I Got it!

"More often han I'd like I get the green bar."

This has happened to me on four occasions and is being looked at right now in Taiwan. It may be just a small amount of projectors that have this problem. Maybe/

The green bar hangup happend when switching between HDTV and 480i.

If it's a persistant problem we may need repair or a relpacement. This is the first Optoma has heard about the problem so I don't know there's a fix for it yet.

Funny thing is I can't recreate the problem at will. How about you, can you hang it up anytime you want?

I get it as a result of the H30s problems with locking onto a component signal. A 'No Signal' notice comes up, it has a bit of a think and then the green bar appears. Changing inputs doesn't help and the only way to get rid of it is to shut the projector down. Would the new firmware help?

I'll phone the Optoma people later today and see what happens when you buy an H30 in one country and live in another.

BTW, I notice a slight pinky/purply push. How would you calibrate this out?

Cheers

Steve

After a nice conversation with Robert from Optoma Tech support, he sent me the RMA form, which I returned. Within two hours of speaking to him on the phone, I had my RMA number.

I shipped the H30 out to California this morning 2-day Priority mail via the USPS for $32 (ouch), half of that price being the insurance cost.

Robert assured me that they will be sending me back a brand new H30 that has the new firmware. I also asked about the lens mask, and he told me that they are not available yet, and that when they are, it's going to be available for purchase at an additonal cost.

So, while I'm happy that I'll be getting a new pj with the new firmware, I'm not happy that I'm $32 poorer and without a pj for over a week.

Oh well, hopefully the new pj will be worth the trouble.

anyone ever use them?

http://www.exploretheuniverse.net/9900/7712%2025321%20Foot%20Vga%20Rca%20Component%20Hdtv%20Cable.h tm

Their cables actually look pretty good for the price. Though they do seem a bit low priced for what they offer. A sign that always worries me.

Well I am getting off work today at 3 to go play with this thing. Maybe I can actually get everything installed, so far I only have my living room rearranged, still need to run new speaker wire and the like.
Oops I just peed myself.

Johnny Bax
What was wrong with the pj that they had to send you a new one?

Usps insurance is expensive. UPS is .35 per hundred dollar, first hundred free. I'm so close to the factory that my ship w/ins was $12.

Originally posted by hikarate
Well I am getting off work today at 3 to go play with this thing. Maybe I can actually get everything installed, so far I only have my living room rearranged, still need to run new speaker wire and the like.
Oops I just peed myself.
Well then big dog- looks like you might get to go home a little earlier if you're going to soil yourself. Or was that part of your plan all along? :D

Congrats and enjoy!!

Originally posted by Joaquin Mejia
Long way back in this thread, Wyng (from Optoma) reported the following:

"H30's projection has a built-in offset so that image is projected upward. (otherwise it will be a nightmare to install this project without excessive keystone that will kill the image quality)
The light paths of the lower portion of the projected image actually pass mainly through the central portion of H30's projection lens.
This is not a conventional design. However, we believe this design is giving user the best 16:9 image possible from H30's projection system.
Clarification about ceiling mount projection:
If H30 is ceiling mounted (up side down, image flipped) the 16:9 image will be projected relatively closer to the ceiling than a conventional design."

It is a VERY interesting post that I think has not been well understood. If I read well, the above information means that the "sweet spot" of the lens is precisely the center, just as it must be. The light path´s offset that this projector has is compensated placing the 16:9 picture in the lower part, which means the 16:9 image IS EFFECTIVELY placed in the center of the lens.

Wyng even says that when inverted, the picture is closer to the ceiling than usual, implying that the masked lines are below the 16:9 image, not above. But this seems to contradict many other posts from users that I have read here. May be Optoma has failed to implement this well? If the sweet spot of the lens is at the lower part of the light path when the projector is in normal position, it should be the upper part of the light path when the projector is inverted.
Anybody has tried to use the projector both ways and seen any difference?

I still don´t have this projector, but I am trying to determinate the best position for installing.

Thanks!


I find this post fascinating as well. When ceiling mounted the 16:9 image is certainly not projected close to the ceiling. In fact when I tried out the H30 (I don't have it anymore, but may purchase one) the 16:9 image was projected very low when ceiling mounted and I had to tilt the projector way UP to place the image in a viewable part of the wall. This required a great deal of correction by keystoning. Others have reported this as well. The fact that the 16:9 image is placed at the bottom of the 4:3 area when the projector is table mounted AND when it is mounted upside down is odd particularly in light of the reasons Optoma gives for the light path going to one particular part of the lens.

Should the image in fact be at the TOP of the 4:3 area when ceiling mounted in order to do what Wyng states: 'Clarification about ceiling mount projection: If H30 is ceiling mounted (up side down, image flipped) the 16:9 image will be projected relatively closer to the ceiling than a conventional design?'

Its terribly unlikely that this is a 'mistake' that Optoma never noticed so I assume it is a mistake in my understanding of the principles and information expressed in this thread. Still I'd like to see other users opinions of this.

JB

Jason:

I think I have found my problem with the PC and H30 not being very sharp. It's the long VGA cable and/or the cheap VGA switch box. Removing the switch box did improve the sharpness. Will shorten the VGA cable by relocating the PC nearer to the H30 next.

The rest of the group:

Has anyone have a problem with the H30 turning itself on. The last 2 nights, after watching the movie I turned off the H30, the H30 came on by itself when I got up the next morning. The light sequence is: 1) constant green=working, 2) constant amber after it was shutoff but the fan is still running and 3) flashing green after the fan is off and in standby mode. I am very certain of the shutting down procedure as I have been using it the last few months. This is the third time it happens, but 2 in a row. With the precious bulb hours being wasted, I need to fix this problem short off unplugging each night. Is there a setting I missed?



KB

Originally posted by semi_expert
dell=fubar, cont.
Well it figures. Just went up to Dell site to check my cancellation. Order status is unchanged: "on or before 4/30/04" , In Production link says: "shipped via airborne" with a tracking number. Product left IL at 5:03pm today. Dell really has their sh*t together. Good luck to others with H30's from Dell they don't have a clue as to what is going on.

Unreal! This guy cancelled his order and got it shipped anyway, and mine still hasn't shipped. Incredible..

Originally posted by bui
Has anyone have a problem with the H30 turning itself on. The last 2 nights, after watching the movie I turned off the H30, the H30 came on by itself when I got up the next morning.

That's very odd. Is it possible that something hit the remote button or is there anything else in the room that might be emitting IR that the H30 would respond to? Those are the usual culprits when components are turning themselves on.

Originally posted by Joe Banks
I find this post fascinating as well. When ceiling mounted the 16:9 image is certainly not projected close to the ceiling. In fact when I tried out the H30 (I don't have it anymore, but may purchase one) the 16:9 image was projected very low when ceiling mounted and I had to tilt the projector way UP to place the image in a viewable part of the wall. This required a great deal of correction by keystoning. Others have reported this as well. The fact that the 16:9 image is placed at the bottom of the 4:3 area when the projector is table mounted AND when it is mounted upside down is odd particularly in light of the reasons Optoma gives for the light path going to one particular part of the lens.

Should the image in fact be at the TOP of the 4:3 area when ceiling mounted in order to do what Wyng states: 'Clarification about ceiling mount projection: If H30 is ceiling mounted (up side down, image flipped) the 16:9 image will be projected relatively closer to the ceiling than a conventional design?'

Its terribly unlikely that this is a 'mistake' that Optoma never noticed so I assume it is a mistake in my understanding of the principles and information expressed in this thread. Still I'd like to see other users opinions of this.

JB

I've also been trying to clarify this without success :(
I understand why projecting a 16:9 at the bottom of the lens when in desktop mode is beneficial, but when ceiling mounting the H30 seems to do the opposite in that when inverted it seems to use the "top" of the chip so the image is then far too low for my 8ft ceiling - This means that I have to tilt the projector up by about 15 degrees and then use substantial keystoning to correct the image - Not good !

If the PJ was still using the bottom of the chip when ceiling mounted it would be higher up the wall and result in less tilting & keystoning.

Seems very odd to me and certainly seems to produce a poorer image than when desk mounted.

Jason/Tom - Can any of you confirm/clarify this one - I'm confused :confused:

hey- about cables-

anyone ever order from these guys?:

http://www.national-tech.com/catalog/premiumcomponentvideocable.htm

I'm need to get a VGA switchbox and some VGA and component cables...

thanks!

geoff

Originally posted by Greg337
Unreal! This guy cancelled his order and got it shipped anyway, and mine still hasn't shipped. Incredible..

Just be patient. If you have a 4-30 ship date it is likely that you will get it before then. They finally noted that they shipped mine last night at midnight, and then I got it today, so they actually must have shipped it last Thursday or Friday.

This might help everyone feel better about the Dell orders, I just wrote Optoma.

Mr. Smith,

We did indeed fulfil all of Dell's orders, shipped about five days ago. The H30 is exremely popular and supplies are quite limitted. I hope that helps.

Best Wishes,

Paul LeMay

David Watson wrote:

> ----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: H30
> Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 12:21:26 -0400
> From: "Ryan Smith" <ryangsmith@sc.rr.com>
> To: <sales@optoma.com>
>
> Did you ship enough units to Dell to fill all the backorders? I
> ordered mine about a month ago. Or should I order from somewhere
> else? Thanks.
>
> Ryan Smith
>
--
--------------------------
Paul LeMay
Director of Sales
Optoma Technology Inc.
tel (408) 383-3700 ext. 3806
fax (408) 383-3702
--------------------------

Mike:

The H30 is actually downstair in the living/movie room and this is after hours 10-11:00PM when the whole family would have been asleep upstair. I thought it could have been power failure, but that wasn't the case as the digital clocks around the house were not flashing. I was looking for a timer of some sort on the H30 but couldn't find anything in the menu. I always wait until the light is flashing green before walking away from the PJ. Do other users shutdown the H30 first or the source (DVD or PC) first? Would it matters? Is unplugging it after flashing green my only choice?


KB

Originally posted by guitarman
Johnny Bax
What was wrong with the pj that they had to send you a new one?



Tom,

It was the old "Orange lamp light on during power up" that many H30 users have experienced. Even the tech support guy admitted to me that they were getting a lot of 50hr bulb failures. Apparently, the standard policy is to swap the pj with a brand new one with the new firmware, which is fine with me.

bui: do you have the h30 hook up to your pc via dvi? If so, I read in an earlier post dvi can send extra signals to turn the h30 on and off. Might want to switch feed to dvd before going to sleep or stop using dvi.

shatten:

Omniview E 4-Port KVM Switch is a good kvm switch (supports high-quality resolution of up to 2048 x 1536 at 85Hz) can get from gateway for $70 incl ship. Tom posted on some other forum that he uses a composite switch (running component signal through it) and doesn't notice difference, those are like $20-30.

cables i got from pccables.com they are cheap and good.

All:
What is the lens mask? Is that worth getting?
I was also thinking of mounting my projector upside down , but now with these last few post it sounds like it isn't going to work too well, plus i have low ceilings 8 -9 ft i think. i am projecting from a distance of like 12 ft. Anyone with ceiling mount care to share their experience?

-demon

Can anyone who's received their projector from Dell tell me if they security seal was broken? Mine just showed up a day early, and the little yellow seal is clearly broken, but it's underneath the clear "fragile" tape which is along the whole edge of the box. I'm wondering if mine was an upgraded unit or whether Dell is pulling a fast one on me.

The box has a OQA stamp with a date of April 8, 2004 PASS on it. The part number says "95.80A01.00A"

There is a part of a torn label on near the top edge of the box that says "Pick from..." and "Re..." something in big black letters. Can any of you other H30 owners check your box and give me a suggestion. Should I open this? Should I call and give Dell hell and then wait another month to get it. Am I being paranoid?

Thanks, let me know!

I'm curious about the ceiling mount option as well. Mine is about 7'6". If I use something like Jason has (Panavise 6" or 9") that will take the mounted projector down to 7' or 6'9". Will this work without using keystone? I do have some play with screen placement with the bottom at 24" (119"diag).

Nevermind, I just answered my own question looking at Mike's post about 10-12 pages back:

"Here's some info for those looking at the new H30s (actually H30(A) ):

1. Serial numbers will not tell you anything. My original H30 has a higher serial number than any of the new ones. They have applied the firmware update to the projectors they had, then added a new accessory package.

2. The new H30s have a QA stamp on the box dated "April xx, 2004"

3. The new accessory box now lists the lens mask (P/N 75.80A06.001-A). The projector is designated on the accessory box as Model H30(A).

4. The backlit remote is exactly the same in appearance as the previous model. The backlighting is red.

Now that I see it, I believe you could make your own lens mask (at least until they're available from Optoma). I'll post the dimensions later today for those who are interested."

Looks like I did get the H30A model. Now, I just have writhe in agony until this weekend when I can get the projector up and mounted. :)

Johnny Bax ,

--- Well I think you and I might be waiting a bit longer than a week [ I spoke with Robert as well ] . I was told they do not have a date for more units from Taiwan and that it should be within a couple weeks [ but he stated he honestly was not sure ] :( .


------- Jason

well picking up my h56a tomorrow ,and we will see how everything goes and as for the h30's down here in Canada or Toronto i think he said about 2 weeks for the shipment, i think maybe more

*cough* ;)

Any ideas on the ceiling mount/chip question?
Cheers :)

' It was the old "Orange lamp light on during power up" that many H30 users have experienced. Even the tech support guy admitted to me that they were getting a lot of 50hr bulb failures. Apparently, the standard policy is to swap the pj with a brand new one with the new firmware, which is fine with me. "

They didn't swap mine out with a new projector and when I got it back, it still had the progressive green push . So I just had to ship it back again .

Regarding the ceiling mount, keystone, top/bottom of chip questions- please refer to the chart that Mike graciously put together that is posted on Pimp's website.: http://home.comcast.net/~jlcburg3/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html This will tell you where on the screen the image will fall based on source material and projector setting. I believe the original information that Wing provided indicating that the 16:9 image would be at the top of the screen was incorrect for some reason. The fact that the 16:9 image is at the bottom of a 4:3 screen is the only reason why I am still here and did not get a different projector. This works out ideal for me with a screen hung rather high, even though I have lower (7'3") ceilings. I will attempt to mount the H30 very close to the ceiling and will be projecting from a distance of only 10'. I hope I will not need to use excessive keystone. I can let you know perhaps by this weekend if my ceiling mount shows up by then.

