Sorry guys, my conscience has got the better of me and won't allow me to give away numbers that could potentially take bread off of guys tables.
Just finished watching House of Flying Daggers and a ballgame. OOTB I thought WOW! After calibration I'm thinking WHOA! Contrast, depth, detail, skin tone & color accuracy is amazing. I liked the pq OOTB but man there's no going back. The only problem is the screen is now too small because the picture iis genuinely theater quality. Its expensive but I am going to have alot of fun watching movies on this thing. Two words- GET CALIBRATED

Weak.

I have an idea. How about a compromise? Why don't you give your numbers (via PM) to the fine fellows who were kind enough to take the vast amounts of time it took (time=$) to share the wealth of information that was integral in your decision to purchase this beautiful piece of, now-calibrated machinery. Then only a few will have the privilege vs. anyone with an internet connection.

Sounds good to me. Whatdya'' think?

Sketch... always thinking!

I was using my precious 'hold time' at work to answer things...lol. I only get 15mins a day.

Weak.

I have an idea. How about a compromise? Why don't you give your numbers (via PM) to the fine fellows who were kind enough to take the vast amounts of time it took (time=$) to share the wealth of information that was integral in your decision to purchase this beautiful piece of, now-calibrated machinery. Then only a few will have the privilege vs. anyone with an internet connection.

Sounds good to me. Whatdya'' think?
Nice try, but I'll be surprised if he's ever back -- unless he has a problem and needs advice.
:rolleyes:

hey guys! I've been saving to get a Sammy 5067 dlp, but now my interest is piqued! Can any of you compare the optomo with the sammy? i gotta say, aesthetically, I think the sammy is a little ahead, but that's not the #1 priority.
thanks!
ps. anywhere to see the optomo in the nyc area?

Why is the price more than double for the 65a??????

Why is the price more than double for the 65a??????
What are you talking about? Link?

hey guys! I've been saving to get a Sammy 5067 dlp, but now my interest is piqued! Can any of you compare the optomo with the sammy? i gotta say, aesthetically, I think the sammy is a little ahead, but that's not the #1 priority.
thanks!
ps. anywhere to see the optomo in the nyc area?
It's Optoma, BTW.

You should try calling Optoma directly at 888-289-6786. They will probably put you in touch with a regional sales manager who can tell you about some local stores to see the Optoma at. You may end up looking at the next version up, the SV50XF, at a custom audio/visual store, instead of your local CC or BB.

Also, I did a brief check at BB's website for the Sammy 5067, and I can tell you now that there is no difference in picture quality or performance between the two that is worth $1000.

thanks UCSBSuperfan! The 5067 can be had right around the 2k mark online, so about 400 diff. (that's a calibration!!). i'll try to hunt one down to check out...

thanks UCSBSuperfan! The 5067 can be had right around the 2k mark online, so about 400 diff. (that's a calibration!!). i'll try to hunt one down to check out...
Don't forget to compare after taxes and shipping is added on.

i would get a professional in to look at it. just tell them you're very unsatisfied with the picture. don't get too specific and try to troubleshoot it (i.e. don't shoot yourself in the foot). they'll either fix it right, or maybe give you a new one...

I have a samsung 841 dvd player attached to the 480i port on the 50a. I have noticed that after watching for 30 mintues or so I loose video completely. You see the image go blury a bit then it drops. I get the blue screen as though nothing was attached to the input. A power cycle of the player clears things up for a little while.

I have moved the cables to the HD ports and everything works fine. I thougt it was the dvd player but now it looks like its the TV. I think I tried a couple of discs. Any thoughts on this?

I have a samsung 841 dvd player attached to the 480i port on the 50a. I have noticed that after watching for 30 mintues or so I loose video completely. You see the image go blury a bit then it drops. I get the blue screen as though nothing was attached to the input. A power cycle of the player clears things up for a little while.

I have moved the cables to the HD ports and everything works fine. I thougt it was the dvd player but now it looks like its the TV. I think I tried a couple of discs. Any thoughts on this?
Call Optoma. Maybe they send a technician, maybe they send a replacement TV.

I thought I read somewhere else a rumor that VA was going to offer the 65A, but don't rely on it. Right now the 65A is not cost effective and any mention of a better deal is hearsay. I would have liked to get the 65A, but I couldn't wait for it to be affordable. I also still watch some low quality stuff, and I was concerned about it being blown up from 50" to 65".

Just an update as I am in the same boat with a basement finishing project. Here is what a rep from VA e-mailed me today:

"Unfortunately, I received discouraging news from Optoma. There is no ETA for the RD65A or replacement. We can only hope they have a replacement in the works, but they have not been able to confirm nor deny that. Wish I had another to offer you, but in this category, we do not. We still have the RD50A at $xxxx plus shipping & stand if you want one. Could that work for you?"

It looks like the RD50A for me wo/stand. I also plan to rent the DVE from Blockbuster. Any other suggestions?

Just an update as I am in the same boat with a basement finishing project. Here is what a rep from VA e-mailed me today:

"Unfortunately, I received discouraging news from Optoma. There is no ETA for the RD65A or replacement. We can only hope they have a replacement in the works, but they have not been able to confirm nor deny that. Wish I had another to offer you, but in this category, we do not. We still have the RD50A at $xxxx plus shipping & stand if you want one. Could that work for you?"

It looks like the RD50A for me wo/stand. I also plan to rent the DVE from Blockbuster. Any other suggestions?
Did you pay for a RD-65A? I'm afraid I don't understand your post because VA never offered a RD-65A to my knowledge. I think the word "replacement" is confusing me.

As far as other suggestions, check out the black Prima swivel top tv stand from Best Buy.

Did you pay for a RD-65A? I'm afraid I don't understand your post because VA never offered a RD-65A to my knowledge. I think the word "replacement" is confusing me.

As far as other suggestions, check out the black Prima swivel top tv stand from Best Buy.

Thanks for the recommendation. No, I have not yet purchased any unit. I was holding out for the 65A from VA, but will now purchase the 50A. I am building this unit into a wall on a 26" high platform with components below, so don't need the stand. I think what the rep from VA was saying was that they don't expect to get the 65A nor do they know of any newer "replacement" models for the 65A. Only a guess. What seems clear is that VA will not be carrying the 65A anytime soon. :(

The following is what my plan is for placement of the RD50A. My sitting height of my eyes (not reclining) is 44 inches, and my 26" platform plus 9" to the bottom of the screen means the bottom of the screen will be 35" off the floor and the top of the screen will be 62" off the floor. This is on a 104" high wall. Even though the height of my eyes are in the lower third of the screen, the unit seems too low to the ground to me, but people warn me about placing higher. Any thoughts on the placement as I have the ability to place it at any point in the wall?

Thanks for the recommendation. No, I have not yet purchased any unit. I was holding out for the 65A from VA, but will now purchase the 50A. I am building this unit into a wall on a 26" high platform with components below, so don't need the stand. I think what the rep from VA was saying was that they don't expect to get the 65A nor do they know of any newer "replacement" models for the 65A. Only a guess. What seems clear is that VA will not be carrying the 65A anytime soon. :(

The following is what my plan is for placement of the RD50A. My sitting height of my eyes (not reclining) is 44 inches, and my 26" platform plus 9" to the bottom of the screen means the bottom of the screen will be 35" off the floor and the top of the screen will be 62" off the floor. This is on a 104" high wall. Even though the height of my eyes are in the lower third of the screen, the unit seems too low to the ground to me, but people warn me about placing higher. Any thoughts on the placement as I have the ability to place it at any point in the wall?
Again, the word "replacement" confuses me because the tv is brand new, and there are no newer models to replace it with, unless they're talking about the SV65XF. I think they must be talking about the RD65H that they stopped selling and were looking for the RD65A to replace it.

About your setup, it is only 3" higher than mine (with the swivel top stand) so I think you are good with anything ranging from 20" (the height of the matching Optoma stand) to 26". And the further you sit back I think minimizes the viewing angle effect. If you are 8' away you should go with 20", if you are 12' away you can put it as high as you want to.

My original stand was 24" high and the actual PQ was the same now as being on my 8" high stand (i have a low couch). The drop from being below the optimal screen height was only BARELY noticeable, and you couldn't tell til you stood up.

You should be fine.

By 'replacement' I think he means that VA doesn't have any incoming 65" DLP based stock that they could recommend as a replacement choice to the 65A since they have no ETA. Thats all.

I pulled the trigger and order the RD50A from visual apex on Wednesday. They said that it would be shipping through DHL/Danzas and gave me a number to call to track the package. The only problem is when I call the number provided (800-426-5962) it gives me a welcome message but then goes blank.
Anyone else have this problem when trying to track the tv?

I had some weird issues calling DHL/DANZAS (google their name for their website) at first but then it started working. I dont think their system is setup for high call volume well and it has a bad route somewhere cause sometimes I'd get dead air, others it'd go right through.

I can say though when I did speak to a rep they were very helpful, and my shippnig with them in general was excellent.

I think their site is http://us.danzas.com or somethingl ike that.

The Optoma 65" dlp that I ordered on May 23rd just arrived today. It's model number is FRRD-65BXXR. Other people here who ordered from the same place (a) got theirs a lot sooner, and (b) got a different model number - RD65 (not "A" or "B") I believe. Does anyone know where I can find information about that set? I can't even find that model number on Optoma.com and I'm wondering which chipset it has.

In any event, I can't wait to hook it up tonight and I'll report the results next week.

Nate

The Optoma 65" dlp that I ordered on May 23rd just arrived today. It's model number is FRRD-65BXXR. Other people here who ordered from the same place (a) got theirs a lot sooner, and (b) got a different model number - RD65 (not "A" or "B") I believe. Does anyone know where I can find information about that set? I can't even find that model number on Optoma.com and I'm wondering which chipset it has.

In any event, I can't wait to hook it up tonight and I'll report the results next week.

Nate
You should try calling Optoma directly at 888-289-6786.

Thanks for the suggestion and phone number - I called and their technical support people did not know anything about the RD-65B. They suggested I call back with the serial number and they could look up my TV with that, but the guy had never heard of a 65B (and asked around to no avail).

The guy was very polite and all - I'm not complaining or trying to criticize the company at all. I'll call back next week when I get back to the office and let yall know.

I don't have an HD source hooked up yet, but the Optoma RD-65B looks great for DVDs and SD cable. The SD cable looks markedly better with this set than my Toshiba H82 (I think that is the model number), but that comparison is perhaps unfair because I had adelphia with the Toshiba and now have Comcase with the Optoma.

I am pleased so far, but I'm still curious to know more about the "B" model number.

Nate

Did you try giving them the serial number from the TV and have them look it up that way?

Very odd on the B... the manual that came w/ it is it the standard RD50/RD65 manual?

Hey, I own the rd 65a. I must tell you that it will not say that on the back of the tv. It will say rd65xxxx.....!!! Feel free to call optoma. I had this same scare except the first one they sent me was in indeed a "regular" rd 65. So, do not worry. Also, the rd65a makes a louder whine than the regular rd65. Hard to explain. Also, you can hook up an HDCP compliant device on the dvi. If it works you are ok. I must say having both the 65 and the 65a there honestly wasn't that much of a difference. HDCP was my main reason for upgrade. I am glad I have owned 3 optoma's at this poiint. Best tv I have seen anywhere!!!!! People always say WHOA!!!!!!! who makes that!! Optoma!!......they say Optimus.......I just laugh and say yea something like that. Do not want them to become too big and raise prices.

After 6 weeks of trying to educate myself on this decision, I am going to take the plunge and get the RD50A from VA tomorrow based largely on the universal satisfaction expressed in this thread relative to the price.

I have a question about cables. I have gathered that most of the high dollar stuff is overkill marketed to the gullible, but I have not been able to figure out exactly what I *do* need in the way of types and quality of connection cables to get optimal performance.

Can someone bring me up to speed and give me some recommendations?

Also, what is the general attitude regarding purchasing the extended warranties? Should I go with the 4 year to make sure the first bulb replacement is covered? Should I skip the extended warrantly altogether?

Thanks!

After 6 weeks of trying to educate myself on this decision, I am going to take the plunge and get the RD50A from VA tomorrow based largely on the universal satisfaction expressed in this thread relative to the price.

I have a question about cables. I have gathered that most of the high dollar stuff is overkill marketed to the gullible, but I have not been able to figure out exactly what I *do* need in the way of types and quality of connection cables to get optimal performance.

