Originally posted by Maboroshi Daikon
I know I've read this about the other projectors, but I haven't seen anything for the H30, yet: Do I need to clean the filters on this puppy? I don't see anything about it in the user's manual...


No. There are no filters to clean.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
--- the (possibly) Bad : I was informed there is noise that is within spec but there is no buzzing . Now obviously there will be the fan noise but anything other than that and I am sorry to say the new unit will be headed straight back to Optoma [ my last H30 was nearly silent in Eco mode from 4-5 ft. away ] .


That's a strange comment. I would assume they're just talking about fan noise. I've heard some slight differences in fan noise (mostly pitch) among the units I've tested, but they were all as quiet as mine is in Eco mode. Hope this one's a keeper. :)

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
UnknownShadow ,

--- My old unit was actually almost silent , I had zero buzzing and this is why I am so worried about getting a buzzer . My 2nd H30 had other issues regarding the actual image , moving onto the 3rd H30 .


---------- Jason

Hi Jason,
Guess you got the detail on your PJ, Robert should hv called you. Just in case you didn't.

Your replacement was sent this morning and they use 2nd day air but since you're close you may receive in one day. They checked the sound on the new one and added the lens mask, same remote though. Maybe u should hv pressed the fact that the remote was non functional a couple of times. Or you could try a switch later like you said.

Pretty good the Cust svc mgr did get involved.
Let us know how the new one looks and how the lens mask is working. Since you use a 16.9 screen you might try the tape tweak to darker the upper part of the masking area.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Jason,
Guess you got the detail on your PJ, Robert should hv called you. Just in case you didn't.

Your replacement was sent this morning and they use 2nd day air but since you're close you may receive in one day. They checked the sound on the new one and added the lens mask, same remote though. Maybe u should hv pressed the fact that the remote was non functional a couple of times. Or you could try a switch later like you said.
_______________________________________________________
Does Tom actually work for Optoma how. I think he may be the newest employee in their customer service group ;)

____________________________________________________
Pretty good the Cust svc mgr did get involved.
Let us know how the new one looks and how the lens mask is working. Since you use a 16.9 screen you might try the tape tweak to darker the upper part of the masking area.
____________________________________________________

And when he says "let us know" who does he really, himself and Optoma?. I think maybe we have a mole in the forum:)

They all got a big kick out of an end user actually paying a visit to the factory. I guess the favorable review didn't hurt either. Even the guys in Taiwan who engineer the projectors saw it. :) This will be my fourth time down there. Pretty handy they're only 35 minutes away.

Mike ,
------- Yep that is a strange comment , which is what has me worried .

____________________________

Tom ,
------- Robert did call me sometime this morning and left word that the unit was inspected and they added the lens mask [ which is wonderful ] . The noise 'within spec' thing made my stomach churn a few times however . Odd that he did not mention the unit being shipped out this morning , thanks for letting me know :D [ would have been nice for him to leave me with the tracking # ] .


___________________

------- Jason

Call in for your tracking number so you'll know to be ready tomorrow if lucks on your side. They said they gave it a good listen and there's no buzzing sound, just a fan sound. You know what the fan sounds like, kinda bassey and not disturbing.

Tom ,
------ I just dropped an e-mail to Robert asking for the tracking # .
------ Thanks , the fan noise does not bother me at all so I should be back in business [ and happy ] soon :D .

----- WOW !!! , Robert already responded back [ e-mail notice just popped up ] . ---- Now that is customer service !!!


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

Now you just have to hope UPS is smooth and fast. And smooth first!

Those bums almost destroyed a Rega Planer 3 Turntable a month ago that I let go on Ebay.

Happy ending though, the dust cover was cracked and a small chip on the plynth. They gave me the full insurance check already and let me keep the still very usable turntable. :)

Sri for the OT story but I felt like I got away with one.

evening all

re: green bar issue

are you donuts hot swapping from component to scart [or whatever]. this is a big no... NO... in any field of computing...BIG TIME. you risk permanent damage doing this... what are you expecting, this is not a tv...it's a pj...

I have a 10 ft wide pic [on a whitewash wall], tv [freeview,UK] watching euro 2004 football, I'am as happy as a pig in ****. any UK readers, do not hesitate, just buy it and bang it on the wall...

got a jamo sound system [no more silent movies]... ain't turned the 32 inch on for 2 weeks.
pj is a quality product for more [more] than most people... XGA is better quality [Infocus 7200] there is more snap in pics, just,,, but I banged up "AI" last night, I can see the grain in the film... up to you how much you want to pay.


guitar man

educate me in the ways of cigars. [the best] I've reached that age...

all the best boys. dont give up the ultimate goal...WATCHING MOVIES...

cheers

zola

I would suspect the equivalent from Infocus will be identical in function. It's $10 from their site.

I had an infocus component to VGA adapter, and it crapped out on me (red would go in and out, VERY annoying). I like the fact that the H30 adapter is a solid piece. It must be available, I can't imagine not beeing able to replace it if you lose it.

TIA

Zola, you may be on to something most of the people having problems are switching with scart.

As for cigars where you are, start with a Montecristo #4 and than a Monte #2. Romeo & Julietas next, all Havanas ofcourse :) lucky!

Hi Tom, a little more H30 experience info and a couple questions if you have the time. I am also a guitar player and have few Cuban cigars lying around.

Just received my H30 last week. Thanks to all the great comments on this forum. My original plan was to buy a HT1100 but I finally decided that at 3X the cost it would not give me 3X more viewing enjoyment than that H30. By next year I should be able to buy another higher resolution projector and the sum of the 2 would still not reach the total price of the HT1100 today.

As for my experience so far I will say that from day one I have experienced both the buzz and the green bar problems noted here on this forum. It seems that the green bar is related to the ability of the H30 to handle bad data and is DVD player dependent if this is the source you are using. By coincidence I had a copy of Master and Commander that would cause the green bar every time it passed a specific scene. It would repeat every time. When I moved this DVD to another player it would not give me the green bar during this scene. I just received my DVB318 today and I hope it does not have the problem with this disk.

For me the buzzing seems to be related to noise on the AC. If I use my X10 dimmers I can cause the buzzing every time. I will try to scrounge a line filter and see if that helps. Anyone try the Monster power conditioners for the buzzing?

When I use the DVB318 what mode should the projector be in and what mode should the DVB 318 be set to? I noticed a big difference when I set the DVB 318 to 16:9 and theH30 to 16:9. The picture seemed to be the same size as 4:3 and 4:3 but it was much clearer and it was on the lower half of the screen. The DVB 318 is set to 720P. Is there any way to get it to go to the middle or even better to the top of the screen? I am ceiling mounted?

Still waiting for my DVE but the picture is pretty amazing so far!

TV9223/John

I have a Nady line conditioner with my H30, still the buzz. I tried a UPS, same noise. I turning my dimmers on or off does not seem to affect the noise level at all. (It's just as loud with them off as on).

Pretty sure that the AC quality is not the source of the buzz.

" For me the buzzing seems to be related to noise on the AC. If I use my X10 dimmers I can cause the buzzing every time. I will try to scrounge a line filter and see if that helps. Anyone try the Monster power conditioners for the buzzing?"

I was talking to Wing the Engineer for Optoma this week about the buzz. He did say poor in house dimmers will call sound and that the high grade dimmers will have filters to eliminate this.

The image for 16.9 s/b at the bottom it's the sweet spot for this particular lens. You set your player to 16.9 and on the H30 use 16.9 if you use a 16.9 screen, you can use 16.9native if you have a 4.3 screen. 720p upscale should give a sharp picture.

About moving the image, you can set the DVD player to 4.3 Letterbox and the image will be in the middle of the screen. But that's really not the best way for best picture/resolution, you lose the anamorphic squeeze.

Hey hey , Optoma actually updated their RMA Status page with my current info [ new serial # , tracking # , etc. ] . Maybe a sign of things to come since nobody else seems to have been able to check status online previously .

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

Originally posted by guitarman
" For me the buzzing seems to be related to noise on the AC. If I use my X10 dimmers I can cause the buzzing every time. I will try to scrounge a line filter and see if that helps. Anyone try the Monster power conditioners for the buzzing?"

I was talking to Wing the Engineer for Optoma this week about the buzz. He did say poor in house dimmers will call sound and that the high grade dimmers will have filters to eliminate this.

.

I have no dimmers in my place and have turned off/un-plugged everything except my reciever/dvd player....didn't affect my buzzing at all.

Also had taken my buzzing H30 to my bosses house which is full of dimmers...it buzzed the same there, but his older firmware H30 does not buzz at all in his house full of dimmers.

Bottom line: Dimmers might be only part of the problem for some buzzing H30's. My buzzing H30 needs no dimmers to buzz.

Fleaman

Oh, and the replacement H30 that I have now didn't buzz at all for the first 6 hrs, then started buzzing since then.

Now it always buzzes on start up and continues to buzz from 30 minutes to 1-2 hrs....then eventually fades all away.

So, for my H30, it does not at all seem to be affected by outside influences, but seems to certainly be affected by some sort of warm up issues...or at least by being on for a certain period of time.

Now I have to warm up my H30 for 30mins to an hour before I have friends come over for movie night. Most of the time the buzz has almost dissipated by then (not always).

I don't like adding unused hrs to my lamp by doing this, but the buzz is just to loud for that 1st hour of warm up to watch a movie enjoyably.

Fleaman

Zola,

Nope, I could make it happen when flicking the switch on my DVD player to go from progressive to interlaced. No cables were harmed in this experiment.

Steve

Here's the way I see it a/o now. The green bar they'll be a hardware fix soon for those that need it. The buzz/colorwheel sound you'll hv to handle it on a one to one basis. If it's no good for you, talk it out with the tech area. Come back here and let us know how it's being handled.

Seems the Infocus 5700 has or had colorwheels that emitted a ringing sound. I don't know if IF replaced all the projectors though. What I read yesterday day is they're using diffterent cw-bearings on the newer models.

No weekend joy for me , UPS has set it for the 21st [Monday] :( .

--- I have the Green bar fix : DON'T USE INTERLACED SOURCES :D [ any decent progressive dvd player will out perform the H30's de-interlacer IMO ] . ... j/k of course ;) .

------- Jason

Grrrr, keep on the details if it shows at ups in the afternoon maybe you can drop in and pick it up.

Well after about 3 weeks of waiting for a firmware update and shipment from Optoma, I finally received my H30 back. Powered it up right away and tested out a non-anamorphic DVD. I had to switch from 16X9 native to window and zoom 1. Worked like a charm (confirming that the firmware had been updated). Now I am encountering a serious problem. I power up the projector and it displays "no signal". My DVD player is on and all the connections are tight. The other strange thing is that the only button on the remote that works is the power button. I can shut the projector down, but I can no longer pull up any menus. I've tried powering off and on numerous times and can't get the projector to recognize a signal or respond to the remote. FRUSTRATING!

Unplug it for a while maybe 15mins.

Tom ,

-- Yeah I thought of that and I will check it out tomorrow . Kind of silly when you think that Optoma pays for 2nd day air and it takes 4-5 days to get it [ I wish UPS would deliver Saturdays without the huge fee ] . Ah well , this is par for the course for me ;) .

___________________

jeff442 ,

-- Yeah it gets tough when you have multiple issues [ I had about 6 different issues with my last H30 , including the remote not working now and then ] . I tried a cheap (3 function) learning remote when the H30 remote was not working and the remote was sending a signal even though the H30 was not getting it so the issue might not be the remote at all :( .


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

____________________________________________________
The other strange thing is that the only button on the remote that works is the power button. I can shut the projector down, but I can no longer pull up any menus. I've tried powering off and on numerous times and can't get the projector to recognize a signal or respond to the remote. FRUSTRATING!
_____________________________________________________

I had the same thing happen to me twice now. I found one of the buttons on my remote was stuck in the down position. Check every single button on the remote and make sure it didn't get stuck in the depressed position.

That stinks flea

Hey..

Since I have no intention of buying the pathetic Cable One HD offering available in my area- I was trying to figure out a way to view some HD material on the H30. I came across some Windows Media HD sample clips in 720 and 1080P on the Microsoft website and downloaded some of them. They are ~100Mg for about a 1.5 minute sample clip so your connection needs to be speedy. These are a visual treat even if my PC (1.7Ghz and midrange video card) is marginal to the point of dropping frames occasionally.

My question is this- the H30 is scaling the output down to 800x600 but it seems that the picture looks a little richer if I set my PC's video to 1280x1024 which the clips suggest for 720P. Does this make sense or should I just be leaving the PC at 800x600 like normal? When I use a higher res the text on the desktop looks awful. So what would make the most sense?

Cheers!

-- Yeah it gets tough when you have multiple issues [ I had about 6 different issues with my last H30 , including the remote not working now and then ] . I tried a cheap (3 function) learning remote when the H30 remote was not working and the remote was sending a signal even though the H30 was not getting it so the issue might not be the remote at all .

When your H30 did this, did your projector stop recognizing the signal from your DVD player?

Originally posted by jeff442
Well after about 3 weeks of waiting for a firmware update and shipment from Optoma, I finally received my H30 back. Powered it up right away and tested out a non-anamorphic DVD. I had to switch from 16X9 native to window and zoom 1. Worked like a charm (confirming that the firmware had been updated). Now I am encountering a serious problem. I power up the projector and it displays "no signal". My DVD player is on and all the connections are tight. The other strange thing is that the only button on the remote that works is the power button. I can shut the projector down, but I can no longer pull up any menus. I've tried powering off and on numerous times and can't get the projector to recognize a signal or respond to the remote. FRUSTRATING!

