Thanks - that would be great. Do you use an anamorphic lens? I have the Panamorph UH380 and I would imagine that that adds a bit of a complication to the hush box because the lens is very close the projector lens.
pcarey .... yes I have the Panamorph and that does add a little complication to the hush box and it also causes the box to be a little larger than it would otherwise need to be. I'll get some pix done and post them.

It really is great to have a virtually silent PJ .... I say virtually because the one place a little noise can be heard from is through the projection path. I had the option of using optical glass in the projection path opening, which would totally eliminate any sound, but there is something about putting another piece of glass in front of a prime lens (and an anamorphic add on) that bothers me! I can easily live with the very slight amount of fan noise I can hear. I run my HD81 in the bright lamp mode, so that is where I am getting a little added fan noise, but if you run in normal mode you don't hear anything at all!

Just a word of clarification... There have been several C08 upgrades. My C08 is from 11/30/06. When referring to the C08 upgrade, please include the date that accompanies the version. This helps us to decide the degree to which a trip to Optoma for upgrading will improve performance in an area where an individual is experiencing difficulties.

Just a word of clarification... There have been several C08 upgrades. My C08 is from 11/30/06. When referring to the C08 upgrade, please include the date that accompanies the version. This helps us to decide the degree to which a trip to Optoma for upgrading will improve performance in an area where an individual is experiencing difficulties.

Unit returned to me 6 days ago:

HD81 C08 2007/01/02

Just a word of clarification... There have been several C08 upgrades. My C08 is from 11/30/06. When referring to the C08 upgrade, please include the date that accompanies the version. This helps us to decide the degree to which a trip to Optoma for upgrading will improve performance in an area where an individual is experiencing difficulties.

Mine is C08, 1/2/2007 as well.

pcarey and anyone else looking to build a hush box, here are some pix....


Note: In Pix of PJ .... Numbers on photo apply as follows ....

#1 = cool air to intake of HD81
#2 = cool air feed across HD81 Hot Spot
#3 = pulls hot air directly from exhaust

Thanks for the pictures - excellent stuff and we have exactly the same setup. I am just about to send mine away for the CO8 upgrade and on it's return I might pester you for some more details if that is OK.

I did also look at a completely enclosed off the shelf hush box but I had the same reservations about the amount of glass in front of the lens. Just watched some of Planet Earth on HD DVD and the crispness of the image is fantastic.

[QUOTE=MCBRacer]pcarey and anyone else looking to build a hush box, here are some pix....

[\QUOTE]
Ooooo... NICE door!

[QUOTE=MCBRacer]pcarey and anyone else looking to build a hush box, here are some pix....

[\QUOTE]
Ooooo... NICE door!

Thanks! You would not believe how heavy that thing is! It has a solid core and a couple of layers of loaded vinyl on each side. It took five people to hang it!

Thanks for the pictures - excellent stuff and we have exactly the same setup. I am just about to send mine away for the CO8 upgrade and on it's return I might pester you for some more details if that is OK.

I did also look at a completely enclosed off the shelf hush box but I had the same reservations about the amount of glass in front of the lens. Just watched some of Planet Earth on HD DVD and the crispness of the image is fantastic.

pcarey ... no problem to pester me .. i'll be happy to help .. that's what we are all here for, right?

MCB,

You have my deepest respect. You have achieved function with excellent engineering. It looks great and must work well. My hat is off to you.

Hi everyone,

Just received my HD81 back from Optoma with the C08 update. The funny thing is that it seems a lot darker !! What do you think happened ? It seems I lost almost half the light output...have to put it in bright mode to be equivalent to the normal mode I had before. Is this normal or should I call Optoma and complain. :( Thanks.

Check your brightness, hue and contrast settings. If they are lower, specially the contrast, that may be the reason. Also, check the settings for TV, Movie, PC to see if they have changed. Also, did you check the input level setting. Has it changed? Lots of things could have changed. I don't think it is something mysterious instead it is more than likely a differnt setting.

Check the Iris setting also. You should be using your new HD-DVE disc, tune up the contrast to the max level and make sure brightness is at the max low level. Plus isn't there a 7.5 / Zero brightness choice. I think when I tested the DVE disc the Toshiba puts out 7.5.

Could it possibly be that Optoma has lowered the output to combat the overheating issue?

Joe

They wouldn't change the output, most likely it's what I said the 7.5 or 0 IRE choice in the HD81's menu, or as simple as the contrast or brightness settings being lower.

I wonder if any of the suggestions fixed it? I think I've heard this before "after a firmware the image looks darker"

That would be because adding a new firmware resets all the controls back to factory levels.

I just finished reading this gigantic thread - it took several days :) I thank each and everyone of you of your valuable opinions of HD81.

Even HD81 seems to have it´s own issues there must also be something very good in it since this large thread contains also much positive opinions about it.

I have not yet had chance to see a HD81 by myself but next week this will change. Since the Optoma is basically the only competitive priced FP in my country and I´m looking for a 1080p FP I have special interest in HD81.

Even after reading this thread I would like to know a bit more of HD81 - sorry if any of my question has already covered is this thread - in that case I must have simply forgot the answer already :o

So here we go:

1) Since SD DVD material is also very important to me, how would you rate HD81 in SD-material ?

2) Any problems with dust or stuck mirrors ? I remember that my ancient DL 450 suffered of dust quite badly but didn´t had any stuck mirrors

3) Besides overheating and not so well working autoiris is there any other issues to consider ?

4) How about the bulb - does it last as long as promised by Optoma and does it lose it´s light output fast - if anyone has yet managed to use same HD81 so long...

5) Everyone is just right now talking how great JVC RS-1/HD-1 is. What is your opinion of HD81 vs RS-1/HD-1 ? If you think JVC is better, do you think that it is so much better than HD81 that it would be wise to pay 1/3 more for it (= that is the price difference between those two models in my country)

6) Is the HD80 (?) already lurking around the corner so should I wait for it ? ( if the next model is not a two box compo I could then use my VP50)

Any information is appreciated :)

I just finished reading this gigantic thread - it took several days :) I thank each and everyone of you of your valuable opinions of HD81.

Even HD81 seems to have it´s own issues there must also be something very good in it since this large thread contains also much positive opinions about it.

I have not yet had chance to see a HD81 by myself but next week this will change. Since the Optoma is basically the only competitive priced FP in my country and I´m looking for a 1080p FP I have special interest in HD81.

Even after reading this thread I would like to know a bit more of HD81 - sorry if any of my question has already covered is this thread - in that case I must have simply forgot the answer already :o

So here we go:

1) Since SD DVD material is also very important to me, how would you rate HD81 in SD-material ?

2) Any problems with dust or stuck mirrors ? I remember that my ancient DL 450 suffered of dust quite badly but didn´t had any stuck mirrors

3) Besides overheating and not so well working autoiris is there any other issues to consider ?

4) How about the bulb - does it last as long as promised by Optoma and does it lose it´s light output fast - if anyone has yet managed to use same HD81 so long...

5) Everyone is just right now talking how great JVC RS-1/HD-1 is. What is your opinion of HD81 vs RS-1/HD-1 ? If you think JVC is better, do you think that it is so much better than HD81 that it would be wise to pay 1/3 more for it (= that is the price difference between those two models in my country)

6) Is the HD80 (?) already lurking around the corner so should I wait for it ? ( if the next model is not a two box compo I could then use my VP50)

Any information is appreciated :)


I had the HD81(actually 3 of them) and the RS1/HD1

to answer your questions;

1)SD material; the processor is very good on the 81 and the materials look ok, but you get spoiled on HD material. I do not watch any SD on either projector.

2)No dust problem in the limited time I ran either.

3)I had 3 different 81's had 3 different problems. Shutdowns on 1, bright spots on the second, and DOA on the third.

4)Had about 300hrs on the bulb, was still very bright.

5)RS1 does have better blacks and contrast and is much quieter. It is also easier to set up. 81 is brighter, with better color management,and has a much better processor. Especially if you want to go CH set-up. No need for additional processor just a anamorphic lens. (what I am doing) Unfortunately I sent all the 81's back (3 strikes and your out). So I will have to buy a scaler/processor to achieve it. ( Adding to the already higher priced RS1!)

6)Don't Know.


If it weren't for the mechanical problems with the HD81 I would have been very happy with the unit (and I bought it at its original price!). The picture was excellent!

Hope I helped out
Tony

So, how does everyone feel about the newly lowered 4k range price of the h81?

So, how does everyone feel about the newly lowered 4k range price of the h81?
Take the time to read how unhappy most owners are. Misery is misery at any price.

Take the time to read how unhappy most owners are. Misery is misery at any price.Is the HD81 too loud? Yes.
Does the HD81 run too hot, making hush boxes a dicey solution to the loudness? Yes.
Is the auto-iris implementation an almost useless option? Yes.

Does the HD81 produce a stunning image, IMO better than the RS1 and Pearl? Yes.
Does the HD81 have a excellent two piece installation, allowing a switcher to control 3 HDMI devices, 3 component inputs, 2 S-Video inputs, and 2 component inputs? Yes.
Does the HD81 processor have a Gennum upconverting chip that can make a 5 star S-DVD surpass the video quality of a poorly mastered HD-DVD / Blu-Ray? Yes.

I think my signature says it all - and I'm not just referring to the HD81.

Is the HD81 too loud? Yes.
Does the HD81 run too hot, making hush boxes a dicey solution to the loudness? Yes.
Is the auto-iris implementation an almost useless option? Yes.

The HD81 does have a lot going for it, especially at a little over $4k. Even at $6,995 I found the HD81 so attractive I designed the theater in my new house for its large, fixed offset, inflexible throw range and gave it its own projection booth to quell the noise. But as I read about the reliability issues and useless DI I got cold feet. Those are the two biggies for me. The contrast ratio is poor compared to modern rivals. But then there's the low price. But then I really have to back reincarnate's point. If it's unreliable, it's misery at any price.

I feel very fortunate to have gotten a JVC RS1 for the pre-buy price... within a few hundred dollars of the HD81's current price.

BUT THE RS1 HAS ITS ISSUES TOO! Color fringing on moving white objects (I haven't seen this yet), neon greens (I have seen this) and more limited input options to name a few. If I hadn't got the RS1 before the HD81's price drop it'd be close.

Hope I helped out
Tony

You most certainly did :)

Too bad it seems that serious problems are quite common in HD81 :(

Perhaps I just will keep my G70 ....

How about the newly announced HD80:

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/he2007/051007OBS/

1080P DarkChip2 DLP
HDMI 1.3
Built in scaler
... and near the same price as that new Epson 1080P LCD...

That looks like a buy, I was wondering when it would surface. I think in less than a month I could try one out. You can see it's not up to the HD81 standard, new scaled down HDchip, probably no Gennum.

I wonder if they resolved the overheating/bluescreen issues. I have to wonder why they chose the DarkChip2 technology. The incremental cost can not be that much. Why go back a generation? Surely TI did not produce a bunch of DC2 devices just for them. Maybe they got a good deal on some unused DC2 mirror assemblies.

How about the newly announced HD80:

http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/he2007/051007OBS/

1080P DarkChip2 DLP
HDMI 1.3
Built in scaler
... and near the same price as that new Epson 1080P LCD...

It´s appearance reminds a lot of HD81 - could that also mean that it still suffers the same problems as HD81 - overheating etc. or is it "from inside" a different animal :confused:

How is that supposed to sell?

Minus the VP and the DarkChip 3, plus add in the reknowned Optoma QC, and street for $3K?

Outrageous. 8)

Pearls and BenQW9000s can be had in that ballpark, and used HD81s for much less.

Looks ok to me, can't wait to try one out. Need some more stats on the bulb watts and deinterlacer. I told them it could use a bulb Iris, options to tame down the bulb light and bring up the contrast.

1080p DLP and HDMI 1.3 at $3K seems like a good marketing concept, but for $1K more, after
Optoma rebate, the external VXP and DC-3 are a no brainer to me. However, as pricing gets lower, the sensitivity to a $1K price point difference is greater. Optoma is offering a 1080p DLP alternative to LCD, so seen in that context, the HD80 makes some sense, IMO.

I agree again with you Jeff. Who would consider buying yesterday's technology, DC2, and give up the VXP? The people buying this stuff want the latest and greatest not yesterday's inferior product. Seems like Optoma has made a major product blunder to me. Had the included DC3, it would have sold well I believe. Specially to all those who already invested in a scaler/switcher.

They'll probably drop the rebate on the HD81.

But who really knows what the differences between DC2 & DC3 are ? I have not seen anything definitive and it is not for lack of looking. There may well be little to no difference.

There is a good chance that is is pure branding obfuscation from TI's marketing dept to allow separate projector lines to be sold at different prices (enabling DLP to compete with LCD and LCoS without totally destroying margins on the higher-end DLP products). BenQ appears to be doing something similar with the BenQ W10000 and W9000.

Brent

But who really knows what the differences between DC2 & DC3 are ? I have not seen anything definitive and it is not for lack of looking. There may well be little to no difference.

If the past is any indication, new generations of DC's are noticably better than previous versions.

DC3 has advantages like smaller gap between pixels, removal of the dot at the center of pixel due to the mirror hinge which make picture looks better. Whether lack of these features in DC2 at 1080p resolution matter to average user will be hard to tell.

Anyways I don't understand the logic of combining outdated tech like DC2 with latest HDMI 1.3 while keeping the shortcoming of HD81 in the projector. Will it be able to input 1080p/24?

One advantage of this announcement that it may force a price equilibrium with Benq W9000.

Thanks
Prabhat

I have experienced something new 3 times. Before describing what happens, Let me again reiterate the fact that I must run mine on bright all the time to avoid a blue screen. I could run it on low speed fan but then I would have to turn on the high altitude switch and suffer the evn louder noise.

OK, so what has happened 3 times now is that without warning the projector switches from Bright mode to normal. I get a Blue Screen and have to go through the 5 minute shut off, cool down, turn on routine. Anybody else seeing this?

P.S. Last night it did it again and I discovered the cause. It turns out that when I press a certain sequence of remote control button pushes on my LG3410A's remote, it causes the fan speed to return to normal on the Optoma HD81. Within 30 sec. the blue screen comes on. QED

In Home Theater Magazine's "shoot-out" of the JVC, Sony, and Mitsubishi 1080p projectors, the JVC is not quite the "darling" of the group in regards to fan noise, color accuracy, and processing power. This would be consistent with my experience with the JVC except for the fan noise, which I thought was very good. I ran some of the DVE HD-DVD torture tests on the JVC, and the Optoma beat it on the very worst ones (the ever-enlarging circles).

Then again, my experience with the Optoma has been different than that of Greg Rogers and Art.

Has the DVI-PC Pedestal error been corrected? This Optoma HD81 has been driving me nuts the last couple of days as I try to get this beast to look good for all of my content sources. I find that I have to set one device to DVI-PC (projector) and another to DVI-Video (VP50) I can calibrate for the black and white levels properly, but the end result is a very washed out, high gamma picture.

If I set both devices to DVI-PC then the picture looks very "pleasant", but my black levels are completely clipped (even at +20 through the Optoma).

I recalibrated the HD81 to try and achieve better contrast ratio and shadow detail. To do this, I increased the RGB contrast settings. I have been very pleased with the results which include a very flat gray scale, a gamma of 2.2, and more "pop" and shadow detail (I used the Star Wars IV scene in the Jawa sand crawler and the HD-DVD of U-571 - I was trying to get results similar to what Greg Rogers talks about in his review of the JVC). If anyone is interested, here are the settings:

Pedistal DVI-PC
Brightness 0
Contrast 5
Color 20
Tint -4
(you should use a calibration disc to set these for your particular unit)

Sharpness 0
Mode PC
Gamma 0

Contrast
Red 7
Green -3
Blue -6

Brightness
Red 0
Green 1
Blue 1

No warranties express or implied; your mileage may vary; kids, don't try this at home.

In Home Theater Magazine's "shoot-out" of the JVC, Sony, and Mitsubishi 1080p projectors, the JVC is not quite the "darling" of the group in regards to fan noise, color accuracy, and processing power. This would be consistent with my experience with the JVC except for the fan noise, which I thought was very good. I ran some of the DVE HD-DVD torture tests on the JVC, and the Optoma beat it on the very worst ones (the ever-enlarging circles).

Then again, my experience with the Optoma has been different than that of Greg Rogers and Art.
Please don't twist the reviewers opinions. The JVC was in fact their "Darling". The picture was even called addicting.
The one female reviewer liked the Sony better because the JVC was to imposing in her living room theater.
There appears to be a large variation in the JVC's fan noise.

Please don't twist the reviewers opinions.
"Please" is right. Both the Sony Pearl (that you reviled) and the JVC had the same score of 91. While the JVC image is "addictive" its "processing is only OK and color points are off." No question that the JVC was the "darling" as to contrast ratio, but criticisms of the JVC include:

"Detail was good, but the picture was a bit noisier than the others. And I felt this projector did the poorest job upconverting standard-def DVDs."

"Surprising amount of light spill" and "rather loud."

"Interestingly, the ANSI contrast ratio is 250:1. I expected it to be higher."

"It doesn't pick up the 3:2 sequence with 1080i material."

"The rotating-bar pattern on the HQV Benchmark disc doesn't look very good with the JVC; it has more jagged edges than with many displays I've seen."

"The JVC's color points aren't even trying to be accurate."

