Wayne........

Are you ceiling mounting with your HP screen?

Mak,

Sorry to hear you can see some SD from 15'... I have a room that is 16.5' and I had hoped to be able to get two rows of seating in and I had planned on a 110" screen also... that would put the front row only about 11 or so feet away.... could you check and see how bad the screen door is from that distance? Thanks.......

To the HTPC guys: I don't want to take up alot of space here but can one of you guys help me. I have a new PC 3.2 AMD, 9600 XT ATI, I don't know the first thing about what programs to use to play DVD's, I'd like to see the differences in sources. The PC is really barebones with software so what should I use to try hooking up my H31. I don't know how to change the internal video card settings (854x480) either so if someone has some time can they let me know... Thanks. Anyone try a flight sim with a pj...that would be sick.

Originally posted by LENNY 2112
To the HTPC guys: I don't want to take up alot of space here but can one of you guys help me. I have a new PC 3.2 AMD, 9600 XT ATI, I don't know the first thing about what programs to use to play DVD's, I'd like to see the differences in sources. The PC is really barebones with software so what should I use to try hooking up my H31. I don't know how to change the internal video card settings (854x480) either so if someone has some time can they let me know... Thanks. Anyone try a flight sim with a pj...that would be sick.

I would imagine Power Strip is what you would need for setting the resolution to the H31s native rez... I am sure someone will chime in with what you need in this area. As for software, PowerDVD and WinDVD are good packages that don't offer a lot in terms of configuration, but just plain WORK. Zoomplayer with the plug-in/codec ffdshow and dscaler5 mpeg decoder is much more configurable (read: a LOT more work!) and can produce a fantastic picture if you have the patience. From the sounds of it, the H31 would eat up every bit of quality you can throw at it! With WinDVD and your system, you could use the Trimension feature, which may or may not be to your liking. I would certainly like to see this on the H31!

As far as flight sims on a pj goes, ya, been there, liked it! :) I hauled my computer and a pj out to the karate club where I train, and my instructor hauled his pj out, and we had both of them hooked up as dual monitors. Floor to ceiling is 12 feet high, so that would be 16 feet wide times two pjs, for 32'x12'!! I could stand up front between the two pjs so that I didn't cast a shadow, yet all I could see in my entire vision were the screens. 'Sick' is right! A little disorienting, but AWESOME! You GOTTA try it sometime if you like flight sims. I also had three 15" monitors hooked up to that same system for the gauges and gps. To say it rocked is an understatement! ;) I love FS2004!

Don

well i used to use win dvd 6, but now i am using zoom player, i like that, but i want to try the Theater Tek, or whatever its called, but i want to try it before i buy it... thats what i use to watch dvds now... still need to get ffdshow and some other tweaking apps on to fool around with, but i really dont have much need to at this moment... also get powerstrip good program... otherwise i have windows xp pro sp2, i dont have a dedicated HTPC, so have all my normal stuff on it too... hope this helps...

Arty

Originally posted by HiHoStevo
Mak,

Sorry to hear you can see some SD from 15'... I have a room that is 16.5' and I had hoped to be able to get two rows of seating in and I had planned on a 110" screen also... that would put the front row only about 11 or so feet away.... could you check and see how bad the screen door is from that distance? Thanks.......

HiHoStevo,

Just to be clear, I "occasionally" see SD on "some" movies. 90% of the time on 90% of the movies it is as good as it gets. If the SD was a significant issue I would simply move my sitting position back by a foot, or go to a 92" wide screen. As I said it is not even an issue at 15' from 96" wide screen (1.87 screen width)

Now in your case, the SD is definitely going to be a significant issue; it is fairly visible from 11' away. If you were gung ho on a 110 inch diagonal screen, I would recommend a 720P unit, prefereably an HD2+ unit. Sitting 11' away, your screen should be no more than 72" wide. The other option would be to sit 14' back with a 96" to 100" diagonal screen. In this case you will have to give up the second row. I would not recommend you sit any closer to the rear wall if you are using any sort of a surround system with a sub.

You can work out various permutations/combinations by keeping your viewing position 1.85 (closest you can get) to 2 (ideal) times screen width. How important is this second row of seating? May be you can use the back row as the "sweet spot" for movie watching and kids/ visitors can sit in the first row.

Good luck with your set up and please let me know if I can help further. I have it all set up and can further experiment on your behalf.

Mak

Oh and I can answer your question meant for Wayne. We discussed this when he was over last night. His old X1 was ceiling mounted from a bulkhead only 6'2" high. As you can imagine at this height he is probably getting 80% of the gain from HP. My ceiling is 7'9", which I estimate will yield around 1.3 to 1.5 gain using HP, which in my case will be brighter than what I need. Anyhow, I digress...

Mak,

Thanks for 'pinch-hitting' for me. :) You have a very good memory and you're almost exact with your figure. My X1's lens was positioned 6'4" from the floor. Like you said, my viewing angle vertically is superb with this low projector mounting. The angle from projector lens to the screen (which is placed very low), back to my eyes puts me in a sweet spot for brightness.

Hope that helps Steve!

Lenny,

Click on the link below which I've provided for you. Study the article carefully and follow it's directions. This will put you on the way to video nirvana! :) Also, go the the HTPC forum on AVS and follow the ffdshow threads as well as the ZoomPlayer and/or TheaterTek threads.

http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=ffdshowdvd_1

Hope this helps.

Wayne

My feeling about SD is that it's something that some people are more sensitive about and other people less sensitive to.

I have my H31 mounted so the lens is about 11 feet from my 92 inch screen and I sit right under it. I occasionally see SD but it's very easy to ignore.

With some re-arrangement I will be able to put my seating back another 3 feet, and then I expect SD to be un noticeable.
I consider myself to be pretty picky about these things, looking for the sweet spot where everything will be as close to perfect as possible.

Mak, Wayne, & Rbastedo...............

Thanks for your input... I had heard that when Optoma switched to the DarkChip2 for the H31 that screen door suddenly became in issue, however there were so many good things about the change that it out weighed the problems...

I had the opportunity to view an H30 a little over a year ago at a neighbor's home and was amazed at what "little" screen door there was... you could basically walk right up next to the screen before any became visible.

As to how "much" it will bother me... i will not know until I try... my current setup has the seating from 11-15' with an L-shaped couch recliner unit that I spun 45 degrees so that it faces the screen like a V. With it set up as an L only the two recliners had a good view... now everybody does. I do not have any SD issues with that setup as I am using an 8700+ and it seems to work fine at that distance.

However, for my "vacation" house I cannot afford to "plunge" quite as much as I did last year and was hoping to be able to make the H31 work for me... I believe the SD is even more prevalent on the 4805 so I was hoping that the H31 would be the ticket. I suppose the only way to know for sure is to either find a loaner locally or buy one and try it out. It seems if I move the main seating back closer to the wall that I will be fine for a 110" screen (yes I really like BIG screens... after all why are we doing this anyway) and any guests will just have to "deal."

I do not know what screen I will pair it with right now... I was thinking of painting the entire room dark like I have in Vegas, but leave a 11' horiz. section (vertical stripe) at the front of the room and paint it with Behr's Ultra White and just try out different size screen's on the paint before I commit on a specific size for this room.

I'll chime in here and say that since I went with more black fabric around my screen, the increase in black levels and contrast has in fact produced a bit more SDE for my seating position. However, it is very easy to ignore, and it not apparant all the time. I'm still quite happy. I'm about 14' back from an 84" diagonal screen.

Lenny,
Our setups are kind of similar. My rear 2 speakers are up near the ceiling, producing a higher soundfield than the lower side, front and center speakers. It doesn't bug me, but I will experiment with lowering the rears. Hey, that's great that you are looking at dark carpet, painting the ceiling, and the screen wall. You'll like the results!!

So like does the optima work with the 318 with the fixed dvi firmware or not? It seems that the lockup people can upconvert over component, that means pre june 2004 firmware. I need to pick up a dvd player, and the new panny has hdmi which doesnt seem to like dvi to hdmi converters. Any advise.

Mak..........

If it is not too much of a bother...............

Try zooming down to a 106" diag. picture and see if that makes any visual difference at your 15' seating.... then walk forward until it does become an issue and tell me what distance that is... if you have the time and energy of course!

Thanks,

Steve

Nightanole,

I never did the firmware upgrade to get rid of the white crush issue on the LG/Zenith. I didn't want to lose the upconversion over component although I realize that you can switch back and forth but I couldn't be bothered because I've switched to HTPC now.

I didn't know that there was an issue with HDMI to DVI adapters on components with HDMI output. Could you elaborate and is this widespread?

Wayne

By the way everyone,

I forgot to mention that Mak is using a 'PerfectMount' designed specifically for his previous projector which he 'renovated' to fit the H31. It looks nice, is unobtrusive, and works very well. We moved the position of the H31 quite a lot and the mount appeared to be very easy to use.

He is also utilizing tubing normally used for septic needs, in order to hide his cables and it does the job well while blending in to his darker surroundings.

Wayne

Originally posted by Nightanole
So like does the optima work with the 318 with the fixed dvi firmware or not? It seems that the lockup people can upconvert over component, that means pre june 2004 firmware. I need to pick up a dvd player, and the new panny has hdmi which doesnt seem to like dvi to hdmi converters. Any advise.

I have the Panny S97 and there is no problem with the HDMI to DVI adapter, I use a 30 dollar Monster Male HDMI/ Female DVI adapter and it is the best player I've seen yet.

Where's Tom these days?

Originally posted by mystery
Where's Tom these days?

Watching the Incredibles??? :D

Steve, we actually tried a 106" diagonal (92" wide) image and the SD to my eyes totally disappeared at 15'. SD was occasionally apparent at around 14'. I would not move much closer, may be 13.5 feet; no more. Mind you, all this is when I was trying my best to find SD. Once you get over that initial evaluatory phase you are probably never gonna notice any SD at 13.5 feet.

One more thing you guys should know about my room; the screen wall is painted matt black; the first three feet of the ceiling and side walls closest to the screen wall are also matt black. the rest of the HT is all dark, moss green. Inevitably the combination of the H31, dark walls and abolutely no ambient light results in knockout black levels and contrast. Rooms painted white or any other light shade and/or with ambient light may result in a slightly washed out look to the picture.

IMO Steve, your room size gives you some flexibility in screen size versus viewing distance ratio. Its not like you are stuck with a 11 foot deep room. I say get this giant killer of a PJ work a little with screen size and seating distance and enjoy visual nirvana.

Cheers

Nightanole, as i reported in an earlier post Wayne and I tried the Zenith player through its component out. To my eyes 480P in this case looked the best of the three. I felt the image became grainier with either 720P or 480P. We were not able to do DVI. The Panny player with the latest firmware seems to be the one to beat at its pricepoint; though I am sticking to my RP56. I just don't think the PQ can be significantly improved over what I am getting right now. At least thats what I thought after comparing my RP56 to the Zenith. Please read my post on the previous page.

I have also celing mounted my Optoma H31, you can check out some of the pictures using the link below.
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=66135&password=

Hey Zeebart. Pretty nice set up. I like your choice of crown molding. Where's the pics of the rest of the room ;)

You might want to consider painting the trim around the frame of your screen. That's the first time I've ever seen a white trimmed frame. If you were to paint it black, it would allow for better contrast when viewing with some ambient light.

Hey Smithfarmer, the rest of the pics are coming. I'll take some tomorrow night and post.
You know, I was thinking the same thing when I was painting the trim. All along I knew I would use the black Goo border paint, but thought it might be a distraction. Well needless to say, it is not a distraction at all. The room is in the basement and is completely light controlled, so no ambient light enters the room unless I turn the lights on. Actually when the room is completely dark, I cannot see the trim at all. I used the flatest paint I could find so there is no light reflection and it seems to have done the trick.

Zeebart,
Wow, I love the look of your finished HT. I can only dream of having something that nice one day. Good job!! I would also suggest that you not only consider dark trim around the screen itself, but think about a dark rug on the floor in front of the screen. You've already gone to the trouble of having nice dark brown paint on the side walls and ceiling above the screen. Why not go the whole distance and make sure that you are getting the most out of your black levels and contrast? Actually, color intensity goes way up as well when you eliminate surface reflections. It looks like the walls in the remainder of the room are bright. Have you thought about painting the entire room dark brown?

Edit....I just saw your post about the trim. The thing is, no matter how dark your room is, a light trim can pick up light from the pj itself. You'll want to maximize your percieved contrast by making all suraces dark around the screen. Still, I love the way the room looks!!

Nightanole,
I own the Zenith 318, and yes it does work with the H31 through dvi. I have the latest firmware fix which corrects white crush on dvi, but eliminates upconversion on component(not needed since I have dvi). Actually, backup copies of dvds will still upconvert over component if you are interested. White levels were pretty bad until I applied the fix, as revealed by the THX patterns. I have cds for both firmwares, so I could easily go back and forth if I needed to.

mystery,
The issue that the 318 has with hdmi to dvi converters is specific to itself. It should not be an issue with every player with an hdmi output. So far, I have not heard of a fix for this.

MAK,
I second you!! I am a firm believer that dark walls, ceilings, and no ambient light create a perfect environment for the H31 to kick serious video butt with black levels, contrast, and color. I know that you are set with your dvd player's component output. But I must say that dvi hasn't been given a fair shot in your setup. My 318 has a functioning dvi output, and everyone who has seen it has agreed that ALL resolutions look better than anything component can do. It's too bad that you haven't had a chance to see this.

Originally posted by zeebart
Hey Smithfarmer, the rest of the pics are coming. I'll take some tomorrow night and post.
You know, I was thinking the same thing when I was painting the trim. All along I knew I would use the black Goo border paint, but thought it might be a distraction. Well needless to say, it is not a distraction at all. The room is in the basement and is completely light controlled, so no ambient light enters the room unless I turn the lights on. Actually when the room is completely dark, I cannot see the trim at all. I used the flatest paint I could find so there is no light reflection and it seems to have done the trick. Cool :)

Jedi, I definitely plan to move upto an upconverting DVD player soon. However, I am an audiophile first and each dollar I spend on video takes money away from ongoing upgrades to the audio side. I listen to at least an hour of music every night; movie watching is limited to weekends.

Secondly, my cabling is embedded in the ceiling and there is no easy way to run a 30' length of DVI cable through. Too much hassle for "little" improvement. May be I need to actually experience this little improvement before I make up my mind. I will try to pick one of these units up at Best Buy to give it a try.

Guitarman,

Can't find this projector on Optoma's website but some on-line vendors have it.

Can you tell us more about it?

It's been discussed here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=527282)

H27?

I did a search on the web, i think all those sites are for preordering the H27, says its coming out March 15 2005, but i was also reading, and found that...

"The H-27 has an optional Short throw lens offering a 20% reduction in throw distance over the standard lens (or a 20% larger image for the same throw distance. The Optional lens can be installed on site by a user if required."

could that lens be used on the H31 do you think? and do you think they would sell the optional short throw lens alone?

but as far as i can tell... the H27 seems like a younger brother to the H31, cheaper, less contrast, and thats mainly it(but with some small things), yeah tom needs to update us though :D thanks tom ;)

Arty

ps. where i got the info is from AU website, arent AU Optoma models different than US, so maybe the H27 is for AU, or am i wrong? cause i thought i heard the AU doesnt have the H31, unless they want the US model, or am i wrong?

Arty13,

You can buy the H27 here in the US right now. I think it's odd that it's not listed on Optoma's website. I wouldn't think it has less contrast since it's supposed to use the same Darkchip as the H31. It looks like the video scaler included is of lesser quality, the case is different and the throw may be shorter. As long as the lens isn't of lesser quality I'd be interested in this.

Where's the Guitarman?

yeah i saw that the H27 was for sale, but didnt seem right, i was just saying on one site i see that its not available till the 15th... i know some sites say its available, but they just take awhile for the ordering and shipping, but i also know some places get some in advance for test purposes, but yeah... i was just thowing that out there :D

and by the way.. when did the H79 come out? i would love that :D

Arty

Oh man, you need to hang out a little bit on the over $3500 forum. There's plenty of talk about the H79. Great projector... ouch on the wallet.

Friends,

[newbie alert]

I got my H31 about a week back. I am connecting it to an old DVD player (cheap, non progressive scan) using component video. The projector is about 12' and we sit behind the projector. All settings are factory default on the projector and the DVD player.

1) Will moving to progressive scan DVD player make much difference in picture quality?

2) The image is not very sharp. I have adjusted the focus. Could this be just my perception or perhaps DVD player/setup issue?

