Thanks Natja

I think I will ask the question about whether or not PJ manufacturers adjust the service menu settings individually in a new thread. Hopefully that will give the question more visibility and we can see if there is general consensus about this.

Very pleased with my h27 but am concerned about lamp life. I have brightness setting at 75 and high contrast. If I leave there without changing to brite mode, am I shortening the lamp life? If so, how significant ? Also, how much of an impact can I expect going to Brite mode? I noticed that the EP739 uses the same bulb. Ye their lamp life ratings are 3000/5000. Does this mean that the H27 can be expected to achieve the long life also but they didn't want to market it that way or is there some other factor driving the life?

Philosopher - As a fellow H27 user, is there any chance you could have a look see at your service menu settings and post them here? I would like to compare them to mine.

Here is how to bring up the service menu on the H27:
1) Start with the projector on
2) Press the "Power/Standby" button
3) The message "Power off the lamp? Picture Mute" will display
4) Press and hold the left arrow
5) The service menu will display

These are the factory settings in my H27:
Red Gain: 137
Green Gain: 136
Blue Gain: 137
PC Red Offset: 58
PC Green Offset: 64
PC Blue Offset: 60
Video Red Offset: 58
Video Blue Offset: 57

And concerning lamp life on the H27 versus the EP739 it may be that since the EP739 isn't designed for home theater, fan noise and heat output aren't as much of a concern on the EP739 so it has a better cooling system.

For what it is worth; these are my factory settings in the service menu.

These are the factory settings in my H27:
Red Gain: 127
Green Gain: 127
Blue Gain: 127
PC Red Offset: 68
PC Green Offset: 73
PC Blue Offset: 71
Video Red Offset: 66
Video Blue Offset: 69

There seems to be a variance from projector to projector. Maybe different techs see different things. Who knows.

Thanks MCH...the plot thickens.

Of the three service menu settings that have been posted so far none are the same.

Mine:

Red Gain: 139
Green Gain: 137
Blue Gain: 137
PC Red Offset: 70
PC Green Offset: 63
PC Blue Offset: 67
Video Red Offset: 71
Video Blue Offset: 65

W00t! just joined the H27 owners club. Depite it being EoL'ed, Futureshop here in canada has gotten one last shipment, and they've dropped the price to boot!

Anyway, this is the projector that most interested me, and after hearing about the potential HTPC >> H31 problems, i decided to make the jump here.

As soon as i get all my component cables together (no DVD w/ DVI yet :( ) I'll get some more impressions together for y'all!

One thing that kind of concerns me: from the manual, it says to use M2.6 screws to fassen the projector to a ceiling mount. I went to home depot to find them, but the smallest they carried was M4, am I mis-interpreting the screw size?

I'll be projecting onto a flat white wall to start, but the PJ will be ceiling mounted using the plexiglass mounting method described in the DIY section.

You need to get the screws from a hobby shop. I just use a standard 1/4" bolt with the tripod hole - had to do some shimming with rubber washers though. If you can get the M2.6 screws it is the 'proper' way to go. FS also has an excellent deal with the DV10.

I think FS alternates which is on sale. last week, the DV10 was significantly less expensive thent he H27, now it's quite a bit more.

Got the screws finally, from a specialty shop in town. Problem is that i've gotten in over my head with the DIY mount, so i'm going to get a mount off ebay instead :)

Hopefully i'll have the whole thing up and running (at least temporarily) by next weekend. Damn christmas and tying up the postal system! My HT is more important! :P

So far though, just playing around with it, i'm quite happy with it on a white wall in a dark room

Optoma also has them. A dealer I know was able to get them from Optoma. Try their tech support if all else fails. -art

Thanks MCH...the plot thickens.

Of the three service menu settings that have been posted so far none are the same.

Are you all selecting the same presets? (ie. Movie, TV...) I would expect different settings depending on the presets. -art

Hi All H27 Users

I am posting this to this thread as it is the official therad and the most reliable thread with experienced and knowledgable users.

I have recently seen a demo of H27. It was out of the box. My impressions

1. Very Punchy Color - Immediately catches attention. Tried Gladiator and Last Crusade. the 2nd one looked gorgeous.
2. Very good contrast - But could not diffrentiate between 4805 or H31. Its relative i understand unless you side by side.
3. The european version do not have Image AI - shame. Does it really improve contrast?
4. Very long throw ratio
5. Brightness though rated at 850 was less bright than 4805 i saw earlier using same discs.
6. 5 and 4 mixed could be an issue if image is more than 90inch diagonal.
7. Noise was not at all a problem.
8. All modes other than normal were dull and dim.

The Information I want from all owners is

1. Did you encounter any major problem during your owneship?
2. How is the lamp reliability? Optoma Lamps are not that reliable as per stats.
3. If you are again given a choice to choose between H27, 4805, H31, MT200 and Nec Ht510. Whihc one would you choose and why?
4. What is the best screen gain for a 80inch screen?

Opinions are welcome from all others who do not own H27 but has the other ones listed here or have seen a H27 running.

My replies are below each of your remarks:


1. Very Punchy Color - Immediately catches attention. Tried Gladiator and Last Crusade. the 2nd one looked gorgeous.

EXACTLY MY EXPERIENCE AS WELL. COLORS WERE VERY PUNCHY, AND NEEDED NO CALIBRATION WHAT SO EVER, UNLIKE ALL 4 H31'S I OWNED WHICH DID.

2. Very good contrast - But could not diffrentiate between 4805 or H31. Its relative i understand unless you side by side.

MY EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE 4805 AND H31 WAS DIFFERENT THAN YOURS, ALL OF MY H31'S HAD A VERY NOTICABLE DIFFERENCE IN CONTRAST THAN THE 4805 DID. A GOOD DEAL BETTER. THE 4805 HAD FAILRY POOR CONTRAST IN DARK IMAGES WHERE AS THE H31 DID MUCH BETTER AND THE H27 EVEN BETTER THAN THAT.

3. The european version do not have Image AI - shame. Does it really improve contrast?

MY UNIT HAS IMAGE AI OR IS PRESUMED TO. SO FAR WITH IMAGE AI ACTIVATED I HAVE SEEN ABSOLUTELY NOT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST DIFFERENCE IN THE CONTRAST, BRIGHTNESS, ECT. BETWEEN IMAGE AI MODE AND HAVING IT OFF. SO MUCH SO I HAVE BEGUN TO THINK THAT THE IMAGE AI IN MY UNIT DOESN'T WORK AT ALL. I HAVE HEARD THAT OTHER USERS OF THE H27 CAN SEE A MAJOR DIFFERENCE WITH IMAGE AI ACTIVATED. I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING DIFFERENT.

4. Very long throw ratio

AGREED TO SOME DEGREE, BUT ONLY NEEDS TO BE ABOUT 2' FURTHER BACK TO GET THE SAME SIZE IMAGE AS THE 4805 OR H31

5. Brightness though rated at 850 was less bright than 4805 i saw earlier using same discs.

AGREE WITH YOU HERE. THIS IS ACTUALLY THE DIMMEST PROJECTOR I HAVE EVER OWNED, BUT STILL IT PACKS ENOUGH BRIGHTNESS TO GET THE JOB DONE. BUT TO BE FAIR ABOUT IT THE H31 IS ONLY SLIGHTLY BRIGHTER, THE 4805 HAS BEEN KNOWN TO BE A VERY BRIGHT PROJECTOR FOR IT'S RATING (AN EXCEPTION TO THE RULE). SOME PROJECTORS RATED AT AS UCH AS 1500 LUMENS ARE NOT AS BRIGHT AS THE 4805. THE BENQ 6100 I OWNED WAS NOT AS BRIGHT.

6. 5 and 4 mixed could be an issue if image is more than 90inch diagonal.

YEA I AGREE.

7. Noise was not at all a problem.

AGREED

8. All modes other than normal were dull and dim.

YES I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, BUT I FOUND THAT IF YOU ADJUST EACH OF THEM AND ADD MORE BRIGHTNESS, CONTRAST, ECT. THEY ALL LOOK AS GOOD TOO. BUT I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, THEY ALL SEEM TO HAVE THIS BLUEISH CAST TO THEM AS THOUGH YOU HAVE A HEAVY FILTER OVER THE LENS OR SOMETHING.

The Information I want from all owners is

1. Did you encounter any major problem during your owneship?

NO NOT YET. I HAVE HAD THE UNIT FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS.

2. How is the lamp reliability? Optoma Lamps are not that reliable as per stats.

THE FACT IS THERE IS NO LAMP IN ANY BRAND OF PROJECTOR THAT IS RELIABLE IN %100 OF THAT COMPANY'S PROJECTORS. BENQ, PANASONIC, SANYO, OPTOMA, ECT. HAVE ALL SHARED IN EXCESSIVE REPORTS OF PREMATURE LAMP FAILURE. AND IT IS A FACT THAT IN SOME CASES THE SAME MANUFACTURED LAMPS CAN BE FOUND IN ANY NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PROJECTOR BRANDS. ESPECIALLY BENQ AND PANASONIC, I HAVE SEEN MORE REPORTS OF LAMP TROUBLE FROM THEM THE OPTOMA HAS ON IT'S RECORD.

3. If you are again given a choice to choose between H27, 4805, H31, MT200 and Nec Ht510. Whihc one would you choose and why?

I WOULD NEVER AGAIN BUY AN H31, NOTHING BUT TROUBLE FOR ME. I LIKED THE 4805 VERY MUCH BUT THE CONTRAST WAS NOT VERY GOOD. BUT IF INFOCUS RELEASED A NEWER 4805 AT 3000:1 OR 4000:1 I WOULD JUMP AT THE CHANCE TO OWN ONE. DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE NEC RIGHT AT THE MOMENT. I HAVE HEARD BAD AND GOOD THINGS ABOUT NEC IN GENERAL, BUT MORE BAD THAN GOOD. SO NOT SURE ABOUT NEC YET.

4. What is the best screen gain for a 80inch screen?

I CHOSE TO USE A FLAT MEDIUM GREY PIANT AND WENT OVER MY HIGH GAIN WHTE SCREEN, THE RESULT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE. THOUGH THE H27 SUFFERS A BIT IN THAT IT LOWERS BRIGHTNESS A BIT.

Here are some half-azzed screenshots I did of my H27. Also a couple of my setup and screen there too:
http://gallery.avsforum.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=7476898

Does anybody here tried to add a wide lens for H27H31?

CKL and Lion tried it on 4805 and they said 4805 can't do that.....

Will Optoma H27/H31 can add third parties wide lens? The one from Optoma from H27 cost $999, but Olympus WCON-08B cost only $120....

Where are some places to buy this model in US - any major stores?

Thanks!

I really don't think that major stores like best buy carry this unit or the H31. But I purchased mine through projectorsolution.com. They have a very good reputation and my experience was very good with them. Delivery was only 2 days from the time I placed my order, but they are in california only about 400 miles from where I live. Visualapex.com is where I purchased the H31 and they are fantastic too, but they no longer carry the h27.

Hi

Finally, I bought an Optoma H27 after going through a long study of reviews and posts in few forums including this one and demo of machines in the similar bracket. The other contenders for my pick were Nec 410/510, 4805, H30,H30a, Benq 5120, Z3, PJTX100, AE700.

Thanks to all specially Guitermana and natja for putting up lot of posts in this matter.

I was looking for PJ and my preference was for DVD watching mostly and not much of Hidef. An upgrade in next 1-2 years in mind so a low budget but a performance machine was something I was looking for. I guess many will have similar ideas in mind who are limited to a budget at this point of time.

I got the H27 from KrishAV with a good deal. Nice people £600 with 1.m Profigold Component cable. 3 yr Hot swap warranty. What else do you want?

My HT is quite basic to HT pros and Average for HT enthusiasts with
PJ:H27
DVD Player : Philips 3005 Prog Scan. Will get a a better DVD player soon.
Cable: Component Profigold 1.5M
Scaling : By PJ and not DVD Player.
Screen : Wall

Result: Amazing and that also on a wall and not a screen. I am not talking about Hidef stuff or expensive new models (z4,AE900 etc) hence nothing to compare with those models. I have seen the other PJs mentioned. To me, H27 beats them all in overall PQ and thts why i took it.

Colour:
H27 Out box requires colour calibration though some may like the paunchiness (my wife does but i like natural colours).
4805 definitely has the best colour and that’s why i used my friend’s 4805(new, he took 4805) side by side to calibrate my H27 colour to his D65 standard. After doing that my friend said "Wow" it looks better than my 4805. Why? H27 has got the best contrast I have seen out of all the models mentioned above. You can clearly see the difference side by side.

Contrast: The Holy Grail for PJs
Fantastic. I can see scenes clearly which were not that clear with a 4805. My friends eyeball popped out who owns the 4805. It matches the CR of H30a but the appeal is better as H30a is not colour perfect. Dark scenes are a dream to watch on this PJ. At 2500:1 if this is the case I imagine what people get at 5000:1 and above in better machines.

Scaling:
Excellent. It produces a smooth clean image. But 4805 and H30a has a better scalar no doubt.

Rainbows:
Fortunately me and my wife are not susceptible to rainbows and we have not seen any even after trying to look for one. Headache? Yes a bit but this is normal as it’s a change in watching a tv to a big screen. I get headache even after watching a theatre.

Brightness:
More than enough for a light controlled room and that also in economy mode. I still reduce the brightness by 3-5 points from preset. Simple theory is Projector On - Lights off, curtain down and popcorn in. The projector is really bright. Do not go by initial Projector centrals review as it was faulty product.

Screen door:
Now I know why a DC2 chip is so good than a normal wide DMD. Frankly speaking i can only see dmd pixels at around 1-2 feet and pixellation at around 1x-1.2x screen size. That’s impressive. From my sitting position at 10 feet the image is smooth and clean and I know it will look better if I go back 2 feet further.

Connectivity:
A whole range - Composite, SVideo, Component, DVI-D, VGA. Optoma provides cables for all connectors(1.8 m each) except DVI and VGA. They also provide a SCART to VGA adapter which is great for Freeview or DVD player with scart and no component out.

I tried all sources other the DVI-D and i was surprised to find that in this model Composite and S-Video looked much better than the competition. Component looks fantastic with the Profigold cable. Will try the DVI-D once I get a HTPC having a DVI-D output. DVI-D should produce the sharpest picture. I even tried my laptop. Though I was not able to match the widescreen resolution , the image via Svideo TV out surprised me as it was clean and clear. One side was missing

Fan Noise:
One of the quietest one. Nec models are quieter. Only in Pin drop silence scenes you can hear a faint whine. I sit 2 feet from the PJ now.

Others:
Excellent user friendly remote, Light Weight, Looks like a Storm trooper equipment. Throw distance is a negative but suits my wall currently. I am getting an image of around 76" diagonal from 11 feet.


The H27 had a very bad opening in the market because of a Faulty product being tested at Projector central. In the world of PJ, people do listen to what the guys say there and i also believe that they are experts and they did their job. But i have not seen any owner of H27 having a problems or not happy with their purchase in all forums I am a member.

So if anybody wants to invest now into a 480p machine without investing into Hidef (I prefer this as you can reduce the expenses of upgrades. Upgrade from 480p to 720p or higher is less costly than a upgrading from Hidef to Hidef. However it all depends on content you mostly watch. For all who will be watching mostly DVDs I can recommend the machine H27 without any doubt.

One point to Add. I had a word with Optoma Europe and Infocus. All 480p models will be stopped after March 2006. However a full support will be provided for 5-10 years as most of the assembly uses similar parts. This is a move to embrace the new Hidef machines coming out of the DLP PJ giants in 2nd quarter of 2006. It will be a battle upfront with LCD and fortunately it’s the consumers (us) who will get benefited. The guys in Optoma and Infocus both mentioned in different ways that the new machines will be bringing in the true theatre appeal with images like CRT and Imax movies at the reach of public. Contrast ration will become standard at least at 4000:1 to upto 20000:1. Wow…… And all new machines will come with a min lamp guarantee of 6 months. That’s a good thing.

But initial prices will be high for the high end ones. This was one of the reasons for me to go for the H27 as I would definitely make a move to Hidef in the next 1-2 year till technologies like Blu-ray and HDDVD, etc stabilises and the video media is available to public easily. Till then enjoy DVD and HD broadcasts (scaled down at 480p. It looks quite good.)

I am happy you seem to like the H27. And if memory serves the European version of the H27 does not have ImageAI which gives up to 4000:1 contrast. Am I correct in that assumption? If I am then you would be even happier to have the model I have with ImageAI. The contrast and black levels on my H27 are so deep at times with ImageAI I find I need to lower them at times. Your color spectrum was not accurate on your H27 out of the box? I geuss I have been real lucky because I owned the 4805 rght before I purchased the H27 and figured I was going to have to deal with the crappy orangish reds I got from the H31 if I returned the 4805 and went for the H27, but I was very pleased to see that the color accuracy of my H27 was nearly identicle to the 4805. And yes I agree the over all picture of the H27 once calibrated correctly blows away the 4805, and for the most part I feel it blows away the images I have seen from the H31 and BenQ 6100, and numerous other units I have owned or used. In fact so far give or take the H27 is the best projector I have owned thus far.