"So the JVC in a landslide? Not quite. The JVC is downright loud, easily overpowering the other projectors and disc players with its fan noise. Not only that, but light spilled out from the casing . I'd expect more in build quality for the price."

So who is spinning the reviewer's opinions? No question the JVC is unequaled in contrast ratio and throws a seductive image, but it is not without its faults.

One thing we can agree on reincarnate, you are clearly the "darling" of the AVS Forum.

I recalibrated the HD81 to try and achieve better contrast ratio and shadow detail. To do this, I increased the RGB contrast settings. I have been very pleased with the results which include a very flat gray scale, a gamma of 2.2, and more "pop" and shadow detail (I used the Star Wars IV scene in the Jawa sand crawler and the HD-DVD of U-571 - I was trying to get results similar to what Greg Rogers talks about in his review of the JVC). If anyone is interested, here are the settings:

Pedistal DVI-PC
Brightness 0
Contrast 5
Color 20
Tint -4
(you should use a calibration disc to set these for your particular unit)

Sharpness 0
Mode PC
Gamma 0

Contrast
Red 7
Green -3
Blue -6

Brightness
Red 0
Green 1
Blue 1

No warranties express or implied; your mileage may vary; kids, don't try this at home.

I am running C06 firmware. Do the Pedastal Levels you are labelling DVI-PC and DVI-Video correspond to IRE 0 and IRE 7.5 in the menus. If so, which is which. If not, what menu is the DVI-PC/DVI-Video under?

Hi Kevin,

Call me stupid and I probably deserve it for not understanding but I have always tried your recommended settings. Back when I was living with #1, I was amazed at the level of "pop" one could achieve by using your settings. Now, to the present. You mention that "I increased the RGB contrast settings...." Yet, the table shows that Contrast is at 7, -3, and -6 for RGB. Would you explain this? Or are the values lower thn your prior settings?

Thank you.

Hi Art:

My original RGB contrast settings were
R = 3
G = -8
B = -10

So all three have been increased a few clicks.

I was using firmware 05, and the pedistal levels with this were mislabled. The correct nomenclature for digital video (HDTV, DVD, Blu-ray, etc.) would be DVI-Video, but I could not set brightness at this setting. For mine, DVI-PC with brightness at 0 was the correct setting. I verified this with the Accupel, DVE HD-DVD, and SD DVD.

Because brightness, contrast, color, and tint can be accurately set using one of the many calibration disks, my settings may not be the best for your projector.

The 7.5 IRE pedestal is for NTSC signals (analog standard-def). ATSC signals (anything digital, including DVD) have a 0 IRE pedestal. This is a very confusing topic because of the digital PC luminance levels (0-255) and digital video lumiance levels (16-235), which are not necessarily the same as an IRE pedestal.

I just did my mini shoot out on AE1000, HD-81 and JVC HD1. To my eyes HD-81 and JVC HD1 were equal on PQ and 1000 was a little bit behind of those two.

Since HD81 is 1/3 cheaper than JVC HD1 in my country I really would like to buy it but ...

If I have understood right the overheating is the worst reliability problem in HD81 - if so, how often overheating happens ( if there is any regularity on this problem) ? Also are all HD81´s equally prone to overheat or have Optoma managed to improve later production run of HD81´s in this respect ?

What about the 48 Hz mode - is it working on CO8 or what is the status of it ? If it is working I can input 1080p/24 Hz and output it at 48 Hz without any judder ?

Kevin,

Thanks fo the explanation. You will remember that after considerable effort setting the HD81 using my Prog. Labs CA-1, I wound up ptreferring the out-of -the box setings, i.e. User 1, Graphiccs. I find that for most of my sources, the DVI Video works well. I do have to raise gamma sometimes. As I have stated a number of times, I wind up adjusting the settings for every new progtam. After so many years of setting these up, you get an idea of hat it should look like. I often use the luge yellow to rough in my settings. I have found that many SD sources lack "pop" when viewed without considerable fidling. When I say SD material I refer to both Analofg and digital 480i material. This is disconcerting because much of my "oddball (cable) material comes through my Motorola 922 C/Ku/VCII/DCII receiver. The HD programming is outstanding deliveredd through the YPrPb path but the 480i or 480p stuff is not sharp. Anyway, I can get it to look better but it requires lots of tweaking including use of fthe B&W Extension control.

Hello, thought I would drop a note, with also a question.

Note: I own the h81 version c04.
So far, I have not had ANY problem with the unit,.
I have owned it since around last sept 06. Great picture, no hush box needed.
I thought I would put in a positive, short note.

Question: In the forum opinion, which Hi def player is best suited for the H81?
Im ready to buy, so I am doing some research.

1gasman

In Home Theater Magazine's "shoot-out" of the JVC, Sony, and Mitsubishi 1080p projectors, the JVC is not quite the "darling" of the group in regards to fan noise, color accuracy, and processing power. This would be consistent with my experience with the JVC except for the fan noise, which I thought was very good. I ran some of the DVE HD-DVD torture tests on the JVC, and the Optoma beat it on the very worst ones (the ever-enlarging circles).

Then again, my experience with the Optoma has been different than that of Greg Rogers and Art.

Have Optoma chaged the design of the HD81 with regard to fan and DI operational noise?

Based on my expereince a few months ago this HD81 was very noisy in operation even compared the JVC. Has this been addressed ?

Dazzer

I am wanting to upgrade from 720p to 1080p and correct me if I`m wrong but I should NOT have any issues with the HD81 since I will have the HD81 both vertically & horizontally centered essentially dead-on to a 120" display screen with a 19`ft. throw. The screen gain is around 1.3.

Or should I wait for the next offering from Optoma ?

I have read most of the reviews on the Epson 1080P, Sony Pearl, JVC RS1, and I keep coming back to the Optoma for its ability to project outstanding PQ and retain the brightness levels at these longer throw distances & screens even up to 150".

Thanks for any Replys!

Regards,

I am not sure what you mean when you say "I will have the HD81 both vertically & horizontally centered essentially dead-on to a 120" display screen with a 19`ft. throw."

I have a 1.3 gain 120" 4x3 screen. My Optoma is mounted so that the bottom of the projector when it is upside-down is 4" below an an 8 ft. ceiling. Because the Optoma HD81 has a large offset, the bottom of my picture is only 16" above the floor of my room. There is no way that I could get a picture to be vertically centered with a throw distance of approximately 15 ft., the maximum throw distance available to me in this orientation.

If you are asking whether the picture will be centered vertically, the answer is "no way" unless you are willing to use the keystone adjustment and give up some of the crispness this machine delivers. My PQ is sperb. I run mine on Bright Mode all the time and with that 1.3 gain screen have enough light that during gthe day, I can see the images on the screen even with a sun-lit room.

I am not sure what you mean when you say "I will have the HD81 both vertically & horizontally centered essentially dead-on to a 120" display screen with a 19`ft. throw."

I have a 1.3 gain 120" 4x3 screen. My Optoma is mounted so that the bottom of the projector when it is upside-down is 4" below an an 8 ft. ceiling. Because the Optoma HD81 has a large offset, the bottom of my picture is only 16" above the floor of my room. There is no way that I could get a picture to be vertically centered with a throw distance of approximately 15 ft., the maximum throw distance available to me in this orientation.

If you are asking whether the picture will be centered vertically, the answer is "no way" unless you are willing to use the keystone adjustment and give up some of the crispness this machine delivers. My PQ is sperb. I run mine on Bright Mode all the time and with that 1.3 gain screen have enough light that during gthe day, I can see the images on the screen even with a sun-lit room.

What I was attempting to say was I will have the HD81 mounted or simply sitting on a wetbar versus the ceiling or shelf mounted.

Attached are a few pics of the den without the screen hanging & with using the Z5 720p at present. Even though I could have ceiling mounted the Z5 it was much more convenient using the rear wetbar as you can see in the photos. Of course the Z5 doesnt have the punch as the HD81 will at this 19` ft. throw. The simple convenience of the wetbar is what I would like to maintain. So with this depicted setup I am assuming I would have no problems with the limitations of the HD81 regarding lens shift. Is that assumption correct?

The lens of the Z5 is centered both vertically & horizontally on the screen even if it doesnt appear to be in the last photo. I can also raise & lower the screen in 1" increments if needed with the simple black chain I used.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v679/Silverfox111/1Shot.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v679/Silverfox111/2Shot.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v679/Silverfox111/4Shot.jpg

Regards, ;)

Simply put, No that will not work. The HD81 has an offset built into it. It requires ceiling or floor mounting with either a long throw or a low screen in the case of the ceiling mount. Mounted on the floor, your screen would be very high. This is not a projector you can just swap with your current projector. Read my prior message please and digest it.

Simply put, No that will not work. The HD81 has an offset built into it. It requires ceiling or floor mounting with either a long throw or a low screen in the case of the ceiling mount. Mounted on the floor, your screen would be very high. This is not a projector you can just swap with your current projector. Read my prior message please and digest it.

Thanks for the definitive answer. You are loud & clear as I will definitely pass on this unit due to its limitations even though it still appears in my findings to have one of the best PQ`s on the market at present.

Regards, ;)

Hi Guys,

Where are you guys buying/finding lamps for the HD81? I am looking for the bargain basement price of course.

I am installing my HD81. I have purchased a 50ft hdmi cable to connect from the processor to the pj but was wondering if I really need to buy a DB9 cable. Won't the hdmi cable suffice? What is the DB9 cable for?

wirehaired,

Make sure you buy a high quality HDMI cable. I also use a 50 ft HDMI cable. I bought the best one I could find (not necessariliy the most expensive) to minimze signal interruption and to avoid phase and timing issues that apparently can become an issue in runs over 35 ft with cheap cables. The serial cable is definitely necessary to control the projector. It will not work unless you use the RS232 null mode supplied cable. You can use a serial cable with the appropriate connectors and add it to the supplied cable like I did to get your required length.

I paid $400.00 for a bulb yesterday for the HD81. I also bought a bulb for my father's Infocus X1 for $280.00

wirehaired,

Make sure you buy a high quality HDMI cable. I also use a 50 ft HDMI cable. I bought the best one I could find (not necessariliy the most expensive) to minimze signal interruption and to avoid phase and timing issues that apparently can become an issue in runs over 35 ft with cheap cables. The serial cable is definitely necessary to control the projector. It will not work unless you use the RS232 null mode supplied cable. You can use a serial cable with the appropriate connectors and add it to the supplied cable like I did to get your required length.

I paid $400.00 for a bulb yesterday for the HD81. I also bought a bulb for my father's Infocus X1 for $280.00

Art, are you closing in on 2000 hours already!?

Could you share or PM me with the name of the place where you bought the bulbs, I have a Infocus LS110 that will need a bulb soon.

Thanks

Al,

Good to hear from the original guys. I bought the bulb from Super Warehouse even though I am only at 850 hours. Even though it is listed as a 230 Watt bulb, they assured me it is a 300 Watt lamp. I bought a bulb for my Dad's Infocus X1 also for $280.00.

Just a note to those who are still on the fence. The HD81 with aall its quirks still puts out a picture that can blow you away. Watching the finale of American Idol last night was breathtaking. The PQ out of the HD81 was stunning. Even my wife had to ask "Did you change something? It looks really nice tomight". Coming from my wife that is equivalent to Hannibal's crossing of fthe Alps.

Has anyone yet tried if PS3 1080/24 and HD81/48 Hz is working together ?

Al,

Even my wife had to ask "Did you change something? It looks really nice tomight". Coming from my wife that is equivalent to Hannibal's crossing of fthe Alps.

Was the reason for your wife´s comment the new bulb or something else....

I believe it was the broadcast. I set my LG 4200 HD tuner to "native". That meant the VXP received a 720P Fox signal. I set the HD81 to "16x9". Therefore, the VXP's Genum scaler had to change 720P to 1080P. It was amazingly stunning. BTW, I use the out of the box settings except for using "TV" rather than "Graphic" in order to see shadow material better. I use DVI-Video, the lower IRE level. On some shows I turn up the Gamma from 3 to 5 but on this show it was at 0.

I have not received the new bulb.

Last night I watched "Letters from IWO Jima". OUTSTANDIN!!!!!! It was the SD verson. Used my Pioneer DV-09 with its 480i component output. Again, the scaler did a great job.

I have not received the new bulb.

Last night I watched "Letters from IWO Jima". OUTSTANDIN!!!!!! It was the SD verson. Used my Pioneer DV-09 with its 480i component output. Again, the scaler did a great job.

Art, instead of a new bulb, you could have bought an HD DVD player for $249.99!
"Letters from Iwo Jima" would look even better!

Art, instead of a new bulb, you could have bought an HD DVD player for $249.99!
"Letters from Iwo Jima" would look even better!

Art, I'm almost with Jeff on this one! ;) But first I need to get my HD-DVD player out of the box and into the rack so I can honestly chime in! :D

I also checked the Super Warehouse but they don't carry a bulb for my old Infocus.

Does the HD81 only accept a 48Hz signal and not a 24 Hz (I know it does 60)? I have the new ps3 firmware, and if it is displaying in 24 hz I can't tell. DOesn't appear to be any difference in judder, but I only checked one movie and briefly. DOes anything show up on the display other than 1080p for signal?

Thanks

The HD81 accepts 24p, not 48p. There is no indication given of frame rate, but you
can hear the color wheel slow down when in Film Mode 48hz if you're close enough to the projector. Did you put the projector in Film Mode 48hz and not see any difference?

Does the film mode 48 Hz work OK ? If I remember right there has been at least some problems on it before ?

Jeff and Al,

Hope you guys are enjoying the fresh air this weekend. I made the mistake f spending the day in the sun yesterday and got really ill. Guess us techno-geeks should stay inside with the AC on.

Getting back to the important things in life...Two months ago I purchased and returned and XA2. I was disappointed with the intermittent and clunky operation. The audio management issues were poorly thought out and Toshiba's implementation failed in my opinion. The decision to return the XA2 came the night I had my family there to watch an HD DVD. The XA2 locked up and that was it. Thank God I bought it from Amazon. I've decided to wait a few genereations before taking the plunge again. The HD I get from HBO, Showtime and Starz via my C Band system looks as good as what I was getting out of the XA2. There are other things one can do with SD DVD's that are nowhere as easy with HD DVD's. I will discuss these privately if you wish to email me. There is one thing for sure...HD DVD's look far better than SD DVD's even upconverted/scaled ones.

Does the film mode 48 Hz work OK ? If I remember right there has been at least some problems on it before ?

The first version of C08, dated 11-30-06, did not do a good job with identifying the
3:2 pulldown cadence to convert 60i to 48p. The second version, dated 1-2-07, seems to work better.

I have not tried a 24p signal, but that should work better because the only thing
the processor has to do is double the frame rate, no cadence detection, no deinterlacing.

Hopefully somebody using an HD81 with 24p signals will comment. I will say that
the LBX/Auto235 mode does NOT work with Film Mode 48hz.

Jeff,

As you know, I have the 11/30/06 C08. When watching an SD DVD, I can hear the pitch change on thecolor wheel when I switch to 48 Hz. I do not perceive any change in the pictue but there is a slight glitch as it switches back and forth between 48 and 60. The glitch tells me something may be changing. When I had the XA2, I tried the same thing and again got the same results. I am not sure if the decrease in jitter or judder or, whatever the pop term is, has any relevance in actual visible PQ, or whether the VXP is not working because of my earlier firmware version. Can you suggest a test disc or passage on some disc where the jitter issue might be visibly affected by switching between 48 and 60? BTW, I keep trying to see if my unit will operte on normal brightness and low blower. It now goes blue in les than 10 sec. after decreasing blower speed. Needless to say, high bightness mode is the only way i use it.

On another matter. Did anyone watch the Wounded knee HBO 2 hr. movie on HBO? The substance and storyline did not do the subject matter justice in my opinion but the audio and video were superb. The video had colors that were natural. They were not cartoonish like some movies nor were they green and purple as many movies shot outdoors are. I found the colors of the landscape shots outstandingly stunning. Since it will be replayed many times, I urge the HD81 family to enjoy this breathtaking example of good technical work. It is a good example of what can be achieved by engineers who adhere to the standards set for filming in natural light and transferring the results to the home environment. BTW, I watched the HBO movie with a Motorola 922 and HDD 200, DCII HD mpeg2 decoder.

Someone has an issue with the PS3 on the HD81, anyone of you have it working with C06?
He says no display.. @ 1080P

Same issue I had, I couldn't get my HTPC to work on the HDMI switch input? (@1080P)

Mine worked with the PS3 at 1080p @ 60Hz. I understand you need the new firmware for the HD81 to go 1080p @ 24 (or 48)Hz.

With the latest firmware upgrade to the PS3, it now outputs 1080p @ 24Hz, so if that option is enabled on the PS3, that may be the problem.

Kevin,

What new firmware? Are you referring to the C08 Jeff has installed in his HD81? His latest I believe was installed in January of this year. Are these available to us without sending the whole thing to CA? Sure wish they wouls let us upgrade on line. Am I correct that my version of C08 should not process 24p? Sure wish we had a change log so we could determine whether the unit is working properly.

Yes, I'm referring to the C08 firmware, which I understand has a menu option for the 1080p @ 48Hz (Jeff could tell us for sure), so if you have C08, I would think that your projector will accept 1080p/24Hz.

I agree Art that Optoma's failure to make good on the promise of user-upgradable firmware is a major disappointment. It was the main reason I was comfortable buying one of the very first units because I understood the upgrade procedure to be easy with a just a computer and serial cable.