2) The picture is not perfectly horizontal. The left side of picture drops slightly lower than on right side. Is this a problem with my DVD player or setup issue with H31? Could this be because the surface is not level?

3) I am currently projecting on a light cream colored wall. The surrounding walls seem to reflect lots of projector light which is distracting. Is this observation common? Could this result in washed out or unfocused picture appearance?

4) I was thinking of getting Optoma 16:9 92" screen. Would that go well with H31?

Thanks for any help.
Deepinder.

Originally posted by matrix95136
Friends,

[newbie alert]

I got my H31 about a week back. I am connecting it to an old DVD player (cheap, non progressive scan) using component video. The projector is about 12' and we sit behind the projector. All settings are factory default on the projector and the DVD player.

1) Will moving to progressive scan DVD player make much difference in picture quality?


Yes. The internal deinterlacing is not upto the level of Faroudja, for instance. Get a Panny S97 and use HDMI to DVI cable.


2) The image is not very sharp. I have adjusted the focus. Could this be just my perception or perhaps DVD player/setup issue?


Could be many things or a combination of many things. Uneven wall surface, poor de-interlacing, poor DVD player quality, focus.


2) The picture is not perfectly horizontal. The left side of picture drops slightly lower than on right side. Is this a problem with my DVD player or setup issue with H31? Could this be because the surface is not level?


You did say you are a newbie; so make sure your projector is perfectly level, not tilting to one side.


3) I am currently projecting on a light cream colored wall. The surrounding walls seem to reflect lots of projector light which is distracting. Is this observation common? Could this result in washed out or unfocused picture appearance?


Yes to all. You need a screen or a good DIY solution.


4) I was thinking of getting Optoma 16:9 92" screen. Would that go well with H31?

Have no experience with this screen. But anything would be better than your cream wall.


Thanks for any help.
Deepinder.

Well Newbie my answers are embedded within your quoted post above. So your first task is to locate them :-).

Just kidding! my post did not come out as intended. Good luck with your setup.

Originally posted by mystery
Where's Tom these days?

I'm back,
My Home laptop died, had to pick up another deal on Ebay today. Should have the homes system back up and running in a couple so I can keep up with you guys. My it's getting busy :)

Tom, welcome back. :)

Check out the new H27 thread.

The H27 will be a entry level model, It has a longer throw. Longer throw models are cheaper to make so the price will be a little less than the H31.

It does have the Dark chip 2 and 6-segment color wheel. One new and top feature is a thing called "Image Ai" this feature effects the on/off contrast. It keys off the video image and adjusts the brightness of the bulb. Bright scene the bulb is at bright mode, dark scene the bulb is in low power mode. This will be a new and patented concept for the Optoma Company.

There is an added lens option to go with the H27 which will make it a short throw, even a little shorter than the H31. The case design will be like the Optoma 738.

I should get one of these to review in a few weeks. Could be an interesting machine but the H31 will still be the premium model.

A very neat machine will be the Movie Time model coming out in a month or so. It will have to be used as table top but it's dvd player is in the digital domain, plus it has one super feature which I can't divulge just yet. ;)

I assume that the 'Ai' stands for artificial intelligence?

Not sure I'd be wild about the bulb going from bright mode to econo, back to bright then back to econo and on and on like that. Some movies would require this feature to be utilized many, many times.

Isn't this possibly playing with fire?

I just hope that the bulbs can handle the constant switching back and forth without blowing. I'd say this no matter the manufacturer.

I can imagine that some of you H30 owners who've had lamp troubles wouldn't be too keen about this feature.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Who knows? It might be fantastic!!

I think Optoma is a great company. This H31 is possibly unbeatable right now value-wise. It's kind of cool that they're pushing the envelope like this. I admire that. Takes guts. :)

I look forward to your review Tom and it's good to hear from you. You ought to not let us go too long without you chiming in. You never can tell
how long the children will behave without proper adult supervision. :D :D

Wayne

It's ruff being without a computer for a couple of days. First thing I did this morning was lay out $400 on an IBM T22 Ebay deal.

They said the bulb hours would still be rated as 3000. If the feature works good maybe we'll see it in higher end models. I don't think going from low to high brightness on the bulb will hurt. It's turning it off and than back on too quickly that tires the bulb. You should wait for full cool down maybe a half hour or more before re-firing up your projectors again.

Good point Tom! Now that you mention it, it's not exactly the same as a full shutdown and re-start.

There are so many unique features to this H31. When Mak and I put it through our test last Sunday, the vast array of configurations was quite impressive. I suspect that some units costing much more don't have these features. The 1.66:1 aspect ratio and the image shift come to mind.

No computer for a couple of days huh? I'll bet you had a hundred or so emails waiting for you. :)

Wayne

Tom,
Have you heard that the designer of the bulb for the 4805 has suggested a hard shutdown method to the owners, instead of allowing a fan to cool it off? He states that the bulb will last longer if it cools off naturally, not with forced air. Could this be why the 4805 bulb is rated for 4000 hours? Do you think the same things applies to all bulbs, or just the 4805?

Oh, and I read something about the contrast ratio in the new Movie Time pj that sounds incredible. Can you talk about that?

Originally posted by MAK
>> 1) Will moving to progressive scan DVD player make much difference in picture quality?

> Yes. The internal deinterlacing is not upto the level of Faroudja, for instance. Get a Panny S97 and use HDMI to DVI cable.

This is not what others have reported. Tom seems to think that the deinterlacer is very much comparable to the 4805's, and I believe others were also sharing this opinion. Anyone care to comment?

Can someone tell me where I can get a Panny S97?
I can't find one anywhere!
Thanks

Originally posted by digitalmonkeyman
Can someone tell me where I can get a Panny S97?
I can't find one anywhere!
Thanks

U2 Eh? I say to hell with them and get the zenith 318 for half the money:)

Originally posted by jedi35
Tom,
Have you heard that the designer of the bulb for the 4805 has suggested a hard shutdown method to the owners, instead of allowing a fan to cool it off? He states that the bulb will last longer if it cools off naturally, not with forced air. Could this be why the 4805 bulb is rated for 4000 hours? Do you think the same things applies to all bulbs, or just the 4805?

Oh, and I read something about the contrast ratio in the new Movie Time pj that sounds incredible. Can you talk about that?

Contrast should be very good with the Movie Time model. I can test it out in the same setup as the H31 to see if it can eek out the 2015.1 I get with the H31.

I never cut my projectors off. I'll let them cycle down the way they're setup to do. Bob may have a point but I don't want to be the guinea pig to see if it works or not. :)

So my M2500 screen ships tomorrow, is it gonna really make a big difference in picture quality. PQ is unbelievable with the H31 as it is and if the screen makes it better I'm gonna faint. I wonder if I'll have to turn down the brightness.....again?

Originally posted by uwradu
This is not what others have reported. Tom seems to think that the deinterlacer is very much comparable to the 4805's, and I believe others were also sharing this opinion. Anyone care to comment?

I put the Optoma's deinterlacing through all the tests I would do with any Faroujda type equipment. The results were the same, jaggies were elimanted in the same manner plus tuff to render clips were played just and smooth with no jerky motions. Plus scaling is sharp.

Like I said "great is great" no need to worry about the scaling/deinterlacing for your 480i feeds.

Tom
If I want to let my H31 do the deinterlacing, how do I set my DVD player? How do I tell the DVD to let the Optoma do the deinterlacing?
Thanks

Just switch off progressive scan. Your DVD player will then output 480i, which the Optoma will deinterlace internally to its native res of 480p. Be careful, though; several DVD players in the $300 range have different (and poor) signal paths for 480i. My RP56 has a pathetic 480i output, but exceptional 480p output even accounting for the inherent difference between interlaced and progressive.

H31 owners, have you noticed how there are hardly any threads on problems/issues/concerns about the H31. You can find such threads on almost every other PJ. The worst culprit seems to be the AE700 followed by the HS51. There are a few threads even on the Infocus.

Aren't you glad you went for the Optoma? I know I am.

Originally posted by MAK
H31 owners, have you noticed how there are hardly any threads on problems/issues/concerns about the H31. You can find such threads on almost every other PJ. The worst culprit seems to be the AE700 followed by the HS51. There are a few threads even on the Infocus.

Aren't you glad you went for the Optoma? I know I am.

This is relatively new PJ. Let's give it some time. The jury is still out.

I'm sure there will be BIG problems down the road like:

-Wife is mad I'm watching too many movies.
-I last saw my child 4 days ago.
-My dog is yelping at the door to go out.
-My boss has been on hold during the 8hr LOTR marathon.
-The power went out since I didn't pay the power bill.........NO H31 :mad:

Originally posted by LENNY 2112
I'm sure there will be BIG problems down the road like:

-Wife is mad I'm watching too many movies.
-I last saw my child 4 days ago.
-My dog is yelping at the door to go out.
-My boss has been on hold during the 8hr LOTR marathon.
-The power went out since I didn't pay the power bill.........NO H31 :mad:

So, worst case scenario - you're in the doghouse with the backup generator and your H31. :)

Just to followup on what Tom said about the H31's deinterlacing, I watched a fair amount of svideo(480I)last night, and was really impressed. The source was my HD cable box(svideo runs through a video switcher box), and I spent most of the time watching just regular analog cable. After having watched so many component and dvi feeds, I was prepared for a step down. However, the picture quality was exceptional!! Bravo, H31.

Will you guys cut it out!? :( :)

I still don't have my H31 yet and I'm projectorless in London! All this talk about how great it is makes me very jealous indeed. :)

How about nothing but negative comments until I get mine. :D Then I won't feel like I'm missing out on anything. I sent an email to the seller today and am hoping for clarification as to exactly when to expect the arrival of the H31.

All tongue in cheek of course. It's great to hear so many people so happy about their purchase. I'm really looking forward to owning one myself.

Wayne

Hi everyone. This is my first post on this forum however I am very familiar with this site. I have read numerous threads researching projectors. Thanks everyone for the information. I have learned so much these past few months anout front projection.

I just bought a H31 and am having difficulties hooking a LG 7832 upconverting DVD player through DVI-D. I have tried two different DVI cables so that doesn't seem to be the problem. The LG locks up and the H31 diplays "no signal."
I have read somewhere in this thread that someone had the same problem...might have been Jedi35.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Nope. It was me.

Mak and I experienced this very same problem just last Sunday.

Sounds like some LG/Zenith players may have difficulty handshaking with the H31.

I am actually relieved that you also had this problem. I thought that there might be something needing repair on my own unit but I think if you're also experiencing the exact same thing then this must be an issue with some of the LG/Zenith players. I have not done the firmware upgrade to defeat the white crush over DVI-D. I wonder if this has any bearing on the problem.

Wayne

I have seen several people get their 318 to work. The only people i have not seen get it to work is the people who are doing upconverted component vs dvi compairisions. That right there tells me they are using the old firmware. I have seen at least one case of h31 working with a 318 with the confirmed new firmware.

audiguy1 & mystery: goto http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/experttips/michaeltlv/lg_dv7832_review.html

and get the 2 firmwares, the new one to fix the dvi, and the old one so you can revert back. Then tell me if the new firmware fixed it.

I think you're on to something there Nightanole. It appears that if these units have the new firmware, they seem to relate to the H31 better. I won't bother with it though because my LG has been relegated to TV usage as I've been using an HTPC since last Fall. I'm thinking of trying out the Panasonic S97.

I see you're from Akron, Ohio. Is that 'Cathedral Of Tomorrow', you know 'Rex Humbards' old preaching grounds still standing?

Wayne

Originally posted by mystery
I think you're on to something there Nightanole. It appears that if these units have the new firmware, they seem to relate to the H31 better. I won't bother with it though because my LG has been relegated to TV usage as I've been using an HTPC since last Fall. I'm thinking of trying out the Panasonic S97.

I see you're from Akron, Ohio. Is that 'Cathedral Of Tomorrow', you know 'Rex Humbards' old preaching grounds still standing?

Wayne

He sold it to Ernest Angley. The cathedral is still not complete, looks like golf tee ( it was sopost to have a rotating top). God its horrable. If your watching tv and your not quick enough after certain shows you get his " happy happy jesus" thing at 95db. So far ernest has only had one of his " work for free at his pay restaraun" employees raped in the parking lot:eek:

In reference to the LG player connected to the H31, I am using the newest firmware which has the DVI white crush problem. I am on my second LG unit. I returned my first LG which had the firmware that upconverted everything through component connection. That DVD player I tried to hook up through DVI had the lockup. I returned the unit yesterday hoping the new firmware would alleviate the problem...no such luck.

Not sure what to do now. May look into the upconverting Samsung player unless I find a solution.

Originally posted by guitarman
There is an added lens option to go with the H27 which will make it a short throw, even a little shorter than the H31.

I'm curious as to how much shorter. The only real drawback to the H30/31 for me is that i can't get a big picture when it's on a table. I'd LOVE to have a really short throw projector.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

Originally posted by audiguy1
In reference to the LG player connected to the H31, I am using the newest firmware which has the DVI white crush problem. I am on my second LG unit. I returned my first LG which had the firmware that upconverted everything through component connection. That DVD player I tried to hook up through DVI had the lockup. I returned the unit yesterday hoping the new firmware would alleviate the problem...no such luck.

Not sure what to do now. May look into the upconverting Samsung player unless I find a solution.

WHite crush= old firmware

hd over component= old firmware

480p only over component= new firmware

Well, my projector and screen arrived, but when I opened my Premier "universal" mount the hardware didn't include M3 screws! Great, now I'm searching around for dinky metric screws, anyone know who carries them? Thanks! Oh yeah, next time I'll get a dedicated mount, no more wrestling with "octopus arms"!

M3 Screws, I had a little trouble also. If you bought from pdr, the screws provided work great. Just put a lockwasher on top of the 'octopus' arm then slide the bolt thru the washer, thru the arm, and into the PJ.
If not Ace Hardware should have what you need. Big Blue and Big Orange do not!
I picked up some extras at Ace.

mystery,
Ok, How's this for some negative comments about the H31:

I have fired up my H31 so many times, and no matter what I do, I just can't seem to get the bulb to explode. Man, that sucks!! Also, the h31 is quite a lazy projector. I can't get it to wash dishes, mow the lawn, or do my laundry. If this keeps up, I'll have to contact Optoma. And, ya know, the H31 is not helping out at all with my 7.1 sound system. In fact, I hardly hear anything coming out of it at all....no sound effects, bullets flying, planes going overhead. What a piece of junk....


Good enough??

Originally posted by entropy
I'm curious as to how much shorter. The only real drawback to the H30/31 for me is that i can't get a big picture when it's on a table. I'd LOVE to have a really short throw projector.

~ Kiran <entropy@io.com>

Wing just told me a shorter throw. He did mention it as a high point to help users that need a super short throw so It may be substantial. I'll measure it out when I get one.

Originally posted by jedi35
mystery,
Ok, How's this for some negative comments about the H31:

I have fired up my H31 so many times, and no matter what I do, I just can't seem to get the bulb to explode. Man, that sucks!! Also, the h31 is quite a lazy projector. I can't get it to wash dishes, mow the lawn, or do my laundry. If this keeps up, I'll have to contact Optoma. And, ya know, the H31 is not helping out at all with my 7.1 sound system. In fact, I hardly hear anything coming out of it at all....no sound effects, bullets flying, planes going overhead. What a piece of junk....


Good enough??

ROFLMA

Yet another reason this pj is terrible, I can't even get the thing to wash my car....what's up with that!! :D

I stayed home from work today, I've got a slight cold, so after lunch I felt a little better and headed down to my local high-end AV store Zobo.tv. They do package deals and have some real nice PJ's all set up like a Rooms To Go deal. Well I went to the room that had the most expensive pj (SharpVision XV-Z12000U) I was not blown away by it's colors and pq like I am with my H31...I was hesitant about going in thinking man I'll see something soo much better and then I'll go home to my budget projector. But besides the fact it had less visible SDE, my H31 would have blown this one away. I don't know what it is but maybe they just never set it up right but it just didn't look that good compared. Shame on Optoma for not selling this one for double the price...but I'm glad they didn't. I'm gonna go chill and watch a movie now.

There's no doubt Optoma makes one hell of an image and has it's own unique color palate.

The Sharp should have looked pretty good though. I saw a 12k at Fry's and it was setup bad I grabbed the remote and found they had color temp at 10,000 and didn't have the IRIS on. After that was fixed it looked good blacks and color wise but was on the dim side.