I am happy you seem to like the H27. And if memory serves the European version of the H27 does not have ImageAI which gives up to 4000:1 contrast. Am I correct in that assumption? If I am then you would be even happier to have the model I have with ImageAI. The contrast and black levels on my H27 are so deep at times with ImageAI I find I need to lower them at times. Your color spectrum was not accurate on your H27 out of the box? I geuss I have been real lucky because I owned the 4805 rght before I purchased the H27 and figured I was going to have to deal with the crappy orangish reds I got from the H31 if I returned the 4805 and went for the H27, but I was very pleased to see that the color accuracy of my H27 was nearly identicle to the 4805. And yes I agree the over all picture of the H27 once calibrated correctly blows away the 4805, and for the most part I feel it blows away the images I have seen from the H31 and BenQ 6100, and numerous other units I have owned or used. In fact so far give or take the H27 is the best projector I have owned thus far.

Yes i like the H27. Taken some 20-30 photos. Will add links to photographs. I was told that ImageAI in europe is builtin and not an option. Not sure though.

I felt the 4805 was having better colours. But after caliberation 4805 will go for a hide.

Natja,

I have seen in your other posts about the brightness. I watch it in a fully dark room and i do not see any brightness issues at all.
In fact i use the brite mode off and reduce the brightness further.

I will be adding the screenshots posts today.

Hi

Screenshots of my H27 . Some points on the images.

1. The screen is still a wall (yellowish colour ). Image is around 84" diagonal.
2. I have used a very basic 2meg Digicam from a friend as mine is still in the service centre. The camera is not even average and i have not used any tripod . All are taken on hand (sitting on bed as i do not have a ny dedicated HT place now) and hence some pic may look shaken or out of focus.
3. The camera shots do not do justice to what i actually get. The actuals on the wall are mind blowing (to me).
4. I have taken screenshots from all possible types including colorful scenes, dark backgrounds, closeups, and scenes of shadow and darkness.
5. The most important part of the PJ which amazes me is the contrast and blacks. They look inky and detailed. Some of the shots are taken to capture that. I am sure when i get my camera - 5meg one i should be able to get some good pictures.
6. The colour saturation is bit higher as my wife loves vibrant colours and i did not get enough time to change and go back to take the shots. But i will do it next time. I like natural colors.
7. All from DVD (basic £39 Philips DVP3005) source - LOTR1, Hero and House of flying daggers.
8. I am sure that the PJ will give me much better pictures with a good DVD and a screen.

Enjoy and let me know your comments. Will put up more later.


You can view the images at either
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=279104

or use the links below
http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj13yk.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6960/pj38dz.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8997/pj47wf.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3668/pj72jw.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1962/pj136mx.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6553/pj155pu.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2364/pj161tz.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/7256/pj185rr.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/5111/pj191nx.jpg

Here is some more

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6286/pj213rg.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/5889/pj229gl.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/627/pj234il.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/64/pj245up.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6010/pj260dl.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1766/pj278ch.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/7329/pj280wb.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/5311/pj293fg.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4598/pj317rz.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8109/pj323mi.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4830/pj331sg.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4071/pj351lx.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4348/pj367ak.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6854/pj377zf.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/5994/pj381mo.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/3141/pj398wl.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/7207/pj401oq.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/9041/pj418cd.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1466/pj427qp.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8766/pj433wl.jpg
http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2928/pj444tv.jpg

Natja,

I have seen in your other posts about the brightness. I watch it in a fully dark room and i do not see any brightness issues at all.
In fact i use the brite mode off and reduce the brightness further.


Maybe mine has an issue then because even with imageAI off some footage looks bright enough I geuss, but darker scenes and sometimes entire films look really dim over all, sort of like if I put a heavy dark filter over the lens. I mean the lumens rating looks at that point like it could be as low as 150. it looks almost as dark as when the H31 had a lamp issue and it would fade then shut it's self off, so there must be an issue of some kind. Do you see any difference that could be noticed at all with imageAI? I can't see any difference between off and on. It looks very much like imageAI is either on all the time or off all the time no matter how I set it. Even when the image looks bright, it looks a fair bit dimmer than the H31 was and that is with the brightness at the highest point without washing out the image and contrast all the way up, which of course also brightens the image. if I leave the brightness and contrast at 50% the image is pretty dim and lifeless. What do you folks think? Should I return it to optoma for another one or is this unit simply meant to be that dim? Doesn't seem right to me for it to look this dim. But yet it looks too dim much of the time, but not severly dim.

Maybe mine has an issue then because even with imageAI off some footage looks bright enough I geuss, but darker scenes and sometimes entire films look really dim over all, sort of like if I put a heavy dark filter over the lens. I mean the lumens rating looks at that point like it could be as low as 150. it looks almost as dark as when the H31 had a lamp issue and it would fade then shut it's self off, so there must be an issue of some kind. Do you see any difference that could be noticed at all with imageAI? I can't see any difference between off and on. It looks very much like imageAI is either on all the time or off all the time no matter how I set it. Even when the image looks bright, it looks a fair bit dimmer than the H31 was and that is with the brightness at the highest point without washing out the image and contrast all the way up, which of course also brightens the image. if I leave the brightness and contrast at 50% the image is pretty dim and lifeless. What do you folks think? Should I return it to optoma for another one or is this unit simply meant to be that dim? Doesn't seem right to me for it to look this dim. But yet it looks too dim much of the time, but not severly dim.

I have my H27 for a few months now, watching a lot of movies and I don't remember having problems with any of the movies being too dim.

My PJ is in a dark room with a gray screen, the image is nicely bright for me and everyone else watching movies with me, I think that you should contact Optoma and ask if they encountered this problem before.

This picture shows accurately the brightness of my PJ, it's going to look darker or brighter on different monitors settings, but anyway... believe me that it's bright! :)

http://ozzie.neostrada.pl/pic36.jpg

Thanks for the reply. When you tried the unit with default picture settings did you find that the image looked bright even then or did you need to jack the brightness and contrast up a good bit? I find that if I use normal mode via component it looks fair but not as bright as the h31. but not real bad providing I raise the brightness up to about 65% and contrast all the way up. Other wise all the default settings look like they are filtered heavily and the result is a very dim picture. I may try and post images of what it looks like when the image is looking real dim. I wil try and post a few in the next day or two. I want to see what you and others think before I send it in because I would hate to have Optoma tell me that they see nothing wrong with the unit after they have had it for weeks or something.

Thanks for the reply. When you tried the unit with default picture settings did you find that the image looked bright even then or did you need to jack the brightness and contrast up a good bit? I find that if I use normal mode via component it looks fair but not as bright as the h31. but not real bad providing I raise the brightness up to about 65% and contrast all the way up. Other wise all the default settings look like they are filtered heavily and the result is a very dim picture. I may try and post images of what it looks like when the image is looking real dim. I wil try and post a few in the next day or two. I want to see what you and others think before I send it in because I would hate to have Optoma tell me that they see nothing wrong with the unit after they have had it for weeks or something.

I'm using DVI connection, Momitsu DX-880 DVD player and watching movies at 35 brightness and 85-90 contrast.

On what level do you have your colors set in the advanced adjustment window?

I use Brightness at 44 and contrast at 60. And brite mode is Off. No brightness problem for me .

I do not usea any screen. I use a offwhite wall. I guess if i use a 1.0+ gain screen i will have to reduce the brightness further.
The projector shines only in dark room. Ambient lights affects the picture a lot.

But i don't mind as dark room is what you need for a theatre experience. Even in movie theatres if somebody opens the door for a while the image gets washed away. It's natural.

I'm using DVI connection, Momitsu DX-880 DVD player and watching movies at 35 brightness and 85-90 contrast.

On what level do you have your colors set in the advanced adjustment window?


The advanced settings are:
red:47
green:46
blue:47

They are just the way that optoma calibrated them. Unlike the H31 which needed a great deal of calibration to get the color right, I was happy to find that they got at least this H27 perfectly calibrated and DVE testing I did showed the image to be nearly flawless in the color calibrations at just shy of the D65K of the 4805. Very pure color and saturation. So I have never needed to fiddle with the color settings there or in the service menu. There is a calibration option for self calibration of some of the qualities of the image within the service area. Out of frustration I tried this feature knowing that I really need to do something about this and when I activated the test it does it caused the picture to brighten up a little bit. It appears to do it differently depending on the material it is scanning so I am fairly certain that it needs a specific test patern that techs use to get it adjusted correctly. Because I tried it the first time with source material that was meant to look darker and this material was very dim. Once I activated the test it looked even darker and the picture was worse. I tried a medium brightness shot and did the test again and it corrected this extreme dimness and seemed to brighten up the picture a little more over all. This test didn't effect any of the service color settings or user settings and about 10% brightness seemed to be added. This calibration test in the service menu might be what needs correct calibration with the correct source test pattern. Either that or there is another issue and the calibration test is compensating for the lack of brightness from another problem. So anyway it looks better now but it is close to acceptably bright if I have brightness at 55%, contrast at 100%, Normal mode, and Gamma Game mode chosen otherwise it is still too dim. I know it is menat to be as bright as the H31 because they have the same lamp, but I have noticed that the logo menu on my DVD player (which is naturally dim) looks much dimmer with this unit than it did with the H31 on the same settings. there are some people that say the H27 isn't as bright as the H31, and others that say they have heard that and don't understand why anyone would say that because they think the H27 is even brighter. this leads me to believe that there may indeed be some H27's this issue and some that don't have the issue. The first review projector central did on the H27, they said about the same thing, that the image was rather dull and dim. Optoma sent them another one and they liked it a good deal more and they said it appeared much brighter. So it is possible I may have one with the problem of a duller and dim picture. As I have it now the picture is reasonable but I and everyone else wish the thing had more brightness. So if your units are really that bright then there must be something wrong with mine, because it isn't very bright at all. In a totally dark room it works ok but not vibrantly.

Natja,

I felt like my H27 was too dim as well when I first got it. The fix for me was to crank up all three RGB values in the advanced settings. I have posted my settings a few times before but here they are again just in case.

Display Mode: User 2
Brightness: 47
Contrast: 50
Sharpness: 1
Degamma: Normal
Color: 60
Tint: 47
White Peaking: 1
Color Temp: 1
Red: 90
Green: 80
Blue: 95
Image AI: On

I initially tried upping the brightness and/or contrast settings to fix the dimness but that always seemed to wash out the image too much. And overall brightness wasn't increased significantly anyway. But upping the RGB values gave me WAY more brightness and also retained the deep contrast. In the end I left the brightness and contrast pretty close to what I had originally calibrated using Avia.

I'm using 480i (old DVD player) component inputs in a fully darkened room that has white walls. I'm projecting onto an 84" grey screen.

Thanks for giving me an idea of what could be causing this. Perhaps those with units brighter than ours might have had factory color presets that were higher. I'm going to try the numbers you have provided and see what happens. Thanks

It looks like I have found the culprit. And you were right, it did have to do with the color settings you mentioned. I used your numbers in the user 2 as you mentioned at it made a very big difference. Now with the brightness at 47 and contrast at 50 it is brighter than the other modes where the contrast is at 100 and brightness at 65. One minor issue is that I am using VGA due to the iScan dvdo pro I use which only has that output. I usually would use that output with a DVI adapter into the DVI port. Unfortunately the DVI on this unit doesn't allow for analog DVI but only digital so i cannot use DVI. So the VGA port is what I use and none of the user settings of course include any settings for saturation, hue, tint, ect. So I was forced to use the numbers where I could and later will need to use DVE to fine tune it. But none the less it looks like I have a much brighter image now so thanks for the help.... :)

Natja,

I will also try the same settings. In that case i should get better brightness.
My settings are

Red -52
Green - 53
Blue -54

I will let you know once i do the changes.

Some more screenshots taken during the last shoot . Same camera and no screen - only the wall. The only diffrence is this pics are taken without zoom. So they are small in size.

In some pics you can see the two wall light brackets on two top corners and some others furnitures below the projected image.

enjoy.

http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10439mp.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10417wz.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10362jp.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10359tf.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10337ru.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10257hl.jpg
http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj10027sx.jpg
http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj0677id.jpg
http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj0658ny.jpg
http://img523.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj0614cx.jpg

It looks like I have found the culprit...it looks like I have a much brighter image now so thanks for the help....

I'm glad that helped you as well. I was so disappointed in the brightness of my H27 at first that I was convinced that I had a bad unit like the first one that Projector Central reviewed. I even tired to exchange it but the dealer had stopped selling them by that time and they didn't have anything comparable in the same price range. I am very happy now. I do lose a bit of brightness because of my (cheap) grey screen but I prefer the higher contrast it gives.

yea it looks way better now, I am suprised actually at how much better. I was really into this unit before but now I'm bananas over it :O

Boosting the RGB values does give a brightness boost and it looks much brighter.
But there is a catch.

What i found is when you increase the RGB values you loose the detail on white objects on the screen.

I will try to post some pics. Could anyof you confirm this if it is happening with you? I have anyway gone back to my old settings as it bright anyway and i am more than happy with that brightness.

True.

Boosting the RGB levels does introduce a certain amount of "white crush" in some scenes. For example it can be noticeable in daytime skies with clouds. But you should be able to reach a happy medium that achieves a good balance of brightness while minimizing white crush.

I have found that different settings will work better for different movies. I have both User 1 and User 2 modes set to identical values except that User 1 has the RGB values turned down a bit. User 1 works better for movies with a lot of bright daylight scenes, which are relatively few - mostly kids CGI movies like Bugs Life. User 2 works better for the majority of movies, which tend to have darker scenes - like LOTR or Batman Begins (very dark) for example.

I suppose it comes down to personal taste. I am willing to live with a bit of white crush in some scenes because I prefer more overall brightness. My budget was limited (that's why I bought a $900 projector) so going into the deal I knew I was going to have to accept some compromises.

The bottom line is that I'm happy and that's what really counts right? ;)

Hi Killrob,

You are vabsolutely right. It's all on personal taste. But i liked your idea of setting the two on the user modes. Thanks for the suggestion.

And i love my H27. It can put lot of expensive Pjs to shame.

Cheers

I set these color RGB's higher on only two modes so if needed i can use the factory ones like 'nomal' still without messing with those. And yes it does washout my whites to where they look like flares of light. I used DVE last night to adjust the color, because when color brightness is raised you lose true color and it then looks off again. Once i finished the calibration the brightness was much less and everything looked the way it did before I tried the color calibration numbers I got here at AVS. What this means is that this projector only has as close to perfect of an image when it is rather dim which is why my unit had such perfect color out of the box. Optoma calibrated it very well for color and when they did this brightness had to come down. I get a very dim image at times with those settings once againthat I did with DVE, so I have decided to lose some color accuracy to have the image brighter. The bottum line is that with this unit if you want d65k color, no washout of whites, your going to need to accept a much dimmer picture. Unless again there is something wrong with killrob's and my units. If anyone has an image that is bright on the H27 without loss of true color and no white crush please share your color RGB settings for comparisson.

A friend of mine just bought an Optoma DLP front projector. I don't know the exact model, but he said he got it at Best Buy for around $1,300. I went over to his house to play around with it, and was amazed at the picture quality. He has it set up just projecting onto the wall at about 25 feet away, and the brightness and picture quality is stunning. The size of the picture and the sharpness completely blows away any television that is 3 times that price. He has the dvd outputting from the HDMI source from the player, and coming into the digital input on the projector.

Anyway, this was my first real experience playing around with a projection system, and I had a few questions.

1) I popped in the Avia calibration DVD to calibrate it. Contrast and brightness was a snap, and I couldn't find a sharpness control in the projector menus, but sharpness looked good anyway. The real problem I had was trying to calibrate the color. Instead of the normal Tint and Color controls that a TV has, the only way to adjust the color was to adjust individually the Red, Green, and Blue levels. By using the 'Blue Bars' test pattern with the flashing squares, as you would a normal TV, the only way I could get the squares not to be visible through the blue filter was to pump up the blue very high. According to the DVD, the color was calibrated, as when I looked through the blue filter, the flashing squares were no longer visible. However, the picture looked terrible. It was way to blue; things that should have been silver were turquoise, and the colors were very muted. How should I go about calibrating this? Is the process different, since i'm not adjusting saturation and hue? Do I need to use the other colored filters that came with Avia? Also it seemed that each color adjustment seemed to 'cap off' at a certain level, i.e. after I adjusted red past a certiain level there was no visible change even though the value kept increasing.

2) He was projecting onto a wall, and doesn't have the budget right now for a good screen. He wants to paint the wall, but doesn't know what type or color paint to use. Should he use a glossy reflective type, or a matted non reflective type. Also what shade should he use? Pure white or more silverish?

3) The projector can do both 4:3 and 16:9. When projecting in 16:9, it basically uses the bottom half of the 4:3 area to show the image. Is there any way to change it so it uses the middle or top area for this? I couldn't find this in any of the menus.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Jeff -

Regarding your first question, you shouldn't have to adjust RGB levels to calibrate color. On some units the color setting is called saturation or chroma and tint is called hue. Look for those.

Back on the brightness versus white crush topic:

Does anyone know how much of a difference the screen gain make? As I indicated I'm using a grey screen. It's an Elite ez-Cinema Pro 84" portable model. I don't know what kind of gain it has but I assume its 1 or less.

Some people have suggested a high gain screen to increase brightness but would that have the same effect of crushing the whites?