Jeff any of the problems solved? Did the unplug work? How about a button stuck on the remote? How about when you hit the buttons on the projector, menu etc?

Try a different way to connect the DVD player, s-video or composite.

hello guys,
has anyone seen this from Acer PD112 it looks exactly like H30 and a lot cheaper maybe only the case is the same.ust got my new h30 first one had dead pixels i calibrate with DVE and in progressive mode i coudn't get a good picture then i switch from film to pc and picture is magnificent night and day difference i think something is wrong with factory setting in film mode

tom what's the best way to darken the black bars.can i do it with RGB brightness or do i have to go in service menu.thanks

Originally posted by totoybato
hello guys,
has anyone seen this from Acer PD112 it looks exactly like H30 and a lot cheaper maybe only the case is the same.ust got my new h30 first one had dead pixels i calibrate with DVE and in progressive mode i coudn't get a good picture then i switch from film to pc and picture is magnificent night and day difference i think something is wrong with factory setting in film mode

I'll bet an interlaced signal is fine in film/cinema. A progressive signal is brighter. If you can't get the black right with the simple brightness control. Use the up front menu's advanced adjusments (RGBs) On mine I had to lower the RGB-brightness minus 4 each. Then when I went back to the simple brightness control I had more control :)

Tell me if you have slight color pushes to the image? Sometimes there can be a little green or red push.

Use gamma 2 and color temp 2 also.

Originally posted by MikeSRC
No. There are no filters to clean.

Isn't this a bad thing? I'm assuming there is a filter somewhere inside the H30? But if it's not user accessible does this mean we have to send it in for cleaning every so often?

Because dust will definitely build up inside of it, there is no doubt about that. Just like anything with a fan that sucks in air.

gottahavapj ,
--- Leave your HTPC at the Native H30 rez (800x600@60Hz) so that it remains pixel mapped as this will give the best results . Upping the output resolution only really helps with displays that can do that particular resolution in a native un-scaled manner . I tried all different resolutions [ even 1280x720p for HD ] and I ended up back at 800x600@60Hz ;) .

_______________________

jeff442 ,

--- I use an HTPC via the VGA connection so I have not experienced a loss of signal as you describe .

_______________________

totoybato ,

--- I think that Acer model is an EzPro 7xx series PJ .


_______________________


---------- Jason

tom,
i can make black bars disappear by lowering rgb brightness but won't that hurt PQ.my black is a bit red so i put red -2 but not blue, green +2 coz black bars get brightet.thanks tom

Originally posted by UnknownShadow
Isn't this a bad thing? I'm assuming there is a filter somewhere inside the H30?

I didn't see one when I had it open. There is a fan right behind the bulb and two more in the front of the projector, so it's really a a flow through cooling. There's one more fan that aims at the color wheel housing, but it looks like everything is sealed, so it looks like any dust that lands anywhere would not be a problem. That's just an assumption though based on what I've seen.

On an unrelated note, those looking for a good deal on DVDs for the next week might want to checkout dvdpricesearch.com and see that one of the lowest priced DVD resellers also has a 20% off coupon right now.

Originally posted by totoybato
tom,
i can make black bars disappear by lowering rgb brightness but won't that hurt PQ.my black is a bit red so i put red -2 but not blue, green +2 coz black bars get brightet.thanks tom

A calibration DVD would help you find the exact spot for your blacks. It's also easy if using a 4.3 screen where you could lower the brightness or RGB brightness till the bars of a 2.35 video match the black un used area of the screen (mirrors off).

Here's a trick to help if you have a 16.9 screen. View a 2.35 video and aim your projector down lower than it s/b. Now you'll see the unused area or light spill on the top of your screen above the 2.35bars. Match the 2.35bars by lowering or raising the brightness till they match in black with the light spill area (mirrors off).

This will put your blacks to black and the mirrors off where they should be.

As far as color pushes, start with the RGB-contrast to eliminate colors, be it red or green. If you see red in the black use the RGB-brightness to offset while still finding the mirrors off spot.

Similarly if you see green in face tones, use the RGB-contrast to offset.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
gottahavapj ,
--- Leave your HTPC at the Native H30 rez (800x600@60Hz) so that it remains pixel mapped as this will give the best results . Upping the output resolution only really helps with displays that can do that particular resolution in a native un-scaled manner . I tried all different resolutions [ even 1280x720p for HD ] and I ended up back at 800x600@60Hz ;) .
---------- Jason
8x6 it shall be. As always Jason- thanks for the help!

Here we go again, the Opto vibe :)

Just so you remember what we got. ;)

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30lucy.jpg

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30wagon.jpg

Thanks Tom. By coincidence, I was just watching Kill Bill, Vol. 1 a few minutes ago. Looks great with the H30.

Here's a shot from Blade. Nice detail for an SVGA projector.

Blade (http://www.surfaudiovideo.com/graphics/blade1.jpg)

I installed a Fusion 3 HDTV Gold tuner card in my pc last night. Several stations transmit HD here in the Twin Cities, channel 45-2 transmits great HD loops from various sources in true 1080i HD. I could not believe how good the H30's 96"x54" image looked. I also have a 65" HD Toshiba RPTV and there is no doubt the H30 will be my display of choice for HD sports. I don't think many viewers would guess the H30 is only a SVGA projector when feeding it good 1080i/720p source material, the image is very impressive.

Jeff any of the problems solved? Did the unplug work? How about a button stuck on the remote? How about when you hit the buttons on the projector, menu etc?

Unplugged the unit for an hour, tried the menu button on the projector itself, checked every button on the remote.... same situation. "No signal" and the only button on the remote that works is the power button. Ridiculous.

My buzz is clearly dimmer-related. We have a lamp which you touch to turn on, and at the low and medium settings the H30 buzzes very slightly. At the high setting it doesn't buzz at all. Easily reproducible here.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

Regarding the black bars, you can't make the blacks darker than the projector is capable of. Just make sure that you have adjusted the Brightness control (which controls black level) properly

Originally posted by jeff442
Unplugged the unit for an hour, tried the menu button on the projector itself, checked every button on the remote.... same situation. "No signal" and the only button on the remote that works is the power button. Ridiculous.

Yeah you'll hv to send it back or have them make a pickup. So every input shows up with no signal?

Yeah you'll hv to send it back or have them make a pickup. So every input shows up with no signal?

So as a latch ditch effort, I went into the service menu and looked around and did the dreaded "factory reset". This worked! The projector recognized the signal from the vga input and the remote once again worked. Now here's the problem... I have a black screen. I think something must be screwy in the service menu. The weird thing is, if I shut the DVD player off, when the screen displays "no signal", only the white text is displayed. There is no longer a grey box around it. And the H30 menu options are only visible when you highlight them. I went back and inputted all of the service menu settings from one of your old posts, Tom. Is there something else I need to do? Maybe the colorwheel or something else got reset?!

It will be a fishing expedition. I was told to stay away from the colowheel area.
Since you did reset, you could go back and try a auto-black cal and auto white cal. This will re cal things a little. Don't do the Magenta one.

For auto cal blacks have an 0 black IRE Avia pattern being displayed
For auto cal white/contrast have a 100 IRE pattern being displayed.

You might want to reset your logo if that's not showing.

Look around in there maybe there's something relating to the menu's. I wish it was a week day because I could call in and get the proceedures.
Good luck, let us know the latest.

Oh before or if you do the auto-cal, have the user menus set to stock if you made any changes there.

For anyone looking to do a cross-ship with Optoma, I'd have to say stay away from it. It's been about 2 weeks now since they received the RMA'd H30 and they still haven't lifted the charges from my card. They have been courteous about it and said they are looking into it, but I have notified them about this five times already and I am still waiting to hear back as to the hold up.

The last time I spoke to them (friday) they assured me they'd call me back in the afternoon with an answer. That never happened. Not looking forward to calling them again Monday...

g

Originally posted by shatten22
For anyone looking to do a cross-ship with Optoma, I'd have to say stay away from it. It's been about 2 weeks now since they received the RMA'd H30 and they still haven't lifted the charges from my card. They have been courteous about it and said they are looking into it, but I have notified them about this five times already and I am still waiting to hear back as to the hold up.

The last time I spoke to them (friday) they assured me they'd call me back in the afternoon with an answer. That never happened. Not looking forward to calling them again Monday...

g

Thanks for the heads up....my cross ship is about to 'earn' interest on my bosses card that is 'full'. Part of the reason is it took Optoma almost 3 weeks to send the call tag for my old unit. I had to call and remind them about it...it then came the next day.

Maybe they will take that into consideration...

Fleaman

Has anyone here seen both the H30 and Epson Home 10? I already read Mike's review and he seemed impressed with it. Sounds like the H30 has a better picture but for a first time PJ owner how much better is the H30 than the Home 10?

I just found out I can buy the Home 10 locally for about $350 cheaper than the H30 (which I have to order online). Also, in Canada, bulbs for the H30 cost $550 plus tax, while the Home 10 runs $299 plus tax. That's a huge difference.

Originally posted by jeff442
So as a latch ditch effort, I went into the service menu and looked around and did the dreaded "factory reset". This worked! The projector recognized the signal from the vga input and the remote once again worked. Now here's the problem... I have a black screen. I think something must be screwy in the service menu. The weird thing is, if I shut the DVD player off, when the screen displays "no signal", only the white text is displayed. There is no longer a grey box around it. And the H30 menu options are only visible when you highlight them. I went back and inputted all of the service menu settings from one of your old posts, Tom. Is there something else I need to do? Maybe the colorwheel or something else got reset?!

Jeff, how's it going?

Black screen? In the user System Menu there's a spot called Blanking. You can set to Blue or Black. Maybe this is all you need. I always set up with Blue.

What I read in the service area is,

Color Wheel Index 19013
Spoke Light On

When you entered the Factory Reset area did the PJ immediately go to reset or was there options in a sub menu?

It doesn't look like there's much in the service area to foul up the projector.

Hi,

I have to first version of the h30. I watch only 16:9, is it worth it getting the firmware upgrade and the lens cap?

The only plus you'd get is the Letterbox support. You could cover the letterbox dvd's with a player that handles letterbox like any JVC or the most recent Panasonics.

The lens mask here in the US we can just ask for it and cover the shipping and it's free.

Do you like the way your projectors calibrated right now. If so here's another reason you may just want to leave it be.

Jeff, how's it going?

Thanks for you concern, Tom. AVS people are such a good bunch, and you are a shining example. This weekend was so nice that I spent quite a bit of time hiking up in Washington. I haven't had a chance to fool around any further with the projector. I know that my colorwheel number is definitely different. Not sure about spoke light or blanking. I'll check tommorow. Pretty sure there was a sub menu for the reset. Why do you ask?

Just wondered if you hit like the reset area if it shot into reset instantly or the same for colorwheel. I heading down to Optoma in 1hr and later this afternoon I'll give you any info on reset that I can.

I have been waiting for a lens mask to appear on the Optoma website and wondered if there was one available from another source already, or if an Optoma product for another projector would function?

Hi Guys

Quicky question that I hope someone can help me with :)
I was watching footie for the 1st time tonight on my H30 - signal from an NTL Digital Cable box connected via RGB SCART.
I seem to get a lot of ghosting when the camera panned quickly etc - I dont get this when watching DVD's and no ghosting of TV signal is apparant when watching on my RPTV.
It's probably something silly - Any ideas?
Thanks

Well I finally got the NEW H30 today at about 5:30pm [ UPS actually did not damage it after having it since the morning of the 17th ;) ] .

-- Got the lens mask and ... the Back-lit remote , man is that thing bright or what ;) [ *** Thanks for making the call Tom :D *** ] .

-- Everything Looks & Sounds great thus far [ No Buzzing and it actually might even be a little quieter than my last unit :D ] . The O-of-B calibration was more accurate this time around but still requires some tweaking . This time around there is a very slight Red push , no extra green detected .

-- Got the new firmware as well and the little 4:3 inside of the 16:9 is very cool for regular cable viewing [ Window mode ] .

-- I am very happy so far !

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

------------------------------------ to be continued ...

"Got the lens mask and ... the Back-lit remote"

That's just great, thx guys for taking care of my buddy and fellow supporter Jason. :)

Originally posted by jeff442
Thanks for you concern, Tom. AVS people are such a good bunch, and you are a shining example. This weekend was so nice that I spent quite a bit of time hiking up in Washington. I haven't had a chance to fool around any further with the projector. I know that my colorwheel number is definitely different. Not sure about spoke light or blanking. I'll check tommorow. Pretty sure there was a sub menu for the reset. Why do you ask?

Jeff, I found out the reset will just clear everything and put the projector back to the basics. No calibrations so you'll hv to use your skills. Menu's and other items should still function the normal way.

How's it going?

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
-- Everything Looks & Sounds great thus far [ No Buzzing and it actually might even be a little quieter than my last unit :D ] . The O-of-B calibration was more accurate this time around but still requires some tweaking . This time around there is a very slight Red push , no extra green detected .

-- I am very happy so far !

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

Good for you Jason! I wish you the luck I have had so far... 241 hrs. and still whirring :)

Cheers!

Good news Jason. Keep those fingers crossed. ;)

Jeff, I found out the reset will just clear everything and put the projector back to the basics. No calibrations so you'll hv to use your skills. Menu's and other items should still function the normal way.