I really don't know if this new arrangement uses the best part of the chip, lens, whatever. I don't really care as everything I've heard says the image is great.

Hope that helps some... Cheers!

gottahavapj,

Wouldn't that put your image closer to the floor than the ceiling since it uses the bottom of the chip and you have low ceilings? Or have I missed something?

Okay, here's the deal on table vs. ceiling mount for a 16:9 image.

Table mounted, the 16:9 image is at the bottom, with light spill above. As you can see from the pictures of the lens mask, the image is projected through the upper half of the lens. If you switch the H30 to ceiling mount while the projector is table mounted, the image inverts and moves to the top. This is why when the H30 is ceiling mounted, the 16:9 image remains at the bottom of the viewing area and the offset is much greater. Ceiling mounted, the image is still projected through the same part of the lens, so the lens mask is in the same position on the lens in either mounting (with the opening closer to the top (control side) of the projector.

All this leads me to believe that the 16:9 image uses the bottom of the DMD for table mounting and the top of the DMD for ceiling mounting. This is consistant with the theory that the 16:9 image is better when not in the center of the chip (where you would get light spill both above and below). Whether it's using the top or bottom 2/3s of the DMD should be give you the same image quality.

Originally posted by MikeSRC
Okay, here's the deal on table vs. ceiling mount for a 16:9 image.

Table mounted, the 16:9 image is at the bottom, with light spill above. As you can see from the pictures of the lens mask, the image is projected through the upper half of the lens. If you switch the H30 to ceiling mount while the projector is table mounted, the image inverts and moves to the top. This is why when the H30 is ceiling mounted, the 16:9 image remains at the bottom of the viewing area and the offset is much greater. Ceiling mounted, the image is still projected through the same part of the lens, so the lens mask is in the same position on the lens in either mounting (with the opening closer to the top (control side) of the projector.

All this leads me to believe that the 16:9 image uses the bottom of the DMD for table mounting and the top of the DMD for ceiling mounting. This is consistant with the theory that the 16:9 image is better when not in the center of the chip (where you would get light spill both above and below). Whether it's using the top or bottom 2/3s of the DMD should be give you the same image quality.

Just to make sure I'm on the same page.... When ceiling mounted, the image is LOWER than normal, not higher, right? Top being bottom when flipped over, correct? Sorry if I'm dense.

BTW - I got the projector today, thanks for the quick service!

Thanks Gottahaveapj

If this cart is correct and is independant of the PJ orientation, then it would appear that the info that Wing provided is indeed incorrect.

I'm surprised you say that you're able to project on a high screen with a ceiling height of only 7.3ft - with a screen positioned dead centre of an 8ft wall I had a considerable tilt on the PJ - this resulted in inconsistant focus due to keystoning that was most noticable in the menue screens.

Having said that my ceiling mount was a temporary setup so maybe I'd juts not set thgings up correctly - All I know is that it looked very odd due to the high tilt angle of the PJ - My wife thought it was about to fall off the ceiling ;)

Maybe Optoma will allow for the image to be repositioned in a future firmware release - then at least you'd be able to choose the best setting for your particular setup.

Thanks again :)

Originally posted by markusg
Just to make sure I'm on the same page.... When ceiling mounted, the image is LOWER than normal, not higher, right? Top being bottom when flipped over, correct? Sorry if I'm dense.

BTW - I got the projector today, thanks for the quick service!

That was my experience Mark - Seemed a little too low to me but then I'm only a newbie :p

Originally posted by markusg
Just to make sure I'm on the same page.... When ceiling mounted, the image is LOWER than normal, not higher, right? Top being bottom when flipped over, correct? Sorry if I'm dense.

BTW - I got the projector today, thanks for the quick service!

You're welcome. :)

Yes, when the projector's ceiling mounted, the 16:9 image is still at the bottom (ie: closer to the floor than the ceiling).

For example, if you were projecting onto a 4:3 screen, the image would be at the bottom of that screen (with light spill above) whether the H30's table or ceiling mounted.

Originally posted by simong

Maybe Optoma will allow for the image to be repositioned in a future firmware release - then at least you'd be able to choose the best setting for your particular setup.


I remember Tom posting awhile ago that repositioning of the 16:9 image is indeed being contemplated for a future firmware release.

Originally posted by simong
That was my experience Mark - Seemed a little too low to me but then I'm only a newbie :p

I'm new to this as well, hence my repeated misunderstanding of everything :).

I was worried, as one of the reasons I purchased this projector was due to the greater than normal offset (towards the floor) when ceiling mounted due to the fact that my ceiling will be quite high and I'm attempting to reduce the pole length as much as possible without using keystone adjustments.

As an aside, I didn't realize it came with a nice little carrying bag. I'll only use it once, to carry it home, but it's nice anyway.

Okay, continuing this discussion, let's toss out another option. (Assuming one has a 16:9 screen, as I do).

Is it better to run the projector in the 4:3 mode with the 16x9 image centered to get the good position of the screen, or better to use the 16:9 Native mode and then adjust for keystoning. It seems to me like there are significant tradeoffs.

I'm in a position like a few others here. I have a low ceiling (~7-8 feet), long distance (~15 feet), and I want the screen mounted high (~18 inches from the ceiling to top of the screen). By the sound of things, if I run 16:9 Native, I'm going to have to tilt and correct for some massive keystone, not a great option.

Is the only other option to drop the projector with a mount like the panavise ones some have used here? I'm curious to hear what others are doing to best position this projector for a high screen.

valkyrie,

Wouldn't lowering it with a mount make the image lower, and therefore be the opposite of what you want?

Unless, I suppose, you don't flip the projector over?

Ok ,
-- I think a very simple comment here will help clarify a bit more on the inverted mounting issue .

*** Light Spill is above the image when ceiling mounted and projecting in either of the 16:9 modes ***

--- This does put the projected image a bit lower than normal as it is not using the middle of the DMD panel .

--- I hope that makes sense to those not fully understanding how the H30 throws its image [ at least currently as Tom did state that Wing said there would indeed be a future firmware that allowed the end-user to select which section of the Panel is used for 16:9 ] .

---- The Lower the H30 is mounted from the ceiling the lower the Projected image will be , so if you have low ceilings then you will want to try and keep it as close to the ceiling as possible to avoid shooting close to the floor [ you want to avoid using Keystone at all costs as it can seriously degrade the image quality ] .


----------- Jason

Thanks Jason :)
Do you know what the benefit of using the bottom of the chip is when ceiling mounted? - is it just for consistance when switching between 16:9 and 4:3.
I can understand the benefits when desk mounted but can;t grasp the benefit when ceiling mounted.

Sorry if I;m missing the obvious again.
Cheers :)

Wouldn't lowering it with a mount make the image lower, and therefore be the opposite of what you want?

Yep...good point. Sheesh, I knew that and I was just confusing myself. (Grin).

So, in my case, I want this as close to the ceiling as possible, but with a way to tilt the projector UP (front end up) in order to get the image high on the wall. Hmm...I think a custom mount is in order...

:) Thanks.

Originally posted by simong
Thanks Jason :)
Do you know what the benefit of using the bottom of the chip is when ceiling mounted? - is it just for consistance when switching between 16:9 and 4:3.
I can understand the benefits when desk mounted but can;t grasp the benefit when ceiling mounted.

Sorry if I;m missing the obvious again.
Cheers :)

My .02...

For me, I guess the benefit is that with an 12 foot ceiling, I won't have to hang it quite as low. For those with low ceilings, I'm not quite sure what the benefit would be...

For me, I guess the benefit is that with an 12 foot ceiling, I won't have to hang it quite as low. For those with low ceilings, I'm not quite sure what the benefit would be...


i would say 10ft will be perfect ;)

simong ,

--- Wing stated the H30 throws the best image from an OFF-CENTER lens position , so this must be the reason for not using the middle of the Panel [ if the opposite end of the Panel were used then we would all have a 16:9 image on our ceiling when ceiling mounted ;) ] .

--- I think it is a great design idea actually but it obviously will not work great for every installation :( .

----------- Jason

Semi answering my own question......The official reason (I think) was because using the bottom of the chip gave the image a straighter path through the lens that resulted in a sharper, brighter image.

If this is correct, ceiling mounting would have the opposite effect as the image is using the extreme side of the lens, so in theory would produce a dimmer, less sharp image compared to a standard PJ setup.

Someone please slap me if I'm taking cr@p here !! :)

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
simong ,

--- Wing stated the H30 throws the best image from an OFF-CENTER lens position , so this must be the reason for not using the middle of the Panel [ if the opposite end of the Panel were used then we would all have a 16:9 image on our ceiling when ceiling mounted ;) ] .

--- I think it is a great design idea actually but it obviously will not work great for every installation :( .

----------- Jason

That explains it perfectly I think.

Now I just need to finish my new place, drop this H30 down 2 feet, mount a screen and I should be set.

Thanks again Jason :)

My only concern when I test mouted the PJ was that due to the tilt my image quality was noticably worse and resulted in poor focus.
If the centre of the chip had been used then the tilt & keystoning would have been less and the result would have been a sharper image.

Don't get me wrong, the H30 is an awsome bit of kit, but I'm starting to think that it's been designed specifically for desk or wall mount setups rather than ceiling mount.

The ultimate solution here for those wanting to have the image in the middle would be to use the Full 800x600 panel in Anamorphic [ Enhanced Widescreen ] and use a Panamorph to squeeze the image [ vs. using the PJ itself in 16:9 ] . Now obviously this does not make financial sense to use a $1K Panamorph with a $1400.00 PJ [ but it would give great results ;) ] .


--------- Jason

The ultimate solution here for those wanting to have the image in the middle would be to use the Full 800x600 panel in Anamorphic [ Enhanced Widescreen ] and use a Panamorph to squeeze the image [ vs. using the PJ itself in 16:9 ] . Now obviously this does not make financial sense to use a $1K Panamorph with a $1400.00 PJ [ but it would give great results ] .


i agree with that but jay wasn't there a cheaper Panamorph that worked the same way ?

Haha ,
--- I just noticed that Mike stated exactly what I did [ regarding the light spill ] only a few posts above mine - sorry Mike , I did not see it until now .

----------- Jason

Joe ,

--- yes there is indeed a cheaper version morphing lens out there but from what I have read it seems to make the image soft and blurry .

------- Jason

yes there is indeed a cheaper version morphing lens out there but from what I have read it seems to make the image soft and blurry .



yes now i remember and they also stated that the pic was a little darker to

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
simong ,

--- Wing stated the H30 throws the best image from an OFF-CENTER lens position , so this must be the reason for not using the middle of the Panel [ if the opposite end of the Panel were used then we would all have a 16:9 image on our ceiling when ceiling mounted ;) ] .

--- I think it is a great design idea actually but it obviously will not work great for every installation :( .

----------- Jason

I don't think that's neccessarily true, Jason. If the opposite end of the panel were used, we wouldn't have an image projected on the ceiling. We would be projecting an image whose top is at or near the height of the projector instead of way below it. I think this would be better for anyone without high ceilings. Not only that but the angle from the chip to the 16:9 image would be straighter, which should produce a higher quality picture, right?



Originally posted by simong
Semi answering my own question......The official reason (I think) was because using the bottom of the chip gave the image a straighter path through the lens that resulted in a sharper, brighter image.

If this is correct, ceiling mounting would have the opposite effect as the image is using the extreme side of the lens, so in theory would produce a dimmer, less sharp image compared to a standard PJ setup.

Someone please slap me if I'm taking cr@p here !! :)


I think you are exactly right here, simong. Which brings up the point that the ceiling mounted projection may not be as sharp and/or bright as the table top method, if the light path is not as straight. This could be tested, I suppose, if the real world differences are enough to notice which they very well may not be. But the more serious issue to me is all that keystoning that users without high ceilings will have to do after they tilt the projector to raise the image. This will surely have a noticeable effect on image quality. Either that or watch your movies with the screen down really low :)

JB

Joe Banks ,

--- At or near the top of the ceiling is exactly right [ I was being sarcastic when I said 'on the ceiling' ;) ] .

--- Like I stated , the design will not work great for every installation ;) .

--- The H30 not a Good PJ choice for those with Low Ceilings that wish to ceiling mount [ in its current form ] .


--------- Jason

OK- it took me a while to find this, Mike- you have a lot of posts :) The information Mike lists below directly mirrors my 10' throw and is the reason why I decided to go ahead with my order for the H30. I think I can make the H30 work even with my low ceilings based on these findings. Now- I am assuming that if I was ceiling mounted- these figures would be reversed and that it would be ~10" from the center of the lens to the TOP of my 4:3 image. If I have misunderstood this then I am screwed. We'll find out in couple of days I guess. Thanks!

Originally posted by MikeSRC
Okay, here's a measurement of the offset for you.

Projector is level, table mounted with lens 10' from screen with 0 keystone.

Zoomed in (largest image) - 9-1/2" from center of lens to bottom of image
Zoomed out (smallest image) - 11-1/2" from center of lens to bottom of image

This is the same for 16:9 or 4:3, since the 16:9 image is at the bottom.

If I have an 8 foot ceiling and the center of the lens is 6" below the ceiling. How low would the top of an 84" diagonal screen 41" X 73" be from the ceiling?

Technically speaking there should be no real difference between Table and Ceiling mounting positions [ if I indeed understand what has been stated by Wing ] .

--- When Table mounted the H30 throws the 16:9 image up-ward so that the center of the lens is not used as much as the outer portion , this is the same for Ceiling other than it throws the image down-ward . This has been my understanding of the design as Wing as posted it . Therefore either mounting method should produce equal results in regards to brightness and sharpness .

--- What makes this different is that the H30 does not just use the Center of the DMD panel projected through the Center of the Lens when in 16:9 modes [ which is why we have the larger than normal Offset with the H30 ] .


**** Now if the DMD panel is indeed shifted Off-Center to allow a better Lens alignment for Table mounting then obviously Ceiling mounting would produce different results . I cannot see Optoma doing this with the H30 however since it is marketed as an HT projector [ which means most will be ceiling mounted ] . ****


--------- Jason

Originally posted by MickB
If I have an 8 foot ceiling and the center of the lens is 6" below the ceiling. How low would the top of an 84" diagonal screen 41" X 73" be from the ceiling?
How far is the throw? Do you have 4:3 material to watch or only 16:9?

