anthony . i put a integra 9.8 in my loop and had a sync issue . i just switch back and forth on the receivers video inputs until she syncs . so no sync switch to cable input wait 30 seconds than switch back to dvd and let her try for 2 minutes . than switch back to cable for 30 sec than back to dvd for 2 minutes . the problem i found is the projector is very very slow to sync and the ps3 and integra take 5 seconds . so the integra gives up and trys again . give that a try.or turn off the source and turn it back on . i have to do this with the cable box some times .


Hmm, I'm wondering if HDMI is really worth it, if that's the case. Maybe just live with component. As long as I'm getting the lossless sound via HDMI, that's the main thing. Sure, when I first hooked up the PS3 via HDMI rather than component, I did notice a slight improvement in fine detail, but for the most part they are pretty much identical.

I guess the one big downside would be not be able to use the upscaling of either the PS3 or HD-A2, although I don't watch many SD dvd's.

well hdmi has had growing pains but dont blame your other stuff its the 7100 and it was early in the curve .only having one cable is kind of nice .:D

Man, I just found out something seriously depressing. I tried my PS3, going thru the Marantz SR7001 and then from the Marantz to the HD7300, and could not get a video signal via HDMI. Now, normally, this wouldn't be all that depressing. Just use component for video, and use HDMI for the sound. But, I totally forgot about this one issue that I've always had with the PS3 and the HD7300. For some reason, whenever I feed the HD7300 a 720p signal via component, I get these strange white lines at the very tip top of the image. 2 white lines on the very left of the image, and one long white line on the very right of the image. If the HD7300 had a built in masking feature, I could get rid of it. But to my knowledge, it doesn't have any built in masking. The PS3 doesn't have any masking, and I'm pretty sure the Marantz SR7001 doesn't have any.

I know the HD3000 scaler has a masking feature, but I sold that scaler.

So, whenever I use the PS3, and must use a 720p video signal, I'm going to have to deal with these white lines. It's very irritating. I've asked other HD7300 owners about this, and they have no clue what I'm talking about. I'm guessing I could contact Optoma about it, but what are they going to do? Want me to send in my projector? Then I don't have a projector for several months, and even if they fix that problem, they could easily replace it with a new issue. Based on the results of other people in this thread, I'm not looking forward to sending anything to Optoma.

I'm gonna take some pictures of these white lines, so you guys can actually see what the heck I'm talking about. It happens anytime I feed the HD7300 a 720p source via component. Not just with the PS3 either. It even happens with the Xbox 360. Usually I had the 360 set to output 1080i, and one time I accidently had it set to output 720p, and I immediately saw the 3 white lines, and was amazed when I saw them. I thought that it was some specific PS3 problem with the HD7300. The cable box I use outputs 1080i, so I never see the lines with that, but if I used the cable box in my living room, which can output 720p, I bet my bottom dollar I'll see those 3 white lines.

If those lines are same as the one I get are embedded in the source. Thanks to 1:1 mapping. :mad:
Yes you could have hidden them with HD3k but..
The best solution is to zoom a bit more and have your screen masking hide them. It is not the projector AFAIK. Get yourself velvet masking. And it only happens with 16x9 but not 2.35. My CRT does the same thing but that also has edge masking called blanking.

Man, I just found out something seriously depressing. I tried my PS3, going thru the Marantz SR7001 and then from the Marantz to the HD7300, and could not get a video signal via HDMI. Now, normally, this wouldn't be all that depressing. Just use component for video, and use HDMI for the sound. But, I totally forgot about this one issue that I've always had with the PS3 and the HD7300. For some reason, whenever I feed the HD7300 a 720p signal via component, I get these strange white lines at the very tip top of the image. 2 white lines on the very left of the image, and one long white line on the very right of the image. If the HD7300 had a built in masking feature, I could get rid of it. But to my knowledge, it doesn't have any built in masking. The PS3 doesn't have any masking, and I'm pretty sure the Marantz SR7001 doesn't have any.

I know the HD3000 scaler has a masking feature, but I sold that scaler.

So, whenever I use the PS3, and must use a 720p video signal, I'm going to have to deal with these white lines. It's very irritating. I've asked other HD7300 owners about this, and they have no clue what I'm talking about. I'm guessing I could contact Optoma about it, but what are they going to do? Want me to send in my projector? Then I don't have a projector for several months, and even if they fix that problem, they could easily replace it with a new issue. Based on the results of other people in this thread, I'm not looking forward to sending anything to Optoma.

I'm gonna take some pictures of these white lines, so you guys can actually see what the heck I'm talking about. It happens anytime I feed the HD7300 a 720p source via component. Not just with the PS3 either. It even happens with the Xbox 360. Usually I had the 360 set to output 1080i, and one time I accidently had it set to output 720p, and I immediately saw the 3 white lines, and was amazed when I saw them. I thought that it was some specific PS3 problem with the HD7300. The cable box I use outputs 1080i, so I never see the lines with that, but if I used the cable box in my living room, which can output 720p, I bet my bottom dollar I'll see those 3 white lines.

Easy, look for a vertical signal adjustment and move the junk up and out of the picture. This is better than a zoom feature because you don't soften the image.

Good hint Tom, I didn't think about that! But I do have the scaler so no use for me but for those without the processor it should work.

Easy, look for a vertical signal adjustment and move the junk up and out of the picture. This is better than a zoom feature because you don't soften the image.

I can use the lens shift, to move the screen up a few inches, but even when I do this, the lines are still visable. Not quite as "jump out at you" visable, but you can definitely still see them and notice them. The wall area surrounding the screen is painted a flat black. I haven't tried black velvet.

