ive seen posted. This gamma setting does in fact seem to compromise my black levels somewhat, but I was loosing so much detail with 2.2-2.4 that those really dark blacks just wasnt worth an overall image so dark. I might still give a matte white screen a try at a future date, but for now I am pretty pleased with the image the grayWolf is giving me. I could also see what some owners were talking about when they say the colors are "over saturated", this was fixed by dialing down the color even _more_ and I finally settled on a number I consider a little drastic, -10. With these settings it really doesnt matter the scene; brightness levels are consistent, natural, and produces the most film-like images I have ever seen in my little theater. The addition of this projector gave my theater a 'wow' factor that is impossible to describe, I always loved the color and depth of my older DLP but it simply cant touch this LCOS machine, nor could a solid LCD like my former Sanyo. I still snicker when I think that I paid $600 (after the $425 applied from the sale of the Sanyo) for two new lamps and a ceiling mount, and then of course I got the JVC RS1X projector thrown-in for _free_. With the launch of JVC 3D models current JVC owners are selling off their 2D models and creating a hot used market for the RS1, RS1X and even the RS2. They fetch a mere $1000 on the used market (an RS2 just sold for $1050 on Videogon two days ago), thats an outstanding price for some of the finest picture quality on the market. Thanks JVC, you make an awesome projector and you were _well_ worth the years I patiently waited to be an owner.


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## Starmaster (Jun 3, 2012)

That is awesome TypeA and hats off to the job you have done on this PJ and it must look great in real when watching any movie etc on it, enjoy it to the fullest and hope it gives you many years of service. :T


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Starmaster said:


> That is awesome TypeA and hats off to the job you have done on this PJ and it must look great in real when watching any movie etc on it, enjoy it to the fullest and hope it gives you many years of service. :T


Agreed. Congrats on a great unit and an impressive review!


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Very well done! :T You have an awesome projector for a fantastic price that should give you a lot of pleasure for a long time!


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