OK, now things have gotten even stranger. I unplugged the unit for an hour yesterday, disconnected and reconnected everything, then fired up the H30. Voila! The DVD players signal was finally recognized. The picture was obviously very miscalibrated. I hit the progressive button on the Panasonic and the H30 attempted to resynch. Unfortunately, once the signal was resynched, the screen was black. When I switched back to interlaced, everything was fine. I'm calling Optoma right now. Looks like it's back to being without a projector for a couple of weeks...

Tom, I just sent you a PM.

---- Thanks Guys :D !!!

______________________


jeff442 ,

--- Just curious if you have tried a different dvd player [ and/or different connections ] ?


_______________________

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

I don't have access to another progressive player, but my Panasonic RP56 worked perfect before I sent the projector off for the firmware update. I did try swapping cables, but to no avail. Even if I were to get progressive working, there would be no way for me to recalibrate the service menu options (Though I know more than joe six pack, this is still beyond my ability).

jeff442,

-- I can probably take a look at it if you would like [ since we are so close ] before you ship it back out to Optoma but it sounds to me like maybe you have a bad firmware flash .

--- Did you try to disable the Source Lock function while in interlaced mode and then see if it will re-sync once you switch to progressive ?

--- Maybe we can find a solution before you go another couple weeks without it ;) .

----- Jason

I appreciate the offer. I got a new RMA from Optoma this morning and UPS is coming to pick it up tommorow. The rep that I spoke with also hinted at a bad firmware flash. If it comes back non-functional, I will see if I can arrange a meeting with you. Great to hear that your new H30 is AOK. I can't stress enough how happy I was with the pic/performance before I sent it in for the new firmware. Believe me, I'm anxious to get back to watching movies/HD sports.

jeff442 ,

--- Ah , I wish you the best of luck for a speedy fix and return :) .

--- Please do let me know if I can help in any way once it comes back [ although I doubt it will have any issues this time ;) ] .

-------- Jason

Ahhhhhhh !

Please tell me my bulbs not on the way out !!!

I use the H30 in eco mode so the fan starts loud and after a few mins slows down as per normal - However, tonight when the fan slowed down the picture dimmed substantially and went a blue'ish, greeny colour and then returned to normal.
I then took the H30 out of eco mode, let the fan speed up again and then put back in eco mode and the same thing happened again.
I tried a 3rd time and was unable to reproduce the effect.

My PJ is virtually bang on 90-days old with 45 hrs on the bulb - Does this sound like the bulb about to fail, a glitch or something else?
I'm worried that if the bulb pops ina couple of weeks time I'll have to pay out for a new one !!

Anyone come accross this before?

I have not Simon.. other than an occasional brightness flicker in the first two minutes of operation before the fan slows. I would call Optoma today and at least get it on record with them since you're close on the 90 days. Maybe they'll have you re-seat the bulb or something.

Good luck!

Just sent an email to the UK product manager and will follow up with a call tomorrow.
This is the 1st glitch I've had with the H30 but I'm paranoid about bulbs popping - Hopefully not a bulb related issue but would be sods law if it dies just outside of the warranty period with less than 50hrs on it.

I'll let you know the outcome.
Cheers

Hopefully not a bulb related issue but would be sods law if it dies just outside of the warranty period with less than 50hrs on it

Just curious, what is "sods law"? I'm guessing that this is the UK equivalent of Murphy's law.

Yep :D

Tom:

Just got my H30 back from Optoma. They installed C07 (May 28, 2004) firmware on my machine and I also get a lense mask with it. The unit is still fairly quite like before. Color calibration with my Zenith DVB318 is now a mess. With the old firmware, I only have to calibrate brightness and constrast with minor tweaks to color and tint (for 720p using DVB318) and I was as good as the (default settings) interlaced Pioneer player. I am using DVE. I can not get enough blue and red even if I crank the rad/blue gains and bias in the service menu all the way up and reduce the green all the way down. I reconnected my PC and the colors are OK. I will try my interlaced Pioneer tonight. Is this a problem with the new firmware and 720p? Do other DVB318 users using C07? What do you have to do to get a correct color space. I already try switching the color spaces. Now it is set at auto.

My current bias and gains in the service "picture" menu are all between 126 and 134. I am beginning to wonder if I should have stick with the old firmware.


KB

Is your PC sending a progressive signal? Let's see how the interlaced pioneer looks.

Interesting article on new sony screen here (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB108742977261939595-IRjg4Nllal3nZyva3qHbqyCm4,00.html) .

Got and sucessfully installed the 6 inch panavise mount . Just used ceiling anchors to screw into the drywall ceiling (didn't screw into a joist) as the anchors say they'll take anything up to 500 pounds of weight. also i used emory paper roughen the ball and remove paint from the socket. It was difficult to tighten sockets with the included allen wrench once the projector is connected (no space to work with)... so instead, i screwed the panavise into the ceiling, got it in the right place and tighten it up, then screwed on the projector.
hopefully the thing doesn't fall, no safety cable yet!
Tips for mouting from dapimp :

tip1 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3629339&highlight=panavise#post3629339)
tip2 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3581536&highlight=panavise#post3581536)
tip3 (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3602431&highlight=safety+cable#post3602431)

"I reconnected my PC and the colors are OK."

It's starting to sound like a signal problem from the Zenith. Check the wiring.

Update,
i havent got news to replace my unit yet.
still C04 firmware, still with a dead pixel.
And they havent tell me whats wrong with my unit which sometimes switches itself off.

hum.. weak support here..

Originally posted by Pisangbusuk
Update,
i havent got news to replace my unit yet.
still C04 firmware, still with a dead pixel.
And they havent tell me whats wrong with my unit which sometimes switches itself off.

hum.. weak support here..

Where will you be sending it? This is not a fixable deal, they'll need to get you a new machine which will already have the new firmware anyway.

It whould be very simple, you call in say you have a dead pixel they give you a RMA # and that's it. New machine.

Pretty cool I'll get to compare my H30 with a 4805 in a week or so at a nearby members house. Actually he's been at my house to view the HT1000. He's got a Parkland DIY screen for his 4805.

The only review of the two machines I got was from Newteqjoe. He told me the H30 had much more contrast and the 4805 was a light cannon. He preferred the picture quality of the H30. So that's it for the first mini review of the two machines. More to follow. :)

I'm not saying it will be the end of the world for either machine. They both will look fantastic and each have their own attributes.

the 4805 is a nice unit i must admit and very bright ( not blinding ) but bright i think either machine is very nice for the price range , but i am still a guy who likes the deeper colors of the h30 better , but i was very impressed with the 4805 as a whole :) ,so it comes down to preference of what you would like :)


and i am sure when tom see's both he will also give an honest opinion also with mike ,or jay if they compare both .

Make sure you compare it to the 4805 over DVI.
Thats the difference I am most curious about. I don't think it will make much difference at viewing distance, but curious to finally find out for certain.

I too, will be doing a 4805 vs. H30 review in the near future. New member "Switch Monkey" has a 4805 on order and we've agreed to a side-by-side comparison with my DIY screen and his (though he hasn't decided on a screen yet).

I'm also going to be doing a side-by-side comparison to a buzzing and non-buzzing H30, which will hopefully answer some questions. VeggieGuy and I are going to check out our two H30's and get to the bottom this buzzing issue. :) (I'm being optimistic).

So, hopefully in the next few weeks we'll get some good looks at the two best HT projectors in this price-range. If there's anyone in Seattle with a Benq 6200 that wants to play, let me know, we could do a three-way shootout. :)

Originally posted by hikarate
Make sure you compare it to the 4805 over DVI.
Thats the difference I am most curious about. I don't think it will make much difference at viewing distance, but curious to finally find out for certain.

I plan on bringing a Bravo D1 to see how the DVI looks.

Whoops, No DVI forgot about the DVI thingy.

If you guys get a chance to compare pixel grid uniformity (or is it focus??), that would be interesting.

As it is, when I have a blanking blue screen up, my pixel lines grid is not even/uniform through out the screen. Parts of the screen the pixel blocks are perfect and the lines are well defined...other parts of the screen the pixel blocks are not easy to make out...and the lines are just about invisible! I know that might sound good, but I think it's some sort of focus or optical problem/issue. No amount of focusing can get the pixel lines to come out on some parts of the screen.

This is not a keystoning or projector/screen alignment problem as this effect is in blotches randomly through out the screen.

I noticed on the 4805 thread that some were also complaining about focus issues and pixel uniformities. I'm not sure if my problem is exact the same yet, and/or if this it what to expect in a lower end projector or not?

Fleaman

Hiya tom,
thanks for suggestion

I went through a local sole agent. its been 2 months since they last approved the dmd chip replacement. the local agent only want to replace the dmd chip -_-, say its approved by principal only as such.
Well, im still waiting for the DMD chip/lense mask/firmware upgrade...2-3 months already still sucking my thumb waiting LOL.

I live in Asia, to my understanding the local sole agent have no right to give rma # no.

Yeah , i say, support kind of weak. They dont even know there is a lense mask, or what is the latest firmware, wow its co7, im better informed reading your post. Thanks tom for that.

What should i do ? call Taiwan direct? LOL.

By the way, fleaman, for a picture uniformnity , i use keystone 9 . with no problem. Run Avis test , blah blah , test pixel uniformity, no problem 400 hours on this baby. Well picture quality wise , I'd say its the best bang for your bucks at this price for a dlp chip.

92" screen here. By the way, if your screen gets bigger, there is worse quality and uniformity for any unit at this price anyway.

but i call it a baby coz my current unit is so buggy and troublesome -_-, but i still love her.

"What should i do ? call Taiwan direct? LOL"

Yes it's sound like your Optoma agent is just a branch office, not a factory with technicians. Best you can do is impress him with the way the Factory is handling it. Maybe the rep should call Taiwan.
good luck

basically they are just a local sales agent.

Lol , yeah i called taiwan and Hope to have reasonable reply soon, they seriously need to do better here if they want to win over the sanyo/panny market here. Im sure they can and should and kept up to date and development of the unit.

Danks tom.

Originally posted by fleaman
If you guys get a chance to compare pixel grid uniformity (or is it focus??), that would be interesting.

As it is, when I have a blanking blue screen up, my pixel lines grid is not even/uniform through out the screen. Parts of the screen the pixel blocks are perfect and the lines are well defined...other parts of the screen the pixel blocks are not easy to make out...and the lines are just about invisible! I know that might sound good, but I think it's some sort of focus or optical problem/issue. No amount of focusing can get the pixel lines to come out on some parts of the screen.

This is not a keystoning or projector/screen alignment problem as this effect is in blotches randomly through out the screen.

I noticed on the 4805 thread that some were also complaining about focus issues and pixel uniformities. I'm not sure if my problem is exact the same yet, and/or if this it what to expect in a lower end projector or not?

Fleaman
I noticed this also Flea. After someone in this thread was posing uniformity questions several weeks ago I put up a blue- blank screen and inspected every inch of the image. My grid lines are almost pefectly uniform except for about a square foot area at the extreme lower right hand corner of the image. In that area the grid gets very hazy and almost disappears in spots. Of course I now inspect every image that is on the screen looking for blurring or something in that area but can detect none with my 1/4 trained eye :) Ha! So gotta's H30 is NOT perfect... hahaha :D

I suspect that less than perfect lens optics in a budget projector may be the culprit but I'm not sure. It certainly is not a distraction for me unless I let it be one.

Cheers!

The lens is glass - confirmed.

"I noticed on the 4805 thread that some were also complaining about focus issues and pixel uniformities. I'm not sure if my problem is exact the same yet, and/or if this it what to expect in a lower end projector or no"

They were seeing blurring in text in video at different area's of the screen.

I don't see any errors with video, the big thing to worry about is dead pixels. Luckily DLP has a good history for not picking up dead pixels down te road.

Tom, when are you doing the 4805 comparison? If I had some time, I could get an M1 adapter to lend you for the Bravo, but I couldn't get it to you before this weekend.

Hiya tom

Thanks for ur info, things got moving and i got my replacement comming asap , super !

Originally posted by gottahavapj
I noticed this also Flea. After someone in this thread was posing uniformity questions several weeks ago I put up a blue- blank screen and inspected every inch of the image. My grid lines are almost pefectly uniform except for about a square foot area at the extreme lower right hand corner of the image. In that area the grid gets very hazy and almost disappears in spots.
Cheers!

That's exactly how I would describe it....very Hazy and the grid lines disappears. Although it sounds like your H30 is more uniform than mine as you only have it in a smaller area than I do.

Also, with my blanking blue screen, it is only on a small part of the chip, in the middle portion....like the 4x3 window in the 16x9 screen. I haven't figured out how to get the blue blanking to the full 4x3 chip size yet, but with just the small window I can see a lot of un-uniformity on my H30.

Fleaman

Hey everyone! Thanks to Mike at Surf Audio Video I received my H30 yesterday and did little more than plug it in and throw a bed-sheet over my entertainment center and started watching. I just didn't have the patience to wait for the weekend and start any kind of permanent set-up.

It was set up by 9PM, I watched until 2AM and was up again by 6AM. Needless to say I was impressed.

The *only* thing I noticed was that the top right of the screen seemed to slant a bit. The other 3 corners were all 90 degree angles, but from the top left to the top right, it was a mild slant. I'm guessing it's because, at the moment, I have the projector on a hard surface but basically on the floor (need to move around all my components). It's not a bother unless I stare right at that corner.

Just curious to see if anyone else had a situation like this.

I'm thrilled w/ the image I have, just w/ using a THX optimizer and can't wait to borrow a buddy's Avia (right?) disc and do some real callibration.