Can someone bring me up to speed and give me some recommendations?

Also, what is the general attitude regarding purchasing the extended warranties? Should I go with the 4 year to make sure the first bulb replacement is covered? Should I skip the extended warrantly altogether?

Thanks!
About cables, there have been 2 places I went to: Ram (forum sponsor) and monoprice.com. I have been impressed with both, and monoprice is the most affordable you will find (I won't say cheap because I was impressed by their quality for the price).

EDIT: For "optimal" performance I am sure the high end cables are the best, however there is a debate over how much of a difference is there between a $10 cable and $100 cable when the run is less than 10'.

About extended warranties, buy it with an AMEX card that will double the warranty. Also the bulb is generally not covered by an extended warranty unless the it is a bulb replacement extended warranty, so read the fine print. At this point I have not bought an extended warranty. AFAIK, most extended warranties just have to be purchased before the original manufacturer's warranty runs out (6 months for the bulb and 1 year for the tv).

I was wondering if there was a noticeable picture quality difference from using the DVI output rather than component cables for a DVD hookup.
I was thinking about purchasing a HDMI to DVI video cable but saw an apparent price difference.

Hey guys new to the forum here.

Quick question for you. I am considering buying this set, however my budget will not allow for me to upgrade the sound system immediatly. I did not see anyone mention how the existing sound is on the set. Is it passable for 3 to 4 months?

Thanks

I'm perhaps not the best person to ask because I'm not at all an audiophile, but to me the sound system is pretty much the same as any other television. I have my set hooked up to an inexpensive surround sound system, but I don't use it unless I'm watching sports, movies, or action shows, etc. For every day TV, the set seems fine - no noticable problems with the speakers (although the TV's fan is sometimes noticable).

Hi! I see Costco has the RD50 (I don't think its the "A") What are the differences? Its at the same price as VA for the 50A.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?whse=BC&topnav=&prodid=11000950&ec=BC-EC1434-Cat4848&pos=0F

Ok, I have been playing around with my DVD player and was wondering what the best settings for it is. I switched my player from S-Video to Progressive Scan. Then I noticed a couple settings I was unsure about.
One was called TV Type and lists PAL, Multi, NTSC. I do not know what these options are but NTSC is selected. Should I keep it here or should it be switched to one of the other two?
Next, I came across "SPDIF Output" where it listed SPDIF Off, SPDIF/RAW, PCM/48K and PCM/96k. It is currently on SPDIF/RAW. Once again if it should be on another settings, let me know.

cuscott - I thought the sound quality was very rich and would gladly listen to it if I didnt have surround sound.

PS - I love the tv. Its frickin' HUGE.

Hey, I own the rd 65a. I must tell you that it will not say that on the back of the tv. It will say rd65xxxx.....!!! Feel free to call optoma. I had this same scare except the first one they sent me was in indeed a "regular" rd 65. So, do not worry. Also, the rd65a makes a louder whine than the regular rd65. Hard to explain. Also, you can hook up an HDCP compliant device on the dvi. If it works you are ok. I must say having both the 65 and the 65a there honestly wasn't that much of a difference. HDCP was my main reason for upgrade. I am glad I have owned 3 optoma's at this poiint. Best tv I have seen anywhere!!!!! People always say WHOA!!!!!!! who makes that!! Optoma!!......they say Optimus.......I just laugh and say yea something like that. Do not want them to become too big and raise prices.


I thought the RD65A wasn't out yet? I thought it was only the RD65 and the RD65H

I thought the RD65A wasn't out yet? I thought it was only the RD65 and the RD65H
The RD65A came out at the same time as the RD50A, it has just been ridiculously expensive.

Gotcha... that explains when I cant find it...lol.

I love my RD50A... its official. Action movies + boomin' speakers + RD50A = good stuff.

is there a significant difference in pq between the 50 and the 50a??

I am really interested in this tv. Is the lack of a hdtv tuner a big deal? How else would you get the primetime stations (ABC/NBC/FOX/CBS) in HDTV? If I get the DISHNETWORK HD Pkg; would that have it?

Thanks in advance!

Yeah it just doesn't have an HDTV over the air tuner already installed... but with any cable/satellite HD service you'd get whatever they're offering.

The TV is 'HDTV ready' which means if you have any type of HD input it'll work (component, HDMI/DVI) just fine.

I have COX and I get the big 4 (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) plus INHD/INHD2/ESPNHD/DiscoveryHD/UNVHD and PBSHD I believe (I cant think offhand if I get any others).

Taken from DISCOVERYHD using component (before I changed to HDMI)
http://www.lockdownhosting.com/images/sunset.jpg

is there a significant difference in pq between the 50 and the 50a??
There should be. The old 50 has the HD2 chip, while the new 50A has the HD2+ chip. The old 50 has a 6 segment color wheel and the new 50A has a seven segment color wheel.

However, I have not seen a side by side comparison between the two. I'm sure the 50 is a good tv, however the 50A is the improved version of the 50.

thanks - the 50 is at a great price at costco, and with their return policy, it may not be a bad set to take a look at.

How *good* is the SD tv quality? I will be watching a lot of it.

As far as costoc; the tv only shows up online. They are charing $200 shipping ;which kinda kills the deal.

I have a quick question. One of my friends let me check out his optoma rd50a. I really liked the picture, dvds looked awesome, 720p looked great, xbox looked great. The one issue i had was when he set the direct tv reciever to 1080i. It was really really flickery, especially noticable in the guide menu. He has it hooked up with a dvi cable. Is this just what 1080i looks like normally or does this tv have problems with that type of signal? I have a little 32 inch tube hdtv and i have never seen anything that flickery so i dont think its the reciever. Anyone else noticed this, or do you all just have it set to 720p?

Anyone else noticed this, or do you all just have it set to 720p?

Horst: I own a RD65, and i have Comcast HD-DVR set up to the composite HD2 input bank. No flicker issues here, and that's on the lower-tech RD65. I did notice that if I powered up the TV on an HD channel already going through the AMP, sometimes a light blue gradient banding would occur on the top 2 inches of the screen. It looked as if the black went to a light blue in those tope few inches. This was with the HD box set to 1080i output. If I switched inputs to one of the ANT input banks, then right back to the HD2 bank, the color gradient was gone completely. It acted like the input just needed to 'reset' or something. I mentioned this to Optoma, and they had never heard of this before, but recommended I change the box output to 720p, as that was the 'true native setting' of the board. When I did this, the gradient issue has never been seen again.

Weird, I know. But no flicker!! :)

Hope this helps you... I honestly couldn't be happier with my TV. I have had it since Mid-May and I am still ocnstantly amazed at the detail and picture quality of this set..... and it's not even the A model!!

yes, $200 for shipping, but they will come in and basically set it up for you.

also, if you return it at some point in the future (for whatever reason), they will return the shipping $$ as well. not bad....

Hey guys I was just curious how the speakers sound on the rd50a, since optoma usually does not deal in audio that I know of any how. I'm trying to talk my girlfriend into letting me buy this. She wants a new kitchen floor, I want a big tv. I hope I win :-) This is the only tv review that I read, where everything is positives and no negatives. I know this tv has just come out a few months ago so I'm a little concerned about how reliable it will be. I'm also curious if anyone knows how long the bulbs will last? And can you sit the tv on the floor or would I be better off getting the Ikea stand? sorry for all the questions/


thanks in advance

Any more update on the non HDTV content quality?

I have COX cable using an HDMI output. I have no problems with flicker on the menu's or in show on either HD or SD.

As for SD quality... its fine. I mean you can see the grainyness obviously from being 50" in analog signal, but the quality is just fine. I watch quite a few non-HD shows on a regular basis and I dont get bothered. I even zoom them to be full screen too and its not bad. Its obviously noticeable, but I watch THE 4400, Dead Zone, Over There, Rescue Me, Battlestar Galactica, etc all in SD every week and its just fine.

I can get a pic of an SD vs HD version of a show if you'd like at some point. I'll just record NBC or something in HD and SD at the same time and freeze em at the beginning and snap shot em and you decide.

So its not normal for this TV to get soo much shimmering on a 1080i signal? It looks pretty bad, especially compared to how great 720p is .

I do not currently have anything to convert my signal from Analog to Digital for a HD picture. I was planning on doing that once I got moved into my apartment and saw what kind of cable company they were working with.
If I had a DVD player that had a 720p signal, could I have it directly connected to the tv without having to go through some kind of STB to convert it?

PS - How do you use a HMDI output? Do you go from DVI to HDMI?

The analog signal is actually going to look better in just analog straight to your TV than being analog converted to digital (channels 1-99 on my providers are analog and if you watch it off your digital box, then straight from the wall it actually looks better straight from the wall).

What I do is I hooked up the splitter that came with the TV and have one wire going to my HD-DVR and the other straight into the TV. I watch channels 1-99 (if I'm watching them live) straight on the TV TUNER and then channels 100-900 through the box or if I'm watching something recorded obviously from the box.

Your DVD player should be fine... just turn progressive scan on and hook it straight into the HD1/HD2 ports on the back of the TV. It'll take care of the rest.

Yes... I have an HDMI to DVI/D cable that goes from my cable box straight to the PC1 input on the back of the TV.

Dave

ps Horst... no thats not normal. Mine looks just fine and my Cox HD-DVR box is always set to 1080i

I have 2 questions. #1 Does anyone know how many hours the bulb is suppose to last? #2 Our the speakers decent sounding. thanks

I think they say 10,000hrs according to OPTOMA but nobody has owned theirs long enough to give you a real comparison.

Yes the speakers are fine... I used them playing my various PS2/XBOX games w/ no problems at decent volumes. But it also has a MONITOR OUT option where you can output to your reciever or whatever.

yes, $200 for shipping, but they will come in and basically set it up for you.

also, if you return it at some point in the future (for whatever reason), they will return the shipping $$ as well. not bad....
Don't forget to add in tax.

Shipping plus tax plus older tv is worse deal than $100 shipping, no tax and the newer tv for the same price at VisualApex, IMO.

The analog signal is actually going to look better in just analog straight to your TV than being analog converted to digital (channels 1-99 on my providers are analog and if you watch it off your digital box, then straight from the wall it actually looks better straight from the wall).

What I do is I hooked up the splitter that came with the TV and have one wire going to my HD-DVR and the other straight into the TV. I watch channels 1-99 (if I'm watching them live) straight on the TV TUNER and then channels 100-900 through the box or if I'm watching something recorded obviously from the box.

Your DVD player should be fine... just turn progressive scan on and hook it straight into the HD1/HD2 ports on the back of the TV. It'll take care of the rest.

Yes... I have an HDMI to DVI/D cable that goes from my cable box straight to the PC1 input on the back of the TV.

Dave

ps Horst... no thats not normal. Mine looks just fine and my Cox HD-DVR box is always set to 1080i
Just to add to what Dave said:

If your area has digital simulcasting, then only 1-32 are analog. Also, almost all the local channels have a HD channel, so for my situation there is only one analog channel that I watch. Most cable providers are moving toward going all digital.

Regarding 1080i or 720p, when I had the STB hooked up to the tv with component cables, I had to set the STB to 1080i because it just didn't work with setting it to 720p. Now that I have it hooked up with DVI-D, I can set the STB to 1080i or 720p with no noticeable difference. The best situation would be if your STB has a "pass through" setting, but my Motorola 6412 HD-DVR from Comcast does not have that feature.

I think they say 10,000hrs according to OPTOMA but nobody has owned theirs long enough to give you a real comparison.

Yes the speakers are fine... I used them playing my various PS2/XBOX games w/ no problems at decent volumes. But it also has a MONITOR OUT option where you can output to your reciever or whatever.
Optoma does say 10,000 hours, but that is in a clean room kept at a constant temp with constant humidity with the tv never beign turned off. It seems like owners of other tv's report bulb life at about half of what is reported, but everyone's situation is different.

Also, I was impressed with the tv's speakers, and that was all I used for the first few weeks until I had my HT speakers set up.

yes, the R50A may be a better deal *today*, but if something goes wrong down the road, I have better protection with Costco.

Still not sure...