I have the PS3 and the Toshiba HDA1 players. Plug them into the Internet (the PS3 is even wireless) and they upgrade themselves. My former BenQ projectors took a little understanding of null modem cables and RS232 commands, but with a little instruction, it to was an easy upgrade. Phillips may have the best approach. You download a file from the Internet, save it to a USB thumbdisc, insert the thumbdisc into the USB port on the TV, and viola! you are upgraded.

The cost and delay of sending a unit back for a firmware upgrade is just unacceptable with today's technology and makes for cranky owners.

Earlier in this thread there was a post explaining that the C08 firmware required a hardware change (a new board I believe) and that once you were at C08, it would be possible to upgrade to future releases by yourself.

Joe

Greetings:

I'm one of the users who's had intermittent blue-screen problems since the HD-81 was new last October. During the winter, it didn't happen often, but now that it's warming up here in Denver, it happens much more often.

Last night, I gave up on Lost after three occurences. I have firmware V 4.

Has anyone had this problem fixed? In other words, does Optoma know what causes it? I don't want to send mine in for warranty repair unless I'm sure that they know what to do with it.

Thanks,

-doug-

All C08 versions have Film Mode 48hz, they all should be able to handle 1080/24p more easily than 1080/60i or 60p, where a film sourced 3:2 pulldown cadence must be detected. The first version of C08 did not lock onto the proper cadence very often in order to perform IVTC, the second version seems to be better in this regard.

The advantage of watching film source material in 48p vs. 60i is not seeing the repeated fields of a 24 fps to 60i telecine conversion. However, fast pans from 24 fps will still show the lower frame rate as a judder, whereas 60i has a tendency to blur the background image, which is less jarring to the eye.

HD video sourced material shot at 24p can have more noticeable judder than 35mm film sourced material shot at 24 fps because the latter is more likely to soften the background due to the shallow depth of field of the larger 35mm imaging area vs. 2/3" or smaller imagers for most HD video cameras, which have more depth of field.

Ok Jeff and Kevin,

I've returned an AX2. What is on the horizon for Blue Ray and HD DVD? My son loves his PS3. I am looking for the an HD DVD or BluRay that will interface well with the HD81. Also, I am still looking for a 6 channel volume control with buffered lined level in and out that I can place between the analog outputs of the players and my 6 channels of amplifiers.

Greetings:

I'm one of the users who's had intermittent blue-screen problems since the HD-81 was new last October. During the winter, it didn't happen often, but now that it's warming up here in Denver, it happens much more often.

Last night, I gave up on Lost after three occurences. I have firmware V 4.

Has anyone had this problem fixed? In other words, does Optoma know what causes it? I don't want to send mine in for warranty repair unless I'm sure that they know what to do with it.

Thanks,

-doug-

Have you tried to use high bightness mode ? if I have understood right it seems to solve blue-screen problem, although it makes at the same time HD81 louder :(

Since bluescreen problem has been around already so long time I doubt Optoma will ever be able to fix it .

Art,

Here is what I suggest; buy a Toshiba A2 HD DVD player for $242.00 at Amazon. Just think of it as a good upconverting SD DVD player that happens to also do HD DVD and HD audio codecs. The latter won't be real useful because the machine doesn't have 6 channel analog
outputs--but this means you won't have to worry about finding your six channel preamp!
Don't worry about not having 60p or 24p output, the HD81 Gennum processor does a great job with 60i at any resolution. Just keep reminding yourself that it only cost $242.00, and
you'll be happy, then let Netflix feed the machine daily!!

Jeff,

My friend, you and I must sit down together someday and enjoy a rousing 1812 Overture while HD advertisements of high tech equipment flash across a 1080p display. Throughout my life I have always bought the best (highest and most current technological level) device for my AV system. That does not mean I buy $25,000.00 Classe preamps and $8,000.00 Edge level controllers. Instead it means that when FET's and BiFET's came out and Class A amps were available, I tried to find one I could afford. I still have several pieces in my main system that I bought in 1971. A beautiful Citation 15 tuner stills runs rings around current FM front ends.

The A2 is attractive in the sense that it will merge nicely with my existing system. Unfortunately, I believe the BluRay will win out in this competition between technologies. I also wish the HDMI audio incompatibility issues would get resolved so that a device would work when you plug it in the first time. The whole idea of having to udate the firmware on new equipment is troubling to me. My 3 versions of the HD81 had different firmware. I still am not current. I find that disappointing. If the devices could update automatically the way my C Band receiver does, I could be persuaded. But this business of returning machines to the manufacturer to make them work is not right. The A2 is a clunky slow loading machine from what I read. I believe they are on version 1.6 of the software and there are still many unresolved issues. The whole issue of bass management and the lack of center channel redirection on machines with analog outputs is also a bummer. Anyway, before I part with more dollars and suffer greater disappointment, I want to find a working BluRay/HD DVD Combo unit that sends the new Codec audio out encoded for a DTS decoder. I have a gorgeous Millenium DTS stand alone unit made by DTS that I would love to keep using.

By now, you should see a theme running through my musings. I wind up loving my equipment and hate to disconnect it. I will do anything to keep the various pieces operational and useful. I'll keep looking for a player I can come to love.

Art,

It may end up being a pricier solution than a single box but they are coming out with dual format DVD drives for PCs now. Along with the 7 channel audio cards and the DVD playing software I am guessing you could put together a machine that would meet all of your needs.

Joe

Joe,

That does sound like an attractive alternative. Think I will do some research on those combo drives you referred to in your message to me. I am pretty sure that BluRay is going to win this format war. I have not regretted returning the XA2 to Toshiba. Even when it worked before failing completely, it could take 10 min. to lock with the VXP receiving at 1080p.

Art,

I agree that Blu Ray will most likely win this silly format war that they caused in the first place. I think Joe's idea has some merit as well, because any of these stand alone HD disc players are just computers anyway.

I understand your wanting to buy equipment that you can become emotionally attached to,
that you appreciate good build quality, but we really are talking about computers here with
their inherent accelerated obsolescence.

I believe at $242.00, an HD DVD player is worthwhile just for the Universal titles alone, which are exclusive to HD DVD. For all of Blu Ray's studio exclusives, I'm not seeing that
many compelling titles that are available only in that format. When Blu Ray gets below
the $500.00 price point, which will be soon, I will buy that format.

I think Onkyo may be building a combo player and it might be worth looking at, but
even a combo player that costs much over $500.00 probably doesn't make much sense
at this point.

I would like to know if the Blu Ray players outputting 1080p via HDMI have been as problematic with the HD81 with handshake issues as the XA2. I would also like to hear Blu Ray owners experience with 1080/24p output to the HD81. It's great that Sony has updated the PS3 for this output. I don't know what is taking Toshiba so long with 24p.

Art,

Here is what I suggest; buy a Toshiba A2 HD DVD player for $242.00 at Amazon. Just think of it as a good upconverting SD DVD player that happens to also do HD DVD and HD audio codecs. The latter won't be real useful because the machine doesn't have 6 channel analog
outputs--but this means you won't have to worry about finding your six channel preamp!
Don't worry about not having 60p or 24p output, the HD81 Gennum processor does a great job with 60i at any resolution. Just keep reminding yourself that it only cost $242.00, and
you'll be happy, then let Netflix feed the machine daily!!

I paid full price for my HD A2 when it came out and it has worked great since day one. Regular DVD's look as good as on my Rp56. HD DVD's look so much better though that there is no contest. It loads in decent time. Watched the HD DVD " Grand Prix " last night and will watch The Matrix or another HD DVD tonite. I bought a little dvd disk cleaner at Best Buy and clean every disk before playing it the first time ( Serenity froze due to a greasy fingerprint - from the factory ! ) and no glitches whatsoever. I've got a pretty sizable HD DVD library now - regular dvd's pale in comparison.

Art/Jeff, I know that this is not the right thread, but why do feel Blu-Ray will prevail over HD-DVD?

Art/Jeff, I know that this is not the right thread, but why do feel Blu-Ray will prevail over HD-DVD?

I think it is kind of funny how the BR/HD-DVD discussions are similar to the CD-R and CD+R discussions of the past.

I am guessing there is room for both and as soon as the dual format drives are abundantly available no one will care anymore.

Joe

I think it is kind of funny how the BR/HD-DVD discussions are similar to the CD-R and CD+R discussions of the past.

I am guessing there is room for both and as soon as the dual format drives are abundantly available no one will care anymore.

Joe

CD+R? I hate CD+R. I would never use such a format! I won't associate with people that do!! :D

Seriously, Joe, that's an interesting point about the impact of combo drives.
Personally, I don't think two formats will exist for too much longer. HD DVD
is just a Universal meeting away from being irrelevant. Microsoft will keep
subsidizing the format(and I believe they have paid Universal to keep the
exclusive up to now), but if the studios stop releasing, or Universal goes
dual format, that's it.

Blu Ray has more studios, more manufacturers, and the PS3 installed base.

The porn industry will decide this wars outcome, just like last time. I'm betting HD DVD. Many Blu Ray only titles are available on HD DVD in the erst of the world interestingly enough ( like T2 for one example ).

The porn industry will decide this wars outcome, just like last time. I'm betting HD DVD. Many Blu Ray only titles are available on HD DVD in the erst of the world interestingly enough ( like T2 for one example ).

Sometimes I wish Sony would just go away! ;)

The porn industry will decide this wars outcome, just like last time. I'm betting HD DVD. Many Blu Ray only titles are available on HD DVD in the erst of the world interestingly enough ( like T2 for one example ).

In this case, I don't know if this will be true. From what I have heard, porn looks terrible in HD. Its really a case of TOO much detail :rolleyes:

Microsoft is not subsidizing HD-DVD but the fact that it was not Sony had some relevance to which side they backed. If BR wins out, Microsoft will ship an external BR add-on for the XBox 360. This is the main reason why the HD-DVD unit was not built into the XBox 360 (and to keep costs down).

I have a Samsung BDP-1000 and an XBox 360 external HD-DVD drive. Both provide excellent pictures with my HD-81 and I am quite happy with my setup. So far the HD-DVD releases have had better picture quality than the BR ones. I don't think the actual technology is the issue, just crappy transfers on the BR side. Deja Vu and Casino Royale are the only decent BR titles I have seen and looked great. King Kong, The Good Sheppard and Serenity on HD look awesome. Terminator and March of the Penguins on BR look like crap. The rest of the BR titles (The Queen, Babel, The Pursuit of Happyness and World Trade Center) are a mixed bag. I have some SD videos that look better on the HD-81 than most of the BR titles.

I just use Netflix to provide me with the movies to watch and so far there is about equal availability on HD vs BR for titles that I am interested in.

I don't think the actual technology is the issue, just crappy transfers on the BR side.
I chose HD-DVD because it uses more modern codecs (e.g. VC-1 vs. mpeg2). I don't know if this results in BR having inferior picture quality, larger file size (not a problem with BR's huge capacity) or both. Again, as you say, there seems to be nothing wrong with the actual BR technology, just the software seems to be a little lower quality overall than the HD-DVD camp. This could easily change in the future if the BR camp steps up the the plate.

Newsflash! Costco now selling HD81 online.

Newsflash! Costco now selling HD81 online.

Bought mine in November. Please do not tell my wife about this. PLEASE!!!!!!!!

Everything I read tells me BluRay will be the HD medium not HD DVD. Having said that I must agree with those who love the HD DVD format's quality. For the 27 days I used my XA2 before its demise, it put out some beautiful video and audio. I am glad I returned it for a refund. It is destined for the 8 track, Elcaset, Beta pile. My son love his PSIII. He really likes the onboard connectivity to the internet that makes upgrading geffortless. I would buy a PSIII but I do not play games on my TV and I find it wasteful to buy something I will never use for its main purpose. Like many others, I will buy a BluRay machine when the price drops and they have the audio and HDMI stuff worked out.

Hi John,

You and me guy. We bought at about the same time. The fact that Cosco is selling them tells me that Optoma has pretty much given up on the HD81 sales strategy, i.e. branding it as a high end competitor to the likes of the 5 or 6 1080p projectors listed on Projector Central's advertisements. It now becomes a projector for the masses who should be prepared to accept what they get. I think Optoma had too many glitches to deal with and the Costco connection may fortell the end of production. Just Guessing guys. Nothing to back it up.

Everything I read tells me BluRay will be the HD medium not HD DVD. Having said that I must agree with those who love the HD DVD format's quality. For the 27 days I used my XA2 before its demise, it put out some beautiful video and audio.
Your XA2 "demised" on you? Crap! That doesn't help the HD-DVD camp at all. I've had the XA1 for many months and it's still working fine (fingers crossed).

The problem is, if/when HD-DVD goes away, there will be no competition to force Sony to bring BR quality up to where it could easily be. That's what I don't get about BR... why do they hobble its high powered technology with this slightly lower-tier software??

OT for here I guess...

Does anyone know for sure if HD81 can strech 1080p input for 2.35 constant height? If so, can it stretch 1080p/24?

Does anyone know for sure if a) HD81 can strech 1080p input for 2.35 constant height? If so, b) can it stretch 1080p/24?
a) yes
b) no at least if you want to use at the same time 48 Hz Film mode

As far as I understand, there have been two flashing blue light problems described here.

A flashing blue "temp" light with no change in image, followed by lamp shutoff indicates a serial cable problem.

A blue screen and flashing blue "lamp" light indicates HDMI cable trouble.

I had been having the serial cable indicator whenever I began playback using my TViX media server. The rest of the time there were no problems.

I contacted Optoma and they were nice enough to swap out my C06 microcode projector with one that had C08 dated 01/02/2007. The technical guy I spoke with said my 25 foot HDMI cable was longer than normal and if the new projector didn't fix things, I should consider an HDMI amplifier.

The new projector seems less prone to the serial cable indicator, but now I get the HDMI cable problem indicator (blue screen + flashing blue lamp LED). I never had that problem before. Sometimes the image will come back if I switch to a different input and back. Sometimes it will come back on its own. The blue screen doesn't appear to happen in response to anything I have done, it will just happen in the middle of viewing something. Once it starts, it repeats frequently. Last night I had a house full of people over. I tried to show them a home made HD-DVD of a trip to Italy. About 15 minutes into it, I kept getting the blue screen HDMI error indicator. That was quite embarrassing.

I did order a 15 foot HDMI cable to see if a shorter run would make a difference. I didn't have a chance to install it until everyone left. It didn't make any difference. The problem was the same.

Both the 25 foot and 15 foot cable were from MyCableMart. I also have a shorter serial cable on the way.

Help! Does anyone have suggestions among the options that occur to me:

1) Spend a couple hundred on a Monster HDMI cable and see if that make a difference.

2) Buy an HDMI amplifier.

3) Wait and see if the new serial cable makes a difference.

4) Contact Optoma again and see if they have further ideas. I suspect they will tell me to get a more expensive cable and an amplifier.

5) Projector defenestration.

6) Other.

Ideas? Please help.

Thanks!

Joe

Joe,

I've run a 50 ft. high quality HDMI cable for over 7 months and 900 hours. I am the blue screen champ on this forum. The only way to get rid of it is to run the projector in high brightness mode or in low brightness/high altituder mode. Forget anything Optoma tells you. They are unwilling to acknowledge the blue screen issue. Try this. It will work.

I hope you might be interested in reading this...

http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectorsENG/preload.asp?ID=253&PROD=3360


I hope you'll like the measurements I made with and without the anamorphic lens: it's been very interesting discovering how it works...

Let me know your thoughts!

Andrea,

Your review makes for very interesting reading and quantifies many of the visual peculiarities I have seen with my HD81. I do think you should have commented on the "blue Screen" issues so many of us have been forced to live with. Did this model not exhibit such behavior?

Art,
honestly, I didn't go through all this thread.
If you refer to the blue screen that often appears when connecting a digital display,... well, I'm an expert!
The whole set of 1080 I've tested so far (projectiondesign, SIM2, Marantz, Mits, Epson, Optoma, BenQ, JVC, CineVersum, and I hope I'm not forgetting something in the way...) has ALWAYS been giving me some kind of issues, like blue screens, out of range, noise, red spots... Though, I have to say that the HD81 wasn't the worst in this scenario, if you're referring to what I mean.

Thanks Art! I'll try the high altitude mode and see what happens. I'll report back. I am much worse off with this projector than the old one. At least with that one, the problems usually only occurred when I used my TViX media player. Now, no matter what I am watching I get those blue screens.

I did some experimenting. If I disconnect the HDMI cable between the scaler and the projector, I get the exact same symptom. I'm thinking either the HD81 is very fussy about the HDMI cable between the scaler and projector, or there is a problem with the circuitry on one end or the other. I'm wondering if perhpas using an HDMI amplifier as the Optoma guy suggested might compensate for any weakness in it HDMI circuitry. I have seen them for about $50 which is 1/4 of the cost of sending the projector back to Optoma again.

By the way Art, I was interested to see your post a while back about Bose 901s. I still have a pair of those.

Thanks again.

Joe

Does anyone know for sure if HD81 can strech 1080p input for 2.35 constant height? If so, can it stretch 1080p/24?

Thanks Artoj, I really appreciate the reply.

Prabhat

Andrea,

You do not have to read very much in this thread to encounter comments about the Blue Screen that occurs on a number of units when the coling fan runs on slow speed. We have not figured out the source of the problem but it is definitely an issue that will not go away. It seems that the HD81 chassis is extremely temperature sensitive. So sensitive that the decreased air flow when it is in low spped fan mode, causes an open in the HDMI or the serial circuitry.

