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Warner released a five-disc Complete Collector’s Edition of Blade
Runner (1982) for fans who can’t decide which of the four “official”
versions of the film they prefer. For this review I watched the 2007
Final Cut, and the HD DVD looked incredible on the RS2. The trans-
fer is amazingly detailed with great texture and clarity. This is another
very dark film that requires an extremely high-contrast ratio projector
to reproduce optimally. The images were displayed with an excep-
tionally deep black and great delineation of features at near-black
levels. Blade Runner presents a grim picture of the not-so-distant
future, and requires an exceptional projector that contributes no haze
of its own to clearly depict the dismally polluted environment that is
so meticulously portrayed in the film.
Summary
The JVC DLA-RS2U three-panel 1080p D-ILA projector is a
remarkable achievement in front-projection technology. It delivered a
native full-field contrast ratio over 30,000:1, which had previously
seemed unobtainable for a lamp-based projector. Its outstanding
black level and dynamic range, coupled with a higher gamma, pro-
vides a viewing experience that had previously only been possible
with a fine CRT projector. It produces vividly colorful images, but
video perfectionists will want to use an external color-management
system for optimal colorimetry. Even with that addition, the JVC DLA-
RS2U ($7,995) is an exceptional value for a superlative home theatre
experience. WSR
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JVC® DLA-RS2U 1080p D-ILA® Front Projector
ThE ROGERS REPORT
(breathing) is an annoying artifact of motion-adaptive deinterlacing
that occurs if the image resolution suddenly and severely decreases
with movement. The fine detail in the background of The Tonight
Show With Jay Leno and the CBS Late Show With David Letterman
was reproduced with excellent sharpness. The black level was out-
standing, and colors were brilliant with realistic fleshtones.
I used the 1080p24 output from an HD DVD player to avoid jud-
der while viewing high-definition movies. I’m very cognizant of judder,
and eliminating it is an important aspect of re-creating the film experi-
ence for me. Judder is most visually obvious when a camera slowly
pans across a scene, but for some people it produces subliminal
stress and tension as the brain tries to smooth out any motion that it
knows should be free of judder.
I particularly appreciated the more fluid and natural motion of the
Formula One cars in Grand Prix (1966). The higher gamma I was
able to use with the RS2 also improved the perceived image
depth compared to the RS1, which further contributed to the
realism of the outstanding cinematography. However, colors
were slightly too warm and faces a touch red, which
necessitated a reduction in the Color control. I was
especially impressed by the projector’s incredible full-
field contrast ratio when James Garner’s BRM is
pulled out of the water. There is no haze in the
images, and the car’s dark British racing green color
and the reflections in the water are exceptionally
clear in the night scene.
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003) looks
spectacular on this projector. It already looked excep-
tional on the RS1, but the higher full-field contrast
ratio makes the night street scenes appear even more
dynamic and vividly colorful. The desert scene, when
Arnold arrives from the future, is a superb projector test.
Unless the projector has an exceptional full-field contrast ratio, the
desert images appear veiled and may exhibit some haze. The num-
ber of stars visible in the sky is another indicator of the projector’s
effective contrast performance. In addition, if the gamma is too low,
the desert images look artificial, but with higher gamma the images
become convincing. Suffice to say, this scene looks stunning on the
RS2, and better than it has on any other projector I’ve reviewed. The
higher, CRT-like gamma on the RS2 improves this scene, as it does
the image depth in the brighter outdoor scenes. Colors are deep and
vivid throughout the film, and skin tones are realistic, but some
greens appear a tad oversaturated in outdoor scenes.
Notting Hill (1999) looked gorgeous with a large palette of brilliant
colors. Fleshtones were deep, but they didn’t look overly red or unnat-
ural. There was excellent sharpness and detail throughout the film.
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) provided superb resolution and
detail, with some great overhead shots of cities and buildings that
demonstrate the projector’s ability to display exceptional fine struc-
ture. There was a bit too much handheld camera work for my taste,
but it fit with the cool color palette to produce a slightly gritty, hard-
edged look to the film. Nevertheless, the colors were quite vivid and
fleshtones looked realistic in both interior and exterior scenes. There
was excellent contrast in dark images with deep blacks and abun-
dant shadow detail.
To fully appreciate the RS2’s unprecedented contrast ratio and
black level, I turned to The Game (1997), which is filled with extreme-
ly dark scenes. This was the first time I could really enjoy watching
this unique film in my theatre with anything other than a CRT projec-
tor. The black level was superb and clearly revealed objects at near-
black levels. There are many high-contrast scenes with extremely
dark areas and intensely bright light that were reproduced with
exceptional shadow detail. Significant noise and film grain is retained
in the HD DVD transfer, but it is not overly emphasized by the projector.
Widescreen Review • Issue 129 • March 2008
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