OK, so I bought a Sammy 46" HLP series DLP a few weeks ago, and already I've got a whiny color wheel. I called CC (where I bought the set and the service plan) to set up an appt. That was a hassle, and it sounds like more hassle is coming, since they didn't schedule anything and they're having a farmed-out company call me "within 2 business days" to set up a repair. The 30-day window for a straight-up return ends 8/16, so these guys have until 8/14 to get the set in perfect working order, or back it goes.

Now, the reason I'm posting this here is that I've been leaning towards returning the Sammy anyway and getting the 50A from VA. Probably the 2 biggest things working against the Optoma are:
1) Warranty/service. Getting the set shipped to me is a concern because I don't have a nearby store where I can go in and tell the manager what's for face-to-face if the set has problems. I see that VA has $200-300 worth of warranty (2 or 4 years) available, and that would likely be similar to the outsourced deal I'm seeing from CC with the Sammy. So, I guess that's a wash, although CC's warranty *does* cover bulb replacement.

2) Video inputs. The Sammy has both DVI and HDMI inputs - that's sweet. The HD cable box can feed right into the HDMI, and then I can use and HDMI-to-DVI cable to hook up the HD DVD. The 50A doesn't appear to have that capability, with only a DVI-D input, from a digital standpoint.

Can someone convince me that the 50A is still the way to go, with regard to these two factors? Specifically, with this being the 50A owners' thread, how many of you guys have had to have your set serviced, and how convenient/effective was that? And on the DVI input, I have no idea how expensive a DVI switcher is, but I'm sure there's gotta be a few 50A owners out there who use one and can let me know if they've had any issues, etc.

Much thanks for everyone's time and consideration in advance.

The optoma 50 at costco is on sale for $1500 this week (8/8-8/14).. Might not be a bad deal if there is a Costco nearby..

I wish they sold the RD50A model :(

The optoma 50 at costco is on sale for $1500 this week (8/8-8/14).. Might not be a bad deal if there is a Costco nearby..
Doesn't matter if one is nearby, since they only sell it online. Also, since it has been an on-again, off-again thing with the website I wouldn't be surprised if they are selling you returned orders. (i.e. They sell out their stock, take the listing down from their website, get a few returns, start offering on their website again.)

OK, so I bought a Sammy 46" HLP series DLP a few weeks ago, and already I've got a whiny color wheel. I called CC (where I bought the set and the service plan) to set up an appt. That was a hassle, and it sounds like more hassle is coming, since they didn't schedule anything and they're having a farmed-out company call me "within 2 business days" to set up a repair. The 30-day window for a straight-up return ends 8/16, so these guys have until 8/14 to get the set in perfect working order, or back it goes.

Now, the reason I'm posting this here is that I've been leaning towards returning the Sammy anyway and getting the 50A from VA. Probably the 2 biggest things working against the Optoma are:
1) Warranty/service. Getting the set shipped to me is a concern because I don't have a nearby store where I can go in and tell the manager what's for face-to-face if the set has problems. I see that VA has $200-300 worth of warranty (2 or 4 years) available, and that would likely be similar to the outsourced deal I'm seeing from CC with the Sammy. So, I guess that's a wash, although CC's warranty *does* cover bulb replacement.

2) Video inputs. The Sammy has both DVI and HDMI inputs - that's sweet. The HD cable box can feed right into the HDMI, and then I can use and HDMI-to-DVI cable to hook up the HD DVD. The 50A doesn't appear to have that capability, with only a DVI-D input, from a digital standpoint.

Can someone convince me that the 50A is still the way to go, with regard to these two factors? Specifically, with this being the 50A owners' thread, how many of you guys have had to have your set serviced, and how convenient/effective was that? And on the DVI input, I have no idea how expensive a DVI switcher is, but I'm sure there's gotta be a few 50A owners out there who use one and can let me know if they've had any issues, etc.

Much thanks for everyone's time and consideration in advance.
I think that the deal is enough reason to buy the RD50A. But if you need more reasons, read back through the whole thread and look for those who experienced manufacturer's defects. AFAIK, there really was only one poster who had a defective tv and Optoma shipped him a new tv purely based on the phone conversation the poster had with them (no service tech was ever sent out!).

I admit that another DVI or HDMI input would be nice (in my case, for future connections).

Called 4 Costcos in my area (Staten Island) - none had it in stock. At one of them the lady told me that they no longer carry that particular item. I would say this is an online deal only.

EDIT: and always keep in mind that since Costcos are everywhere you will get charged tax plus shipping.

Called 4 Costcos in my area (Staten Island) - none had it in stock. At one of them the lady told me that they no longer carry that particular item. I would say this is an online deal only.

EDIT: and always keep in mind that since Costcos are everywhere you will get charged tax plus shipping.
http://www.buy.com/prod/Optoma_RD_50A/q/loc/58460/90143837.html :)

http://www.buy.com/prod/Optoma_RD_50A/q/loc/58460/90143837.html :)
It is still $5 cheaper with Visual Apex, counting shipping and no sales tax.

I would have to pay sales tax with Buy.com. From their FAQ:

Do I have to pay sales tax?
Yes, if the Ship To address on your order is in the following states:

California
Maryland
Massachusetts
Tennessee

I'd just suggest VISUAL APEX becasue of the great customer service I've recieved from them.

Both OPTOMA and VA have been excellent with anything I had to ask and both were very prompt in assisting me. With VA their carrier (DHL Danzas) goofed the tracking # on my TV and they called them up, got it fixed and then called me back within the hour with all the info I would need and a contact to assist me if I had furhter DHL Danzas questions.

Top notch.

hello,
First of all thanks a ton for all the valuable suggestions and inputs.
I am very inclined on buying the RD50A at this point.
I have a small kid in the house who loves to switch off the TV as he pleases.
So i wanted to know the existing users how accessible is the On of Switch.
Also if any one has used the optional optoma rD50 stand. And how is the viewing angle.

Thanks

Switch is right on the front...very accessible. Technically when you turn off the TV it goes into the cool down mode for the bulb. What I don't know is if you turned it right back on immediately if it would have a negative effect on the bulb life or would you have to wait for it to shut down and then turn it back on and wait for it to warm up again. That could be annoying. Maybe others can offer advice on this piece.

I have the optional stand and I really like it. I know if was not as cheap as some of the other options but since it is made for this TV it looks like one big unit...i.e. not a TV sitting on a stand.

pics of the optional stand?

pics of the optional stand?

[IMG]
RD-50 Stand

- Sleek styling perfectly coordinates with RD-50 unit

- Beautiful painted wood finish

- Black vinyl laminate complements unit design

- Specially designed to house home theater components

- Two fully adjustable, removable glass shelves

- One fixed bottom shelf

- Deep shelves accommodate most peripherals

- Precise contouring duplicates the contemporary lines of the RD-50

- Elevates unit to the most optimal viewing level

Model Number RD50STD01
Part Number Y-TV.SP.RD501.001
UPC Code 796435 24 730 0
Dimensions (WxDxH) 40 x 15 x 20 inches
Weight 62 pounds
Materials Wood finish and vinyl laminate
MSRP $399

I am just about to pull the trigger on the RD50A. I have a few questions,

-Does VA sell the silver version?

-Will I run into any problems if I hook up my XBox with HD Pack to the SD1 port?

Thanks

I was wondering if some of the past users of the Optoms RD50A could post their image settings. I have played with some of the options but would like to see what yall find to be the optimal colors.

I was wondering if some of the past users of the Optoms RD50A could post their image settings. I have played with some of the options but would like to see what yall find to be the optimal colors.
Good luck with that. There was one guy on here who got his new Optoma professionally calibrated, but he refused to share any of his settings to give us any idea whether the Optoma was way off or not. Dillhole.

Good luck with that. There was one guy on here who got his new Optoma professionally calibrated, but he refused to share any of his settings to give us any idea whether the Optoma was way off or not. Dillhole.


Nice guy. :rolleyes:

Hello, what is the weight capacity on the Optoma Stand shelves. Thank you.

Well it figures. I order the RD50A at the end of July from VA and they now have the RD65A in stock at a great price. I even asked about the RD65 but of course they didn't know anything at the time. Oh well.

Since the Optomas don't have HDMI and the HD DVDs (both formats) will only output HDMI, do you think an HDMI-DVI adapter will work? Does anyone know if Optoma will have an after-market panel that includes HDMI? I don't want to buy a TV and have it be unusable with the new HD DVDs.

Since the Optomas don't have HDMI and the HD DVDs (both formats) will only output HDMI, do you think an HDMI-DVI adapter will work? Does anyone know if Optoma will have an after-market panel that includes HDMI? I don't want to buy a TV and have it be unusable with the new HD DVDs.

From what I've read, the adapters and adapter cables are said to work flawlessly. A search would probably confirm this.

Well it figures. I order the RD50A at the end of July from VA and they now have the RD65A in stock at a great price. I even asked about the RD65 but of course they didn't know anything at the time. Oh well.
Bummer. I originally wanted the RD65A too. Now I have to convince myself that the 50" is better for me. :confused:

wow.. the RD65a is a great price at VisualApex!!!

http://www.visualapex.com/rearprojection/RearProjection_details.asp?chPartNumber=RD65A&MFR=Optoma

RD65a - 200lbs
RD50a - 90lbs

Thats a big difference.. does that seem odd to anyone else?

RD65a - 200lbs
RD50a - 90lbs

Thats a big difference.. does that seem odd to anyone else?
I've seen them both in person and the RD65A is alot bigger.

Also important to note is that the RD50A is slightly brighter. 450 nits versus 400 nits for the RD65A.

Since the Optomas don't have HDMI and the HD DVDs (both formats) will only output HDMI, do you think an HDMI-DVI adapter will work? Does anyone know if Optoma will have an after-market panel that includes HDMI? I don't want to buy a TV and have it be unusable with the new HD DVDs.
Pure speculation, but I don't believe Optoma will offer an upgrade option to HDMI on either the RD50A or RD65A. I would expect the next RD model to have that feature.

Also, just like Sketcha said there is no video difference between HDMI and DVI. The difference is that HDMI carries audio, but most people will have a receiver with HT speakers they run the audio to (and not use the tv's speakers at all), so HDMI may be wasted on most of us.

I know the RD50 is a good bet for my apt.. but the idea of getting a 65 for only $300 more is very very enticing!

I know the RD50 is a good bet for my apt.. but the idea of getting a 65 for only $300 more is very very enticing!
I'll trade you. ;)

What is your guy's average viewing distance for the RD50a??

What is your guy's average viewing distance for the RD50a??
Mine is 10'. However, for HD shows I can comfortably sit 5' away.

I did a little more investigation into the HDMI interface with the next round of HD DVDs. An anonymous source told me the next Optoma models will have the HDMI port, because the HD DVD players (which will only have HDMI outputs) won’t work an HDMI-DVI adapter. I was all set to get the RD65A, but now I’m gonna wait.

I forgot to mention that the current DVD players that output via HDMI will work on Optomas through an HDMI-DVI adapter.

Hi guys. What is the 'HD1' and 'HD2' input on this tv? How is that different from a 'component' input? What cable do I need to connect to that input?

Bad review by PC Magazine here :(

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1847866,00.asp

that review is a joke, anybody that likes the HLP better than the 50a is crazy. My opinion of course but I doubt I am alone.

that review is a joke, anybody that likes the HLP better than the 50a is crazy. My opinion of course but I doubt I am alone.
Wow. That's crazy. I just used HDNet's test pattern and Digital Video Essentials last night to see if I could improve the picture. All I found out is that on the "Normal" setting, my Optoma seems to already be right on.
I would agree that the "Cinema" setting isn't all that great -- to dark, mostly -- but I haven't had ANY of the color issues that this review mentions.

"Among all of the RPTVs we have seen to date, the RD50A managed to produce top scores in image uniformity and average contrast ratio. Unfortunately, its poor color accuracy and ineffective menu system prevent us from recommending it over the Samsung HL-P5063W."

So in other words, they got a set with the color settings off, and they don't like the menu. That is reason to give this set 2 out of 5 stars?
Bizarre.
All I know is that I'm really happy with this TV.

The sources in the PC Mag article they used were-

"Our subjective viewing tests included WMV HD, DVD videos, and OTA HD broadcasts"

What is WMV HD?

Windows media??

can any recent owner's comment on the SD quality on this tv? I am going to get the Dish network hd pack.. but thats only 5 channels. So I will be watching a lot of SD content.

(Still waiting to pull the trigger on this tv :))

I think I'm going to order the RD65A from VA tomorrow.

