Compare Projectors - IN83 vs. JVC DLA-RS10 - 2

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Art Feierman

Comparing the Projectors Picture Quality

For all the side-by-side images below, the IN83 is on the left, and the DLA-RS10 is on the right.

In terms of out of the box performance, the win goes to the IN83. I described it as "darn good, but still not as good as it could be". With the JVC DLA-RS10, I said: "definitely looked much better than the equivalent RS20's... but the color temperature was definitely a bit lower than the ideal 6500K."

Still, anyone who watches either of these projectors without properly calibrating it to maximize performance, is not getting their money's worth. To spend a few hundred to calibrate a $1500 projector may seem like too much, but for projectors selling close to $5000, it's a small expense relative to the extra picture quality you get.

Skin Tones

In terms of picture quality, these two projectors strengths are very different, as stated at the top of this article. The InFocus IN83 has almost certainly the best skin tones and accurate color, that I've been able to obtain on any projector I've reviewed. After calibration, my own RS20 looked magnificent, I thought it was as good as it gets, until I put the two side by side, and the IN83 still looked more natural on skin tones... But, we are talking about the RS10, not the RS20. The RS10 is no lightweight when it comes to accurate color. (Grayscale balance from very dark gray - 20 IRE - all the way up to white - 100 IRE) was very tight with only a 225K range relative to a 6500K ideal. Still, I have to give the IN83 the advantage.

The first image below is from the Dark Knight. The one below it, form Men In Black (of course). When you click on either to enlarge, the differences look striking, and the IN83 does look better. To provide perspective, though, cover up one projector's image and check out the other projector's image, then cover the second one, and look at the first. Either, by itself looks really good. Side by side subtle differences start looking large.

Black level performance

Where the RS10 beats out the IN83 is in black level performance. Although the RS10 can't match the black levels of the RS20, it's the next best thing. The IN83, by comparison, is merely very good, and that's not that close. The IN83, say three years ago, would have been heralded as having sensational black levels, but that's changed with the advent of JVC's design of their LCoS chips, and the addition of dynamic irises in all kinds of home theater projectors. (Oh, as I have lamented before - if only InFocus had added a dynamic iris to the IN83). Had they done so, who knows how things would have sorted out, in terms of our awards.

Black level performance:Comparision

RS10 vs IN83 black

RS10 vs IN83 logo

RS10 vs IN83 black

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Our first image is a black frame between scenes. This is an extremely long time exposure, about 15 seconds worth. I went this long, so that the RS10 is just starting to show very dark gray, instead of black. Doing that, and the IN83 looks downright bright. The second image of a logo at the beginning of The Dark Knight, is more realistic. They are still overexposed, but only slightly. It's a good representation (at least on my computer monitor) of how the two looked in real life. You can see that the IN83 (left) is going a little more gray, while the RS10 is still pretty close to black.

The next two images are the same frame. The first one is slightly overexposed, while the second one is a little more so (to make it easier to spot the differences). Still, on this type of mixed scene, though mostly dark, both projectors look very good. It is on much darker scenes where the RS10 shows its advantage.