I have a grey screen myself, and it certainly does cut down on brightness by about 10 to 15%. But the white crush that appears is more related to the amount of white peaking in the image. So much so that I think that might be one weakness of the H27. My factory settings for all white peaking were set to '0' and that still isn't low enough. The white peaking on the H31 dropped the level down much further than it does on the H27. So the factor involved here is how whitest areas of an image handle darkest to brightest. For example take a scene like a sky shot where the sun is off to the left of the image. Instead of the brightest area of the shot smoothly transending to the darkest there would be more of a white burst to the image instead, and the natural and gradual decrease from bright to dimmer is not natural. Even worse if the brightness is up too high on the unit and your veiwing an image of suppose a grey wall with sunlight hitting it directly you should be able to see the defined lines between bricks and other grey scale colors, but instead it looks like one large mass of white and as the area fades to a darker area there is a fuzzy like grainy transition. This is what it looks like on my H27 at least if the brightness is at 47 and the contrast is at 70 to 80. So I would then need to drop the level of contrast down a bit so it looks more natural but that is where the image drops in brightness and looses vitality. That's my experience anyway. Anyone else have something similar to this?

PS- For the reason I mentioned above I don't think the screen matters at all in cutting down on the white crush or white bursting effects because it is the image processing of the projector it's self. the only way to correct it is to drop the brightness and contrast way down to what unfortunately brings us back to the trouble I had with the brightness looking too dim. So I have opted for a happy medium between both.

Hmm...so it would seem that increasing overall brightness by means of a high-gain screen would be preferable to increasing the RGB values. But then we would most likely be losing contrast, which is the reason for going with the grey screen in the first place.

I originally went with the grey screen because the reviewer at Projector Reviews recommended it for image sizes smaller than 92". He said the H27 was very bright and that the grey screen was needed to cut down on the brightness. :eek: Maybe his unit was better. Maybe he just prefers a darker image. There's no way to know without a side-by-side comparison.

Have you played at all with the service menu settings now that you have upped the RGB values? Is there anything in there that might allow us to maintain the brightness and reduce the white crush?

Yea I have seen replies like " What!? I find I need to turn down the brightness on my H27 and that is when it is in eco mode". You read replies like this and you wonder if we might actually have defective units. Maybe if we can get the people who claim to have a bright image to post their color and other settings from the user menus and service menu we might get some where. In the service menu there is an option for calibration. I used it once with a medium lighted image and it made my image dimmer. I used it again with a darker image and it made the brightness a bit better, but not a major difference. I then did the reset on it to get it back to regular (the way it was). Maybe this option has something to do with it.

Interesting. The reviewer at Projector Reviews also said he used economy mode. That would be sad if we really did have defective units. It would be nice to know for sure. I wonder if Optoma would cover that under the warranty?

Yea I read that review and other ones that claim it is more than bright enough in eco mode. I really think it has to do with calibrations in the service menu then more so in the user menus. Being that they are all built the same way and considering the fact that there have been numerous postings about the lack of brightness, I can't imagine this is a bad lamp issue. It really seems calibration is the key. When I used the numbers provided here i got a pretty bright image so that proves the lamp can push enough light. The issue seems to be whites washing out at brighter levels. it may very well be that the gamma or white peaking is too high in the service menu, if indeed there is a way to calibrate those in the service menu.

If some H27 users that have brighter images could provide the service menu numbers it would help us greatly. To access the service menu simply press the power off button and when the message is given asking if you want to power the unit off then press the left arrow (source) button until the service menu appears. Once the menu is up use the down arrow to access the 'color settings' menu and write down your color settings. Here are the ones in my H27:

red gain: 127
green gain: 127
blue gain: 127

offset pc red: 71
offset pc green: 63
offset pc blue: 63

Offset video red: 73
Offset video blue 62

My factory preset advanced color adjustments in the regular user menus
using 'normal' display and normal 'gamma' are:

Red: 47
Green: 46
Blue: 47

It would be of great benefit for those of you that seem to have a bright image to list your numbers for all of these so we can find out if perhaps our color brightness settings have something to do with lack of brightness. Also I might note I found no settings for gamma correction or white peaking in the service menu.

Well i'd say that my image is pretty bright, at least I don't have any problems with it.

Here are my service window color settings:

Red Gain: 127
Green Gain: 127
Blue Gain: 127

PC Red Offset: 63
PC Green Offset: 63
PC Blue Offset: 63

Video Red Offset: 70
Video Blue Offset: 59

Advanced adjustment color values are all at 50.

My brightness is set around 40 and contrast around 85.

I think it would be very difficult to come up with any consensus regarding brightness. There are a lot of factors physically; screen size, screen colour, light control and then there is the subjective brightness as seen individually.
In my situation and setup in economy mode, I am more than happy. No need for me to wonder or worry if my picture is as good as some other cyber setup.
Endless tweaking can be the death of enjoyment. Of course if you're an avid and insatiable tweaker, go for it.
Bottom line, this is a great budget projector.

I am definitely a tweaker although I think I have gotten past the initial tweaking-for-the-sake-of-tweaking stage with my H27. But there is still the nagging possibility that I have a defective or incorrectly adjusted unit. And that possibility is heightened since we do have one concrete example of differing brightness levels between two H27 units, namely the two reviews at Projector Central. The first unit was too dim and the second unit was fine.

How is it that they are able to measure lumen output anyway? I assume they have special equipment. I suppose that would be one way to definitively tell if a given unit had inferior brightness levels.

I live about an hour and a half away from Visual Apex. I wonder if they have that type of equipment and if they would be willing to test my H27. I hear good things about them anyway.

I'm interested in the H27 but need shorter throw. I know the official Optoma short throw accessory lens is ridiculously expensive. Has anyone tried adapting a standard 0.8x or 0.7x camera wide-angle add-on lens to this projector? I'm thinking of something like the Kenko KRW-75, 58mm 0.75x wideangle lens, which is available for around $70. I would think that if one could figure out how to mount it in front of the projector lens it should work -- or am I missing something?

Killrob- I'm about an hour South of Visual Apex. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on the H27. I plan on messing around with different screen materials to see if I can get brighter if that is an issue with this PJ.

Well as far as I know only Natja, myself, and the original review from Projector Central had/have any concerns with brightness on the H27. And as I have indicated before its not that I am unhappy with my H27 as it stands. I get a fantastic picture with great contrast and rich colors all for an amazingly low price. I do have to compromise and live with a bit of white crush to get the brightness I like, but I can live with that. A little white crush doesn't ruin the movie experience for me. If its a good movie I will be too engrossed in the story to really care or even notice most of the time.

However, IF its possible to get the brightness without the crushing I want to know. And I definitely want to know if my unit is defective somehow in case I can get Optoma to fix it under warranty.

If you do end up getting the H27 I would be interested to know about your experience with it and your opinion of the brightness.

Are you getting the H27 at Visual Apex? I didn't think they carried it.

To MCH:

Well your reply may be evidence within it's self that your image is plenty bright enough. If it were not you would probably be searching for answers here and asking "Hey the image on my H27 looks dim to me. Is there something wrong with my unit or are all H27's rather dim in brightness?" The point here is that at least the image brightness in mine with optimal picture settings is downright too dim at times, so it is something there is really no choice in doing something about.

Well i'd say that my image is pretty bright, at least I don't have any problems with it.

Here are my service window color settings:

Red Gain: 127
Green Gain: 127
Blue Gain: 127

PC Red Offset: 63
PC Green Offset: 63
PC Blue Offset: 63

Video Red Offset: 70
Video Blue Offset: 59

Advanced adjustment color values are all at 50.

My brightness is set around 40 and contrast around 85.


Thanks for taking the time to post those. it does show one thing. Our calibrations are not that different, so it makes me wonder about my own unit. :(

Well I may have figured one of my troubles out, but it bugs me to no end I have always used every projector through my iScan DVDO pro. Now the only output on that unit is a VGA computer output, so I have been running component into the dvdo and then from there into the VGA input on the projector. I had not yet tried going straight since I had done my latest calibrations on the projector. Just a few minutes ago I tried running the component from the dvd player into the projector and the image looks a good deal brighter. But it is wierd because it never happened before that the DVDO made the image dimmer. SO I may need to resort to using the projector without the DVDO and that frustrates me because the image is much more film like with it. But it does look brighter without the DVDO.

Very interesting Natja.

So the type of input made a difference in brightness, or perhaps it was the source. I wonder if my brightness level would change if I tried a different DVD player. I am using a component connection but my DVD player is rather old and it doesn't even have progressive output. Could a new player with progressive out make a difference? I'll have to see if I can borrow one and test it.

Natja - you said your image "looks a good deal brighter". Can you expound on that? Is it bright enough that it still looks acceptable after calibration to remove white crush?

I would be very interested to know what other H27 owners are using as their source. How bout it? Anyone care to share what model of DVD player or whatever they are using?

Yes it is brighter but the whites crush about the same or possibly more. If we can compile user settings from enough people it would give a good idea if there are units that truly are defective, and if not it would be a good guide to find a good even calibration by comparing different numbers. But i think the white crush is something that is part of the projectors image. The H31 did it too and it took gamma filtering to reduce it on that unit too.

If anyone is able to measure your screen brightness with an exposure value then i did some tests today.

Using the spoke test (full white screen) from the service menu i measured the EV values with ASA 100 sensitivity, 3 meters away from a 120" screen.

With exposition time of 1/15s, results look like this:

EV 6.4 with bright mode OFF
EV 6.7 with bright mode ON

Brightness was set to 40 and contrast to 85

Last night I tried a different DVD player that I borrowed. It was also a somewhat older model (by JVC) but still newer than mine and it did have progressive scan. It didn't improve the brightness any. In fact dark scenes were too dark and didn't look as good as my old Sony. I could't see any difference at all between progressive and interlaced.

I also rechecked my service menu settings. I wanted to see if they changed depending on which display mode I used. They didn't. The service menu settings were the same for all modes.

I have posted them a couple of times earlier in this thread but here they are again so that anyone interested doesn't have to go looking for them:

Red Gain: 137
Green Gain: 136
Blue Gain: 137

PC Red Offset: 58
PC Green Offset: 64
PC Blue Offset: 60

Video Red Offset: 58
Video Blue Offset: 57

Comparing these to Natja's and Ozzon's settings I see that my gains are higher but my offsets are lower, especially video red offset. Does anyone know the difference between gain and offset?

If anyone is able to measure your screen brightness with an exposure value then i did some tests today.

Using the spoke test (full white screen) from the service menu i measured the EV values with ASA 100 sensitivity, 3 meters away from a 120" screen.

With exposition time of 1/15s, results look like this:

EV 6.4 with bright mode OFF
EV 6.7 with bright mode ON

Brightness was set to 40 and contrast to 85


Thanks again for posting the results of this test. I'm going to give it a try sometime today or tomorrow and see what the results are. But I think my issue has something to do with running through a dvdo because as I mentioned the image is a good deal brighter now. But I will try this test and see what happens.

Last night I tried a different DVD player that I borrowed. It was also a somewhat older model (by JVC) but still newer than mine and it did have progressive scan. It didn't improve the brightness any. In fact dark scenes were too dark and didn't look as good as my old Sony. I could't see any difference at all between progressive and interlaced.

I also rechecked my service menu settings. I wanted to see if they changed depending on which display mode I used. They didn't. The service menu settings were the same for all modes.

I have posted them a couple of times earlier in this thread but here they are again so that anyone interested doesn't have to go looking for them:

Red Gain: 137
Green Gain: 136
Blue Gain: 137

PC Red Offset: 58
PC Green Offset: 64
PC Blue Offset: 60

Video Red Offset: 58
Video Blue Offset: 57

Comparing these to Natja's and Ozzon's settings I see that my gains are higher but my offsets are lower, especially video red offset. Does anyone know the difference between gain and offset?

Rob- Maybe if you tried adjusting to ozzon's service settings and see if that makes any difference, if it doesn't you can always put it back. I wonder if your trouble is because of the input you are using. Or is it component like I am using?

I will give Ozzon's settings a try and report back. I am using component and as I indicated its not progressive so the H27 is doing the de-interlacing.

I just read Projector Central's old review of the 4805 and found this statement:

As is typical with many home theater projectors, lumen output has been curtailed in exchange for higher contrast performance. There are two lamp power modes, low and high. In low mode the real lumen output for video content was about 350 lumens, and in high lamp mode it was 450 lumens. In either case the progressive scan input on component video produced about 10% more lumens on the screen than did the interlaced component input.

Interesting - maybe I should try to get my hands on a newer DVD player that has more advanced progressive circuitry. I viewed the manual online for one of the newer Sony models and it had all kinds of internal adjustments for image quality.

Also, is some kind of special meter needed to do the exposure test that Ozzon did?

Also, is some kind of special meter needed to do the exposure test that Ozzon did?

You need a photometer for that, it is used to measure light values by photographers.
Its a pity I don't have the right tool to use the lumens scale.

Anyway I tried something today, I used the 'reset' button in the service color menu and my color values changed like this:

Red Gain: 127
Green Gain: 127
Blue Gain: 127

PC Red Offset: 63
PC Green Offset: 63
PC Blue Offset: 63

Video Red Offset: 128 <--
Video Blue Offset:128 <--


The picture looks like before (concerning colors), but it got brighter too.
I'm not sure how it worked and how the red/blue offsets could have anything to do with brightness, but I'm sure that the picture is a bit brighter now.

I'm not sure if it is a good idea to use this reset function, but if anyone feels like taking the risk... it somehow worked for me.

No reason not to try it if you take the time to write all of your settings down first, if it doesn't look right you can always put them back to the way they were.

Anyway I tried something today, I used the 'reset' button in the service color menu and my color values changed like this:

Red Gain: 127
Green Gain: 127
Blue Gain: 127

PC Red Offset: 63
PC Green Offset: 63
PC Blue Offset: 63

Video Red Offset: 128 <--
Video Blue Offset:128 <--


ok this is weird. I tried simply turning up the video red and blue to 128 each without doing a reset because my other settings are nearly identical to yours. The result was firstly by raising the value by hand the highest it went for both was 127, it wouldn't even go higher than that. 127 is the max. It was very bright but the color was horrendous with blue flaring to it. I am not sure why your image looks better but mine was terrible so I turned back down to what they were before.

Guys,

I think i have some answers for you on the H27 brigtness and image. Let me take some time to compile my findings and i will post it here.

Its encouraging definitely....

Anirbana/Nemo

Hi Guys,

This is for all Optoma H27 users who are having issues with image brightness and calibration. I do not have any problem at all. My feeling is most of you have to use the best connections (only Component or DVI - no composite or S-Video)and the optimal color settings which suits your eyes.
To start with I am projecting an image of 84 inch and I do not have any brightness problem (even I do not have a screen). Looking at some of your posting on brightness related dissatisfaction, I am providing the following information which I have tested and observed myself using my setup. It might be of help to you.

The Information is broken into 2 groups

Group 1 - My Setup:
H27
Philips DVP3005 Prog scan DVD player.
Screen - Wall (Off-white or light yellow rough non-reflective)

My settings
Service Menu :
Red Gain - 136
Green gain - 137
Blue gain -139

PC red offset -72
PC Green offset - 69
PC Blue offset -70

Video Red - 72
Video Blue - 69

User Menu
Degama - MovieI
Color - 40
Brightness - 55
Contrast - 60
Color Temp : 1
Sharpness -1

Adv Color Mgmt
Red - 58
Green - 55
Blue - 60

Brite Mode - Off
White Peaking - 0

Result: The image is fantastic. I have already posted pictures. The pictures only represent 60% of what I see. I do not have any brightness issues(at least not with me. My wife never complained either)
Result (PJ doing progressive DVD player sending 480i) - Smooth and sharp picture.
Result (DVD player set to progressive mode) - A little hint of grains(only visible if you are closer to screen - coz the player is downscaling 576p to 480p) but also a bit brighter image. Very sharp.

Inference: if you have a very high-end DVD player with a better deinterlacer, you will get a better image with a bit (only a bit) more brightness(480p signal). And I feel the service menu settings(the fixed ones) has not much to do with than you changing user settings to fit the image to your environment. I think H27 works better with a white screen with at least 1.5 gain.

Group 2 : DVD player settings. - Forgive me if it's a known fact to all. I found it yesterday. This is only applicable for devices like DVD player. HD sources will anyway bring lot more better signal strength with better luminance.

I came across this last night while watching 'From Hell'. The movie itself is shot in low light. It was ok but I thought of watching it in brite mode. turned it on. Fantastic. After watching sometime I suddenly I realized I have an advanced image enhancement feature in my DVD player. It allows you to increase the following in an image.
1. Brightness - Default 0. Goes from -20 to +20
2. Contrast - Default 0 from -20 to +20
3. Sharpness - Default 0 goes from -10 to +10.

I turned my PJ to Britemode off- Went to the DVD player settings and started with the brightness settings to see if there is any effect(I was not hopeful as these settings always apply with the output device ) But I was wrong. I turned the brightness upto + 5(from 0) . The image responded with the brightness. Wow. I increased the contrast to +7(from 0). I can't believe. The contrast looks amazing. The 3d effect is further enhanced.

I have never used this setting earlier and I am not sure if this feature is there with all DVD players or not. My Philips player has got it and It's a very welcome feature if you want to add up brightness, contrast and sharpness settings beyond your TV/PJ/Monitors capability.

Man, I was really surprised and stunned seeing the image now. And just think I can go upto +20 if I like. Just for fun I did it and it was bright like hell. I finally settled with +5 in B and +7 in C with Britemode off in PJ and it looked the best till date. I anyway don't use high RGB settings and white peaking. And the fan did not turn up higher as the lamp is still operating in a low mode. Only it is getting a a better signal with more light information.