How long to get to Atlanta area?

My brother has the Sony KDF-60WF655, very nice but for $300 less I think I will go with this.

Now to convince DISH to let me have a HD DVR as I just signed up 2 weeks ago for SD DVR. :confused:

do keep us posted!

Bad review by PC Magazine here :(

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1847866,00.asp

Why in the Hell would ANYONE judge a TV based solely on the default settings? There went any shred of respect I may have had for that magazine. HLP my Ass. Those almost kept me from even considering DLP.

can any recent owner's comment on the SD quality on this tv? I am going to get the Dish network hd pack.. but thats only 5 channels. So I will be watching a lot of SD content.

(Still waiting to pull the trigger on this tv :))

With Dish you'll have digital SD. My analog cable channels are pretty rough, but I think that is the fault of the STB. Analog cable direct to the TV is very good. Digital SD through the HD1 input is near DVD quality. I actually prefer the HD1 input vs. the 480i SD input which is a good thing since everything runs through my receiver into HD1.

Short answer... digital SD, relative to the competition is excellent.

I did a little more investigation into the HDMI interface with the next round of HD DVDs. An anonymous source told me the next Optoma models will have the HDMI port, because the HD DVD players (which will only have HDMI outputs) won’t work an HDMI-DVI adapter. I was all set to get the RD65A, but now I’m gonna wait.

Is that because it is to have a super high bandwidth? From what I understand, HDMI cables are capable of carrying more, but current sets aren't set up to receive what they are capable of.

Now this is just a guess, but I would think that HD-DVD player manufacturers would be wise to include a component output or they are going to severely limit their market. Think how many Component-only sets there are out there. Folks aren't going to be ready to dump them after just blowing some serious cash.

Also, from what I've read, most folks are barely able to notice a difference between DVI/HDMI and Component, anyway. My STB runs HD to my Optoma via Component just fine so we know it'll carry the signal.

I purchased the RD50A a couple of weeks ago. I was about to buy a Samsung with the HD2+ chip when I happen to run across the Optoma RD50A on this thread. I feel lucky and I am very happy with the RD50A. The article in PC mag is way off base.

LAMP WARRANTY SITUATION... Quickly Resolved

So last night this display pops up saying my bulb is near the end of its life and I'm thinkin', I told my wife not to leave it on while she's listening to a cable, music-only channel. Checked out the service menu and only 782 hours are on the TV. I've had the thing for less than 3 months.

I called Tech Support just a bit ago. I was on hold for a little while. Maybe 5 minutes. When the guy picked up, it sounded like they were pretty busy. Manic Monday, right? That's cool. He introduces himself as Jeff and after a brief explanation he puts me on hold again for a bit more. No biggie. When he comes back we begin to work on the problem... which takes, basically 30 seconds. I give him the serial #, tell him I bought it from VA less than 3 mos. ago. He tells me that 782 is way too short and that there is a 6 month warranty on the bulb, anyway. It sounded like if it were after 6 months, that he still would've helped me as 782 is just way too short.

So we begin to talk exchange and RMA. Since I don't want to be without TV for a week, we set up a purchase for the bulb via credit card and a credit back to the card when they get the old bulb. Easy. All I have to do is check my statement (which everyone should do anyway) and make sure it comes off. No problem.

I asked him about the nature of the bulb problem. I assumed that the warning would be tied to the TV life and bulb timer. Apparently there is more to it. It must have some self diagnostic stuff, or something. Jeff figured there must be a defect within the bulb itself, or the board assembly that it's mounted to. Whatever the reason, I get a new bulb for minimal effort.

Kudos Optoma.

I'll try to report back when all is said and done, but if I don't, assume that all went smoothly.

BTW, I never took the time to register the warranty. No receipt was asked for, only the serial #, where I bought it and, roughly when.

EDIT:

P.S. I see no difference in the picture. It's working perfectly. Just that wierd display. I ran 2 tests under the service menu and got the same ..."end of it's life..." display both times.

do the RD50/RD50H and RD50A use the same lamp/bulb?

same for the RD65H and RD65A?

Where is everyone putting their center channel?

Thanks for the positive reviews guys.. can't wait to order this tv!

How long for VA to get me the 65 here in GA? I ordered today.

Already reading over the owners manual to figure out where I'm going to hook everything up.

MANTI5, Not sure how I'm gonna put the center channel on top either. I have the klipsch THX L/R/C up front. Its big and heavy. 11" x 27.19" x 9.125" and 38lbs.

can any recent owner's comment on the SD quality on this tv? I am going to get the Dish network hd pack.. but thats only 5 channels. So I will be watching a lot of SD content.

(Still waiting to pull the trigger on this tv :))
I had Dish with this tv. I had a (SD) 522 DVR and the only outputs were coax, composite and S-video. The coax was ok, but the s-video was pretty darn good. Of course things varied channel by channel. Trust me though, unless you have something that is only broadcast in SD (for me it would be SC football games), you will watch HD programs just because they are in HD. There are so many channels I don't watch much anymore because they are not in HD.

I think I'm going to order the RD65A from VA tomorrow.

How long to get to Atlanta area?

My brother has the Sony KDF-60WF655, very nice but for $300 less I think I will go with this.

Now to convince DISH to let me have a HD DVR as I just signed up 2 weeks ago for SD DVR. :confused:
They won't "let" you have a HD DVR. You either have to buy it outright for between $500 and the original $750 asking price, or you pay a non-refundable upfront "equipment fee" of $250 and then pay per month to lease it.

That's the reason I switched to Comcast. I do hear the 942 is a good HD DVR though.

Why in the Hell would ANYONE judge a TV based solely on the default settings? There went any shred of respect I may have had for that magazine. HLP my Ass. Those almost kept me from even considering DLP.
Actually, it was only the Cinema setting. I wonder how the "normal" setting would rate in their comparison.

I have only had one problem with color on this tv. I normally don't watch NCIS on CBS but my dad did when he stayed at my house over the July 4th and just on that program everybody's skin tone was very red. I couldn't adjust anything enough to make it look normal (it was the HD channel, and I forget to check the SD channel).

do the RD50/RD50H and RD50A use the same lamp/bulb?

same for the RD65H and RD65A?
I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Earlier in this thread I posted a press release for the RD50A and RD65A and it said the bulb life was 10,000 and 8,000 hours respectively. The info for the RD50/50H and RD65/65 was 8,000 hours and 6,000 hours.

FYI everybody:

Optoma finally updated their website to include the RD50A and RD65A.

http://www.optomausa.com/optomausa/public/products_hdtv_RD.jsp

MANTI5, Not sure how I'm gonna put the center channel on top either. I have the klipsch THX L/R/C up front. Its big and heavy. 11" x 27.19" x 9.125" and 38lbs.
Somewhere on this forum I read a thread about this very same topic. The interesting solutions I remember include a guy who bought a wall shelf support from Home Depot and went to a glass shop and had a piece of glass custom cut for him.

Another guy went to home depot and bought a $20 wall mount for a 13" tv and inverted the assembly so that the wall bracket was hidden by the tv.

Somewhere on this forum I read a thread about this very same topic. The interesting solutions I remember include a guy who bought a wall shelf support from Home Depot and went to a glass shop and had a piece of glass custom cut for him.

Another guy went to home depot and bought a $20 wall mount for a 13" tv and inverted the assembly so that the wall bracket was hidden by the tv.

Thanks for the info!

They won't "let" you have a HD DVR. You either have to buy it outright for between $500 and the original $750 asking price, or you pay a non-refundable upfront "equipment fee" of $250 and then pay per month to lease it.

That's the reason I switched to Comcast. I do hear the 942 is a good HD DVR though.

Since I already have the 510 SD DVR, they claimed that they will "let me" have the 811 (no DVR) HD receiver. At least that way I can use the HD tuner in the receiver for the OTA antenna. They said will also give the 5 HD channel package for free for 6 months then $10 a month after that. Will also have to pay $5 a month for having 2 receivers. Hopefully the story stays the same when I call and order.

Actually, it was only the Cinema setting. I wonder how the "normal" setting would rate in their comparison.

I have only had one problem with color on this tv. I normally don't watch NCIS on CBS but my dad did when he stayed at my house over the July 4th and just on that program everybody's skin tone was very red. I couldn't adjust anything enough to make it look normal (it was the HD channel, and I forget to check the SD channel).

I can see how one might misinterpret my meaning. I used the plural form of the word "setting" to convey the comparison between both the Optoma and the Samsung's default "settings." Only one setting was intended for each.

It would be interesting to see how the "Normal" would compare, but I have never seen a TV review that relied solely on the defaults. The Optoma is thought to have relatively tame defaults, but TVs are notorious for having wacky defaults to compete on the showroom floor. I'm not some crazy Optoma lover. If I didn't think it was better than Samsung, I would say so. That review was just dumb.

I can see how one might misinterpret my meaning. I used the plural form of the word "setting" to convey the comparison between both the Optoma and the Samsung's default "settings." Only one setting was intended for each.

It would be interesting to see how the "Normal" would compare, but I have never seen a TV review that relied solely on the defaults. The Optoma is thought to have relatively tame defaults, but TVs are notorious for having wacky defaults to compete on the showroom floor. I'm not some crazy Optoma lover. If I didn't think it was better than Samsung, I would say so. That review was just dumb.
I agree with you that solely testing the defaults is dumb. Every other review I have read does some callibration and makes sure to note how much callibration is needed to acheive the best results.

My only point about the defaults was that they didn't seem to make sure that they used the default setting that would test the best.

EDIT: Their review also flys in the face of the very technical review I posted the link for earlier in the this thread about the RD50. There was also a link that detailed the comparison between the RD50 as the DLP representative vs. LCD vs. plasma vs. CRT. The RD50 only finished behind the CRT, which is to be expected.

This might be the dumbashe question of the day, but do they make screen protectors for these TVs? Got the 65 on order. Our 2 year old is doing very well staying away from the old toshiba 50", but just wondering if she will think Elmo is real when she sees him on the optoma. :)

This might be the dumbashe question of the day, but do they make screen protectors for these TVs? Got the 65 on order. Our 2 year old is doing very well staying away from the old toshiba 50", but just wondering if she will think Elmo is real when she sees him on the optoma. :)
I have a 3 year old and have often wondered what the strength of the screen is. However, my daughter has touched the screen and I wiped off the finger prints no problem.

Maybe I should stop trying to play baseball in the house with her, though. :)

I have a 3 year old and have often wondered what the strength of the screen is. However, my daughter has touched the screen and I wiped off the finger prints no problem.

Maybe I should stop trying to play baseball in the house with her, though. :)

:D Thanks for the reply!

How hard or easy is it to scratch the screen with an object? :eek:

Any gamers?

Does this DLP lag like Samsung dlps while playing fast action games?

:D Thanks for the reply!

How hard or easy is it to scratch the screen with an object? :eek:
I don't know, hasn't happened yet.

VA emailed me with invoice that is supposed to have DHL/Danzas tracking #, but that block was blank. Emailed them back, if it shipped today should have it by the middle of next week here in GA. (I hope) 65" model

Going from Dish network 811 HD receiver DVI to DVI on the optoma. What DVI cable is a "fair priced" one or just pick up any? I think I will need a 10ft long cable. What about component cable for my Pioneer elite DV-F07 300 disc dvd player? Do I need specific component cables or will some decent regular audio cables work?

TIA!

VA emailed me with invoice that is supposed to have DHL/Danzas tracking #, but that block was blank. Emailed them back, if it shipped today should have it by the middle of next week here in GA. (I hope) 65" model

Going from Dish network 811 HD receiver DVI to DVI on the optoma. What DVI cable is a "fair priced" one or just pick up any? I think I will need a 10ft long cable. What about component cable for my Pioneer elite DV-F07 300 disc dvd player? Do I need specific component cables or will some decent regular audio cables work?

TIA!
Well, the best priced cables are at monoprice.com, and their quality is pretty good too. I am using cables from forum sponsor Ram Electronics, and I really don't see the need to spend more than what they are charging, but that's just my opinion.

Why 10'?

Would anyone be willing to post some pics of any of the console games running on this set and maybe a SD pic? I'm sure this will be the set I get as nothing really comes close to it's value.

Well, the best priced cables are at monoprice.com, and their quality is pretty good too. I am using cables from forum sponsor Ram Electronics, and I really don't see the need to spend more than what they are charging, but that's just my opinion.