Joe,

I've run a 50 ft. high quality HDMI cable for over 7 months and 900 hours. I am the blue screen champ on this forum. The only way to get rid of it is to run the projector in high brightness mode or in low brightness/high altituder mode. Forget anything Optoma tells you. They are unwilling to acknowledge the blue screen issue. Try this. It will work.

Have you managed to get rid of the blue screen completely after using HD81 in high brightness or in low brightness/high altitude mode only.

Yes, artoj

As long as I keep the fan blowing on the highest speeds by implementing either High Brightness mode or High Altitude mode, I can keep the HD81 from giving me a blue screen.

Yes, artoj

As long as I keep the fan blowing on the highest speeds by implementing either High Brightness mode or High Altitude mode, I can keep the HD81 from giving me a blue screen.

Art,

You may have answered this in the many discussions regarding the blue screen, but have you experienced it using component input?

Joe

jmorris,

Yes, the failuure is definitely temperature related as I have mentioned on many prior occasions. The blue screen occurs regardless of which input is active. To be certain, since I abhor erroneous and misleading information, I just turned the HD81 on from an overnight cold start, with the YPrPb #1 input selected. This is the 1080i feed from my satellite HD decoder, the Motorola HDD200. It failed, i.e. blue screen appeared, within 5 minutes. I could not recover without a complete shutdown. The low speed, low brightness modes cause the HD81 to fail irrespective of the input.

Have you managed to get rid of the blue screen completely after using HD81 in high brightness or in low brightness/high altitude mode only.

No, I haven't. I live in Denver, so I have to run Normal brightness AND High Fan all the time, and I still get blue screens when the room temperature is much above 70 degrees F.

It happens regardless of how long my RS-232 cable is, and short of putting in ductwork and special air chillers, I don't have a solution. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a question about Optoma's ability to correct this if I send the unit in for warranty repair. Frankly, I didn't get much of an answer.

I guess I'll call them and ask directly.

-doug-

Yes, artoj

As long as I keep the fan blowing on the highest speeds by implementing either High Brightness mode or High Altitude mode, I can keep the HD81 from giving me a blue screen.


Art,

I experienced my first Blue Screens last night. Happened 3 times while watching a HD DVD (U571 pix and sound WOW!) on the Toshiba (HDMI). Fan on high altitude and lamp on in bright mode.

Blue screen was momentary. Blue with vertical line in center. System recovered each time after about 1-2 seconds.

The PJ is in the hush box in the lobby. Now that summer is here I will install a second vent and a circulating fan in the box. I am fortunate that the box is in another room and that I have considerable space to circulate the air.

I have to say that this is disturbing. Maybe when the Costco units start being returned Optoma will address the issue.

Best,
John

Hi John,

Sorry to hear about your Blue Screen. Hope your trip went well. If you are having a Blue Screen issue with the blower on high altitude and the bulb on high brightness, you have a circulation issue. I would not let it continue to fail. My experience with run away solid state devicesdue to high temperature, has taught me that once the junction breaks down, it just keeps getting worse. That of course assume that my theory about what is wrong with these projectors is correct. I won't repeat it again for fear of being stoned by other long-suffering owners. It is a good thing you have the projector located in another area. Those settings make you think you are standing on a jetway at the airport.

I keep my HD81 in the freezer when not in use!

Seriously, I run at low bulb and have only had a couple of blue screen and shutdown occurrences with my third HD81. I'm real close to 200 hours on this unit, which is about
when the last two developed issues. I sure hope I can break that 200 hour barrier
and way beyond!

I don't think there has been any progress on the blue screen issue from Optoma because
they would first need to acknowledge that there is an issue before it is addressed. We
haven't seen any progress on downloadable firmware from their site, no new version of
firmware that Guitarman alluded to.

I can only imagine the return rate that Costco retailed HD81's will have.

Hi John,
My experience with run away solid state devicesdue to high temperature, has taught me that once the junction breaks down, it just keeps getting worse.

Hi Art,

I tried high altitude mode last night. I was able to watch an hour with no blue screens. I'm hoping that the trend continues. Thanks for sharing your work-around!

I had been toying with the idea of trying an HDMI amplifier. My theory was that perhaps when things in the projector heat up, there is just some signal loss in its HDMI processing and a stronger signal might help. Given what you said above, it sounds like you believe that even if an amplifier prevented the blue screens, I might still be doing internal damage to the projector. Is that correct?

That would also mean that they are unlikely to be able to write a firmware upgrade to fix it since it is a hardware failure. Only replacing or moving the HDMI circuitry in the projector, or modifying the air flow would be able to address it. Would you agree?

Hmmmm, if it is air flow, I wonder if moving the projector further from the ceiling might help? How far is yours from the ceiling, Art?

Thanks again.

Joe

Hmmmm, if it is air flow, I wonder if moving the projector further from the ceiling might help?

A local retailer had his HD81 on low table and he claimed zero blue screen issues !

A local retailer had his HD81 on low table and he claimed zero blue screen issues !

Since heat rises, distance from the floor or table doesn't pose problems. It is ceiling mounts where heat is particularly problematic. Heat rises to the ceiling, right where the projector is. The further from the ceiling the projector is, the cooler the air should be.

Joe

If you place the projector on a low table, you can not sit in the center between the front speakers. I am not willing to go there. Frankly, I spent several hundred dollars to hang the HD81 as designed. This is my third unit in the same location. Only this one exhibits the blue screen phenonenon.

A local retailer had his HD81 on low table and he claimed zero blue screen issues !

I believe that the overall design of the HD81 in regards to the blue screen issues is faulty.

Unlike art, I have never had a blue screen and I do not have my fan running in high mode.

So we are all seeing differing issues with the same designed/manufactured product.

It seems like it is more of a crap shoot whether you get a projector that blue-screens or not.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones.

Joe

I never had the sync problems but I did have the controller close to the PJ using the supplied RS232 and HDMI cable.

Andrea, thanks for the reveiw. It must have taken some time to get use to all the video features in the scaler box? Nice job I always enjoy your reviews, glad you got the try the Optoma.

I experienced my first Blue Screens last night. Happened 3 times while watching a HD DVD (U571 pix and sound WOW!) on the Toshiba (HDMI). Fan on high altitude and lamp on in bright mode.

Blue screen was momentary. Blue with vertical line in center. System recovered each time after about 1-2 seconds.


After receiving a replacement projector from optoma Canada a few weeks ago, the very first night I had it up, I had the exact same thing happen while watching Smokin' Aces. At first I thought it was the dreaded blue screen but it came on on its own after only a few seconds. I switched the bulb to bright and it happened again about 20 mins. later. I came to the realization that when the HD-DVD (Tosh A1) freezes up, instead of the frozen pixelated image that I was used to with CO3, it went immediately to a blue screen and the picture returned a couple seconds later. I have since updated the DVD software and everything is fine now.

I run the projector at its quietest settings and everything works perfectly since the upgrade.

I believe that your 1 to 2 second blue screen may be this happening.

Garnet

I understand that this blue screen issue could be bothersome, but, as I mentioned, is quite common with HDMI connectors and cables... :(

Can someone comment this graphs coming from the anamorphic lens, that I found quite surprising when measuring them?
"Con lente" means with lens, "senza lente" means without lens.

http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/Lens2_b.gif



http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/Gamma%20def.gif


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/RGB%20levels%20def.gif


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Lumens%20Def%20con-senza%20lente_t.jpg


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/Rapporto%20Lumens%20default.jpg




http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/Gamma%20cal.gif


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/RGB%20levels%20cal.gif


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Lumens%20Cal%20con-senza%20lente_t.jpg


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/IMG/Optoma_HD81/Rapporto%20Lumens%20calibrated.jpg


If you need more explanations, you'll find them in the article.

I think this is quite interesting, even more if you think that in Europe this lens is sold not for $ 2500 but for $ 6400...

Andrea, thanks for the review. It must have taken some time to get use to all the video features in the scaler box? Nice job I always enjoy your reviews, glad you got the try the Optoma.

Tom,
the scaler is quite complicated, but in the end not more than a user menu + service menu combination that you find within some BenQs, for example... ;)
Anyhow, as I mentioned before, I was surprised by the anamorphic lens, that I thought could be more than a gadget (even considering the price here in Europe): can you indicate some of the possible usage that I'm probably missing?

Andrea,

With all due respect your statement "I understand that this blue screen issue could be bothersome, but, as I mentioned, is quite common with HDMI connectors and cables..." may be true but in the case of many HD81's the Blue Screen comes on whether an HDMI or a YPrPb input is selected. Having the projector freeze up is not "normal". If you as a spokesperson for the "public" begin supporting the presence of a blue screen, manufacturers will become complacent and put out more inferior devices. I choose to vote with my wallet. Optoma will never see another nickel of my money.

I understand that this blue screen issue could be bothersome, but, as I mentioned, is quite common with HDMI connectors and cables... :(

There appears to be a blue screen issue going on here that is unrelated to any glitch in the input signal. It is very definitely temperature related. Some of us have found that running the projector in high altitude mode (which increases the fan speed) eliminates the problem. That sure implies a component in the HDMI circuitry that fails at a certain temperature. We are trying to find a solution to that problem.

In my earlier post, I certainly wasn't suggesting that anyone give up ceiling mounting! The manual says the projector needs to be a minimum of 10 cm (4 inches) from the ceiling. What I am curious about is whether there is any correlation between distance from the ceiling and susceptibility to blue screens. Are there people who have their projectors more than 4 inches from the ceiling who ARE having blue screen problems? Are there people whose projectors are not more than 4 inches from the ceiling who AREN'T having blue screen problems? If there is a correlation, perhaps just moving the projector an additional inch or two from the ceiling might help.

It also seems like many of the people with blue screen problems are at C08. Mine began when I got to C08. I believe Art said the same thing. Does there seem to be any correlation with C08?

Joe

What I am curious about is whether there is any correlation between distance from the ceiling and susceptibility to blue screens. Are there people who have their projectors more than 4 inches from the ceiling who ARE having blue screen problems? Are there people whose projectors are not more than 4 inches from the ceiling who AREN'T having blue screen problems? If there is a correlation, perhaps just moving the projector an additional inch or two from the ceiling might help.

It also seems like many of the people with blue screen problems are at C08. Mine began when I got to C08. I believe Art said the same thing. Does there seem to be any correlation with C08?

Joe

FWIW, I am on C05 and have never had a blue screen. My projector is about 2 1/2 inches from the ceiling. The projector is tilted up toward the lens though as I had to angle the screen and projector to fit in my low ceiling room. I cannot imagine this would be a factor but I thought I would mention it.

Joe

My occasional blue screen happens when I'm watching a DVD using the Component inputs. My DVD player is a high-end Pioneer, but a few years old, and it doesn't have HDMI outputs.

Any theory that blames HDMI for the blue screen is inadequate.

-doug-

Andrea,

With all due respect your statement "I understand that this blue screen issue could be bothersome, but, as I mentioned, is quite common with HDMI connectors and cables..." may be true but in the case of many HD81's the Blue Screen comes on whether an HDMI or a YPrPb input is selected. Having the projector freeze up is not "normal". If you as a spokesperson for the "public" begin supporting the presence of a blue screen, manufacturers will become complacent and put out more inferior devices. I choose to vote with my wallet. Optoma will never see another nickel of my money.

Anyhow, as I mentioned before, I was surprised by the anamorphic lens, that I thought could be more than a gadget (even considering the price here in Europe): can you indicate some of the possible usage that I'm probably missing?

The anamorphic lens is essential in my setup. My HT room is only 12'X13', so in order
to have a 100" wide screen vs. 78", a 2:35 dedicated screen and HE expansion lens
was the only solution with the long throw of the HD81.

The anamorphic lens is not just great for 2:35 movies within a 16:9 source, but also
for 16:9 movies within a 4:3 source.

I am very happy with the quality of the lens, although there is some pin cushion at
the edges. There is no CA added from this lens and it is very sharp. At the $1500
preorder price from Panamorph, it was a good deal. $6400 European price? That
doesn't even include the motorized transport? Ouch!

It also seems like many of the people with blue screen problems are at C08. Mine began when I got to C08. I believe Art said the same thing. Does there seem to be any correlation with C08?

Joe

I was the first customer in the country to be upgraded to C08, with my first HD81. I never had the blue
screen issue until I got my second HD81. It used to shutdown often at the beginning, which also coincided with a burning smell. Then it stabilized and the smell went away, although it still shutdown occasionally . The third HD81 did not have the smell and very rarely shutsdown, but it has shutdown on component BNC sources,
particularly when using Betacam SP and DVCAM VTR's as sources. These are sources that are less likely to have a hard white clip set at 100IRE, but instead can peak as
high as 109IRE, due to being camera masters or edit masters not made for broadcast. I have found that sources put into pause can cause a bluescreen and
shutdown.

My HD81 is mounted just 4" from the ceiling, FYI.

particularly when using Betacam SP and DVCAM VTR's as sources. These are sources that are less likely to have a hard white clip set at 100IRE, but instead can peak as
high as 109IRE, due to being camera masters or edit masters not made for broadcast. I have found that sources put into pause can cause a bluescreen and
shutdown.


Hi Jeff,

That is very interesting.

I am having two issues on the C08 projector.

When I don't use high altitutde mode, I get the HDMI error indicator (blue screen + blinking blue LAMP LED).

When I begin playback with my TViX media server, I get a serial error indicator (normal screen, blinking blue TEMP LED followed by shutoff). High altitutde mode doesn't prevent this. Sometimes switching to a different input and back to the TViX will allow me to continue watching the TViX. It seems like something the TViX does when it begins playback causes an error indicator. This occurs whether I use a component or an AVI to HDMI cable to connect the TViX to the scaler. Do you think the TViX might be putting out a high IRE value, especially when it begins playback? If I could figure out what the TViX is doing that the HD81 doesn't like, I could try to get a fix from the TViX people.

Joe

I believe that Jeff is saying that the high IRE source causes the bulb to be brighter and thus produce more heat. Heat makes the HD81 Blue Screen (there, I made "Blue Screen" a verb). If you pause a bright image, the bulb runs hotter and the HD81 fails. We all agree that the earlier machines with C04 and C05 version firmware did not fail this way. It is very likely that they may have changed some aspect off the unit's performance. Several of us commented on the fact that the later units were not as bright, i.e. the OPTOMA sign at the beginning and the processing sign are not as bright as they were on the original units. That goes in the wrong direction but it telss me that someona playedd dwith something in there. Perhaps a bleed resistor was added to lower the current delivered to the bulb and it is getting hot. SCHEMATIC ANYONE?

The Optoma logo shown when the unit is powering up is certainly much darker at C08 than at earlier levels. To my eye, the actual images once the unit is up and running don't appear darker, certainly not the drastic change that is apparent in the logo. My assumption was that they just displaying a different, darker Optoma logo on power-up.

In any event, I'm trying to figure out what the TVix does differently from other devices since it causes me a problem that other devices don't. Until I know what it is doing that the HD81 doesn't like, it will be difficult to get a fix from the vendor.

My ultimate goal with all these problems is to find solutions or work-around so that we can all enjoy our projectors without problems.

Joe

Joe,

Your point is well taken. I guss they might have put in a dimmer logo but why would they do that? Like you, I would love to find out why these units fail so easily and frequently.

In 2003, I bought an LG LST-3410A HD DVR. I now own 3 of them because I love what they do and how well they do it. Back then, I went through 4 units, 5 returns to the factory and 3 firmware upgrades before operation became reliable enough to accept. There wer 2 competing problems. Engineers had designed the DVR to have a muffin fan installed for cooling. Marketing nixed that because of the noise. Any kind of warmth would shut it down. In addition, the firmware had so many logical errors that operation was chancey at best. It took 8 months of rewrites to resolve the firmware issue. A bunch of us kept in contact with the company and received excellent cooperation from various levels of management. Some of us added fans where they were supposed to be (the mounting holes and cooling vents were already there). Some others found that with adequate circulation, a fan could be left out. My point is that most of these devices are designed by very bright men who are eager to see theior design succeed in the world marketplace. I wish Optoma would provide some feedback as to what they are doing, if anything, to resolve what are product killing issues. Optoma, YOU HAVEA PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!

TzungLin started this thread, I wonder if he ever reads the latest postings. I would certainly welcome his take on the blue-screen issue.

Andrea,

With all due respect your statement "I understand that this blue screen issue could be bothersome, but, as I mentioned, is quite common with HDMI connectors and cables..." may be true but in the case of many HD81's the Blue Screen comes on whether an HDMI or a YPrPb input is selected. Having the projector freeze up is not "normal". If you as a spokesperson for the "public" begin supporting the presence of a blue screen, manufacturers will become complacent and put out more inferior devices. I choose to vote with my wallet. Optoma will never see another nickel of my money.

Yeah but YPrPb and HDMI are all coming through a HDMI cable to the projector. Are you using different and longer cables to connect to the PJ, I mean others vs the ones that come with the machine RS232 included? If not have any of you tested the machine with the shorter cables to see if the drop outs go away?
Has there been some testing of having the projector upright vs inverted?

TzungLin started this thread, I wonder if he ever reads the latest postings. I would certainly welcome his take on the blue-screen issue.