Luckily, this issue only affects me when I'm using the PS3, and I'm forced to use 720p output. I can set all of my other devices to 1080i, and then it's gone. Also, for some reason, this only happens with component, and not DVI. Before I got my Marantz, my receiver didn't have any HDMI abilities, so I went HDMI from the PS3, to a HDMI to DVI adapter on the HD7300 and no problems at all. I could still do this if I wanted to, but then no lossless sound. So that's definitely out of the question.

I wonder if there is an inexpensive device, that I can take the HDMI out from the PS3, run it into some inexpensive box, and it would route 2 outputs. 1 for HDMI video, and one for HDMI audio. Then I could send the video one directly to the projector, and the audio one, directly to the SR7001.

Luckily, I can watch my Blu Ray movies in 1080i, so no problems with that. My HD-A2 HD-DVD player does 1080i too, as well as my Xbox 360 and my Direct TV HDTV box. The only time this hurts me is when I'm playing a Playstation 3 game that doesn't feature 1080i output. A game like Resistance: Fall of Man, or Motorstorm. There are lots of other 720p only games on the PS3, and any time I play them, I'm going to have to deal with the 3 white lines.


It is not the projector AFAIK.

Well, I was using a Mitsubishi HD1000u before the Optoma, and never had this problem with the Mits.


Are there any firmware updates for the HD7300? Maybe I just need a firmware update?

Not the lens shift. Use the image shift. It is in the menu.
Mits did not do 1:1 mapping with your source and was cropping the image. That is my guess.

What is the real average duration of the lamp from forum users experience?
Now I'm near to 300 hours:)

What is the real average duration of the lamp from forum users experience?
Now I'm near to 300 hours:)

my first one died at 80 hrs :(

700 hours here so far!

How do you check for lamp hours? I think that I should be at around 200 by now.

How do you check for lamp hours? I think that I should be at around 200 by now.

Read the manual to find out. :)

For me, if it will last 1000+ hours (naturally if it will last more no problem :D ), I would be quite satisfied, becouse I will change only the lamp when will be the time, and than not so much money as new lamp module (and the brightness would return to optimal)...:)

HD7100 still at Optoma (no telling what, if anything, they are doing to it), it's been two weeks now since I shipped it off and they've had it in their possession for over a week.

My complaint with the BBB regarding the stripped down version of the HD3000 that I purchased has been 'closed unresolved'. I didn't figure on BBB helping me any, but they did contact Optoma on my behalf. Optoma told them the exact same thing they told me, they placed text in the user's manual that made note of certain models of the HD3000 had been locked at 720p, and that is their justification.

I have since filed a complaint with my states Attorney General's office. I'm not so optimistic anymore that I will get a satisfactory resolution.

It just really bothers me that Optoma really thinks that they can put a few words in their user's manual and consider that proper notice to potential customers. I don't understand how they can have different products that have different functionality and yet name them all the exact same model, HD3000. (I know that after you buy it, you can see on the package that the name actually is HD3000-S or HD3000-P or whatever, but that is AFTER you buy it.)

Anyways, I miss the good old days where I could simply turn my projector, InFocus IN72, on and watch a movie. Now, I own a projector but it spends most of its time back at the factory not hanging from my ceiling. If I had my money back, I would definitely make a different decision this time.

Luck all,
George

Unbelievable!!! I have great news.... Well, for myself anyways, lol. All this time, I was blaming my HD7300 for not being able to get HDMI video from my Marantz SR7100. It turns out that the projector had nothing to do with it. Not only that, but the receiver didn't have anything to do with it either. It was ME! It was simply user error on my part. I can't believe how bonehead I was.

Today, I received a HDMI cable via Monoprice. For the last couple of weeks, I've been using 1 HDMI cable for my PS3 and HD-A2 for the audio. Just swapping back and forth depending on whether I'm going to use my HD-A2 to watch a movie or not. So, today, I got the cable in the mail, and this cable was going to be dedicated to the HD-A2 for audio, with the other one being used by the PS3, and I wouldn't have to swap cables anymore.

So, I plug in the cable on the back of the HD-A2, and then I turn the Marantz around, to decide which HDMI input to use on the back of the Marantz. While I was looking at the back of the SR7001, I noticed something. All this time, I had my 25 foot HDMI cable that was connected to my projector, plugged into a INPUT!!!! I had it freaking plugged into an input.... can you believe it? What a ******. Instead of having it plugged into the one HDMI output on the back, I had it plugged into the 1st input.

Upon seeing that, I immediately removed it, and plugged it into the proper output. I plugged in the other 2 cables for the PS3 and HD-A2, and fired everything up to see if I could get HDMI video. Voila!!! HDMI video working fine with no problems at all! Absolutely awesome... No more 3 lines when using the PS3 at 720p via component!

Man, I can't believe what a dumbarse I was... by plugging the cable into the wrong slot all this time, and not double checking that. All this time I was blaming the HD7300, and cursing at it, because I thought it was a handshake problem on the part of the HD7300. Turns out it had nothing to do with the projector, and was 100 percent user error on my part.

