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Meridian MF10 Projector = JVC DLA-RS2 plus Ripoff

by Clint DeBoer — March 17, 2008

That's an expensive label!

It's not uncommon the see manufacturers occasionally re-brand a product with their own moniker and sell it as their own. We've seen this in the past with Rotel re-branding APC power conditioners, and Atlantic Technology re-boxing the same AV processor it sold under the Outlaw Audio moniker. None of it is really criminal and most times (as in the Rotel example) it simply allows customers to have matched components and maintain the uniform look of a branded system. Sometimes, as in the case of Meridian's latest product, it really seems like it's all about finding a new way to make money off unsuspecting consumers.

Are we being mean and unfair? Well, considering we haven't looked inside the box - yes, a tad bit. But in all actuality, having reviewed many many projectors, there are only so many things you can do to improve the picture. When the specs match up so closely, and the only exterior differences are a white Meridian logo on the top of the unit (instead of JVC) we question the validity of tacking on an additional $7,000.

Let's look at the known specs for each:

	JVC DLA-RS2	Meridian MF10
Display Tech	D-ILA 3 x 0.7-inch 1080p	D-ILA 3 x 0.7-inch 1080p
Lumens	600 ANSI	700 ANSI
Iris	None	None
Lens	16-element lens	16-element lens
Zoom	2x motorized	2x motorized
Lens Shift	80%H + 34%V	80%H + 34%V
Contrast Ratio	30,000:1	30,000:1
Control	RS-232C	RS-232C
HDMI	2 x HDMI 1.3	2 x HDMI 1.3
Deep Color	Yes	Yes
Noise	24dB	24dB
MSRP	$7,995	$14,995

It seems relatively clear to us that Meridian is simply giving its dealers a way to make a cool $7,000 or more from their branded DLA-RS2 projector. I'm sure there's a chance Meridian made some adjustments along the way, however we doubt they did more than superficial changes, nor that any of those changes would have resulted in anything actually visible.

The 700 lumens rating on the MF10 is only via third party news reporting and has yet to be verified from Meridian , so we're not sure even that single spec indicates a true difference. Both projectors are certain to be hot items worthy of any serious home theater enthusiasts - we just hate to see wealthy and unsuspecting consumers taken to the cleaners simply because they allow a custom installer to sell them on a "Meridian" projector.

For more information or to make your own comparison, please feel free to check out the official websites:

Audioholics is thinking about putting out its own line of AV receivers. Maybe we can take a flagship Onkyo, upgrade some capacitors, put our logo on it and sell it for twice the price? Hey, anything is possible, right!

Discuss This Article

mtrycrafts posts on September 11, 2008 20:03

You may also want to read this:

https://www.runco.com/image/wsr_csms_story.pdf

And, for fun, may want to check out their projector specs as they give lumens and Fl and perhaps after calibration lumens as well which can be only 50% of the spec. How else would they impress you with this numbers game

jostenmeat posts on September 11, 2008 14:04

Yes. How much you need, whether Lumens or FL, will also be a function of how much ambient light you have in-room. Heck, some people use TWO screens.

AcuDefTechGuy posts on September 11, 2008 13:27

jostenmeat, post: 454422
Make sense? Yo ADTG, start a new thread maybe? no more hijack? dankz.

Oops. Sorry about that.

Well, okay one last question before getting back to the topic:

So if “Foot-lambert” is Dependent on both the screen Size and Gain, is “Lumen” Independent of both screen Size and Gain?

Okay, now my take on this Rip-off issue:

If I could afford $40,000/pr Meridian speakers (probably $100K total speakers) + $$$ on Meridian audio electronics (probably $50-75K), I don't think I would mind spending a few extra thousand $$ on this projector.

jostenmeat posts on September 11, 2008 02:57

AcuDefTechGuy, post: 454300
No, of course, not. I'm just trying to understand this brightness rating.

Oh, Im just giving you a hard time man. Sorry, couldn't help myself.

So if projector-A measures 1500 lumens and projector-B measures 750 lumens, does that mean that projector-A is TWICE as bright?

I suppose so?

So if your projector (700 lumens) is too bright, does that mean that the Epson UB (1500 lumens) is blindingly bright?

No. Its a two-part thing: PJ and Screen. Since I use a high power screen do I have such great brightness. The compromise is the narrow viewing cone, but I still fit in 8 viewers with only one seat getting some modest compromise. In my eyes anyways.

And is there a conversion for Foot-Lambert to Lumens?

What is 26 FL in terms of lumens?

I've done the math for others already both in this sub-forum, as well as the acoustics/setup sub-forum. This is what I explained the last time:

jostenmeat, post: 0
FL is calculated by taking your Lumens and dividing by Square Footage. So:

1000 lumens for the PJ (you need to research how accurate this number is, and how far off it will be after calibration).

159“ has dimensions of 78” x 139". To get Sq Ft you multiply, so that equals 10,842 sq inches. Make it Sq Feet by dividing by sq ft, or 144 sq in. That = 75.3 Square Feet.

1000 lumens divided by 75.3 = 13.28 FL.

Take 13.28 and multiply by whatever gain you decide upon. Example, 13.28 x 1.8x gain = 23.9 FL.

Expect real world to be less, whether due to exaggerated specs, or out-of-the-box PQ being off from desired calibration.

-jostenmeat

Make sense? Yo ADTG, start a new thread maybe? no more hijack? dankz.

AcuDefTechGuy posts on September 10, 2008 20:47

jostenmeat, post: 454162
Because I hope you are not talking smack on my RS-1!

No, of course, not. I'm just trying to understand this brightness rating.

So if projector-A measures 1500 lumens and projector-B measures 750 lumens, does that mean that projector-A is TWICE as bright?

So if your projector (700 lumens) is too bright, does that mean that the Epson UB (1500 lumens) is blindingly bright?

And is there a conversion for Foot-Lambert to Lumens?

What is 26 FL in terms of lumens?

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