Mike - I'm probably going to be sending a few pals your way. When that happens, let's talk discount on some cables. ;-)

Hi!

May anyone help me with this.

I have a problem with my H30, it sometimes look like it loses the sync, most of the time it is between clips in film, when i look on a footboll match yesterday throw the H30 it sometimes lookes like slowmotion, the motions was so unreal. (it was no slomo on my real tv) Now i talked to Optoma and they say it could be fixed with the new firmware.

Have you out there notice or hear about this, and could the new firmware fix this problem?

Originally posted by MikeSRC
Tom, when are you doing the 4805 comparison? If I had some time, I could get an M1 adapter to lend you for the Bravo, but I couldn't get it to you before this weekend.

Thx Mike, but I'm set to go tonight. I'm bringing my Sony HD100 Mark has OTA but it goes to a RCA 38" HDTV with Sat box on board. So this is Mark's treat he hasn't seen HDTV on his 4805 yet.

He hasn't seen the H30 and I expect him to like it. My H30 is looking awful sweet these days. :)

Tom ,

--- Are you and Mark going to BLOG the comparison from his place tonight ?

--- This way people interested in certain things could ask specific questions and then the two of you can take a look in real time and give honest feedback ;) .

-------- Jason

Mark was just at my shop a minute ago and I scoped at some details we'll need. He wants me to bring my camera because he thought his shots were dark compared to shots my Olympus took. I'll ask him about the net hook up.

Tomorrow I'll post up some of the same screen shots with both projectors. He said if there's time today he would like to paint his Parkland screen with a recommened silver paint he got. I have to take a look at how the light spill of the old H30 fill fare and I'll bring the lens mask and some black tape to fix it if I have to.

Originally posted by Pisangbusuk
Hiya tom

Thanks for ur info, things got moving and i got my replacement comming asap , super !

I thought that would work telling them but over there they're doing this.
Good going.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
Tom ,

--- Are you and Mark going to BLOG the comparison from his place tonight ?


And don't forget the webcam. :D

Seriously though, if you guys could be available online, it would be great.

A real time online shoot out sounds very cool. I hope you can pull it off.

One question for you Tom, I have an LT150z and have been looking at both of these projectors as a replacement. However I push my 150 pretty hard shooting onto a 10' wide blackout cloth 16:9 screen. I sit about 17' from the screen. How would you compare the SDE with the H30 and/or, when you see it of course, the 4805?

I'd really like to upgrade but if the SDE was much worse, the 150 doesn't really look too bad at all in that regard, it may be too bothersome?

Oh yeah, I do watch quite a bit of HD programming on my 150 also so a subjective memory only ;) comparison with the two projectors would be nice as well.

I really do appreciate all the hard work you do for all of us Tom, thank you very much. Oh yeah and thank you too Mark for hosting the shoot out.

Dean

Tom ,

--- OK then , I will be at the Milpitas Airport around 5pm .

-- I'll be the guy holding an XGA web-cam in one hand and an HTPC in the other :D .

-- Dang too bad I can't use the ticket that my wife didn't use a couple weeks back , only $65.00 round trip [ too short of notice :( ] .


--- Ah well , krasmuzik and I will probably try to BLOG our H30/4805 comparison if possible ;) .

----- Have fun ,
------ Jason

You'll have to view a little farther back. What you will get is the super high contrast and better scaling/deinterlacing from your TV feeds. HDTV will also benefit from the high contrast.

But the trade off is you're giving up the XGA res. You've probably heard many say that these machines are about 85% of the HD2's, which is pretty close.

Think 2X's back for SVGA projectors.

Originally posted by D-Dog.1
The *only* thing I noticed was that the top right of the screen seemed to slant a bit. The other 3 corners were all 90 degree angles, but from the top left to the top right, it was a mild slant. I'm guessing it's because, at the moment, I have the projector on a hard surface but basically on the floor (need to move around all my components). It's not a bother unless I stare right at that corner.

Just curious to see if anyone else had a situation like this.
Welcome to the club D-Dog!

I had this same thing happen when I first ceiling mounted the H30 and my screen was already mounted. It took me a while to realize that I did not have the lens perfectly perpendicular to the horizontal mid point of the screen. When I shifted the whole projector about 4" to the left- all screen edges lined up. If I remember correctly my two bottom corners were pretty square and the upper left looked pretty good but the top of the image was sloping down from left to right and the right edge of the image leaned in a little.

Also- not all sources seem to produce the exact same vertical image edges. My install started to look a lot cleaner when I installed a 1.5" black-light absorbing border around the DIY blackout cloth screen as well.

Hope that helps...
Cheers!

Thanks gottahaveapj (aka Fellow Fargo Friend!)

I'll look at things closer this weekend when I work on something more permanent and seek an answer to a question fit only for Samanta on Sex In the City, "how big is too big (for a projected image)"

I'm going to search some other threads, but I'm really anxious on finding some great DVD's w/ DTS soundtracks now that my image matches the sound. Anyone have fav's they'd care to share via PM?

Later!

I got a big problem regarding the composite-in on the h30. I have my cable-tv (vcr) hooked up to h30's composite-in and i am not able to get a 'stable' picture. It's constant flashing from bright to dark. (looks a bit like macrovision) I experience the same problem when i have my xbox hooked up via hd-tv, but much less. Either way, i tried everything... other coax cable, gold plated rca cable, other socket, etc. etc. But no, the flashing (from bright to dark and vice versa) stays..... what to do? When i got the same vcr hooked up to computer or tv (using the same cables) i have no problems. Is this some kind of HW problem or what? Can anyone enlighten me..... it is really really annoying.

I also have my computer hooked up to the h30 (using 10m gold plated vga cable) and i have no flashing problems with that.

well d dog i can tell you i was running a 16:9 122" diagonal 60"x105" and i'm much more satisifed with a 106" diag 52"x92". brighter more pop with the "smaller" screen.

rudee

Originally posted by D-Dog.1
I'm going to search some other threads, but I'm really anxious on finding some great DVD's w/ DTS soundtracks now that my image matches the sound. Anyone have fav's they'd care to share via PM?

Later!

Somehow I missed your other post D-Dog, but gottahavapj had my back. ;)He's right about a little tilt with the projector causing the image to be off square. I agree with rudee about keeping the screen size down a little. I'd say 110" diag max.

Saving Private Ryan has one of the best DTS soundtracks. The Haunting is excellent too, but the movie's not so great.

So where are Tom and Mark :D ???

--- Spill it guys !!!

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

I think they're having too much fun fo come online. :D

It's late and I'm tired, so I'll keep it short and sweet.

Tom and his H30 were here for about 2 hrs. We spent a very short time using the Avia setup disc, but not enough to totally dial either projector in perfectly. The screen is a 95" diagonal sheet of Parkland painted with Behr SilverScreen. We viewed a number of favorite DVD scenes from a few movies. Tom took some photos of 5th Element.

Conclusions... My wife and son think that Tom and I are completely insane:D

Conclusions part 2...

They both look great. Both have great colors. Tom and I both agreed that they had similar brightness. We also agreed that the 4805 had slightly better contrast and pop.

For me, I prefer the native 16:9 the 4805 offers because of the light spill from the top of the H30 was a little distracting, but Tom says using a black drape works great to cover it. Tom watches a lot of 4:3 material and if you want big, the H30 delivers.

The H30 was noticebly quieter than the 4805. That's not to say the 4805 is loud, (I don't find it to be a distraction and it's mounted right above my head.).

I'm sure Tom will go into more detail tomorrow, and hopefully he'll post the few screenshots he took.

Anyway, I don't think you could go wrong with either one of these beauties. I'm very happy with my purchase (this is my first projector) and am looking forward to enjoying it for a long time before upgradeitis kicks in.

I'd like to thank Tom for bringing all of his equipment over and for his knowlege and passion for front pjs. Tom is very unbiased and just wants to see the best picture he can for the best price, just like most of us lurking in this forum.

No one give any answer about this, is it beacuse my bad english or is it because you dont understand my problem or is it more important to talk about 4805 vs H30 or what?

my question again.

i!

May anyone help me with this.

I have a problem with my H30, it sometimes look like it loses the sync, most of the time it is between clips in film, when i look on a footboll match yesterday throw the H30 it sometimes lookes like slowmotion, the motions was so unreal. (it was no slomo on my real tv) Now i talked to Optoma and they say it could be fixed with the new firmware.

Have you out there notice or hear about this, and could the new firmware fix this problem?

draags ,

--- I have never heard of your problem with the H30 - sorry .

--- If Optoma suggested that you try the newer firmware then you should consider doing it in my opinion . It may not solve your issue but if it does not then you have some recourse to take with Optoma for a replacement H30 .

--- Did you try the signal lock setting ? Probably not going to solve your issue but it is worth a shot ;) .

--- Best of Luck ,
----- Jason

Originally posted by draags
No one give any answer about this...
...Now i talked to Optoma and they say it could be fixed with the new firmware.


Hmm, I believe you already answered your own question.

For Nevar and myself,

Anyone bothered with brightness changes on the composite input when displaying video or the likes? I changed cables too, long/short high quality. No problem on other inputs

To anyone comparing the 4805 versus H30, 33 db versus 37 db is quite something, if I have the time I would even build me a hushbox for the H30.

mbroder-

Thanks much for your and Tom's efforts. That is some great stuff. As both Jason and Tom mentioned earlier- they are both great units and will serve their owners well. We will eventually have Mike's review and the Jason/Kras shootout as well. If all this doesn't give someone enough info to pull the trigger- you're hopeless :D (kidding)

I still like my BIG 4:3 for gaming and sports on digital cable. :)

Cheers!

Hi,
I tried to put a number on the picture different I saw between the 4805 and the H30, came up with about 10 or 15%. Maybe do to the better pixel match for DVD the 4805 looked sharper. What surprised me was the blacks and contrast were very good, making the colors nice and deep. An excellent picture overall.

Both projectors still right now are the best buys out there for the dollar. The 4805 if you want native 16.9 and the H30 if you like native 4.3. Both images have a smooth SD and nice snappy image with excellent blacks and contrast. For me this is the way you want your video to look. Contrast is king. :)

Originally posted by vjren
For Nevar and myself,

Anyone bothered with brightness changes on the composite input when displaying video or the likes? I changed cables too, long/short high quality. No problem on other inputs

In the first month and perhaps 100 bulb hours I saw this happen on S-Video maybe 5 times when first starting up the projector. By the time the fan slowed after about a minute and a half it was cleared up. That's probably not much help to you.

If it was as noticeable as what Nevar mentioned I would for sure be getting ahold of Optoma.

Cheers!

Originally posted by guitarman
Hi,
I tried to put a number on the picture different I saw between the 4805 and the H30, came up with about 10 or 15%.
That much of a difference? That is impressive!

As always- thanks for your tireless efforts Tom! Great stuff!

I though that was a good number. You could make the H30 sharper buy moving the sharp control up to 50 which is full up. Actually mine defaults to 50. My last PJ defaulted to 28. Which is where I put the new one and had it at last night.

But this morning for a test I viewed U-571 which we wathed last night. You could sharpen the picture to be similar to the 4805 by putting the H30 Sharpness to full up. 50

But if you view the sharpness pattern on the Avia disc usually 28 is the point where you just start to lose the ghost line.

Thanks for the input, Tom and Mark. It sounds like the new DarkChip technology gives you the better contrast and deeper blacks, but otherwise they're pretty close. Unfortunately, it looks like I won't be getting a review sample until late July or August (since they only will have a few to go around). Of course, I could always buy one before then. Hmmmn. ;)

Good point.. My "cinema" user setting came (I assume) calibrated by Optoma with sharpness set to 50. When I used DVE to check that the lines in the patterns even fuzzed out a little at 28. I also seem to get a little noisier blacks at 50 as well. That is why I've settled on having user1 settings pretty tame and user2 about half way between that and the cinema setting. That way I can quickly toggle between the three to find the best setting depending on what I'm watching. Dark movies don't look as good to me imo on cinema when blacks are a little noisier.

Thanks again!

Well it will be interesting to see if the 4805 can actually be any sharper than the H30 when connected to an HTPC [ which results in SUPER SHARP images - much sharper than an STB DVD Player ] . I honestly do not see it being any sharper via HTPC , although an improved contrast level I do believe [ due to the new DarkChip2 ] .
________________________________


Tom ,
------- Any comments on the SDE/Pixel structure issues between the two ?

---- Would you say the view distances are equal between the 2 units [ sometimes sharper can make for visible pixel structure ] .

---- Were you comparing equal size images between the two units and if so how much difference was there in throw distance ?



----------- Thank You ,
-------------- Jason

Tom,

Thanks for the thoughts. When you mention the somewhat better contrast of the 4805, what was your impression of absolute black levels. In other words, which gave a deeper black? And since I'm asking, is the 4805 noticeably brighter?

Cheers

Steve

I would expect that with equal sources, the increased sharpness is primarily due to the increased pixel count of the 4805. I'd really like to see how an upscaled image through DVI looks with the 4805.

Can't imagine what went wrong on the shots, lighting, screen, light spill from the projectors, but the shot's all are not up to my usual level. :)

Ok here's the pictures of the shootout and lol they came out god awful but figured I should display them anyway.

Breakdown.

First picture is the 4805 rainbow problem, shades of the X1
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/rainbows.jpg
Just kidding!