Oh well, everything is wonderful now, and I'm a happy little monkey after tonites discovery. I can't tell you how dissapointing it was to have to play various PS3 games with those 3 big white lines at the top of the screen. Even though I would try my best to hide them, you still knew they were there, and it would bother you (well me) to no end. So, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore:p

AFCOOPER

Re: Lamps

I posted on this thread what lamp is used, just use a search function... Swapping a lamp only is a piece of cake, I have no idea why people don't don't do it. I've done it since I owned my H57. Two makers out there: Phillips and Osram in UHP 250 Lamps. Unscrew swap screw in. Watch your pj :D

Will this bulb work to swap out just the bulb itself?
From Ebay:
Sanyo PLC-XT10/15 Replacement Projector Lamp 6103017167
Thanks

For me, if it will last 1000+ hours (naturally if it will last more no problem :D ), I would be quite satisfied, becouse I will change only the lamp when will be the time, and than not so much money as new lamp module (and the brightness would return to optimal)...:)

Dario, would you mind posting exactly where you are getting just the bulb to replace, and the exact make and specs of it.

Please post the vendor contact info so we can all find this info easily, thanks
:D

Hi dwoodzz, those are the links to vendor, this first would be quite famous I believe:
http://www.replacementlightbulbs.com/lampshardtofindlcd.html

The second is chinese vendor, you must ask him the lamp model, becouse he does'nt sell it normally, when I asked him, he said me that he can have it for 150$ (but I don't know about "the genuine" of the lamp, also if osram has fab in china)
http://myworld.ebay.it/icerong/

Just heard from Optoma, they say it was the lamp this time. Last time, with the exact same issue, they insisted on replacing the projector as well as assuring me that there was no way it was the lamp but a projector malfunction that required replacement.

So, after 3+ weeks w/o my projector, I get a lamp replacement.

I'm guessing that after about another 200 hours on this lamp, it will start flickering on low power again. I wonder what the diagnosis will be then???

Time to start looking for a new projector I guess. What a nightmare this Optoma purchase has been. I've had the projector and scaler now since November 2nd of last year and I bet I haven't had the pair up and functioning in my home for 30 days total in the last half year.

Haven't heard anything regarding my complaint with the Arkansas Attorney General's office yet, will report back if I hear anything.

George

800 hours and going strong! Luckily

Eric.....I've also logged 800 hours with only 3 non-starts which quickly took care of themselves. George must have a unit(s) that were fabricated on a hangover Monday. Optoma should do everything necessary to get his PJ working properly.

Last night, I was finally able to put my media room back together, I had been doing some serious remodeling and couldn't get the projector mounted until it was finished.

Anyways, here is the latest on my 'Optoma projector odyssey'...

The projector was not secured by the packing material on its return trip to me from the Optoma service center. The box looked fine and the projector appeared fine initially but it was floating inside the box.

It had black grease on the top side and somebody touched the lens with grease on their finger. I haven't attempted to clean the lens yet but was able to get most of the black grease off the housing.

There is no lamp flicker (of course, neither my first projector nor this replacement had lamp flicker until about 200 hours on the lamp) but this lamp only shows 18 hours of use.

However, Optoma techs must have done something other than replace the lamp as now this projector has the varying operating noise like my first one, where the noise of the projector isn't steady but fluctuates like it is cycling something, not the cooling fan though, maybe the color wheel??? Regardless of what it is, it was definitely not doing it before. I had watched about 200 hours of material on it before it was sent in for repair.

And, it has a couple of light spill areas where it didn't have any before. It has a flashlight shape at the top right outside the screen area and a rectangle of light at the lower left edge of the screen, also outside the viewing area. I guess this could be a sign of a rough transit, either to Optoma or on its return trip (more likely the latter as the projector was outside of its cushioning packing materials).

To say that I am regretting my decision to switch from InFocus to Optoma would be quite an understatement. With my original projector, the InFocus IN72, we would/could simply enjoy ourselves. It would turn on every time and it would operate without issue. I had over 2000 hours on the lamp when I sold it, and I received half what I paid for it.

Obviously, my experience with Optoma has been 180 degrees different.
The projector doesn't like to turn on sometimes.
A couple of times, the projector just decides to turn off by itself.
The video scaler required another +$300 so it would perform to specifications.
The video scaler required three trips to Optoma before it would function at all.
The video scaler does not handle audio as advertised.
The video scaler does not like 1080p input, causes red sparkles in dark areas.
The projector lamp seemingly only likes to work about 200 hours without flickering.
Optoma service techs don't take care of your equipment while in their care.

My HD7100 and HD3000 as a pair have been with Optoma service for longer than I've had them up and running in my home since I made my purchase 11/07. When my first HD7100 exhibited lamp flicker at 200 hours, I was assured it was not the lamp but a projector failure and the projector would have to be replaced. When the replacement started to have the EXACT same flickering, I was told again that it was not the lamp but that this time it could be serviced. The final resolution was to replace the lamp after being with Optoma for two weeks. With shipping times, it was almost a month out of service for a simple lamp replacement which I could have done in a few minutes.

I will say though, that through this all, the Optoma technicians and support personnel have been very friendly and eager to help. When I've encountered initial problems or been dissatisfied with service and/or repair, Optoma has always been willing to work for a solution and seemed happy to do so. Unfortunately, our brief relationship has had way too many opportunities for interaction. And, when the projector is actually working, it does put up quite a pleasing image.

Bottom line, my family and I don't enjoy, nor do we even take the time anymore, watching movies as much as we used to. For myself, I never know if we will be able to even make it through a movie without some sort of failure, and that's when I even have the equipment in my home and not at Optoma for some service/repair. I'm embarrassed to have friends or family over for movie night as I'm never certain if I will even have my equipment up and running and even if it was, would it operate without incident.

If I could turn back the hands of time, I would definitely spend my money on something else.