Why 10'?

Thanks, I'll check those places out.

Got 6' cables now and they are not long enough to lay down/be hidden.

Well, I was hoping to wait a couple more weeks before ordering the 65A, because the drywall just went up in my basement project this week, but I was afraid that VA would stock out, so I just ordered. With the labor day holiday, it looks like it will arrive between Sept 6th-8th and then sit in a box for a couple of weeks before the basement is finished enough to install it.

Well, I was hoping to wait a couple more weeks before ordering the 65A, because the drywall just went up in my basement project this week, but I was afraid that VA would stock out, so I just ordered. With the labor day holiday, it looks like it will arrive between Sept 6th-8th and then sit in a box for a couple of weeks before the basement is finished enough to install it.


Thats 2 weeks till it arrives. :eek:

I ordered mine on monday and they said it should be here next wednesday. I hope so at aleast.

Any gamers?

Does this DLP lag like Samsung dlps while playing fast action games?
Anyone?

DVI cable?

So from dish network 811 to back of this TV.

DVI-D dual link?

http://www.monoprice.com/productlargeimages/6033.jpg

UPDATE ON BULB

Just replaced the bulb and it's up and running. They shipped it UPS 2nd day air. I'll send the old one back today.

One item of interest...

The invoice says lamp for RD50A/RD65A.

According to their website, the 50A bulb runs at 100 watts and the 65 at 120. Brightness for the 50 is 450 while the the 65 is 400. Go figure.

Oh yeah, and the bulb is made in Germany.

Anyone?

Semi retired. Too busy. I'm sure that sounds like sacrilege.

I had a gamer friend in from out of town so I set up the x-box and popped in Halo 2. We didn't notice any problems. Simply put, he was awestruck!

UPDATE ON BULB

Just replaced the bulb and it's up and running. They shipped it UPS 2nd day air. I'll send the old one back today.

One item of interest...

The invoice says lamp for RD50A/RD65A.

According to their website, the 50A bulb runs at 100 watts and the 65 at 120. Brightness for the 50 is 450 while the the 65 is 400. Go figure.

Oh yeah, and the bulb is made in Germany.

Thanks for the update, sounds like some good customer service!

Anyone?

Digitard is a gamer. I had thought I'd seem some posts. He reported no detectable problems earlier in this thread. Do a search. I found it under "games".

Digitard is a gamer. I had thought I'd seem some posts. He reported no detectable problems earlier in this thread. Do a search. I found it under "games".
Alright, Thanks.

The first RD50A which I got in June had a green tint to the screen, particularly on the left side, even when all chroma was removed to produce a BW picture. Optoma advanced tech support diagnosed and said there was no way to correct this problem, so sent a replacement. The replacement set delivered was an RD65, the RD50A intended for me was shipped to another customer by accident. When I finally got the second RD50A, the picture color was excellent, but was tilted downhill to the right. I tried to live with it, but it was too irritating. There was no way to rotate the picture according to Optoma tech support because of the design of the mirror. Optoma offered to send a third set but it arrived with a noticeable dead pixel in the lower right part of the screen. Because of this series of problems, VA suggested I return the RD50A to VA for a full refund, which I did. We think part of the problem was damage in transit by the shipping company (Manna Distribution) used by Optoma in Southern California.

The first RD50A which I got in June had a green tint to the screen, particularly on the left side, even when all chroma was removed to produce a BW picture. Optoma advanced tech support diagnosed and said there was no way to correct this problem, so sent a replacement. The replacement set delivered was an RD65, the RD50A intended for me was shipped to another customer by accident. When I finally got the second RD50A, the picture color was excellent, but was tilted downhill to the right. I tried to live with it, but it was too irritating. There was no way to rotate the picture according to Optoma tech support because of the design of the mirror. Optoma offered to send a third set but it arrived with a noticeable dead pixel in the lower right part of the screen. Because of this series of problems, VA suggested I return the RD50A to VA for a full refund, which I did. We think part of the problem was damage in transit by the shipping company (Manna Distribution) used by Optoma in Southern California.


Sorry to hear of your problems. Still looks like both optoma and VA stood behind the product which is very nice to hear.

Did you have any thoughts of keeping the 65? ;)

So what did you end up getting?

Just got off the phone with DHL/Danzas. I gave them what I thought my tracking # was from my 65" online order on monday. They said the tracking # was incorrect and was able to find the info with my last name. They had also asked if it was a VA order.

She said the 65" should be to my house by monday 5pm. :D

She also said I should get a call from the local office in Atlanta tomorrow. Gave me their phone # incase they do not call.

Sorry to hear of your problems. Still looks like both optoma and VA stood behind the product which is very nice to hear.

Did you have any thoughts of keeping the 65? ;)

So what did you end up getting?

No, well, yes, the delivery guys suggested keeping it, but I think they just didn't want to carry it back to the truck. Anyway, the 65 would have been far too big for the room! I wish the RD50A had worked out. As you point out, VA customer service was indeed great -- they suggested the full refund -- and tech support at Optoma was excellent and accessible.

I notice that the PC Magazine reviewer of the RD50A also noticed a shift to green in the colors of their test set, so perhaps they had the same problem I was having. I forgot to mention that the third set Optoma sent, the one with the dead pixel, also had the same green shift. The delivery man commented on it when we were testing the set.

I ordered the Sceptre 37" 1080p LCD from Costco. There is already a thread on it. Their current online promotion is quite good. It has shipped and should be delivered soon.

Thats 2 weeks till it arrives. :eek:

I ordered mine on monday and they said it should be here next wednesday. I hope so at aleast.

Unlike you, I have no where to put it if it gets in before Labor Day weekend, so I am pulling for the full 7 business days which covers this weekend and the holiday weekend. :cool:

I am soon to receive the Optoma RD65A. :D :p

I don't have an HD source in the house and won't for probably another 6 weeks. Is there a way I can run an HD Antenna into my DirecTV TiVo box and see HDTV, or is the lack of a tuner a problem? :confused:

If possible, does anyone have a recommendation for an inexpensive over the air HD antenna.

No, well, yes, the delivery guys suggested keeping it, but I think they just didn't want to carry it back to the truck. Anyway, the 65 would have been far too big for the room! I wish the RD50A had worked out. As you point out, VA customer service was indeed great -- they suggested the full refund -- and tech support at Optoma was excellent and accessible.

I notice that the PC Magazine reviewer of the RD50A also noticed a shift to green in the colors of their test set, so perhaps they had the same problem I was having. I forgot to mention that the third set Optoma sent, the one with the dead pixel, also had the same green shift. The delivery man commented on it when we were testing the set.

I ordered the Sceptre 37" 1080p LCD from Costco. There is already a thread on it. Their current online promotion is quite good. It has shipped and should be delivered soon.

The Sceptre looks real nice! Enjoy! :)

Unlike you, I have no where to put it if it gets in before Labor Day weekend, so I am pulling for the full 7 business days which covers this weekend and the holiday weekend. :cool:

Let us know when it arrives and what you think.

I am soon to receive the Optoma RD65A. :D :p

I don't have an HD source in the house and won't for probably another 6 weeks. Is there a way I can run an HD Antenna into my DirecTV TiVo box and see HDTV, or is the lack of a tuner a problem? :confused:

If possible, does anyone have a recommendation for an inexpensive over the air HD antenna.


Is your tivo DTV receiver an HD receiver? If it is then you can run a OTA antenna into it and then the DTV box will tune the local channels for you.

Go to antenna web (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to see how far the local HD feed towers are from you. If they are 30 miles away you are going to need something up in the attic or maybe outside.

If your tivo DTV receiver is not HD, then you are going to have to wait.

Is there a stand compatible with the RD65A?

It's not on VA's website and I would need it to store my electronics stuff that's currently on my huge big screen..

I'm planning on ordering this if there is a stand available.

Thanks in advance.

I'm going with this model over the 62HM95 from Toshiba.

Is there a stand compatible with the RD65A?

It's not on VA's website and I would need it to store my electronics stuff that's currently on my huge big screen..

I'm planning on ordering this if there is a stand available.

Thanks in advance.

I'm going with this model over the 62HM95 from Toshiba.
To my knowledge there was no Optoma stand for the 65A, only one for the 50A. The 65A may be intended to sit on the ground.

Check out this diagram. It looks like the 65A has wheels or casters, and if I did my conversions right, the middle of the screen will be 34" off the floor (a little low IMO).

http://www.optomausa.com/optomausa/doc/RD65/RD65_Mechanical.pdf

Mine has arrived. I'm here at work for the evening and its sitting in the garage. Driver (no helper) told my wife that if she could help him with the 220lbs + TV then he would try to get it in the house. :eek:

A couple of guys from work are going to give a hand later tonight.

Let us know when it arrives and what you think.

I will do that. It appears that I will have to wait on my TW HD source, so it will be 6 weeks because I do not have the HD TiVo box from DirecTV. :(

Is your tivo DTV receiver an HD receiver? If it is then you can run a OTA antenna into it and then the DTV box will tune the local channels for you.

Go to antenna web (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to see how far the local HD feed towers are from you. If they are 30 miles away you are going to need something up in the attic or maybe outside.

If your tivo DTV receiver is not HD, then you are going to have to wait.

That's what I was afraid of. As I only have the SD DirecTV TiVo, I will have to wait for TW in 6 weeks.

If anyone has had experience switching from DirecTV services (non-HD TiVO) to Time Warner cable services (HD DVR), please post any pitfalls I should expect. I have been a loyal DirecTV customer since 1997. I am giving up Sunday Ticket and Switching to Time Warner because I can't stomach spending $500 for a HD DirecTV Tivo box. :mad:

Hello to everyone in this thread. I have read a good portion of this thread and I wanted just a little more info. HSN has the RD50A for sale and free shipping. I have been looking at DLP's and want to make the jump. Is this TV as good as the Toshiba, MITS, or Samsung DLP's. Is there anything I should consider before getting this? Wait until newer model etc.....I am new to Optoma, so is there TV high Quality......Subject to defects etc.....Thanks for the input.

Hello to everyone in this thread. I have read a good portion of this thread and I wanted just a little more info. HSN has the RD50A for sale and free shipping. I have been looking at DLP's and want to make the jump. Is this TV as good as the Toshiba, MITS, or Samsung DLP's. Is there anything I should consider before getting this? Wait until newer model etc.....I am new to Optoma, so is there TV high Quality......Subject to defects etc.....Thanks for the input.


Better price here (http://www.visualapex.com/RearProjection/RearProjectionmfr.asp?MFR=Optoma)

Got the 65" in the house with the help of a few friends. Its not lite, but moves around on the wheels very easy.

Hooked it up to the dish 510 DVR SD receiver with cheap s-video and RCA jacks for the audio. The HD receiver will be installed thursday.

Not that impressed so far with the picture. Slight "screen door" effects at times, picture is ok but nothing impressive. Will change out the s-video cable tomorrow. I watched some live TV, then a DVR recording of the steelers-eagles game from a few weeks ago.

What are you guys using for picture settings?

Got the 65" in the house with the help of a few friends. Its not lite, but moves around on the wheels very easy.

Hooked it up to the dish 510 DVR SD receiver with cheap s-video and RCA jacks for the audio. The HD receiver will be installed thursday.

Not that impressed so far with the picture. Slight "screen door" effects at times, picture is ok but nothing impressive. Will change out the s-video cable tomorrow. I watched some live TV, then a DVR recording of the steelers-eagles game from a few weeks ago.

What are you guys using for picture settings?

Could not sleep, so I hooked up the DVD player with s-video. I had the Matrix playing. It looks much better then the DISH SD receiver. Will do some more testing tomorrow.

Menu's are a PITA IMO. To add/delete channels you have to go thru the menu from the start on each channel. Thank god it only has to be done once. The picture in SD is still crappy from DISH receiver and s-video. I plugged into the CATV straight from the wall and that will show you how crappy the local cable feed is on some channels. I just have basic cable (20 channels) to go along with high-speed internet. I need to set up the user 1/2/3 for different sources as the manual states. Will do that after getting HD receiver on thursday and the OTA antenna setup for the local HD feeds.

My brother just got a Sony KDF-60WF655. The menu options are much better and easier to use on the sony. Won't be able to judge the picture till I get the HD hooked up, but so far I think I would of been better spending the extra $300 on the sony. Time will tell.