:) Jedi! I feel much better. Thanks. :)

Man, it's a wonder you haven't returned that hunk o' junk. Well at least it lived up to it's expectations in the male enhancement department.

?? Didn't it?? :D

Okay, all kidding aside. I have an announcement to make. My H31 has been shipped and is on it's way, hopefully to arrive Friday, Monday at the latest.

YEEHAAWW!

Sure hope I don't have all the problems that Jedi's had though. :( :D

Review coming up.

Wayne

Tom,

The movie sample I watched on the Sharp was "Gone in 60 seconds" and the blacks were very drap, washed down, if you know what I mean. Then I watched some Nemo samples and the colors didn't seem as brilliant as the H31.... I think the Sharp is LCD, right? Is that how LCD's normally are, not as colorful as DLP? But like I said about SDE it was virtually impossible to see it until I crept right up on it. I don't know if they toned down the levels to save the lamp life or something or it was the end of the lamps life cycle.

Wayne,

Great news, time to pass out some cigars!

Thanks Lenny!

Yes, it's almost like a new addition to the family. I went out and bought the movie 'Bring It On' as a little commemorative treat to inaugurate the H31 with. I remember seeing this movie on the Plus Piano Avanti HE-3200 about 3 years ago at a high end store locally.

That was my first time seeing what a DLP projector could do and I was flabbergasted at how incredible the image was. That projector combined with the beautiful colors of 'Bring It On' got me hooked on the idea of one day getting a pj.

Wayne

I'm sure it is the beautiful "colors" you like about the movie :D

Good one Lenny. :)

The girls are cute for sure but a little too young for my tastes. Now some of the James Bond women get my attention. :)

Wayne

The H31 I saw had problems with soft focus on the components inputs. Tried out the Samsung HD841 player (yes the black crush kind) on DVI and the image improved greatly. It further improved on upconverting to 720p thru DVI.

Hey orion456,

I also have the HD841, i use it via component, i cant see much difference from component and dvi with the player, the dvi is little more clear, but i get some black pixels on the bottom right with dvi, not sure why... but i started to use my PC, and got it 1:1 pixel mapped, and might i add... it kicks the HD841 @$$, but then again, if you get your PC set up right for dvd viewing, it will beat nearly anything in pq... I only have one setback with HTPC, i get like 6 pixels that are streched on the right side of the image, but i just make the image bigger and put that on the black border, so far i can live with it, but hopefully i can get that to go away :D

Arty

I have my Pioneer Elite DVD running component in to this beauty and I couldn't be happier. The new "Apollo 13 IMAX version" DVD looks like HD, so I don't need to up-convert this 480P signal. :)

Wolfie

Arty13, have you tried turning Edge Mask on? I had a problem sizing to get hdtv to fit exactly and found turning this on cropped a few pixels & made everything fit nicely.

BTW - is your dvi cable a DVI-D single link? If not, then what?
You said your htpc sees the pj as an Optoma H31 - was that automatic or do you have some kind of monitor.inf file for that?

Hey DigitalMonkeyMan, Thanks!
I picked up the M3 screws at Ace, thanks for the heads-up! I also figured out how to use the "universal" mount WITHOUT the octopus arms! It's really cool, the slots that the arms mount to just happen to align with the 3 mounting holes on the H31. I used 3 plastic spacers for clearance, the M3 screws (16mm length), some small washers for the screws, and 3 large washers for the mount slots. Worked like a charm, looks like a dedicated mount now, NO OCTOPUS! Thanks again!

I just purchased the H31 from Visual Apex and it comes with a free screen. Has anyone else purchased this same deal? If so, what is the quality of the free screen?

I have read pretty much this entire thread and I want to thank the many people that helped me to form my very "informed" decision.

That V/A free screen deal was too good to pass up. I originally was looking at the Z3, but all the great talk about the H31 AND the free screen clinched it. I havent unpacked the screen yet, so I cant tell about the build, but the case is black, which is a good thing. I'm alittle concerned about waves, but what the heck, it WAS FREE! Good luck with yours, I'll post a review once mine is up and running. Wouldn't ya know it, my toys arrive the same weekend I have to do taxes! It's just not right!

floridapoolboy,
Did you get the pdr mount? Or where did you get it from? Glad it worked for you. I would love to mount mine without the 'octopus' arms too, but I might be a little concerned about heat buid-up under that plate?
What do you think?

I bought the Premier PBL universal mount from Mounts and More. The "octopus" arms would work well with a larger projector, but not with the small mounting triangle of holes on the H31. By removing the arms the circular bottom plate slots can be aligned with all 3 mounting holes, a lucky break! I used 1/4 inch thick plastic spacers to raise the mount off the projector, to clear the lamp cover. This will provide plenty of airflow clearance, as the spacers don't cover any vents. Just be sure the M3 screws don't protrude any more than 4.5 mm into the projector, as the warning label states. I was all set to return the mount when the "idea" light came on, and a few minutes later the whole thing came together. If I had to choose again I'd go for a dedicated mount, to avoid the trip to the hardware store, but it's done now, AND I can re-use the mount when "upgrade-itis strikes!

mystery,
Hey, great news about your H31. For some reason, I've really been looking forward to you getting your pj especially, and reading your review. Enjoy!!

Sad news...after April 30, I will no longer be able to enjoy the wonderful HD content being put out by Voom. The service will be shutdown forever. How sad...

Great! I have the PDR mount and am using their octopus arms. Looks a little funny but works great, and is built very well. Really, who ever looks at the pj itself (at least in my setup, it is not a focal point)!

I hear you with the upgrade-itis, I had a Pioneer 578 DVD and already upgraded to the Denon 1910, but after much viewing, I'm not so sure it was an upgrade. Bummer.

I hear ya, I have the Pioneer 563 and was thinking of going with the Panny 97, cause of the digital output. I think I'll stay with what I've got for now, cause by next year the HD players will be here, and I'll probably be looking for an HD projector also!

Jedi,

Thanks so much for your encouragement. Your review was a primary driving force in me making my decision to get this projector.

I pick it up tomorrow and will hopefully have the mount up by the end of the day so that I can spend Sunday playing with the new toy.

Too bad about Voom. Maybe DishNet or DirecTV might be an option for you. Some Americans are even using our Bell ExpressVu service from up here in Canada precisely for their HD content.

Wayne

Originally posted by jmd5505
I just purchased the H31 from Visual Apex and it comes with a free screen. Has anyone else purchased this same deal? If so, what is the quality of the free screen?

I have read pretty much this entire thread and I want to thank the many people that helped me to form my very "informed" decision.

I purchased this deal from visual apex. The projector came right away, but the screen came a few days later and in fact it was the wrong size. They sent the 84" Diagonal, not the 100" as promised. But they send me a return label right away and told me the screen was on back order until mid april. So, the customer service was pleasant and didn't give me any issues.

The reason that I have not posted in a few days is I cannot do anything but watch movies. I don't really have a technical point of view, since this is my first projector, but I know that when I give it a good signal, it gives me a great picture.

On your screen question. I held the wrong size screen up against the wall a couple of times. The first time I did it. I thought I could see a little more detail vs. the slightly gray painted wall with a little bit of orange peel texture. The second attempt, I had a few more people over and we tried the screen again. Everyone thought the picture looked better on the wall. No one was more surprised than me. So, I am not holding too much hope with the new screen when it comes.

I am thinking about painting with behr ultra white or goo systems. Does anyone use their optoma with either of these? I would like to hear about it.

Larry

Originally posted by floridapoolboy
Well, my projector and screen arrived, but when I opened my Premier "universal" mount the hardware didn't include M3 screws! Great, now I'm searching around for dinky metric screws, anyone know who carries them? Thanks! Oh yeah, next time I'll get a dedicated mount, no more wrestling with "octopus arms"!

Just as a point of reference. I did order the panavise camera mount and it works just fine. No problems at all. It was very reasonably priced and didn't take any special hw. Only 4 wood screws to mount into the board that I mounted inbetween two ceiling joists.

Originally posted by LDD


I am thinking about painting with behr ultra white or goo systems. Does anyone use their optoma with either of these? I would like to hear about it.

Larry
I have the Goo System painted on the wall and I LOVE it. There is a definate advantage over my old white wall! I got the Digital Lite basecoat and the Digital Lite Topcoat. I decided on these colors versus the white because the Goo website recommended it for the H31. I am very pleased with the results. I did buy two of the 'special' rollers, but in all honesty, the looked like a regular old good quality 1/4 nap roller. Coulda saved a few $$, but I figured I was in that far already!
On my existing painted wall, I did two coats of ultra white primer (wal-mart brand), two thin coats of the goo base, and two coats of the goo topcoat. It has hardened to a "shell" and I actually had a little peeling in the corner where I was not careful enough when I peeled off the masking, so be careful!

And my complaint about the H31,
It wont get up at 3 am and feed the baby!

Originally posted by digitalmonkeyman
I have the Goo System painted on the wall and I LOVE it. There is a definate advantage over my old white wall! I got the Digital Lite basecoat and the Digital Lite Topcoat. I decided on these colors versus the white because the Goo website recommended it for the H31. I am very pleased with the results. I did buy two of the 'special' rollers, but in all honesty, the looked like a regular old good quality 1/4 nap roller. Coulda saved a few $$, but I figured I was in that far already!
On my existing painted wall, I did two coats of ultra white primer (wal-mart brand), two thin coats of the goo base, and two coats of the goo topcoat. It has hardened to a "shell" and I actually had a little peeling in the corner where I was not careful enough when I peeled off the masking, so be careful!

And my complaint about the H31,
It wont get up at 3 am and feed the baby!

Thanks for the information. I also saw that they recommended the digital lite vs white on the website. Does your wall have any texture on it? I wonder if I should use a baseboard structure, or get a tape and texture guy to float the whole wall flat, then paint it, or just paint over the slight orange peel texture. I am glad to hear that you find it better than white paint. Did you happen to have any before and after screen shots?

LDD
I have some before and after, I'll link them up later today.
The Goo website states the H31 contrast ratio is so good, not flame thrower, that you can use the Grey lite. I have minimal ambient light, but since my room is not a dedicated theater, i calculated using some ambient light. I also just project on regular painted drywall.

...my lazy H31 won't feed the baby again right now....

When I had a chance to view the Goo systems screen's at a shootout up in Canada, personally I really liked the looks of their CRT White better than the digital grey or digital grey lite.

Despite what the web site says the majority of folks at the shootout preferred the White screen's to any of the grey's... and this was using 6 or 7 different projectors... Epson 500, BenQ 6100, BenQ 7800, BenQ 8700, JVC Lycos that I forget the model, NEC 1100, and I forget what else we had there....

Just Info only, not preaching.............

YMMV

"On your screen question. I held the wrong size screen up against the wall a couple of times. The first time I did it. I thought I could see a little more detail vs. the slightly gray painted wall with a little bit of orange peel texture. The second attempt, I had a few more people over and we tried the screen again. Everyone thought the picture looked better on the wall. No one was more surprised than me. So, I am not holding too much hope with the new screen when it comes."

Larry, re the gray wall. Probably what you noticed is a deeper image beacuase of the gray. With the screen you could try the lowest gamma, gamma 1 plus tuning the blacks to match the screen would help deepen the image, with more color also.

If the freebee screen is a mat white type it should work well. Plus the image will stay brighter when the bulbs goes to half life. In testing I found the only two non tensioned screens that work best are mat white and High Power. Both of these materials avoid showing waves badly when video is projected on them.

Give the screen a good try.

Originally posted by guitarman
"On your screen question. I held the wrong size screen up against the wall a couple of times. The first time I did it. I thought I could see a little more detail vs. the slightly gray painted wall with a little bit of orange peel texture. The second attempt, I had a few more people over and we tried the screen again. Everyone thought the picture looked better on the wall. No one was more surprised than me. So, I am not holding too much hope with the new screen when it comes."

Larry, re the gray wall. Probably what you noticed is a deeper image beacuase of the gray. With the screen you could try the lowest gamma, gamma 1 plus tuning the blacks to match the screen would help deepen the image, with more color also.

If the freebee screen is a mat white type it should work well. Plus the image will stay brighter when the bulbs goes to half life. In testing I found the only two non tensioned screens that work best are mat white and High Power. Both of these materials avoid showing waves badly when video is projected on them.

Give the screen a good try.

Okay, that sounds like a good plan. I have avia on order, which should help get the balance right. Do most people take these screen types and mount then on a piece of hard board or stretch against the wall to keep the waves out?

Originally posted by HiHoStevo
When I had a chance to view the Goo systems screen's at a shootout up in Canada, personally I really liked the looks of their CRT White better than the digital grey or digital grey lite.

Despite what the web site says the majority of folks at the shootout preferred the White screen's to any of the grey's... and this was using 6 or 7 different projectors... Epson 500, BenQ 6100, BenQ 7800, BenQ 8700, JVC Lycos that I forget the model, NEC 1100, and I forget what else we had there....

Just Info only, not preaching.............

YMMV

Thanks, and that was an agonizing question for me when I got my H31. The contrast and brightness look so good, but exactly how much light control do I have? Is the H31 good enough to perform on a grey versus white screen? In the shootout, did you have complete light control?

AGGGHHHH, I hate it when I start second guessing......

Tom,

I got my H31 today. Unfortunately, I'm having a problem with my mount and the parts I need to finish it won't be available until Monday. In the meantime, I have hooked it up without the mount but only shining on a green wall. When I get the mount straightened around, I'll be able to utilize my high power screen. Just the same, the little image on the green wall was very nice considering. Wait 'til I get this thing on my screen!

For those with H31/HTPC problems, I hooked up my DVI-D cable from the computer to the DVI-D input on the H31 and my nVIDIA card detected the H31 as a digital display and an image appeared on the wall. My card supports 848 x 480 but not 854 x 480 so I couldn't 1:1 pixel map for the time being. I'll have to investigate Powerstrip after I get the mount finished.

My question for you Tom is this: Since there isn't a toggle on/off switch, do the same rules apply as in the H30's case? In other words, is it kosher to just leave the H31 in standby mode for days at a time without unplugging the power cord or turning off the power bar?

I remember you and/or Wing stating that only if you are going to not use it for a long time should you be concerned with disconnecting the power.

Should we assume that both the H30 and H31 are similar in this regard?

Thanks!

Wayne

I added my before and after using the screen goo. As you can see, the cove the screen is in presents a reflection problem. The surrounding walls are eggshell finish, so I actually got a darker brown, flat finish, and painted the 'inside'. I used the darkest brown the wife would let me! :)

I am debating an edge mask to help the image.

The H31 really rocks even with this setup!

I moved the pics over to My Gallery!

Well, the taxes are finally done, time to get going with my new toy! I have two options for my ceiling mount, one at 13 feet and the other 16 inches further back. I'm shooting a 100inch diag HDTV screen, so which would be better? The closer spot puts the lens about 12feet 7 inches away, the further one about 14feet 1inch. Is further better to use less zoom, or doesn't it matter? I don't want to drill a bunch of holes, so i'd like to get it right the first time. Thanks! Oh yeah, I'm sitting at 14 feet, so the further position will be right overhead, any concerns with heat, noise, etc? Thanks again!

Originally posted by floridapoolboy
Well, the taxes are finally done, time to get going with my new toy! I have two options for my ceiling mount, one at 13 feet and the other 16 inches further back. I'm shooting a 100inch diag HDTV screen, so which would be better? The closer spot puts the lens about 12feet 7 inches away, the further one about 14feet 1inch. Is further better to use less zoom, or doesn't it matter? I don't want to drill a bunch of holes, so i'd like to get it right the first time. Thanks! Oh yeah, I'm sitting at 14 feet, so the further position will be right overhead, any concerns with heat, noise, etc? Thanks again!

Mine is mounted 14 feet away for a 94 inch wide screen. The sweet spot, my seat, is directly below the pj. I have no issues with noise, heat, or anything!

I am just loving my H31 more and more every day. I can no longer watch anything on my 35 TV, and HD shows are amazing. I don't care what the show is, I will even watch HD Trading Spaces with my wife. The more HD programs I watch, the more I can tell how much better good HD shows are compared to DVD.


I have already talked my brother into buying one, and he set his up today. A friend in Dallas is getting his when his income tax comes, and two other friends are ready to get one. I have not met one person who has seen it who does not want one on the spot.

A person at work has been talking about his 60 inch HDTV, and how much he loves it. He came over, and even he feels like he wasted his money, and he had his TV calibrated by a pro.

Hello all,
I just order a H31 and try to compare it with my HT1000. I should get it in 3,4 days.