George

Sell it. And do not run it with grease on the lens.

George, I feel your pain. I have given up on sending the equipment back to Optoma for service... it just isn't worth the effort.

What is the real average duration of the lamp from forum users experience?
Now I'm near to 300 hours:)

I am well over 1100 hours and still going!!
I should also say that I feel I must keep a second DVD player ready on the component connection because the DVI connection of this projector seems to be so very finicky. Often times, once the main DVD player is on and running and I turn on the pj, the sound will always go through w/o problem but the picture is just not there despite the fact that the lamp is glowing when I look at the inside of the lens. In these cases, I switch the projector to the component connection and the other DVD player takes over; the pj has never failed to show the component picture. I then re-initiate the DVI player and once it is going again I switch the pj back to the DVI connection. Normally this does it, but sometimes it takes a couple of the iterations described above; a real pain!!. Once the pj gets going, it puts out a gorgeous picture.
I touch wood; I have not had any flickering or change in speed incidents of the kind described by George.
This has been my second Optoma pj but with the luck of solutions by Optoma to the not so serious but unacceptable pj problems/behaviours I will be very hesitant to repeat the experience and purchase an Optoma pj again.
I was in line since day 1 for the HD7300 combo but the lack of responses from Optoma as to the details of the offered processor's performance held me out of the purchase and I am soooo happy I did not buy the darn combo even at the great price offered because they have shown to be a major source of disappointments and head aches. Optoma reps. kept silent all along knowing darn well that their silence was improper, unethical and possibly illegal.
George, I stand in solidarity with your problems and wish you good luck in resolving them with Optoma.

Wow I posted something quite similar on the other 7100 thread as FGM did.

Once the logo shows up you are fine. Logo stays on for a few secs and DVI search shows up on the bottom. Now you have a working pj running and it will run with or without signal if auto off is not enabled.
Now just turn one source on i.e., the DVI. I have never used componenet since the signal search defaults to DVI and it always work.
I actually love the combo HD7300/HD3000 for all sorta tweaks specially color and gamma and edge masking. It works great as a switcher and price was nearly same as without the hd3000.

Once the logo shows up you are fine. Logo stays on for a few secs and DVI search shows up on the bottom. Now you have a working pj running and it will run with or without signal if auto off is not enabled.
Now just turn one source on i.e., the DVI. I have never used componenet since the signal search defaults to DVI and it always work.
I actually love the combo HD7300/HD3000 for all sorta tweaks specially color and gamma and edge masking. It works great as a switcher and price was nearly same as without the hd3000.

Caspian, I hope your pj will continue behaving properly for a long time.
I can also say, by my own experience, that often, once the logo shows up, the picture still fails to show in my pj, however, the sound is always present.
At the time of the combo I already had an HD7100 that was working fine. I was interested only in the processor part of the combo deal which I would have purchased if Optoma had step forward and clearly explained the performance limitations of the processor as it was. I could not care for a second pj then.
For a long time, my pj has worked w/o a flaw, but lately, I have to go trough the DVI/component signal iteration detailed in my previous post until the glorious picture from the DVI input signal shows up. DVI DVD player is my preferred source.
This process thing has introduced a BIG nuisance to my watching pictures hobby thanks to Optoma's incompetence/indifference.

Actually I had glitches with DVI but since I upgraded my cable everything is all well. My cable is a 25" bluejean twisted pair.
AFA start up sequence.. I always turn the pj on and wait for the logo (16 secs) then the source which is HD3000 in my case.
I turn the pj first and trun it off last in the sequence and it has been working.

Hi everybody. Haven't posted in awhile, cause everything was working out well with my projector. No false starts, and no other issues. Till tonite. My projector started flickering as I was watching National Treasure on Blu Ray. I switched to High Power mode, and the flickering went away.

I could have sworn that I read an old post in this thread, were somebody mentioned a flickering problem, and they said they put it on High Power mode for a little while, and then went back to low power mode, and the flickering went away. I can't seem to find that old post. I did find some posts by Bub where the flickering didn't go away.

I'm wondering if anybody did actually have some success with switching to High Power (temporarily) and then going back to Low Power. If so, how long do you need to keep it running in high power mode? Basically, what should be my strategy right now? I have it running in High Power for the moment, but don't know how long I should use it in High Power. The bulb has about 180 hours on it right now. Any suggestions?

Flicker comes back no matter how long in bright mode.
I just ignore it and it goes away after minutes in low mode. I used to switch to hi but no more. Flicker comes like every 50 hours or so but it really never lasts longer than five minutes in my experience. And mine is a low flicker meaning it is hard to notice it unless it is a stationary image which makes it barely noticeable. Is that what you get also?

Flicker comes back no matter how long in bright mode.
I just ignore it and it goes away after minutes in low mode. I used to switch to hi but no more. Flicker comes like every 50 hours or so but it really never lasts longer than five minutes in my experience. And mine is a low flicker meaning it is hard to notice it unless it is a stationary image which makes it barely noticeable. Is that what you get also?

You're kidding me... You can accept the fact that it's flickering like that? That would drive me freaking crazy. I could have people over watching a movie, and that would just ruin the freaking experience. Why don't you send it back to Optoma. God, I wish Mitsubishi made a DLP with len shift that was affordable.

Did you read my post? I said I barely see it. If yours is flickering to the point that drives you crazy then you have a POS.

Did you read my post? I said I barely see it. If yours is flickering to the point that drives you crazy then you have a POS.