Menu's are a PITA IMO. To add/delete channels you have to go thru the menu from the start on each channel. Thank god it only has to be done once. The picture in SD is still crappy from DISH receiver and s-video. I plugged into the CATV straight from the wall and that will show you how crappy the local cable feed is on some channels. I just have basic cable (20 channels) to go along with high-speed internet. I need to set up the user 1/2/3 for different sources as the manual states. Will do that after getting HD receiver on thursday and the OTA antenna setup for the local HD feeds.

My brother just got a Sony KDF-60WF655. The menu options are much better and easier to use on the sony. Won't be able to judge the picture till I get the HD hooked up, but so far I think I would of been better spending the extra $300 on the sony. Time will tell.
I think that one thing you have to keep in mind is how much a picture is blown up to fit on a 65" versus a smaller tv. A crappy signal will look much better on a smaller tv than a larger tv. I had a Dish 522 DVR (SD) hooked up by S-video. The PQ really did change from source to source. I then went cable and now have a HD-DVR hooked up by DVI and there is a world of difference in PQ. Just wait till you get your HD setup going and you will see the true PQ of the tv.

BTW, I was initially interested in the same Sony, but now I would not trade the Optoma for it.

I think that one thing you have to keep in mind is how much a picture is blown up to fit on a 65" versus a smaller tv. A crappy signal will look much better on a smaller tv than a larger tv. I had a Dish 522 DVR (SD) hooked up by S-video. The PQ really did change from source to source. I then went cable and now have a HD-DVR hooked up by DVI and there is a world of difference in PQ. Just wait till you get your HD setup going and you will see the true PQ of the tv.

BTW, I was initially interested in the same Sony, but now I would not trade the Optoma for it.

Thanks for your thoughts!!

Can't wait to get the HD hooked up. :D

So I'm back.

I feel like the prodigal son returning to my thread. My time away from the forum has been considerable, but I've been busy enjoying my Optoma.

Anyway, I would like to update everyone on my situation with regard to the issues that I have had. In the past I had posted problems with image shift while using the PS2 and Cube, and despite numerous phone conversations, the issues were never resolved. Optoma promised me an email from a service tech, but never delivered on that promise. I could keep calling, but I've kinda given up hope that it will do any good. As you might expect, I am not a fan of their tech support, but since I am such a huge fan of the tv, I have thus far let it slide.

On a related note, I read a few pages back that another owner has experienced an issue that I have not seen otherwise discussed which I am also unfortunately affected with. The problem arises with 1080i over DVI and what occurs is a very distinct flickering which is very distracting, to the point where I simply do not feed the tv 1080i over DVI. This is mildly bothersome because I do find that the tv scales 1080i better that my cable box (SA8300HD) and the picture I get is ever so slightly more detailed. So, if anyone else has experienced this I would love to hear about it.

Moving to the positive, other that what I've mentioned above, I love this tv. The HD picture over DVI is wonderful and DVDs over 480p component, after quite a bit of tweaking, look excellent. SD, which goes almost unwatched by me, looks quite good, considering the screen size.

Just for fun, I will post my calibration settings for anyone who wants them. If you want to try them out, be my guest. I think everything looks extrodinary.

HDTV was calibrated using INHDs test patterns. DVD using DVE.

HDTV over DVI (via SA8300HD and an HDMI to DVI cable)

user 1 (for use with some light in the room, used for sports and other general HD programming)

contrast - 12
brightness - 11
saturation - 15
tint - 15
intensity - 26
sharpness - 15
c/t - warm
color matrix - all at 15

full picture format

user 2 (used for HD movie watching in a dark room)

contrast - 6
brightness - 9
saturation - 14
tint - 15
intensity - 25
sharpness - 14
c/t - warm
color matrix - all at 15

full picture format

DVD (obviously for use in a dark room via Harman Kardon DVD101 over component at 480p)

contrast - 8
brightness - 5
saturation - 14
tint - 15
intensity - 26
sharpness - 12
c/t - warm
color matrix - all at 12

native picture format w/ +10 horizontal (under data)

SD (via s-video out of SA box)

contrast - 5
brightness - 7
saturation - 15
tint - 15
intensity - 26
sharpness - 10
c/t - mid
color matrix - all at 15

4:3 picture format

Rolen_it_Up, Thank you very much!!! I will try out your settings this w/e and let you know how it turns out.

Thats cool, but keep in mind, especially with DVDs, that all equipment is different.

If nothing else, perhaps my settings could guide some people towards acheiving a great image.

Who knows, maybe I'll turn into the Rich Harkness of Optoma DLPs.

Thats cool, but keep in mind, especially with DVDs, that all equipment is different.

If nothing else, perhaps my settings could guide some people towards acheiving a great image.

Who knows, maybe I'll turn into the Rich Harkness of Optoma DLPs.

I'm sure its alot closer then I could get it.

Got my DISH 811 receiver installed today. Will get the OTA antenna installed tomorrow I hope.

Kinda sucks that you can't use DVI and just regular audio in jacks together. Or can you and I just can't figure it out. I got the component running with audio in for now. When I get my HK receiver hooked back up, I'll run DVI into the optoma with optical into the HT receiver.

Has anyone seen this review from pcmag? They gave it 2 out of 5 stars.



Our objective measurements confirmed that the RD50A's color accuracy was less than ideal, with yellow shifted toward green and magenta shifted toward blue. Color-temperature (grayscale) tests were well above our target of 6,500 Kelvin—a color-temperature standard commonly used in video production. (Higher color temperatures impart an increasingly bluish tint on whites and make the display appear brighter.) Red, blue, and green intensity levels were less than optimal, with red tracking 40 percent below target. The RD50A's average contrast ratio of 177:1 was the highest among the RPTVs we have measured using our 9-point spot test. But this admirable result was tempered by high black levels that prevent the RD50A from producing a convincing black. Our full-screen black measurements revealed that the RD50A was nearly five times brighter than our favorite 50-inch DLP RPTV, the Samsung HL-P5063W Samsung HL-P5063W.

Among all of the RPTVs we have seen to date, the RD50A managed to produce top scores in image uniformity and average contrast ratio. Unfortunately, its poor color accuracy and ineffective menu system prevent us from recommending it over the Samsung HL-P5063W.

Damm I'm lucky!!

VA just discontinued the 65" see here (http://www.visualapex.com/rearprojection/rearprojectionmfr.asp?MFR=Optoma)

I finally got mine all setup today. HD is excellent on the optoma. I have DISH 5 channel package and a OTA antenna to pull in the locals.

Tonight I was watching the Busch race in HD and some football with the POP picture on picture feature. I attached the pic of that, sorry about the flash. Watched some boxing on ShowtimeHD too.

I was also doing side by side with the same channel ESPN VS ESPNHD. Wow what a difference.

I'm also thinking about raising up the optoma so that the top is even with the stands. That way I can run a shelf accross for the center channel.

Does anyone have a specific person they talk to at Optoma?

I have tried for one solid week in the form of Fax communications & emails to get an RMA # so that my 50H can be serviced. No luck at all so far. This is exasperating!!!

Obviously, I haven't had good luck w/ customer support, but Robert Sarauw is the one person I've been able to consistently talk to.

Obviously, I haven't had good luck w/ customer support, but Robert Sarauw is the one person I've been able to consistently talk to.
Me too.

Robert Sarauw
Optoma Technology, Inc.
715 Sycamore Drive
Milpitas, CA 95035
Ph: (408) 383-3700 Ext. 3861
Fx: (408) 383-3701
E-mail: RobertS@Optoma.com
Technical Support/Customer Service

Before I bought the TV, I was consitently in touch with Jaime Do at jamied@optoma.com.

Has anyone seen this review from pcmag? They gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
Look through the last few pages.

Basically, we felt the test was flawed for a variety of reasons:

1. We speculate that they received a tv damaged in shipping because their description is consistent with another poster or two who were getting their tv replaced for the same problem.

2. No other reputable test is done on tv's that are not calibrated. pcmag tested it right out of the box, using one of the two preset settings, and the tv's tested had different hook ups because some have ATSC tuners and some don't, etc.

3. Multiple posters chimed in that they would not trade their RD50A for the Samsung that pcmag had as their top rated tv.

Damm I'm lucky!!

VA just discontinued the 65" see here (http://www.visualapex.com/rearprojection/rearprojectionmfr.asp?MFR=Optoma) .

Any idea why VA discontinued both the 50A and the 65A? Are they limited in stock from Optoma? Is there a next generation product comming from Optoma? :confused:

Any idea why VA discontinued both the 50A and the 65A? Are they limited in stock from Optoma? Is there a next generation product comming from Optoma? :confused:

I don't see where the 50a has been discontinued.

I don't see where the 50a has been discontinued.

That is very interesting. This morning both the 50A and 65A were discontinued. Now it appears that only the 65A. Still curious why. Anyone know?

That is very interesting. This morning both the 50A and 65A were discontinued. Now it appears that only the 65A. Still curious why. Anyone know?

My guess is that VA only orders so many and thats it.

Any idea why VA discontinued both the 50A and the 65A? Are they limited in stock from Optoma? Is there a next generation product comming from Optoma? :confused:
The 65A is supposedly 9 months old, but I don't think Optoma sold many of them before VA started carrying them (due to the high sticker price). In advertising terms I would say it is only a month old. Even the RD50A was pretty unknown, and probably had low sales, until VA started carrying them in May. That was only about 5 months ago. I'm sure Optoma is developing the next generation, but it would not make sense to discontinue the 65A before its sales got started.

The 65A is supposedly 9 months old, but I don't think Optoma sold many of them before VA started carrying them (due to the high sticker price). In advertising terms I would say it is only a month old. Even the RD50A was pretty unknown, and probably had low sales, until VA started carrying them in May. That was only about 5 months ago. I'm sure Optoma is developing the next generation, but it would not make sense to discontinue the 65A before its sales got started.

I spoke with VA and they said the Optoma was discontinuing them and unsure when a new product would be coming out.

With everybody coming out with 1080p sets, maybe they are working on a 1080p version.

Hey all, I've been gone from the thread for a while, but I just thought I'd say that I decided not to get this TV, or any HDTV, for the time being. After visiting a friend from high school who already owns his own home, I was a bit inspired to put more money away for the future. Plus, one of my roommates just got a new entertainment center that we'd have to get rid of if I got a TV that big. I'm putting a small portion of what the Optoma would have cost into making a home theater PC for our existing, smaller TV.

I do appreciate all the advice people in this thread were able to give me. Hopefully in a year or so a TV like this will be a little more affordable for me.

Carry on.

How do you have it hooked up so you can watch two channels simultaneously? I must be an idiot, but I thought you could only do that using separate sources. I have my HD DirecTivo hooked from its HDMI port into the Optoma's DVI port.
All I can get is a channel like ESPN on one side and the display from a totally separate input (say, a PlayStation) on the other side.
Thoughts?

Yes you do need 2 seperate sources. I have 2 DISH receivers (1 HD and 1 SD) and basic cable going to my optoma TV.

I ordered a HDMI to DVI cable for my Optoma RD50A. I was curious to see the picture difference between that and component cables. I currently have my component video going from my Explorer 8300HD Box to the TV with the digital audio going through a receiver. The HD box has an hdmi slot but no dvi, hence why I am ordering the cable.

In the earlier posts I read that DVI only carries video while HDMI carries both video and sound. I was wondering if I would experience any problems connecting the HD box to the tv via HDMI to DVI. Or would it be fine just without sound?

Also, the DVI slot is under the PC1 input and the manual makes no mention of connecting a video source to it besides a notebooke or computer. I just want to make sure that it is a fully functioning DVI port that carries a digital signal for superior picture quality.

I have an 8300HD and it is hooked up to PC1 with an HDMI/DVI cable.

The picture, to my eyes, appears to be a bit sharper with slightly better overall color saturation over DVI. Both inputs were calibrated equally.

Most people wouldn't notice a difference, but I see a slight improvement.

Any tweaks for the 8300HD or TV for a better picture? How do you calibrate it?

Scroll back one page. I have an extensive post on the subject.

Is it just me or does anyone else notice a green tint whe displaying dark scenes? I didnt know if I was going crazy but I saw that in the PC Magazine review that noticed the same thing. Anyway to change that? I thought maybe turn down the Green a bit under the Color Matrix but that didnt seem to do much.