To save sometime, could someone (and guitarman) post your setting on your H31 ? And please state the info associate with setting (480i, 480p, 720p, DVI, component, DVD player model)

I'm appreciated your help
Thank you
Thuan

Thuan,
Ya know, I think that it's not a great idea to use someone else's settings in your room. Everyone's setup is unique, and it's best to just use a dvd like DVE, Avia or even a quick setup like the THX tests for brightness and contrast on some dvds. Using someone else's numbers doesn't take into account your own room environment, or the source components themselves. I think you need to get the pj, make some quick eye adjustments to get it looking good at first, and then just watch the thing for awhile. When you've gotten used to that, then use Avia. If it helps, I think most of us are using Cinema mode for longer bulb life, Gamma 1 and color Temperature 1(closest to 6500K).

mystery,
Dude, you got your pj!?! Great, I'm happy for you. Man, it must be frustrating to have to wait until Monday to get your mount working. Hang in there. Thanks for your words about my losing Voom. At this point, I'm really discouraged, since a buddy of mine has discovered that DirecTv downrezzes some of their HD channels to save satellite bandwidth. Dish has just started doing that as well. Bummer. They are using 1280 X 1080 instead of 1920 X 1080.

I saw the Sony DVP-NS975V upconverting player today. It has hdmi. Does anyone have any experience with it? It has a great price, but I'd bet that the Panny S97 is better. UE wanted more for the Panny, however. I'm starting to look around because no one has been able to suggest how to get rid of the pixel cropping that happens on my Zenith 318.

I did, however, pick up a new toy today. It was completely a whim, but UE had a closeout on a dvd recorder(Philips DVDR 985) that has a firewire input(probably just for dv camcorders) and a PROGRESSIVE COMPONENT INPUT!!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the display card, so I turned the unit around and saw for myself. I wasn't aware that anything was out there could record a component video signal at a decent price, much less a progressive one. Does anyone know about this recorder/player? Did I make a mistake? It even has Faroudja processing. A more compact unit replaces it, but it's missing the Far. chip. This should be great for recording my favorite tv shows onto dvd.

monkey.................

We had complete light control in the room for the Canada Shootout.

In that environment all of the white based screen's looked better than the grey's.

PoolBoy

If you mount the projector as far back as possible and then zoom the lens down to the image size you want you will be using the smallest section in the center of the lens... which according to some will give you the best picture. Personally I hung mine in the center of the zoom range... so what do I know!

I have mine mounted where the bigger range of the zoom aren't too close for me. I use the smaller image in the zoom for SD and standard cable and the larger range for DVDs and HDTV. It's good to be able to have flexibility, but the only problem is you have to go with a bigger screen to be able to fit the bigger images also. How do people make their own DIY masking solutions for a 77" in. diagonal 16:9 ratio screen?
I finally got my H-31 mounted, using a Chieft RPA-315 with a 3ft to 5 ft tube that they make. I gotta say, the Chieft made mount is pretty expensive, but it's pretty useful.

Jedi,

I appreciate your inspiring thoughts! My old X1 mount's projector plate needs either to be cut in order to fit the H31 without getting in the way of 'feet' etc..., or it needs long M3 screws so that the plate can sit high to avoid these same 'feet'. I will go tomorrow to either find the proper screws or have a machine shop cut the plate to fit. This machine shop has already drilled the mounting holes for me and offered to cut the plate if needed at no extra charge. All that for $20.00. Cheaper than a new mount huh?

I want to just give you a heads up about that Sony upconverting player. It is getting disastrous reviews by purchasers. Unreliable unit, slow to react to remote commands, green push etc... Even a rumored recall and possible replacement model already.

The Panny is getting rave reviews, especially since the firmware upgrade which has apparently eliminated most of the early problems.

I took the trouble of finding a review for you on the new Philips which you bought. See what you think. It's seems to be pretty decent.

http://www.camuser.co.uk/reviews/DVDRecorders/Philips/PhilipsDVDR-985.php

Wayne

[QUOTE]Originally posted by digitalmonkeyman
[B]I added my before and after using the screen goo. As you can see, the cove the screen is in presents a reflection problem. The surrounding walls are eggshell finish, so I actually got a darker brown, flat finish, and painted the 'inside'. I used the darkest brown the wife would let me! :)

Thanks for the pictures. I like the little box you have your screen in. Its clean and simple. How much difference did you notice when you painted the walls dark brown?

Originally posted by LDD
[QUOTE]
[B]

Thanks for the pictures. I like the little box you have your screen in. Its clean and simple. How much difference did you notice when you painted the walls dark brown?

Originally I had a lot of reflection off of the side walls. When I painted dark brown and used a flat finish versus an eggshell, it made a huge difference. Now I get my biggest reflection off of the carpet! (I don't see the wife allowing me to change that anytime soon! :D

As far as the box it is in, we just moved in this house. When we were looking, I thought wow, that would be perfect! It is nice and clean, and allows the room to be used as a living space, as it was intended, without too much distraction.

digitalmonkeyman,

I know what you mean about light reflecting off of carpets. It can make a huge difference by doing something, anything to alleviate that.

We have a beige carpet in the recroom where the pj is and we've used area rugs and mats in order to cover up the brightness of the carpet. It has done wonders and made the room appear a little darker, improving screen contrast due to less washout effect from reflections.

Wayne

Originally posted by rbastedo
Arty13, have you tried turning Edge Mask on? I had a problem sizing to get hdtv to fit exactly and found turning this on cropped a few pixels & made everything fit nicely.

BTW - is your dvi cable a DVI-D single link? If not, then what?
You said your htpc sees the pj as an Optoma H31 - was that automatic or do you have some kind of monitor.inf file for that?

rbastedo,

I cant turn edge mask on with my htpc, the h31 disables that menu with my htpc, not sure why, must be the signal... but with the Samsung HD841 i did not, but that might help to get rid of those cropped pixels i think... buti have no need for that now... but my cable i use is a DVI-I Dual link, and my htpc sees the H31 automatic, as a digital display i believe... hope this helps you out... but i'm still working on my Streched Pixels with my HTPC...

Arty

Arty13 was overheard saying:
I cant turn edge mask on with my htpc, the h31 disables that menu with my htpc, not sure why, must be the signal... but with the Samsung HD841 i did not, but that might help to get rid of those cropped pixels i think... buti have no need for that now... but my cable i use is a DVI-I Dual link, and my htpc sees the H31 automatic, as a digital display i believe... hope this helps you out... but i'm still working on my Streched Pixels with my HTPC...

Sounds like the main difference here is I am using an Nvidia and you an ATI.
I can't get mine to see the pj as a digital anything, I spoke to Optoma tech support again and they suggested getting a DVI-D cable.
It's funny, I've gotten three different cable suggestions from them now. First "get a DVI-I cable" second "oh - you got DVI-I dual link, you should have got a DVI-I single link" and now "get a DVI-D cable".

"I remember you and/or Wing stating that only if you are going to not use it for a long time should you be concerned with disconnecting the power.

Should we assume that both the H30 and H31 are similar in this regard?"

Wayne, same deal just shut it down with the remote. There's only a tiny amount of juice going to the PJ. Just unplug when your going on a long vacation or plan on not using the PJ for a few weeks.

I have my H30 connected to its own switchable pwr strip. I just switch the pwr strip off after cool down.

Of course, if you're plugged up into the ceiling w/o a switchable outlet, then not much choice I guess.

Fleaman

Thanks Tom,

I won't bother switching off the power bar or unplugging the pj unless I'm going on a long vacation.

I adapted my old Mandarax X1 mount to fit the H31 by having new holes drilled and using M3 screws 12mm long. The old X1 plate rests on top of the feet on the bottom of the H31 and the 12mm screws go the distance perfectly.

The mount is up and I'll be testing the H31 during the next week or so. I have an Ultralink Pro 50' DVI-D cable coming in the next few days so I should have a great digital signal from my HTPC.

It feels like Christmas in April! :) :)

Wayne

Thanks Fleaman,

I might try that too. I have a power bar that the H31 is connected to but if I turn that off then other things go off too that are connected to it so I'll probably just take Tom's advice and let it run.

Wayne

i think i might have a hum bar but i cant really tell. i have a line runing up the screen like a humbar, but it is only durring motion scenes. It looks dam near a hum bar in the jitter test program. Od thing is that normaly when i get a hum bar my speakers hum. I cant get the speakers to hum even if i put the dvi cable to the ground on the amp. I guess tomarrow i will try to bring the pc in the front room, but then i will be using a diff dvi cable. if its tearing then its really constant and linear. Doent do it on stationary pics like the desktop.

Originally posted by mystery
Thanks Fleaman,

I might try that too. I have a power bar that the H31 is connected to but if I turn that off then other things go off too that are connected to it so I'll probably just take Tom's advice and let it run.

Wayne

You could always just connect another pwr strip to that pwr bar.

I actually have my subwoofer and H30 connected to the same pwr strip. I only turn surround on when the projectors on, so my sub isn't on standby all the time either (the amp stays a little warm on standby).

Nice to save a few electrons and keep the heat (or warmth) out of my electronics when I'm not using them.

Fleaman

Does the h31 have remote power up and power down?

also how is the fan noise. if it is too loud it gives me a headache after a while. I borrow the X1 and the Lp530.. they are too loud to watch anything for a extended period.

I'm about to pick up either a h31 or 4805 (both avail at costco):D

The H31 is quieter than the 4805. However, during my comparison of the 2 in my home, I found that both were acceptable during a movie. I think most people would not complain about either.

Wayne,
Glad to hear that you got your mount up. Cool. Is it in the same spot that you X1 was in? I look forward to your review. Thanks so much for the writeup on my newly purchased dvd recorder(actually, my second one). Here is an update that I posted somewhere else:

I bought a dvd recorder made by Philips from UE that sported a killer closeout price the other day. This unit has a component video input for recording(480i only), as well as firewire. I suspect that the firewire port is only for digital camcorders, but maybe someone knows a workaround. The unit failed miserably in just about all areas. I created atleast a couple of dvd coasters, and it in fact did not make one single successful recording, even on dvd+rws. I updated the firmware, seeing that the unit had an April 2002 build date. After that, the unit behaved even worse during recording attempts, but the video quality improved.

I took the unit back to UE and got another, this time with a build date of March 2003. This unit so far has worked flawlessly. I love the fact that this unit is quite silent while operating, has a 12 hour clock and easy one touch recording in half hour segments(unlike my other Sanyo dvd recorder). I'll bet that the available firmware update will give it mp3 capibility, but I don't have much need for that really. I figure, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If issues apear, then I'll update. The component feed is indeed better for recording than svideo. This recorder also has Faroudja processing, which is cool. Model DVR 985A03.

Question....when one sees these letters identifying a component signal(Y Pb Pr), does it signify a progressive signal(using Ps) or does it stand for any kind of component signal?

Hi all,

Anyone using a right angle power cord with the H31? I am planning on buying one from Ram, but it seems the IEC receptacle on the H31 may be a bit deeper than normal. I just want to be sure a right angle will fit before I buy one. Thanks.

Slack

Originally posted by fkong777
Does the h31 have remote power up and power down?

also how is the fan noise. if it is too loud it gives me a headache after a while. I borrow the X1 and the Lp530.. they are too loud to watch anything for a extended period.

I'm about to pick up either a h31 or 4805 (both avail at costco):D

Hey Fkong, the fan noise on the H31 is no problem whatsoever...man, they carry those PJ's at COSTCO? You gotta be kidding me...buy one with a funeral casket at the same time.

Depending on the elevation where you are, you may have to run the fan on HIGH ELEVATION mode which cranks up the speed...something to consider.

Hey guys, anyone using or seen their H31 or any pj with a Draper M2500 screen. I'm hoping this material is the right pick for me, it is being shipped today.

I finally watched Incredibles for the first time on the H31 and the 7.1 system, man I was impressed, loved every moment of it. My cousin said it was better then going to the movies, I have to agree.

Fleaman,

Thanks for the tip about how you turn off your pj. I may try that.

jedi,

You're welcome for the review. Sounds like your second time around was the charm. That's good. I only had to move my mount over an inch. This is because the shape of the X1 and H31 is different being that the X1 is long and narrow and the H31 is wide and shallow. This resulted in my lens position needing 1" shift in order to still be centered on screen. No problem.

I am picking up my Ultralink Pro Video DVI-D 50' cable today. I'll be comparing that and my VGA cable along with the LG/Zenith upconverting player using component. Should be interesting. I'll be doing a review most likely this weekend.

Wayne

I'm thinking about making a dedicated HTPC, so no gaming, just mainly dvd watching, tv, music, divx, stuff like that
so i am looking for video cards that would be a good match for this, but i want it to be able to get the resolution to pixel map, so 854x480 for the Optoma H31, but i also want it to be able to have a higher max res for future pj upgrades, but i dont think that will be a problem, i just want to be able to have the video card be able to get really any res i want it to with powerstrip... anyone have any suggestions on the video card?

Arty

Originally posted by Arty13
I'm thinking about making a dedicated HTPC, so no gaming, just mainly dvd watching, tv, music, divx, stuff like that
so i am looking for video cards that would be a good match for this, but i want it to be able to get the resolution to pixel map, so 854x480 for the Optoma H31, but i also want it to be able to have a higher max res for future pj upgrades, but i dont think that will be a problem, i just want to be able to have the video card be able to get really any res i want it to with powerstrip... anyone have any suggestions on the video card?

Arty

Seems people are getting better results with the nvidia cards then the ati's. The ati's seem to be driver dependent. I myself have a 9800 and can not get it to work well with my h31. Nothing will do 854 correctly, one person has got 852 to work, and optoma says to use 848. My 848 is soft in spots, and i get a tearing line that goes up the picture like a hum bar. I gave up and did 720p. The h31 has a very good scaler. You may want to try a h30, its 800/600 so its idiot proof, though it lacks dvi...

yeah, right now i have the H31, and have an ATI Radeon 9600 pro, hooked via DVI, i am able to get 854x480 on the H31, but the last 6 pixels on whole right side are streched, my main goal is to get a dedicated htpc that will let me get the native res. and that is fanless/ or near silent for my future theater room, but otherwise my setup now with 854x480 res with 6 pixels streched on the right side, i just love how clear it is, when i was using 848x480 or even 856x480 i saw blur spots and it bothered me, but i still get an occasional tear going up the screen when watching movies, is there an easy way to fix that? i've just been fooling around with powerstrip, but not sure if i'm getting anywhere...

Arty

Arty,

I'm wondering if you posed a question on the HTPC forum perhaps someone might be able to assist with the pixel stretching problem.

Wayne

Yeah i posted something on the HTPC forum about the video cards, but yeah... but all i wan to say is that... i just posted a few pictures in my gallery in the pq of the H31 using HTPC and with 854x480 and 848x480, i think the pictures turned out good enough for the comparison, but in real life you can tell the difference more overall, and the color looks tons better than the picture... but that doesnt matter, its the clearity i'm discussing now :D
so check my gallery out...
and let me know what you think of the difference.

Arty

also... by having it pixel mapped, the brightness and contrast go way up, so i have to turn it down even more :(

Ok, getting my H31 tomorrow morning. Got a used H30 w/new bulb (56hrs)if ya know anyone who's interested.

Originally posted by Arty13
so check my gallery out...
and let me know what you think of the difference.

I'd have to say that 854x480 whomps for clarity with a better map.


peace

RobRoy,

Congratulations! You're gonna love it. I know I do and I've only had mine for 3 days.


Wayne

Whoa!!

My new Ultralink 50' DVI-D cable arrived today. I connected it from the HTPC to the H31 and just cannot believe how awesome the images are through DVI. VGA was great last night when I tested that cable out too but this DVI is in a whole different league altogether. No sparklies at that length either. Watching through DVI is like having a cataract removed!

I have never seen a projector with such uniform brightness and focus across the board. Corner to corner, side to side. It's like I own a 92" plasma.

Man, this H31 is bright. Much brighter than my X1 ever was. I'll calibrate with AVIA soon and say a little more in a bigger review.

Wayne

mystery,

If you can, share your observations on the OTB calibration between the components and dvi inputs.


Thanks,

Fleaman

Fleaman,

Okay, I'll be comparing them sometime between tomorrow and the weekend and I'll make mention of it.

Wayne

So does the H31 have a remote power on/ off like a regular tv or do i have to unplug it?

Arty,
Wow, man. This the first time that I've seen the difference between what 1:1 pixel mapping does to a pj picture, and a setting that's not quite right. Thanks so much. It was a good idea to do closeups of the letters, anyone can see the clarity of 1:1. Well, my goal is to save my pennies, get a htpc with a videocard that will work with the H31 for 1:1 over dvi. Let us know when you find a card that works best.

