JVC DLA-RS6710, RS67U, X900R Projector Review Summary

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Art Feierman

DLA-RS6710, DLA-RS67U, and DLA-X900R REVIEW SUMMARY: Picture, 4K Compatibility, Brightness

DLA-RS6710 (and siblings) Picture Quality Summary

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When it comes to overall color accuracy, this JVC is truly very good, right out of the box. Post calibration it is excellent.

Translated, the final color accuracy is almost as good as it gets. It rivals other projectors that calibrate great, including the three Sony 4K projectors, and their two lower cost 1080p models, although I would have to give the 4K Sony's the slight - and the operative term here is slight, advantage. And that's probably within what can be accomplished by a good calibrator who has the time to continue to tweak the calibration to smooth out some of the minor issues.

If color accuracy was the only requirement needed to declare a $12,495 projector as excellent, that wouldn't tell the whole story, and I could easily say that there are other projectors - some down around $2000 than calibrate just as well.

Black Level performance is the one area that does set the JVC apart. Fortunately for the competition, including the best Sony and the Epson LS10000 (and LS9600e), that come pretty close, as does JVC's RS4910 (and its siblings) for less than half the price. Still, dynamic range and black levels are the JVC's ace in the hole - the best but not by a great amount. On the other hand, none but those few come close.

The other aspect that is critical at this level of performance is perceived sharpness. While neither this JVC nor the Epson laser projectors can match the native sharpness of the three 4K Sony projectors, they can seem pretty close. In fact on 1080p content, the Epson's seem sharper than even the 4K Sonys. Not so the JVC which despite pixel shifting (like the Epson) seems softer than those others.

Yes, I have two complaints about the JVC. When it relates to picture quality, the perceived sharpness is one. Compared to the Epson and the 4K Sony's it does appear softer. Even with 4K content, it doesn't let me move my viewing chair near as close as the others. It relates to sharpness. My take is that 1080p has never been sharp enough for great home theater. It's fine for a 50 inch LCDTV, but I want to be able to sit close enough (well inside of 10 feet for my 124" diagonal screen), to be fully immersed, like siting 1/3 back at an IMAX movie theater.

4K Content Compatibility

For the moment, compatibility of this JVC with future 4K content is my other "complaint." It's really hard to give JVC a lot of grief about this since the Blu-ray UHD standard is not fully set, but we do know that so far, Blu-ray UHD is expected to require HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 copy protection. The JVC has neither.

It is possible that an outboard processor could solve this issue without creating others, but it's guesswork this early on in the 4K game.

But I do have a lot more faith in projectors that support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 which include 4K Sonys and the Epson LS10000. While I could get my hands on 4K content that isn't copy protected (provided on small servers), about the only really available 4K content that's around is from the 4K download service that Sony touts. That content works with the Sonys and the Epson has no problem with it as well, via downloading to Sony's small media player. When I tried the JVC, all I got were messages that the display isn't compatible.

That's a good indication of what will happen with Blu-ray HD. As to 4K HDTV, that's further out, but again, the Sony/Epsons are far less likely to have issues. Perhaps more importantly both Sony and Epson have told me that Blu-ray UHD is something their respective (4K enabled) projectors will support, even if firmware upgrades are required. With JVC, they are simply taking the - too early to say, and they have provided no commitment for the RS6710 or their other 4K capables, that provide me with confidence that they will work, when Blu-ray UHD ships later this year.

Mind you Blu-ray UHD will likely be an evolving system. Early Blu-ray UHD will support higher bit depths and other aspects that not even the Sonys and Epsons are currently supporting. Still that moment will come when I plug in my first Blu-ray UHD player, and drop in the first 4K disc, where I expect that of these projectors I'm talking about here, only the JVC will not be able to play it without something new from JVC (not yet committed) or some outboard device that ups the overall price and might not be available for some time if ever.

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JVC RS6710U Brightness

Not bad, not bad at all. 940 calibrated lumens is plenty for just about everyone's 2D viewing - on screens up to about 130 inches, with enough spare lumens for much of the loss of lumens one expects with all lamp based projectors. At 100" diagonal there are tons of lumens to go around with typical screens in your theater.

3D brightness is of course an issue, it is with most projectors, as you lose about 2/3s of total brightness, when viewing 3D.

Bottom line on brightness: Plenty for the average home theater setup, a bit "thin" for larger screens, not quite bright enough for many home entertainment media/family room type setups with some ambient light, including sports viewing. This projector's closest competitors are mostly modestly to moderately brighter. Still very good brightness overall.