Flesh Tones

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Art Feierman

Not a problem here, of course. As a JVC owner, I've always been really pleased with skin tones. While I didn't log all the hours I normally would for a full review, I got enough facetime with the segments of the same old movies that I watch for comparison's sake, to realize that the RS60 was going to be very much like the RS35, which is to say, also like my RS20, for the most part.

Skin tones on the RS60 are softly natural in terms of color. They aren't quite as rich looking as some single chip DLPs, especially on darker scenes, but they are pretty fine. I've never had a problem with JVC skin tones. Variation I think is more lamp to lamp, or even more so new lamp vs. old, than any significant change between the three recent generations.

❮ ❯

Next are our usual three images of Daniel Craig, as Bond in Casino Royale, under different lighting conditions. (These were all taken with the RS25 projector.)

The point here, is that correct skin tones vary, depending on the lighting. You can expect significantly different looking skin tones, when switching from bright sunlight, to nighttime, fluorescent lighting, incandescent lighting, or even lighting in the shade, or a cloudy day. Consider these three images, the first in direct sunlight, the second is a scene with fluorescent lighting, and the third, a sunny day, but Bond is sitting in the shade - indirect lighting.

JVC RS60 Black Levels & Shadow Detail

Of course, one of the first things of interest when uncorking the RS60, even before Mike got to measure and calibrate it, was to check out the black level performance. After all, the older DLA-RS35 already had the best black level performance known to man (or at least known to me), from a conventional projector. (Still no match for a CRT!) JVC gives us an even better contrast spec with the RS60, and since no dynamic iris is involved, we would expect a slight improvement in blacks.

I never did put the RS60 up against my RS20 - that would have been part of the photo shoot, so I can't tell you by direct comparison, to the closest projector I have here, in terms of blacks. I definitely convinced myself that the blacks of the RS60 are a touch blacker, than last year's, but I'd really like another, closer look, to be sure.

The thing is, a little better is always appreciated, but, in the grand scheme of things, for example, I'd gladly keep last year's black levels in exchange for 50% more brightness for my 3D viewing.