Wayne,
I had no doubts that you would be blown away by dvi. Everytime I see a dvi signal on my H31 I just shake my head and say, is that possible at this price???

fkong,

You can either unplug it, or if it's plugged into a power bar with an on/off switch you can switch it off. The other option that Tom advises and which I've been doing is to just press the power button twice on the remote. That will put the H31 into a state of slumber, ready to be powered up again from the remote. There is no fan running while it's in standby mode. It's silent and all you see is a green flashing light.

Wayne

man i cant even get 854 to take, let alone switch to it. It just keeps coming up, restart,restart. What driver version do you need to get 854/480?

Originally posted by mystery
fkong,

You can either unplug it, or if it's plugged into a power bar with an on/off switch you can switch it off. The other option that Tom advises and which I've been doing is to just press the power button twice on the remote. That will put the H31 into a state of slumber, ready to be powered up again from the remote. There is no fan running while it's in standby mode. It's silent and all you see is a green flashing light.

Wayne

Thanks wayne

I plan to ceiling mount the h31 so that is an important feature. Also the family can turn it on without a lot of steps other than remote operation.

Ok, how about a little help from those of you who have the zenith 318 and the H31. When I hook up just the dvi-d cable and power up the 318 all the 318 does is hang on the hello screen. When I have just the component hooked up it powers up fine. Then I tried to start up the 318 while having the H31 on with the dvi-d cable hooked to both and still no joy. I’ve never worked with dvi-d hook ups before. Am I doing something wrong?

Originally posted by jedi35
Arty,
Wow, man. This the first time that I've seen the difference between what 1:1 pixel mapping does to a pj picture, and a setting that's not quite right. Thanks so much. It was a good idea to do closeups of the letters, anyone can see the clarity of 1:1. Well, my goal is to save my pennies, get a htpc with a videocard that will work with the H31 for 1:1 over dvi. Let us know when you find a card that works best.

Wayne,
I had no doubts that you would be blown away by dvi. Everytime I see a dvi signal on my H31 I just shake my head and say, is that possible at this price???

Jedi,

You can't do the 845x480 1:1 pixel map with your dvi dvd player? Or does it not look as good as the 720p setting you preferred?

Fleaman

Just a thought but on the H31 color space s/b set to auto. I tuned the H31 this morning to the HD signal with Comcast's InHD-tune up, which they run Saturdays at 4:00am. Picture looks awesome, much better blacks from what my eye thought brightness s/b set to. The color pattern showed very vivid and natural color. Contrast gray IRE steps showed excellent gray meaning D6500 is super close OTB.

i'm going to go out on a limb here, but i'm betting that you can't pixel map 1:1 over analog RGB on the H31, same as 4805

it can only be done via digital DVI connection to video card

those of you who can't get 854, are you using DVI connection to your htpc? my guess is you're not, but I could be wrong.

again, just a guess, but i bet the best you're going to get with the H31 over RGB analog is 848x480

but then again, that's just a hunch

Originally posted by Nightanole
man i cant even get 854 to take, let alone switch to it. It just keeps coming up, restart,restart. What driver version do you need to get 854/480?

you dont need any special drivers, usually the most up to date will work, i am using ATI Catalyst 5.3 and the latest power strip, the only thing that would be holding you back should be your graphics card, some can and some cant get 854x480, its just the way the card was build, i can get 854x480, but i dont think i should, because i may get that res, but i have 6 pixels on the right side that are streched, so really i'm only really puting out 848x480 onto a 854x480 pixel display, doing it this way makes it 1:1 pixel mapped for the 848 pixels, which makes the image awsome, but i get stuck with the 6 pixel streching on the right side, i just make the image bigger and move those streched pixels over the black border, so its not really noticeable... hope this helps ya...

Arty

Originally posted by billymac
i'm going to go out on a limb here, but i'm betting that you can't pixel map 1:1 over analog RGB on the H31, same as 4805

it can only be done via digital DVI connection to video card

those of you who can't get 854, are you using DVI connection to your htpc? my guess is you're not, but I could be wrong.

again, just a guess, but i bet the best you're going to get with the H31 over RGB analog is 848x480

but then again, that's just a hunch

it really shouldnt matter if you are doing analog or digital signals, its mainly due to your graphics card and its limits, and some graphic cards are harder to make it work, like ATI (which i have) because the Horizontal needs to be divisible by 8, which 854 is not, but 848 is, so i was able to get it to think its displaying 854, where in reality i have the 848 pixel mapped, but with the last 6 pixels all the same(strech look), so i'm not doing it true, but for now, i'm fine with it...

Arty

Originally posted by billymac
i'm going to go out on a limb here, but i'm betting that you can't pixel map 1:1 over analog RGB on the H31, same as 4805

it can only be done via digital DVI connection to video card

those of you who can't get 854, are you using DVI connection to your htpc? my guess is you're not, but I could be wrong.

again, just a guess, but i bet the best you're going to get with the H31 over RGB analog is 848x480

but then again, that's just a hunch

My question mostly is: With a dvi dvd player, outputting digital through dvi, can you pixel map to the H31 @ 854x480?

And if so, what's the difference (pro/con) over an htpc pixel mapped?

If you can't pixel map with an dvd players digital dvi out, why not?

And my last question (that was directed to Jedi): Is 720p upconverted from an dvd player digital dvi out still look better than a 1:1 pixel map setting?

>>I don't see any advantage doing RGB analog over dvi...seems the same as component in, just a different cable used. Essentially, it is a component feed.

Fleaman

Originally posted by fleaman
My question mostly is: With a dvi dvd player, outputting digital through dvi, can you pixel map to the H31 @ 854x480?

And if so, what's the difference (pro/con) over an htpc pixel mapped?

If you can't pixel map with an dvd players digital dvi out, why not?

And my last question (that was directed to Jedi): Is 720p upconverted from an dvd player digital dvi out still look better than a 1:1 pixel map setting?

>>I don't see any advantage doing RGB analog over dvi...seems the same as component in, just a different cable used. Essentially, it is a component feed.

Fleaman

the only way you can get pixel mapped with a stand alone dvd player is if the output of the dvd player supports the native resolution of the pj, but i dont really know of any dvd players that output 854x480,
if you got a dvd player that outputs 854x480 then the pro over htpc is, probably cheaper, quieter,, cons would be, you would probably have more options and setting/tweaks on the htpc over the stand alone,
for the 720p vs pixel mapping, the pixel mapping should still look better on the h31, the reason why is, cause 720p is still squishing pixels down to 854x480 whereas pixel mapping there is no squishing or steching making the image alot clearer and overall better,
there probably isnt much dis/advantages with analog dvi/component if you are going to do 480p, but you might/should see a little clearer image over the dvi,
well thats what i believe, correct me if i'm wrong...
hope this helps...

Arty

Originally posted by Arty13
it really shouldnt matter if you are doing analog or digital signals, its mainly due to your graphics card and its limits, and some graphic cards are harder to make it work, like ATI (which i have) because the Horizontal needs to be divisible by 8, which 854 is not, but 848 is, so i was able to get it to think its displaying 854, where in reality i have the 848 pixel mapped, but with the last 6 pixels all the same(strech look), so i'm not doing it true, but for now, i'm fine with it...

Arty

but arty, you're getting the display to actually list 854x480 mode 50 which is WAY more than anybody else here has done

I gotz cat version 5.4 and a 9800np ati
i have a dvi d cable.

I cant even get 854 to register, let alone switch to it. It just wont take it. Just keeps saying restart, restart. One time a week or so ago it to it, but really it was just outputing 848, and saying 854. I dont know what the trick is to get the projector to see 854. I keep that install imaged if i were you, it might be an acident.

Originally posted by RobRoy
Ok, how about a little help from those of you who have the zenith 318 and the H31. When I hook up just the dvi-d cable and power up the 318 all the 318 does is hang on the hello screen. When I have just the component hooked up it powers up fine. Then I tried to start up the 318 while having the H31 on with the dvi-d cable hooked to both and still no joy. I’ve never worked with dvi-d hook ups before. Am I doing something wrong?

see if you can output 720p via component. If you can you have the old firmware. If you cant output 720p via component and still have this problem then you might have doomed us all.

I think something is wrong with my 318. I have the old firmway and have always been ok with component upcoverts but I wanted to try DVI. It will not go past hello with the cable attached no matter what I do. No DVI cable and it boots fine. Also now the 1080 compnent shakes the other two resolutions don't. It didn't used to shake. I tried replacing the fimware and it still shakes on 1080. I hooked it up to my H30 and still the shake is there so it's not the H31. 1080i was the only worthwhile mode on the unit and it is messed up. Guess I'll have to look for another upconverting player.

Yo guys, I have a different issue to ask about. After I have focused the PJ the pixels in a very large area in the upper left quadrent of the screen are all blurry but the other quadrents pixels are focused. I didn't have this problem with my H30, or at least not anywhere near as much as this H31 unit. Do you think I have a bad unit or is there really this much lack of uniformity in focus?

Originally posted by RobRoy
Yo guys, I have a different issue to ask about. After I have focused the PJ the pixels in a very large area in the upper left quadrent of the screen are all blurry but the other quadrents pixels are focused. I didn't have this problem with my H30, or at least not anywhere near as much as this H31 unit. Do you think I have a bad unit or is there really this much lack of uniformity in focus?

Well, I don't have even pixel uniformity on my H30. The pixels become blurry in different patches through out the screen.

So far you seem to be the 1st to either look at the pixel focus on the H31 and notice it's not so uniform, or maybe most all the H31's have uniform pixel focus?

It would be nice if others can inspect the pixel focus uniformity through out the screen.

Fleaman

with the pixel uniformity, i had spots here and there that were bluring at all resolutions that i had, some worse than others, but when i got into the res 854x480 all the bluring goes away, so i'm thinking it might be more so your resolution, than the focus itself...

Arty

Originally posted by Nightanole
I gotz cat version 5.4 and a 9800np ati
i have a dvi d cable.

I cant even get 854 to register, let alone switch to it. It just wont take it. Just keeps saying restart, restart. One time a week or so ago it to it, but really it was just outputing 848, and saying 854. I dont know what the trick is to get the projector to see 854. I keep that install imaged if i were you, it might be an acident.

Hey Nightanole,
If you can get the pj to see 854x480 thats good, but if its still saying 848x480 than not good.... but if you have it accepting 854x480 but once you apply it, and it says 848x480 on the pj... if it does that... try this...

go to powerstrip and go to display profiles-configure
and under resolution, slide it over to 854x480
and for me thats how i was able to get the pj to see 854x480 but the true settings(advanced timing options) it still says 848x480 but otherwise everywhere else says 854x480, the pj, and everywhere on the pc, except that one spot on powerstrip, and as a result that is why i think i get 6 pixel streching on the right side
i fooled around with the front and back porch and snyc and it just moves the streched pixels left or right more... but cant get rid of them... let me know how that works if you are in the same boat as i think you are...

Arty

Arty13

Just a quick question. Are you guys trying to pixel-map with your H31s? Because I am under the impression that you have to use a multiple of 8 - so 848x480 - 47Hz.

That is what I use for my 4805 - and tested it with the pixel-map test, courtesy of Krasmuzik (I believe it is on the Colorfacts webpage).

Anyway, that is what most of us use (848x480-47hz) for our 4805s - DaGamePimp has the powerstrip timing parameters either in the 4805 forum or on his webpage that you can plug in to pixel map.

Just thought I'd try and help..............Good luck!

Originally posted by therealgeno
Arty13

Just a quick question. Are you guys trying to pixel-map with your H31s? Because I am under the impression that you have to use a multiple of 8 - so 848x480 - 47Hz.

That is what I use for my 4805 - and tested it with the pixel-map test, courtesy of Krasmuzik (I believe it is on the Colorfacts webpage).

Anyway, that is what most of us use (848x480-47hz) for our 4805s - DaGamePimp has the powerstrip timing parameters either in the 4805 forum or on his webpage that you can plug in to pixel map.

Just thought I'd try and help..............Good luck!

therealgeno,
yeah for most video cards it has to be a multiple of 8, not all video cards display their pixels in multiple of 8, but the video card i am using is an ATI and they do theirs in a multiple of 8, but i am able to send the res 854x480 but i get a result of 6 pixels on the right side streched( check my gallery) so really only 848x480 is being displayed, but that is pixel mapped to the H31, which its native is 854x480, just because i have the last 6 pixels on the right to be streched, and the Hz has a range, i've had it from like 54-65 i think, not totally sure, but if you look at my pictures you can tell its pixel mapped by those, but yeah i use colorfacts and its pixel mapped besides those 6 streched pixels on the right... hope we are getting on the same page...

Arty

Ok Folks,

I have been beating my head against the wall all night trying to get my H31 to see my PC via DVI. First here is my setup:

ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo
AMD XP2500
1GB RAM
Nvidia FX5700 w/256MB RAM (Chaintech)
Powerstrip 3.59 Build 505
XP HOME w/SP2
Single link DVI-D cable
latest NVIDIA drivers(71.84)

I can't even seem to get out of the gate. I added the custom 854x480 res to Powerstrip that Arty posted a while back while hooked up via VGA to my CRT. I then switched my res to the 854x480. Then powered down the PC. Attached DVI cable to PC from H31, powered up H31, powered up PC.....nothing. PC boots and loads windows (can only tell via sound), but I get no display on the PJ. I can hook up my CRT monitor and desktop pops right up. I get no indication that I have any kind of digital connection from my vid card.

I hope I am doing something fundamentally wrong because I am at a loss. Only thing I can think to do is try a different DVI cable or perhaps the DVI out on my video card is hosed. I am going to go try to hook the same DVI cable to my E* 811 sat box to see if I get a picture, so I can rule out the PJ and cable as the problem. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Matt

EDIT: Hi Def via DVI from the 811 is working just fine(both 720p and 1080i), so either my video card is not working properly or operator error is to blame. My guess is the latter. :)

Originally posted by Arty13
with the pixel uniformity, i had spots here and there that were bluring at all resolutions that i had, some worse than others, but when i got into the res 854x480 all the bluring goes away, so i'm thinking it might be more so your resolution, than the focus itself...

Arty
Hmm, you might be right about that.

I noticed a similar effect on my lcd computer screen when the resolution or refresh frq is not right.

Interesting! Maybe it's not a focus thing, but more about getting the right match between source and projector.

Hmmmm....

Fleaman

A little OT for the direction of this thread at the moment but I am slightly bummed that the reds are orangish on the 31. I've been tweeking the 31 and comparing to the 30 and the 30 definately can produce "reder" reds than the 31. Don't want to use the FLD as it sounds like a lot of light is sacrificed. I have noticed "reder" reds can be achieved with different dvd players. The zenith with a svhs connection produces better reds and 480i into the svhs port from the 318 produces a suprisingly clean signal. Much better than the zenith 480 or 720 through componant. I haven't been able to see how DVI will look but so far my good old Denon1600 through component is the cleanest.

Also I want to reiterate how much I love the high power screen over the standard matt white, esp for table mounts. The viewing angle is sacrificed but if you have a narrow long room you can't go wrong and it really improves the picture in my opinion without loosing blacks.

Hi Tom,
Help me out here. I should probably know this, but what is color space "s/b" and brightness "s/b"? Are these settings in the service menu? If so, are there other service menu items we should look at?

Rob,
How long is your dvi-d cable? You might try a different cable if you can with your 318. Make sure that you don't connect component and dvi at the same time, but I think you know this already. If you have the old firmware, and want to use dvi, you definitely want to change to the newer firmware. You will experience serious white crush if you don't, and it might solve your other issue. If this doesn't do it, then it really does sound like you might have a defective 318.

After calibrating with THX Optimode, I've noticed that my reds have improved. Darkening the room around my screen helped also. I say this because I've noticed that there are many scenes where there are reds that look dead on, and in the same scene there might be an orangy red somewhere else. To me, it seems like the H31 is just showing me the subtle differences in shades of red when this happens. You'll get you purest color through dvi, so I hope you can get that working.

Fleaman,
Someone else beat me to the answer you needed about 1:1 on the 318. I wonder if players like the Bravo D2 or the Momitsu 880 will allow a custom resolution like 854/480. Tom?