Hi Prabhat,

I have emailed TzungLin a couple of times about his lack of presence on the thread
he started about the product he in large part designed. His response is that Optoma USA prefers "one window" of communication, so he does not post any longer.

Wing Chung has not responded to my last email. The service department never seems to know about new firmware or ANY issues of ANY kind about the HD81.

So the "window" is rather opaque. But I did get a T-shirt from the president!

Yeah but YPrPb and HDMI are all coming through a HDMI cable to the projector.

Good point! I for one totally missed that one.

Joe

If not have any of you tested the machine with the shorter cables to see if the drop outs go away?

I bought shorter HDMI and serial cables and tried them. There was no difference. Switching to high altitude mode did seem to resolve the blue screen problem. If the cable length doesn't make a difference but a higher fan speed does, that leads me to suspect there is a thermal issue within the projector.

Thanks again to Art for the suggetion to try high altitude mode.

Joe

I bought shorter HDMI and serial cables and tried them. There was no difference. Switching to high altitude mode did seem to resolve the blue screen problem. If the cable length doesn't make a difference but a higher fan speed does, that leads me to suspect there is a thermal issue within the projector.

Thanks again to Art for the suggetion to try high altitude mode.

Joe
Question to both you and Art - "How warm are your rooms?" and have you ever tried to chill the room to 55° F and run the HD81 in normal mode? I'm curious if the issue is the ambient temperature of your rooms vs circulation of air near your HD81's.

Question to both you and Art - "How warm are your rooms?" and have you ever tried to chill the room to 55° F and run the HD81 in normal mode? I'm curious if the issue is the ambient temperature of your rooms vs circulation of air near your HD81's.

My projector is in the basement, so the temperature is usually less than 70 degrees. I'll check the actual temperature tonight. I don't have a way to chill the room. I had the projector with C05 firmware in the same bracket in the same room since last September. In nearly 400 hours of use, I never saw a single blue screen. They began as soon as I put up the projector with C08 firmware.

Joe

Yeah but YPrPb and HDMI are all coming through a HDMI cable to the projector. Are you using different and longer cables to connect to the PJ, I mean others vs the ones that come with the machine RS232 included? If not have any of you tested the machine with the shorter cables to see if the drop outs go away?
Has there been some testing of having the projector upright vs inverted?

Tom,

Please give me a little credit. I certainly am aware that the connection between the VXD and projector is an HDMI link and an RS 232 serial cable. I was aked whether the HD81 failed only when using the HDMI inputs or whether it failed when other inputs are in use. That is the reason for my answer. I realize this thread has gotten cumbersome but please let's assume that at least the core group has some knnowledge of basic principles and analytical deductive reasoning. I have not tested #3 with the original short wires because samples #1 and #2 demonstrated no Blue screen failures. #3, the current projector worked well for some time when I received it. It began by failing and recovering. Then it simply failed and required a complete shut off. The higher cooling level is the only way to keep this unit running.

Regarding whether I have tested this unit in the upright position, the answer is no. I am certain that if I applied a cold stream of air at the input, the projector would work. I don't have to show that it will work because it is obvious that it will. The fact that the greater cooling rate provided by the higher fan speed solves the issue, is sufficient. I do not need to sit it in a bath of liquid nitrogen to prove that cooling improves the operation of solid state devices. Everyone knows it can be made to operate provided it has sufficient cold air streaming accross the critical location that so far has eluded us and the Optoma engineering staff. What is pertinent is that under the necessary theater configuration, i.e. mounted upside down at least 10 cm from the ceiling with no obstructions around the projector, it turns blue when it overheats. Also of great relevance is the fact that Optoma must not know how to fix it cheaply or they would have already. Not too many months ago, this was the #1 projector available in its class. Now it is an also ran being sold by a mass merchandiser at bargain basement prices. That tells me it has been abandoned by Optoma. I wonder what Costco's unit price is? I am asked to rcommend and/or spec systems almost every week. Since my second unit, I have not included an HD81 in a spec. Four units were purchased on my recommendation. All of them had to be replaced because the owners' complained of recurring intermittent failures.

Like Joe, my theater is in a basement with a fairly constant ambient temp of around 68 degrees, but with enough people (like a Superbowl party), it would get to 75 degrees. I live at nearly 5,000 feet, so I generally ran it on economy mode with high fan. It was mounted 3.75 inches from the ceiling. There were no walls close to the projector, so it had good circulation. My HDMI cable was 30' and came from Monoprice (a "value" cable company). I had firmware C05, and I never had a flashing blue light.

I frankly did not want to upgrade the firmware because of the many reported problems with C08.

I frankly did not want to upgrade the firmware because of the many reported problems with C08.

I agree. I will not be upgrading my projector unless it absolutely fails on me for some reason and I have no choice.

Joe

My projector is in the basement, so the temperature is usually less than 70 degrees. I'll check the actual temperature tonight. I don't have a way to chill the room. I had the projector with C05 firmware in the same bracket in the same room since last September. In nearly 400 hours of use, I never saw a single blue screen. They began as soon as I put up the projector with C08 firmware.

Joe


The same projector with just a firmware change or a new one? I haven't followed this thread closely but If you think you can nail down the cause I think the tech guys should be able settle on a fix. I'm thinking of buying the other 1080p HD80 so I'm concerned. If it's just the firmware than great, hey maybe it's the fact of the scaler box hook up to the PJ, so maybe the HD80 having everything direct won't have the drop out problem. I just tried to call Wing to see what he thinks about the overheat/C08 dropout problem, he's not in but I'll keep trying.

I agree. I will not be upgrading my projector unless it absolutely fails on me for some reason and I have no choice.

Joe

The one I had with 600hrs was a C05.

Andrea,

With all due respect your statement may be true but in the case of many HD81's the Blue Screen comes on whether an HDMI or a YPrPb input is selected. Having the projector freeze up is not "normal". If you as a spokesperson for the "public" begin supporting the presence of a blue screen, manufacturers will become complacent and put out more inferior devices. I choose to vote with my wallet. Optoma will never see another nickel of my money.

Art,
once again, I'm not here to comfort you, even because I don't buy the projectors I test, so my money is not out of my wallet... But here there are 3 actual examples:


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/img/BenQ_PE8720/Anim1.gif


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/img/Shootout_SIM2_pd_1080/DSC04760_med.JPG


http://www.htprojectors.com/htprojectors/img/_SHARED/AVS/Contouring2.JPG

and my list is long enough to make me choose to test 1080 projectors (at present) with an ancient but stable D-VHS, until I'm convinced that HDMI will not have any interface problem with other equipment.
What I don't understand, but maybe I'm missing something, is why you didn't send the HD81 back to the manufacturer asking for fixing it, or why don't you try to get back to the firmware previous release.
In any case, cable length in my experience is a mess, and cable price IS NOT a solution: only hands on tests!

The anamorphic lens is essential in my setup. My HT room is only 12'X13', so in order
to have a 100" wide screen vs. 78", a 2:35 dedicated screen and HE expansion lens
was the only solution with the long throw of the HD81.

At the $1500 preorder price from Panamorph, it was a good deal. $6400 European price? That
doesn't even include the motorized transport? Ouch!

Jeff,
yes, as I mentioned in the article the situation you're referring to is one of the typical ones: not enough space!
Apart from that, I'd like to investigate if there are other applications, which seem a little far from what I generally consider: the scenic view is great, but would you pay $ 6400 for this (and yes, the motorized transport IS included!) or would you buy another projector with interchangeable lenses?

Tom,

Please give me a little credit. I certainly am aware that the connection between the VXD and projector is an HDMI link and an RS 232 serial cable. I was aked whether the HD81 failed only when using the HDMI inputs or whether it failed when other inputs are in use. That is the reason for my answer. I realize this thread has gotten cumbersome but please let's assume that at least the core group has some knnowledge of basic principles and analytical deductive reasoning. I have not tested #3 with the original short wires because samples #1 and #2 demonstrated no Blue screen failures. #3, the current projector worked well for some time when I received it. It began by failing and recovering. Then it simply failed and required a complete shut off. The higher cooling level is the only way to keep this unit running.

Regarding whether I have tested this unit in the upright position, the answer is no. I am certain that if I applied a cold stream of air at the input, the projector would work. I don't have to show that it will work because it is obvious that it will. The fact that the greater cooling rate provided by the higher fan speed solves the issue, is sufficient. I do not need to sit it in a bath of liquid nitrogen to prove that cooling improves the operation of solid state devices. Everyone knows it can be made to operate provided it has sufficient cold air straming accross the critical location that so far has eluded us and the Optoma engineering staff. What is pertinent is that under the necessary use configuration, mounted upside down at least 10 cm from the ceiling with no obstructions around the projector, it turns blue when it overheats. Also of great relevance is the fact that Optoma must not know how to fix it cheaply or they would have already. Not too many months ago, this was the #1 projector available in its class. Now it is an also ran being sold by a mass merchandiser at bargain basement prices. That tells me it has been abandoned by Optoma. I wonder what Costco's unit price was?

FWIW the fact that running the projector at high altitude mode seems to solve the issue makes it probable that this is indeed a cooling issue, BUT until you actually do the "liquid nitrogen" test, you cannot rule out other factors. What exactly is the software doing to the hardware when you request high altitude mode? It is changing the voltage / speed of the fan, does this have any other effect on the rest of the circuitry? Are there any other parameters being changed?

In my many years of hardware and software "debugging" I have found that the obvious answer in many cases was NOT the true "root cause". You still have to follow an exhaustive process of elimination. Having a repeatable "bug" of course makes doing this easier.

I have a C06 HD81 in my basement which pretty much stays under 70F all year (unless I have 40 people down there). My projector is mounted about 4 inches from the ceiling tilted upwards. I play XBox 360 games on the HD81 fairly often and most games tend to have VERY bright / high IRE images, especially racing games set in daylight. I have had 1 "black screen" with the XBox 360 and one with my Samsung BR Player where the picture just went black like it lost sync. Picking a different input and then reselecting the component input brought the picture right back. So far I have had no blue screens.

Question to both you and Art - "How warm are your rooms?" and have you ever tried to chill the room to 55° F and run the HD81 in normal mode? I'm curious if the issue is the ambient temperature of your rooms vs circulation of air near your HD81's.

Simpetheater,

Sorry I missed your question. My unit sits in an air conditioned room that never varies more than +/- 2 degrees from 71 degrees Farenheit, 365 days a year. Because of physical limitations, ambient temperature control is more critical in my home than in your run of the mill home. I keep the humidity at 50%. I am not sure whether blowing ambient air over the critical component has more or less effect than cooling the room down to freezing and no blower would have. I suspect that blowing air accross the component accelerates heat transfer in the same way that a cooling fan in a car does when the car is stopped. Even in the coldest winter, if a car is stopped with the engine running for a long enough period of time, it will overheat. You need to dissipate the heat from the hot spot. Apparently, Optoma's wind tunnel design does not cool something enough.

The same projector with just a firmware change or a new one? I haven't followed this thread closely but If you think you can nail down the cause I think the tech guys should be able settle on a fix.

It is a different projector. They replaced it in the hopes it would solve a different problem I was having: beginning playback with my TViX media server caused the lamp to turn off with a "bad serial cable" indicator. The new projector did not get rid of the original problem & a gained a new one: spontaneous blue screen with "bad HDMI" indicator unless I run in high altitude mode.

Please do let us know if you hear anything from Wing. I think a lot of us would feel better if we knew that Optoma was aware of the problem & working on a solution.

Thanks

Joe

I have had over a dozen conversations with my contact at OPTOMA service in CA. He does not acknowledge an overheating problem. He believes that if the unit is shutting down, it should be repaired or replaced and they offered t do that. After 3 projectors, one of which had a blurry picture, I am unwilling to swap any more chassis. I will use mine until it quits using the high speed fan option by engaging high brightness mode.

My projector is in the basement, so the temperature is usually less than 70 degrees. I'll check the actual temperature tonight. I don't have a way to chill the room. I had the projector with C05 firmware in the same bracket in the same room since last September. In nearly 400 hours of use, I never saw a single blue screen. They began as soon as I put up the projector with C08 firmware.

Joe
I have C05 and there's no way I'm going to C08 or any other firmware until I hear you and Art are running flawlessly.

I spoke with Warren from Optoma this afternoon. They are willing to work with me on both problems. They are addressing the two problems separately and are pursuing different paths for each. Warren did mention that he spoke with someone else having a similar blue screen problem who also mentioned AVS.

Warren had one of their engineers on the phone also. I mentioned that I had gone from a 25 foot to a 15 foot HDMI cable. The engineer said he thought that made it unlikely that the cable was the problem. That made me optimistic because it implied that they are willing to investigate it as a problem on their end.

Regarding the problem I am having with my TViX media server, the engineer gave me some things to try and he is also going to investigate on his end.

This projector has such a vibrant picture that it would sure be great to be able to resolve these problems and get down to enjoying our projectors! I'm certainly willing to work with Optoma to try and diagnose the problems. I'm encouraged to hear that they are willing to put the effort in from their end to work on them as well.

Joe

Way to go Joe. Keep us informed!!!

Joe

Joe and Joe,

Warren is the person I have spoken with many times. I hope that he follows through with what you were told. I was not making it up when I said that he told me several months ago that they had not heard of a blue screen problem. He expressed to me the same willingness to help me by sending me a 4th projector. I declined because of the PQ variability I experienced with projector #2. While I am not questioning your discussion with Warren, I am not encouraged by your belief that they are going to study the problem. I gave them that opportunity 3 monthds ago and nothing happened. I hope you are correct and things have changed.

Joe and Joe,

Warren is he person I hve spoken with many times. I hope that he follows through with what you were told. I was not lying when I said that he told me several months ago that they had not heard of a blue screen problem. He expressed to me the same willingness to help by sending me a 4th projector. I declined because of the PQ variability I experienced with projector #2. While I am not questioning your discussion with Warren, I am not encouraged by your belief that they are going to study the problem. I gave them that opportunity 3 monthds ago and nothing happened. I hope you are correct and things have changed.

Art,

Maybe you are the other customer that Warren referred to. If that is the case Joe now represents multiple customers with the same issue.

Hey Joe, If you ever want to come over and watch a complete movie sans blue screen you are more than welcome :D (I know, bad humor but I could not resist. We live about 4 miles apart.)

Joe

Hi Art,

Yes, my assumption when Warren mentioned having spoken with another AVSer was that you were the person. I almost said "Oh that must be Art!" but decided that might be inappropriate. My thinking was exactly what Joe said - that having heard the same problem from multiple people they might pursue it more vigorously. I certainly don't doubt any of the events you have relayed, which is exactly why I was encouraged that he now acknowledges a problem. I'm not naively considering everything all solved, but it seems like a step in the right direction. During my previous conversation with them, it seemed like they suspected something on my end. Today's conversation left me feeling better than previous one.

Hi Joe,

Every time I see your theater, I get theater envy. :) It should be in a magazine. Now it is your turn to head this way. I'm still amazed that you were posting to AVS while you were on vacation in far-away places.

Joe

I also found out that they have someone working on the blue screen or drop out. And yes it's heat related. I'm told that once done anyone with the problem will be swaping out their projector. It's not all the HD81's, a small batch with the problem got out.

I can imagine that after almost 140 pages of this thread this question could be very stupid, but is there something else about the HD81, apart from the blue screen issue, that we can discuss about, or is this the only factor that affects the projector?

Hi, well I don't have my demo anymore but I did check the light output with a light meter and it was high, 28ft candles, the highest I've measured on a DLP HT model. CR was 2700.1 with the Iris at 16 close stop. Using auto Iris produced 8500.1 but I don't really count that as an honest CR.

We had some problems with the -0 & 7.5 levels being remembered which was fixed with a later firmware, not the C08 one.

Here's a review I did.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=715140

Since HD81 has the same guts as EP910 does anyone know if EP910 already suffered any overheating problems ?

If it did it seems odd that Optoma didn´t ironed it out before releasing HD81.

Also if EP910 doesn´t overheat why (some) HD81 does ?

I also found out that they have someone working on the blue screen or drop out. And yes it's heat related. I'm told that once done anyone with the problem will be swaping out their projector. It's not all the HD81's, a small batch with the problem got out.

Tom,

On February 25th you said you would talk to Optoma about the blue screen/shutdown issue. At that time, I counted 8 forum members/HD81 owners with the problem and posted that info. The number is higher now and continues to represent a high percentage of HD81 owners who post on this forum.

If it's just a small batch, why would anybody need to wait for Optoma to address the problem? I had the blue screen/shutdown issue with my second HD81 and now with my third. My experience with 2 out of 3 units, plus what has been reported on this forum by owners, tells me this is not an issue related to a small batch.

The fact that we haven't seen any progress in three months with that issue, nor any word on Optoma's plan for firmware updates, or if current C08 bugs have been addressed and that two new 1080p products are coming out, does not give me optimism about any resolution of HD81 issues. It seems like Optoma's strategy for fixing the HD81 is to continually lower the price.

I don't know which batch, but anybody that has the problem will get a swap out once they nail the problem down.

One of the things Warren mentioned when we spoke yesterday was that they are expecting a new batch of HD81s from China the middle of this month. He'd like me to try one from that batch to see if it takes care of the blue screen issue.

I did ask the engineer about downloadable firmware updates. As I understand what he told me, the capability exists on the C08 units. Now it is a matter of management deciding this is what they want to do. He acknowledged that downloadable firmware updates are becoming increasingly common in the industry, but it represents a change in how they have done business and someone has to decide they want to make that change.