I read your post. The thing is, I'm guessing that you're downplaying how much the flicker bothers you. Face it, if you are on these forums, then you're a videophile. If you're a videophile, then you notice every little imperfection. Minor flickering, despite the fact that it's not super noticeable during moving images, is still an imperfection.

If the flickering honestly doesn't bother you at all, then thats great. Unfortunately for me, I'm a hardcore videophile, and I instantly notice stuff like that. I can be in my room with 10 other people watching a movie, and I might be the only one that will notice the subtle flickering, but the problem is, once I notice it, it takes me out of the experience. All I can focus on is when the flickering is going to stop, and whether or not it will come back during the movie. It's beyond irritating.

My first projector was an Infocus X1. It was infamous for having a flickering problem, if you didn't have a certain firmware. Once you got the updated firmware, the flickering problem went away. I had the X1 for some time before having the firmware updated, and I dealt with the flickering issue. It was much more obvious and distracting than the flickering I've seen so far from this Optoma, but the bottom line is, no matter how subtle the flickering is, being a videophile I notice it immediately, and it detracts greatly from my enjoyment of the game I'm playing or the movie I'm watching.

I notice the HD7100 is available again on Costco's website.

No flickering here......yet.

I don't have the flicker issue that you are talking about. Take it as I say. There is no down play here I even pointed out to my friend while he was at my place and it showed up he couldn't detect it nor my wife. Fact of the matter is you are not a videophile cause I know the questions you asked by pages of PM to me months ago.
If you have flicker issue why bother and talk about it send it for service and get it over with. I tried to help you but apparently you are helpless.
Whether I am down playing it or not it is irrevelent to the problem. If it is there and you know it is then you have issues with the pj and needs repair. If I did I would have sent it in without even posting here. When I did have my first flicker at about 50 hours I called Optoma and they told me it might go away if not they will replace my bulb. It hasn't gone away but it has gotten to the point of negligence.
You assume every single problem you have I must have it too but apparently that is not the case. In fact my flicker is only a slight one that occurs on the top left of screen as of now and it shows up seldom. but like I said it is BARELY visible and it only last a few minutes and goes away. I am not even sure it is a lamp flicker.

I guess I can put in my two cents...

I believe the flickering to be a problem and if Optoma's responses/actions are any indicator, they also believe the flickering to be a problem.

They offered to replace my HD7100 the first time I contacted them regarding flickering (they offered the very first thing). They claimed the projector was defective and could not be repaired. I had a little less than 200 hours on the brand new projector. This was all done on the phone.

The replacement HD7100 also started to flicker at about 150 hours or so. This time the call to Optoma resulted in a repair ticket while they attempted to troubleshoot the flicker. Their ultimate decision was lamp failure and I received my HD7100 back with a brand new lamp. They claimed that their diagnosis showed no signs of projector failure, simply lamp failure.

I too have had both my original HD7100 and the replacement exhibit the non-firing lamp issue. This is rather disturbing as both projectors had very little use and it seems there are others with the exact same 'issue'. This would suggest a widespread problem, at least it would seem that way to me.

I tried different starting sequences and in my setup, none seemed to change anything. The projector starts up fine for the most part, but sometimes it doesn't like to fire the lamp. There were no discernible patterns, again for my setup. As far as the lamp flicker, it never went away unless I put the projector on high power. Within minutes of returning to low power, the flicker would also return.

Having said all that though, this projector does display a stunning image in both HD and SD material (especially HD). I'm considering purchasing a greyscale meter as I am not that happy with the deepness of the blacks nor the shadow detail. I'm hoping it has something to do with my settings. My IN72 had much deeper blacks and noticeably better shadow detail.

Luck all,
George

I'm considering purchasing a greyscale meter as I am not that happy with the deepness of the blacks nor the shadow detail.

No meter is going to change the deepness of blacks. Project a 0 IRE screen and turn your brightness down to where dithering stops--that is the deepest black the projector is physically capable of producing--period.

As far as shadow detail, that is the biggest performance weakness of this PJ IMO (setting aside quality issues). I could never get the PJ to produce its best black AND have good shadow detail. To get decent shadow detail I had to use the 11 point gamma adjustments in my Lumagen. You can play with your gamma setting in the PJ to pull it out of black faster, but gamma settings that give you the shadow detail will make a flatter looking (less appealing) image. You really need more gamma control than the PJ has to make it perform its best.

HD3000 has sub-gamma that works well with this situation.

...I am not that happy with the deepness of the blacks nor the shadow detail. I'm hoping it has something to do with my settings. My IN72 had much deeper blacks and noticeably better shadow detail.

Luck all,
George

Shadow detail problem and elevated black level..!!??hardly but possible. If so neither gamma or pedestal setting will resolve that issue.

If anyone is interested I have the HD3000 processor that came with my HD7300 available. I originally bought the package mainly for the processor as I sold the HD7100 for close to what I paid for the entire package. I recently purchased a Marantz VP12S4 and no longer have a need for it. There is plenty of info available in terms of what this processor does but the best features are the gamma and color decoder adjustments, 480i/1080i deinterlacing as well as aspect ratio controls. PM me if interested, If this post is not welcome please let me know.

Moe

well just for the record my projector is going in again . this is number 6 . when they pissed me off and told me the techs dont know about the false start problems i emailed them a link to the avs forum and this thread and told them that with in the first 2 pages they will see a trend that does not end and is still going strong . optoma does not want to fix these projectors or cant and instead of offering a new model or a refund they are going to keep turning the units around until the warranty is over . optoma has been ontop of the warranty work and always aswers emails etc but bottom line is they arent fixing the problem . this will be my last optoma product . to bad really this is a top notch projector with what seems like a simple to fix problem . to bad there is no optoma rep on the avs forum . than again he would not get a very good welcoming .