I have to ask, what color temperature setting are you using?

PC magazine used ONLY the standard color temp, which is nowhere near 6500k. That completely invalidates their review in mine, and many others', opinions.

I have never seen a shift to green, so that is why I ask what color temp you are suing.

Would anyone be willing to post a few pics of SD on these sets? Also, has anyone compared these to the JVC DILAs?

I don't have a camera, but someone else might.

The green shift issue intrigued me, so I compared a dark scene (this was from a videogame on 480i component) using the warm v. normal color temps. And you know what? Normal was a bit green.

So, maybe there is something too this. But, of course, it is a complete non issue for anyone who actually calibrates their tv. Because we all know that warm is the only way to go.

Still worth posting anyway, IMO.

My color temperature has always been warm. I have been hesistant to change the RGB codes because I really dont know anything about them and how I should calibrate them. So they are still default RGB 15 15 15.

Ill post a picture of my setup as soon as I find some batteries that work :/

Can any tell me how to get into the service menu for Optoma RD seriers TV's? I've been searching and searching. This must be a highly guarded secret or something. I can find this information easily for any other TV. Any help would be appreciated.

Heres a pic of my setup. Little cluttered at the moment.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/63/tvsetup4ez.th.jpg (http://img168.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tvsetup4ez.jpg)

Aug 1,2005 I purchased the RD50A from Visual apex. I am very happy with the quality of TV Pic , ease of use, everything. Last Sunday I go to turn on TV, it doesnt come on, red bulb light comes on,TV goes to stand by. Monday I call Optoma go through the advance replacement procedure they send out new bulb. They sent wrong one,!! different adapter. I am very upset. After talking to guy who helped me first time , he tells me I have to do another advance replacement on my CCard mind you. Today I get another replacement bulb DOES NOT fix problem. I knew it wouldn't since it wasn't hard to change adapters from the 1st one they sent with my original bulb. Didn't want to tell them I did that. Now I am waiting for a Tech to get sent out I live in Nevada.

Has anyone had similar problems? Ideas? Im not too thrilled with Optomas' customer service so far. Especially the fact that I've had to purchase 2 new bulbs(I know I will get credited back: not the point), I've talked to so called supervisor and He was of little help wouldn't send another bulb without a CC.

This is the second thread I have seen involving replacing the bulb after a few months of use. I am a little worried on the lifespan of the bulb seeing as how its a few hundred dollars to replace. Why are they going out so early?

Can any tell me how to get into the service menu for Optoma RD seriers TV's? I've been searching and searching. This must be a highly guarded secret or something. I can find this information easily for any other TV. Any help would be appreciated.
Menu-6-1-9 gets you into the service menu, the same gets you out.

Aug 1,2005 I purchased the RD50A from Visual apex. I am very happy with the quality of TV Pic , ease of use, everything. Last Sunday I go to turn on TV, it doesnt come on, red bulb light comes on,TV goes to stand by. Monday I call Optoma go through the advance replacement procedure they send out new bulb. They sent wrong one,!! different adapter. I am very upset. After talking to guy who helped me first time , he tells me I have to do another advance replacement on my CCard mind you. Today I get another replacement bulb DOES NOT fix problem. I knew it wouldn't since it wasn't hard to change adapters from the 1st one they sent with my original bulb. Didn't want to tell them I did that. Now I am waiting for a Tech to get sent out I live in Nevada.

Has anyone had similar problems? Ideas? Im not too thrilled with Optomas' customer service so far. Especially the fact that I've had to purchase 2 new bulbs(I know I will get credited back: not the point), I've talked to so called supervisor and He was of little help wouldn't send another bulb without a CC.


I was wondering if anyone could help me out here. Going blind trying to read every post here. We purchased a Optoma RD65 last March. Picture was starting to have a "negative effect", translucent coloring, don't know how else to describe it and then same as above, lamp went off. Called Optoma received a new lamp, within a week, this one also went out. Extremely upset with no TV, Optoma sent out a tech. Replaced a few parts - AND THE BULB ONCE AGAIN, TV would not work. At this point Optoma is suggesting they send us another TV. GREAT - until I heard the "R" word. Refurbished. We refused the refurbished TV and strongly suggested the tech come back. He replaced several parts and of course the bulb now once again and we had our TV back. Only it was never as crisp as when we first purchased it. These problems occurred in June, now it is October. Once again the bulb went out. After spending the money on this kind of TV - is there anyone thinking the refurbished TV is the way to go or should we pitch a bigger fit? I'm sorry, there are lemon laws with cars, why not TV's? I'm waiting for a call back from Optoma tomorrow (10/03/05). Very frustrated.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out here. Going blind trying to read every post here. We purchased a Optoma RD65 last March. Picture was starting to have a "negative effect", translucent coloring, don't know how else to describe it and then same as above, lamp went off. Called Optoma received a new lamp, within a week, this one also went out. Extremely upset with no TV, Optoma sent out a tech. Replaced a few parts - AND THE BULB ONCE AGAIN, TV would not work. At this point Optoma is suggesting they send us another TV. GREAT - until I heard the "R" word. Refurbished. We refused the refurbished TV and strongly suggested the tech come back. He replaced several parts and of course the bulb now once again and we had our TV back. Only it was never as crisp as when we first purchased it. These problems occurred in June, now it is October. Once again the bulb went out. After spending the money on this kind of TV - is there anyone thinking the refurbished TV is the way to go or should we pitch a bigger fit? I'm sorry, there are lemon laws with cars, why not TV's? I'm waiting for a call back from Optoma tomorrow (10/03/05). Very frustrated.


Finally a tech is coming tomorrow (Friday) Will let everyone know the outcome.

I also have the Rd50 and the TV is wonderful.....


I had a strong green tint when I recieved it first, but my dealer helped me to solve this with service menu.....

Now the PQ is fantastic... I ve seen many TVs but this is a absolute killer TV... Better than Samsung, Toshiba....

I haven`t seen to many Plasmas delivering this PQ with HiDef.... While DVI and VGA inputs deliver stunning good quality, I found the analog inputs(component,...) to be of minor quality... the picture is a little bit washed out. But I don`t care... I will just use a cheapHDMI DVD Player, and if HD and BlueRay is coming and I need a port for a second device I`ll just invest in a DVI or HDMI switch.......


What a great TV....

Another drop down I found out: some rainbox like dot crawl in fast motion scenes on DVDs. There are some discs I somethimes see this effect and other discs and HD material I cannot see this effect at all...

At least a small home cinema and also a TV in one system.

My pictures can be found here:

1

2

3

4

here are the link to the picture gallery : http://home.arcor.de/rd50info_site/myrd50/index.htm

http://home.arcor.de/rd50info_site/myrd50/images/IMG_0379.jpg

(couldn`post the link until i had made 5 messages!!! lol)

some more is here:
http://home.arcor.de/rd50info_site/rd50sd

I have seen the Samsung L7 , no contest.....

And the Rd50 connected with DVI rocks over many plasmas....

Is there some kind of guide or video for me to use to calibrate my tv rather then spend hundreds of dollars for a professional to come out?

Hey Derik, I just had my PC up and the graphic card was connected to the Rd50 and my Pc monitor which is quite good.

I activated dualview , loaded 2 pictures on both screens and tried to get the colours nearly the same....

that may not be the best calibration method, but I succeded and now my both screens are nearly equal...... the crt just have a little better blacks...

Its not totally professional calibration, but a good PC monitor should be calibrated very good..

its much better than it was before and I have a very satisfieing picture quality at all.


cheers...

Aug 1,2005 I purchased the RD50A from Visual apex. I am very happy with the quality of TV Pic , ease of use, everything. Last Sunday I go to turn on TV, it doesnt come on, red bulb light comes on,TV goes to stand by. Monday I call Optoma go through the advance replacement procedure they send out new bulb. They sent wrong one,!! different adapter. I am very upset. After talking to guy who helped me first time , he tells me I have to do another advance replacement on my CCard mind you. Today I get another replacement bulb DOES NOT fix problem. I knew it wouldn't since it wasn't hard to change adapters from the 1st one they sent with my original bulb. Didn't want to tell them I did that. Now I am waiting for a Tech to get sent out I live in Nevada.

Has anyone had similar problems? Ideas? Im not too thrilled with Optomas' customer service so far. Especially the fact that I've had to purchase 2 new bulbs(I know I will get credited back: not the point), I've talked to so called supervisor and He was of little help wouldn't send another bulb without a CC.

Hopefully I am not seeing the beginning of this issue. Last night I had the message that my bulb was about to go and that I should contact customer service. The TV still works fine but I checked the service menu and I only have 700 hours on the TV. Called customer service and they said to go in the service menu and reset the bulb, poweroff, unplug the TV, wait 20 seconds start it back up. I guess I am rebooting the microprocessor. We will see if the message pops up again. Anyone else had this issue with the microprocessor? I guess I will wait and see if it happens again before I question the soundness of the microprocessor.

bghinshaw - Let me know if that works. I am approaching the 700 hour mark as well.

I am still having trouble removing the green tint from the picture. I calibrated it some with Avia, but in dark scenes I still see green. I played with the YRGB codes but didnt seem to have much luck. I saw in the service menu theres some options to mess with the green but don't want to mess anything up.
What do you recommend?

I am still having trouble removing the green tint from the picture. I calibrated it some with Avia, but in dark scenes I still see green. I played with the YRGB codes but didnt seem to have much luck. I saw in the service menu theres some options to mess with the green but don't want to mess anything up.
What do you recommend?

thats the way I did resolve the green tint. The standard menu is useless. You cannot get rid of the tint... forget it.


But in service menu it is quite easy:

go to SERVICEMENU->SCREEN->contrast/brightness

there you can edit the single colours R - G - B Contrast and R - G - B Brightness. With these 6 values you can easily calibrate your display....okay it is not that easy, but just take another display that you like its colours.... maybe your PC TFT. Now try to get the colours on both displays the same...

I could easily get the colours on the RD50 to look like my Eizo CRT computer monitor... And this crt has quite good colour reproduction....

and Derik: write down the original contrast and brightness values before you change them.....

its not that difficult.... but you have to be carefully.... thats true.....

but if you don`t like the green tint, this is your way! :p :)

bghinshaw - Let me know if that works. I am approaching the 700 hour mark as well.

Well, you can definitely reset the hours to zero which is basically all I did. I haven't seen the message again and the TV is working fine. I'll post again if the situation turns in to something else.

Well, you can definitely reset the hours to zero which is basically all I did. I haven't seen the message again and the TV is working fine. I'll post again if the situation turns in to something else.

I have RD65 and I had similar problem 3 months back. I did exactly same to try it and it worked and it is running since without any problem.
Best picture quality then any of the TV out till today.
:) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I purchased my RD50H in March, my bulb show 2772 hrs on it with no troubles or messages.

peace.
unloaded

Hello,

I recently noticed that the picture on my Optoma RD50 set is slightly crooked. Is there a way to fix this in the service menu or otherwise?

Thanks.

I believe you can do that in the regular menu under Data.

I read this entire thread (a lot of good info) and I have a couple of questions. VA still has the RD50A available. I've noticed there are now quite a few other brand DLP units in the same ball park price (the RD50A still appears to cost less when you weed out the sites that you can't trust) From a technical point does the RD50A still stack up?

Two, I live in the Texas hill country and I don't have the option of cable, so I am stuck with dishnet. I have a dish 510 PVR with a sharp DVD recorder and a phillips DVD all basically running in SD mode. It will take some time to deal with dish to get a HD receiver without spending a forture. If I stay in SD for a time does this unit's display look decent in SD. I read a lot of posts concerning this and I think the answer is yes. I'm ready to pull the trigger especially after reading the great customer service comments for optoma and VA.

Thanks

I read this entire thread (a lot of good info) and I have a couple of questions. VA still has the RD50A available. I've noticed there are now quite a few other brand DLP units in the same ball park price (the RD50A still appears to cost less when you weed out the sites that you can't trust) From a technical point does the RD50A still stack up?

Two, I live in the Texas hill country and I don't have the option of cable, so I am stuck with dishnet. I have a dish 510 PVR with a sharp DVD recorder and a phillips DVD all basically running in SD mode. It will take some time to deal with dish to get a HD receiver without spending a forture. If I stay in SD for a time does this unit's display look decent in SD. I read a lot of posts concerning this and I think the answer is yes. I'm ready to pull the trigger especially after reading the great customer service comments for optoma and VA.