Hmmmm... I'm not sure on a 16:9 screen as I've always figured mine around 4:3. So if you position this 16:9 screen at what would be the bottom 2/3 of a 4:3 screens placement to take advantage of the larger 16:9 mode(s) images from the H30- would you be able to get a 4:3 image from say a cable box to vertically fall within that screen or would it stretch above it? I'm sure I worded that question real well :) hehehe

Sorry I left out some information. 16:9 screen 12 feet away. Viewing mostly dvd and some HDTV. 4:3 I would put in the middle of the 16:9 screen.
thank you

MickB ,
--- You would be at about 2' (+/- a few inches) below the ceiling without any tilt in the PJ [ in either of the 16:9 modes - native being just a bit closer to the ceiling ].

*** Please Note : this is only an Approximation , not Precise ! ***

*** IMPORTANT ADDITION : The 2' Approximation is considering that you are not using any Zoom , if you use Zoom to enlarge the image then the Drop would be even less [ the image would be closer to the floor as well ] ***

----------- Jason

Tom,

I talked to Tech Support at Optoma about the green band issue. I've been using a third party component to VGA cable and he said that may cause the problem, although I have my doubts. I lost my Optoma doodad so I'm about to go and get another one to check it out.

Otherwise he said that it is a swap for a new one situation. This may not be such a bad thing as I'll get a new PJ with the firmware, cap and co, but it will be a hassle.

The Optoma distributor here is both stupid and will not perform warranty service on a US projector so it is a bit of a hassle.

Cheers

Steve

ha- add another H30 owner to the list- It made it to the DHL dist. center today and i was able to call and get dhl to hold it for pick up- saved me two days of agonizing about it sitting in a warehouse a few blocks from my office.:p

Confirm all new accessories- everything is included.

I'll have a few details, er um- questions when i get home later tonite

rudee:D

Ssooo.... Where's hikarate???? he said he was going to go home from work about 6 hours ago Michigan time and open his little treasure chest :) Hope he's not having trouble..... Where are ya bud and what are your thoughts? At this point I have resigned myself to the fact that the H30 cannot possibly live up to the advanced hype I've been a part of for numerous weeks :D Hope I'm wrong....

Cheers!

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
MickB ,
--- You would be at about 2' (+/- a few inches) below the ceiling without any tilt in the PJ [ in either of the 16:9 modes - native being just a bit closer to the ceiling ].

*** Please Note : this is only an Approximation , not Precise ! ***

----------- Jason

My guess would have been a little more than that, but then- I don't have a dern projector yet :) I'll be able to provide all the measurements you could possibly want given a 10' throw and ceiling mounting by this weekend but due to a header wall/brace I will never project from farther than that.

Cheers!

Steve Dodds,
I can check that out for you tonight, I still have the doodad. :)

I hope to prove ya wrong! funny- I've often referenced the H30 as the Hype machine- the x1 was always known as the rainbow maker-

so i'm about to get a big dose of the hype-

be back later

rudee

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
MickB ,
--- You would be at about 2' (+/- a few inches) below the ceiling without any tilt in the PJ [ in either of the 16:9 modes - native being just a bit closer to the ceiling ].

*** Please Note : this is only an Approximation , not Precise ! ***

----------- Jason

Dang. That kind of sucks. I always thought 8' ceilings were pretty much the standard and if true this projectors throw will not be practical in many rooms. With the example given-12' throw to an 84" diagonal screen. The bottom of the image is only 30" off the floor - almost the middle 40" of an 8' wall. Plus the farther back from the wall you go, the lower the image will be. At fifteen feet it will only be like two feet off the floor? At that height even coffee tables will start to get in the way. My current TV is ~24" off the floor so I guess it is about the same, but I have a hard time keeping my dog out of the way of the screen (he's a big feller) For me, I would want the top of the 4:3 image to be as even with the center of the lens and then slightly lower for 16:9. Are there other projectors whos throws are designed this way?

Are there any formulas that can be followed given information commonly found in documents/flyers that would help to figure out given a center point of the lens and a throw distance where the image will fall on a wall in relation to that origin point? (OK this is the fourth time I've edited this post so it might be a little disjointed) I think what I am looking for is the measure of the angle between the center of the lens and the wall that is perpendicular to the wall and a line formed from the center of the lens and the top of the image on the wall. If you had this angle in degrees, it would be simple?! to compute these distances. Ceiling to top of picture = distance from ceiling to center of lens + (distance from center of lens to wall X the tangent of the "magic angle") The magic angle would vary from projector to projector and with zoom setting. But this magic angle should be published and then anyone coud figure out the whole thing.

Demon:

The H30 is connected via the VGA and not the DVI port of the video card.
I will try it again tonight to see if this self powering thing happen again. Then I will contact Optoma for an RMA. The projector needs the new firmware anyway.

KB

Originally posted by gottahavapj
My guess would have been a little more than that, but then- I don't have a dern projector yet :) I'll be able to provide all the measurements you could possibly want given a 10' throw and ceiling mounting by this weekend but due to a header wall/brace I will never project from farther than that.

Cheers!

Same situation here...probably 9 1/2 feet throw for me, ceiling mount. I should have my projector by this weekend also (I hope, I hope:D ).

But ya, If you get yours up 1st, I'd like to know how far down the bottom of the screen will be from the lens center.

I'm trying to lower my TV 6 inches today in preparation....not easy with my set up....

Oh, and still no one has mentioned how to square the projector up to the screen?? I asked this question some pages ago....

Fleaman

Fleaman ,

--- Throw up a CrossHatch Grid and measure away ;) [ found on AVIA / VE / DVE ] .

--- Be sure the center of the CrossHatch is at the center of your screen [ if not then adjust H30 position as needed ] .

--- Things should measure exactly the same on both sides within the Grid and make sure top=bottom and left=right (outer edge of image) .

--- Lines at outer edges of all sides should be equal in sharpness (focus) . If one line is thicker than another then you are not lined up [ or your PJ has a Uniformity issue ] .


--- There are other more advanced ways to line up but this should get you most of the way there .
--- Feel lucky you are not trying to line up a CRT PJ ;) .


----------- Jason

Feel lucky you are not trying to line up a CRT PJ .




jay lining up a crt is fun and after doing convergence is a blast than getting manual focus right ,



oh my god what am i talking about , this is a pain in the A$$544 ,

but it is good practice ,i guess

do you still have your Sony q or did you sell it to curt :)

Please NOTE :
------------------

--- In my post above regarding the DROP from the ceiling I forgot to mention Zoom [ I have edited the post above ] .

-------- Jason

Joe ,

--- I sold my 1031Q , it went to a loving and happy Home .... Theater ;) .

------- Jason

i worked on the q nice little pj what where they again 5 !/2 crt's or was it 7 man it has been a while ,let me guess you where sick with doing convergence?



or was it the tweaking all the tme getting to you

I'll make this short and sweet- my h30 out of the box is looking damn sweet!- i tweaked the regular menu adjustments just a bit for some fast impressions and this bad boy is looking like a solid machine.

I can't comment too much right now until i get aquainted with it but i can lay to rest any initial fears for anyone worried about dlp pj's. I've seen rainbows and felt woozie after looking at a few but none of that with the H30
I was a lcd guy- forgetaboutit- dlp is where it's at.

If i said screendoor was looking good that would one of them oxymoroon things right? well i said it -screen door took a hike.

my screen is right now 60"x106" and the h30 is doing a fine job for the monster- i may adjust the size in the future but i want to try a few thing first. I sit 15' from the screen

Handled iceage better than my Toshiba tw40 and the Toshiba rocks.

later
rudee

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
Fleaman ,

--- Throw up a CrossHatch Grid and measure away ;) [ found on AVIA / VE / DVE ] .
--- Be sure the center of the CrossHatch is at the center of your screen [ if not then adjust H30 position as needed ] .
--- Things should measure exactly the same on both sides within the Grid and make sure top=bottom and left=right (outer edge of image) .
--- Lines at outer edges of all sides should be equal in sharpness (focus) . If one line is thicker than another then you are not lined up [ or your PJ has a Uniformity issue ] .
----------- Jason
Fleaman-

See? I told you the Jason-man had the answer. :)

Jason- Almost more than anything- I am looking forward (hoping) to be gaming like this by the end of the weekend:

*4:3 80" 800x600 screen.
*An upgraded Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS (hate them, but had to do it for EAX) pumped via multichannel audio into the Onkyo 6.1 receiver.
(this is an upgrade from a $24 Altec 2 way speaker system) I expect to be literally ducking from the bullets flying around my head in Call of Duty MP. This should be gooood. :D

Hi guys,

Well in my normal newbie fashion I managed to order the wrong VGA cable. Got a m/f instead of m/m. So I don't know if I am going to ship it in for an exchange or just eat the loss. Cost me about as much to reship the thing as to just order a new one.

Anyhow I spent a couple hours considering hanging my screen and pj until I decided to get it professionally done. Then I decided, no I can do it! Then I decided maybe I can't... You get the idea. I think I will at least give it a try and see how it goes. Not much faith in myself after ordering the wrong VGA cord. And then there was that time that I drilled my upstairs drain pipe because the stud finder found it... Thats another story entirely.

The good news is that I did at least set the PJ up on the wall. No dead pixels to be seen. Unbelievably bright and clear, even with the lights on in the room. My fiance was stunned at the picture. And mind you thats just on a white wall with no optimization, right out of the box.
The only problem I saw was when I was watching Finding Nemo.
All the fishes looked like they had an energy bubble around them the same color that they were. So nemos dad had an orange force field bubble, and the Dora had a blue force field around her. (Thats the best I can explain it anyways).
Anyone have an idea what might cause that? Like i said, it was right out of the box on a wall, so not expecting perfect pictures here, might be something that goes away once I get my screen up.
Source for my Sony DVNP6000 480i 25' S-video cable, maybe thats the culprit...
Anyhow, this projector rocks, I can't wait to see it on my Dalite HP screen.

On a separate note:
Concerning ceiling mounts and the high offset.

Assuming they do make new firmware to allow the image to displayed on the top of the chip instead of the bottom. If I mount my PJ now, will I have to remount it to take advantage of this firmware? Or will the change be subtle enough where I probably will be able just to lower the upward tilt of the pj and be able to stop using keystone?

Just wonder on a point of reference for how much of a change this type of firmware update would make. I think with my 9" panavise I should be good either way, if I ever get this stuff mounted that is...

Nearsightedness would cause this. As you age, nearsighted eyes will produce halos around lights at night. If the room is dark this might be what is going on. That's one possibility. Also, your wall might have a little texture to it, like an orage peel and that might disburse light a little differently than you might expect. I'd guess that this might cause halos. Do other people see this with your setup?

Hikarate-

Hang in there bud!!!! You'll laugh at your "issues" a week from now. I assume I'll be in the same boat in a day or two:) Weird on the "force field" around the fish. You mentioned the pic was bright even with the lights on, perhaps it's to bright, as in settings? I jotted down what Tom said to try:

Cinema film mode.
Color temp 2 (for 65K).
put the white peaking to zero.

I dunno- that's just what I copied to my "tuning" doc. Try it! Enjoy yourself you nearsighted old man. hehehehe :D

Hikarate,

Just get a gender changer for your cable. Less than 5$, and at that you are getting gouged (B&M retail).

I felt the fish glowed on my CRT monitor when I watched Nemo. I feel this is an effect in the movie, to a certain extent.

Hikarate ,

--- Is the Halo all the way around the fish or more evident on one side ?

--- Could be : Ghosting / Ringing caused by your S-Video cable [ try a different & shorter cable just to verify if it is indeed the cable ] . An inexpensive 25' S-Video cable could certainly be the culprit .

--- You could check to see if your DVD player has 'Luma Delay' as this can affect the image with a shifted ringing effect [ similar to what you are describing ] .

-------- Jason

Originally posted by hikarate
On a separate note:
Concerning ceiling mounts and the high offset.

Assuming they do make new firmware to allow the image to displayed on the top of the chip instead of the bottom. If I mount my PJ now, will I have to remount it to take advantage of this firmware? Or will the change be subtle enough where I probably will be able just to lower the upward tilt of the pj and be able to stop using keystone?

Just wonder on a point of reference for how much of a change this type of firmware update would make. I think with my 9" panavise I should be good either way, if I ever get this stuff mounted that is...
You got that there Panavisin', 9" half orbital, multifunction, infinitely adjustable mount thing working for ya! You won't be re-mounting nothin'. :)

Thanks for the replies guys.
My cable connection dropped out on me and I have been trying to get on ever since to see what you guys had to say. Had three people over from 24-33 and we all saw it. It wasn't all the time, but some of the scenes it was really bad, others it was not. Not doing any setting changes till I get the screen up, just wondered what the proper name for this effect was, I guess I would need a screenshot to really show it. It wasn't an effect of the movie, it was actually at a disruptive level, hopefully not the cable, but could be. it was like a bubble of color around the fishes shapes. Like someone went up to a painting and smeared the color around an object, you could still see the object fine, but the color just was no longer limited to within the lines. Guess I will at least test this again with a 6' cable while I have the chance to make sure it isn't the cable, otherwise I could end up spending a lot of loot trying to track this down. What's bad is I have a 50' s-video cable to try out too :).

I saw the glow too. Not too bad or really annoying on my end 25' component to optoma component adapter. jvc s62 dvd source

I have a nice 50' vga cable- some kind of space shuttle approved that we use at work- i'll try it with the adapter on the other end. I also have an infocus vesa adapter i wanted throw into the loop for any differences.

HD from Time warner looked great- SD was very watchable but the channelguide text was blocky for the most part.


My H30 booted with Themescene anyone else who ordered from Dell get this at start up?

rudee

Ah you guys think you got it bad. I just tried to watch Master & Commander and in the beginning there's some Cannon fire. My wife comes screaming from the other end of the house that the whole house is shaking (HK7200) I got pissed and just shut everything down. Women they just don't understand a fine movie needs 95dbs. :(

I got the final word from Harvey the Marketing Director at Optoma USA. He says the lens mask will be free to previous buyers but we have to cover the shipping. The back lit remote if you need one is $59 to original buyers. The original remote does work fine and batteries will last much longer than a lighted one. So it's up to you for that one. Shipping will have to be added to the remote price also and tax if' you're in California.