If anyone is interested I have the HD3000 processor that came with my HD7300 available. I originally bought the package mainly for the processor as I sold the HD7100 for close to what I paid for the entire package. I recently purchased a Marantz VP12S4 and no longer have a need for it. There is plenty of info available in terms of what this processor does but the best features are the gamma and color decoder adjustments, 480i/1080i deinterlacing as well as aspect ratio controls. PM me if interested, If this post is not welcome please let me know.

Moe

Throw it up on Ebay, and make sure it's available to international buyers. I sold mine that way, and was amazed at the results. It's really the only positive thing that has happened to me in relation to this whole HD7300 + scaler combo thing.

I have been researching projectors and I am now about to take the plunge. I was going to get the epson hc720 for the free bulb and 100$ rebate here in Canada for $1349 with free mount but I found a dealer that wants to sell a brand new Optoma HD 7300 for under $1000. I confirmed it is factory sealed and that it is indeed the 7300 with the outboard processor/switcher. Reviews are solid, but dated, and I am wondering if this would be a good alternative to the inexpensive lcd models I have been looking at.

I am setting up with a 92" screen (model dependant on projector choice....suggestions?) from about 10 feet away so this is a rare suitable unit as far as dlp goes for that size/distance arrangement.

would I be crazy to turn down this deal?

First time front projection buyer so I could use some help....

Snatches,
I could not be happier with the picture quality of my hd7300! Running on a 92" da-lite 1.3 gain white screen. Standard dvd's look great! HD looks incredible! I would definitely go for it! All my friends including the wife say its the best picture they have ever seen. I agree! Currently at about 900 hours of use and still extremely bright with great shadow detail.

Snatches,
I could not be happier with the picture quality of my hd7300! Running on a 92" da-lite 1.3 gain white screen. Standard dvd's look great! HD looks incredible! I would definitely go for it! All my friends including the wife say its the best picture they have ever seen. I agree! Currently at about 900 hours of use and still extremely bright with great shadow detail.

Thanks alot for the feedback! Any other comments are welcome.

What do you use for a mount? And how was it for offset, etc....was it a tough install or pretty straightforward?

It is a fairly light projector so any mount should work....I got my on ebay. As far as offset, the lens shifting of this unit in both the horizontal and vertical is a dream! very straightforward in my opinion. I also ordered my dvi to hdmi 25ft cable on ebay....the only cable required from the projector to the processor.

It is a great deal. With three year warranty and excellent PQ I would do it again.
I have not had any issues other than less than ten times false power up in about 400+ hours.

It is a great deal. With three year warranty and excellent PQ I would do it again.
I have not had any issues other than less than ten times false power up in about 400+ hours.

Thanks again eric and caspian....

Just to clarify if anyone on right now knows....Eric, you say that you only need a DVI to HDMI cable....what does the projector accept and why doesn't the "matching" processor output a matching terminated cable option? For example HDMI to HDMI or DVI to DVI?

Just curious as I want to get all cables I need ahead of time to expediate the setup process....

Thanks again

I have been researching projectors and I am now about to take the plunge. I was going to get the epson hc720 for the free bulb and 100$ rebate here in Canada for $1349 with free mount but I found a dealer that wants to sell a brand new Optoma HD 7300 for under $1000. I confirmed it is factory sealed and that it is indeed the 7300 with the outboard processor/switcher. Reviews are solid, but dated, and I am wondering if this would be a good alternative to the inexpensive lcd models I have been looking at.

I am setting up with a 92" screen (model dependant on projector choice....suggestions?) from about 10 feet away so this is a rare suitable unit as far as dlp goes for that size/distance arrangement.

would I be crazy to turn down this deal?

First time front projection buyer so I could use some help....

Would your dealer have a second unit for sale?
What kind of location in Canada are you talking about?
Thanks.

try google canada computers

It is a great deal. With three year warranty and excellent PQ I would do it again.
I have not had any issues other than less than ten times false power up in about 400+ hours.

False starts don't bother me that much. The flickering is a little annoying. That is the only thing that makes me hesitate recommending this PJ.

What specifically is a false start? I to date have not run in to one. If your saying the bulb strikes and goes through a warm up cycle and then shuts down, this can affect the life of the bulb since it requires another restrike and warmup.

False starts don't bother me that much. The flickering is a little annoying. That is the only thing that makes me hesitate recommending this PJ.
Flicker goes away by time if it is the bulb. Mine hasn't done in last 80 hours.:)

My HD7100 is starting to flicker real bad just like the other two. This one didn't even make it to 100 hours. Also, this one doesn't like to strike the bulb. I would say only once out of four does it fire properly. My normal method is to turn on the projector, wait a minute or two, cycle through the inputs, hit the menu a couple of times, turn on the HD3000, the source, the audio system, cycle through the inputs on the proj. again, hit menu a few times, cycle through the inputs, load a DVD, cycle through the inputs, hit menu a few more times and finally, the bulb strikes.

Wait for the flickering to stop, takes about 10 minutes or so, start watching a movie, about 20 minutes into the movie, the flickering starts again, pause the movie and wait about 10 minutes for the flickering to stop, then I usually can get through the rest of the movie without further flickering about half the time. The other half the time, the flickering returns at some point maybe 3 times during a 2 hour movie.