Inference:
If you DVD player has this settings use them to top up your PJ output for more brightness. Its amazing.
Caveat?
Not sure about this harming the PJ lamp. Leave it to experts. Will call up Optoma and find out. But in my opinion, it should not harm the lamp. Why?
The DVD player sends a signal along with luminance information to an output. The same way a dark scene has less light and a outdoor scene has more light. The PJ lamp does not distinguish dark and well lit scene as high or low power. For the same reason a S-VIdeo or Component image with same PJ or CRT looks brighter than a composite video connection. With DVI, it gets better than component. So the brightness of a Image on a display device depends on 2 things

1. The signal luminance or strength.
2. It's own capacity to work with brightness and contrast. - in most cases we always deal with 2 as 1 is not always configurable.

In this case I am able to work with 2 and it is giving me good response. I was anyways happy with my PJ even before doing this but if any of you are not satisfied with the brightness you can try your DVD player to test this stuff. If your DVD player does not have this feature, get a DVD player which has this capability to give it a try. Normally Philips and Pioneer has got this. And I am sure the high end ones will have these too. In this case the DVD player will send a enhanced signal with more light information and PJ will show what it receives.

I tried the same with my CRT and it worked there as well.

So I need to find out if it really harms the lamp. What do you guys think?

Thanks for this info Nemo!

I still have some extra bonus left over from Christmas and I'm thinking I just might have to go out and get a new DVD player. WalMart sells a good Sony model which (according to the PDF manual available at Sony's website) has a plethora of internal image settings. Its worth a shot to see if I might duplicate your experience. And if it doesn't improve things I'll just take it back - good old WalyWorld is great about accepting returns.

I might even go tonight. I was planning on trying to get some screen shots tonight with our digital camera so I cold post them and get y'alls opinions but maybe I should try the newer player first just in case.

Also, which user mode do you use - Normal, User1, Movie, etc?

Thanks, that sounds hopeful. looking forward to it.

Anirbana/Nemo - YOU ARE THE MAN! (unless of course you are a woman :D)

I went out last night to WalMart and picked up the new DVD player, a Sony DVD-NS50P. Did it make a difference? ABSOLUTELY!

I guess my old DVD player was pretty lame. Or perhaps since it predates high-def TVs it was designed for a time when higher output wasn't necessary. In any case the new player is a vast improvement.

With the old player I found the Normal user mode to be way too dim and the Movie mode was unwatchable. The only out-of-the-box mode that was decent was Game but it didn't have very good contrast. But even Movie mode looks good with the new player. Although I still prefer a brighter picture so I think I will use Dynamic mode for most movies now. When I switched to User 2, which was my tweaked settings with high RGB values, the image looked awful - all the colors were ridiculously oversaturated - it was painful to look at. Its amazing to me that the player could make that much of a difference.

As an added bonus, when using the new player's progressive output, the screen door effect was also reduced noticeably. The image seems more film-like overall. Supposedly the Sony does de-interlacing on a per-pixel basis so perhaps its better than the H27's de-interlacer. Or maybe its just better to do it before converting the signal to analog.

The new player has several different display modes as well as a custom mode where you can manually adjust contrast, brightness, color, and tint. I found the built-in mode called Dynamic 2 to give the best picture for my tastes.

I went back and viewed several DVDs first on the old player and then on the new one and they all looked better on the new. And the bit of white crush that I was living with before was either greatly minimized or gone altogether.

There only remains one thing that I didn't check. I plugged the new player into the H27 using a 3ft ultra-cheapo component cable while still using the high-quality 25ft component cable with my old player. It occurred to me later that there is a slight chance that the longer cable is the culprit and that I am losing too much signal over the long length. But I did try another older DVD player a few days ago using the same 3ft cable and it didn't improve things so I am still confident that its the player that made the difference. I will hook the new player up to the longer cable as soon as I get a chance. Its a big undertaking because of the way all my components are set up in their cabinet.

So thanks very much Anirbana for your suggestions! My H27 experience just keeps getting better and better.

Hi Killrob,

I am a Man :D . And we are H27 buddies.

I am glad that your new DVD player is giving you what you needed. I feel like having 4000:1 CR with the added players contrast and brightness settings.

The picture is looking awesome ++ now.

If your DVD player has got a better progressive engine you can use that as the H27s engine is good but not that good as the H31 or the 4805.

In my case i still use the H27 to do the progressive. It works perfect man. :)

Enjoy more H27 days and keep posting about experiences.

cheers

Yes hopefully there will be many happy days ahead with our H27s.

Now I am tempted to try using the 'reset' option in the service menu like Natja and Ozzon did. I'm a bit nervous about it though. I would hate to ruin a good thing. But Natja said it did wonders for his.

Also, have you or anyone else out there ever had any issues with longer component cables? I would think that 25ft shouldn't be a problem at all.

Yes it did work good for me, but what seems to be the case is that everyone seems to be stuck with what ever settings they choose for you at Optoma in the service menu no matter what you do, if you reset it or not your stuck with what they say is right. I however am lucky because I thought I was screwed big time when I did it and it actually worked out for me. If anyone wants to know what my default service color picture settings are I can post them. That might be a good idea because if you are already close to that it might be better to leave it alone. But it made all the difference in the world that I ended up doing a reset. that image is about 30% better over all than it was.

If anyone wants to know what my default service color picture settings are I can post them.
Yes, please. I would be very much interested to see what your settings are since the reset. Looks like Ozzon got 127/63/128 (gains/offsets/offsets). Did you get similar with the same settings within each of the groups?

Also, I wonder if this is a warranty voider.

OK- here are the settings in my service menu:

Red Gain - 128
Green gain - 128
Blue gain - 128

PC red offset - 63
PC Green offset - 63
PC Blue offset - 63

Video Red - 128
Video Blue - 128

Pretty basic but the numbers seem to make sense. hope they help someone

I checked my service menu last night and like others I could only view the settings. I couldn't make any changes.

I tried all kinds of different button combinations both on the unit and on the remote with no success. There was one time when the image flickered and suddenly I noticed that all the numbers had changed to different values but once I went out of the color submenu and then back in they had reverted to what they were before. I'm not sure what combination of buttons made them change. I also tried changing them when there was no signal connected but that didn't work either. Although I did notice that the numbers listed under the color settings were different depending on whether or not I had a source hooked up to the projector.

I also noticed that there were two reset options. Under the color settings there was an option to "Reset Offsets" and on the main screen there was "Factory Reset".

Natja - which one of these did you do?

I think I will hold off on using the reset for now, at least until I watch a few complete movies and see how much I enjoy the latest improvements I am getting from the upgraded DVD player. I might want to quit while I'm ahead.

God no! I don't have that much guts :O !! I reset the one on the color menu only. Also doing this doesn't void the warranty as far as I have been aware. The service menu is of course meant for techs and the main reason is that if they made this menu easily assessable I think everyone would be messing it up and in turn they would end up having to have the units sent in and spend all their time recalibrating. For the average joe or Jane a good deal of the tests and settings in thses menus could be very confusing.

This is what I call a screenshot! It has to be seen to be believed!! I wish I had this projector. 4:1 contrast and 10 lumens

http://gallery.avsforum.com/showphoto.php/photo/18819/size/big

I have one of this which was presented to me when i was a kid :D .

I posted this on the other site that some of you read as well but thought I would post here also. Mostly because I am just so excited. :D

On Saturday my wife and I watched our first complete movie using the new DVD player. I went ahead and swapped out the old player and hooked up the new one using the same 25ft component cable. We borrowed Star Wars III because I wanted to see how the image compared to Nemo's screenshots.

Final verdict: I was completely blown away!

Once again I can't believe how much of a difference the new DVD player made. The image was so bright and vibrant that halfway through I switched from Dynamic to Normal because it was too bright. TOO BRIGHT?!! I never thought I would say that.

Now I can finally understand why some reviewers recommended using a grey screen with the H27 for images 92" and smaller. I can also see how people have said that they were perfectly happy with their H27s out of the box just using the default settings. The default Normal settings are what I used for SW III and it was amazing.

It’s funny that I spent all that time fretting over whether I had a bad unit and I never considered that it was the DVD player and not the H27.

Many thanks to Anirbana and Natja and others who collectively have helped me finally figure this out!

Ok, I'm a newb, but searched and read through all 20 pages of this thread, I don't have the heart to read through the 500 post H31 thread. After many calls to retailers and even Optoma's Sales dept, I think the H27 is the one for me vs. the H31, but I'd like some feedback from those who have the H27.

My setup:

11' deep, 7' ceiling 8' wide. Is the offset going to be a problem ceiling mounted? I'm planning on a 72" screen to keep SDE to a minimum. Will be in a light controlled basement.

I view a lot of SDTV, Xbox, and the dvd player will be the Xbox hopefully in 480p (standard in 480i) So basically a lot of 480i tv/games. Is this the projector with the best converter, I have read it uses the same engine as the H31. I've already demo'd the 4805 in house and found the fans to noisy.

Any other reccommendations?

Great thread!! As a NEW H27 owner I just wanted to let fellow canadians know that this unit is in stock at Future Shop for $1499.

Ok, I'm a newb, but searched and read through all 20 pages of this thread, I don't have the heart to read through the 500 post H31 thread. After many calls to retailers and even Optoma's Sales dept, I think the H27 is the one for me vs. the H31, but I'd like some feedback from those who have the H27.

My setup:

11' deep, 7' ceiling 8' wide. Is the offset going to be a problem ceiling mounted? I'm planning on a 72" screen to keep SDE to a minimum. Will be in a light controlled basement.

I view a lot of SDTV, Xbox, and the dvd player will be the Xbox hopefully in 480p (standard in 480i) So basically a lot of 480i tv/games. Is this the projector with the best converter, I have read it uses the same engine as the H31. I've already demo'd the 4805 in house and found the fans to noisy.

Any other reccommendations?

I am lovi'n it.................... :D
Amazing and worth every penny you spend. :cool:

watching Video was never so fun and exciting.... :)

There are lot of information ans screenshots in this thread for you to have a look.

Any other reccommendations?

One thing I would strongly reccomend it that you buy the PJ first and only get the screen after you test the PJ out in the space. Just use the wall or a sheet for testing to be sure everything fits first. Then you can be sure you are getting the proper screen size. If you are making the screen yourself than the same thing holds true. After you find the perfect image size then you can make the screen to be "just right".

Ok, I'm a newb, but searched and read through all 20 pages of this thread, I don't have the heart to read through the 500 post H31 thread. After many calls to retailers and even Optoma's Sales dept, I think the H27 is the one for me vs. the H31, but I'd like some feedback from those who have the H27.

My setup:

11' deep, 7' ceiling 8' wide. Is the offset going to be a problem ceiling mounted? I'm planning on a 72" screen to keep SDE to a minimum. Will be in a light controlled basement.

I view a lot of SDTV, Xbox, and the dvd player will be the Xbox hopefully in 480p (standard in 480i) So basically a lot of 480i tv/games. Is this the projector with the best converter, I have read it uses the same engine as the H31. I've already demo'd the 4805 in house and found the fans to noisy.

Any other reccommendations?

I don't know really. You are cutting it pretty close. I have my unit at about 14' from the screen. Max width at that point is 88". Now at the screen size you have in mind it may work at 11', but that's not so much my concern as the throw is. The throw is pretty high on this unit compared to most other home theater units. But the further back you go the higher the throw so you should be ok but it is cutting it close. With image shift functions throught the unit and then further up and down with the remote it should work. I'm about 90% sure of this which means I personally am not certain. And a note on SDE. If I have the unit in perfect focus I can see the SDE at about 7' away. But I do something that is rather common that a good deal of people do. The image is so sharp that it can be placed slightly out of focus. The image will still look very film like and smooth, yet sharp. But the good news is that the SDE will blur so that it blends better and there is less deffinition to the individual pixels. So at that point the the SDE is sometimes not even seen as close as 3 or 4 feet. This is a very subtle thing of ever so slightly placing the optics just gently left or right out of focus. at 14' I use the menu and look at a blank area of it where I see SDE then place the unit out of focus where the sde is gone but the text is still sharp. This method works very well. So if you were able to place the unit back further you could get an image 88" wide and see no SDE at as little as 7' back.

Anyone got any bright ideas? Turned on the projector - and its all green/yellow lines on top of the picture. This is with the component in (HD Cable). Thinking it is a bad connection I check but every thing seems fine. Switching over to DVI and its still all green and yellow.

I turn on/off and its the same still.

I unplug from the wall for about 5 minutes, and the DVI connection is much better, but with a very small amount of the green/yellow. Component still has massive green/yellow lines.

Turn off and unplug again, same result.

Any ideas?

[EDIT] - It may be the cable box - I'm not sure why the DVI input (DVD player) would have initially had the same problem, even showing wisps of it after reseting the projector, but for the last hour the DVI input has been working great.

[EDIT2] - It WAS the cable box. I turned it off and unplugged it, waited a couple minutes - boom - everything works. Not sure why the DVI input was affected ...

Well is this a new unit that you just plugged in or did it start suddenly and never happened before? If nothing is plugged into it do you still get the same thing even when the unit starts up or with a blank screen? If you don't it may not be the projector but something else.

Well is this a new unit that you just plugged in or did it start suddenly and never happened before? If nothing is plugged into it do you still get the same thing even when the unit starts up or with a blank screen? If you don't it may not be the projector but something else.

Suddenly started, I've had this projector for about 4 months.

It doesn't happen with a blank screen.

Any news about using a "Wide Lens Adaptor" on the H27 experience?

I urgently want one!!!!!

I am choosing between 4805 and H27 but lean towards H27 because of better contrast, and a newer machine. But bigger offset means I need to setup the wooden holder again.....

Also it has a offical wide lens option, I think it is possible to add even a third party wide lens to it. I need it since I only have 2.x meter throwing distance, and I want 60" wide horizontal screen.

CKL and Lion already confirmed that 4805 cannot add a lens, 4805 even can't focus right after doing this.

Regards.

I've used both. The 4805 has fairly lousy contrast compared to the H27. The 4805 has excellent calibration right out of the box, but if you can deal with calibrating the H27 right it will blow the 4805 out of the water. No doubt about it. I have owned 12 different projector models and the H27 is first one I have been totally satisfied with.

I have owned 12 different projector models and the H27 is first one I have been totally satisfied with. i know you owned the h31 and prefer the h27...tell me why again?

i had the h31 and returned it because it came in a bundle with the graywolf which i didn't like

i am thinking of buying the 31 again (despite all the rainbows i see) and have read that they are very close but the 31 is a little brighter

what is it that you liked about the 27 so much ?

also, how is your pj positioned, i am definitely going to do a table mount ?

Colour accuracy is much better on the H27. Did I mention it is Optoma quiet? It has large offset though. You're looking at either high ceiling mount, floor mount, or keystoning.

i know you owned the h31 and prefer the h27...tell me why again?

i had the h31 and returned it because it came in a bundle with the graywolf which i didn't like

i am thinking of buying the 31 again (despite all the rainbows i see) and have read that they are very close but the 31 is a little brighter

what is it that you liked about the 27 so much ?

also, how is your pj positioned, i am definitely going to do a table mount ?

I prefer the H27 due to what was previously mentioned. The colors are much better out of the box (not perfect but close). It is less bright than the H31 but not by a huge level. The main importance is contrast. It is much better on the H27 even without ImageAI, despite it's 2500:1(imageAI off) contrast rating against the 3000:1 of the H31. It is quieter than the H31 as well. Even 4' away you can barely hear it with high lamp mode. The offset is higher but with image shifting it comes close to the H31 if you utilize both the user adjustments within the menus and then further with the image shifting on the remote, yet a bit higher with optomal settings. Color is more saturated as well and inky blacks all the way. I have my unit table mounted 21" off the floor and 13.5' back from the screen. That puts the bottum of my image at around 42" off the floor without the need to jack the rear of the unit up at all. The image I get is max zoom- 90" wide at 13.5 feet. Ambient light that is mild can still be used but it does degrade the blacks a fair deal. Once calibrated optimal, it does have a good edge over the H31.

thanks Natja-ss-1334 and rickster904

i used the 31 on a coffee table at about 20" and it threw an image that was a tad to high even with vertical shift

i definitely don't want to keystone

so, if i build a little low table and put the pj, say, 10" off the floor

without tilting the projector this will lower my image inch for inch thus the bottom of the image will be at 31" off the floor

this is regardless of throw i believe...the bottom of the image is constant no matter whether the pj is at 7' throw or 15' throw ?

i saw no screendoor with very small images (60-65) are you seeing any sde at 90"

Sounds like your screen is lower on the wall than mine is which might be part of the problem. If I stand in front of my screen my eye's pretty much meet the screen area halfway up between the top and the bottum of the actual screen area. From the floor to my eye's is roughly 5' and from floor to ceiling is exactly 8'. Figuring this in my head, either your ceiling is lower than mine is or you must project lower or prefer the screen that low? Perhaps your in a basement with a low ceiling? And also the image will go higher the further back you go but the difference of throw offset between the distances you mention would be minimal. One thing I can tell you is that the H27 does in fact throw a higher offset than the H31. So you may only have three choices here. Raise the height of the screen, ceiling mount, or choose another projector.

i prefer a lower screen, i would like to have the bottom of the screen at about 32" from the floor so i believe that if i take your numbers i just need to place the pj on a very low table about 10" high

i watch about 5 movies a week and no tv so i have thought about building a little simple table out of 12" pine that i can fasten the pj to and then just pick up and put in place

alternatively, if i don't see any screen door with a 78" image i can ceiling mount (or invert shelf mount) at about 12.6 and i would be happy with that, i prefer a slightly brighter and sharper image and thus am willing to go smaller than most

are you seeing much sde at your throw??