Thanks

I recommend doing a demo of the set...

I did demo many dlp units and so far: In the 720p department the RD50A is a very good display ( personally I think its the best ). There may be some better DLPs in USA with 1920x1080 resolution, which are not available in Germany at the moment. I cannot say anything about these.....

For your question about SD material, I think it is just as good as it can be on a 50" display.....

If you have a personal computer and configure it as player source, you can view DVDs in stunnning picture quality which is as good as some worse HD-material.... I see details on DVDs I never seen before on any display.....

think about it...

Tech service had to come out twice to fix my previous problem. Had to replace entire board. Still not sure exactly what caused my problems in the first place. I really dont think it was the bulb although that was 1st assumption since bulb light came on. All and All Optoma stood behind their product. Not quite as fast as I hoped, but I tend not to be very patient. Especially with a 3 month old TV.

How do I get to the service menu on this TV??

Tech service had to come out twice to fix my previous problem. Had to replace entire board. Still not sure exactly what caused my problems in the first place. I really dont think it was the bulb although that was 1st assumption since bulb light came on. All and All Optoma stood behind their product. Not quite as fast as I hoped, but I tend not to be very patient. Especially with a 3 month old TV.

How do I get to the service menu on this TV??

Menu 6-1-9 gets you the service menu

Same gets you out

I have my HD DVR cable box hooked to my tv via HDMI to DVI and the channels seem to shake somewhat. Its not too noticeable unless you look for it, but it is still distracting. Anyone else have this problem?

My main screen has gone neon green but my pip/pop display is perfect. Anyone know whats going on?. Going to call into Optoma in the morning, but just wondering if anyone has run into this problem or my know what could be causing it.

My main screen has gone neon green but my pip/pop display is perfect. Anyone know whats going on?. Going to call into Optoma in the morning, but just wondering if anyone has run into this problem or my know what could be causing it.

if your picture is completely green maybe your color wheel is dead.....

thanks for the reply but for whatever reason the main screen is back to normal and actually looks clearer...??????? Have no anwser but am glad things are back to normal. Also thanks to everyone who's posted info in the thread made my decision to buy a 50A and set it up a pleasure. Mike from Wilmington, NC

If you have a personal computer and configure it as player source, you can view DVDs in stunnning picture quality which is as good as some worse HD-material.... I see details on DVDs I never seen before on any display..... hifiboom, will explain this, why is the picture so much better?
thanks!

hifiboom, will explain this, why is the picture so much better?
thanks!

the picture with a Pc and WinDVD is:


-sharper
-better color
-more contrast
-few noise

I compared the quality with a cheaper HDMI DVD Player.

Maybe if you buy a 800$ DVD Player you`ll get the same picture quality with the player as you have with the PC, but cheaper ones loose against a good configured PC.

Why?

don`t know exactly.... maybe actual PCs have more processing power than cheaper DVD players for Deinterlancing and to render pictures to progressive + better upscaling algos....

at least you`ll find more settings like GAMMA for each color channel, Contrast and brigtness and many more with a PC.

thats all..

anyone know what the tv code is to program say a comcast universal remote or receiver universal remote to control the tv? TIA.

I would like to know the exact same thing as louiee_g.

I would also.

The only solution I have seen so far is a Harmony remote.

I have yet to see Optoma as a brand on numerous universal or cable box / satellite remote control manuals.

I heard that Optoma is out of the RPTV business, at least temporarily. Anyone else heard?]

I have not heard that, but I guess I will call them and see what they have to say.

I finally broke down and bought a rd50a from VA. Optoma sent me a used unit. I mean a really used unit. The numbers were wore off the remote, the tv was missing two of the feet on the bottom. The bottom of the TV was broke and it looked liked some one had spilled ice cream down the back. This came from the factory in a pristine box. Now I'm in a circle jerk with Optoma and VA. If you decide to buy I would reconsider.

WOW! How can they explain that? BTW, who is 'VA'?

WOW! How can they explain that? BTW, who is 'VA'?


Visual Apex out of Washington state. Its where a lot of folks on this forum bought thier units.

Hi everybody, new to the forum. just wanted to know if anybody else just recently bought the optoma from VA?

Hi everybody, new to the forum. just wanted to know if anybody else just recently bought the optoma from VA?


Read my post above and buyer beware. I'm pobably sending my back to VA because I can't get Optoma to do anything. They want me to pay shipping to return the unit when they are the ones wo sent me a used unit.

Hey numan, I'm in the Hill Country too and am pondering the Optoma from VA. I see that dune had a bad experience but as far as I can tell, that is the first.

I'll let y'all know if I go through with the purchase and how it turns out. . .I'd appreciate it if you'd do the same.

Cheers,

Ed.

I am in the custom AV business in San Antonio, TX. I can tell you that my supply of Optoma RPTVs is shut down. My best advise is to go into a holding pattern for a bit. If you can't wait, get something else. These units have incredible pictures, but if end users are having used TVs delivered to them from the factory, be careful. I'm waiting to hear from Optoma about whats going on. I won't sell any until this gets resolved.

quite funny, they stop the RPTVs with a picture that competes the best plasmas.... they should seriously think about their advertising and marketing....

So someone explain to me how this works. If I order an RD50A from VA, the TV is actually shipped from Optoma? I always envisioned that VA would purchase the TVs from Optoma and put them in a warehouse somewhere until they are sold. How does it really work?

In the business, there is something called 'drop shipping' where the reseller has the factory ship dirctely to the buyer. This allows minimum stocking issues for the reseller. Sometimes its just a matter of being out of stock and having the wareshouse ship the unit directly to the buyer as opposed to shipping to the reseller, only to load it back onto a truck to go to the buyer.

Thanks for the explanation.

That implies to me that the onus is on Optoma for dune's bad experience. So unless I find a reseller that actually has stock in the RD50A sitting in a warehouse, then I could expect similar "drop shipping" from Optoma and perhaps similar "stick a refurb in the box and call it new (alledgedly)" treatment.

This is so strange because nearly all of the experiences in this thread with VA and Optoma have been positive.

Ed.

I have already ordered mine from VA. Bought it because of the good reviews i have been reading. hope that i get a good one because i want be able to check it till i get back to the states. Deployed to Iraq right now and won't be home till January. Just couldn't wait!

Hey numan,

1. Thanks for your contribution to our nation's defense. Stay safe (as possible).

2. Let me know how the TV order turns out! I'm keen to know.

Cheers,

Ed.

thanks endeitz, will let you know as soon as it gets to my wife. hopefully its not a used unit.

Has anyone else purchased one of these from VA recently? I'm converging on an install date for Directv HD and am considering the Sony A10 vs this Optoma. The Optoma price is just impossible to beat.

Ed.

Appears I have it sorted out. Optoma is delivering a new unit Friday (25 Nov 05). In all honesty VA was pretty good about it. They were just at a loss as to the used unit, but they said if Optoma would not make it right they would take the unit back and just eat the cost.

No one at Optoma had any idea or one they would admit to as why I got a used unit. I'm still some what skeptical though, if this unit had not been so bad, I'm not sure I would have known it was not new.

A couple of interesting things to look for: the remote and cables come in small box, in my case none of the accessories were in bags, not even the remote. I thought that was strange right off. In electronics every thing is in a bag, even the batteries. It was not until I figured out that two of the feet were missing off the bottom did I start really looking the unit over and then it was obvious. The remote was pathetically worn. You can bet I will go over this one with a fine tooth comb.

I'll report back after I receive it.

dune,

Thanks very much for the update. I will be interested to hear how it turns out.

Cheers,

Ed.

Has anyone succesfully connected their Computer to the PC1 DVI-D port on the back of the Optoma 65A (or 50A). I have a brand new NVidia 256MB video card with DVI output and cannot get a picture on PC1. I have confirmed that a signal is being generated properly out of the DVI on the video card because I send that to a computer monitor with no problem. The sound from the audio card into PC1 works just fine also. I am so sick of looking at that big blue screen. Any ideas? :confused:

Has anyone succesfully connected their Computer to the PC1 DVI-D port on the back of the Optoma 65A (or 50A). I have a brand new NVidia 256MB video card with DVI output and cannot get a picture on PC1. I have confirmed that a signal is being generated properly out of the DVI on the video card because I send that to a computer monitor with no problem. The sound from the audio card into PC1 works just fine also. I am so sick of looking at that big blue screen. Any ideas? :confused:

ah you have a bluescreen, just reinstall windows. No, sorry just a joke... :)

make sure you are having a higher quality dvi cable if you need a length > 2 m.

First time I connected my optoma with a cheap 5m DVI cable and the picture was full of noise. I also read that with a bad cable you maybe don`t get any picture.

And also make sure to set the right resolution (1280x720) with the right refresh rate 50,60 or 75 hz, finally go to optomas menu and set it to PC input instead of HD input.

It should work now...

ah you have a bluescreen, just reinstall windows. No, sorry just a joke... :)

make sure you are having a higher quality dvi cable if you need a length > 2 m.

First time I connected my optoma with a cheap 5m DVI cable and the picture was full of noise. I also read that with a bad cable you maybe don`t get any picture.

And also make sure to set the right resolution (1280x720) with the right refresh rate 50,60 or 75 hz, finally go to optomas menu and set it to PC input instead of HD input.

It should work now...

Thanks for your response. The DVI-D cable that I have is shorter than 2 m and has already provided HDTV from OTA box to the PC1 without problem. Next, I have been using 1280 x 720 and I also tried 1024 x 768 which is the maximum resolution from the video card. I also set to PC on the the TV.

The only item you mentioned that I have not tried is the refresh rate. What is the proper refresh rate? Is that set on the video card or on the TV?

i need to make 5 posts in order to post URL's..

Received mine the 24th. wife looked it over and said that it looked fine. no scratches or dents. remoted looked brand new. won't get to check it till i get home.

Thanks for the update, nunman. Looks like I'll be ordering mine tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving (hope they feed you well).

Ed.

Thanks for your response. The DVI-D cable that I have is shorter than 2 m and has already provided HDTV from OTA box to the PC1 without problem. Next, I have been using 1280 x 720 and I also tried 1024 x 768 which is the maximum resolution from the video card. I also set to PC on the the TV.

The only item you mentioned that I have not tried is the refresh rate. What is the proper refresh rate? Is that set on the video card or on the TV?

I also have been working with a HTPC on my RD50A. I have gotten the PC1 to work but 1280x720 gives a huge screen and I have to underscan to get it all to fit. The end result is that I get ugly gray bars on Media Center when viewing. I believe that the refresh rate is at 60 hz. When you accept the underscan then it readjusts the resolution to around 1000x600. That Sucks................ :mad: Any suggestions with this??? I too have an nvidea card but it is an older 5200.

Thanks Ed, happy thanksgiving to you and the rest of the AVS family. let me know how you like it

Appears I have it sorted out. Optoma is delivering a new unit Friday (25 Nov 05). In all honesty VA was pretty good about it. They were just at a loss as to the used unit, but they said if Optoma would not make it right they would take the unit back and just eat the cost.

No one at Optoma had any idea or one they would admit to as why I got a used unit. I'm still some what skeptical though, if this unit had not been so bad, I'm not sure I would have known it was not new.

A couple of interesting things to look for: the remote and cables come in small box, in my case none of the accessories were in bags, not even the remote. I thought that was strange right off. In electronics every thing is in a bag, even the batteries. It was not until I figured out that two of the feet were missing off the bottom did I start really looking the unit over and then it was obvious. The remote was pathetically worn. You can bet I will go over this one with a fine tooth comb.

I'll report back after I receive it.


Hey dune, any word on this? I'm interested to know if they made good. I will probably be ordering one on Monday.

Cheers,

Ed.

Hey dune, any word on this? I'm interested to know if they made good. I will probably be ordering one on Monday.

Cheers,

Ed.


They did make good, shipped a new one (at least I'm pretty sure). Arrived Friday unit works great. I found it odd they did not question me on any of this. I could have bounced it down the stairs for all they know.They just took my word for it and sent a new one. They also took the old on back at the same time. It makes me wonder if they did not know it was used all the time. No way of knowing though.

I just scored me an 811 HD receiver (dishnet) for $90.00 on ebay. So I'm ready for some HD (if I can figure it all out).

Later