Ok
This one the H30
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout1.jpg

Next three four, the 4805
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout2.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout3.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout4.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout5.jpg

Last one the H30
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout6.jpg

I think I got the line up correctly. Pretty lousy heh Mark? Don't know whether it was the silver screen or the fact we had both projectors giving off a little light. Like I put a dvd in front of my projectors lens so I could leave it on and Mike put his pj in black screen so he could leave it on. I don't know maybe this little light had an effect on the camera. Oh plus the camera was in front of the projectors. Usually when I do shots I'm just in back of the PJ.

Pretty bad heh? Except for the rainbow shot, that was done on the H30 at my home some time ago.

__________________
Tom/guitarman

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
Well it will be interesting to see if the 4805 can actually be any sharper than the H30 when connected to an HTPC [ which results in SUPER SHARP images - much sharper than an STB DVD Player ] . I honestly do not see it being any sharper via HTPC , although an improved contrast level I do believe [ due to the new DarkChip2 ] .
________________________________


Tom ,
------- Any comments on the SDE/Pixel structure issues between the two ?

---- Would you say the view distances are equal between the 2 units [ sometimes sharper can make for visible pixel structure ] .

---- Were you comparing equal size images between the two units and if so how much difference was there in throw distance ?

The SD on the 4805 is like the H30, went right up to the screen and the line area around each pixel is thin, maybe the H30's are a little lighter in color.

We viewed at 2x the screen width and never even though about SD with both projectors. You could hv people or kids sitting even closer and they wouldn't be bothered either.

The throw is pretty close to the same amount, if any difference it was an inch difference.


----------- Thank You ,
-------------- Jason

Originally posted by Steve Dodds
Tom,

Thanks for the thoughts. When you mention the somewhat better contrast of the 4805, what was your impression of absolute black levels. In other words, which gave a deeper black? And since I'm asking, is the 4805 noticeably brighter?

Cheers

Steve

They both had the same brightness. Re the blacks, in all fairness to Wing my buddy at Optoma, he did do a colorfacts tune up on my H30 the past Monday. Oddly we noticed the the black IRE pattern showed a serious blue color instead of black. He said to me you got about 6hrs? I laughed so we left it as is. Maybe this bluing had an effect on the blacks. I'll go back to my original calibration before the colorfacts tune (I saved all the numbers) and see what's up. With it like it is now you can go up to the screen and see some serious dithering in the blacks or blues. :)

Would you mind commenting on the noise levels of each projector? Moving from an NEC LT150 to the H30 has resulted in a remarkably quieter experience. The 4805 sounds appealing, but I would hate to move to a louder projector, especially if its sound approaches that of my old NEC.

The 4805 in low power is about 25% louder then the H30 in low power. The tone on the 4805 is higher pitched, the H30 is bassey in tone. Still the 4805 was just overhead and in low passages of a movie it wasn't disturbing.

I'm not the best guy to give sound tests though. I grew up on 100watt Marshall stack stage shows and it takes it's toll. Mark does think the sound isn't a bother also.

Thanks Tom .

--- Sounds like a 4805 is in my future :D .

--- I have only put about 8 hours on the new H30 just in case this happened [ 4805 throwing the better overall image - even though it is close ] . I guess you could say my current H30 is tested ;) .

--- I have to admit however that not having the 800x600 ability will be missed for PC gaming .

--- I must also say that more noise above my head could certainly be an unwanted distraction for late night movies when things are kept low [ I am in an apartment currently ;) ] . I picture my family/friends all sitting around with headphones - hehe .

--- I would think that the H30 would also do a bit better with HiDef since it is 600p limited vs. 480p limited [ but then the 4805 is 16:9 native ] .

--- I still need to see the 4805 in action but I am ready to make the move sight unseen [ at least I think so - lol ] .

________________

Mike ,

--- While the increase in pixel count would be a benefit [ obviously very slight ] I really don't think the gain from the DVI connection will be that significant at only 480p [ but like you I am still getting very excited about seeing it ;) ] .

_______________________


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

I also wanted to add that a TRUE test here would be to have both the H30 and 4805 fed via an HTPC (VGA/RGBHV) with each getting its own Native resolution [ this way there is no internal scaling being done and both PJ's are pixel mapped ] . We all know the new Faroudja chip will wipe the floor with the Pixelworks [ lets be honest ] .



---------- Jason

Yeah, I'm not so concerned about the additional pixels as I am interested in seeing what an upscaling DVD player that can be pixel mapped to the 4805 (like the Bravo D2) looks like. Since I hardly watch any 4:3 on my H30 (only a few DVDs), a dedicated 16:9 might fill in better until the "Next Big Thing". :D

(Ed. - Or an HTPC - I was typing this while Jason was posting)

BTW, the InFocus distributors seem to be getting them in on Monday, so you might want to check with Kras.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
I also wanted to add that a TRUE test here would be to have both the H30 and 4805 fed via an HTPC (VGA/RGBHV) with each getting its own Native resolution [ this way there is no internal scaling being done and both PJ's are pixel mapped ] . We all know the new Faroudja chip will wipe the floor with the Pixelworks [ lets be honest ] .



---------- Jason

We had his RP56 in progressive making use of the players farouja chip.

"Sounds like a 4805 is in my future"

Don't you want to wait until the dust settles. We were having a couple of problems with losing sync on OTA channels plus there was some strange dithering and color effects on some of the HD. Maybe it was my Sony HD100 but I didn't see these when I viewed at home. We never hooked up the H30 for HDTV.

Well honestly Tom if the PJ in question was not able to be firmware updated by the end-user then I would wait but with that in mind I have every confidence in InFocus to deliver [ I think they know they have one of the most anticipated Projectors to ever reach the market and I am certain they do not wish to lose sales from some bugs - Just my opinion of course ;) ] .

--- Oh and I do not use OTA-HD .

--- Plus I know kras will want to tweak the 4805 to be the best it can be [ he has Colorfacts ] and I would never trust out of box calibration to be perfectly accurate for every end-user .


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

We used colorfacts on Monday, though the colors looked good the blacks turned blue. This I have to fix because there's activity in the mirrors in the blue 2.35bars. :(

The OTA problems may have a fix in the menus of the 4805. Mark says there's some frequency changes you can make there. The coloring and dither may have just been the video feed.

So then it would appear that your black level was affected [ on the H30 ] , so maybe it is closer than we think at this point ;) . Then again the light spill from the 4:3 chip could be another reason the 4805 appears to have better contrast . None of us will really know until both PJ's have had proper calibration via Colorfacts ;) .

--------- Jason

"So then it would appear that your black level was affected [ on the H30 ] , so maybe it is closer than we think at this point"

I know new teq joe has been telling me I'm seeing things by pm, because his comparison was way different.

We'll need some more shootouts. But from what I saw the 4805 is a excellent projector and specially for DVD.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
--- Sounds like a 4805 is in my future.

Jason, what would you do with your H30 if you decide to get a 4805? Are you still in a situation where you could actually return it and get a refund?

--- Well honestly Tom if the PJ in question was not able to be firmware updated by the end-user then I would wait but with that in mind I have every confidence in InFocus to deliver

Does this mean the 4805 firmware can be updated by the end-user? That would certainly be a big advantage.

veggieguy ,

--- My H30 will either end up on ebay or here on AVS . I bought the first one back in Feb. so I am well beyond any refund period even though the one I have now is brand new ;) .

--- From what I understand the 4805 still has the USB connection via the M1 cable [ I assume this to be for firmware upgrades ] .


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

You could hv people or kids sitting even closer and they wouldn't be bothered either.


People OR kids? :D

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

From what I understand the 4805 still has the USB connection via the M1 cable [ I assume this to be for firmware upgrades ] .
True.

Originally posted by entropy
People OR kids? :D

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

Right, not Hawkeye Videophiles. :)


You know guys I couldn't accept the pictures we took the other day. I reset my H30 back to before the colorfacts blue blacks calibration and took some pictures last night. I don't know if it was the calibration or the screen or having light coming from the projectors. But most likely it was the position of the camera. Which was in front of the projectors and off to the side.

Ok so similar shots back on the mat white screen. Never took the Darla shot before.

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30darla1.jpg

I added Marks better shot of the 4805/darla
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=3981782&fullpage=1

Another frame on the H30
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30darla2.jpg

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30survivor.jpg

And added Marks shot of the survivor on the 4805.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=3981781&fullpage=1

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30bruce.jpg

Much clearer but maybe I need to work a little more with the advanced colors adjustments. It's close and the blacks are now black and mirrors are off, plus I have the Sharpness to 50.

Much better Tom ,

-- I still have the Sharpness nailed down but you can see the way my camera handles the color reproduction ... it doesn't , your shots are much more vivid while my camera washes out all the nice color of the H30 ;) .

---------- Jason

Yes they weren't that vivid over at Marks house, getting the mirrors off helps. ;)

On your Darla shot the sharpess is high around the upper left eyelid and the hair. Says something for 1.1 pixel match. The 4805 guy should take advantage of the DVI from a Bravo with it's custom pixel match. But some are already complaining about the not so perfect DVI machines yet. Don't computers hang up once in a while also?

I was expecting the 4805 to be much brighter but is wasn't. Which is good in my opinion for keeping the blacks in check.

You can see by the survivor shot this H30 is bright and I'm at 300hrs already. Are you thinking of getting the 4805? It is allot louder than the H30 but didn't seem intolerable in low passage scenes.

If I didn't like 120" 4.3 so much I might hv tried one. The fam bought me a season of Friends on DVD and they enjoy viewing the 120" image. Different people/different priorities. :)

Tom ,

--- I am still considering the 4805 ... honestly the more that I think about it the more I am unsure that I want to make the switch . The slight increase in pixels may not be worthwhile for me since I do use the full 800x600 panel often [ for PC gaming and 4:3 console gaming ] . The 4805 does sound very tempting but unless I am just blown away when I see it I don't think I will make the switch just yet [ just have to calm down about it a little and actually think for a change :D ] .

--- Sometimes I think I might be better to play the wait and see what comes out in 6-8 months game and enjoy the H30 until then [ or at least see what happens to the pricing ] .

--- My anticipation for the 4805 has been a long wait and now it is actually here so it will be tough to hold back from the purchase/switch but I am going to hold off making any decision until I have seen a properly calibrated 4805 .


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

I forgot to mention when Wing first put my H30 up on the graphics screen for 6500k. He was surprised how close my eye settings got to 6500k, all across each IRE level, It was surprising, almost spooky. :) Red & Green were tight and 1/16 across the line. Blue was level but 3/16 above the line. Someone just posted the same graph with the new Hitachi LCD and the color lines were all over the place.

The triangle color graph showed the H30's colors to be a split fraction off the ideal points. I've seen many graphs showing projectors well off these levels. So the H30's color abilities are very good.

Where did everybody go ;) ?


-------- Jason

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
Where did everybody go ;) ?
-------- Jason

Over to the 4805 thread! heh ;-)

Jason, if your current H30 has no buzzing sound then you might want to hold off on the 4805 for a bit. Or like you said, give yourself time to cool down. It's easy to get caught up in the "Christmas spirit" that is currently going on.

Personally, I'm still trying to decide on which PJ to buy. The 4805, H30 or Home 10. I think I would have grabbed the 4805 if it weren't for the noise. I don't care how good PQ is I think I'll be bugged to death with fan noise. H30 seems to be much quieter (as long as you don't get a buzzer!) and the PQ between the two is really very small. In fact, I'm willing to bet any PQ differences can be adjusted for by calibrating the units.

I'm also still considering the Home 10 because it is basically silent. I know the PQ won't match the H30 or 4805 but noise is a major distraction for me. I'm one of those guys who spends a couple hundred bucks modding my PC to make it quiet ;-)

Not sure if I could stand much fan noise mounted 4 feet above my head.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
Where did everybody go ;) ?


-------- Jason

We're still here. Just been watching all the new DVDs I just got in the big DDD sale. :D

Since there already are a few Darla shots around, I'll add one more (ignore the colors, I was fooling around with some settings at the time). I do think the the HTPC (besides pixel mapping) does a better job of freeze frame than most DVD players, which also adds to the sharpness. I notice a little reduction in the image sharpness when I pause my RP-82.

Here's Darla (http://www.surfaudiovideo.com/graphics/darla.jpg)

I was initially attracted to the Home 1 (10?) due to the lens shift and incredible zoom features since my install is in a "challenged" family room. Mike indicated he had one in and it just didn't cut it for pq if I recall. I jumped on the H30 from there and never looked back.

Cheers!

--- I am still considering the 4805 ... honestly the more that I think about it the more I am unsure that I want to make the switch . The slight increase in pixels may not be worthwhile for me since I do use the full 800x600 panel often [ for PC gaming and 4:3 console gaming ] . The 4805 does sound very tempting but unless I am just blown away when I see it I don't think I will make the switch just yet [ just have to calm down about it a little and actually think for a change ] .


pimp-
same here about the switch - i went ahead with my H30 purchase in april and that was my choice then not to wait on the 4805. Now that's the 4805 is out -it still has to be my decision b/c between the two of these pj's- they are suppose to be the hold me overs until the next leap, skip, or hop increase in dlp technology.
Should i have waited on the 4805? to late for me now- i really can't find fault in my investment in the h30 and i know that when i do get the itch- for the next big bang -i can use the H30 somewhere else-
I'll be doing a direct h30/4805 viewing here in a week or so - so i might be eating my shorts but i doubt it. We've enjoyed the H30 for 140 or so hours and will continue to do so.

rudee

Originally posted by gottahavapj
I was initially attracted to the Home 1 (10?) due to the lens shift and incredible zoom features since my install is in a "challenged" family room. Mike indicated he had one in and it just didn't cut it for pq if I recall. I jumped on the H30 from there and never looked back.