Me I'll just get the lens mask. Oh the items will be available late next week.

Well, I tried the proper component to VGA doodad and still couldn't get component sync, so I guess it is back to Optoma for the H30.

At least I have my PB6100 as backup.

Cheers

Steve

Steve if i got it right. You have the old firmware and get locked up with the green bar/blank screen when just switching from a progressive DVD signal to an interlaced one?

But you will get the picture back with progressive every time. At the problem point only 480i will not sync and will show the green bar/blank screen?

In my testing it was HDTV that would lock up the analog signals to green bar/blank screen. But if I go back the the HDTV it will show correctly. I already hv an RMA # for this little problem.

The Tech area did say they would try to fix it first. Here's where you have to be explicit. They reset the projectors back to factory sometimes so make sure you ask for a proper calibration on all signals. That is if the try the we'll fix it for you route.
good luck

Tom ,

-- OH YEAH !!!
--- M & C has some KILLER audio , wait till you can watch the whole flick !
--- There is a major battle scene and the cannon fire is just freakin' sick [ had every wall at my place vibrating @ 100db + ;) ] .
--- I could almost feel the wood splinters flying past my head :) !

----- Jason

Sounds good, how do you get away with it? I'll have to wait till the little lady is out of the house. THEN!! I'll tear the roof off. :)

Hehe ,
--- Yep , I have to do it when she isn't home [ or the neighbors for that matter ;) ] .


------- Jason

All guiet now they're asleep (the way I like it :).

Relaxing now by the Fireplace smoking a cigar and viewing Rounders on my 65H80. Nice quiet sound track. It's a living!

Ah , for late night entertainment I fire up my 50 watt 'Butt-Kickers' and slap on the Sennheiser headphones .

--- This is really a Fun way to enjoy the movie without disturbing anybody and I still get the sensation of Thundering Bass ;) .

---------- Jason

You're a CRT guy, do you think I need to re-do the electronic and mechanical focus on the RPTV after a while? I do the dynamic convergence regular but only did the focus once. I used colorfacts on my Tosh, it looks pretty sweet. Here's a similar shot of the RPTV vs the HT1000.

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/vivorrptv1.jpg

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/vivorht1000.jpg

Well sadly yeah you should :( .

-- As the Tubes wear the Focus can be tightened up a bit here and there since the wear will increase the beam spot [ you lose a bit of sharpness over time with wear ] . Then since you just did tube face focus you will of course want to touch up Mechanical for the best results .

--- Have you done the Astig ? Does it have motorized magnets for Astig ?
--- Astig is crucial for the tightest Beam Spot size [ sharpest image ] .

--- Looks like you have contrast a bit high on the RPTV , I detect some detail loss and it looks a bit washed [ of course that could just be from the Camera ] .

------ Jason

******** That HT1000 shot is just gorgeous !!! ********

You can't beat the digitals for sharpness. The HT1000 has pretty good blacks.

No magnet adjusts, just the electrical pots and the mechanical. I'll give them a try it's been a few years. I've been thinking of calling in a play card because I have a 5yr warranty. The Tosh suffers from raster ringing on the left side, it's a non fixable problem. They would have to give me the new model with DVI. ;)

H30 out of the box unbiased review (UK PAL)
(Unit purchased from retailer but shipped direct from Optoma UK HQ same day)

Pros
Brightness good even on eco mode
Colours very vibrant
Black level good
Screen door (or lack of) very good
Rainbow virtually none (most people make far too much of this anyway)
Assistance from Optoma UK excellent so far (see "remote" below)
Noise fairly quiet but not as good as expected
Came with latest firmware, 16:9 lens mask and illuminated remote
Comes with 3 year HOT swap warranty in UK


Cons
Remote didn't work and also seems pretty poor quality (Rang Optoma UK, they're sending a new one overnight no probs)
Handbook could be more informative
How do you Ceiling mount, there are no screw holes as such in the base?


Connected the H30 via S-video and iScan Pro as per the Davis DLS8 it replaces, iScan Pro gave slightly worse PQ than internal Pixelworks deinterlacer (havent tried adjustments yet).

First impressions (without iScan Pro), an excellent projector in most respects possibly with a reputation slightly blown up out of proportion by enthusiastic owners (a situation inevitable with many passionate proj owners of all the popular brands).
Having said that I don't think anyone will be disappointed with the performance of the H30 against others projectors within the same price range.

Does it blow the Davis DLS8 away, no it doesen't but it is does perform better in just about every department (The Davis always was a pretty formidable proj anyway).

I realise this is only the briefest of reviews of a unit pretty much straight out of the box and having had limited calibration, obviously different cabling and tweaking the settings should significantly improve things.

I won't really be able to say much more until I have installed the unit fully, the next step is to ceiling mount, connect by SCART to VHS then use DVE for full and final calibration.

Regards, MikeDes

I'm looking forward to getting an H30 soon... probably from the USA. As an aside from all the technical discussions here do you guys in the USA realise how lucky you are with regard to the price you pay for this PJ?

I've been scouring the WWW and just out of interest I visited the Optoma site in Taiwan. Even in Taiwan the H30 sells for about US$1800 from their own website! Here in Australia we 're not so lucky as the retail price is around US$3000. Maybe that price rise in the USA will happen.

Well enough of my whinging... I'm probably just stressed since my new house is still under construction and it's going to be a while before I get to sit down in my new HT room and enjoy the PJ you're all raving about! Enjoy!!

Cheers,
Steve

You should be aware that the Australian distributors, Amber Tech, will not provide any warranty service for an H30 bought from the States. If there is a problem you will need to send it back to the US. This sucks for what is still a portable projector.

Against this, the H30 is $4K in Oz and $1850 if bought from the US.

Mine does have a problem and I am getting it switched over, but it will cost me $200 in shipping back and forth.

If you do buy from the States, I would make sure it is from an authorized dealer.

Cheers

Steve

And for Tom, I now have no problem with progressive via component, it is 480i that is causing the lock ups.

Hi, I have just been testing (or trying to) de-interlacing of the H30 and having it compared to component progressive output of a jvc nx316 player.

What i would like some input on, what are your favorite testing patterns for de-interlacing?

I looked at the test pattern on avia and dve where either the whole or a part of the test pattern pans through the screen.

The JVC seems to do a fine job, but still the pattern on the dve disc gives some small moire (i guess this is due to the svga res) but a bit better then the interlacing done by the H30.

What are you findings on other dvd players using that dve pattern (chapter 17 image 4 ?) and H30?

Got my H30 hooked up last night, to a degree. It's my first projector, so I don't have much to compare it to.. but here's my input as useless as it may be.

At first, I couldn't get it to focus for the life of me. After figuring out that the focus ring and the zoom adjustment were seperate, things went much better :).

Currently, I'm in a temporary apartment until I move into my new place, so my setup options are limited, and the light pouring into the apartment doesn't help matters much. Also, I have no screen at the moment, so I was projecting on the wall which is a light tanish color, so suffice it to say, with a lot of light in the room, I couldn't see a thing... Once it got dark however, I was able to play with it a bit.

Overall, I'm fairly impressed. The colors were bright, I didn't notice rainbows, and HDTV looked good to me. I did notice that the picture seemed to look better when letting the projector do the interlacing rather than the DVD player (I have a cheaper Sony unit) .

I imagine things will look much better once I get a real screen and get things into a more permanent setup (ceiling mounted, more light control, etc). That brings me to my next question.. are most of you using a 4:3 screen, or a 16:9? I'm leaning towards 16:9... however I'm a bit confused. Should the 'window' setting place a 4:3 picture in the center of the 16:9 with black bars on the right and left sides? Or is that a different setting? Also, if I play DVDs using a HTPC, then can I still have the 16:9 image on the bottom of the chip, or will the image be in the middle? Can I display a 4:3 image from a PC within the constraints of a 16:9 screen, or must the image be 4:3?

Also, how much of an improvement does a screen typically provide in a somewhat lighted environment?

Thanks for the help everybody...

mikedes so is it a 16:9 lens mask or 4:3? Earlier posts said that it is 4:3, I am getting confused.

Originally posted by markusg

I imagine things will look much better once I get a real screen and get things into a more permanent setup (ceiling mounted, more light control, etc). That brings me to my next question.. are most of you using a 4:3 screen, or a 16:9? I'm leaning towards 16:9... however I'm a bit confused. Should the 'window' setting place a 4:3 picture in the center of the 16:9 with black bars on the right and left sides? Or is that a different setting? Also, if I play DVDs using a HTPC, then can I still have the 16:9 image on the bottom of the chip, or will the image be in the middle? Can I display a 4:3 image from a PC within the constraints of a 16:9 screen, or must the image be 4:3?

Congrats on getting your unit up and going. You'll have to figure out what screen AR is best for you based on your viewing habits. I know after I read a projectorcentral article titled "your biggest decision- 4:3 or 16:9?" it made my choice clear at 4:3. Also refer to the viewing chart Mike assembled that is posted on Jason's website. That will give you a clearer idea of how each type of source material displays for each projector setting. After that I would say get out some electrical tape and make 16:9 and 4:3 boxes on your wall and play :)

Have fun!

"After that I would say get out some electrical tape and make 16:9 and 4:3 boxes on your wall and play"

Thats a good idea, wish I would have thought that up myself :).

Mark

1) Any quality issue, break it down to simpliest connections. Therefore if you have a problem remove any switches or long cable runs and try the same thing with a short direct cable. This provides an easy way to identify if you have a cable or setup problem. I was wisely instructed when I was young, "when troubleshooting electronics, it most likely is the cheapest piece of equipment that is the probelm" and this has heald true.

2) I did some testing last night. With zero keystoning, projecting from a 8' ceiling the top of a 16x9 native image was about 1' & 1/2' to 2' from the ceiling. Sitting at a normal height of 4' this puts the center of the image directly at eye level where you want. Certainly with a ceiling height of less than 8' you have to do some keystoning, but unless you have less than 7' ceilings I'll think you'll be ok.

3) The remastered Singing in the Rain DVD is an excellent dvd to really see the amazing color the H30 can through out, much like the Italian Job is great for noticing the better contrast DLP provides over LCD. And of coarse if you want to impress your friends I'd go with Shrek. :D

Originally posted by vjren
Hi, I have just been testing (or trying to) de-interlacing of the H30 and having it compared to component progressive output of a jvc nx316 player.

What i would like some input on, what are your favorite testing patterns for de-interlacing?

I don't really use DVE or Avia for deinterlacing tests. You could use the zone plate (don't know the chapter offhand) on DVE to check for motion adaptive deinterlacing, but I can tell you that the H30 has that. I also use the WQHL mixed mode test pattern, some Faroudja test disk patterns and certain DVDs. The trailer for Galaxy Quest (staying in Film mode), main menu intro on Galaxy Quest (incorrect progressive flags) and Super Speedway (look for moire in the stands when the car goes in Chapter 7).

There are some others as well, but picking up a copy of Galaxy Quest would give you a few more tests.

if you really want to be impressed go get underworld and then you can see all the good blacks and also the detail you get with this dark movie .


it is excellent test and try ( the league of extraordinary gentlemen )


good tests ;)


oh and i am picking up my h56a today

The lens mask works for 4.3 and 16.9. The word is if you plan to use a 16.9 screen try tweaking the light with a small piece of black tape. You find he spot where the tape doesn't effect the top of the 16.9 image.

Mark, brown screen dulls the picture. :) get a matt white, HP, HCCV dalite. 4.3 vs 16.9 if you don't hv allot of music video's, classic movies or view high quality Direct TV get a 16.9 screen. Are you getting a pull down screen? If so get the HP or Mat White.

Re Aspect ratios with the two types of screens for this projector.

16.9 screen you'll need to use 4.3, 16.9, window - window is for non-anamorphic dvd's

4.3 screen you can use 4.3 native, 16.9 native, 4.3native will center a non-anamorphic dvd, window will place the NA film at the bottom of the screen.

Mike, others

Originally posted by MikeSRC
I don't really use DVE or Avia for deinterlacing tests. You could use the zone plate (don't know the chapter offhand) on DVE to check for motion adaptive deinterlacing, but I can tell you that the H30 has that. I also use the WQHL mixed mode test pattern, some Faroudja test disk patterns and certain DVDs. The trailer for Galaxy Quest (staying in Film mode), main menu intro on Galaxy Quest (incorrect progressive flags) and Super Speedway (look for moire in the stands when the car goes in Chapter 7).
There are some others as well, but picking up a copy of Galaxy Quest would give you a few more tests.
Right, I tried the zone plate, and some moire remains, I guess you have that too.
Hmm, the "WQHL mixed mode test pattern" is that also on the disc?
The faroudja test disc, now, where to find that? (zip and mail it please :) )

Particularly the film mode/progressive flags evaluation interest me, but I sort need some aid in determining how to evaluate that.

Galaxy Quest, i'll do a search..

goillini, thanks for the measurements. one question, though - how far back is the projector from the screen?

thanks!

Tom,

Yep, it is 480i component that is the problem. On mine you don't even have to switch. It'll start out OK and then just lose sync.

From what they told me when I phoned tech support I'll get a whole new projector.


Steve

Tom,

I can't wait to get my H30 it will be delivered in about 2 hours or so. Guys i am going from a Panasonic AE100 to the H30. I am currently projecting onto a 110" diagonal Stewart Electorosol Firehawk and like it ALOT :) . I currently use a 40 foot Canare RGB cable made by me and it looks real good via a Panasonic XP30.

I have also watched underworld and the picture with this DVD player improved drastically from my previous Panasonic RP56.

I will keep you guys posted with my results later on tonight.

Neo,

Originally posted by vjren
Mike, others

Hmm, the "WQHL mixed mode test pattern" is that also on the disc?
The faroudja test disc, now, where to find that? (zip and mail it please :) )


Unless you can get it from Microsoft, the source of the WQHL pattern is a disk that comes with the book "DVD Demystified". The Faroudja test disk is one I picked up awhile ago. I don't know if Faroudja sells it directly, but you could check with them.

The projector was about 11' to 12' from the wall. Projecting roughly a 6' & 1/2' wide image. All the measurements are pretty rough.

NEO2000,
The difference between the AE100 and H30,

"Night and Day, night and day"

Prepare for film quality.

FedEx tracking says it's on a local truck for delivery. I'm about tempted to go hunting the streets for the white trucks, it's not that big of town :D

My H30 has been delivered to my home.