I'm sorry, I know that you asked me early on to go up to my screen and look for pixel uniformity from side to side. I have been hesitant to do this because my screen shows waves, and I don't trust it. I'll point out that focus seems very good across my screen from my seating position, about 1.8X back from an 84" diagonal image.

jedi,

Tom sometimes speaks a little cryptically. :) It's his form of 'shorthand' when he uses terms such as 's/b'. I believe that is a form of acrostic communication and should read if fully typed out as 'should be'.

The color space thing I also wish to understand. Whether it's just another name for a setting in the user menu or we have to learn how to get into the service menu to access and correct this, we'll have to rely on someone (Tom?) to enlighten us.

Your comments about the H31 being sensitive enough to distinguish between the different shades of red seems to me to be quite prescient jedi! In other words, you may have hit the nail on the head with that comment in almost a foretelling way. I've been wondering the same thing because I'm seeing excellent deep burgundy reds during long shots while in the foreground viewing other, lighter dimensions of that color. This H31 is certainly capable of displaying awesome reds in my opinion.

RobRoy,

I would suggest another look in your video card's program just to ensure that you've asked the video card to 'detect' a digital display. Just last night I was getting a 'no signal' message on the H31 and realized that I had removed the DVI cable previously while experimenting but having re-inserted it, I forgot to go into the video card's operating system and ask the card to detect the display. I then found in the drop down box a list of various options which I could choose. I chose 'analog and digital display' and as soon as I did that, the H31 immediately sprang to life and it showed the image obtained through the DVI cable on the screen.

I'm sure you've done all this but I had to comment just to cover another one of the bases.

Wayne

I have to agree with Jedi about the reds, with my S97 and calibration from DVE I think the reds are the best I've seen in movies. Blood...looks like blood, apples look like apples, etc. When I had the the 841 things were a little orangy but now I can't ask for better. I should get my screen and bezel in this week and I 'm putting up black curtains on the whole front wall. Do you think I'll notice a big change?

That should improve your images Lenny. Let us know what happens.

jedi,

I remember Tom mentioning in this thread that he was able to set his Bravo D2 to 854 x 480. That's really cool. I don't know of any other player that can do this.

I also checked yesterday into video cards and their resolutions. Their apparently isn't one card available on the market that will do the H31's native resolution although I've read DaGamePimp mention that there is possibly one that is rumored to be able to do it. Certainly neither nVIDIA nor ATI is capable of this at the moment.

I guess you have to Powerstrip or use the D2 or find that other video card what ever it is if you want to go native.

Wayne

Originally posted by mystery
That should improve your images Lenny. Let us know what happens.

jedi,

I remember Tom mentioning in this thread that he was able to set his Bravo D2 to 854 x 480. That's really cool. I don't know of any other player that can do this.

I also checked yesterday into video cards and their resolutions. Their apparently isn't one card available on the market that will do the H31's native resolution although I've read DaGamePimp mention that there is possibly one that is rumored to be able to do it. Certainly neither nVIDIA nor ATI is capable of this at the moment.

I guess you have to Powerstrip or use the D2 or find that other video card what ever it is if you want to go native.

Wayne

i know a card that would work with the native resolution, and that is
Matrox Parhelia video card, its expensive though, but i guess if someone really wanted that, they would spend the money, but i guess the Matrox Parhelia cards do their clocking different, instead of doing it in multiple of 8 like ati, it does it by 1 i believe, i'm still trying to find other cards that do this, but cant really find any, i think i read somewhere that the Matrox P series does this also, but not sure what the P series is, if its the Millinium P series, then i might buy one of those for my new htpc... but not totally sure...


Arty

those cards are nice, but they lack the horsepower necessary to aid in resizing and post-processing imo

the P750 for example only has 64MB if i'm not mistaken and the parhelia 256MB version, well, um I think it's close to $600 or more

"jedi,

Tom sometimes speaks a little cryptically. It's his form of 'shorthand' when he uses terms such as 's/b'. I believe that is a form of acrostic communication and should read if fully typed out as 'should be'. "

s/b) Yes that's a form of shorhand left over from being a wire opperator at the NYSE.

When users see odd color when first hooking up, it may just be colorspace isn't set to auto. I think it's in the system menu.

My zenith 318 definately has a problem. I bought a 418 today to try and the HDMI to DVI works fine with the H31. I experimented with the DVI and upconversion but 480 is the clearest IMO which makes sence to me since the H31 is native 480. Regarding just the DVI connection it "may" be just a hair, and I mean a hair sharper but really I am perfering my component connection with the Denon which is just as well as I can return the 418. Now all I need is the magic Sony black screen...

My H30 is up for sale on ebay for $598. I saw the biddig on the new H30 on ebay and followed it but I don't think someone got it for that price. The bidding got to about 600 but I never saw the reserve met indicater come up on that auction.

It's nice to see the H31 lamps are cheaper than the H30 lamps. I hope to never need one.

Originally posted by mystery
jedi,

I remember Tom mentioning in this thread that he was able to set his Bravo D2 to 854 x 480. That's really cool. I don't know of any other player that can do this.

Wayne

Tom,

Can you confirm that you got your Bravo D2 to output 854 x 480?

Wayne & Jedi,

The Momitsu has the same chip as the D2, but that doesn't necessarily mean it can do 854 x 480. I looked everywhere for detailed specs on the Momitsu V880DX as this is the player I'm interested in. I even downloaded the manual, but they only seem to show the different vertical resolutions, 480p, 720p, etc. Nothing about 854 or 848, etc.

To me it's a mystery if any dvd player with dvi can do 854x480.....I'd like to know as well :confused:

Fleaman

Fleaman,

The quote below from Tom appeared on page 70 of this thread:

Originally posted by guitarman
"Tom loves a player by Toshib.

I liked the price of the Tosh but would prefer the Bravo D2 if it would work with my 30' DVI cable, it doesn't. I did try the Bravo D2 yesterday with a 6' DVI cable and it worked great. I was able to view any resolution the 854X480 plus a custom 848X480 also. Both the Tosh and the Bravo play clean with no EE. The Bravo is more responsive to remote commands. The Tosh is dog slow.

Perhaps Tom can expand a little on this but it sounds like the D2 can do the 854 x 480 and just doesn't advertise it.

Wayne

Question is why would Optoma use 854 and not a standard resolution WVGA (848 x 480) ???

Originally posted by LENNY 2112
Question is why would Optoma use 854 and not a standard resolution WVGA (848 x 480) ???

480 / 9 * 16 = 853.333 (to maintain a 16:9 aspect ratio for the 480 NTSC lines).

Originally posted by fleaman
Tom,

Can you confirm that you got your Bravo D2 to output 854 x 480?

Wayne & Jedi,

The Momitsu has the same chip as the D2, but that doesn't necessarily mean it can do 854 x 480. I looked everywhere for detailed specs on the Momitsu V880DX as this is the player I'm interested in. I even downloaded the manual, but they only seem to show the different vertical resolutions, 480p, 720p, etc. Nothing about 854 or 848, etc.

To me it's a mystery if any dvd player with dvi can do 854x480.....I'd like to know as well :confused:

Fleaman

Ok I was off by 2 pixels. The Bravo has a preset res that's 852X480. I just setup a custom 854X480 and it works, but that's on the H79. I don't hv the H31 going right now. I assume it would work ok. One thing when the H79 recognized the 854X480 the res read was 854X480 75Hz.

Reading at the Bravo site, the reason they set the 852X480 is to match up with plasma TV's.
Sri for the confusion.

How are you all adjusting the color on the H31?
I have used DVE and adjusted the brightness and contrast.
I am confused on adjusting the colors though.
When I go into the advanced settings (the only place that I can see color adjustment settings) there is each of the colors listed - red, blue and green and adjustments for the contrast and brightness for each color. Is this where you are adjusting ? If so can you give some sample levels that you are using?

Thanks

Bravo D2 works the same way with the H31. Custom res 854X480 reads as 854X480 75Hz Mode 87. Image looks very precise/defined.

Originally posted by Jefftaz
How are you all adjusting the color on the H31?
I have used DVE and adjusted the brightness and contrast.
I am confused on adjusting the colors though.
When I go into the advanced settings (the only place that I can see color adjustment settings) there is each of the colors listed - red, blue and green and adjustments for the contrast and brightness for each color. Is this where you are adjusting ? If so can you give some sample levels that you are using?

Thanks

I put a how to use the Advanced RGB adjustments in the first post.

But I did use colorfacts to tune the DVI signal, maybe these will work for you.

User settings, Mode Cinema
Contrast 5
Brightness -9
Gamma 1

White peak 0
Film


R contrast -17
G contrast 0
B contrast -13

R brightness 3
G brightness 0
B brightness 0

Has anyone tried the Oppo DV971H with the H31 now that they have a new firmware version out? The latest version of this player looks really good. But I know there were big issues with this combination before the firmware upgrade.

Oppo, I had to send mine back. EE was too severe, y/c delay, pixel cropping, worst part I couldn't tune satisfactory colors even grayscaling with colorfacts. Did they fix all that?

Originally posted by guitarman
Ok I was off by 2 pixels. The Bravo has a preset res that's 852X480. I just setup a custom 854X480 and it works, but that's on the H79. I don't hv the H31 going right now. I assume it would work ok. One thing when the H79 recognized the 854X480 the res read was 854X480 75Hz.

Reading at the Bravo site, the reason they set the 852X480 is to match up with plasma TV's.
Sri for the confusion.

Interesting.

I'll have to try to find out if the Momitsu V880DX can do that too....as I have to do a 25ft dvi run.

Unless anyone here has a Momitsu that can enlighten us?

Fleaman

Oppo Benchmark Report Posted on Oppo thread (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=122) - Posted by Kris Deering

This was a review I saw on the Oppo thread after the 4/13/2005 firmware update. It looks like it should fix those problems. Let me know if you think I will still have the problems you had.

Originally posted by vreath
Oppo Benchmark Report Posted on Oppo thread (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=122)

This was a review I saw on the Oppo thread after the 4/13/2005 firmware update. It looks like it should fix those problems. Let me know if you think I will still have the problems you had.


Wow - higher than the 3910 even. Might have to check that one out!

"For those in the market for a budget DVI player with exceptional video performance, the 971H is it. This player passes below-black, has no pixel cropping, and there are no signs of Y/C delay. I personally can’t wait to see what Oppo has in store for us next."

Looks like it's mostly fixed. I still wonder about the EE or over sharpness from the 23xxxxxx chip.

Tom,

Thank you for sharing the numbers. I also read your first post and that helps out a lot. I think I will give your numbers a shot as your brightness and contrast settings are exactly what I came up with using DVE.

Thanks again,

Jeff

Originally posted by guitarman
[BLooks like it's mostly fixed. I still wonder about the EE or over sharpness from the 23xxxxxx chip. [/B]

It wouldn't be a problem if they have the TrueLife enhancement turned off. I'll have to ask Kris about that.

I was playing with the TrueLife enhancement on the Toshiba MT700 the other day and even just going from "0" to "1" on the setting is too much. You can really see it on a resolution or sharpness pattern.

That Sharpness looked real gritty, almost like you're adding more mosquito noise. Kris didn't mention it though. The Oppo did have three sharpness settings which didn't work, they actually acted as a saturation function. Maybe that's fixed and it covers the sharpness now.

If all things are fixed I'd buy that player again.

Jeff, maybe our H31's are similar with blacks and whites being the same. Lmk if the numbers work out.

Okay everybody that is HTPC involved,
I've been doing alot of searching and talking to people, I currently am talking to a rep from Matrox, who do Matrox Video Cards

Here is my conclusion about resolution settings, mainly from the two links below...

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20

http://www.entechtaiwan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=24

Video Cards can do their Horizontal Timings differently than others, most people know that you have to have the Horizontal resolution a multiple of 8
where in reality it all depends on the hardware configuration, Most graphic cards do their Horizontal Timings by clock frequencies which results in having to have a multiple of 8 for the resolution. Other cards dont use clock frequencies but instead do it by pixels.

But, even though the card does its Horizontal Timing by pixel, it doesnt mean it can do any resolution you want it to. The problem with most/all these cards is their software, currently their isnt any software out there for custom resolutions for these cards, there are some software but they might not work right for that specific brand, like powerstrip is a good software util. but there might be some conflicts with certain video cards and their drivers that wont allow it.

Also, for the pixel timing, it has to be a digital signal, so it wont matter with VGA or before, it will have to be DVI-D to be able to use it right.
As far as i know, ATI do their cards by clock cycles
Some Matrox and Nvidia cards do theirs by pixels
but now the problem is, is to find which ones are which.

I will try to let you know if i find specific cards that do their horizontal timings by pixel and not clock cycles.


*if i'm wrong anywhere please let me know, this is what i was able to come up with, and if you have anything to add, please do, thanks

Arty

Tom,

I used your guide in the first post and adjusted the color on my H31 using the needle and pulse pattern in Avia. I watched scenes from the Incredibles and Spiderman and the reds are now looking a lot better - not so orangey. I love this projector - just wish it would get dark out quicker so I could watch more movies :D . Here is my final numbers:

User settings, Mode Cinema
Contrast 5
Brightness -9
Gamma 1

White peak 0
Film


R contrast -13
G contrast 0
B contrast -4


R brightness 0
G brightness 0
B brightness 0


__________________

Jeff

I used THX Optimizer and got the following with a Denon 1910 over DVI:

Cinema
Contrast 3
Brightness -12
White Peak 0
Gamma 1
Film

Red Contrast 4
Green Contrast 4
Blue Contrast 2

Red Brightness -3
Green Brightness 3
Blue Brightness 6

I am going to use DVE later and see if my values change very much.
I do not think they will.

Now if I would just quit messing with this thing long enough to actually enjoy a movie..........

digitalmonkeyman,

LOL - I know about the constant tweeking, I am guilty of that too.
I think I have mine set pretty good right now....

Jefftaz,

Are you're settings over dvi? Or another input?

Everyone else that might post settings: Don't forget to mention what input you're using, as the settings can be quite different between say dvi and component progressive.

Fleaman

Originally posted by Jefftaz
Tom,

I used your guide in the first post and adjusted the color on my H31 using the needle and pulse pattern in Avia. I watched scenes from the Incredibles and Spiderman and the reds are now looking a lot better - not so orangey. I love this projector - just wish it would get dark out quicker so I could watch more movies :D . Here is my final numbers:

User settings, Mode Cinema
Contrast 5
Brightness -9
Gamma 1

White peak 0
Film


R contrast -13
G contrast 0
B contrast -4


R brightness 0
G brightness 0
B brightness 0


__________________

Jeff

Sounds good, numbers are close to my numbers. Pretty cool once you know the concept on cleaing up shades of gray. I look for that with every display I get. The Tosh RPTV I just got needed help. I do have colorfacts which makes the going easy. But you can still do this by eye pretty well.
enjoy

Tom - The trick with cleaning the gray scale is great, much easier to get a good color that way. Thanks for the help.

Fleaman - Yes my settings were for the DVI input. I hooked the projector up with both component and DVI - DVI produced the better picture in my eyes.

Anyone know if its even possible to use the matrox cards? I mean has anyone used one to prove it will work? A Matrox Millennium P650 64mb is only $150, and might be usefull in a htpc only setup with no gaming.

I just tried it with my Matrox G550. Matrox has a pre-defined setting of 856x480 which goes through and shows up on the H31 fine. However when I tried to enter the custom resolution of 854x480, the message was the display adapter accepted the resolution but when applied the resolution on the H31 stayed at 856x480. I can't get the PJ to show 854x480.

Also, for those that care about or have noticed kind of orangy reds on the H31, I find that when I use the component connection the reds tend to be kind of orange and when I use the composite or SVHS connection the reds are more true red. Ive tried several different players and it seems to be consistant generally. I have tried to tweak the orange away when using component but its proving to be a bit difficult but I'll get there. If you don't notice it don't worryabout it. There are a few who have.

Well, Arty, you still remain as the only one to get the H31 to sync at 1:1 854/480 over dvi with a htpc, even though you got some stretched pixels on one side. I'm following your search with great interest.

Tom,
Are you saying that the default color spacing is not Auto? Should we all get into our service menus and check it?

Wayne and Lenny,
Hey, I'm glad that you both also think that the H31 does in fact have the ability to distinquish different shades of red. I was hoping that my eyes weren't just playing tricks on me since I made the purchase. Wayne, are you still going to treat us to a more indepth review? Lenny, the black curtains did wonders for my setup. I thought I already had great blacks, colors, contrast, etc. But killing all reflections showed me what the H31 can really do. To date, I haven't really seen better blacks on any pj at any price. You mentioned covering your front wall. Do you need to do anything about the ceiling or the side walls as well(and the floor)?