We also discussed the problem I am having with my TViX media server. The engineer said there have been some problems at HD resolutions using a DVI to HDMI cable. If I understood correctly, at HD resolutions, the scaler expects an HDMI-compliant signal. With DVI to HDMI, some of the HDMI handshake is missing and the scaler can become upset. At computer resolutions, the scaler doesn't expect to find the handshake stuff but at 1080i, 1080p, and 720p, it expects it. The thing that makes my problem more confusing is that I have the identical symptom whether I am using HDMI or component to connect the TViX to the scaler. The engineer is researching further. I told him I could send them the TViX for diagnostics if they would like.

My only concern with aggressively pursuing diagnostics is that it could get expensive if I have to ship the projector back to them too many times. It cost me just under $190 with insurance to send it 3rd day UPS.

Joe

Joe,

I have 3 LG DVR/ HD tuner devices that have DVI outputs. All three communicate perfectly with the scaler. Unless someone proves that what I read is wrong I will continue to believe that DVI and HDMI are compatible. I have yet to have a compatibility issue with devices that output DVI. The XA2 had an HDMI output and it had an awful time handshaking at 1080p.

I want to thank you for this information about a new batch of HD81's. I may just takethe plunge and try to exchange mine again but I keep remembeing the #2 unit that would not produce a sharp picture. The one I have, #3, produces a razor sharp 96" wide image. If it weren't for the hurricane 4 feet above my head when it is on, I would be in heaven.

Hi Art,

It is entirely possible I misunerstood. The impression I got was that he had seen problems in the area, not that he was saying it would never work. He did say that he had trouble getting a Mac to work correctly at HDTV resolutions using an DVI to HDMI cable.

Did I mention that I still have a pair of Bose 901s? I think you mentioned in an earlier post that you used to sell them.

Joe

I'm going to add one more piece of hard evidence on this blue screen issue.

When I first got mine last October, and I was running it on a table, just to test the connections, etc, I got my first blue screen after about 30 minutes of use.

So, being a good engineer, I got out the manual and actually read it! I found the part about High Altitude mode, and after letting it cool for a while, turned it back on and immediately used the menus to set High Altitude mode "on." The blue screen never returned. So ...

I decided to do a test to see if it was, in fact, thermal. I let it run for four hours (a comfortable number, longer than most movies), and it worked flawlessly.

Then I used my hand to partially cover the air intake vents. The blue screen happened within a minute or so. I removed my hand, and normal operation resumed automatically. I did this several times. Same results each time.

Now, that was October, and the air temperature in the room here in Denver was rather cool.

It's warming up here these days, and the blue screen problem has returned, and NO, I don't have my hand over the air intake.

For those who propose that there's something else besides a thermal problem causing the blue screen, please explain the error in my test methodology.

-doug-

Thanks Doug! That is interesting. I am of the opinion that the more data we can collect, the more likely it will be that Optoma will be able to zero in on the problem & fix it. I thought it was particularly interesting that you had a heat problem with the projector sitting on a table. I always thought heat was more of an issue with ceiling mounting since heat rises.

Two questions though: What firmware level do you have? Isn't Denver high alitude?

Thanks!

Joe

zelmo,

We are in total agreement. I guess we look at things differently from other folks. I agree that this is an overheating issue. What I have not been able to figure out is whether the failure is due to thermal runaway or a mechanical joint failure. The fact that it fails so predictably and repeatedly makes me want to think mechanical but common sense tells me some junction is breaking down.

I guess we look at things differently from other folks. I agree that this is an overheating issue.

I think most of us agree on that. The fact that high altitude mode solves the problem for most people pretty well proves it.

Joe

Actually Joe, it does not "prove" it. There have been numerous messages and comments concerning inappropriate HDMI connections. I don't happen to agree with them but they are entitled to present their thoughts. I believe that Optoma's engineers are quite aware of this failure mode and probably know where the breakdown is occurring. There is no advantage to Optoma to recall these projectors. It would cost a fortune and for the masses that never read these pages, it will just be a nuisance they have to put up with. Replacing a projector here and there is a lot different than fixing them all. That is why buying a late mode, i.e. one produced recently or in the future, might be adavantageous. The fact that Costco is selling these things only strengthens this belief. The clientele who buy from Costco at bargain prices are more interested in a "good deal" than whether the noise level is 10 dB quieter or louder.

Based on the recent posts, I would tend to agree that this appears to be a thermal issue.

I dunno. If it were caused by a bad HDMI connection, it shouldn't be affected by fan speed. It's pretty strong evidence, especially in light of Doug's experimenting. The engineer I spoke with at Optoma pretty well ruled out a bad HDMI connection as the cause, at least in my case.

In any event, I think the more data we can provide for Optoma, the more likely it will be that they can resolve the problem.

Some things that I think would be helpful to know would be:

Is the problem mainly confined to projectors with C08? C08 did involve replacing hardware as well as software.

How widespread is the problem? Are there just a few "problem" C08 units, or does it seem to be most C08 projectors?

What about people who have had their same projector upgraded to C08? Are they having the problem?

Are there any other factors common to the people that are having the problem?

Whatever information I collect here I plan to pass along in my conversations with Optoma. Tom said he was going to discuss it with them as well. The more people they hear from and the more information they have, the more likely they will be able and willing to find a fix. I'd like to do whatever I can to help.

Joe

Art,

FYI. This just came across my desk. I thought you might have some interest in seeing what companies are starting to put together.

http://www.vidabox.com/news.htm#070608

Joe

Thnks Joe. I just sold a pair of ADCOM 565 Amps on Ebay. I will probably have to sell the rest of my system including my preamp before I can enjoy multi channel sound like Dolby Tru and DTS HD. Hell, I am stil enjoying ProLogic, DTS and Dolby Digital. Just have to bite the bullet and makeway for the new. Problem is that this new stuff is nowhere near a relable as my wonderful old devices. I always find it interesting that the ads compare a digital TV's quality to that of a CRT. In the audio arena, the same holds true. They all strive to sound like a 50 year old MacIntosh. I dont happen to be fond of Macs but I do like to stay analog for audio at least beyond the preamp stage.

The devices mentioned in the ads look like they would provide a lot simpler operation. Wonder if they are more reliable than our HD81.

Wonder if they are more reliable than our HD81.

LOL, I'll take that as a rhetorical question.

Joe

I'll have to check my firmware version tonight, but since I got one of the first batch back in October of last year, I'm guessing V 4.?.

And, yes, Denver is definitely considered "High Altitude." Specifically, I'm at 5320' MSL.

-doug-

Thanks Doug! That is interesting. I am of the opinion that the more data we can collect, the more likely it will be that Optoma will be able to zero in on the problem & fix it. I thought it was particularly interesting that you had a heat problem with the projector sitting on a table. I always thought heat was more of an issue with ceiling mounting since heat rises.

Two questions though: What firmware level do you have? Isn't Denver high alitude?

Thanks!

Joe

FWIW, I verified my version this weekend. I am on version 4.

I have also started using hdmi connections for an xbox 360 and my htpc.

I still have had no blue screens.

Joe

Hey Joe, we should try an experiment some time. I could come by with my TViX media server and see if it your PJ can handle it. That might help indicate whether that problem is something unique about my setup or a problem between the TViX and the HD81. I've had the identical problem with two projectors now.

The TViX problem is different from the blue screen problem. For one thing, there is no blue screen. For another thing, it is the blue TEMP LED that blinks instead of the LAMP one that blinks with the blue screen problem.

I'm very interested to hear if anyone has experienced a symptom similar to mine. I've been talking with Optoma and they tell me they haven't seen my problem before.

Has anyone seen a problem where there is no blue screen, they get blinking blue LED followed a few seconds later by the lamp turning off? If so, is it repeatable? In my case, it happens as soon as I begin playback with the TViX.

Thanks

Joe

Hey Joe, we should try an experiment some time. I could come by with my TViX media server and see if it your PJ can handle it. That might help indicate whether that problem is something unique about my setup or a problem between the TViX and the HD81. I've had the identical problem with two projectors now.

The TViX problem is different from the blue screen problem. For one thing, there is no blue screen. For another thing, it is the blue TEMP LED that blinks instead of the LAMP one that blinks with the blue screen problem.

I'm very interested to hear if anyone has experienced a symptom similar to mine. I've been talking with Optoma and they tell me they haven't seen my problem before.

Has anyone seen a problem where there is no blue screen, they get blinking blue LED followed a few seconds later by the lamp turning off? If so, is it repeatable? In my case, it happens as soon as I begin playback with the TViX.

Thanks

Joe

Joe,

That would be fine.

I HAVE had the problem that you describe. When I finished my starred ceiling I re-ran where the serial cable went. I got it fairly close to the blue rope cables that are dimmable. A few times when I was dimming those lights I would get the error that you describe and the projector would turn off.

I am fairly positive it was erroneous data in the serial connection introduced by the dimming rope lights. I have not tried it for a while (hiking in the Swiss alps in May) but I am fairly sure I can recreate the situation at will.

I will give it a shot tonite and let you know what I find out. I have also been meaning to try the hand on air intake experiment that Doug did to see if I can get a blue screen.

Joe

I purchased this a couple weeks ago but haven't hooked it up yet. Since the problems seem to heat issue, I'd like to put a fan somewhere to help keep it cool. Projector will be ceiling mounted. Can anyone recommend a fan that'd work good in this situation? It obviously needs to be ceiling mounted, small, and relatively quiet.

I've been offered a pretty good deal on an ex demonstration HD81 which i'm tempted buy, but must admit to being a little concerned after reading this thread.

Has anyone here had no issues with their HD81?

There must besome happy users, especially for this kind of money. PQ aside, actually working is pretty high up on my list of priorities.

I've been offered a pretty good deal on an ex demonstration HD81 which i'm tempted buy, but must admit to being a little concerned after reading this thread.

Has anyone here had no issues with their HD81?

There must besome happy users, especially for this kind of money. PQ aside, actually working is pretty high up on my list of priorities.

This question was asked a few pages back and a few of us chimed in. Take a look and you will see some more responses.

I am one of the happy/lucky ones and have never experienced a spec of trouble with my projector.

Joe

My bad - i started at the begining and missed out on a fair few pages - will read back.

Warbie,

Join us please. Misery loves company. Welcome to the 3rd level of hell. I just turned mine on in preparation for the Empire Strikes back on HBO via C Band HD. My home is absolutely quiet during the day except of course for the fan jet running 5 ft over my head.

I pleased with mine or i would have gotten rid of it already. The only real problem i've had is the XA2 compatibility issue which is now fixed.

I also had an issue with the bulb when i sent it in for firmware update to C08 (they send you a different unit, and my replacement had a well used bulb)...they did replace the bulb for me at no charge and everything is perfect once again.

The other thing i'd recommend is the Optoma Gold warranty, for the price its a must IMO.

Hope this helps.


I've been offered a pretty good deal on an ex demonstration HD81 which i'm tempted buy, but must admit to being a little concerned after reading this thread.

Has anyone here had no issues with their HD81?

There must besome happy users, especially for this kind of money. PQ aside, actually working is pretty high up on my list of priorities.

I think MrHiFi has put me off. Highly recommending a warranty hasn't made it sound that much more attractive either.

I think MrHiFi has put me off. Highly recommending a warranty hasn't made it sound that much more attractive either.

Right! Its humerous that the most highly recommended thing about the pj is the extended warranty...

lol, i didnt mean to make it sound that way...I just meant for the price of the gold warranty it should put your mind more at ease knowing that you will have a unit overnighted to you if you have any problems.

I've had mine for about 7 months now and havent really had any issues.

One thing is for certain, Optoma will never call me to ask me if I wish to swap out my blue screen wonder. I hesitate to call them for fear that my returned #2 unit that would not focus as well as #1 or #3 might get back to me. If any of you wound up with my #2 unit on a repair/upgrade, I am sorry. This swapping returned unit business makes me nervous. I thought those usually went to the warehouse sellers. Maybe that's what Costco is getting. No, that would be too terrible.

Since you have to connect the scaler to the HD81 with HDMI/RS-cables does this means that you cannot use the scaler with another display ?

Also any news from Optoma about new firmwares/bluescreen problem ?

Well, I decided to try one from Cosco 90 days to use it and then return if it sucks and they throw in a 106" screen.
I'll see how it compares to my Dwin 700.
Is the db9 serial cable F/F M/F or M/M it looks like F/F from the pictures I see.
I need to extend it and don't want to order the wrong one.

Hi All,

I too have seen the Optoma's blue screen, and performs a thermal shutdown on warm summer days. The thermal problem is aggravated since I have a hush box built around the Optoma. To solve this thermal problem, I pump A/C directly into the hush box. Last week, the temp. was 100F outside, and I turned on the A/C and watched HDTV all day long and no problem.

Chuong

Well, I decided to try one from Cosco 90 days to use it and then return if it sucks and they throw in a 106" screen.
I'll see how it compares to my Dwin 700.
Is the db9 serial cable F/F M/F or M/M it looks like F/F from the pictures I see.
I need to extend it and don't want to order the wrong one.

Extend it with a M/F straight through cable. Get a good quality one though.

Joe

Thanks, I want to be clear though, I want to run a new cable from the processor to the projector, I don't want to extend the existing cable as I think a extra connection is asking for trouble.

wingdam,

Welcome to Optoma (spelled OPTOMISTIC) land. I had a DWIN HD500 and an HD700 with a Transcanner. I bought the HD81 because I thought it would fit perfectly since it has RGBHV inputs. NO WAY!!!!!!!! You can only input 720P RGHB into those connectors so you may have to do a little/a lot of rewiring. I converted everything to component nd HDMI. For some reason they chose to limit the RGBHV BNC inputs to 1040p rather than 1080i.

As far as the long serial cable is concerned, I use a 50 ft. serial cable, not a null mode cable, with a female at one end and a male at the other. The 6 ft. Null Mode cable Optoma includes in the box gives you the correct connection. For the long HDMI wire I chose the 50 ft. Heavy duty cable. Its a pain in the ass to route but its ruggedness will save you headaches. Mine came from Monoprice.com. I have not had any HDMI or Serial Cable isues with any of my 3 machines. Howevr, heat is definitely an isue. Be sure and give this baby plenty of room between the ceiling and the bottom of the chassis. Mine is at 10 cm exactly. I used the universal mount with the lateral kit. I found the combination necessary to fine tune the location on the ceiling. I have to keep mine on high blower or else I get a blue screen. I use the high brightness setting and the low altitude mode to minimize noise as much as possible.

Thanks. I am going to check the manufacture date on the 81 as soon as it comes to see if Optoma dumped old production to Costco.
Until I move to Ca. in the next few months the 81 will sit on a table as I have a temp setup right now, I tore down my 4,000 sf river front home and moved into my little guest house next door as I am trying to sell the entire property.

I’ve got the Dwin 700 on a cart in the living room and it looks like the throw distances are close so if nothing else I won’t have to walk around the black monument anymore.

I decided to try the Optoma because of the connectivity I liked the transcanner's input ability and looked at a Dwin TV4 but it’s only 720 and I’m starting to have some doubts about Dwin's survivability and since they use a proprietary lamp I’d dead if they went under.

I looked at the Epson 1080 and would have gone there but it would be another 3 grand to get the outboard connectability.

If I like the Optoma I am going to have to find a home for the Dwin. I had it gone through and re-tubed by Dwin a couple of years ago and it’s got no more then 200 hours since and runs great with the Transcanner. If anyone might be interested PM me as I won’t be ready to sell it until I complete my move.

When I get to Ca. I won’t have a light controlled room and was thinking about a Vutec Silverstar has anyone had any experience with that screen? I am curious as to how it would perform in a dark room at night as well as during the day for sports, etc.

Hal

For equal width on a 96" wide screen, you will have to place the Optoma back another 6 ft. or more. I used a 1.3 gain Dalite Cinemavision with the 500,700 and now the HD81. If I had it to do over, I would get a lower gain screen. What happens is that the peak whites wind up washed out on that high screen gain. Last night in a dark room with lots of reflected light from the white ceiling and the 7 ft. speaker towers on each side that have Oak finishes, I enjoyed watching Marines on Blue Ray at an iris setting of 12.

I just bought a BDP-S300 with 1080p and 24fps. The 24 fps/48 fps mode must be working in my C08 firmware even though it is not the latest C08. Otherwise, I think I would have a problem when I place the player in 1080p 24 fps mode.

I sold my broken 700 for $500.00. There is a guy in Texas who needs the lenses for some government contract. Apparently that is the only place Ed at DWIN did not scrimp on parts. You will be amazed at how much better this picture is vis a vis the 700. At first you have to get used to two things that make you hate the 81. The firstt is the noise in monotonic light fields. The second is the inability to size the picture and set it in memory. That nice ability to use the masking and vertical sizing to make use of al the lines is not possible here. There is no Zoom lens unless you get up and adjust it manually. You will see black sides or tops and bottoms. The only way around this is to buy one of those vertical compression lenses. They cause the picture to be less sharp and can have distortion and non linearity issues. I would not have one in my system. Other members have used the lens that expands horizontally. I have no experience with those but some, like Greg, love theirs.

Again, I wish you good luck. BTW, my home is 3,80 sq ft. with another 600 sq ft of garage space.