I don't have guests over for movies as it would be way too embarrassing. I'm embarrassed for myself that I've put up with this for so long. But, I feel like I'm stuck. I can't even sell the projector and feel good about it. The image is great but this projector doesn't like to function and I've had two of them now with this latest one sent back to the factory for fixing.

I could mention the following analogy, just like a car, no matter how pretty it is, no matter how fast it is, no matter how fuel efficient it is, no matter how comfortable it is, if it doesn't get you to work reliably, what's the point???

I dread having to even call Optoma for support.

On the other hand, I bought a colorimeter and have been messing around with some serious calibrations (at least serious to me). Wow, what a dramatic difference. This projector tracks D65 amazingly with only minor tweaking if you have the right tools. Once I was able to get the greyscale calibrated, the image really is stunning. Blacks are very good now (before they were washed out and grey looking). I still struggle with shadow detail, I really think that should be better and am still a bit confused as to why it isn't.

Oh well, guess I will be forced to call Optoma as the flickering is so bad again that I have no choice. I really wish I could just sell this thing and get something else but who would buy it if I fully disclosed its problems? I would have to say, "Great projector! You have to send it in every 100 hours or so because of the lamp flickering so bad you think it is about to explode. The three year warranty should at least make sending it in every 100 hours free. What am I bid?"

Luck all,
George

Have you tried reseating your bulb? It might be a long shot but worth trying.
Also make sure you have proper ground and voltage reads .1V between G&N.
However your power up sequence is make sure you have the exact opposite order in power down.

Have you tried reseating your bulb?

Check.

Also make sure you have proper ground and voltage reads .1V between G&N.

Check.

However your power up sequence is make sure you have the exact opposite order in power down.

Check. Power on: projector first, no sources until "Optoma" splash screen.

60 hours on the bulb. flicker started at about 25 hours and flickers for 5-20 minutes every 5-15 hours.

No strike issues yet though.

My Optoma HD7100 is now close to 200 hours and have not had any problems yet. Very very happy with PQ. I have a good unit I guess.

My Optoma HD7100 is now close to 200 hours and have not had any problems yet. Very very happy with PQ. I have a good unit I guess.

My first HD7300 started flickering at just over 200 hours, keep an eye on yours. Thanks for the advice everybody!

George

George,

My replacement HD7300 started flickering around 200 Hrs, at 260 Hrs the bulb blew... I was watching something (TV) and the picture just gave out... would not come back...

Took the bulb out and noticed that filament was burnt/broken. So, I, called my dealer, they sent a bulb out, dropped shipped from Optoma... it showed in a single box with bubble wrap around it, and was shaking when I got it... haven't opened the seal yet, so don't know if it is broken... if so I will have to send it back... but I am so pissed... Optoma's lack of quality controls in all facets, production, support, shipping... it is a mess.

George,

My replacement HD7300 started flickering around 200 Hrs, at 260 Hrs the bulb blew... I was watching something (TV) and the picture just gave out... would not come back...

Took the bulb out and noticed that filament was burnt/broken. So, I, called my dealer, they sent a bulb out, dropped shipped from Optoma... it showed in a single box with bubble wrap around it, and was shaking when I got it... haven't opened the seal yet, so don't know if it is broken... if so I will have to send it back... but I am so pissed... Optoma's lack of quality controls in all facets, production, support, shipping... it is a mess.

That mirrors my sentiments exactly! I rue the day I made the purchase of this Optoma product.

I sent an email to the Director of Tech Support and Customer Service (we are on a first name basis now, incidentally this is the same person who wrote me the official Optoma response explaining to me why I would not be getting my $315 back for the 'fix' of my HD3000) asking if he would look into why my projector, which was just in to their repair facility less than 100 hours ago, is now exhibiting the exact same problem that I've had now with two different Optoma projectors. His response was less than satisfying. He wants me to send them my projector... AGAIN!

He acts like it is no big deal at all, that this will be the 3rd time I've had to send them my projector for flickering lamp, all in the last 6 months. I've yet to put over ~200 hours on any lamp without some sort of failure. Of course, the first time this happened, they insisted it was not a lamp but a complete projector failure and insisted that the projector be replaced.

I was thinking maybe they could try to figure out why my projector was given a clean bill of health less than 100 hours ago, but now has to be sent in AGAIN for the exact same reason, before I had to send it in again?

If I were a crook, I would offer this thing up for sale and be done with it. But, I can't in good conscience fob this disaster off on anybody else. Talk about being stuck!

I'm just so frustrated now I could spit! The only saving grace in this whole mess is that I'm under warranty. They would have to put me on a suicide watch otherwise.

So, here is my future. Send in this projector, wait two weeks for them to get around to replacing the lamp (or the projector, does it really matter at this point?), send it back to me. I re-hang it and re-calibrate it, watch a couple of movies and wait for the inevitable axe to fall. Call Optoma tech support, get an RMA, box it up and ship it off to them, wait two weeks, wash rinse repeat etc...

George

That mirrors my sentiments exactly! I rue the day I made the purchase of this Optoma product.

I sent an email to the Director of Tech Support and Customer Service (we are on a first name basis now, incidentally this is the same person who wrote me the official Optoma response explaining to me why I would not be getting my $315 back for the 'fix' of my HD3000) asking if he would look into why my projector, which was just in to their repair facility less than 100 hours ago, is now exhibiting the exact same problem that I've had now with two different Optoma projectors. His response was less than satisfying. He wants me to send them my projector... AGAIN!