Originally posted by RobRoy
I just tried it with my Matrox G550. Matrox has a pre-defined setting of 856x480 which goes through and shows up on the H31 fine. However when I tried to enter the custom resolution of 854x480, the message was the display adapter accepted the resolution but when applied the resolution on the H31 stayed at 856x480. I can't get the PJ to show 854x480.

Hey RobRoy,
what software are you using? powerstrip? or the matrox software? when i was talking to the Matrox Rep, he said to use their software, not sure if that will change anything but its worth a try... let us know how it works.

Arty

ps. also does anyone have a P-Series or the other really expensive one?

Hello Everyone,

I am gettting ready to paint my walls and maybe ceiling. I am debating between differnent shades of blacks and browns. Does anyone have a link to a good site or opinions are welcome to help me choose how dark of a color to choose.

Larry

Originally posted by mystery
Whoa!!

My new Ultralink 50' DVI-D cable arrived today. I connected it from the HTPC to the H31 and just cannot believe how awesome the images are through DVI. VGA was great last night when I tested that cable out too but this DVI is in a whole different league altogether. No sparklies at that length either. Watching through DVI is like having a cataract removed!

I have never seen a projector with such uniform brightness and focus across the board. Corner to corner, side to side. It's like I own a 92" plasma.

Man, this H31 is bright. Much brighter than my X1 ever was. I'll calibrate with AVIA soon and say a little more in a bigger review.

Wayne

Wayne, Posts like this make me cringe every time I think of my 50' component connections and what I may be missing. Component was the best choice at the time because the cable was cheaper, my DVD uses it, and my amp has the ability to switch two component connections, so I didn't have to buy a switch to run the HD Receiver and DVD Player.

I suppose this hobby is a continual upgrade path...LOL Well, I have owned my H31 for about 3 weeks and have about 50 hours on it. I LOVE it. I bought the movie pass at blockbuster and I am getting to know them on a first name basis.

I definately relate to some of the problems with the H31

Dishes never get done
Dog always wonders when we are going to walk
Boss notices I am tired all the time

Larry

Originally posted by LDD


Dishes never get done
Dog always wonders when we are going to walk
Boss notices I am tired all the time

Larry

Thats your only problems? Dude we got daylight savings time here. A month ago i could be watching my h31 in total darkness by 5:30. Now i have to wait till atleast 8pm before its dark. On the bright side ( get it?) there isnt any new shows or good movies coming out durring the summer so im not hurting as much.

I finally got my H31 up and all I can say is...WOW! As this is my first projector I wasn't prepared for what a REALLY BIG picture would be like, but you all were right - IT'S INCREDIBLE! I'm glad I listened to the forum members who championed this projector, it really throws a great picture for the money. For you other NOOBS here's some stats: 100" diag HD pulldown screen (free with PJ from V/A!), 13'7" lens to screen, 5" drop ceiling to lens, 20" drop ceiling to top of image. Seating at 13'5" (no SDE visible!), HDTV via Sat. thru DVI, DVD thru Pioneer 563 via component. Initial thoughts were: great HD scaling, DVD's look terrific, minor tweaking for VERY NICE color/contrast, fan noise noticible UNTIL the movie starts. I need to do a real calibration of both video and my 7.1 system, but till then I'm very happy with my new home theater. No more RPTV, Waa-Hoo! Now the wife is getting curtains for the screen sides and posters for the wall, she was impressed as well! Who says "size doesn't matter"... Viewed 5 hours of dvd's and HD yesterday, couldn't get enough! Thanks again folks, I couldn't of done it without you!

Arty I was using the power strip software. I wasn't aware it was possible to select a custom resolution with the matrox software. I did just install the latest Matrox drivers. If their software alows me to set a custom res I will try again.

RobRoy,

Here is part of an email i recieved from the Matrox Rep.

"However, you may find a way around this limitation by using a beta
utility called Monitor Manager that we provide on our site. This utility
allows you to enter your own custom resolution and in theory, should
work with your display as long as its VESA timings support the
resolution you set in Monitor Manager. Please note that due to the fact
that this is still a Beta utility we can not offer any support for it at
the current time.

You can find the Monitor Manager utility at the following link:

http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/files/ftp_util2.cfm
"

but i'm not sure if your matrox card will work, i understood that the Millennium P series and the Parhelia are the ones that would work, so not sure about your G series card... but you never know... let us know if it does, thanks.

Arty

I have seen reference to accesssing the H31 service menu. How does one access this menu? I have searched this forum but have not been able to find the answer. Disregard. I am an idiot, I found the info on page 42 of this thread.

Monitor manager
1.1.0.11 (BETA) Jun. 18, 2003
203 KB This utility (beta only) may be used to edit your current monitor settings and also add new settings. Supports Matrox Parhelia and Millennium P-Series products only under Windows 2000/XP with 1.04 drivers and above.

Florida,

Sounds Great, your set up sounds very similar to mine. I am also very happy. Glad you like it.

Larry

PoolBoy........

One of the forum members here (can't remember who) has the tag line after his name..........

"they measure their TV screen's in inches..... isn't that cute!"

poolboy,
You got your wife helping with curtains for the home theater? Man, that's outstanding. I hope I get that lucky one day.

LDD,

You're fine sticking with your component cables. The H31 displays a magnificent image that way. My wife and I now watch any DVD in a 4:3 AR utilizing component cables through our LG7832 upconverting player @ 1080i and activating the 1.66:1 AR function available through component.
The images are superb!

Now, I would say that the next step up would be a High Density VGA cable which has proven to me to be surprisingly comparable to our Ultralink 50' Pro Video DVI-D cable in displaying images to our H31. But if you want to tweak out just a little more quality then you would want to investigate a very good quality DVI-D cable such as the one we bought.

One word of caution about DVI-D cables with the H31 though: be prepared to not only see glorious pictures on your H31 but if there is anything at all amiss, DVI-D is not a forgivable medium and will display anomalies that were 'hidden' or at least seemingly less prominent via VGA if you're using an HTPC like we are. Of course we do as I mentioned operate our DVD player with the H31 as well but our LG unit locks up when it tries to output DVI so we don't bother with it. Besides, the H31 'hides' the 1.66:1 AR when connecting through it's DVI port whether it's with an adapter for VGA or pure DVI. For this reason, until we get a player such as the Panny S97 for instance, we'll be sticking with component with the DVD player and DVI-D from the computer.

jedi!

I have had this H31 for 9 days now and I truly feel like a little kid opening up a new present on Christmas Day each and every time I power it up!

What more could anyone want other than perhaps a few more pixels!? :)
Even that is not missed. I would compare this unit to ones I've seen for even 6 or 7 times what we paid.

Coming from an X1 which I thought was pretty good for the money and it is, going to the H31 is a significant upgrade. Almost everything about it is better. I would say that the scalers in the two machines are basically equal.

Everyone,

The H31 now has the 'Good Waf keeping' seal of approval. :) My wife, let's call her 'Mysterie', couldn't get over the colors yesterday while we watched a movie with breathtaking fall scenes of leaves changing color, waterfalls, rolling hills and majestic mountains, streams, rivers... you name it scenically, it was there and Mysterie couldn't get over it.

Here's the kick-ass comment from her: 'It looks like HD!'. Now my wife isn't' one to say much if anything about picture quality other than agree with me if I say something but this was unprovoked and offered freely by her. And she knows what HD looks like as we have a marvelous 64" Pioneer widescreen HDTV CRT.

Another reason why Mysterie likes the H31 is because of it's tiny presence in the room and she also likes the whiteness of it as compared with the gray of the X1. This pj appears to be very Waf friendly indeed.

People, this little pj shows dark scenes with just the right amount of luminance. You see what I think the Director of a movie wishes you to see and maybe even things he didn't intend for anyone to notice. :)

I used to hate watching darker scenes on my X1 because it was as if there were secrets in the image that I wasn't privy to. There are no secrets with the H31. The X1 used to have this somewhat milky, cataract, filmy residue-like aura to darker scenes but the H31 displays even the toughest darker environs with the power of revealing illumination.

Reds: Do not be fearful about this color with this pj. It is capable with a little tweaking of displaying gorgeous reds and subtle hues of that color without bleeding and the saturation is unbelievable with any color.

I tried out the composite input and as with any display device as Forrest Gump used to say, 'Composite is as Composite does'.

S-Video shows well and the Pixelworks scaler does a fine job but I won't be using either composite or S-Video as I'm happier with component and DVI. No need for VGA if you've got DVI but you can be satisfied with a good VGA cable if you don't wish to splurge for a good DVI cable.

I will be trying out my other screen which is a High Contrast Matte White (gray) but I don't think that the High Power in combo with the H31 can be beat.

Those of you worried about the offset, don't. I know I was but the H31 is sitting in exactly the same spot (as our X1 was) at 13' back from our 92" diagonal screen and we sit just under and a little forward of the pj at about 11.5'. Any larger a screen would cause the image to drop onto the floor however and result in keystoning so we're happy with our setup as is.

The reason for the image on the floor with a larger screen is because we have our pj only 6'4" off the floor to take advantage of the sweet spot for the high power screen. Those of you with higher ceilings and screens other than high power won't have this problem.

It is quieter than our X1 was in that even during scenes with little or no talking and/or music, the H31 is not noticeable whereas the X1 was.

A couple of points to mention: In the Menu under Image you'll find an entry called Signal which when clicked on will reveal Horizontal, Vertical, Frequency and Phase. This option is only available through VGA cables from the computer; In the Menu under Display you'll find an entry called Fullscreen Mode which when clicked on will reveal Normal, 1.66:1, 1.85:1 and 2.35:1. This is hidden when utilizing DVI or VGA cables.

This is a very bright projector, much more so than the X1 was and I only had 800 some odd hours on that when I sold it.

SDE isn't much of a problem, especially compared to the X1. I won't say that it's completely gone at around 13' from a 92" diagonal screen but it's for the most part a non-issue and I rarely notice it or think about it.

Well, if you're on the fence or wall, you can jump off (unless you're Humpty Dumpty) and get this pj. It's a steal at the price.

The SPCP (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Projectors) monitored this review and no projector was harmed during the writing of it. :D

Wayne.

Wayne,

Great review. Don't you just love the fact that this projector is so quick to get the WAF stamp of approval? I know my wife was skeptical about my front projector endeavors at first but after the first movie she was completely sold. The H31 produces one sweet picture. Good going and enjoy - I know I am.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff!

For married folks this is an important point. It's vital that our significant others share a positive experience in this hobby.

I forgot to mention the blacks and contrast ratio. The blacks are absitively posolutely inky, jet black. Think of black paint when it's wet on a newly painted railing or wrought-iron fence.

As for CR, in a word su perb. Okay that's two words. :) Viewing the H31 is like watching an invisible Master Painter at work.

Wayne

The real trick to PJ acceptance by "She Who Must Be Obeyed" is to enlist her aid in turning the room from a "cave" into a true "Home Theater". When I first mentioned selling my RPTV and buying a projector I received the usual "Oh No" look, but when I explained that the big ugly box would be replaced by a silver screen I started to gain acceptance. I knew I was OK after showing her several gallery shots of other members home theaters. Once she started talking about side curtains I knew I had won! I spent 3 hours yesterday turning the rats nest of wiring into a neat, good-looking wiring job. The result - happy wife. We then settled done to watch "The Fighting Temptations" on HD, so- so movie but a great soundtrack. Needless to say, the image was outstanding! Today we're going to pick up 2 wall sconce lights and some heavy drapes for the room, and several posters are on order. She is really into this now, way more than ever before with the old RPTV's! P.S. She even makes the popcorn - Waa-Hoo!

floridapb,

You are so right! It's so much nicer for women when they have input in expenses such as this. My wife chose the color when we painted our recroom last year and we compromised on a shade of green that would be quite good for projector usage yet warm at the same time.

I've covered our projector wall in black felt material in order to stop the retro reflection of light with our high power screen. My wife isn't crazy about that but she understands why I wanted to do it. I have given her carte Blanche with the rest of the house to decorate completely as she sees fit. I feel that pulling rank in the one room that's important to me is alright once in a while.

You have cleaned up your cable mess. Great thinking. This is one area that women really hate. They don't want to see cables, even when they're neat! I must admit that I have yet to do this but I've been thinking about it.

Another hint that can help you fellas in getting your wives into this is to getting her thinking about re-arranging the furniture in order to better accommodate your pj needs. Women love to make a room look different every once in a while whether it's hanging new pictures or moving the couch.

floridapb, you are right on about the cave comment. Women hate dark, dark rooms.

Wayne.

Hey gitarman, have you experienced any problems with your H31 yet? I seem to have gotten something on the inside surface of either the lens or the DMD and it has created an ununiformity in my picture. If you have had the same problem, what did you do to correct it? Also, I've hung mine on the ceiling and have it at -11 keystone. I do a lens shift from the remote to fill my image to the edges of my screen, but when I turned the projector back on the next day, my settings don't hold and they are back to the default. If anyone else on this forum has experienced this, your input would also be very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Wolfie

Yikes!

This thread has been relegated to second page status. I'd better rescue it before the 4805 people catch wind of this. :D

We'd never hear the end of it. :)

Wayne

I got my brand new Monster Cable DVI-D today & excitedly hooked it up hoping to see what all the fuss was about (digital vs Analog).

I'm very disappointed, like some others here I can't seem to get my Nvidia video card to see the H31 over DVI-D.

I just sent another message to Optoma, pleading with them for help.

I tried powering everything down, connecting the cable, turning on the PJ then turning on the PC - no joy.

I tried getting into the Display properties with the PJ off then turning it on & pressing "detect Display" - nothing.

I tried a dozen other randon efforts & could not get anything to work.

What's the secret to getting this to work?

has anyone found if there is a "letterbox mode" that takes either a non anamorphic or anamorpic 2.35:1 ratio image and scales it so that the black bars are cut off and the image vertically stretched, without the loss of the sides of the image?

This would be perfect for an anamorphic lens in a constant height, variable width setup. I understand the H79 has this kind of scaling mode (possibly for every resolution available, not just 480i/p).

Dan

rbastedo,

Are you absolutely certain that your nVIDIA card supports 'Digital' out? It may only support 'Analog' out. Although I doubt that this is the case because I too have nVIDIA and the output is definitely digital.

Your card ought to be detecting a digital display. Mine even says 'Optoma H31' now. What I did was go to the nVIDIA site and download the latest graphics driver. Before that, all it said was digital display.

Are your drivers up to date?

Wayne

I just loaded the new 71.89 WHQL drivers. I was using 71.84 before.
Now I don't get the multiple display part of the menu any more.
I am guessing this just means it doesn't detect another display.
I have my CRT connected to the VGA and the H31 to the DVI.
When I press "DVI-D" on the H31 remote it looks for Digital Signal and then displays "No Signal"

Try a little experiment. Hook up an S-Video cable from your card to a TV and see if the card detects the TV. You might have to go into the display area and make sure you've selected 's-video' and 'ntsc'.

If your card detects both the TV and your monitor then you can probably assume that it should be able to detect the H31 as well.

This should at least bring up dual monitors and you can select which one you'd like to be the primary and clone etc...

After you do this, then try the digital cable again. It may be that the card just needs a little analog boost on the 'TV' side of the card in order to get it looking for another display.

This happened to me a while back when I couldn't get my old X1 to detect a dvi to vga adapter and cable hooked up to it. Once I hooked up an S-Video cable to my TV, everything else fell into place.

Give it a shot. It might work.

Wayne

I'm close to clicking the buy button on a H31 that comes with a free 100" Elite M100UWH screen. Two questions...

1) Is this a good enough screen or will I want to buy a different screen?
2) My ceiling is 6.8 feet high. Distance is not an issue. I can mount the projector as far away as I need. Will I have any trouble using a 100" screen with a 6.8 foot tall ceiling?

Thanks for all the great info and reviews! I can't wait to make the purchase.

Originally posted by Lava Lamp Freak
I'm close to clicking the buy button on a H31 that comes with a free 100" Elite M100UWH screen. Two questions...

1) Is this a good enough screen or will I want to buy a different screen?
2) My ceiling is 6.8 feet high. Distance is not an issue. I can mount the projector as far away as I need. Will I have any trouble using a 100" screen with a 6.8 foot tall ceiling?

Thanks for all the great info and reviews! I can't wait to make the purchase.

at that screen size the image will start a foot or so above the projector. factor in a ceiling mount and you will have a real low screen, you might be watching your feet.