Cheers!

Are you referring to the Hitachi or Epson? I'm looking at the Epson Home 10. All of the reviews praised it for PQ.

"I'll be doing a direct h30/4805 viewing here in a week or so - so i might be eating my shorts but i doubt it. We've enjoyed the H30 for 140 or so hours and will continue to do so."

Naah don't worry about it. We're still good as is.

Boy did I mess up big time re the shootout. I just found out the culprit for my lousy picture at Marks house. It wasn't his screen. Seems my H30 likes to reset the upper half of the grayscale in the advanced adjustments. It will do this just after you go looking around in the service menu

Wierd but I recreated it twice and triggered the problem by noting the service numbers before taking the PJ out of the house.

This screen shot is a good example of how the picture looked. Mark was being nice saying the picture looked good.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout6.jpg

Originally posted by UnknownShadow
Are you referring to the Hitachi or Epson? I'm looking at the Epson Home 10. All of the reviews praised it for PQ.
Yep- I had the Hitachi in mind. My mistake..

Cheers!

Originally posted by guitarman
Boy did I mess up big time re the shootout. I just found out the culprit for my lousy picture at Marks house. It wasn't his screen. Seems my H30 likes to reset the upper half of the grayscale in the advanced adjustments. It will do this just after you go looking around in the service menu

Wierd but I recreated it twice and triggered the problem by noting the service numbers before taking the PJ out of the house.


Tom, are you saying that once you go into the service menu, the advanced adjustment settings are zeroed out when you go back to them?

Yes but just the RGB-contrast, not the RGB-brightness. It's not something I need a fix on, I can just work around it.

--- Is everybody having buyers remorse here or what ?

--- This thread has not been this dead since it started !


---- I hope people are just enjoying the H30 [ as Mike is with his new dvd's :D ] and not feeling as though they should have waited for the 4805 . It's not as if the 4805 just smokes the H30 here , after all we are not talking about some 720p DLP in the same price range [ now that might cause some remorse - I know it would for me ] .


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

Jason:
People like me are just simply enjoying what we have and not worrying about what is new out there. If you have a 720p PJ at the same price point, it might change. The 4805 does nothing for guys like me. No remorse with the H30. I was in the Dallas area last week and took the kids to see the new Jackie Chan's movie at a fairly new AMC theater. My sons (12,11,8) and I all thought the picture we have at home with the H30 was better. The projectionist must have left the projector out of focus and never did bother to check it during the show. I felt robbed as we spent $70-80 for an adult and 3 kids during a matinee show.

It could also be that this time of the year is vacation time for a lot of folks

KB

As much as I have complained about my noise, I'm still rather happy with my H30, and no...no remorse. I had friends over this weekend right after seeing Farenheit 9/11 and we wanted to watch something a little more "lighthearted." Two of my friends hadn't seen my "theater" yet, and were totally blown away. One of them actually stopped in the middle and said "you know...I just realized I'm in your basement...I've felt like I've been in a theater." THAT just makes it all worthwhile...

I do hope there's a way to fix the buzzing issue before my 90 days expires. I'm doing a comparison with another H30 owner soon, to see if mine really IS buzzing, or if I'm just perceiving a normal noise. Noise is a big issue to me, and honestly...if the 4805 is as loud as some say, I'd rather not go down that route. I'd prefer the H30.

So...I guess I'm one of the silent, but enjoy-the-H30 types. :)

I'm just too busy at work to post, and the minute I get home I'm enjoying the H30! Now I find myself critiquing DVD transfer's like I nit-picked film prints in college. I never thought I'd be happy to see dirt on a print, but it just makes it all that much "cinematic."

To me, this thing is now like TiVo -- I can't believe everyone doesn't have one and I look down on those who don't...

This weekend I'll be moving things around to accompany the long length of my living room for hopefully better sound (i.e., some natural reverb). Just have to arrange equipment and I *hate* doing that. Takes hours to redo every little cable/wire. Ugh.

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
---- I hope people are just enjoying the H30 [ as Mike is with his new dvd's :D ] and not feeling as though they should have waited for the 4805 .
------------- Jason
I am and... no way! :D

I am really liking BIG 800x600 gaming and sports. I have years of experience ignoring kids when they're very noisy, my mother-in-law and now Ryan so I have no problem ignoring SD artifacts. :D

Cheers!!

Glad to hear it !

--- still happy here too ...

http://home.comcast.net/~jlcburg3/wsb/media/19852/site1126.JPG



:D
----------- Jason

Nice looking shot Jason. Wanna make a trip to the beautiful, scenic area ;) around Fargo and calibrate mine?

dapimpgame:
--- 'Target' sells a solid black 8' / 3 wire / medium duty / 13A-1625W / 16 Gauge Extension Cable for $3.50 (us funds) . I found this after looking all over for something to match up perfectly to the factory power cord [ since it has a special configuration at the H30 connection ] . The cable is made by "Woods" and the part # is 0260 ( sku# 0 78693 00260 1 ).

is this just an extension cord or is this something that can replace the h30's power cord?

i found this link (http://www.northstate.com/woods/en-us/dept_1.html) to a woods ext power cord, is this what you are talking about?

I am totally happy with my h30 still. Oh, and I knew something was wrong when Tom posted that Milla J. picture from 5th Element. No way it was that washed out.

gottahavapj ,

--- Thanks ;) .
--- Next time you come this way bring your H30 and I would be happy to calibrate it for you :) .
--- My grandparents grew up in ND and although I have only driven through I must say it is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen [ I have been from one end of the country to the other ] .

_____________________________

demon4 ,

--- It is just an extension , it does not replace the factory power cord .

_____________________________


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

H30 is fine, watching a lot of tv [sport], going through the dvd collection.
134 hours on the clock no problems.
using the scart output for all viewing which is fine, will be trying component output from the jamo dvr50 this weekend any advice, I would be greatfull. If there is any increase in quality then I will be more than supprised.
any advice on the best screen to get, I'am still up the wall at the moment, not to sure about gain and the like.

all the best

zola

Well, I have some 4805s on the way now, so I'm looking forward to the comparison. In particular, I want to check out a pixel mapped Bravo with it through DVI. I don't think I'll replace my H30, but who knows? ;)

Originally posted by Phil_Mckraken
I am totally happy with my h30 still. Oh, and I knew something was wrong when Tom posted that Milla J. picture from 5th Element. No way it was that washed out.

I took some shots this morning after resetting the machine back to the colorfacts calibration. Last two are HD shots, a couple of Dark City shots.
Make sure your monitor is calibrated back in the brightness area. You shouldn't see the surrounding area around the screen. You should see just black.

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf1.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf2.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf3.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf4.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf5.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf6.jpg

I have been watching mine and playing Planetside more than watching movies. I did finally get my second PC hooked up to the H30 but the color is way off, haven't had time to calibrate it yet. The M-Audio card that someone recommended in this thread worked out great. Handles DTS and DD just fine. Now I just have to get the picture calibrated.
My buzzing persists and annoys me. I am creeping up on my 90 days so have to decide if I want to live with it, or send it in for a blind replacement. Since Optoma hasn't ever made a response on this issue, its a crap shoot on whether a new unit will make a difference.

Once I get my color set on the PC I can see if the Dithering problems I run into is more related to my DVD player or the H30. Might be the combination of the H30 and Dalite HP screen, I don't know.
Anyhow, be nice to compare to the PC and see if the same problems persists or if there is a noticeable difference. As far as my DVD player is concerned I have the contrast set higher than I would like to hide the dithering problem.

Anyhow, keep the posts count down i like it. I still keep up with the thread and its nice not to have to go through 3 pages to catch up :)

I was wondering where in the heck you've been :)

If I was you I'd send it back and take my chances on a non-buzzer. But that's just my opinion.

Cheers!

Hey Tom,

Isn't that dithering in the sky on this one?
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf3.jpg

I don't know, thats kinda what it looks like in some of the scenes of the movies that I watch. Its a screenshot so hard to say, but its a very noticeable difference in the scenes that it shows up in. Those off black night skies seem to be the worst offenders on my H30.

That's grain from the camera shot. They were taken with daylight filtering in. If you see allot of grain you could lower your Monitors brightness. It does look like dither but If I brighten my monitor screen I'll see the same thing on the walls and screen case.

The best way set your projector is to go right up to the screen and lower the brightness while viewing a very dark scene. Lower until the dithering just stops.

Originally posted by guitarman
The best way set your projector is to go right up to the screen and lower the brightness while viewing a very dark scene. Lower until the dithering just stops.

Then I'd throw up a 10 IRE window from Avia to make sure your dark greys haven't become black. It's a trade off as to how much dithering you can handle vis-a-vis maintaining good shadow detail (as you see in Tom's screen shot).

Interesting what I've been seeing lately in adjusting the blacks. With a couple of different calibrations when I set the blacks with Avia and the user brightness control. The 2.35bars were still active (dithering mirrors still on).

I would reset the brightness and then start with the Advanced Adjustments RGB-brightness, lowering them equally until the 2.35bars showed the mirrors off. Then I'd use the Avia pattern and the user brightness control. I could set the Avia pattern correctly and have an end result with the mirrors off and no dithering, with proper shadow level.

Thanks Tom and Mike,

I still have a lot to learn and will have to read your replies a couple times before I figure out what you said. I figured it wasn't dithering on your pic, but it looked close enough to what I experience that I thought I would ask. My dark grays are black, thats the only way I have been able to get the dithering under control, but maybe my brightness is too high. I'll have to mess around with it some more. The good news is I can do it with my PC this time to see if that makes any difference. I am surprised how far off the colors are for my DVD player on Component, vs. PC on VGA. I guess I will have to try using the User settings like Gotta is to have different settings for each, since they are both running through the VGA port.

It's great the H30 has user separate RGB adjustments available for memory with all the signal inputs. For interlaced Cable channels I'll just switch to Video and get a richer picture, it's simple that way and it is just TV. I find basic cable stations are looking pretty good, sharp with smooth screen and little artifacts.

Hhmmm... you're not on the same cable system as I am are you? :D It's good enough though.

This thing about the different calibration settings by signal kind of surprised me. I knew from the beginning that there were different settings by connection type but didn't know you could have different calibration settings by the type of signal coming in on the same VGA cable. I stumbled across that sort of by accident when I first hooked up my PC like hikarate mentions.

Cheers!

I used Direct TV for years but just recently switched to Comcast Digital and get the whole package. I was surprised how I liked the picture. Even records onto my Replay TV from cable look ok.

I have Cable, Sat OTA and two DVD players going into the VGA input, S-video is for Laser Disc Star Wars only. :)

I noticed the different memory settings day one and thought this was cool. Actually I don't make use of the user save 1 & 2, never needed to.

Is having different settings available to each signal on a given physical connection common?

Thanks!

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Is having different settings available to each signal on a given physical connection common?

Yes but some different models have less variable adjustments. Like with the H30 there's quite allot of variables. Cinema, Video, Vivid, PC, user 1, user2. RGB's become available on top of the user colors, tint etc

Those service adjustments affect everything and there's two stages that affect different electronics that are involved in the color.

1. ADP
2. Picture
3. User Advanced RGB is the final step.

The way Wing explained it to me is these steps are what make the H30 unique and produce good color. Better color then the earlier H56.

It boggles the mind... :) Sure glad mine was almost spot on for component/vga right out of the box or I'd have been pulling my hair out. I've taken DVE after it three times now and made no appreciable changes...

Heyo tom,
would like to check the RMA policy for Optoma, I am receiving an exchange soon, but the local agent will change the whole unit but will transfer the old bulb into the new machine.

Is that normal, or should it be a full exchange including a new bulb?

I had done an ADP service menu calibration using Video Essentials wow, the Projector looks better than ever now, i always thought the picture looked a little dark. but with the calibration using white, magenta and black, it look very nuetral now -)

Sounds like a local decision on the bulb. Where is the agent located? Is the agent just your retail dealer?

Here when your projector goes unfix-able you'll get a new projector. Another interesting question would be where the warranty stands. I never asked but I'd guess even though you get a new projector your warranty days are still counting from your purchase date.

hi guys,
can someone help me with the screw size of the tripod hole.i tried 1/4 20 but it only goes in 4 to 5 mm then it gets stuck.thanks

hello Pimp,
can i build HTPC with 900MHz duron just for dvd player nothing else how much ram so i wont get any stutter.i tried my pc last night and PQ is much better than my cheap sony progressive scan.is there a PQ difference between geforce2 and the latest cards.thanks

Originally posted by totoybato
hi guys,
can someone help me with the screw size of the tripod hole.i tried 1/4 20 but it only goes in 4 to 5 mm then it gets stuck.thanks
As far as we know it's 1/4-20. Several of us bought Panavise mounts that had that screw on one end and it screwed right in. I suspect mine went in close to 20mm before I screwed the locking collar of the mount down on it. Perhaps you have a mis-labeled screw or something. Don't force it- I suspect those plastic threads would strip out pretty easily.

Good luck!

Heyo tom,

I never heard about the such "bulb" policy ever before as well for other brand projectors.

I think he is sole agent here, with some repair capabilities. Im in Indonesia.

Well, I can be pretty happy that i got a replacement anyway. But LOL its something "fresh" i head.

Oh well, so much stories but no action from this... make me a lil tired. I really tempted to sell this off and get a better brand. But on another hand, this unit is so hard to release over here , becoz everyone only know infocus or panasonic lol. Oh well, just my luck.