I’m moving to an oceanfront condo in Long Beach and I have a lot of gear that’s just too much for the room.
I have some old JBL speakers I bought new (back when it was JBL) S7 speaker system with 15” woofers in Heartsfield cabinets (for the old timers), they still sound great but four of them are just too big, as I recall they were around $900 each back in the middle to late 60’s (I’d hate to think what they’d be in today’s dollars).
I’m going to bring them out with me and try to sell them to a JBL collector. That’s when the first line of the JBL warranty was “We believe that a fine speaker like a fine musical instrument should never wear out”.
I’ll never forget the jaw dropping experience when Henry Kloss showed me his first projection TV in a small hotel room in Chicago; I was hooked from then on.
Hal

I just bought a BDP-S300 with 1080p and 24fps. The 24 fps/48 fps mode must be working in my C08 firmware even though it is not the latest C08. Otherwise, I think I would have a problem when I place the player in 1080p 24 fps mode.


Art,

The original Film Mode 48Hz in CO8 should have no trouble with 24 fps sources as
all it is doing is doubling the frame rate of a progressive source. Where the Film
Mode 48Hz has been problematic is taking 60i sources, deinterlacing(no problem),
and having to sync onto the proper 3:2 pulldown cadence to remove frames to
allow for 48Hz vs. 60Hz.

The newer CO8 version seems to do a better job of this, but still not always correct. I am happy to hear that your BD player is playing nice with the HD81 in
1080/24p. Toshiba is supposed to finally offer a firmware upgrade for 1080/24p output on the HD-XA2 and HD-A20 in September.

Do you see much difference in judder with 48p vs. 60p? What about 60i vs. 60p?
Is the HD81 working well with the S300 outputting 1080/60p?

When i set the Sony BDP S300 to 24P and 1080P and the HD81 to 1080p 48 fps the picture hunts a bit before the movie starts. I get 2 or three momentary blue screens and then everything works perfectly. I am really pleased with this player vis a vis the XA2 that I returned. The XA2 produced a gorgeous picture when it worked. The audio issues really pissed me off although I have been told that those have been fixed with new firmware. Now one can create a phantom center channel and redirect to LF and RF. Also bass issues are allegedly fixed. I would have to test it before recommending. Mine locked up and quit so I returned it without a look backwards. This 300 has been flawless.

I've set it to every combination you mention and I can't see a difference. I don't even get a stumble switching 24p on and off on the player. I don't get any visible response switching in and out of 48 fps. I never have seen j udder and I still do not see it. I tried the 1080 p 60 fps and 1080i 60 fps. Everything work perfectly. I am getting lambasted by those who feel the Samsung and Pioneer offer more but frankly, this thing produces a picture as good as the XA2 when it worked. For me, it is a keeper.

Jeff, my friend, I just do not see a problem or for that matter any difference with all these 1080 modes. I think we have reached a plateau of performance. I am not saying that the effects don't occur and may be visible but at 6 ft. from a 96" wide screen, I do not see anything. BTW, that hunting around with the resulting momentary blue screens, does not occur when using non 24 fps modes. But once the movie begins, everything is stable. Problem occurs while hunting through the previews. My main problem with BluRay is that I can not make backups without spending a fortune for hardware and recording media. HaHa

In summary, I am a happy camper with BluRay, the Sony BDP-S300 and the HD81. They fit together well. Now, if I could use the HD81 in a lower fan speed mode. BTW, I watched Marines last night with HD81 set on 1080p 48Hz, high brightness, 12 IRIS. Amazingly beautiful. Even my wife was impressed.

What does the "auto calibration" on/off switch do? Yes, I know it brings up a component gain set of adjustable parameters but is that for the input or somewhere else? I played with it but it is way too subtle to really be very useful. If it is an adjustment for each component leg, Green, Red and Blue, then again What does auto calibration do and how does it set the gain?

Well, after much soul searching I cancelled the costco order today and ordered the Epson 1080 instead. As much as I would have liked the Optoma the lack of placment options was just too big a hurdle. I can get an Iscan for the 1080 and come in about the same total price.
Hal

When i set the Sony BDP S300 to 24P and 1080P and the HD81 to 1080p 48 fps the picture hunts a bit before the movie starts. I get 2 or three momentary blue screens and then everything works perfectly. This 300 has been flawless.

I've set it to every combination you mention and I can't see a difference. I don't even get a stumble switching 24p on and off on the player. I don't get any visible response switching in and out of 48 fps. I never have seen j udder and I still do not see it. I tried the 1080 p 60 fps and 1080i 60 fps. Everything work perfectly. I am getting lambasted by those who feel the Samsung and Pioneer offer more but frankly, this thing produces a picture as good as the XA2 when it worked. For me, it is a keeper.


Hi Art,

I'm happy your S300 is working well with the HD81. My nephew brought his PS3 over and it worked perfectly via HDMI with my HD81, although I didn't try it in 24p output. Planet Earth on Blu Ray looked gorgeous and some of the video games
were amazing.

I fully expect to buy a Blu Ray player now that they have hit the $500 price point,
however there isn't one player model that does everything I want; decoding of
advanced audio codecs like True HD, 1080/24p, lack of interactive capability, lack
of ethernet connectivity. lack of HDMI 1.3. I will wait for profile 1.1 in October at
the soonest, which still doesn't require ethernet. Hopefully by then we can at
least count on True HD and 1080/24p and better interactive features in every
model.

Last week I connected a 750Gb external hard drive to my DirecTV HR20 HD DVR,
which more than doubles its record capacity. It's great having a library of HD material archived for quick access. I am looking forward to being able to record
material with one of the HD next gen. formats on disc for a reasonable cost.
Shouldn't be too long.

I am happy to note that my HD81 now has over 300 hours on it, which is 100 hours more than I was able to achieve with my first two HD81's. Hopefully this
HD81 is a keeper.

Hello my friend Jeff,

My HD81 is at 900+ hours. I bought a replacement bulb a month ago anticipating the worse. Like you, I continue to be awed by the picture. Whether it comes from BluRay s300, the HDD200/C Band 922, the or (2) LG LST3410A's, the 81 tackles everything well. The PQ is the best I have seen. Must be that 300watt bub that heats everything. I always want to yell "STOP" when I se the "warming" sign when it turns on. I continue to be concerned whether or not the 48Hz setting is doing anything. I see no change of any kind, not even a glitch on my screen when I turn the 48 Hz on and off. Do you see anything? I fear that my version of C08 may not have implemented the algorithm properly.

Hi every one
i'm new in this fantastic forum, i own the optoma HD81 and i'm looking for RS232 cable 10 meters long (inch??) somoene can give me any links to purchase it,please :)
Thank you

I bought mine from monoprice.com. I bought a 50 ft. serial cable with a female on one end and a male on the other end so I could add in the null-modem cable supplied by Optoma in the box. That way you do not have to buy an adaptor.

Here's a quote from the Sharp XZ20000 discontined and getting out of the market thread.

"not surprised, sony jvc, mitsu epson pana, and optoma (though the H81 is not a good machine) benq have the market <$10K"

HD81 not a good machine lol, now where could this type of line spring up from. Most likely in a head to head shootout with the LCD's many would prefer the HD81.

I bought mine from I bought a 50 ft. serial cable with a female on one end and a male on the other end so I could add in the null-modem cable supplied by Optoma in the box. That way you do not have to buy an adaptor.


Thank you MrHifi

Tom,

Like you, I believe the single chip/color wheel design provides a visibly sharper picture. Unfortunately, if you see "vertical rainbows", much of the superiority can get trumped by these artifacts. I see rainbows but still prefer the sharper picture.

Hello my friend Jeff,

My HD81 is at 900+ hours. I bought a replacement bulb a month ago anticipating the worse. Like you, I continue to be awed by the picture. Whether it comes from BluRay s300, the HDD200/C Band 922, the or (2) LG LST3410A's, the 81 tackles everything well. The PQ is the best I have seen. Must be that 300watt bub that heats everything. I always want to yell "STOP" when I se the "warming" sign when it turns on. I continue to be concerned whether or not the 48Hz setting is doing anything. I see no change of any kind, not even a glitch on my screen when I turn the 48 Hz on and off. Do you see anything? I fear that my version of C08 may not have implemented the algorithm properly.

Hi MrHifi,

During those 900+ hours have you experinced many blue screens on your HD81 ?

Artoj,

You are a relative newcomer here. I say that because I am the absolute, numero uno, most bothered by blue screen person here. My HD81 requires that I run it all the time with the bulb in BRIGHT mode. This makes the fan run faster but not as fast as High Altitude mode which is terribly noisy. If I run the fan on low speedd I get a Blue Screen. This is my third unit. Rea the whole thread.

Well my theater is 99% finished. I hosted many showings for friends and family and spent alot of time looking at the HD81 image. I am still impressed. Even SD DVDs res'd up to 1080i look great passable on my 110" Firehawk.

My PJ is mounted in a hush box in the theater lobby. Mounted on the ceiling and in a box about 36 x 36 x 36 with an opening to a soffit running the lenght of the lobby ( 7 ft). Initially blue screens consisted of momentary blue when changing inputs and then only for the first few moments after the switch. Then it got worse.

The only opening to the hush box was a cold air return grill about 24 x 24 square. I remove it and things got a bit better but still to many drops and then it just went blue after about 4 hours of viewing.

I have since monitored the temp in the box with a remote meat thermometer - works great! I had a single 4" open box fan focused on the PJ and the results were marginal better. I then bought 2 4'" 65cfm fans and some 4" flex duct hose. I mounted one fan to about 10" of hose and built a scoop on the intake side. I positioned the first fan on the exhaust and ran the hose out the now removed vent so the heat would not reenter the box.

The second fan was mounted on the remaining 4" flex hose and I fished the open end into the closed soffit away from the PJ. I positioned the fan to blow "cool" air directly under and below the PJ.

I then mounted a baffle across the top of the PJ so there was no air flow back across the top of the PJ from where fan #1 is.

The results were surprising. The temp in the box is around 85 degrees F and I still got a solid blue screen after only 30 minutes!. Desperate I decided to cut another vent into the long soffit where air is being drawn for fan #2.

Whala! It has been on for 4 hours now and running flawlessly. I have to say that there seems to be a buildup inside the PJ that normal circulation cannot cool - and the inverted mounting makes it worse. Those of us lucky to have a flexible installation or be able to run an AC vent in can McGiver a fix.

Hopes this helps in any small way for those having the problem.

Best,

John

Artoj,

You are a relative newcomer here. I say that because I am the absolute, numero uno, most bothered by blue screen person here. My HD81 requires that I run it all the time with the bulb in BRIGHT mode. This makes the fan run faster but not as fast as High Altitude mode which is terribly noisy. If I run the fan on low speedd I get a Blue Screen. This is my third unit. Rea the whole thread.

LOL, I am glad to see you took pity on the new guy. :)

Joe

Desperate I decided to cut another vent into the long soffit where air is being drawn for fan #2.

Whala! It has been on for 4 hours now and running flawlessly.

John

Great job! It would be nice to see pics.

You forgot to tell us the now current temp that seems to work?

Joe

Jmorris,

Yeah, I can be a heartless SOB. But we are a family and family is everything.

John,

You had yours upgraded to C08 correct? Before that you had no problem, correct? Have you tried turning the blower up or putting it in Brite mode? Just curious.

Everyone... What audio Preamps are you guys using to take advantage of the advanced audio?

Everyone... What audio Preamps are you guys using to take advantage of the advanced audio?

I am still using my Denon receiver. It has the 7 distinct audio inputs of which I have not played with yet. But now I am in Europe for 2 weeks. Hopefully when I get back.

Joe

Jmorris,


John,

You had yours upgraded to C08 correct? Before that you had no problem, correct? Have you tried turning the blower up or putting it in Brite mode? Just curious.

Everyone... What audio Preamps are you guys using to take advantage of the advanced audio?

I had mine upgraded to C08 in April.

And yes, I experimented with the brite and hi alt settings. Results were conclusive that hi alt was not good enough to keep the HD81 cool and I had to go to brite for the full effect. Saying that I have never detected and increase in fan speed for brite mode. Then again this is all mounted in the box away from the theater.

I will post some photos as requested.

Last night was the BIG test. A five hour movie (Until the End of the World) with the pj running for about six hours total. Only brief blue screens were at the start and could not have been thermally related in my mind. A processor glitch that I see time and again only after the initial power up and source selection.

All sources are HDMI at this time. I run an AppleTV, Pioneer region free upscaling DVD, Verizon FiOS HD DVR and a Playstation 3 through a new HDMI/Toslink switch I found at Best Buy. The Toshiba HD DVD player runs directly into the Optoma VP and the analog audio into the external inputs on my Denon AVR3300. Trying to keep it simple for the Mrs. and family wanting to use the theater when I am not home. (I am a dreamer eh?)


Best,

John

Hey, John!

My uncle's name was John W. Keller, so I was initially surprised to see a post from such a similar name.

Anyway, my fix (which has worked flawlessly, BTW) is very similar to yours in concept.

My '81 is ceiling-mounted, but not in a hush box. When it got warm here in Denver, I had chronic blue-screen problems, to the point that I quit using it and watched movies on the "little" plamsa instead. Then I got a brain storm.

I have central AC in the house, and there's a floor vent about 12 feet from the projector. I went to the hardware store and got a heating vent adaptor that goes from a 10x4" vent opening to a 4" round duct opening. If I remove the grille from the floor vent, the adapter fits in perfectly. From this adapter, I ran a 20' piece of clothes dryer flexible hose from the floor to the intake fan side of the projector, securing it with copious gaffer's tape.

When I want to watch a movie, I remove the floor grille, insert the adaptor, turn the AC fan "On," set the temperature for 75 degrees, and away I go! When I shut the PJ off, I just take the adapter out of the floor vent and put the normal brass grille back on.

It looks like heck, and my wife thinks I'm nuts, but it sure does work!

-doug-

...

Whala! It has been on for 4 hours now and running flawlessly. I have to say that there seems to be a buildup inside the PJ that normal circulation cannot cool - and the inverted mounting makes it worse. Those of us lucky to have a flexible installation or be able to run an AC vent in can McGiver a fix.

Hopes this helps in any small way for those having the problem.

Best,

John

We are having a warm day here in MD today. My 81 went blue even though I had it set on high brightness. I was forced to put it on high altitude and turn the bulb brightness down. It is so loud now that I may just call Warren tomorrow. What a Bummer. My 81 is in the open above 2 AC vents.

I can't believe people would buy another Optoma, after the well-known H77/H78/H79 fiasco.

I can't believe people would buy another Optoma, after the well-known H77/H78/H79 fiasco.
I own an HD81 and love it. The problems here are few and even they love the picture so much they aren't jumping ship.

I thought for sure I was getting an 81. But after reading many of the posts here, I think I may keep shopping.

Usually, I take the posts here with a grain of salt, because only the people with problems post.

That said. The real problem that has me second guessing this pj is the geometry.
For those of you who dont know. This projector has a 6.25 degree offset. Check out these calculations from the 81's manual:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x248/jjcritch/HD81throw2.jpg

I have a 30' x 13' room with a 7'2" ceiling. There is a 12" raised area near center, for a celing height of 8'2" there. Check out the pictures and schematics at my theater build post (link below in my signature.)

Here is where screen wall will be:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x248/jjcritch/IMG_1396.jpg


My screen will be 110" diagonal at 16:9. Its only about 4 inches down from the cieling. My pj will mount 16ft back from the screen wall, on the cieling"



here is the calculator page:
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x248/jjcritch/HD81throw.jpg


I dont have 21"!!!!!
For (6.25 degree offset ) a good square picture (I dont want to use the keystone correction) I would have to have the screen down 21" from the cieling? Are they serious? Why would you make a projector like this. You would need over a 10 foot cieling just to have a picture 18" off the ground! Are my calculations off? WTF?

I guess I could put it on the ground under a coffee table like the old CRT's. LOL!

I dont have the 21" needed for (6.25 degree offset ) a good square picture (I dont want to use the keystone correction)? Or are my calculations off? WTF?
I don't need to double check your calculations to tell you the HD81 isn't going to work for you, based on this fact you supplied "My screen will be 110" diagonal at 16:9. Its only about 4 inches down from the cieling." There just isn't a way 4" will be near enough.

You may want to look at the JVC DLA-RS1:
Install it anywhere. The projector is designed to accommodate any type of installation that your room demands—ceiling mount, rear shelf, or table top placement. Several features contribute to this flexibility. The RS1 is outfitted with a very long 2.0x zoom range on the lens that allows the projector to be placed anywhere between 10 feet and 20 feet from the screen for a 100" diagonal image (distance as measured from the front of the lens to the screen).

http://www.projectorcentral.com/jvc_dla-rs1.htm

Here is the first of two posts on the cooling of my HD81. These photos show the two vents I installed for air circulation around the PJ. The long one is the intake and the rectangular one is the exhaust. The front of the PJ is sealed with an optically clear 5 x 7 glass I ordered through Edmonds Optical.

John

These photos are of the two fans. Simple dryer hose and duct tape provides the air path. I installed a simple remote switch used for Christmas light control that enables me to turn the fans off and on. I am looking into a duct fan with a temp sensor that will turn on automatically. I know Home Depot carries them.