I see no SDE at as close as 7' from the screen. However I always put my projectors very slightly out of perfect focus, so it eliminates 60% of any noticable SDE by doing so without any noticable softning of the image and the image still looks nice and sharp.

I currently have the Optoma MovieTime DV10 projector. Although I am extremely satisfied with the picture I do have problems placing the projector in the right spot. Since it only has vertical (no horizontal) keystone correction, that is a negative issue for me. I've read the H27 has both H+V Keystone. Is that right?

Also the incorporated sound system is very poor in the DV10 (I am using an external system) and the embedded DVD Player is supersensitive with DVDRs (recordings) and it only plays region 0 DVDs, which forced me to use an external DVD player.

Considering all of this I think I would do better reselling the DV10 and getting the H27.

What do yo all think?

2) He was projecting onto a wall, and doesn't have the budget right now for a good screen. He wants to paint the wall, but doesn't know what type or color paint to use. Should he use a glossy reflective type, or a matted non reflective type. Also what shade should he use? Pure white or more silverish?


Home Depot or any paint store that carries the Behr brand has a color called Silver Screen. Makes for a good screen.

DV10 do not have DVI or HDMI digital input, so sell it.

DV10 have the short throw I want but do not have the digital input I need..... pity.

Lilttle problem -

There is a small line that gets projected right around the upper middle part of the screen.

Initially I thought it was the lens or the screen. I cleaned the lens and there is nothing on the screen.

Something is wrong - I'm going to look into removing the lens tomorrow - not sure how hard that is to do.

Any other ideas on what might be wrong and how I can fix it would be appriciated.

THanks

One thing I see is everybody is talking about screens 90" or smaller. What about a 100" or 110" ? I can mount a projector on a 9' ceiling mount 16' away from screen and have seating at 20' (my dining/living room is one rectangular room 16x32) I'm looking hopefully at a 103" (50"x90") screen. Other than the brightness/lumens problem what about the picture quality? I'm not interested in spending $1200 or more for a 720p projector considering the new technology coming out this year.
I've never seen much mention of rainbow artifacts from this projector,is it minimal as suggested with a 4x wheel?
Also would like to know the gain on "curtain blackout" that you can use for screen.
I'm assuming to use the shiny side?? for projecting.
Looking to buy a H27 very soon!!
VisualApex probably........

Originally Posted by Texxen
One thing I see is everybody is talking about screens 90" or smaller. What about a 100" or 110" ? I can mount a projector on a 9' ceiling mount 16' away from screen and have seating at 20' (my dining/living room is one rectangular room 16x32) I'm looking hopefully at a 103" (50"x90") screen. Other than the brightness/lumens problem what about the picture quality?
Although you would be pushing its limits, if you put it on bright mode (which unfortunately shortens the life of the bulb) I think it can handle a screen that size as long as you have VERY good control over the lighting conditions of your room. I'm using it at night in a 14'x15' room with white walls, and the projector is just under 13' from a 80" DIY screen. I can certainly go bigger than 80" (I think I can go as large as 94" or so), but there's no way I can watch anything with any other light in the room. It has to be very dark or the image gets washed out. Before I purchased the projector, the ProjectorCentral calculator helped me get a rough, but good idea about how bright the image will be at different distances/sizes. I understand that most of my answer deals more with the "brightness/lumens problem" that you mentioned, but doesn't that factor into the picture quality? I don't think you can separate the two in this case.

As for the mounting/seating question, I too have 9' ceilings (soon I'll have 11' once my apartment renovations are complete), and while I don't have it ceiling mounted just yet (due to the renovations), I have played with positioning at 9' and I would say that you shouldn't have any problems with that set up, although you should probably do some calculations regarding the large offset. Off the top of my head, I think your image will be around 33" off the floor with the 50"x90" image you want.

UPDATE: After doing the actual calculations, it turns out that your image will be closer to 23.5" off the ground. This takes into account the 108" ceiling height - 6" to the center of the projector's lens using a very thin mount - 28.5" for the 57% offset - 50" for the screen = 23.5".

Originally Posted by Texxen
I've never seen much mention of rainbow artifacts from this projector,is it minimal as suggested with a 4x wheel?
I have owned both 1x wheel and 2x wheel projectors and suffered horribly from rainbows on both of them. I can honestly say that the 4x wheel in the H27 makes a huge difference for me. I'm not totally cured of the effect, but it has been so dramatically reduced, it's no longer an issue for me, but that's me. The best way to know for sure is to demo it, but unfortunately that's not always the easiest thing to do. I took a chance and am happy I did.

Originally Posted by Texxen
Also would like to know the gain on "curtain blackout" that you can use for screen. I'm assuming to use the shiny side?? for projecting.
I believe I've read in the "DIY screens" forum is that it's basically a gain of 1.0. I'd do a search in there if I were you.

Originally Posted by Texxen
Looking to buy a H27 very soon!! VisualApex probably........
Visual Apex is tremendous. That's where I got mine and I couldn't be happier with their service. I ordered my projector back on 2/13 and a few days later, they both lowered the price of the projector and added the third year to the warranty. I asked them if I could receive the same deal since my projector still hadn't arrived, and without hesitation they fulfilled my request. Who can realistically ask for more than that?

Does the Optoma H27 has Horizontal + Vertical Keystone correction?
Navarros, I have just ordered a H27 and have not seen horizontal keystone advertised in the specs. I will tell you when I get mine in a few days.
Does your DV10 come with an original short throw lens or it comes with the regular lense plus the short throw adaptor lens. If it is the original, do you think it would fit the H27?
Thank you

Originally posted by FGM
Does the Optoma H27 has Horizontal + Vertical Keystone correction?

Only vertical.

I was going to post the url to the product manual on Optoma's site, but I'm not allowed until I have at least five posts. Go to their site and find the H27 product page. It has links to the manual, brochure, etc.

I've used both. The 4805 has fairly lousy contrast compared to the H27. The 4805 has excellent calibration right out of the box, but if you can deal with calibrating the H27 right it will blow the 4805 out of the water. No doubt about it. I have owned 12 different projector models and the H27 is first one I have been totally satisfied with.
I have ordered the H27 with the optoma Gray Wolf 92". I will drive it with the up converting Zenith DVB318. What do you mean by "calibrating the H27 right"? I have ordered the Sound and Vision HT tune-up DVD to get the best out of the H27. Will I be OK with it?
The Zenith works very well with the X1 at 1080i on the component input. Should I expect any improvement at 1080i on DVI vs component on the H27?
I still have my 2 year old Infocus X1 that will be replaced by the H27 if all works out OK.
I would like opinions of users that have used both units as to what should I expect. I really like reports of very unintrusive SD on the H27. The X1 has SD very visible from 10-11' watching distance on a 76"wide image. Otherwise I have been very pleased with it other than I was getting sick of the black box bars above and below the image.
Any opinions on how the Gray Wolf screen will fit with the H27? I just watch DVDs and outside light are controlled in a room with white matte walls and ceiling. Initially I will project from a table.
Thank you for your comments..
Fermin

I'm interested in the H27 but need shorter throw. I know the official Optoma short throw accessory lens is ridiculously expensive. Has anyone tried adapting a standard 0.8x or 0.7x camera wide-angle add-on lens to this projector? I'm thinking of something like the Kenko KRW-75, 58mm 0.75x wideangle lens, which is available for around $70. I would think that if one could figure out how to mount it in front of the projector lens it should work -- or am I missing something?
I have ordered the H27 and I also wonder about third party short throw lenses. The optoma DV10 has a short throw. Would it be interchangeable with the H27? Anybody?
Thanks.

Originally posted by FGM
I would like opinions of users that have used both units as to what should I expect. I really like reports of very unintrusive SD on the H27. The X1 has SD very visible from 10-11' watching distance on a 76"wide image. Otherwise I have been very pleased with it other than I was getting sick of the black box bars above and below the image.
That's exactly what I upgraded from just last week. The difference is quite noticeable and I can confidently say that the H27 is better in every category except for brightness (in non-presentation mode for the X1), where they're probably on par with each other.

I have good eyesight, sit 9' from an 80" screen, and I'm on the edge of seeing anything in the way of SD. I also slightly defocus the lens and that helps as well.

I upgraded from the X1 and use the H27 tablemount, and it is indeed a big upgrade from the X1. Much better contrast, less rainbows, better color, better blacks.

The only downside I see to a table mount on the H27 is in the cone with the greywolf you see the screen texture and it's actually too bright. Just out of the cone is perfect.

I have ordered the H27 and I also wonder about third party short throw lenses. The optoma DV10 has a short throw. Would it be interchangeable with the H27? Anybody?
Thanks.

I dont think the lenses are interchangable. You could just get a dv10.

I upgraded from the X1 and use the H27 tablemount, and it is indeed a big upgrade from the X1. Much better contrast, less rainbows, better color, better blacks.

The only downside I see to a table mount on the H27 is in the cone with the greywolf you see the screen texture and it's actually too bright. Just out of the cone is perfect.
Thank you, dvdvideo. In our set up, eye level is about 4' when seating. My ceiling is 8' high. So eye level is about midway from floor to ceiling. Would it be fair to assume that the best I can do to avoid the cone is to project from either the floor or the ceiling? The closer I place the h27 to eye level the more reflected light I will get and it may be too much. How can I get out of the cone? moving ourselves side ways? by how much? The room is about 11' 4" wide from wall to wal so the best we can do is place ourselves by the walls with the point in between eyes about 1' from the wall. If we watch at say 10' distance from the screen that will give us an angle of about 28 degrees which is a litter wider than the maximum vertical angle (20 degrees, assuming mid screen horizontal line is at eye level) if we project from the floor or ceiling. Is this making any sense? Would we be OK?
Anyone? Please? :confused:

How much calibration would the H27 require out of the box? I have ordered the Sound and Vision HT tune-up DVD for that purpose. Will it be OK? Will I need to purchase AVIA or VED? I have never done calibration of a projector before. The X1 I have was pretty good just out of the box.
Any guidance/advice/opinions most welcome.
Thank you all.
Fermin

Lilttle problem -

There is a small line that gets projected right around the upper middle part of the screen.

Initially I thought it was the lens or the screen. I cleaned the lens and there is nothing on the screen.

Something is wrong - I'm going to look into removing the lens tomorrow - not sure how hard that is to do.



Finally got around to looking deeper into this issue. I took apart everything I could easily take apart and cleaned every thing I could. Was a lot of dust in it...

Anyways - put it back together and fired her up - small line gone! Sweet. Guess it was some kind of dust causing it.

How much calibration would the H27 require out of the box? I have ordered the Sound and Vision HT tune-up DVD for that purpose. Will it be OK? Will I need to purchase AVIA or VED? I have never done calibration of a projector before. The X1 I have was pretty good just out of the box.
Any guidance/advice/opinions most welcome.
Thank you all.
Fermin

Very little depending on how picky you are. Surely you'll have to adjust brightness, contrast, and sharpness. Beyond that - hard to say.

Costco started carrying the H27 again so I guess rumors of its death were incorrect.

They have a pretty sweet package deal with projuector and screen for $999 right now but the H27 is not sold seperately.

I think you will be fine, a movement of just a couple of feet away from the lens works great. Go far enough out though and it will dim too much.

Visualapex has a good deal going on right now....if I can get them to send me one!!
Not too happy with thier service so far............

Looks like this thread is coming alive again. Great to see new members getiing the H27. :)

A great PJ for the price.....

Been 3 business days now...Visualapex still hasn't shipped my order
Been calling everyday,they keep saying "Tomorrow"
I have good credit and all......

If i knew where else i could get it for $800/$850 I definitely would!!!

I'm quite surprised. I've only dealt with them once, but everything was quick and painless. Could just be a simple stock issue.

Hey All,

I was thinking about just waiting until I graduate and move next year to get a projector, but now, Costco's deal is looking pretty good. H27 for next 2 years, then get whatever is out then for 1080i (hopefully).

I know this has probably been asked before, but how is the Xbox 360 on this machine? I'd mostly be using the 27 for Movies and 360.

Thanks for all your info!

-Cephied

Texxen,

FWIW, I ordered on Monday and got a tracking number yesterday. So, no supply issues. You may want to push harder for answers. Not bragging, just trying to help.

First, I want to thank everyone in this thread for helping me make my decision to purchase this projector. This thing is a beauty and much better than my X1. I will be sure to post some screenshots and a full review after my apartment renovations are complete. Thanks again. And now on with the question(s):

I see that this was already asked, but it doesn't seem that it was answered (directly anyway). Does anyone know if there's a resonably priced third–party short–throw lens that can be used instead of the pricey lens that Optoma offers?

First, I want to thank everyone in this thread for helping me make my decision to purchase this projector. This thing is a beauty and much better than my X1. I will be sure to post some screenshots and a full review after my apartment renovations are complete. Thanks again. And now on with the question(s):

I see that this was already asked, but it doesn't seem that it was answered (directly anyway). Does anyone know if there's a resonably priced third–party short–throw lens that can be used instead of the pricey lens that Optoma offers?

I know a few posters were looking for alternatives but I never heard that they found anything. That is the only reason I had to go to the H31. The H27 with the long throw didn't work in my room.

I have received my H27 and it has inmediately taken the spot of a 2years old X1. I am driving it with a Zenith DVB 318 on 1080i upsampled mode, connected trhough DVI. I am projecting onto a white matte wall, good light control and walls and ceiling white as well. First impressions:
I find the brightness in this projector very similar to the X1when in cinema mode, not dim at all.
Colours, lots of colours!! Vivid, saturated, punchy good looking colours. May be too much colour to my liking, I am not used to so much colour and I don't see that at the cinema either. The projector does not seem to give any option to calibrate colour or tint eventhough they are both mentioned in the user manual under Image-l, video mode. Maybe the projector thinks it is getting a signal from a computer, it turns the RGB mode automatically. I have tried the component connection on 480p, 720p and 1080i and then yes, I had the option of selecting video mode under the management user menu. That changed the good looking colours into some other colours that did not look good at all and, still no access to colour and tint adjustments so I went back to DVI connextion which gives an image that I found to look quite a bit more transparent/pristine compared to what component connections were putting out.
Good blacks and contrast, both with and w/o AI. Much better than the X1. I find that AI puts out better blacks and contrast but noticed that the fan goes into high speed mode and possible the lamp turns to brite mode thereby shortening its life by a good 33% or more of its eco mode projected life; not good. I must say that I rather have the choice to turn AI on/off at will; that is good.
Details, lots of details. I love it.
I have run the projector for about 6 hours in 2 sessions and it still gives out an offensive smell of burning plastic/electric staff. I have noticed one or two other users reporting on this. Are we just the only ones to have/have noticed this smell? It is quite unpleasant and my wife can't hardly stand it. Is this unit defective? Any suggestions?
I will post other impressions as I gain more experience.

Just got my H27 yesterday. Looks like there's an led on this thing that keeps blinking when in standby (bright green!). The manual says to disconnect power to projector after power down, probably to disable the annoying blinking led :) Since my pj will be ceiling mounted above me in my bedroom, the led has to stop. Do other owners put their pj's on switched outlets, and would there be any problems with me not doing so and simply taping over the led?

One of the reasons I avoided the Infocus 4805 was because of its constant-running fan. I don't have that, but I have an annoying blinking light. Do pj makers recommend putting the pj on a switched outlet always? TIA.

Yes...they do recommend you disconnect it from power source..AFTER.. the light has cooled,if you're not going to be using it for awhile (24 hrs in my opinion)

Anyway.....
I got mine yesterday too........
And needless to say....I'm not very impressed.
Ghosting/shadowing very prominent.
Not a very sharpe image.
colors are good,need slight fine tuning.

OK....here's the rest of the story.

The componet in is not working properly...all blue or green.
Or the source or cable isn't working
So...using s-video and a Mediagate MG-35.
And 103"BOC screen at 20' seating

Only have used it for an hour.

Just have one question for now...

Is it better to use DVI adapter to component (RGB) or just use the RGB component in?
I don't have any DVI sources other than computer.
Have a Panny RP91 DVDplayer...but not hooked up yet

Will update when something good happens.....

Texxen,
It appears that the H27 DVI port only accepts digital signals so I do not think that RGB to DVI would work.
Tell me, please: Have you noticed a strong smell of burning plastic with your projector? I have, it is very noticeable and upsetting and would like to know if this is abnormal or not so to help me decide to send it to Optoma or just wait and see (rather smell).
Garciab, how about you?
Any others, please.

No haven't smelled anything yet, only been used for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.
I guess the air purifier isn't working???

FGM,

I haven't run my pj for long, just a quick power-up to make sure it wasn't doa. I'll keep my nose open though, and let you know once I've run it for an extended period of time.

Just got my H27 yesterday. Looks like there's an led on this thing that keeps blinking when in standby (bright green!). The manual says to disconnect power to projector after power down, probably to disable the annoying blinking led :) Since my pj will be ceiling mounted above me in my bedroom, the led has to stop. Do other owners put their pj's on switched outlets, and would there be any problems with me not doing so and simply taping over the led?