Lava Lamp Freak,

Distance isn't the problem in your case, it's the ceiling height. Fear not, all is not lost though. I have my H31's lens only 6'4" off of the floor in order to take advantage of the brightness of my High Power screen. I'm about 13' away from a 92" diagonal screen and the screen's bottom sits 10" off the floor. It's a 80" wide by 45" high screen so our eye level is at about the mid-point of the screen.

The zoom lens on my H31 is at the extreme minimum. In other words, I can't go with any smaller than a 92" screen. When I zoom out to make the image larger, it creeps toward the floor. Any larger screen and I would have to tilt the pj up and use keystoning. Even that is not a deal breaker because I observed another AVS member, MAK, who is 15' back from a 110" screen and his ceilings are 7'9". He had to use some tilting and keystoning 4 clicks from 0 and we couldn't detect any degradation of the image at all when comparing keystoning to no keystoning.

With your short ceilings though, I'd go with a smaller screen like the size I'm using.

Good luck!

Wayne

Hook up an S-Video cable from your card to a TV and see if the card detects the TV

Actually this H31 worked fine with a DVI-I cable running in Analog mode.
I found it would not switch to digital mode (the DVI-D button on the remote) so I ordered this expensive Monster cable DVI-D.

So, if I understand what you are getting at...
yes it will run both at the same time, the CRT on the VGA and the H31 on the DVI-A. It will run them both simultaneously in Clone View and Dual View and it will run them as single view and let me switch between them.

The problem I had doing this was there were issues like tearing & scan lines that I hope will be solved by going into Digital mode with the DVI-D.

Today I decided to try something new, so I put two other PC's close enough to hook them up to the DVI-D cable and then try to get them to find the H31.

The machines both have Nvidia cards in them, one is a Ti 4200 and the other is a 5200. Both behave exactly like my HTPC with the FX5900 video.
They act like there is nothing connected to the DVI port at all.

rbastedo,
return your DVI-D cable, there is no need for it if you have a DVI-I cable, DVI-I handles both Digital and Analog signals, so its not the cable, is your source, your video card to be more exact. The reason you cant see anything with the DVI-D cable hooked up cause you are trying to send an analog signal through that and it wont, so as a result you get no image, keep fooling around with your Nvidia Video Software and make sure you have the lastest version of the software and drivers installed and just fool around with the software, you might be able to find something to switch it to Digital, but otherwise contact Nvidia, they should know how to switch it to Digital, hope this helps.

Arty

Thanks, I have emails off to the support people at Optoma & BFG so we will see who responds first.

(Now I'm feeling GREAT about that $100 DVI-D cable I bought)

The response from BFG:

All of our video cards that use DVI ports, use DVI-I. if the digital display only uses DVI-D, there are no guaruntees. Nor is there anything that you can really do. Personally the only manufacturer of this card that I know of that uses DVI-D is Apple

Jim H @ BFG Technical Support

Waiting to hear from Optoma.

Originally posted by mystery
Thanks Jeff!

For married folks this is an important point. It's vital that our significant others share a positive experience in this hobby.

I forgot to mention the blacks and contrast ratio. The blacks are absitively posolutely inky, jet black. Think of black paint when it's wet on a newly painted railing or wrought-iron fence.

As for CR, in a word su perb. Okay that's two words. :) Viewing the H31 is like watching an invisible Master Painter at work.

Wayne

You're better at describing how great the H31 really is than me. The dark chip is significant in making the projector 3D - dark, best blacks equals up to make deeper colors.
Good choice, glad you like the 31.

Someone asked if I've seen problems. Nope nothing at all.

Here is the helpful response I just got from Optoma Tech Support:

Hi Rick,
Using your remote, choose the appropriate source. For example, for DVI, hit the DVI button.

Rick Bastedo wrote:

I received my Monster Cable DVI-D cable today and hooked it up.I am connecting to an HTPC with an Nvidia 5900 video card. I have the 71.84 driver loaded.I hooked up the cable to the DVI port on the video card and to the DVI connection on the H31.My HTPC cannot see the H31 and the H31 continually says: "No Signal Source Lock Enabled".Please help me get this working, if my wife discovers I spent $100 on a cable that doesn't work she will likely grill me over a pit.

Thanks.

Rick Bastedo


These guys are freakin' rocket scientists. :rolleyes:

Tom (or anyone),

I just got another H30 (Optoma swapped out for my buzzing H30) and this one has C07 firmware, which puts the 16:9 image at the top of the 4:3 box (I'm ceiling mounted). My older H30 was C05 and of course put the 16:9 image at the bottom of the 4:3 box.

I can't lower my ceiling mount low enough to put my image back down to my screen, nor can I raise my screen up to it (I'm still 14" away!). The difference between C05 and C07 offset with a widescreen image is something like 20"+ on my small 60" wide screen!

Now, here is my question: I'm considering selling my H30 anyways (I never watch 4:3), so the next owner may prefer the widescreen offset of C07. How does the H31 offset compare to the H30 when the H30 is throwing widescreen? I know it probably won't be like my H30 with C05, but would it be like H30 C07? Or more like in-between C05 and C07 (H30 widescreen offsets)?

I suppose they can't put C05 firmware back on the H30 I have?

Fleaman

Thanks for that Tom.

rbastedo,

You gotta find the humor in this don't you? What a useless response that was. Perhaps you should send him a reply asking what a remote is. :)

One thing I did before buying the H31 was to connect a 17" monitor with a digital input (DVI) to see whether my card would recognize the digital cable. I was relieved to find that it did and I was able to view via clone, simultaneously the two monitors. One via VGA and the other via DVI. I then felt confident that the H31 would be detected and it has been. Is it possible for you to do a similar thing and see if the digital output from your card is actually working properly? I'd say start with a monitor like I did and if the card doesn't recognize that then you can eliminate the H31 as being part of the problem I would think. It seems to me that you've got to get that connection working digitally with something, anything at all just to see if the card is doing what it should. I know your DVI output on the card will send an analog signal as you said but we need to find out whether it will send a digital signal at all and see whether or not the H31 is possibly at fault somehow.

Just a suggestion.

Wayne

Fleaman,

My offset is 16" from the lens center to where the top of the image begins on the screen. I'm 13' back from a 92" diagonal screen using no zoom whatsoever and no keystone adjustment. My H31 actually hangs 16" from the ceiling to the lens center and the screen image starts at the top @ 32" from the ceiling.

Hopefully this will give you an idea of what to expect.

Wayne

Yah - "Remote? WTH is a Re-Mote???"

I don't even know anyone with a digital monitor I could borrow.

Any suggestions?
I guess I can look on Ebay and see if I can buy a used one, then if worse comes to worse I could just sell it again.

Here is the latest from BFG- makes me wonder if there is a driver for the Optoma??:

Rick,

If you look at the Driver for the monitor in the Device Manager. Select "Update Drivers", and select to update the driver manually. Uncheck "Show compatible hardware", then scroll all the way to the top. You can select an appropriate 'Digital Flat Panel Display' of the correct footprint size. This should do it, however, if there's a driver for that monitor, you may simply try downloading it to the computer now that the NVIDIA driver is present, then shut off the system and connect it again. It should be getting a Digital signal through the DVI-D cable... (Monster = Good brand!)

Regards,

Mark S @ BFG Technical Support

At least you got a reasonably useful reply from BFG, even if it ends up not helping! :)

After many many many hours of lurking here and months of research I finally bought the H31 last week from AVS. It will be arriving tomorrow along with my Da-Lite HCCV fabric. Can't wait! Couple questions:

- What is the best DVI DVD player to buy and works best with this pj? I know I should stay away from the sammy; are the Zenith/LG or toshiba any good? I am leaning towards the Panny s97, but it is out of stock everywhere. Also, please comment on these too; Sony NS975, Denon 1910, Bravo D2, or momitsu?
- I am confused about what cables to buy. What DVI cable do I need? should I buy an HDMI cable and use adaptors if I go panny s97?

Hope to be enjoying this pj soon! AND just wanted to say Jason at AVS is the best to deal with.

Wayne,
Nice writeup!! Enjoyed it. Man, I'm loading up so many hours on my H31. I think that I'm near the 200hr mark or so. Yep, I feel like I'm opening a new toy as well everytime I fire it up. Question: In 1.66 mode with 4:3 dvds, how much screen real estate are you losing on the sides of the image due to the pillar bars? I remember that earlier you stated that it was only a couple of inches or so, but maybe that was because you were watching a dvd that was mastered in 1.66.

ultraman,
The Panny S97 might be your best bet. I have a Zenith 318, but there are some issues, some of which can be solved by switching the firmware. It doesn't get rid of the pixel cropping problem, however. I've heard bad things about the Sony unit, and generally good things about the Bravo D2 and the Momitsu. The D2 allows for custom resolutions, but I think Tom said that it won't do 854/480, only 848/480. If you don't have a need to run analog signals over the dvi cable, then get a dvi-d cable. If you do need analog as well, then get dvi-i, the quality should be the same. I think single link cables are all that's needed, but I got a dual link. If you get the Panny, you'll have to use hdmi with an adapter.

jedi,

I'm glad you liked my review. People really have to see this H31 to believe it. I thought my screen images were terrific with my X1 and for the money they were but it's like an Etch-A-Sketch compared to the H31.

I was surprised that the bars are as large as they are given that I had seen so little of them using a native AR 1.66:1 DVD with my X1. Perhaps you are right in that the H31 is adapting 1.33:1 to a 1.66:1 AR and that might explain the difference. Another reason for the differential may be that my X1 was a 4:3 native AR pj whereas of course the H31 is native 16:9.

I've only been 'stretching' 4:3 DVDs to the 1.66:1 AR and I haven't yet popped in the 'Clockwise' movie to compare what a real 1.66:1 AR looks like on this pj. I'll do that this week and report back to you as I'm also curious about that.

Rick(rbastedo),

Do what I did. Go to your nearest Costco or some other reputable dealer and purchase a monitor with a DVI input so that you can do your comparison. I would have kept it but it didn't appear to me to be that much better than the monitor I already had so I returned it. However, while I had it I did learn that my nVIDIA card readily recognized the digital input of the monitor so it was a worthwhile endeavor even if I didn't buy it.

Ultraman,

I also have the LG/Zenith player and I've calibrated it with AVIA to show just awesomely on the H31. You should see regular 4:3 DVDs upconverted to 1080i on the H31. Absolutely beautiful.

Having said that though, I prefer using my HTPC for movies but I'll put my vote in for you trying out the LG/Zenith. The Panny is a great player too and I'd recommend getting a HDMI to DVI cable if you go that route.

Wayne

Wayne

Originally posted by ultraman206
After many many many hours of lurking here and months of research I finally bought the H31 last week from AVS. It will be arriving tomorrow along with my Da-Lite HCCV fabric. Can't wait! Couple questions:

- What is the best DVI DVD player to buy and works best with this pj? I know I should stay away from the sammy; are the Zenith/LG or toshiba any good? I am leaning towards the Panny s97, but it is out of stock everywhere. Also, please comment on these too; Sony NS975, Denon 1910, Bravo D2, or momitsu?
- I am confused about what cables to buy. What DVI cable do I need? should I buy an HDMI cable and use adaptors if I go panny s97?

Hope to be enjoying this pj soon! AND just wanted to say Jason at AVS is the best to deal with.

I was able to match up 854X480 with the Bravo D2. The Oppo player looks promising also when they add support for turning off EE of the Faroudja chip. They say they will next firmware. I had the Oppo player and loved the speed it was a solid player and they fixed all my beefs except the EE. Once that's fixed I get one again in a heart beat.

Both of these are DVI-I.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I actually went to *Local AV Store* after work today and found myself a store-demo Panasonic DVD-S97S and bought it for *Good Price*... soooo happy! Definitely will give a report once everything is set up.

I went with a Denon 1910. Will be getting it Thursday. Wish me luck.

Wolfie

Well, here's to another notch on the H31 pole. I finally ordered one myself, let the--uh, sitting and watching and general lack of physical activity--begin!

Originally posted by Wolfie
I went with a Denon 1910. Will be getting it Thursday. Wish me luck.

Wolfie

I have one, as well as a Pioneer, and the 1910 is great! There is a huge difference in the PQ, but you do have a little green you need to fix.

ultraman206,

That is great that you were able to pick up the Panasonic DVD-S97 I think you are going to be very happy with the picture. Make sure you connect to your H31 via HDMI (Player) to DVI (projector). The way I have mine set up is a HDMI-HDMI cable and then a HDMI-DVI adapter connecting it to the H31 (see picture below). Also make sure you go over to the DVD forum and update you firmware to 540. In the DVD forum you will see a thread titled "Panasonic DVD-S97 Firmware Thread", you need to go to the first post and there you will see the link to download the firmware. I saved mine to my desk top and then burned it to a CD-R. I then stuck the CD-R in my player and it automatically updated my firmware to 540. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

Jeff

Originally posted by digitalmonkeyman
There is a huge difference in the PQ, but you do have a little green you need to fix.

Hmmm...I'm in the dark about this comment. Please elaborate.

Wolfie

Hi all,
I want to get an H31.
The question is where.
Dealtime and others list the prices from <snip> (don't want to mention prices)

Vendors I know and have good luck with over many years are in the higher range.
I don?t find spending $15-$20 more to buy from them, but $75 - $80 seems a bit much.

Are the very cheap ones referbs?

The trouble I have with ?store reviews? on the low price guys is that they look phony. Many great reviews and a very bad one, then the pattern repeats. On some shopping sites, No middle ground at all.
If you?ve ever dealt the surveys in the real world this won?t happen. I?m guessing their competitors write the bad one, and the vendors have the great ones written.

What do others do about picking low cost vendors.

Is there a forum where people name names without hidden agendas?

TIA
- j

Jefftaz: thanks for the advice. I will download the latest firmware asap! Question: How can I tell what version firmware is currently on the machine? Also, I was under the assumption the pj will come with a DVI to HDMI adaptor already (as indicated in the manual)?

jltv: It is not always the best to go with the lowest price you see online. I too was tempted to go with the lowest priced retailer I saw; but I realized this isn't like ordering any ol furniture or something online... It is electronics. And for that I placed customer service way over price.

Some key points to consider:
- Customer support; both before and after the sale. In my case I felt 100x better after talking to and eventually ordering from a friendly and knowledgable person. He even went above and beyond my expectations with prompt and curteous emails as follow-ups.
- Make sure they are Optoma Authorized dealers. I am sure if and when I do contact Optoma for warranty I will not be hassled. I would also assume these dealers are not selling Bstock.
- Return Policy. I would think this is the most important point for any online purchases. Make sure you ask about their policies before buying.

My recommendation would be to check out optoma's dealers site (optomausa.com/optomausa/public/buy.jsp) and choose from there. Check out Visual Apex; excellent price, free shipping, and they are giving a free 100" diagonal screen with purchase! Too bad I live in Washington and have to pay uncle sam if I went that route. :)
In the end I went with Jason at AVS. I orded my pj, along with Da Lite HCCV fabric for my DIY screen, last Wednesday and it should be arriving today! I just wanted to say Jason and AVS is one of the best places to do business with bar none. I highly recommend going this route.

-Thomas

Thomas,

To see the current Panasonic S97 firmware press and hold on the player the buttons "PAUSE" + "OPEN" and press the "7" button on the remote. The full version will be displayed on the florescent read out and the last 3 numbers on the right is the version number.

Unfortunately the H31 does not come with the DVI to HDMI adapter. I got mine at pccables.com for a very reasonable price.

Jeff

Originally posted by Wolfie
Hmmm...I'm in the dark about this comment. Please elaborate.

Wolfie

The Quality of the Pic is GREAT, but there is a little of what I believe is called 'green push'. Even on the menu screen, where the words are white, you can see some green edges when you first hook it up. And in some really green scenes, the browns took on a slight green tint.
I was able to overcome this usung the advanced menu's in the H31.
It is just an 'out of the box' issue.

I just bought my Pioneer DVD and then upgraded to the 1910, but missed the return window from my online etailer for the Pio, so now I have 2 brand new DVD players, but would DEFINATELY recommend the 1910.

I LOVE this PJ!

jltv,

Be careful about mentioning prices and dealers. It's forbidden according to forum rules and it could get this thread closed by the moderators.

I'm really glad that you're looking at getting this pj. Try to ensure that you purchase from a reputable dealer who's authorized by Optoma. And if you can get a really good price, that's icing on the cake! :)

Wayne

mystery,
thanks, I just pulled prices from my post. 'authorized by Optoma' ahh, that must be it. Good ole' gray market dealers.

Off to check the Optoma site for a dealer list.

-j