Ordered 3/18/04 from dell. I had numerous conversations on 4/19/04 with numerous dell personnel that gave me "bad data", this "bad data" caused me to cancel my order on 4/19/04. Of course it shipped a couple of hours later from a distributor.

Well the "waiting for delivery ordeal" is over and the "I can't wait until I get home from work ordeal" is just starting.

I hope everyone that is waiting for dell to deliver gets their units soon.

I'll post my initial review on the H30 in a couple of days. I'll be using a temporary screen using "Moakes" BO to determine final 16x9 screen size.

Great news, Semi and Gotta. :)

BTW, I've used the "Moakes" screen material and it's as good as some of the samples I've seen from screen manufacturers.

Mike,
What kind of staples did you use when you put your DIY screen together...'cause wouldn't you know it, my screen has torn in several places RIGHT at a staple due to the tension of the screen and the thin size of the staple...I think perhaps I should have gone with a thicker staple and/or upholstery staples.

gottahavapj ,

--- Hehe , that's funny !

--- What makes it even funnier is that I actually did that once and found the truck a few blocks away at a shipping business [ mail boxes etc or something like that ] .

--- The driver however told me that they cannot deliver the package to you unless you are at the marked delivery address [ I even showed him my ID with the street address and he said he couldn't do it ] .

--- He showed up a few hours later with a big grin on his face and we both had a good laugh about it ;) .


-------------- Jason

Originally posted by Del Laird
Mike,
What kind of staples did you use when you put your DIY screen together

I used a staple gun with 3/8" heavy duty staples, no more than an inch apart around the perimeter. Some good instructions for stretching the cloth onto the frame are found here (http://www.rexart.com/stretching.html).

Originally posted by Del Laird
Mike,
What kind of staples did you use when you put your DIY screen together...'cause wouldn't you know it, my screen has torn in several places RIGHT at a staple due to the tension of the screen and the thin size of the staple

I was worried about staple tearing with my BO cloth screen so I did two things:
1) I used about a million staples. I swear my screen is about 20% staples by weight.
2) I used washers to distribute the "load". I stretched the BO cloth (VERY tight), dropped on a #8 washer, then put one staple on either side of the washer, with on prong of the staple inside the washer and one prong outside the washer. When I was done I went around the entire perimeter and re-stapled the heck out of everything (see #1).

It seems to be working. My screen is about 3 months old with no signs of stretching at all. It is very tight and looks the same as it did the day I put it together.

My question today is this: is there any word on the lense attachment for the H30 to catch the light spill? I'd really like to get one of these puppies when they become available!

Originally posted by NEO2000
Tom,

I can't wait to get my H30 it will be delivered in about 2 hours or so. Guys i am going from a Panasonic AE100 to the H30. I am currently projecting onto a 110" diagonal Stewart Electorosol Firehawk and like it ALOT :) . I currently use a 40 foot Canare RGB cable made by me and it looks real good via a Panasonic XP30.

I have also watched underworld and the picture with this DVD player improved drastically from my previous Panasonic RP56.

I will keep you guys posted with my results later on tonight.

Neo,

My guess (from reading these forums) is that while the Firehawk might be a good choice for a LCD projector like the AE100, it probably will make the H30 DLP projector rather dull/dark...lacking punch.

So far no one has mentioned what the effects of a firehawk/H30 match up resulted in...

Fleaman

Hey Pimp,

Can you put a screenshot of your safety cable on your site. Also any suggestions on how to make one would be appreciated. I can't figure out how to use the 3mm machine screw with a safety cable. Confused as usual...

Originally posted by gottahavapj
FedEx tracking says it's on a local truck for delivery. I'm about tempted to go hunting the streets for the white trucks, it's not that big of town :D


LMFAO,,,,

This sounds like how i feel...........


Neo

Originally posted by fleaman
My guess (from reading these forums) is that while the Firehawk might be a good choice for a LCD projector like the AE100, it probably will make the H30 DLP projector rather dull/dark...lacking punch.

So far no one has mentioned what the effects of a firehawk/H30 match up resulted in...

Fleaman



Fleaman,

Have you seen a Firehawk in person? Because when i bought it and went to pick it up from a local AVS person, it was mated with a Sharp XV-Z9000u and the picture was INCREDIBLE... Trust me this screen is aweosme with DLP...



Neo

Originally posted by jeff_4242
My question today is this: is there any word on the lense attachment for the H30 to catch the light spill? I'd really like to get one of these puppies when they become available!

Looks like it's a week or so away. Take a look at Tom's post a few pages back here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3696350#post3696350).

Originally posted by fleaman
My guess (from reading these forums) is that while the Firehawk might be a good choice for a LCD projector like the AE100, it probably will make the H30 DLP projector rather dull/dark...lacking punch.

So far no one has mentioned what the effects of a firehawk/H30 match up resulted in...

Fleaman

I have the Dalite HCCV screen I would think it is somewhat like the firehawk as far as making the picture a bit darker. I was a bit disappointed at the loss of brightness at first but black was now as I would like it to be. Then I started adjusting the white peeking and things got much better. I am now happy with my screen is just took some work to get the pj setup correctly. I went with the HCCV because my wife likes some light in the room and it does a great job of not washing out too much.

Concerning the blacks I also noticed that my DVD (Denon 910) player was set to the brighter black level. I have now set it to the darker level and it looks great. I had is set correctly at some point. I must have changed it by accident. Just confirming you don’t need gray for good blacks.

Max

Mike / jeff_4242,
Therein lies my mistake...I had the staples some 6 inches apart. Back to Joanns to pick up some more BO cloth and to try again. I'm pretty sure had I used double or triple the amount of staples, I wouldn't have had the tears in the BO cloth since the tension would have been better distributed. Live and learn. :)

hikarate ,

--- I actually used a short section of THX certified white speaker wire [ plenty strong enough to hold the 4.5lb H30 ] . The THX part is very important ;) .

--- I used a couple of Loop style crimp connectors [ one at each end ;) ] . I crimped the connectors and then soldered them to the wire just for the heck of it .

--- You could certainly do the same thing with a section of thin metal cable from Home Depot [ I just didn't feel like making another trip ] .

______________________________

--- I have seen a Firehawk DLP combo and it does look nice indeed but it certainly is not needed with the H30 [ the H30 does black about as good as any sub $3K DLP ] .



---------------- Jason

Originally posted by NEO2000
Fleaman,

Have you seen a Firehawk in person?


Neo

Nope! It was just an educated (from these forums) guess. Well, I have seen the Firehawks in person, just not with the H30.

Not to mention that everyone seems to be getting the best results from the H30 with a Matte White or even a higher power screen.

Fleaman

Originally posted by Del Laird
Mike / jeff_4242,
Therein lies my mistake...I had the staples some 6 inches apart. Back to Joanns to pick up some more BO cloth and to try again. I'm pretty sure had I used double or triple the amount of staples, I wouldn't have had the tears in the BO cloth since the tension would have been better distributed. Live and learn. :)
At least that was a sub-$20 mistake I would imagine.... :)

Jason-

I just looked at some 3mm bolts to get an idea when I was at the hardware store last weekend, man- those are tiny :) Oh well- like you said they won't be responsible for much weight. I was curious, and I think maybe you or Mike answered this before- is there a danger of screwing one of those 3mm screws in to far? Should you maybe put a nut on it with a short piece of the screw extending below the nut and then screw that into the 3mm hole in the H30? I remember X1 info saying it was critical you didn't screw some mounting apparatus in to far or it would reach the guts of the projector.... Thoughts? Thanks! Is that the doorbell?? Hmmm been hearing it all morning :)

That was the doorbell... BINGO!! Thanks Mike!! Talk to you guys quite a bit later. I'm a happy boy right now.. :D

gottahasapj!

I have been waiting a while to say that....

Box in good condition? - check
lens cap/mask? - check
backlit remote? - check
cute little carry case? - check
*I think my 7 year old daughter will flip over the carry case. Looks like it will hold about 6-8 Barbies plus accessories whenever she leaves the house :) She will probably be more excited about that than the projector. Enough! Bye...

Originally posted by hikarate
gottahasapj!

I have been waiting a while to say that....
You are right my friend!! I must change my post name...

Yeah I think using lots and lots of staples is key. I agree, the carrying case was quite an unexpected bonus with the H30! I have no idea what I'll do with it but it sure is cute!

Thanks for the info on the lense mask! I'm looking forward to it.

congrats gottahave.....Have fun.

They should drop the stupid case and make the projector cheaper. Thats just what I think.

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Congrats on getting your unit up and going. You'll have to figure out what screen AR is best for you based on your viewing habits. I know after I read a projectorcentral article titled "your biggest decision- 4:3 or 16:9?" it made my choice clear at 4:3. Also refer to the viewing chart Mike assembled that is posted on Jason's website. That will give you a clearer idea of how each type of source material displays for each projector setting. After that I would say get out some electrical tape and make 16:9 and 4:3 boxes on your wall and play :)

Have fun!

I meantion this in my FAQ you might find it helpful.

Is there anyone else here the ordered from Dell that hasn't had thier shipped yet? I don't know what is going on, Optoma said they shipped enough units to fill all backorders, but Dell doesn't seem to be shipping them out.

Originally posted by rsmith4321
I meantion this in my FAQ you might find it helpful.

Is there anyone else here the ordered from Dell that hasn't had thier shipped yet?

I originally ordered mine from Dell (this was a couple of months ago). To make a long story short, they actually have a third party ship the unit to you and their coordination with the third party (whose name I forget) is horrible. I was told my order would ship in a month so I cancelled it. Two weeks later the H30 ordered from Dell arrived at my door, but I already had a PJ from another vendor (and it was over $100 cheaper, too). It took me far too long on the phone with Dell to get it straightened out.

I was very unimpressed with Dell after that. You wouldn't believe how long I spent on the phone with their gosh-darned out-sourced customer support people. They were very polite but not very competent. I got the feeling Dell gave them a very restricted set of ways to resolve ordering problems. My issue was "outside the box" and was a nightmare for them to resolve.

Just got confirmation that my H30 shipped today! Scheduled to arrive
this Friday!

Imgonnahavapj!

As a note, I ordered it on March 18th (NOT from Dell).

Finally!

It's been a very patient wait. Been looking into this since the Plus Piano (original one) came out, then looked at the X1, HT1000 and then bit the light beam on the H30.


Fleaman

All Dell can tell me is they are scheduled to arrive from the vendor 4/30, but like you say, they have no idea what is going on. They send the stuff from Ingram Micro, and I don't think the two places have any communication. I've had a similar experience of having an order cancelled and then it shipping later. I actually wonder, since they had already cancelled and not charged my account, if I could have gotten away with keeping the item. The way they are they probably wouldn't notice what is going on. And I've also experienced the very nice people that can't speak English, it's quite rediculous.

Originally posted by gottahavapj
You are right my friend!! I must change my post name...

Just take the "hava" out. ;)

Just take the "hava" out.



very good mike :D

Originally posted by xvader
mikedes so is it a 16:9 lens mask or 4:3? Earlier posts said that it is 4:3, I am getting confused.


Xvader

Yes I was a bit surprised so I measured the aperature with a vernier and it came out at 1.020" x 0.520" which looks as though it's close but not exactly 16:9.
I assume that this is the most current incarnation as the proj shipped direct from the factory only yesterday.

Havent had time to try the lens mask out yet as the priority is to get the proj mounted on the ceiling then I can really start to see what it's capable of.

Regards, MikeDes

gottahavapj ,

--- Regarding the 3mm machine bolts :
--- Yes they are very small and if you cannot find a very short one then certainly adding a nut or washers would suffice .

_______________________________________



*** CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE NEW H30 OWNERS !!! ***



------- Jason

Hey! Well after 1/2 hour out of the box I am very pleased. Have only viewed Svideo from the digital cable box and Svideo from the DVD changer (so the H30 is deinterlacing) and the results are making me all smiles. My component and VGA cables aren't quite here yet. I have the following settings:
mode- cinema
color temp- 2
image mode- film, anyone use "video" for a litte more brightness?
white peaking-0

Haven't played with any other settings. I think the blues and reds in Disney movies are a bit saturated, but again- I've done basically no adjustments. hikarate- sorry, no "glow fish", although blue fish seem to have a little more haze around them. I don't really think the lens mask is all the great, I didn't have much noticeable spill without it (darker walls)

That's it- REALLY need to run and will check back later. THANKS ALL for helping me get to this point!!!!!

GottaPJ :D :D

I think the color setting, not color temp, out of the box was like 7 for me. I bumped it down which made the color a little less "intense". That might help? First night I watched the H30 I thought all the fuss about the lens mask was wasted breath. Last night the light spill was bothering me and the lens mask did a fantasktic job of removing it. Maybe it's dependant on the type of movie you are watching? Or you become more sensitive to any tiny annoyance over more time?

The light spill is mainly a distraction for 16.9 screen users. When I used my 16.9 screen I could clearly see about a 2 foot area or light above the screen on the wall. I'd be interested to see how the mask deals with this and it may be that we'll need to do the black tape tweak, to make it better at blocking the light.

When testing with dve in the 1.33 screen or 1.77 screen there are 2 shell wilcox patterns with a moving circle. The first one looks shaky and the 2nd one is pretty smooth can anyone say what the difference is between the two patterns as I do not see any ident on the screen changing.

Maybe filmmode testing the first and the second just interlaced?

Still waiting on Dell here. Placed my order on 3/15. They must be using a LIFO queue to fill these orders. I called to ask what was up, since people who had ordered later than I did were getting their projectors and mine still hadn't shipped. The first person couldn't help me so he transferred me to someone else. This lady seemed agitated that I was asking the question and insisted that she didn't know how others were getting their's shipped since they were on "massive backorder". The longer this takes, the more impatient I get :)

I had a tiny bit of light spill on the ceiling, didn't bother me yesterday, but the lense mask definitely fixed that. It appears to be for 16:9 and I don't see how you could possibly watch full 800x600 with it in place as it blacks out everything except the 16:9 image when it is in place. Of course I'm a newb so it might be that I just don't understand.
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a way to lock the focus in, at least not that I know of and taking the lense mask on and off always managed to move my focus. Plus if you end up moving the focus while trying to set it, when you refocus the lense mask moves and you have to start over. Not very useful if you don't plan to leave it in imho.
Other than that the image was jaw dropping. My fiance said this was the coolest thing I have got next to her engagement ring. Optoma should quote me on their site with that one :)

goillini
The 7 setting may be what caused that glow for me. I'm not messing with any settings till I get the screen up. I'm gonna go ahead and test with a 6' s-video cable though.