One of the reasons I avoided the Infocus 4805 was because of its constant-running fan. I don't have that, but I have an annoying blinking light. Do pj makers recommend putting the pj on a switched outlet always? TIA.

All of the 12 different projector models I have used had the blinking standby light. Pretty standard. All you have to do is keep it plugged into a strip and when the projector is not running shut it off at the strip, no biggy. The blinking lights never have been annoying to me but I am concerned more about power consumption so I switch it off after it power down at a strip.

The burning smell from my H27 lasted almost two weeks - about 50 hours of usage.

Hey!

Well, today I ordered the H27 off Costco.ca with their Screen deal! Super excited, but have to wait 7-10 business days!

So you can expect me asking for some tips here at the end of next week. Hope you guys are willing to help a first time projector owner! :) Super excited. I also picked up the Panasonic S77 for a pretty good price from a local dealer. $40 cheaper then anywhere I had called.

Oh, I also, just now, finished reading this whole thread. Read it last night and tonight. Thanks for all the information you all have shared!

-Cephied

The burning smell from my H27 lasted almost two weeks - about 50 hours of usage.
Thank you for shearing your experience with us!! 50 hours use for me will normally take about 6to 8 weeks time. I just watch DVDs with it.
Any others? Please. Is this burning smell such a rare hapening?

I've heard it's pretty common.
Considering you have a 200 to 300 watt bulb surrounded by plastic I would
expect it.
And the fact Optoma has added a air purifier tells me that it's a problem that
needed to be dealt with.


Well now for some good news(for me anyway... :) )

It appears my Mediagate is incapable of producing a good picture with a projector.
For one thing the component out doesn't work properly.
Hooked it up to my Panasonic RP91 component in/out to H27
Alot better picture,ghosting gone.
Then I hooked it up to Satellite receiver, S-video out/in to H27.

On HBO ,picture was GREAT...watched "Sniper" for awhile.
Since HBO is a digitally broadcast signal I figured thats wht it was so good.
The local broadcast and other channels didn't look so good.
Which is understandable.

Still haven't tried a prerecorded DVD........

After lurking here for several weeks and reading-reading-reading, I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on the Costco.ca deal for an H27 but want to run my data by you all.

I have a room approximately 14 x 14. The ceiling is slanted from a peak of about 12 feet on the right to about 9 feet on the left of the area I'm going to project the image onto. I have a nice blank light beige wall to project onto which I can paint or will use the Optoma 92" Graywolf screen.

The room is not light controlled but I plan to use this projector only for watching rental DVD's and recorded DVD's of SD TV broadcasts. Most of that viewing will be in the evening after 9:00PM. I can use temporary blackout curtains if necessary over the windows which all have blinds.

I plan to mount the projector on a back wall with a throw distance of about 13.5 feet. I'll put a shelf in place and mount the projector under the shelf upside down. Seating will be right under the projector at about 10 to 13 feet. The calculator on Projector Central seems to show this is all within limits.

No DVD player selected as yet but I'll try to find something that does a reasonable job like an Oppo or a better Panasonic.

I figure in 4 years or so after all the HDTV standards are worked out and in place and HD-DVD's are firmly in the market and a new generation of displays are on the market for better and cheaper, I'll upgrade to a HDTV system for viewing realtime TV broadcasts.

I have not been able to view a real front projector in my area (Vancouver Canada) as all the box stores within 30 minutes drive seem to be only about plasma and RP units. Some, like Best Buy have projectors but laughably they are all the previous generation on display - ie. Panasonic AE700U or Sanyo PLV-Z3 and none have an actual screen set up. I need to do a bit more driving to specialty retailers.

As a result my main issue is whether I will be satisfied with the 480p image on a 92" screen. I'm worried about SDE and pixelation. From 8 to 10 feet away I can see the SDE on numerous 50" to 60" EDTV LCD RP units, some 720p units, particularly LCD driven Hitachi's but also on some 720p 42" plasmas .

Your thoughts? Anyone from Vancouver who knows of working displays?

.

I can see SDE at 7-8ft with a 103" screen on Blackout cloth.
At 13 ft with a 92" good screen you should be alright.
I wouldn't count on any good quality pictures out of normal TV broadcasts unless
you have a HD signal coming from your local channels and a HD tuner.
Standard broadcast at 92" is not very good.

I am looking for an H27 to put on a shelf (so it would ideally have shelf mode), and It's a varying brightness room. The unit will be about 10-12 feet back from a 92" Graywolf screen...

I'm a newbie at this.. tell me am I wasting my time putting this in a living room with a varying ammount of light... I don't care if it always looks cinema quality... as long as it looks halfway descent...

Would I be better off spending 300 more (with the 92" screen) and get the sitsu hc900?

I am looking for an H27 to put on a shelf (so it would ideally have shelf mode), and It's a varying brightness room. The unit will be about 10-12 feet back from a 92" Graywolf screen...

I'm a newbie at this.. tell me am I wasting my time putting this in a living room with a varying ammount of light... I don't care if it always looks cinema quality... as long as it looks halfway descent...

Would I be better off spending 300 more (with the 92" screen) and get the sitsu hc900?

I placed the following at projector central. Please feel free to offer your opinions...

"Some of you like KillRob and Nemo might recall my wondering why my H27 looked so dim and dull when I first got it. It took a great deal of calibrating to get it right, and though I have been happy over all with it I have felt that the unit has never been bright or vibrant enough. I found out tonight what I have been missing and that I was more than correct. Let me explain further...

A close friend of mine purchased the H27 and a graywolf screen. We spent the past week painting his walls black, setting up a Yamaha and Klipsch 7.1 system, and finally I hooked his projector up tonight. We started the unit up with the same connections and the image appeared incredible. I mean really incredible. Very bright, and vibrant. I figured this might be due to his graywolf screen. So I picked up my projector and took it over there and we set them up side by side and I ran my unit with the same dvd player and cables and projected onto the greywolf. My H27's image looked bland compared to his. I set both units to normal picture and gamma modes and left his brightness and contrast where they were 50 and 65. Mine were set at 62 and 80. My unit had this appearance as though it was being watched through a strong ND filter while his was very bright and very colorful. we both agreed that something really isn't right at all with my unit. His images looked much better than nemo's early screen shots "did. I had no idea what I have been missing. The H27 is so impressive that even with the lack luster image I was getting it still looks better than most other units I have used. There is no doubt that the H27 I have been using might be closer to the one projector central first reviewed that got a low rating.

I'm, not sure what to do now. I am hoping Optoma will be willing to take the unit back and exchange it for another one because this one clearly isn't operating anywhere near the standard that my friends unit is. No wonder I felt the image was dull when I first got it. It really is a pretty poor image compared to his.

Advance color settings within the service menu and user menu settings are pretty close between our two units. So as much as I have dealt with optoma I reall hope they will give me a break here and give me another one. But I can almost hear it now..

Optoma tech:
"Looks ok to me. What do you mean the image doesn't look right?"
Me:
"Gotta trust me here, my friends unit blows this one away. There has to be something wrong with the one I own."
Optoma tech:
"well sorry, I don't see anything wrong with this unit."

Well let's hope not anyway"

so the answer is, if i get a good h27, i should be just fine?

"Some of you like KillRob and Nemo might recall my wondering why my H27 looked so dim and dull when I first got it. It took a great deal of calibrating to get it right, and though I have been happy over all with it I have felt that the unit has never been bright or vibrant enough. I found out tonight what I have been missing and that I was more than correct. Let me explain further...

My H27's image looked bland compared to his. I set both units to normal picture and gamma modes and left his brightness and contrast where they were 50 and 65. Mine were set at 62 and 80. . His images looked much better than nemo's early screen shots "did. I had no idea what I have been missing. The H27 is so impressive that even with the lack luster image I was getting it still looks better than most other units I have used. There is no doubt that the H27 I have been using might be closer to the one projector central first reviewed that got a low rating.




Natja,

Your test itself is a evidence that you may have a defective unit. But i feel the defect may well be with the lamp you are having.

Anyway, best to get it sorted with Optoma. In USA they have a good service reputation.

As for my PJ, i have started using the progressive input nowadwys from the DVD player instead of the PJ doing it and now my PJ is brighter and provides an astounding image than before. Who have seen my earlier images will understand what i mean. I never regret my purchase. I am still in the way to buy a good prog scan DVD player.

H27 is an amzing beast.

Will post some new setup screenshots once i get some time.

I am moving to a new house where i can go upto 110inch so it will be test for the PJs brigtness level.

For the smel many are reporting, this is common with most electronic equipment. If you buy a new TV or DVD player you can get the same smell but in those cases you have to be really close. This is smell of new plastic getting superficiialy burnt with heat.

The reason is the PJ uses a high power lamp and hence is much hotter so the smell spreads across the room.

I had it and after 40-50 hrs it was no longer there.

Nemo

Natja,

Did you try swapping lamps to check? You can also buy a spare lamp now to see if it makes a difference.

As for the ambient light question, we'll watch bright, colorful animation with the kids with some lights on. We're talking about romantic-evening, you-can-barely-read kind of light - no more than that. Most of the time I still prefer to watch a movie in complete darkness - not difficult to achieve in my basement HT. Everyone's preference is different but I think you'll be better off with a brighter pj just on the safe side.

Natja.,...what are you using for a signal/source??
I'm waiting to see a good quality pic myself....

Natja,

Did you try swapping lamps to check? You can also buy a spare lamp now to see if it makes a difference.

As for the ambient light question, we'll watch bright, colorful animation with the kids with some lights on. We're talking about romantic-evening, you-can-barely-read kind of light - no more than that. Most of the time I still prefer to watch a movie in complete darkness - not difficult to achieve in my basement HT. Everyone's preference is different but I think you'll be better off with a brighter pj just on the safe side.

No I wanted to try and swap lamps but my friend who is a first time projector buyer didn't want to do it. Even though he knows I know a good deal about projectors and have owned numerous models he was nervous about doin it. That's a great idea though. I wish I would have had the option, it may have given me an idea if it was the lamp. I pulled the lamp earlier today and it looks ok. The reflective area the lamp is assembled to seems to have a slight burnished appearance to it and I don't believe these normally look that way. This may have something to do with it but don't really know.

Natja.,...what are you using for a signal/source??
I'm waiting to see a good quality pic myself....

Last night when we compared the two H27's we ran both component and HDMI at 720p and 1080i into the DVI. We did this on both units. I normally use component at home on my H27.

Thanks for the replies and the support. I sent an email to Optoma last night. Thomas (a very nice guy) whome I have met and dealt with several times during my visits to Optoma wrote back quickly. He basically reminded me that the projector lamp would be dimmer on my unit due to longer use and older age. However there is only 132 original hours on the lamp, and I am certain the image is no less bright than it was then. Yes it looked very dull from the onset and it may be that the lamp was not operating to full capacity right from the start. Anyway he said I could return it and they would look it over, but he said they will not exchange it. If it turns out to be the lamp he said I would have to buy a new lamp. It is possible the lamp is not putting out the amount of lumens it is meant to put out. The image quality between my unit and my friend's unit is night and day. His unit still looks great even with the dimmest user modes where mine is very bland and dim with those modes. Even then I can use the brightest settings while his is set to the dimmest veiwing modes and his is still much a good deal brighter and more gorgeuos. Another strange thing is that using his dvd player and hooking up component to my H27 will make my image look greenish but taking the same component right out of my unit and plugging it into his unit won't create a greenish cast. But my dvd player though component doesn't show a green cast on my H27. Not really too bothered by that though. But if Optoma were to run my H27 next to one working properly I am certain they would easily see the differences. But the chances they are going to blame it on somehing other thn the lamp are slim. I'm waiting for the RMA # right now. I'll ad more later. Thanks again for all of your comments.

Thanks for the replies and the support. I sent an email to Optoma last night. Thomas (a very nice guy) whome I have met and dealt with several times during my visits to Optoma wrote back quickly. He basically reminded me that the projector lamp would be dimmer on my unit due to longer use and older age. However there is only 132 original hours on the lamp, and I am certain the image is no less bright than it was then. Yes it looked very dull from the onset and it may be that the lamp was not operating to full capacity right from the start. Anyway he said I could return it and they would look it over, but he said they will not exchange it. If it turns out to be the lamp he said I would have to buy a new lamp. It is possible the lamp is not putting out the amount of lumens it is meant to put out. The image quality between my unit and my friend's unit is night and day. His unit still looks great even with the dimmest user modes where mine is very bland and dim with those modes. Even then I can use the brightest settings while his is set to the dimmest veiwing modes and his is still much a good deal brighter and more gorgeuos. Another strange thing is that using his dvd player and hooking up component to my H27 will make my image look greenish but taking the same component right out of my unit and plugging it into his unit won't create a greenish cast. But my dvd player though component doesn't show a green cast on my H27. Not really too bothered by that though. But if Optoma were to run my H27 next to one working properly I am certain they would easily see the differences. But the chances they are going to blame it on somehing other thn the lamp are slim. I'm waiting for the RMA # right now. I'll ad more later. Thanks again for all of your comments.


If you bought it at costco, just return it.. get the cash and buy another... they accept returns for up to 3 years for everything except computers

If you bought it at costco, just return it.. get the cash and buy another... they accept returns for up to 3 years for everything except computers

No I wish I had. I got it from projector solution. At the time they were pretty much the only people that carried the unit.

I am looking for an H27 to put on a shelf (so it would ideally have shelf mode), and It's a varying brightness room. The unit will be about 10-12 feet back from a 92" Graywolf screen...

I'm a newbie at this.. tell me am I wasting my time putting this in a living room with a varying ammount of light... I don't care if it always looks cinema quality... as long as it looks halfway descent...

Would I be better off spending 300 more (with the 92" screen) and get the sitsu hc900?


The H27 has a longer throw lense so the lense to screen distance will need to be a minimum of ~12'5".

The graywolf is great for ambient light though. If you are in the veiwing cone you can watch a reasonable picture with medium ambient light. If you move way outside the cone in medium light the picture drops off substantially.

I couldn't fit the H27 in my setup so I went with the H31. It's been a very good unit with a superb picture. I've never seen the HC900 in person so I can't compare them .

Anyone know where to get the short throw lens on the cheap? cheapest I have found is like $470
the BX-AS108

Newsyl: I have had a H27 in about a week now but got a bit sad from the beginning with how much I really noticed the screendoor and almost returned it after a day.
and I didnt think screendoor would be an issue at all for me, had looked at many 480p projectors before I bought this one.
but first day playing 360 really made me sad since I had played a lot on a 1024x768 business projector and hope that it would look more like that but it looked less WOW then on my 32 inch philips ( but that is a GREAT TV, probably the best ever! since NOTHING beats it).
BUT!!! I didnt return it and yesterday I bought a cheap curtain for nothing basically and it had sort of a shimmer and that really helped to take away much of the screendoor and pixelations and still being sharp. and suddenly the 360 games got that HD look and feel and suddenly looked even BETTER then on the 1024x768 projector since the H27 is so sharp and has such depth in its picture. and I am completely satisfied with it now!
I LOVE IT!!!

so you dont really have to be worried about the resolution, basically it really is a matter of sitting at the right distance.
and artifact I see are always more related to the scaling of my DVD then the resolution of the projector, so buying a DVD thats good at the progressiv stuff is my next job, its a VERY big difference between different ones.

here are pics I have taken the last week most of them yesterday:
http://www.minhembio.com/Beagle%20five
and its not the H27 thats dark, its my camera, but didnt want to lighten them up in photoshop either so I posted the ones that are not to dark. but in reality its bright and you see EVERY detail in dark areas!

Regards
Beagle five

how big is your 2.35 screen... height and width

Newsyl: I have had a H27 in about a week now but got a bit sad from the beginning with how much I really noticed the screendoor and almost returned it after a day.
and I didnt think screendoor would be an issue at all for me, had looked at many 480p projectors before I bought this one.
but first day playing 360 really made me sad since I had played a lot on a 1024x768 business projector and hope that it would look more like that but it looked less WOW then on my 32 inch philips ( but that is a GREAT TV, probably the best ever! since NOTHING beats it).
BUT!!! I didnt return it and yesterday I bought a cheap curtain for nothing basically and it had sort of a shimmer and that really helped to take away much of the screendoor and pixelations and still being sharp. and suddenly the 360 games got that HD look and feel and suddenly looked even BETTER then on the 1024x768 projector since the H27 is so sharp and has such depth in its picture. and I am completely satisfied with it now!
I LOVE IT!!!

so you dont really have to be worried about the resolution, basically it really is a matter of sitting at the right distance.
and artifact I see are always more related to the scaling of my DVD then the resolution of the projector, so buying a DVD thats good at the progressiv stuff is my next job, its a VERY big difference between different ones.

here are pics I have taken the last week most of them yesterday:
http://www.minhembio.com/Beagle%20five
and its not the H27 thats dark, its my camera, but didnt want to lighten them up in photoshop either so I posted the ones that are not to dark. but in reality its bright and you see EVERY detail in dark areas!

Regards
Beagle five

how big is your 2.35 screen... height and width

hehe well that is just a board I found in my house that I used as a screen for a week now until I found something better. and it just happend to have almost perfect 2.35:1 proportions and being a bit grey it gave GREAT blacks and over all a very solid but a bit dark picture with amazing 3D like picture that really jumped out of the screen.
some of that is lost now on the cheap curtain I bought yesterday, but that one is better on screendoor, its brighter and more detaild in shadows and darker scenes. really have a WOW and GOT DAAAAMN picture at home now!
but yes the dimensions are in metric terms about 133 cm X 58 cm so its not a big screen. I have a very small room its only 2x3 meters.
the screen I bought yesterday that is really a curtain, but works great, is about 139cm wide. so its about 63 inches picture I have and its perfect in my small room.