Originally posted by totoybato
hi guys,
can someone help me with the screw size of the tripod hole.i tried 1/4 20 but it only goes in 4 to 5 mm then it gets stuck.thanks

That's about how far it goes in my setup. I used washers to take up the slack.

Originally posted by totoybato
hello Pimp,
can i build HTPC with 900MHz duron just for dvd player nothing else how much ram so i wont get any stutter.i tried my pc last night and PQ is much better than my cheap sony progressive scan.is there a PQ difference between geforce2 and the latest cards.thanks

Probably the wrong forum for this -- try the Home Theater Computer forums for a more thorough answer...

Anyway, I use a Low Power version of an Athlon 1400 (It draws 35W instead of around 60W) and haven't had a lick of trouble playing DVD's and DivX/XviD. A friend of mine was using a PIII 600 to do the same thing for the longest time. I think for DVD w/o accelerated playback (via video card), you need around a 400-500 mhz PIII class system.

A 900Mhz Duron should work just fine for DVD playback on any video card.

I use a ATI 7500 video card as the display. Any decent video card should work just fine, though there can be problems with DAC quality on some cards... It also depends on if you need DVI or VGA output. Ask in the computer forums to see what their video card de jour is.

Memory is going to depend on your OS. With Win2k, I was much happier with 256 megs of RAM over 128. The PC loaded faster and the system ran a lot better. You'd probably see something similar with WinXP.

Anyway, read over in the proper forums for more info.

-MD

totoybato ,

--- Yep 1/4-20 is the proper fit and mine went in between 6 & 8 mm before stopping [ the threads do stop a bit down in there with a solid enclosed end so just be sure you are not pushing through the closed end - this could cause damage to your PJ ] .

--- A 900 Duron will do fine for most of the older software players but the new breed of players offer more enhancements [ NVDVD3 , WinDVD6 ] that do require more CPU and a better GPU to function without stutter . I would go a bit higher on CPU myself but if you keep it simple then a 900 will do just fine .

--- I always tell people to go with at least 256mb of memory [ the fastest your cpu/board will support ] . With WinXP 512mb is a much better solution .

--- The video card of choice is the Radeon series and if you want the best PQ then anything from the 9500 on up will deliver [ 9500/9600/9700/9800 ] .


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

I've been following this thread for months, with a severe case of technolust for the H30. but I've never seen it in action.

Entropy (née Kiran) volunteered to enlighten me -- he showed up the other night with his traveling H30 under his arm, and I got to see what all the fuss is about. We hitched the PJ up to my Panny RP91, and put just turned it on, with no calibration (Kiran was fussing about red in the blacks), and my "white" wall.

We looked at parts and pieces of
Spirited Away
The Princess Bride
Winged Migration
Road to Perdition
Quicktime movies from my Powerbook

OMFG! How can you people fill up this forum? Why aren't you watching movies until your eyes bleed? I understand that one can spend N+1 dollars on these things, but at this early stage in my education, it is clear that the H30 has a massive bang/buck ratio.

My credit card is throbbing.
Thanks, Kiran, for introducing me to crack cocaine, I mean, the H30.
bab

Road to Perdition looks very good on the H30. A ton of dark scenes and nice red hue overall. Blacks & Red - maybe this was the color effect that bothered Kiran. It's the movie. :)

The H30 is a sweet machine. Too bad you didn't check out some OTA-480p or HDTV.

When do you get one?

Unfortunately, I don't have access to HDTV, nor the equipment (tuner?) to OTA HD

I'm trying to hold off until Fall -- my apartment gets hot in the upcoming depths of summer.
But I was telling some friends about it yesterday, and it was all I could do to restrain myself.

And, I still need to do some more research/soul-searching -- since I'd use it mostly for DVD, I might be better served with the 16:9-native 4805.

Ok...put on a good number of hours and during several movies (most recently being The Scorpion King) during scenes involving the camera panning a city or crowd, instead of a clean pan, we're getting a jerky motion. Is this a function of my inexpensive JVC (I'm using old H30 firmware so needed the JVC) or how the H30 is handling it or heck, something with the dvds AND the JVC AND the H30?

I would think it's the DVD player and/or the DVD itself. You might try some others with motion.

Regarding the 4805, I just got some yesterday, so I'll be checking it out this weekend.

Ok crap, I think I lost the remote for the H30. I just emailed Optoma and was informed that the little thing costs 99 bucks!!!! OUCH! Does anyone know anywhere else that I can get that remote for cheaper?

Originally posted by Del Laird
Ok...put on a good number of hours and during several movies (most recently being The Scorpion King) during scenes involving the camera panning a city or crowd, instead of a clean pan, we're getting a jerky motion. Is this a function of my inexpensive JVC (I'm using old H30 firmware so needed the JVC) or how the H30 is handling it or heck, something with the dvds AND the JVC AND the H30?

I just ran The Scorpion King with the entering the city scene. I used a Panasonic RV32 interlaced player no problems were found. Actually it looked very good with the OTB stock calibration. Try another player. The recent Panys have letterbox support and progressive scan you can get them at chain stores like Target and Kmart or whatever for under $100 with an easy return policy.

Have been following this thread after purchasing an H30 last month.
Have to say im amazed at how good it is.

I am still playing with settings to try and get the perfect picture.I notice there is plenty of advice for calibrating with Avia but is anyone here using DVE to calibrate and if so are they able to offer some advice ? (Havent purchased Avia since there is no pal version).
Im also using the supplied colour filter and can get blue and red to match up but cant get green to match properly.

I also notice a problem on peoples faces on TV and DVD, it looks like a colourful smudging effect on raised parts of actors faces. I can seem to make it better by playing with the brightness and contrast. Any ideas how to fix this or is it a limitation of a budget projector ? Since Im new to front projection any help would be most appreciated.

Welcome GGB and congrats on your purchase. I'm now at 320 hours in about 3 months and still loving it!

I have DVE and the green thing was a real head scratcher. I assumed I must be doing something wrong until MikeSRC- a major contributor to this forum also indicated he could never get the green to match the example. I just skipped that part.

Not sure on the face color thing, mine look great. Just keep in mind that when you blow up relatively low res pics that you see artifacts that you would never see on a 27" direct view. It should not happen on a DVD though.

Cheers!

Originally posted by DaGamePimp
totoybato ,

--- Yep 1/4-20 is the proper fit and mine went in between 6 & 8 mm before stopping [ the threads do stop a bit down in there with a solid enclosed end so just be sure you are not pushing through the closed end - this could cause damage to your PJ ] .

--------------- Jason
Far be it from me to disagree with you and Tom but I gotta here :). I'm not going to take that dang thing down from the Panavise in order to measure but... 6mm is less than a 1/4 inch. If that was all the farther the Panavise screw went in on mine there is no way I would have hung that thing like that. My earlier estimate of 20mm might have been a bit generous but I'm sure mine went in a 1/2 inch (~12mm). Does anyone have access to their tripod mounting hole and can stick something down in there that is slim, mark the depth and then measure it?

Thanks and have yourself a great holiday weekend (U.S. anyway :))

Originally posted by guitarman
I just ran The Scorpion King with the entering the city scene. I used a Panasonic RV32 interlaced player no problems were found. Actually it looked very good with the OTB stock calibration. Try another player. The recent Panys have letterbox support and progressive scan you can get them at chain stores like Target and Kmart or whatever for under $100 with an easy return policy.

Thanks Tom, that was one of the scenes that bugged me. Not the pan upwards towards the tower but the downwards and right pan. Well the recommendation you gave me about a cheap JVC works for everything else, but it looks like I might need to replace it with a Pany so I don't have the jerky pans. :p

Might just be the Scorpion King. Do you have the problem for all panning scenes. How about the opening credits in Panic Room? I used that to dial in a custom res with the Bravo and HT1000.

Or Star Trek Insurrection, Galaxy Quest opening ship fly by also. Memeber on day one I was surpised how the Pixel Works chip handled the GQ pan.

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Far be it from me to disagree with you and Tom but I gotta here :). I'm not going to take that dang thing down from the Panavise in order to measure but... 6mm is less than a 1/4 inch. If that was all the farther the Panavise screw went in on mine there is no way I would have hung that thing like that. My earlier estimate of 20mm might have been a bit generous but I'm sure mine went in a 1/2 inch (~12mm). Does anyone have access to their tripod mounting hole and can stick something down in there that is slim, mark the depth and then measure it?

Thanks and have yourself a great holiday weekend (U.S. anyway :))



------- Really a 1/2 inch , my Panavise would only have that much thread if I removed the counter tightening nut [ sounds like maybe your mount has a different length on the threads then mine ] . I wish my Panavise had a couple more threads there but it still takes at least 3-4 full turns of the PJ before it could come off the mount [ unless of course it became stripped and then it would not matter how much threaded area was available ] .

--- Obviously there is room in there for the threads if you were able to get a 1/2 inch in there so it sounds like people should be OK with most 1/4-20 style mounts ;) . I just checked my Camera tri-pod and it only has about a 1/4 inch worth of threads .




---------- Jason

Originally posted by guitarman
Might just be the Scorpion King. Do you have the problem for all panning scenes. How about the opening credits in Panic Room? I used that to dial in a custom res with the Bravo and HT1000.

Or Star Trek Insurrection, Galaxy Quest opening ship fly by also. Memeber on day one I was surpised how the Pixel Works chip handled the GQ pan.

I have Panic Room (haven't watched it yet - it's been sitting on a shelf along with 20+ yet unwatched dvds) and Galaxy Quest. Will test GQ today.

There have been a couple movies that have been jerky during panning scenes (usually involving large panoramic shots of crowds, cities or skyline). Everything else plays fine. And when I say a couple of DVD's, I'm talking about maybe 3 out of 100. And damn if I can recall the titles.

As a sidenote which is both funny and sad:
My brother came up for a visit last week and was wowwed by the size of my screen and the image projected by the H30. We sat down to watch Master & Commander and after the movie was over he said something to the effect of "That movie wasn't all great, but the image was incredible! Why was the sound so strong on your side?"

Checked the surround speaker nearest his seat and sure enough, one of the wires had come off the post. He didn't have a surround on his side for the entire movie! :eek: :rolleyes:

So much for giving him a STRONG first impression. Heh.

Originally posted by gottahavapj
Far be it from me to disagree with you and Tom but I gotta here :). I'm not going to take that dang thing down from the Panavise in order to measure but... 6mm is less than a 1/4 inch. If that was all the farther the Panavise screw went in on mine there is no way I would have hung that thing like that. My earlier estimate of 20mm might have been a bit generous but I'm sure mine went in a 1/2 inch (~12mm). Does anyone have access to their tripod mounting hole and can stick something down in there that is slim, mark the depth and then measure it?

Thanks and have yourself a great holiday weekend (U.S. anyway :))

Yeah I didn't take down my projector either. Just visualized a 10mm wrench and said that's about right. I have allot of slack on the bolt I use and used about a half dozen washers so the bolt wouldn't dig into to machine. :)
Pretty handy having the tripod screw, it saved me and made things real easy.

Originally posted by Del Laird
I have Panic Room (haven't watched it yet - it's been sitting on a shelf along with 20+ yet unwatched dvds) and Galaxy Quest. Will test GQ today.

There have been a couple movies that have been jerky during panning scenes (usually involving large panoramic shots of crowds, cities or skyline). Everything else plays fine. And when I say a couple of DVD's, I'm talking about maybe 3 out of 100. And damn if I can recall the titles.

As a sidenote which is both funny and sad:
My brother came up for a visit last week and was wowwed by the size of my screen and the image projected by the H30. We sat down to watch Master & Commander and after the movie was over he said something to the effect of "That movie wasn't all great, but the image was incredible! Why was the sound so strong on your side?"

Checked the surround speaker nearest his seat and sure enough, one of the wires had come off the post. He didn't have a surround on his side for the entire movie! :eek: :rolleyes:

So much for giving him a STRONG first impression. Heh.

Ok on the sound but how couldn't he like Master & Commander? I thought is was great. You wanna give hime some laughs pick up Army of Darkness.

For laughs, I'd go with Office Space...It's a family favorite.

We were going to watch "The Eye", a chinese horror flick, but neither of us wanted to see what the H30 was going to do with a 1-1/2 hour movie with subtitles. :D

Originally posted by GGB
Have been following this thread after purchasing an H30 last month.
Have to say im amazed at how good it is.

I am still playing with settings to try and get the perfect picture.I notice there is plenty of advice for calibrating with Avia but is anyone here using DVE to calibrate and if so are they able to offer some advice ? (Havent purchased Avia since there is no pal version).
Im also using the supplied colour filter and can get blue and red to match up but cant get green to match properly.

I also notice a problem on peoples faces on TV and DVD, it looks like a colourful smudging effect on raised parts of actors faces. I can seem to make it better by playing with the brightness and contrast. Any ideas how to fix this or is it a limitation of a budget projector ? Since Im new to front projection any help would be most appreciated.

Yeah I kinda struggled with DVE and eventually got to the stage where I wasn't sure what the heck I was doing.

Is there a kind soul out there that would like to come up with a user friendly procedure for use with projectors that idiots like me can use please?.:(

Regards, MikeDes

I usually start with the blacks then contrast. Next the sharpness then the color. I prefer Avia over DVE. I did like the DVE video shots, they looked like HD.

Shifty,

Check your PM regarding the remote.

- Valk

Originally posted by ShiftyPowers
Ok crap, I think I lost the remote for the H30. I just emailed Optoma and was informed that the little thing costs 99 bucks!!!! OUCH! Does anyone know anywhere else that I can get that remote for cheaper?