Best,
John

John,

In case you want to quit your day job .... No kidding guy, you have done a yeoman's job of attacking the problem. I trust it will work in the long term. Just a thought... In case of a fire, the first place they would look is you know where. It might be a god idea to have the installation inspected in order to secure the authorities' blessing. While we understand the level of heating and cooling involved and know there is no anger, some might argue that having a 300 watt bulb in a confined space that relies on forced air cooling for adequate ventilation, is a potential source for fire in case the cooling fans fail. I believe what tips the balance is the fact that the glass in front of the lens is closer than clearances recommended by Optoma. Having said that, please understand that I do not believe a hazard exists but it woulld not hurt to have it blessed.

Art,

Thanks for the feedback. All is appreciated as I did not give the lens/glass distance a thought. Is it a heat build up issue with the amount of light?

I have purchased an 8" in line duct fan with a thermostatic control. 500 cfm! Testing today only on the supply side. I will use the 4" on the exhaust. Disappointed though as I got a solid blue screen before the whole thing even warmed up! I will continue on my quest to be cool.

John

John, my friend, your words "Disappointed though as I got a solid blue screen before the whole thing even warmed up" cut me through that part of my brain reserved for all things Optoma. Oh, and yes, I did feel bad for you. I am not heartless. You may recall a previous post of mine in which I suspected that a solid state component exhibiting thermal runaway was at the root of this problem. One of the sad physical realities of solid state junctions is that once they break down, their threshold decreases and the junction breaks down with less current accross the junction. I fear that may be happening to mine as well as yours. In time we will not be able to control Blue Screen events. Nevertheless please consider the following suggestions.

With this terrible heat wave, I have been forced to use the "high blower" setting and reduce the bulb brightness in order to achieve the maximum air flow. Thus far this has been effective in demonstrating that increased cool airflow along the Optoma designed cooling tunnel can reduce the frequency of Blue Screen events.

John, if I may be so bold as to critique your cooling system... You might wish to consider running the improvised ductwork all the way to the inlet side of the air tunnel of the projector. The fan would be placed in the duct path rather than at the end of the duct. This would cause all of the cool air to be channeled to the only place on the projector where it is needed. Also, along with the aforementioned modification, I would remove the glass over the lens. There is no reason to close that space off if you are trying to channel hot air out of the box and collect cool air. I believe these slight modifications would cause the cool air to flow where it is most critical.

Please accept these suggestions in the spirit with which they are given. I respect your excellence as a craftsman and in no way wish to belittle your efforts. It is a shame that equipment is designed improperly by those who should know better. This leaves no recourse to us but to find dways to patch and glue together a workable solution.

Good luck my friend.

I just realized that i did not answer your question about the proximity of the glass to the lens. IMHO the glass is going to prevent air flow around the outside of the front of the cabinet and limit air movement/cooling around the lens housing. I asked my wife to feel the lens housing and she said it was quite warm on my unit. I suspect that yours is even warmer. That 300 watts of energy does get collimated down by the lenses so yes there is some heating caused by the optical system I suspect. I would prefer to see some air flowing around that lens hosing. If you wer to remove the glass plate, the exhaust fan should provide convective cooling to that part of the 81.

Art,

Well I must have bumped the HDMI cable and that was the cause of the blue screen. My bad.

I ran the PJ with the single fan and was able to measure a significant (>6 degree) drop in temp in the box. Again I still have hot employed the exhaust fan. Oh did I mention that I am also experimenting with a baffle to block the flow of air from the cool to the hot side of the PJ? I have removed it as I am beginning to sense that more flow is better and this may help with the lens/glass issue. The glass is about 8 inches from the lens (looks closer in the photo). I have to say that so far I am impressed with this last solution as it gives to most air flow, is as quiet as the 4" fans and has the auto on/off feature needed for a closed box.

Again having met you last year, before making my decision to go ahead with the HD81, I know that your comments are intended as support for us all. Many thanks. I just hope that we can get on with the video and enjoy the hi def adventure we have all paid for and worked so hard to achieve.

I do love the image and have had many demos where people are reluctant to leave and want more more and more!

Now if the Speed channel would only start broadcasting Formula 1 in high def I would be in heaven!

Best,
John

John,

Sounds like you have it under control. Yes, that glass did look awfully close. Again best wishes. BTW, did I mention that I am using a SONY BDPS300 BluRay? Works well with the 81.

No, I did not see that you got the Sony. I guess there was some discussion on 1080i/p earlier. The only 1080p source I have is the new Playstation 3. Looks good in 720p game mode. I picked up some Blu-Ray titles last week but have not have the time for a viewing. The fans and then programming in the new HDMI switch into the URC MX-900 has presented some challenges. I still have a bug getting it to consistently turn off the HD81.

I do not know Art. This BS issue seems to be more than heat. I am beginning to think that the VP losses sync with the PJ and causes the momentary BS. This seems to happen after a source switch. Not right away though. And sometimes it repeats. But then it seems to settle in and runs fine. The solid BS is definitely a heat issue though as everyone here can attest.

I told my wife that when the theater is 100% complete that my lifes work will be done and then I can die happy. She did not really want to hear that but it feels like it somedays.

John

John,

I also observe two types of BS occurrences. The first occurs during switching as you have observed. When the BluRay player is set to output 1080p 24 fps, there is a momentary and often repeated BS while the 81 syncs. This BS is not a problem for me since it is transitory. The second BS is the one that occurs without warning, locks up the 81 and requires a complete cool down, shut off and restart of the VXD and the projector. This latter BS issue is definitely heat related.

Art,

It would seem to me that a firmware upgrade is in order to resolve the switching BS. I can handle the heat issue.

Please help Optoma!

Watched Rick Steves in Paris on PBS/HD last night and the image was positively stunning. Rick is starting to reach the age where he needs more makeup!

John

Now if the Speed channel would only start broadcasting Formula 1 in high def I would be in heaven!

Best,
John

John,

We seem to have some common interests, you are the third HD81 owner/F1 fan I
know of here, including myself!

You can't blame Speed Channel for a lack of F1 in HD. Blame Bernie instead! F1
provides much of the mobile production equipment, which travels all over the world. They specify that only PAL equipment can be used, no HD. Europe is way behind the U.S. in HD broadcasting as well as most other worldwide television markets.

At least the last few F1 races shown on Fox affiliates were 16:9 480p and being
available digital OTA, didn't have the horrendous compression artifacts that plague
Speed Channel on DirecTV.

[QUOTE=john.t.keller]Art,

It would seem to me that a firmware upgrade is in order to resolve the switching BS. I can handle the heat issue.

John, I am the other F1 fan Jeff Regan refers to! I posted these pix a while back re cooling problems and blue screen issues. This did the trick, particularly being able to pump cool air in to the intake and efficiently remove the hot exhaust air.





Cheers! Michael.

Michael,

Nicely done. I see the input (1) is there a fan on the exhaust to help remove the heated air? How did you design the fittings to the PJ housing? Did you just cut some PVC for part 3? Mine is currently duct tape and scrap cardboard and while out of sight it is not an finished as yours appears in the photos. I like it alot.

Also, has anyone been able to secure the HDMI cable to the rear of the HD81? I keep bumping the friction fit of the connector when making adjustments and creating more problems for myself.

Best,
John

Also, has anyone been able to secure the HDMI cable to the rear of the HD81? I keep bumping the friction fit of the connector when making adjustments and creating more problems for myself.
I don't make too many adjustments, but when I have the HDMI cable always comes loose. So while everyone is happy that HDMI is giving more colors with 1.3 vs 1.2, I would love to see some type of secure connector for HDMI 1.4.

Last night I showed Casino Royale. Terrific movie all around. Great sound and video. Source was the Sony Playstation3. I usually start the movie from the initial menu and play the lead in visuals as a quick demo for the theater.

During the start up of the film from the initial disk start to the actual movie playing there were no less than 6 processing screens! I do not see this with any other source. My Toshiba (1080i) processes once after the initial source switch. Same with Verizon FiOS. The PS3 is sourcing 1080p.

Is there a work around? Should I start queuing the movie and releasing the pause? Combine tis with the switching blue screens and it becomes a painful few moments waiting for things to settle in.

Any others seeing this? Any advice?

Best,
John

After seven months of hard labor and extreme anticipation my home theater room is complete. Last night was the first night of running the HD81. I have firmware C06 Oct/2006. I had four BS during Pirates of the Caribbean. This was a little frustrating since it was the first time we have used our PJ. Do I need to upgrade to the C08 firmware and if so, do I have to send in the projector or the processor or both?

After seven months of hard labor and extreme anticipation my home theater room is complete. Last night was the first night of running the HD81. I have firmware C06 Oct/2006. I had four BS during Pirates of the Caribbean. This was a little frustrating since it was the first time we have used our PJ. Do I need to upgrade to the C08 firmware and if so, do I have to send in the projector or the processor or both?


C08 is not required. Nice to have the latest. There was a promise that with C08 users would be able to download future updates. No one to my knowledge has done this yet as there have been no major firmware updates for the HD81 since November or so.

Yes, the update to C08 requires sending the complete unit (PJ and VP no accessories) back to Optoma. Contact them before doing so to get an RMA and instructions.

BS are common during the start of a movie. More of an annoyance. An expensive annoyance in my opinion. No one seems to know why. Solid BS are very bad (painfully bad) and require power and cool down to clear. Most of us have been able to resolve these BS issues with auxiliary cooling (fans, AC, prayer etc).

Read this thread for details.

John

After seven months of hard labor and extreme anticipation my home theater room is complete. Last night was the first night of running the HD81. I have firmware C06 Oct/2006. I had four BS during Pirates of the Caribbean. This was a little frustrating since it was the first time we have used our PJ. Do I need to upgrade to the C08 firmware and if so, do I have to send in the projector or the processor or both?


By the way, congratulations. Your hard work will pay off. Most of my construction wounds have healed. Yours will too!

Post some photos when you get a chance.

JK

During the start up of the film from the initial disk start to the actual movie playing there were no less than 6 processing screens! I do not see this with any other source. My Toshiba (1080i) processes once after the initial source switch. Same with Verizon FiOS. The PS3 is sourcing 1080p.
I only get 1 processing screen with Blu-Ray (and I've watched Casino Royale three times :) ). The processing screen should only happen during the initial handshake between the scalar and your source, so I would see if you could swap out HDMI cables and see if that is the cause. Also - does the PS3 have an auto-sensing option? If so, it might be trying to sense what your scalar can handle (sorry, I don't own a PS3 so I'm grasping at straws).

Michael,

Nicely done. I see the input (1) is there a fan on the exhaust to help remove the heated air? How did you design the fittings to the PJ housing? Did you just cut some PVC for part 3? Mine is currently duct tape and scrap cardboard and while out of sight it is not an finished as yours appears in the photos. I like it alot.
Best,
John

Thanks John. Yes there is an exhaust fan pulling the hot air away from the PJ as well as cool air being pumped in to the intake. The parts are all pvc pipe from Home Depot, modified where needed ... i.e, intake and exhaust. At first we tried simply pumping cool air in to the hush box but we still suffered from the dreaded blue screen, although it took longer to get to that point. Then we brought the air down closer to the pj, aiming it across the top (which is actually the bottom) of the HD81 as this seemed to be the hot spot area. We still had blue screen issues but each step gave us longer intervals before blue screen! Taking the cool air directly to the intake (as well as across the top) helped further but what really made this whole thing work 100% was the assisted exhaust.

The conclusion, to me at least, is that the HD81 is simply unable to efficiently get rid of the hot air. The outside assistance, with a remote fan sucking air directly from the exhaust vent, cured the problem. The two fans are sufficiently far away from the pj that we are not able to hear them in the theater, although we can still hear the projector fan (slightly), even with the hush box! My installer wanted to place optical glass at the lens opening to cut out the pj fan noise completely but I have a problem with putting yet another piece of glass in the light path ..... we already have the prime lens and the anamorphic glass and I don't want to add to that, no matter how good the optical glass may be!! I could be wrong, but coming from a photographic background I always found it odd (or amusing) that someone would purchase an extremely expensive prime lens and then bolt on a cheap UV filter to the front of it. To me, that defeats the purpose!

Cheers John and let us (that's to say yourself, Jeff Regan and I) look forward to a great German Grand Prix this weekend! Go Lewis!!!!

Michael.

Cheers John and let us (that's to say yourself, Jeff Regan and I) look forward to a great German Grand Prix this weekend! Go Lewis!!!!
Michael.

Michael,

I'm sure you meant to write go Felipe or Kimi!

<"it would seem to me that a firmware upgrade is in order to resolve the switching BS.">

John,

I have the first version of C08 installed in mine. I believe it is the Nov. 30th version but not sure. I know there was one more after mine that you and Jeff have. I do not find the momentary blue screen flicker offensive. I fear having my projector exchanged for one that might be not as sharp as mine. Having seen this with my second HD81 replacement projector, I know that product variability is a reality for these projectors. Until it becomes a problem for me, I will live with the 2 or 3 blue screen flickers I see when connecting via HDMI the Sony BluRay BDPS300 at 1080p 24fps to the VXD at 1080p 48Hz.

BTW, since the really hot day we experienced recently, I have been able to return to the high brightness mode and the low altitude setting. I have not had any heat related blue screens at these settings.

Another observation...

I have observed that during recent "brownouts" if I have the system operating with all six channels of amplification plus the 600 watt sub and all the supporting electronic devices on, the HD81 becomes much more susceptible to the blue screen phenomena. Yes, they are on the same circuit and you will recall from your visit, I use an ADCOM 5802, an ADCOM 7500 and a Hafler 200, amplifiers that are so hot to the touch that one could cook eggs on their cabinets.

Another observation...

I have observed that during recent "brownouts" if I have the system operating with all six channels of amplification plus the 600 watt sub and all the supporting electronic devices on, the HD81 becomes much more susceptible to the blue screen phenomena. Yes, they are on the same circuit and you will recall from your visit, I use an ADCOM 5802, an ADCOM 7500 and a Hafler 200, amplifiers that are so hot to the touch that one could cook eggs on their cabinets.


Art,

Well the good news for you is that the amps are located several feet away from your projector and that the PJ is open to the air.

Michael,

Here is the latest. I was inspired to clean up my act after seeing your setup. Cool air is drawn through a 8" X 36" duct from an vent far from the PJ. I placed an inline 8" fan with a temp sensor control nearest the PJ.

I then cut a 2" PVC pipe and added a 90 degree elbow and a 4" to 2" reducer. This is mounted to a 4" fan connected to the same control as the 8" input.

Temp on top of PJ never exceeds 94 degrees!

Best,
John

You just never know what will happen as a result of a conversation. And in my case my last post.

While checking for splling (sic) errors and the attachment of the photo I noticed something in the photo that I had not seen. The flash of the camera illuminated a 4" AC duct which runs above the PJ mount and into the theater. I have another source of cool air! I now remember that I considered using it in an emergency to cool the PJ.

The construction of my theater has now lasted over 14 months. I forgot that I did this in my original design! Old age? The access was also to provide the ability to mount an inline fan into the duct should the standard AC blower fail to provide enough flow. Well in the heat of the Maryland summer with the dehumidifiers running and warming the basement air my AC is marginal. I will be disassembling the PJ mount and installing a fan this week.

Plan, plan and plan some more! And then remember what you planned if you can!

John

Theater link:

http://web.mac.com/john.t.keller/iWeb/Diane%20and%20John%27s%20Home%20Theater/Welcome.html

Michael,

I'm sure you meant to write go Felipe or Kimi!

Nope, I spelt that correctly .... Go Lewis! I have enough Ferrari fans at home to contend with! Mika is a Kimi fan and Seth is an ex Schumacher, now anyone driving a Ferrari, fan!

Michael,

Here is the latest. I was inspired to clean up my act after seeing your setup. Cool air is drawn through a 8" X 36" duct from an vent far from the PJ. I placed an inline 8" fan with a temp sensor control nearest the PJ.

I then cut a 2" PVC pipe and added a 90 degree elbow and a 4" to 2" reducer. This is mounted to a 4" fan connected to the same control as the 8" input.

Temp on top of PJ never exceeds 94 degrees!

Best,
John

Good job. I'm glad I inspired you! Now sit back and enjoy!!

Cheers,
Michael.

Nope, I spelt that correctly .... Go Lewis! I have enough Ferrari fans at home to contend with! Mika is a Kimi fan and Seth is an ex Schumacher, now anyone driving a Ferrari, fan!

Michael, in the name of family unity, it's time for you to become a member of the Tifosi! Seriously, we are fortunate to be able to see a driver such as Lewis, who
is surely destined to be amongst the very greatest and also a great guy.

I hope you are enjoying your theater, I find that I am using my HD DVR's as a source
more than HD DVD or DVD these days--just a matter of finding good HD movies for
them to record and with an outboard 750Gb hard drive for my DirecTV HD DVR, it gives me plenty of record time.

Jeff,

Like you, I use 3 LG LST3410A HD DVR's and an LG LST 4200 HD tuner as my main sources of material. The C Band system brings in the HD movie channels and Discovery HD so I can watch "Big Love". I find that my BluRay gets about 6 playings a week when the Netflix carrier pidgeon arrives. Unfortunately, I have pretty much run through the BluRay catalog so I will be watching "Big Brother" for the rest of the summer.

Seriously though, do any of you have any experience with NAD equipment? I am considering the NAD175 PrePro that will be released soon. Please look it over and give me an opinion rarding compatibility/redundance with the 81. I would like to HDMI loop through the 175 and strip off any audio coming from the VXD sources. Also the extra HDMI inputs would allow me to process all my HDMI source signals via HDMI instead of using YPrPb for some like I am currently forced to do.