/Regards
Beagle

beagle five... How big is your screen ? How far away is the projector?
I know if I put mine at 60" to 70" diagonal (4:3) in a 12'x12' room the picture would improve immensly. But I expect this projector to look good at 92" 16:9 at 14' (nothing more)
You got some good looking black/dark scenes.
I don't think mine would look that good....but maybe at 10' w/60" screen....


OK...I see now..(read the post above...)

This is my H27 at 84inch diag

http://img389.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pj20034dn.jpg

I am currently at 230hr mark and have not noted any drop in brightness. However as you get used to a display you may feel it could have been brighter.

The way i do to trick my own mind is to close my eyes for around 2 mins and then open it. It looks much brighter.

In most cases it is all in the mind.

Having said that it is also true that H27 is not the brightest PJ in that league. SO ppl who prefer brighter displays should look for different options.

You will loose contrast in such case as it has cross the physical limits of a budget DLP like H27, 4805, H31 etc. It is a compromise between contrast and lumens.

If you fo up like Mit Hc3000 or HD72 they offer much better brigtnes and contrast as they are much more capable machines.

It takes what is inside and the rest is compromise. But i am happy wioth my H27 and everyday feel wow.

I hope this will last 1 -2 good year till i up[grade to a HD beast whihc will anyway get better by that time and stabilize.

AS of now H27 really rocks...

Enjoy

nemo

Thanks for the info on SDE.

I've been re-thinking my installation and now will likely go with a floor positioned unit as the layout is more wife friendly, I'd prefer to have the option of moving the projector closer to the screen and as I have a finished wood ceiling in my room I'd rather not ceiling mount. I also have no access to the space above this ceiling to run cables.

OFFSET question

OFFSET question ???

Is the offset 54% of screen height? I tried the 37 page manual on the Optoma site and don't remenber enough math to understand their diagram.

Most DLP projectors have offset ranging from about 16 to 35% of screen height. I actually need both the long throw of 14-15' for a 92" diagonal screen and maximum offset.

If true then the H27 should work for me.

google: Projector calculator

I've read the offset is 57%.

If your trying to fill the 92" diagonal Optoma Graywolf screen this projector is often bundled with, then you are working with a vertical height of 45".

57% of 45 = 25.65"

The bottom of the image will be 25.65" above of the centerline of the projectors lense.

.

Thanks for the info on SDE.

I've been re-thinking my installation and now will likely go with a floor positioned unit as the layout is more wife friendly, I'd prefer to have the option of moving the projector closer to the screen and as I have a finished wood ceiling in my room I'd rather not ceiling mount. I also have no access to the space above this ceiling to run cables. if you are going to use the graywolf, the table mount is a better option, the graywolf doesn't look nearly as good when the pj is ceiling mounted

i see virtually no sde on my h27 (or h31) from almost any distance or image size (60-92)...i think that is one of the many benefits of dlp

i will probably return this unit for three reasons:

1) clearly dlp will not work for me because i am ultra sensitive to rainbows (i hoped somehow that the h27 would be better in this regard even though the colorwheel specs are the same but no such luck...on a bad day, when i am a little tired, i see rainbows virtually non-stop in any film with a significant amount of dark scenes...on a good day i stll see them if i move my eyes too quickly or around the screen

2) because it, in my opinion, doesn't throw as nice or as bright an image as the h31...by a long shot

3) both the h31 and now the h27 had bright spots on them (the optoma tech called them halo's) but i don't think that's a correct term...they look like "light smudges" on the screen...it's not on the lens...the optoma guy said it has something to do with the color wheel

i get the feeling that optoma is banging these things out due to high demand and qc just isn't very good

however, having said all this...if:

-you aren't sensitive to rainbows
-you get a good, well made unit
-if you watch mostly dvd's

these are the best pj's on the market for image quality / dollar for dollar..period

if you buy them at the well known big box retailer you will have no problems with them taking them back, they are selling buckets of them in both the us and canada

inukshuk......have to agree with you on the most part.
I'm sure they're banging these out but like you say...
For $800 you can't do much better considering used projectors
with well used bulbs usually start around $300 and not half the
picture quality.
The cheapest new projector I found was a NEC LT170(4:3) at $650

I've been getting some good results with s-video in from my satellite receiver
as long as the channel is a digital channel (HBO for one), but of course the
"locals"/analog channels are not really watchable.

I think with a high gain screen (Sandmans AT special!!!) mine will produce a very acceptable image.
Not the "WOW" factor I've been reading about though.......

I'd like to know if anyone has used this (H27) with a HD tuner/satellite box.
They're going for $100.....
Any opinions on this would be appreciated.

(or wait for a couple of weeks till I post my results)

Add to the above comment the very fact that LCD projectors with 250:1 and 800x600 just 6 years ago had much poorer images and had prices around $13,000, I think the prices and images of a unit like the H27 borders on the miraculous when considering the fact that you can now have images in your own home for less than a grand that rival and even beat those at the local movie theater.

I purchased my H27 last October and have been enjoying it ever since. I have a 119" diagonal 16:9 screen. The bottom of the screen is 33" from the floor. The top of the screen is 15" from the ceiling. The projector is mounted 18' from the screen. The projector is ceiling mounted with a 5" drop (8.5' overall ceiling height). Therefore I only have approx. 11" from the center of the lens to the top of the screen. Using the formula given I am calculating that I would need 35" from the center of the lens to the top of the screen. What gives? I clearly do not have this distance but the image looks fine to my eyes. I am using keystone correction but really have no complaints. Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for any input on my question,
JD

I would like to add my service menu default settings to the forum:
Color Wheel Index 435
Red Gain 127
Green Gain 127
Blue Gain 127
PC Red Offset 66
PC Green Offset 69
PC Blue Offset 63
Video Red Offset 67
Video Blue Offset 61

I have graywolf 92" 1.8 gain screen and am very satisfied. Using Oppo 971H DVD Player and very satisfied with it and Oppo customer service--great detail and elimination of halos using DVI. Was surprised to find a dynamic setting which I have been using which is quite good but no one else has mentioned?? Called Optoma and they were unfamiliar with the setting???? Slight SDE but have to be within 8 feet to notice at all. Table mounted. I find it difficult to rationalize the significant premiums for 720p projectors. Was also pleasantly surprised to be able to use standard cable composite feed and also use VHS composite which are acceptable although obviously not vidophile quality. I do get considerable quantization errors errors over standard cable though with dark scenes. Anyone else using dynamic mode instead of movie, TV settings, etc.?

I purchased my H27 last October and have been enjoying it ever since. I have a 119" diagonal 16:9 screen. The bottom of the screen is 33" from the floor. The top of the screen is 15" from the ceiling. The projector is mounted 18' from the screen. The projector is ceiling mounted with a 5" drop (8.5' overall ceiling height). Therefore I only have approx. 11" from the center of the lens to the top of the screen. Using the formula given I am calculating that I would need 35" from the center of the lens to the top of the screen. What gives? I clearly do not have this distance but the image looks fine to my eyes. I am using keystone correction but really have no complaints. Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for any input on my question,
JD

If you're using keystone, the pj is tilted upward to compensate for the offset. I set up mine the same way as well and I don't see any PQ tradeoff with a small keystone adjustment.

Thanks for the info Rickster,
I absolutely love this projector. We have watched way too many movies since we purchased it last fall:)
JD

Having trouble finding the H27. Is this a model on it's way out?? If anyone knows a good direction for me please let me know.

Visual Apex (forum sponsor) has the H27 on their web site.

No reason not to get the H31 instead........... better optics and deinterlacer..
If the H27 is gone... plus $100 rebate :)

Frankie

Let me know if you want a H31 with <5 hours on it. I have two and I'm planning to sell one of them pretty soon.

Bought and installed H27 less than a week ago. This morning I go to turn it on and the RED lamp L.E.D. comes on and the projector does not turn off. This happened once before where I just let the projector turn off by itself and then powered it back on and it came on. But not today, I have gone thru several cycles trying to get it to come on but no luck. I think it's too soon for the lamp to be dead. Maybe it's a bad unit?

I posted this over on the H31 thread but the H27 is closely related so I thought I would offer my comments here too.

I had my PJ calibrated through Guitarmans mail in PJ program and just received it last night. Several of you knew that I was having it done and I was going to respond individually but I think I’ll just post some quick thoughts instead.

I have 2 H31’s and I had used DVE to do the calibrating on both units. I spent quite a bit of time on each one playing with the grayscale patterns and trying to tune it by eye. I like to tinker so I was having fun experimenting and I finally got them both to where they were really pretty good.

I decided to see how much better these little units could get if at all. After a conversation with a local ISF guy I decided that is was smarter and more cost efficient to send it to Tom. I don’t know Tom other than from what I read from his posts. I sent him an email telling him I was sending it down and he sent one back telling me to go ahead and he would look for it.

After a couple days I received the PJ back on my doorstep complete with colorfacts performance graphs of before and after. When I sent the PJ to Tom I basically reset it back to the factory numbers. My plan was to run both of my PJ’s and compare the pictures but after playing a few scenes from several of my favorite disks I quickly realized it was unnecessary as the picture was substantially more accurate color wise. I ended up doing a side by side (actually top/bottom) comparison and was surprised to find that the picture seemed to have more depth than the non calibrated H31.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the whole experience. My personal feeling is that it is an exceptional bang for the buck. I definitely recommend having it done to get the most out of your PJ.

Rod

Thank you for shearing your experience with us!! 50 hours use for me will normally take about 6to 8 weeks time. I just watch DVDs with it.
Any others? Please. Is this burning smell such a rare hapening?

Well, I have about 8 movies under my belt now, and I haven't noticed any strange smells. Oh, and some antenna tv time as well. Hope this info helps.

Well, I have about 8 movies under my belt now, and I haven't noticed any strange smells. Oh, and some antenna tv time as well. Hope this info helps.
I am glad for you, Garciab. Nobody would miss the smell of mine, it is that strong and pungent. My H27 has about 50 hours of use and the smell is still very strong, although not quite as much as it was initially. I love the picture the H27 puts out, both on my white wall and on the Greywolf screen. However, if I had to do it all over again I would return the projector. Actually, if I do not see a rapid improvement from now, I may still send it back for repair/replacement or whatever. I even think those gases may be toxic/poisson. May be I should get Heath Canada involved and take a look at this thing, It may well be a health hazard. Too bad, because I love the image.
Another irritant of the H27 is the big offset. In my application now I need to place the projector in a shelf behind the seating places and with the H27 I have to tilt the projector forward and do some electronic compensation to get the image right.

Can anybody recommend a similar projector with minimal or no offset; or a similar projector with vertical lens shift?
One other question, What DLP projector in your opinion gives the least SDE? Or are all about the same?

Thanks in advance.

Mine had a strong smell, but it went away after 50 hours. Nothing is perfect in this price range. Be careful about what you're giving up. Once you're used to the low noise level, it might be hard to switch to something louder. Optoma still makes the most quiet budget DLP pjs.

I've had my H27 since October of last year. Never noticed any smell with mine.

What did smell very strong for a long time was my screen. It still smells after more than 5 months but its not as strong now. The funny thing is that its not a pleasant smell but because I came to associate it with the excitement of watching movies on my H27, I actually almost like it now. :)

I've had my H27 since October of last year. Never noticed any smell with mine.

What did smell very strong for a long time was my screen. It still smells after more than 5 months but its not as strong now. The funny thing is that its not a pleasant smell but because I came to associate it with the excitement of watching movies on my H27, I actually almost like it now. :)


My Graywolf had an unpleasant smell when I just unpacked it and rolled it down. It lasted for a couple of days. Yet, that was nothing compared to the smell of the H27.

Can anybody recommend a similar projector with minimal or no offset; or a similar projector with vertical lens shift?
.

The optoma H31 has less offset and is better for shelf mounting. Costco still carries it here in Canada.

7 months, 650 hours. The user manual doesn't list any maintenance steps. Do I need to clean dust at least? Has anyone performed regular maintenance on their H27?

Bought and installed H27 less than a week ago. This morning I go to turn it on and the RED lamp L.E.D. comes on and the projector does not turn off. This happened once before where I just let the projector turn off by itself and then powered it back on and it came on. But not today, I have gone thru several cycles trying to get it to come on but no luck. I think it's too soon for the lamp to be dead. Maybe it's a bad unit?

I have the same problem as you. Did you find any solution to the problem? or did you sent it back to optoma?

my lamp only has 17 hours!

My projector is currently using the original firmware. I am thinking to go to the service centre and do a firmware upgrade. Does updating to the latest firmware improves image quality? Please advise. Thank you.

Got an Optoma H27 and GreyWolf II screen on order from Costco. But what about the 35' component cables I need to hook it up? :o

I've read everything I can about them and it seems to me that Bluejeans Cable (an AVS sponsor) can supply what I need for a reasonable price. They use Belden 1694A cables with Canare RCAP series RCA plugs.

Is this the best way to go?

Thanks for your input

Hi there!

I am looking for a good budget dvd-player for my H27. I thought I found the answer with Toshiba SDK850 as 'MUCHO' recommends -allow me to quote:

"I tried 4 upscaling DVD players including one of the favorites around here (the OPPO) and the best picture comes from using the native resolution via DVI. Even using the OPPO at 720P produced an image obviously inferior.

So - what you want to look for is the least expensive DVD player that puts out a quality 480P picture and has a digital output. One that can play DIVX and CD-R and DVD-R. Right?"



-but then I see that he following has had some problems with it skipping (and others have the same problem..)

If someone could recommend me an alternative it would be highly appreciated...

Thanks,
Nik

Well, you have two choices. Get a dvd played with a built in faroudja deinterlacer like the oppo and output 480p over dvi/hdmi or a less expensive one without a good deinterlacer that outputs 480i over dvi/hdmi and use the H27 internal deinterlacer.

Oppo has a new DVD player that outputs 480i over HDMI

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd.html

If someone could recommend me an alternative it would be highly appreciated...

Hello - I would reccomend it still and here is why.

First - the DVD player I had died. Returned it at Costco and the new one had less skipping than the first.

Second, and more signifigant, I switched to a different DVD-R brand (haven't tried DVD+Rs ever). The skipping is basically 100% gone.

There are occasional pauses (very rare) and when using a dual layer DVD there is a few seconds pause between layer changes.

Since I bought it at Costco when I'm dis-satisfied I can return it for a full refund. I anticipate this happening when I get a 720P projector. :D

For the moment I think its the best DVD player for a 480P projector (for the $$$) if you want a digital connection.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Well, you have two choices. Get a dvd played with a built in faroudja deinterlacer like the oppo and output 480p over dvi/hdmi or a less expensive one without a good deinterlacer that outputs 480i over dvi/hdmi and use the H27 internal deinterlacer.

Oppo has a new DVD player that outputs 480i over HDMI

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd.html

I was about to order the new Oppo when i stumbled over this (from Oppo):

"For European customers who will primarily be using the DVD player for
PAL playback, we would not recommend the DV970HD unless you have a good
external/internal scaler which will do 2:2 Cadence decoding."

Since I am an 'European customer' I guess I would be better of with 'the old' Oppo??

I have no clue what kind of scaler is used in the H27 and if there could be some advantages of feeding it with 480i over HDMI instead of going with the 'old Oppo' (OPDV971H)??

(Since I'm looking for a dvd player for the H27 specifically I'll keep posting in this thread, if it gets too off topic or if anybody wants me to move this to the dvd area please let me know and I'll do so, thx)

Hello,
I'm new to this tread, been doing a lot of reading this morning. I'm like everyone concerned about the angles. I have a somehow low basement ceiling and a 92 inch screen.

I'd like to see some pictures of the ceiling mounts and screens from people are using for the H27. Maybe give some information on:

Projector Distance
Screen height to ceiling
Projector height to ceiling
Screen size
Ceiling height

Thanks

Ernie

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11109729&whse=BC&topnav=BC&browse=&s=1

I just ordered one and the $300 is taken off at checkout. You don't have to mess with rebates. I ordered it Friday with a $200 discount. I emailed Costco today about it and they let me cancel and reorder it with the $300 discount.

It comes with a 92 inch GrayWolf Screen.

Does anyone have suggested calibration settings for a H27 with a GrayWolf.

Which one would you buy. And how do they compare.

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these. I have some questions though regarding setup.

I'm only going to be able to position the about 12' from the screen.

I have two questions regarding this setup:

1. Does the image suffer when using the zoom? I assume I would want to use this given my distance from the screen.

2. Is there a drawback to not filling the entire screen? Let's say I am only able to fill 88" of the 92" screen. Is that a problem?

Thanks,

-Tony

P.S. Sorry for the newb PJ questions...it's my first.

1. Does the image suffer when using the zoom? I assume I would want to use this given my distance from the screen.

2. Is there a drawback to not filling the entire screen? Let's say I am only able to fill 88" of the 92" screen. Is that a problem?


1) Not at all. And you're right you will be at 100% zoom and just barely not fill a 92" screen.

2) Yes - albeit a minor one. Its not a problem but the black edge masking a screen helps increase the contrast of the program material. For the most part it won't be noticable.