Originally posted by kevineck
Still waiting on Dell here. Placed my order on 3/15. They must be using a LIFO queue to fill these orders. I called to ask what was up, since people who had ordered later than I did were getting their projectors and mine still hadn't shipped. The first person couldn't help me so he transferred me to someone else. This lady seemed agitated that I was asking the question and insisted that she didn't know how others were getting their's shipped since they were on "massive backorder". The longer this takes, the more impatient I get :)

Kevineck,
I had the same issues and cancelled my order. However the distributor shipped the same day I cancelled and I received it today. I think Dell is shipping via distributors on a regional basis....some units come from TX, mine came from IL since I'm located in MN. Maybe your "regional distributor" is slow. Dell does not seem to have any visibility as to what is shipping when from their distributors. Your unit may be in transit and you may not know until the day before it arrives. Mine was being prepared for shipping at the IL distributor as I was on the phone with Dell seeking ship status. Their total ignorance of the facts caused me to cancel the order. Hang in there I'm sure you should see it soon. If you do contact Dell they will not give you accurate data until they see a shipping waybill# from their distributor.

Good Luck,
Fred

Originally posted by hikarate
Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a way to lock the focus in, at least not that I know of and taking the lense mask on and off always managed to move my focus. Plus if you end up moving the focus while trying to set it, when you refocus the lense mask moves and you have to start over. Not very useful if you don't plan to leave it in imho.

Well that sucks.

Fleaman

Well guys i am PISSED off right now. My pj was suppose to get here and i get home no PJ. I check the tracking # and it says delivered fron door. I called UPS and J&R music and they both told me to wait until tomorrow am to talk to the claims department. This really sucks... What do i do from here, i have never had a problem with UPS.

Please give me some advice....


Thanks,
Neo

If you ship before date is 4-21 or already expired then call them. If your ship before date has not been met then be patient.
(Easy for me to say, I already got mine...)

"Anyway, there doesn't seem to be a way to lock the focus in, at least not that I know of and taking the lense mask on and off always managed to move my focus. Plus if you end up moving the focus while trying to set it, when you refocus the lense mask moves and you have to start over. Not very useful if you don't plan to leave it in imho."

It's a small annoyance, but I agree it is not the way I would design it. I would think Optoma would want to look into a $10 plastic locking mechanism for the focus ring in future designs. I imagine that's like item 456 to consider. I don't envy the job of engineering one of these bad boys.

"Please give me some advice...."

Go down to UPS and if you see

1) Lots of packages then: wait patiently

2) All the UPS guys watching Kill Bill on a H30 in the employees lounge then: "it's time to open up a can of whoop@ss." ;)

The local UPS site is 1 and a half hour away :( .

NEO2000 ,

--- UGH !!!

--- One of three things here :

1] Delivered to wrong address [ check shipping info & see below ] .

2] Somebody saw them leave it at your door and decided they deserved it more than you do :( . Items like this should NEVER be left at the door !

3] Delivery driver looked at the box and thought it would be cool to take home for a night or two or ....

---- My guess would be #2 but then it might be (#1) at your neighbors [ if you see a bunch of vehicles outside your neighbors house tonight [ and all through the weekend ] then I would play the curious guy and see what all the Hoopla is about next door ;) ] .

---- I doubt #3 is the reason but I have a friend that had that happen with a laptop pc and guess what ... it was the delivery drivers last day [ he had resigned and was moving out of the country ] .

---- Wish you the best of Luck !!!
------- Jason

Earlier this year UPS's online tracking system showed that an item (exercise equipment) had been delivered to me when it hadn't. It showed up on my doorstep the next day, though, as I was on the phone trying to convince them I'd never gotten it. I'm still not sure what happened, but the online tracking data was definitely wrong.

Originally posted by hikarate
IAnyway, there doesn't seem to be a way to lock the focus in, at least not that I know of and taking the lense mask on and off always managed to move my focus.

I would get the focus set, put a piece of tape on the focus ring and body of the projector to hold it in place, then insert the lens mask. You can then remove the tape if you want.

When I used my 16.9 screen I could clearly see about a 2 foot area or light above the screen on the wall. I'd be interested to see how the mask deals with this

Quite well I'd say, without any tape. If you have anything darker than a white wall behind your screen, you shouldn't see anything.

vjren - I'll have to go out now, but I can check on the patterns later.

i see the demo of h30 several times. as i'm very sensitive to rainbows, I saw some during the demos. I search the forum and some people said using nd filter will help the rainbows situation. don't know whether it's true or not. however, is it possible to add a filter in addition to the lens mask?

Thanks for the tip Mike. I might try that if the light spill becomes an annoyance, but at least in tabletop mode it was barely noticable. If that doesn't change when I mount it on the ceiling, I probably won't even use the cap since the image looks really good to me as is. Im not as picky as some though, by a long shot :) But if you are using this with a 16:9 screen I see no reason to ever take the cap off. Just an issue if you have a 4:3 screen I suppose.

yipchunyu -
The dlp rainbow issue was the one thing i was worried about . I saw many rainbows on the x1. I have viewed several dlp's since then- Screenplay 7200, 5700 & Sharp Dt-200. Some i came away feeling somewhat dizzy for lack of better explanation.
I haven't seen a rainbow yet or felt bad with the H30. I have purposely viewed material that i could see 'bows on with the x1 and they are gone,gladaitor & dogtown to name a few, with the H30. My woories are laid to rest. I'm happy to know dlp will work for me now and in the future.

rudee

ps- does this boy have an offset or what? I have it ceiling mounted and it looks like it's poppin' a wheelie- strange. Took me better part of the morning to get it mounted and dialed into my screen.

"Took me better part of the morning to get it mounted and dialed into my screen."

It took me a little while also at first. The key is to hang your screen as low as possible. My screen is up from the floor lower than kneecap level. My eye's fall at about 1/3 up from the bottom, 8' ceiling, I use number 4 on the keystone dial. See no problems and all formats fit perfectly.

NEO2000, check to see if they left it at the garage door or back yard deck. Sometimes they do that and just punch in left at door.

NEO, you said FED EX and white truck a little earlier, sure you looked up the right website?

Fed EX mostly will never leave a package. I hope you meant FED EX.

Anybody try the H30 with LG 3510a or 7832 dvi players? I heard they were doing amazing things upconverting to 1080i over the component input of the X1. And what is true for the X1 should also be true for the H30, only better ;)

It shipped! I had just about given up on Dell. Even my wife is happy because since I shipped back the 6100 she hasn't been able to play Dance Dance Revolution on the big screen. Anyway, I hope I get one that doesn't have problems, so far I haven't been too successful with projectors. So I would imagine all of us that ordered from Dell will get them soon, probably they are just taking a while to get them all processed.

Given NEO's odyssey today- Mike's company is smart in requiring a delivery signature for these critters. I took the day off today as soon as I knew for sure it would be here today. Not trying to pour salt on wounds or anything... sorry for your trouble NEO. I know that would really piss me off. Mike- if anyone has ever given you guff about that policy- here's your ammo.

I've put the entertainment center back together in it's original form, hid the H30 and will start working in the DIY screen now. I will not let my family know it's here until everything is finished, mounted and sweet. Killing me to put it in a closet though. I have Friday off, big time mounting, cabling, adjusting day....

goillini- Thanks for the tip on the color setting- I'll try dialing that back when I get everything back together.

Cheers!

picked up my h30 today
new firmware
backlit remote(the harmony website had codes for the h30 remote already that remote is worth its weight in gold)
lens mask
the panavise is perfect(thanks jason)
pic is great from this thing out of the box!
what is better to buy dve or avia?

hey joe i saw your h56a today when i picked up my pj it was on the floor right beside mine ready to be picked up:)

time to go buy a movie:)

torontomapleleaf ,

--- Pick up AVIA , it seems to be the preferred calibration dvd .


----- Jason

Originally posted by rsmith4321
It shipped! I had just about given up on Dell. Even my wife is happy because since I shipped back the 6100 she hasn't been able to play Dance Dance Revolution on the big screen. Anyway, I hope I get one that doesn't have problems, so far I haven't been too successful with projectors. So I would imagine all of us that ordered from Dell will get them soon, probably they are just taking a while to get them all processed.
Good for you rsmith- I sincerely hope your experience with this unit is better than some of your previous projectors. Wow! I shudder to recall them.
My best piece of advice for anyone that has one on the way would be:
Don't let the weeks or months of hype you have subscribed to lead to disappointment in the initial quality of the image. It is after all a lower end- 800x600 projector that is probably (I have no reference) better than anything else in its price range. Just don't expect a crystal clear, perfectly tuned, theater like image right out of the box. The people here that claim they have that image have had a considerable period of time to dial in the picture and probably have a considerably higher understanding of tuning , etc. than I do. Keep these limitations in mind when you plug it in and just enjoy it!!

Cheers!!

hey joe i saw your h56a today when i picked up my pj it was on the floor right beside mine ready to be picked up



yes i picked up my h56a and kev told me you picked up yours and ,i ended up staying a while and shooting the sh#$#4 for a couple of hours



so now i hooked up the pj and all i can say is wow sharp ,detailed , blacks are black not green push , this thing is aw some .

and i can tell you that it is different from the regular h56 for sure :)


when i put on underworld , the pic was popping of a regular wall ,can not believe it ,



oh and if there are Canadians looking for the new h30's he just picked up a bunch of them today .



tom this thing looked deeper in color the the ht1000. wow

Joe, don't make them jealous. I'm sure the 56 looks great, even without seeing one live. Now I think you should be thinking about upgrading to the H76. :)

heck I think I am gonna trade up for the H76 :) .


-------- Jason

does avia have a pattern for lining up the projector?
i am having trouble getting the pic to fit perfectly on the screen.
i get 3 sides to fit perfect and the last side is angled does this sound possible?

Joe, don't make them jealous. I'm sure the 56 looks great, even without seeing one live. Now I think you should be thinking about upgrading to the H76.

hold off guys there is a h57 coming soon and the new h77 and all i can say is wicked and it has all the bells and whistles ;)

and the new chip ?

Well my initial reaction is wow!

The wife's initial comment "that's incredible".

I'm sure I'll be more critical as I get more time on the unit but the initial dvd runs were sure fun.

HTPC running PowerDVD-XP through ATI 9600SE, temporary setup as table top on grand kids' toy box. Shooting 7+ ft wide image on Moakes BO tacked to wall.

Blasted through various scenes from Pirates, LOTR-TT, Seabiscuit, various Windows Media HD clips, etc.

Now it's time to finish screen, tweak, set up ceiling mount, etc, etc.

Many thanks to Tom and the many other contributors to this thread for helping me decide to buy the H30.

am having trouble getting the pic to fit perfectly on the screen.


i think that your pj might be a little on an angle try to straighten it out a bit and how far back are you and what size screen again ?

Need yours opinions ....Save buck and buy the H30 or drop the cash and go with Infocus 5700 ???

Thank for your help:confused:

Hey Quebec,

To me, this would be a viewing distance, source and light control question.

Any HDTV? If more than 50%, then 5700 is a good choice.

Good light control? If you like watching with some limited light in the room, 5700 is a good choice.

Doyou want to watch much closer than 1.8X screen width? Then 5700 might be the ticket.

Basically, for DVDs at 2.0X back, and good light control, the H30 will save you 3800$...

Thanks Marco,

Here is my future theater room setup, I have an 11'x24' and I want to get a screen about 92 in. diag 16x9 my seating position from the screen will be at 15'.

I already demo the Infocus 5700, I was very happy about the black level details of this unit, But I still saw RRRRainbows not very often but it was there, I think I could live with that. In this post I heard that the H30 almost kick to butt of the Nec HT-1100 and it almost hide the RBE, but the problem here in Montreal area i could not found a dealer who has the H30 in demo...
So I trust all of you to give me good advice....

Thanks again

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Good for you rsmith- I sincerely hope your experience with this unit is better than some of your previous projectors. Wow! I shudder to recall them.
My best piece of advice for anyone that has one on the way would be:
Don't let the weeks or months of hype you have subscribed to lead to disappointment in the initial quality of the image. It is after all a lower end- 800x600 projector that is probably (I have no reference) better than anything else in its price range. Just don't expect a crystal clear, perfectly tuned, theater like image right out of the box. The people here that claim they have that image have had a considerable period of time to dial in the picture and probably have a considerably higher understanding of tuning , etc. than I do. Keep these limitations in mind when you plug it in and just enjoy it!!

Cheers!!

Well I did make it sound a bit worse than it was. The Benq 6100, although one of them did die on me, they both had the visual problems of a wiggly bright area at the top of the picture. Other people had this problem as well. It was some kind of sync problem with my DVD player, although I tried two different nice 480P players and they both did it. And my Epson Home 10 did seem to have not that great of alignment of the panels, but that is probably typical with LCD. It's the only one I've ever used, and I have to say yuck if that's the way they are. So I only had actually two projectors with definite unusable problems, and a couple with problems, but not necessarily anything wrong with them. Really my main problems were with BenQ made projectors, including the Hp 6110, which doesn't say much for BenQ.

Originally posted by quebecanada
Need yours opinions ....Save buck and buy the H30 or drop the cash and go with Infocus 5700 ???

Thank for your help:confused:

Same here, not for the money I don't think it's worth it. But the 5700 is what is called a 1/4 HD projector, which scales HDTV very nicely. For DVD's it's not worth it, but it probably would have a beautiful high definition picture. It's even got a new DCDi and the new TI chip. I bet the picture is incredible, but you are talking 3 times the money, that's in a while different ball park from the H30.

MY H30 HAS SHIPPED FROM DELL!!

I'm assembling my HTPC at the moment (thanks Jason), I've got cables coming from cablewholesale and my 5.1 setup is almost all done. My play is also not sucking as hard as it did last week. Today is a good day.

-geoff

Quebec,

You will probably see slightly less rainbows on the H30, because it is lower lumens compared to the 5700 (800 vs 1000 lumens). It has been my experience that with all else equal, lower lumens = less rainbows.

92 diag. and 15 feet viewing distance, I would go with a H30. Thats more than 2X screen width, so screen door should not be a problem.