Did you have the original non lit remote? If so you can get the lit remote at special price of $59.

I've been examining these two shots. The one from the shoot out where my upper grayscale was reset and the later one with the true colorfacts calibration and the sharpness set to full up number 50.

http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/sout6.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/h30cf1.jpg

You can see the subtle difference the CF cal made and you can see the grain the full sharpness adds. Lately at home I'm preferring the back a 28 which is what Avia says is the right point. Picture looks smoother and more film like at 28. The shootout picture is at 28. Where are you guys liking the sharpness?

28's where I've had mine since I got it back from Optoma. I experimented with the higher settings but found the same thing you did Tom.

Fire up that 4805 Mike, lets see what you think the differences are. I think you may think the colors on the H30 are a litte more natural. Check it out.

Tom:

Do you know if the new unit's being send out with the Green Bar fix already in them?

Thanks

Ariel

I would assume so. Now it's not a large quantity of the old ones that have the problem. They do know the fix and it's a chip on one of the boards. It will be this hardware fix and I think it's ready if anyone needs it.

Originally posted by guitarman
Did you have the original non lit remote? If so you can get the lit remote at special price of $59.

Tom, I don't know what the non lit remote means. The one I used to have was just a simply grey one that didn't have a screen or anything. Don't remember if the buttons lit up or not to be honest. Where can I see the $59 buck one?

Ok you're good to go then. When you call in to the parts area you explain how Harvey the Marketing Mgr. has setup a special deal for original buyers to get the remote that lights up. They'll know by the serial number of your projector.

Man does it light up. That's the first thing Mark noticed when he comparred the IF4805 lit remote to the H30s'. All the buttons on the H30 remote light up bright red.

I posted the remote info in the first post also.

Originally posted by guitarman
Fire up that 4805 Mike, lets see what you think the differences are. I think you may think the colors on the H30 are a litte more natural. Check it out.

Yep, another vote here for some feedback Mike. You can eat later, come on and spill it! ;-)

Seriously, looking forward to your feedback Mike. What is your opinion on noise level with both PJ's in low power mode? During quiet movies, seems the H30 will be much less intrusive from what I have been reading.

re offset vs 4805

Is it just me or is the offset the same on these 2 PJ's? I've seen people calling the H30 offset extreme but when I calculated the offset for both PJ's at 12' back I got nearly the same result... about a 12" drop from center of lens to top of screen. Am I calculating something wrong? I thought the H30 threw the picture lower down from the ceiling than the 4805?

I'm not complaining, because if that offset is correct it will work perfectly in my setup. Just wondering why people have been knocking the H30's offset?

(btw, used the Infocus excel sheet and H30 diagram from manual)

Originally posted by Del Laird
Ok...put on a good number of hours and during several movies (most recently being The Scorpion King) during scenes involving the camera panning a city or crowd, instead of a clean pan, we're getting a jerky motion. Is this a function of my inexpensive JVC (I'm using old H30 firmware so needed the JVC) or how the H30 is handling it or heck, something with the dvds AND the JVC AND the H30?

Del Laird,

This is actually the JVC player. I went out an got one not long ago for the progressive feed and found the same jerkiness during pans, especially in the Last Samurai. After returning 2 of the players, I found the problem documented in one of the reviews of the dvd player on the web. Finally, I just got a Denon 910. Doesn't do blacker than black, unfortunately, but everything else looks great, and no jerkiness.

Miguel.

Miguel,

Thanks for the heads-up. By chance did you test a panavision model?

Tom,

Does the Denon model Miguel speaks of handle the letterbox correctly for the older H30 firmware (I'm way back with C03)?

Denon 910, no, no farouja chipped players will do Letterbox expansion. The chip doesn't allow it. My JVC's are older models, XVD723GD, XVS500, the latter one is about a year back. These can be bought at overstockcom amoung other blowout outlets, amazon etc, search around. The new Panasonic's might be worth a test also with their letterbox support, no Farouja but it wouldn't hv this support if they did. I'll look for the model numbers.

Pansonic DVD-S25S, DVD-S35S, DVD-S55S, (S55k) k desinates black color. Each one is available in black or silver and can be found in most every store. Worth a shot, or read up in the DVD forum.

Originally posted by Del Laird
Miguel,

Thanks for the heads-up. By chance did you test a panavision model?

Tom,

Does the Denon model Miguel speaks of handle the letterbox correctly for the older H30 firmware (I'm way back with C03)?


I'm not sure what you mean by the "panavision" model. The JVC I had was the N50BK, and it was able to zoom into non-anamorphic DVDs just fine. Unfortunately, the 910 can't handle the non-anamorphice letterbox DVDs the same--they all look squished. (I also have the C03 firmware.) I'm almost okay with that.

Miguel.

Tom,

Thanks.

For anybody's future reference: JVC model XV-N55 has difficulty with camera panning and, at least for me, has suffered from occasional jerkiness during said motion in a few DVDS.

Miguel,

Whoops. Meant to write "panasonic" model. Heh.

Hi Tom
could you give me a quick setting via component for the Phillips Q50 with the H30(I have no AVIA disc as of yet), I have got my brother-in-law coming tonight to watch some movies and I want to dress to impress :D .
Thanks
indiejones

Well I finally got my projector back for the second time from Optoma yesterday. It has been roughly a month and a half since I first sent it in for the firmware update, so you can imagine how anxious I am to get back to watching movies. Optoma did a great job this time around, as I received the projector with the reflashed firmware within a week of sending it out to them. Despite some QC problems with the H30, I have been VERY happy with their customer service (Kristine B. in particular). With my H30 back in the system, and the firmware properly implemented, my image for both DVD and Comcast HD lines up perfectly on the screen. No more black screen when I feed the projector 480p. Very happy about all of this. I do have a couple of issues which seem very curious:

1)You guys are going to think that I'm nuts, but it appears that the offset for the projector has changed. The shelf on which my H30 is mounted is in the exact same place as before, but now the image shoots higher than before the new firmware (I'm talking FEET). I literally had to lower the shelf so that I could get the image to line up without tilting.

2)The projector arrived seriously miscalibrated this time (the first time I got it back, the image was gorgeous). Now I am seeing what you guys are saying about red in the blacks. Big time red push, extremely noisy blacks. I spent a few hours yesterday with Avia and some reference DVD's. Picture is now looking very good for DVD. I can't seem to get it dialed in properly for HD. When I use the advanced adjustments to get the blacks right, I lose that vibrant Optoma vibe that Tom raves about. My mind might be playing tricks on me, but I could swear I had a much better PQ for HD before. How could a projector that never had red push before suddenly have it?

3)Did the new firmare add anything different to the menus? I'm noticing User 1/User 2 settings along with a new Color option (auto, YUV, RGG).

I assume you're using a 16.9 screen? First thing the offset difference is just that you must have your DVD player set to Letterbox. That put the image in the middle of the chip. You want to have the player set for 16.9.

When they reset the projector they just tune the interlaced signal. You'll have to work on the progressive feeds and HD feeds. First see what you can get with the User adjustment for brightness. If not effective enough than try the Advanced.

The new adjustments you're seeing in user 1/2 have me curious. I'll have to take a look. I never used the user sets, sounds interesting. Next time you're in the service menu see what firmware number you have?

Dumb question ahead. Read at the risk of killing brain cells:

Why is there no focus lock on this thing? Everytime I pull the lens cap off, I end up twisting the focus a bit and have to re-focus things when looking at a DVD.


Tom,
Thanks for the dvd player info. Are the panys just a best guess on your part or have you heard positive feedback regarding those models? Also, would there be any benefit to sending this H30 in for a firmware upgrade and just picking up a farouja-chipped player?

You'll have to research the Panys in the DVD player area.

If you like the way your projector looks now and don't need 800X600 4.3, I'd leave it. I think the H30 looks great with a good interlaced player.

Trouble is finding one that does letterbox support. The old Pany RP91 was a great one but is still too high priced. $300 or $400 still. See what they say about the new Panasonics.

Everything other than the focus shifting when removing the lens cap is perfect...I've had no real issues (well, I do have a stuck mirror, but it's just outside the 16:9 formatted image and doesn't bug me yet.

I just need to get a dvd player that doesn't suck as much. My multi-disc player in the living room played all the discs fine, but I'm not ready to move that out to the garage where the pj is.

Originally posted by UnknownShadow
re offset vs 4805

Is it just me or is the offset the same on these 2 PJ's? I've seen people calling the H30 offset extreme but when I calculated the offset for both PJ's at 12' back I got nearly the same result... about a 12" drop from center of lens to top of screen. Am I calculating something wrong? I thought the H30 threw the picture lower down from the ceiling than the 4805?


The difference is that the 12" distance with the H30 is to the top of the 4:3 image when ceiling mounted. It's over two feet to the top of a 16:9 image. If both projectors were table mounted, the offset to the bottom of the image would be close.

We had a big wood floor installation at home yesterday and today (gotta keep the better half happy too ;) ), so I haven't had time to check out the 4805 yet. Just got my PC hooked back up.

Originally posted by jeff442


2)The projector arrived seriously miscalibrated this time (the first time I got it back, the image was gorgeous). Now I am seeing what you guys are saying about red in the blacks. Big time red push, extremely noisy blacks. I spent a few hours yesterday with Avia and some reference DVD's. Picture is now looking very good for DVD. I can't seem to get it dialed in properly for HD. When I use the advanced adjustments to get the blacks right, I lose that vibrant Optoma vibe that Tom raves about. My mind might be playing tricks on me, but I could swear I had a much better PQ for HD before. How could a projector that never had red push before suddenly have it?


Both H30's I've had were pretty much the same in calibration OTB as yours (it seems). I have ALL my advance numbers in the negative to reduce the severe dithering blacks to a normal (?) level and the red #'s are way lower than the other adjustments to take out the red push.

But for me it seems like I can't get the reds to be actually red, they are more orange/red to me (compared to my 27" CRT tv). Even if I ramp the red up (bright or contrast) everything gets more orange/red, but not red. I even reduced green and blues thinking maybe that was affecting red, but still could not get red to be really red.

So, maybe if I put all the advance adjustments back up some points and reduced the DLP brightness in the service menu my colors could get a little more saturated?? Green was a little tough to get really green, but I could manage it (still not a real saturated green).
Blue doesn't seem to be a problem at all.

Whatta think? Think that maybe reducing all the advance adj. #'s to get rid of the dithering blacks has affected my color saturations??

Fleaman

Just use the RGB-brightness to darken the blacks. The RGB-contrast being lowered would cut back saturation allot.

Originally posted by MikeSRC
The difference is that the 12" distance with the H30 is to the top of the 4:3 image when ceiling mounted. It's over two feet to the top of a 16:9 image. If both projectors were table mounted, the offset to the bottom of the image would be close.

We had a big wood floor installation at home yesterday and today (gotta keep the better half happy too ;) ), so I haven't had time to check out the 4805 yet. Just got my PC hooked back up.

Keep it up and I'll have my review of the Optoma H77 before you turn your 4805 on.

Originally posted by guitarman
Just use the RGB-brightness to darken the blacks. The RGB-contrast being lowered would cut back saturation allot.

Interesting...I did not know that, I'll give it a try tonight, thanks!

Fleaman

Originally posted by MikeSRC
The difference is that the 12" distance with the H30 is to the top of the 4:3 image when ceiling mounted. It's over two feet to the top of a 16:9 image.

Ah I see, that makes sense. The MAX distance I can have the top of my 16:9 image is 22" down from the ceiling. PJ will be mounted 12' back from screen. If I can't squeeze the H30 in there then it won't work for me.

Tom or anyone,

Please help me keep from having to read through 288 pages of this thread.
I read the first page and you all were saying this is pj has a 16:9 (4:3 masked) panel. Then when I looked at Evan Powell's review he's calling it 4:3. Is he wrong about that?
http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_h30.htm

I have a friend who is trying to decide between an X1 and an Optoma 732.
I told him I thought the H30 would be a better choice. What do you think?

Bob

Originally posted by RobertWood
I read the first page and you all were saying this is pj has a 16:9 (4:3 masked) panel. Then when I looked at Evan Powell's review he's calling it 4:3. Is he wrong about that?

It *was* a 16:9 projector (sort of), with the chip being masked, only using the bottom part of it, just like you wrote. But with the most recent firmware change, the whole chip was opened up. It's now a 4:3 projector.

Thanks.

p.s. Good Lord. 300,000+ posts. That's gotta be a record.

Originally posted by RobertWood
Tom or anyone,

Please help me keep from having to read through 288 pages of this thread.
I read the first page and you all were saying this is pj has a 16:9 (4:3 masked) panel. Then when I looked at Evan Powell's review he's calling it 4:3. Is he wrong about that?
http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_h30.htm

I have a friend who is trying to decide between an X1 and an Optoma 732.
I told him I thought the H30 would be a better choice. What do you think?

Bob

It's still masked for 16.9 meaning the 16.9 falls at the bottom of the 4.3 chip. Light spill only on one side of the chip if you use a 16.9 screen, light to be masked is just at the top. It can also be used with a 4.3 screen for full size 4.3 with showing a 16.9 image still at the bottom part of the 4.3 screen. With a 4.3 setup you can choose a 480X800 res for DVD or HDTV.

It's allot better than the EZ-pro 732. Better colors, no rainbows, smooth screen, low SD factor.

Thanks, Tom.

Good Lord. 300,000+ posts. That's gotta be a record.

Actually, it's 300,000+ VIEWS, not posts. :) But, who's counting....

It's a great machine, what can we say?