I think you're going to be very very happy.

Wow. So I've now read all 35 pages of this thread. A few minutes ago I ordered my PJ and screen from Costco. Even after reading nonstop for days, I'm still a little confused about a couple things.

1. I would like my image to be about 40" off the ground. How can I accomplish this? I have a long 25' room to work with, standard 8' ceilings and it's about 12' wide. I'm willing to either ceiling mount or shelf mount it. How can I get a 92" image to be 40" off the floor?

2. Cables. I'll need a 25' component cable. I looked at www.monoprice.com but honestly they look almost TOO cheap. I worry about the quality. I suppose a step up would be blue jeans. Are there any other options. I certainly don't want to spend more than $100 and under $50 would be even better.

Thanks.

Go with the Monoprice cables. I have a 25 ft component and a 25 ft HDMI from them and they work great, and cost far less than anyone else's. Don't be concerned with how they look, that isn't important, it's how they work that count!

1. I would like my image to be about 40" off the ground. How can I accomplish this? I have a long 25' room to work with, standard 8' ceilings and it's about 12' wide. I'm willing to either ceiling mount or shelf mount it. How can I get a 92" image to be 40" off the floor?

Even thouth the offset for mounting this projector is large, you can always tilt the projector to get the image lined up with the screen. Of course, then you have to use the keystoning adjustment. I haven't noticed any loss in image quality from doing this.

2. Cables. I'll need a 25' component cable. I looked at www.monoprice.com but honestly they look almost TOO cheap. I worry about the quality. I suppose a step up would be blue jeans. Are there any other options. I certainly don't want to spend more than $100 and under $50 would be even better.

Make your own component cables out of 3 identical lengths of coax and 6 coax to rca adapters. This is both inexpensive and high quality.

1. I would like my image to be about 40" off the ground. How can I accomplish this? I have a long 25' room to work with, standard 8' ceilings and it's about 12' wide. I'm willing to either ceiling mount or shelf mount it. How can I get a 92" image to be 40" off the floor?

Even thouth the offset for mounting this projector is large, you can always tilt the projector to get the image lined up with the screen. Of course, then you have to use the keystoning adjustment. I haven't noticed any loss in image quality from doing this.

2. Cables. I'll need a 25' component cable. I looked at www.monoprice.com but honestly they look almost TOO cheap. I worry about the quality. I suppose a step up would be blue jeans. Are there any other options. I certainly don't want to spend more than $100 and under $50 would be even better.

Make your own component cables out of 3 identical lengths of coax and 6 coax to rca adapters. This is both inexpensive and high quality.[/QUOTE]

I'll probably end up keystoning a little bit, but i wonder if I should start off table mount of ceiling mount? I guess I'll try the table mount first and see if I can make it work. I'd rather do that than go crawling through my attic in July in Texas.

Thats a great idea to use coax and adapters. I have 2 spools of really nice RG6. I've used www.partsexpress.com for all of my connectors and adapters. Anyone else have a better idea for coax to RCA adaptors?

Has anyone tried using the DVI input?

Is there are big improvement in PQ?

H27 is 480P native, any improvement if signal is upscaled to 720P or 1080i?

Prices of DVD players with HDMI are starting to be within my reach. :rolleyes:

Has anyone tried using the DVI input?

Is there are big improvement in PQ?

H27 is 480P native, any improvement if signal is upscaled to 720P or 1080i?

Prices of DVD players with HDMI are starting to be within my reach. :rolleyes:

I exclusively use the DVI input for DVD viewing. I have found the best picture comes from a 480P signal via DVI.

Others have said they prefer an upscaled 720P signal via DVI but I can't understand this logic because the projector then will scale the signal to 480P. How a signal from a 480P source can look better after a lot of processing is beyond me.

Thanks Mucho!

Got the Pioneer DV696 yesterday. I connected the DVD using an HDMI-HDMI cable and an adaptor DVI to HDMI in the DVD.

The projector was able to find the DVI source but no picture comes out. The HDMI light on the DVD player does not light on, which means that the player does not recognize the H27's HDMI interface.

The DVI-HDMI adaptor I'm using is not from optoma, Could that be it?

It could be a problem with the copy protection not being passed through the adapter. Try using a home burned DVD or anything that isn't copy protected and see if that works.

What kind of adapter are you using?

Just purchased the H27. Hook it up to the DVD player thru homemade component cable. Really happy with it. Out of the box, picture is great but after some tweaking with the colours, it is now superb. Still using a temporary diy screen and in a table top position. Gotta finish up the screen and find a suitable ceiling mount for it.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/OptomaH27a.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/OptomaH27b.jpg

Screenshot

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/OptomaH27SS_Ep3.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/OptomaH27SS_Gla.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/OptomaH27SS_KK.jpg

Just purchased the H27. Hook it up to the DVD player thru homemade component cable. Really happy with it. Out of the box, picture is great but after some tweaking with the colours, it is now superb. Still using a temporary diy screen and in a table top position. Gotta finish up the screen and find a suitable ceiling mount for it.



Congrats on your new beamer! :) Nice little one right! -I'm sure it will bring you some good hours..

Nice with some screen shots..

Replaced the plain white cloth with canvas.

Replaced the plain white cloth with canvas. Resulting in a better image projection. Here are some examples.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/CanvasScreen3.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas2.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas1.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas7.jpg

Replaced the plain white cloth with canvas. Resulting in a better image projection. Here are some examples.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/CanvasScreen3.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas2.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas1.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/OptomaOnCanvas7.jpg


You dont happen to have any pics with a Xbox 360 do you?

You dont happen to have any pics with a Xbox 360 do you?

I do not own an Xbox 360.....

Does anyone have any pics or thoughts of this projector with HD source material??

Add me to the list of new h27 owners...supposed to be delivered any minute now....Costco.ca still has the h27 with the 92" greywolf II for only $899.00 ($1016.00 after the gvmt takes their share).

Ive had my H27 for a while now and I am very satisfied with the projector, the Graywolf is another matter. Im looking for a DIY screen as we speak.

hi!...just wondering if i should upgrade my DVD player...got a crappy Daytek connected to H27 with component....so, wondering if the Oppo 971 will improve things for me with the DVI connection??...is the $199 worth it??....i could definitely use the DIVX feature of the Oppo....but will the image be improved through DVI enough to justify the cost?...also, which cable do i need to connect the Oppo to the H27?....I neeed a little longer than what may come with the player......and i will need to run a longer coaxial cable to my Onkyo receiver..should be OK??

Thanx,
J

Settings

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/MyOptomaScreenshot78.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/MyOptomaScreenshot77.jpg

Images (updated)

Painted the screen with paint. JOTUN paint M501 Grape White.

Screenshots.

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/MyOptomaScreenshot75.jpg

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k130/pawarujietheater/MyOptomaScreenshot71.jpg

Nice settings and pics!

What is the exclamation point in the bottom RH corners?

What is the exclamation point in the bottom RH corners?
You can freeze the screen image by pressing a button on the remote. That icon just shows you that it is frozen.

A question I don't if it has been answered already (I could not do the search):

Does the up-convertible DVD player give better picture quality for those native 480 line projectors eg H27 ?

Thank you.

I can't believe that CostCo still has this promotion going, it seems like a no brainer...........The PJ itself sells online w/other vendors for the same price Costco charges, but u get the greywolf thrown in. How can u go wrong? Even if the screen blows, sounds like alot of peeps painted over the screen with another shade or whatever. I figure I'll get this sucker and in a few months or more they're bound to start carrying the HD70, then i'll just go in an return the 27 and upgrade to the 70. I'm still amazed at the ss that i've seen of the 27, incredible.

I already own the OPPO 971 w/DVI so I should be good 2 go!!

I just bought this projector after reading these posts thinking the throw angle wouldn't be a problem, but it is.

I have to have the projector less than 6 inches off the ground so an 80 inch image doesn't touch the ceiling.

What is a good small component rack that has a bottom shelf really close to the ground for cheap?

I found one at walmart for 20 dollars don't bother looking.

I bought an optoma H27 from costco a few months ago, based on what I saw here, however optoma lists this as being hd compatible but I have read on other sites that the h27 is not true hd.

if I buy an HD DVD player and hook it up with an hdmi to dvi to my projector , will I get HD? or just and enhanced picture?

so far I have been incredibly happy with the h27, but if the difference in a 480p and a 720p native is large , I might try to return it.

can anyone clear this up for me I am a little confused.

I bought an optoma H27 from costco a few months ago, based on what I saw here, however optoma lists this as being hd compatible but I have read on other sites that the h27 is not true hd.

if I buy an HD DVD player and hook it up with an hdmi to dvi to my projector , will I get HD? or just and enhanced picture?

so far I have been incredibly happy with the h27, but if the difference in a 480p and a 720p native is large , I might try to return it.

can anyone clear this up for me I am a little confused.

I have the same questions for a quite while. So the answers to myself are: 1. H27 does play movies from HD DVD player but it is downgraded to 480p resolution, same quality as from a regular DVD player. 2. I don't think it is proper to return the projector after 30 days though :)

here are two items from optomas website:

describing optoma h27:
High Definition clarity with HDTV compatibility at 720p/1080i through DVI-I w/HDCP or HDMI

and in the faq:

Q20: Can my projector display HDTV?
A20: Yes, Optoma projectors are able to accept HDTV (720p or 1080i) via the component (RGB) connection or DVI only. Check to make sure the projector has HDCP available on the DVI port.

but reviews I have read say that is not the case, and other people have said it is not "true" hd (whatever that means)
so does being a native 480p mean it cannot go to 720p? is it just another form of upscaling?

Got myself a new DVD player. Its a Denon 1920. Currently still using the component connection. Cant wait to use. Though, images quality is superb with the new progressive scan Denon. Some screenshots :-

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/IMG_5392b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/IMG_5393b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/IMG_5394b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/IMG_5404b.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/IMG_5399b.jpg

Does the up-convertible DVD player give better picture quality for those native 480 line projectors eg H27 ?

I'm using the Oppo 971 hooked up to the H27 via a 32' Blue Jeans DVI cable and couldn't be happier with the results. Screen is a 92" GWII.

At 720P, images are crisp with vibrant colors and great blacks. That Faroudja chip does an excellent job of providing a highly detailed image on the screen. The 971 also plays all the PAL DVD's I have with no problems. The shift between layers on dual layer disks is very quick as well.

Anyone who claims that 480P is no better than upconverted 720P must have a problem with connections, settings or their eyes. The difference is quite simply, remarkable!

For the money, I'd be hard-pressed to find a better combination than this one to tide me over until the BluRay/HD-DVD mess is straightened out.

Hi,

Looking at the HD hype and move, still would like to know how many of you are still enjoying this little beast.

The H27 is still delivering pure class for me. I have just completed 750 hrs on the original bulb. Going great guns.

Keep the therad alive...

Some screenshots to cheerup.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ015.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ014.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ013.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ011.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ010.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ009.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ008.jpg

some more

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ007.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ006.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ005.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ003.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ002.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ001.jpg

I'm believer that souce material makes a bigger difference than the resolution of the tv or projector. HD from Time Warner looks awesome on my 'lowly' little optoma. The PJ still looks great to my eyes and brings me tons of happiness. I know i will replace it with a 720 or maybe even a 1080 depending on the price point in 2 years when my bulb starts to go. Absolutely no regrets in my purchase. I got to spend the extra cash on cool stuff like a Wii and modding an xbox to run xbmc so that i can stream all of my media to my HT..

I'm believer that souce material makes a bigger difference than the resolution of the tv or projector. HD from Time Warner looks awesome on my 'lowly' little optoma. The PJ still looks great to my eyes and brings me tons of happiness. I know i will replace it with a 720 or maybe even a 1080 depending on the price point in 2 years when my bulb starts to go. Absolutely no regrets in my purchase. I got to spend the extra cash on cool stuff like a Wii and modding an xbox to run xbmc so that i can stream all of my media to my HT..

Completely agree with you. When i fed the WMV HD demos to the PJ using a basic VGA cable it looked awesome.

How bright is this projector? Can it handle moderate ambient light? I am going to use the projector in my living room, I want to keep the kitchen light on (room next to living room). Will that work? Also, how does this projector hold up on standard definition television? I plan on using a 92" screen.

Here are some newer screenshots

DVD - Denon 1920 / Component / 480p. Upgrading to HDMI @ upconversion soon.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/MyHT/HTPic6.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/MyHT/HTPic5.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/ResidentEvil1.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/FindingNemo2.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/Cars.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/BladeTrinity5.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/JurassicPark1.jpg

Anirbana...u screenshots look great...mind sharing the set-up or your projector?
R U using the digital connection @ HDMI/DVI? :) Thanks dude....

Could anybody recommend me a graphics card for use with this baby?? :-)

I have now a Matrox Parhelia 128Mb AGP card which I use with it and I really like it! But I am upgrading my computer and therefore I'm looking for a PCI Express x16 Card. I has to be dual DVI and preferably under 200$. I will not use it for gaming -so only the dvd playback of the card is important for me...

Anybody could give me a tip? :)

Comparison

Anirbana's
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ011.jpg
Pawarujie's
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/KingKong3.jpg

Anirbana's
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ010.jpg
Pawarujie's
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/KingKong2.jpg

Anirbana's
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/PJ009.jpg
Pawarujie's
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d166/pawarujie/KingKong1.jpg

There's definitely more reds in Anirbana's screenshots as compared to mine. What do u guys think? Should i boost up the reds? Again...Anirbana...whats ur setting?

Hi pawarujie,

Great to see that you have taken the same screen shots. I think your settings are fine. The reds you see in my picture a a bit more as my wife likes punchy colours.

You can change the degamma to Movie1 or Movie II as they are best for good contrast.

What a nice little projector. Isn't it?

I will post my settings once i go back home. Good to see other users posting their images.

For internal shots i like this shot i took from shall we dance. Very punchy and the cameara was not able to pick up all the good.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA.jpg

Forgot to mention. I am using a $50 Philips DVD3005 player and using the component cable that came with the projector. So very basic stuff. I have a profigold comp cable which is better but the length is short so that is packed up.

But I know that it is capable of deliovering better if i use the right source and cables.

Some more screenshots to enjoy......

These are at my new place. The wall colour is yellow and i have not caliberated the colours yet.


http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_027.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_022.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_034.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_032.jpg

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_031.jpg
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l150/anibap/AA_030.jpg

Nice -from a yellow wall :)

:D

While househunting, my first priority was to see if there is a room with at least 12ft throw and min 80inch diagonal light coloured wall.

I found a site online that has it for cheap
"CLOSEOUT! Optoma H27 Projector With FREE 92" Manual Screen and $100 Rebate! Only $569 after rebate for Projector and Screen!"

I'm seriously thinking about this combo. It will be used in my best friend's basement.
Any second thoughts or suggestions on a better budget projector. I'm not really worried about hd content since it will only be hooked up to a dvd player (possibly an Oppo).

Both me and my best friend have read all the reviews on it and it looks like the best budget one for him to order.

Go for it! :-) I'm not a projector professor but this little projector just does a very nice job for a very reasonable amount of money. Since I got it I havn't been concerned with finding something better -which I often do with almost all my hardware of different sorts. For me that's something -although it's almost boring to be so content :D

One big thing for me also is the low noise-level. A BIG thing I think.

WOW, you guys are making me think I should have saved $700+ and bought the 27 instead of the HD6800 - looks like a nice pic. May have use the costco return policy. hmm

WOW, you guys are making me think I should have saved $700+ and bought the 27 instead of the HD6800 - looks like a nice pic. May have use the costco return policy. hmm

You can get the Infocus IN72 for about $400, if you look hard enough.

You can get the Infocus IN72 for about $400, if you look hard enough.
I was tempted to do just that, but between my experiences with their previous 480p model and their second class consideration for ceiling mount users, I chose the more expensive Optoma. A few months later, I am still happy with my choice.

I was tempted to do just that, but between my experiences with their previous 480p model and their second class consideration for ceiling mount users, I chose the more expensive Optoma. A few months later, I am still happy with my choice.


Which model did you have? Second class consideration for ceiling mount users, how so? I got my mount for under $20 from Monoprice. I'm not sure if that's what you were referring to. The Optoma was my 2nd choice, I didn't like the picture as much on the Optoma.

hi all
this is my first posting....
I'm from indonesia

I already set a low budget theater room, and now come to rather split decisision for LCd projector between Optoma H27 and H70

H27 is a discontinued product and H70 is rather new here in indonesia. the different is 480 vs 720 , which is for me not too visible .
but price is $ 983 versus $1803 full package ( incl 100 inch matt white screen , 10 m component cable and braket )

Need senior sharing here on this option... primarily on price matters..

regards
bk

Do you have HD source? If you do then IMO you should not consider 480p for a new purchase.

But ... The price on the HD70 package seems high. I know you probably need to pay more in Indonesia, but I think the HD70 package should be within $500 of the H27 package.

Another consideration is that the HD70 contains a white segment on the colour wheel to boost its brightness. This makes it harder to dial in the colours accurately. If you are not a hard core purist this is probably not a big deal. On the other hand if you don't have 100% ambient light control in your HT the HD70 might be a better choice.

I have owned a H27 for 18 months mainly for DVD viewing in a bat cave. This thing gives a beautiful picture. I haven't upgraded to one of the budget 720p DLPs yet mainly because of the white segment concern.

In short to make a decision you should consider the following.
- Price
- HD sources
- HT environment
- White segment might be a concern to some but not to others