%DVD? %HDTV? That will confirm the choice for you.

Do you see yourself upgrading soon?

BTW, I would also consider the NEC HT1000, now selling for cheap (check HT MarketPlace on top of the screen).

Oh man the IF-5700 is a Fantastic PJ [ and man is it BRIGHT :) ] .

--- We had a local group meet a while back at my place and had a 5700 running via component from a cheapy 480i dvd player and the damn thing still looked great [ no doubt due to the new Faroudja chip ] . We tried getting DVI going from my Radeon based HTPC with no luck [ I had my CRT PJ on the VGA out and we could not get both running at the same time - much like the issues they had at the Seattle Shootout a while back ] .

--- The 5700 has amazing color [ red was R E D ;) ] .

--- Now having said all that about the 5700 I still do not think it is worth 4x the $$$ of the H30 but it most certainly is a FANTASTIC PJ .


---------- Jason

hikarate,
You don't have to remove the lens mask when watching a 4:3 image. Beats the crap out of me how it does it. I don't see why you would ever have to remove it once you put it on. The focus issue is a bit of a pain, but luckily you only have to do it once.


Edited: the 1.85:1 does have light spill. Can someone more experienced comment as to what the masking does for the projector.

Originally posted by jigrillo
hikarate,
You don't have to remove the lens mask when watching a 4:3 image. Beats the crap out of me how it does it. I don't see why you would ever have to remove it once you put it on. The focus issue is a bit of a pain, but luckily you only have to do it once.

I just watched "cheaper by the dozen, and there was no light spill. With a 1.85 : 1 aspect ratio the lens mask was able to cover all the light spill. With a 2.35:1 aspect you will have some on the top and bottom.

Jigrillo,
You have a 4:3 screen and you are saying you were able to watch the full 800x600 on your 4:3 screen with the lense mask in place? Or do you have a 16:9 screen?

My opinion on the Infocus projectors being too bright. Owning and HT1000 when I went and viewed the Infocus 7200. I laughed, blacks were gray.
Be happy with the H30 becuase blacks are black. Very important.

For my glowing fishes problem. 6 ft. s-video cable didn't make a difference. The scene it really shows up at is the "fish are friends not food" scene. I even messed with all the display options and nothing really made a difference. Only turning contrast way up did anything, but that caused all the background detail to get dark, not just the glow effect. If I have Nemo problems after I get the screen setup I will post a pic.
I tried some other movies and they all looked good though:
Buffy Season 1 disk 3
Star Wars AotC
Harry Potter CoS
Titanic
Monsters Inc.

Needs tweaking with Avia on the color, but nothing showing up I would consider a problem. Definitely nothing was glowing. I probably need a new dvd player...

Anyhow I went ahead and sent my 50' VGA cable back for an exchange, gonna cost me an extra $20, but I got it for $18+ Shipping originally so I don't feel too bad. Its a heavy duty HD15 one too with ferrites.

You have a 4:3 screen and you are saying you were able to watch the full 800x600 on your 4:3 screen with the lense mask in place?

For now I am projecting on a white wall, but yes you are able to view the full 4:3 with the lens mask in place. Again, not sure how it does it.


Eh scratch the comment I made earlier about the 1.85:1 not having any light spill. I just put in the hulk which is also a 1.85:1 and there is a spill above the picture.

I have no clue what the lens mask is for.... The only change that I see is the projector without the lens table mounted shoots a little bit of light onto the ceiling. The lens is able to cover that up, but besides that????

Can someone else please comment as to what the lens mask does. I feel very newbish, with the projector infront of me I still don't know what it does.

I am also intereseted if anyone has tried the new zenith dvd player that upconverts over component. I have a toshiba sd 4700 and was hoping to get more out of the H30.

Yeah you are right jigrillo. I don't understand it either. The good news is what confused me is just how much darker the blacked out portion of the chip is with the lense cap in place. I couldn't see it before and thats why I thought it was blacked out. So I guess this cap is working just the way it is supposed to. Useful for both 4:3 and 16:9 screens. Sorry for any confusion my ignorance caused.

hikrate, can you figure out what the lens mask is for. I keep removing it and placing it back on the projector, but the only change I notice is that the spill above the widscreen movie is a tiny bit darker, though not eliminated with the masking.

The lens mask is for blocking light spray that is caused by the optical system and refections of light therein.
Because of the diverging beam coming out of the lens, and it being only 5-10 mm high it is fairly impossible to make a light spill lens cap for 1.85 , the dimensions are just too small (0.01mm resolution needed) to make a lens cap that would make a 16:9 window.

I tried myself and many others have, all you can accomplish is a fading dark area, supposed to be the window edge.

The way it does seem to help contrast is that any beam not directed to the screen is now blocked and can not interfere with blacklevels because of room-ceiling reflections.

My 0.02...

G'Morning Mike, still wanna know about those patterns as I will have to determine if I take this JVC dvd player or another. Thanks..

wait- i think i missed something:

Hikarate- why did you send back your 50' VGA cable?

thanks,

geoff

Hikarate- why did you send back your 50' VGA cable?


well he could answer this him self but if i remember he had a male to female plug and he needs two males

Originally posted by hikarate
Anyhow I went ahead and sent my 50' VGA cable back for an exchange, gonna cost me an extra $20, but I got it for $18+ Shipping originally so I don't feel too bad. Its a heavy duty HD15 one too with ferrites.
Wow! That is inexpensive for a unit with ferrites... I think I paid almost $50 for my 25 footer.

Well I just was looking at Nemo on my PC Monitor and I can see the same effect on here. Not as pronounced but visible. Of course thats at 17" vs 68", that probably explains it. I guess I will start complaing about white streak in Private Ryan next...

My Dell order finally shipped! No notification whatsoever from Dell, but my constant checking finally paid off. The good news is, it was sent via overnight, even though I had originally cheaped out and selected the lowest cost shipping. So it will be in my hands tonight!

Any 16.9 screen users try the tape tweak on the lens mask?

Anybody have thoughts on what would be the best tape to use?

Question - when using 16:9, is the proper setting 16:9 native or just 16:9? I know native has a bit more resolution, but the image also appears to be bigger...

The reason I ask is I'm wondering which fits correctly on a 16:9 screen.

Thanks...

Interesting news...the Infocus 4805 has just been posted to their website. $1499 MSRP. That's going to make it tough for Optoma to increase the MSRP to cover the lens mask/remote upgrades. (Once it's available, that is).

I didn't have time to try the tape, but there was a reduction in light spill without it (as well as the elimination of the light spill onto the ceiling with a table mount as jgrillo mentioned). When I tried a DIY mask, adding tape to the window started darkening the top of the image.

Electrical tape could be used, but black gaffers tape (like Duvepro) would probably be best.

Help me figure out why someone would buy a 16x9 screen with the H30. It seems to me if you have a 7' wide 4x3 screen you can view all formats without any adjustments at my desired size of 90" to 100". I have to admit I got the screen free through an incredible bit of luck, so maybe cost it a factor, but I would think 16x9 screen would be just as much $$$. It would seem to me that when you view native 4x3 on a 16x9 screen it would not fit verticly. Obviously there are some good reasons people buy 16x9 screens. Is it all due to the fact you can frame the edges with dark material? Does this make for a much better viewing?

thanks,

Originally posted by markusg
Question - when using 16:9, is the proper setting 16:9 native or just 16:9? I know native has a bit more resolution, but the image also appears to be bigger...


16:9 gives you 800 X 450 and Native 16:9 gives you 800 X 480 (with loss of picture on the sides). They should both fit a 16:9 screen.

16:9 gives you 800 X 450 and Native 16:9 gives you 800 X 480 (with loss of picture on the sides). They should both fit a 16:9 screen.

Strange, I could have sworn that the 800x480 seemed physically taller. Perhaps it was an optical illusion and I didn't notice the sides being chopped of a bit. So, I suppose the 'proper' way to watch is just 16:9, but you lose a bit of vertical resolution.

Looks like it shoots the image higher to me when I switch between these 2 also Mark. I didn't mark the wall or anything so it could be an optical illusion. Something to check out.

Help me figure out why someone would buy a 16x9 screen with the H30. It seems to me if you have a 7' wide 4x3 screen you can view all formats without any adjustments at my desired size of 90" to 100".

I'm thinking of going with a 16:9 screen because I don't like the idea of having screen overhang at the top when viewing 16:9 material. It seems after a couple days of viewing that I prefer the smaller 4:3 image with the bars at the side. Most of the 4:3 material that I view is from a low res source, so blowing it up to native 4:3 just doesn't look that great to me.

Originally posted by hikarate
Looks like it shoots the image higher to me when I switch between these 2 also Mark. I didn't mark the wall or anything so it could be an optical illusion. Something to check out.

Well, at least I know I'm not crazy :). I'll do the same.

I am baaaaccckkk! with the H30 turning itself on. It skips one night and last night it did it
again. I have been extremely careful the last 2 nights by: 1) moving all the remotes to the front
of the room where they can not be under something or on top of each other, 2) check to make
sure the PJ is off before going to sleep (waited for 30mins after the getting the flashing green).
This morning, it is on again with the "no signal" on the screen. I hate to be without it for a long
period of time as we have been watching movie on it every night. Will see what I can arrange
with Optoma since I am about 45 mins to Milpitas.

It has been great to see so many other enjoying their H30s. It is a nice PJ right out of the box.


KB

Originally posted by hikarate
Looks like it shoots the image higher to me when I switch between these 2 also Mark. I didn't mark the wall or anything so it could be an optical illusion. Something to check out.

You guys are right. I forgot that native 16:9 adds the 30 extra vertical pixels by moving the top of the image up. At the same time, it crops some of the picture off both sides. The resulting image will not fill a 16:9 screen on the sides if it zoomed to fill the screen vertically. I always use the 16:9 setting so I don't lose any of the picture. The slight reduction in resolution is not noticeable.

You could always get a power strip and turn the power to the strip off. It's not going to turn on without power. :)

"Help me figure out why someone would buy a 16x9 screen with the H30. It seems to me if you have a 7' wide 4x3 screen you can view all formats without any adjustments at my desired size of 90" to 100". "
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He makes a very good point because you can view HQ 4.3 DVD and Direct TV, maybe a VHS tape won't look spectacular. Also you can use more of the available resolution formats. Me I like a 16.9 screen but prefer a 4.3 screen. Especially with the H30 :)




If you use a 16.9 screen with the new firmware you'll want to use the 16.9 and 4.3 scaled aspects. It's the only way to get the various signal formats to fit squarely.

If you use a 4.3 screen you can use 16.9native and 4.3 native or 16.9scaled.

He makes a very good point because you can view HQ 4.3 DVD and Direct TV, maybe a VHS tape won't look spectacular. Also you can use more of the available resolution formats. Me I like a 16.9 screen but prefer a 4.3 screen. Especially with the H30

That's true... For some reason the 16:9 screen just seems cooler to me. Not sure why.. I still have a couple of months to decide since my place is still under construction.

It just so happened that I was able to borrow a 4:3 temporary screen from work, so I'm using that at the moment, it's not the best, but it does the job for the moment.

"That's true... For some reason the 16:9 screen just seems cooler to me."

Good to meet an honest man. :)

Yes it is cooler and is why allot of people like them. Don't be swayed by other peoples likes, get what you like. The 16.9 & 4.3scaled aspects will be fine with your 16.9 screen.

It's interesting how people are different. Me I think the overly large 4.3 HQ material is cool.
good luck :)

Does everyone else have a safety cable hooked up to their PJ? Pimp, why don't you sell your THX certified safety cable on E-bay, I'll by one :)

What's a decent mount that will let me drop the H30 about 2-2.5'? Anyone have it hanging down that far?

Hey KB, try this one. Put some electrical tape on the remote sensors on the projector. I can't help thinking there's a fantom RF signal being sent by the ghosts in your house. :)

Good to meet an honest man

Since the reason I like 16:9 better is similar to the reason why I like the color green more than orange , ie personal preference, I figured 'it seems cooler' was the best route to go :).

hikarate-

I bought 15' of 50lb capacity "invisible" picure hanging wire from Home Depot for $2. Looks like thick fishing line. My plan was to make sure that two of my four screws for the Panavise base go into ceiling joists. Then I would tie two ~10" pieces of this line to one of the two securely mounted base screws and tie the other ends to two 3mm screws inserted into the mounting holes on the H30. I suspect this will be plenty strong in case of the H30 going for a swing. I just don't know how good it will look yet for these to be tied up there. Jason's crimp on connectors will probably look better but I don't have a decent crimper nor do I do soldering, so there! :D Does that give you any more ideas? My mount should be here today and I will probably do something about the safety cable this weekend. You gotta remember though- he lives where the ground shakes a lot and we don't :)

Hey KB, try this one. Put some electrical tape on the remote sensors on the projector. I can't help thinking there's a fantom RF signal being sent by the ghosts in your house.



:eek: :eek: :D :D



man i always come on at the right times

Woohoo!!!! Mine finally got shipped and only 6 days late. No overnight love for me though, still got shipped ground. Estimated delivery date is tomorrow (2 days for delivery. Glad it is shipping from PA and not CA). If it doesn't make it its going to be a loooong weekend :)

Originally posted by markusg
What's a decent mount that will let me drop the H30 about 2-2.5'? Anyone have it hanging down that far?
I looked through all the options at our beloved Panavise that Jason found and didn't see any options for longer than about 11" drop.

There's a guy on ebay that makes mounts for all kinds of projectors for about $65 but I don't see where he shows any options for a drop like that.

Sorry!

Originally posted by gottahavapj
I looked through all the options at our beloved Panavise that Jason found and didn't see any options for longer than about 11" drop.

There's a guy on ebay that makes mounts for all kinds of projectors for about $65 but I don't see where he shows any options for a drop like that.

Sorry!

I know Tom suggested a Chief mount - but i was hoping there was something cheaper out there...

I was checking to see if other owners have had these "signs" :). I have been wondering whether my "visitor" is in the house or in the PJ. Mind you it only started about a week ago and I have has this PJ for over 2 months now. My main worry is whether this thing is telling me to send it back in for a checkup and a firmware update or not. There are enough work arounds I can use to take of this. Since there are no other owners having this problem, it must be my PJ or my environment. The last few nights it has been hooked up to a DVD player and not a computer.

Tom,
Since this is a IR and not an RF remote, I do not think this is the problem. It is pretty hard to get a good line of sight from the outside of the house to the projector as I have shades and shutters down at night. I am always the last one downstair to turn things off. Got to be :D an Optoma guy nearby trying to put more hours on my bulb or just me going nuts.


KB

Originally posted by markusg
I know Tom suggested a Chief mount - but i was hoping there was something cheaper out there...

Mark, I don't know if this is a possibility for you, but can you wall mount it instead? I have a similar situation with a high ceiling necessitating a 2' drop if I ceiling mounted, so I'm going with a wall mount instead. Of course, my room's not too big to make that impossible.

Panavise does make a flex mount, but it's only 16" long.

Mark, I don't know if this is a possibility for you, but can you wall mount it instead? I have a similar situation with a high ceiling necessitating a 2' drop if I ceiling mounted, so I'm going with a wall mount instead. Of course, my room's not too big to make that impossible.

How do you get the projector lined up with the center of the screen using that method?

Edit - Now I feel stupid, obviously you're mounting on the rear wall :).

My room is 21' lengthwise, so the image would be a bit too large...

Originally posted by valkyrie
Interesting news...the Infocus 4805 has just been posted to their website. $1499 MSRP. That's going to make it tough for Optoma to increase the MSRP to cover the lens mask/remote upgrades. (Once it's available, that is).

WOW! That is bad news for Optoma. DCDi, new TI DMD, DVI. Trust me, there won't be a price raise now. How could they possibly justify it. They would have to chage the H30's whole advertisement, the most affordable home theater DLP projector. There is a small segment that really want 4:3, but I think most people in general would rather have true widescreen. I'm glad I have a 30 day return policy from Dell. I have to say if the 4805 is everything I think it will be I don't know how long I will keep the H30. But let me get my H30 before I make that decision. It's just Infocus quality and bulb life is hard to pass up.

I just looked at the page, the 4805 has 2200:1 contrast ratio. I guess the Dark Chip 2 does do something. Why did Infocus have to do this now when my H30 just shipped!

Just to torment you rsmith :)

A 4:3 projector still makes the most sense for my uses for the next few years. Imagine what will be available for under $2K say... three years from now that I can upgrade to at that time?

You may say that, but what 4:3 format material actually looks good blown up to 100" or so. Because to get a 92" average widescreen you need 100" 4:3. TV looks terrible that large. I suppose there may be a very few old 4:3 movies. Video games are almost all widescreen now. TV really need to be in a smaller window in the 16:9 area to look good. I'm not saying the 4805 is perfect or anything, but you actually get full 480p 4:3 resolution from the projector as well, you could zoom it up if necessary to fill a 4:3 screen.

But you make a good point, I doubt I will have the same projector 3 years from now, and imagine what we will get then. So it doesn't really matter. I'm mostly just worried about bulb life and quality of the Optoma, the 4805 is a well proven design. I'm just one of those people that can't stand thinking I didn't get the best possible for the money. I need to go back and look at my FAQ to see why the 4805 isn't really better :)

I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about the 4805. I mean we are talking about a WVGA projector. Yes it has a new chip and yes it is true 16x9. Truely what you you watch in 16x9? HDTV? Sorry WVGA resolution doesn't exactly bowl me over in regaurds to HDTV, it's good but not true HDTV. In a few years true HDTV DLP projectors will be available for under 2 bills. So we are left with 16x9 movies. Well the bad news is the MPA is all set to introduce HDDVDs next year. Considering the copy protection will be re-done, expect the MPA to make a huge push as soon as the details are finalized. Therefore whatever projector you buy, unless it's HDTV DLP is in reality going to be outdated in three years. Factor that in with the fact that there still is a lot of 4x3 signal out there, and I can only conclude that true 16x9 at WVGA resolution while neat is not really all that valuable. All this being said we have yet to even get a review of how the 4805 performs.

The question still remains as to when the 4805 will actually be available, with estimates ranging from May to June. The last word I got from the InFocus distributor was May, but who knows.

Originally posted by goillini
I'm not really sure what all the fuss is about the 4805. I mean we are talking about a WVGA projector. Yes it has a new chip and yes it is true 16x9. Truely what you you watch in 16x9? HDTV? Sorry WVGA resolution doesn't exactly bowl me over in regaurds to HDTV, it's good but not true HDTV. In a few years true HDTV DLP projectors will be available for under 2 bills. So we are left with 16x9 movies. Well the bad news is the MPI is all set to introduce HDDVDs next year. Considering the copy protection will be re-done, expect the MPI to make a huge push as soon as the details are finalized. Therefore whatever projector you buy, unless it's HDTV DLP is in reality going to be outdated in three years. Factor that in with the fact that there still is a lot of 4x3 signal out there, and I can only conclude that true 16x9 while neat is not really all that valuable. All this being said we have yet to even get a review of how the 4805 performs.

Actually I don't understand your point. Am I wrong, or isn't the main thing projectors are used for is movies and video games? And some HDTV. As I stated regular TV is aweful blown up that big. I'm sure we all have our regular sets for TV, who wants to waste bulb life on that. So a wideVGA projector is perfect, of course more pixels would be better, but not for the price. Plus the DCDi will make TV look much better. Anyway, I don't mean to be praising the 4805, I want to like the H30. I just expected their to be a much larger price difference. I think everyone did.

This is nuts... after close to two years considering what pj to get I stumbled across this little thread and decided to pull the trigger yesterday. I ordered from Dell and surprise of surprises, my wife just called and told me it's on the doorstep today?! I am going on vacation tomorrow and didn't expect it to ship for at least a few weeks...

I'm baffled. I sure hope everyone who has been waiting for theirs has either gotten one or will get one *extremely* soon. I'm not posting this to flaunt this good fortune but I'm quite surprised.

I went back and forth over whether to get an SVGA pj or not and whether I wanted native 4:3 or 16:9, but I finally decided that I would get this at a great bang for the buck and step up to a higher performing model w/ native widescreen when a dedicated movie room is done... likely not for a few years as I just moved into a new house and have more pressing rooms to tackle.

Thanks all for supporting this informative thread and I'll eventually try to lend my $.02 as well.

-cyph

"As I stated regular TV is aweful blown up that big. So a wideVGA projector is perfect, of course more pixels would be better, but not for the price. Plus the DCDi will make TV look much better."

Maybe I'm incorrect but aren't DVDs and TV both 480i signals? I believe this is true which means if you have bad tv display it's most likely something with the signal source or deinterlacer. My point is simply that the 4805 is not a long term projector, as well as the H30. So why not take the cheaper one that's available now? If you wait on the 4805 you only run into more new projectors and more HD signal. In that case you might as well wait to get a WXGA DLP projector when they come down in price.

OK,

This really sucks for me, i get an email form J&R which i will copy below. I have waited so long to order a pj, and when i do i go to J&R becuase Dell didn't have any in stock and now everyone is getting one FAST. Tihs is my response from them i am very angry because why did this happen to me. Another note to me it would seem the CSR rep at J&R did not request signature on delivery becuase everytime i have a package from UPS that needs a signature i have to literally drive to another town which is Spring Hill to pick it up. So to me J&R did not put Signature required on the package after i specifically told them to on this high dollar purchase. I asked all the neighbors if they seen anybody around my property yesterday and they said no not anyone. I even left work early to see if i had a package today and nada. I am waiting back from their claims department and will also escalate to my credit card company to dispute this within the next couple of days.


This is J&R's response to my email telling them i have not received my item.

Thank you for your letter. I have requested the Claims Department to
trace the package with UPS.
For any further information, please contact J&R's Customer Service
Department's phone reps at 800-426-6027 or 718-340-0397. Customer Service
is open on weekdays from 9AM to 6PM and Saturdays from 9AM to 5PM ET.
We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for shopping with us
at www.jr.com.

Chuck Netagent
custserv@mail.jandr.com

J&R Sales
800-221-8180

J&R Customer Service
800-426-6027



specifically told them to on this high dollar purchase

Originally posted by rsmith4321
I'm glad I have a 30 day return policy from Dell.

I'm not certain there is no restocking fee for 3rd party purchases through Dell. They do have exceptions to their return policy and since this isn't a Dell PJ, the Optoma might fall under that and then you end up paying 15% restocking.

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/policy/en/policy?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~section=010#total
"A different return policy applies to nondefective products purchased through Dell's Software and Peripherals division by customers of our Small and Medium Business divisions. Those products may be returned within twenty-one (21) days from the date on the packing slip or invoice, but a fifteen percent (15%) return fee will be deducted from any refund or credit."

Has anyone returned one and test this out?

Also, I doubt the 4805 will be out within 30 days, so you may end up either going without a PJ for a while, or buying the 4805 site unseen.
And who in their right mind would buy a PJ before they get a chance to look at it? Oh wait a minute isn't that what we just all did...

Originally posted by rsmith4321
WOW! That is bad news for Optoma. DCDi, new TI DMD, DVI. Trust me, there won't be a price raise now. How could they possibly justify it. They would have to chage the H30's whole advertisement, the most affordable home theater DLP projector. There is a small segment that really want 4:3, but I think most people in general would rather have true widescreen. I'm glad I have a 30 day return policy from Dell. I have to say if the 4805 is everything I think it will be I don't know how long I will keep the H30. But let me get my H30 before I make that decision. It's just Infocus quality and bulb life is hard to pass up.

I just looked at the page, the 4805 has 2200:1 contrast ratio. I guess the Dark Chip 2 does do something. Why did Infocus have to do this now when my H30 just shipped!

Can someone post the link to the 4805? I searched through the Infocus site and couldn't find it...

http://www.infocushome.com/amer/eng/products/screenplay/sp4805.asp

Actually I don't understand your point. Am I wrong, or isn't the main thing projectors are used for is movies and video games? And some HDTV. As I stated regular TV is awful blown up that big.

Nope, I use my projector for viewing our favorite TV shows on Direct TV and it looks great even at 120" diagonal. We watch American Idol, The OC, Survivor even CNN.

Once you have a 4.3 screen up and toggle over to the little window boxed 4.3 you realize it's hideous. Evan has a good article on how hideous cropped 4.3 is at Projector Central.
My favorite stuff is sports, Boxing, Football, baseball. You see plenty of good material in 4.3.

Movie's half the time I won't re-watch my movies I look for the new and live action.

Originally posted by goillini
http://www.infocushome.com/amer/eng/products/screenplay/sp4805.asp

The link to that page shows information for the 4805, but the top, where the pictures are (and the price and "ordering options" buttons are) are all for the 4800.

It's probably just because they didn't fully update the page yet, since the 4800 is listed at $1299 elsewhere on the page.

My point is that it's obviously not final yet, and people who mention that it is unknown as to when it will be available have a good point as well.

Originally posted by guitarman
Once you have a 4.3 screen up and toggle over to the little window boxed 4.3 you realize it's hideous. Evan has a good article on how hideous cropped 4.3 is at Projector Central.
My favorite stuff is sports, Boxing, Football, baseball. You see plenty of good material in 4.3.

You've almost convinced me to get a 4:3 screen :). I've got some samples coming from Carada, so that's my next step.

Decisions decisions...

well my contact said that he would hold 4 units of the h30's for people from this thread because he knows what a pain and how hard it is to obtain this popular unit , so not to sound like i am pushing the units , but the truth is down here in canada it is very difficult to grab one . so like i said he will hold the units for 24 to 48 hrs to give people from this thread first crack at them .


and remember mike also has the h30's (i think) so he is the guy from the us side and he Will give you the best service that i have heard, so good luck to all the new h30 owners out there hope you enjoy your new toys .. ;)

NEO,
It sounds like they're claiming you advised them to leave the package and no signature required, becuase This gets them off the hook maybe if the package was stolen off your doorstep.

"Another note to me it would seem the CSR rep at J&R did not request signature on delivery becuase everytime i have a package from UPS that needs a signature i have to literally drive to another town which is Spring Hill to pick it up."

In any event, if they get UPS involved it will take some time to get the funds untied, first the send around an investigator, then make a decision. It could take a few weeks.

The main advice I could give you is be carefull on that statement by them in the email about no signature because of hardship. They would hv to have a tape of that converstaion I would think to prove it, so don't worry.

Well guys it seem like the claims process takes up to 3 weeks, i just got off the phone with J&R's CSR rep and told me it could take up to May4. I guess i have to wait. Man all i wanted was my pj, i am envious of you guys out their that have yours.

Originally posted by new teq joe
.. and remember mike also has the h30's (i think) so he is the guy from the us side and he Will give you the best service that i have heard, so good luck to all the new h30 owners out there hope you enjoy your new toys .. ;)
I guess I risk having this edited for forum rules violations, but-

I'll second that about Mike's service, everything was flawless for me. I don't know if he has any units available but perhaps PM him.

Hey Mike- by the way I finally got around to ordering that Harmony remote today. Do you think bui could take a spiffy remote like that and program it to tell the H30 NOT to turn on unless he's in the room and says the magic words? hehehe :D

Hey Mark,

My Opinion:
I got a 4:3 screen. I think since the 800x600 panel is opened up with the new firmware, it is really a good match with this pj. I got the 4:3 when this was just open for VGA, still thought it was a good match just for that. If I had to give advice based on my limited experience I would recommend for this pj:
a dalite model b 4:3 screen or equivalent.
I got the model C and it is just a monster, plus costs over twice as much as what I could have purchased the model b for. supposedly it helps with waves because the roller is bigger, but the thing is just too big for my small room. And the main reason I wouldn't get the C is I doubt you will want a 4:3 screen a few years from now. Whenever you do buy a full HD projector you will want a 16:9 screen. So I would either go DIY if you have that option, or if you are getting a pulldown then go with the cheapest/best quality 4:3 you can get.
Or you could just go all out and buy a super-expensive 16:9. If you don't plan to buy any other screens then go ahead and put the money into it and go with a 16:9 with your next PJ in mind.
Keep in mind that they will have new screen technology in years to come as well, and you may want to get into that down the road, so spending a lot now might not be the best decision.

Notice most the people that really know their stuff won't give you a straight answer on questions like this. But you can be completely confident in the fact that this is my opinion, and I don't know what I am talking about.

Good luck! :)

I guess I risk having this edited for forum rules violations


no it should be ok because there is no link or price or stuff like that and mike is member and i also should have mentioned avs also sells them , but do they have them well call them and find out