He acts like it is no big deal at all, that this will be the 3rd time I've had to send them my projector for flickering lamp, all in the last 6 months. I've yet to put over ~200 hours on any lamp without some sort of failure. Of course, the first time this happened, they insisted it was not a lamp but a complete projector failure and insisted that the projector be replaced.

I was thinking maybe they could try to figure out why my projector was given a clean bill of health less than 100 hours ago, but now has to be sent in AGAIN for the exact same reason, before I had to send it in again?

If I were a crook, I would offer this thing up for sale and be done with it. But, I can't in good conscience fob this disaster off on anybody else. Talk about being stuck!

I'm just so frustrated now I could spit! The only saving grace in this whole mess is that I'm under warranty. They would have to put me on a suicide watch otherwise.

So, here is my future. Send in this projector, wait two weeks for them to get around to replacing the lamp (or the projector, does it really matter at this point?), send it back to me. I re-hang it and re-calibrate it, watch a couple of movies and wait for the inevitable axe to fall. Call Optoma tech support, get an RMA, box it up and ship it off to them, wait two weeks, wash rinse repeat etc...

George

Hey George,

Sorry to hear all this Brah! Try and push them to hot swap you a new unit. Then you can sell it with a clean conscience. I would not hold my breath that they will do this, but it is worth asking. Of course then you would have to research a new PJ.

Good luck.

bdbaba

Hey George,

Sorry to hear all this Brah! Try and push them to hot swap you a new unit. Then you can sell it with a clean conscience. I would not hold my breath that they will do this, but it is worth asking. Of course then you would have to research a new PJ.

Good luck.

bdbaba

Thanks bdbaba, I wish that would/could happen. But, I can assure you of one thing, they act like they are doing me a favor by offering to fix my projector yet again. It is very frustrating. I don't know how much longer I can put up with this bs.

George

How many of you ceiling mount verses table mount your projector? hanging has to place more stress on the unit mechanicallyverses table mount wherby you have additional support. Just a thought.

How many of you ceiling mount verses table mount your projector? hanging has to place more stress on the unit mechanicallyverses table mount wherby you have additional support. Just a thought.

Mine hangs from the ceiling. Other than being hotter at the top of the room, I really doubt there would be much difference in stress. But, I've been wrong before (case in point, I made the decision to purchase an Optoma product) and am doomed to being wrong again in the future.

George

How many of you ceiling mount verses table mount your projector? hanging has to place more stress on the unit mechanicallyverses table mount wherby you have additional support. Just a thought.

Ceiling mounting is an option supported by the manufacturer, so whether table or ceiling is irrelevant. It should perform to specs either way.

I received a call this morning from the head of the Optoma tech and support team. There is one thing that is not in dispute as far as I'm concerned, and that is the Optoma reps are pleasant and really do seem eager to help.

I fired off a rather terse email and instead of being offended or upset, this person did understand where I was coming from and was accepting of my frustration with the situation. That says a lot about that individual right there.

Now, that certainly does not mean that I'm going to walk away from this fiasco, that has been my experience with the Optoma HD7300, a 'happy camper'. But, he did say that after examining my projector, he would call me to provide me with options (not sure what they would be). I guess I'm cautiously optimistic.

Besides the lamp flickering at less than 100 hours of use, this projector also does not like to display the Optoma logo for about 5 minutes or so after initial start up. I'm not sure if it would complete the start up routine if I weren't pushing input and menu buttons maybe a dozen times during this process. So, something new is going on with it. And, this happens EVERY single time I attempt to start it!

At first, I was thinking it was a severe case of the 'lamp not firing' issue, but now I'm not so sure. I DO see a faint illumination of the screen exactly where the image will appear, but no logo. During the process between start up and the logo eventually appearing, the projector cycles a few times between normal fan speed and high power speed a few times. This might be as I cycle through the input and menu buttons (trying to force the logo), it also could merely be coincidence.

Anyways, just wanted to keep those interested up to date. Optoma is sending me a shipping label so my projector is off to Optoma yet again. Hopefully, it won't be 3 weeks again like last time.

George

Ceiling mounting is an option supported by the manufacturer, so whether table or ceiling is irrelevant. It should perform to specs either way.

That's the way it should be but we all know in the real world things can be different. Case in point,They spec the bulb life to be 2000 hours. Who here has reached that? Most not even close. We all know heat rises so table mount verses ceiling mount will change this, just as mechanical stresses will be different. Don't know which is worse but for sure things will change

A good friend of mine when asked about specs said specs are lies created by marketing people in order to sell things.

I received a call this morning from the head of the Optoma tech and support team. There is one thing that is not in dispute as far as I'm concerned, and that is the Optoma reps are pleasant and really do seem eager to help.

I fired off a rather terse email and instead of being offended or upset, this person did understand where I was coming from and was accepting of my frustration with the situation. That says a lot about that individual right there.

Now, that certainly does not mean that I'm going to walk away from this fiasco, that has been my experience with the Optoma HD7300, a 'happy camper'. But, he did say that after examining my projector, he would call me to provide me with options (not sure what they would be). I guess I'm cautiously optimistic.

Besides the lamp flickering at less than 100 hours of use, this projector also does not like to display the Optoma logo for about 5 minutes or so after initial start up. I'm not sure if it would complete the start up routine if I weren't pushing input and menu buttons maybe a dozen times during this process. So, something new is going on with it. And, this happens EVERY single time I attempt to start it!

At first, I was thinking it was a severe case of the 'lamp not firing' issue, but now I'm not so sure. I DO see a faint illumination of the screen exactly where the image will appear, but no logo. During the process between start up and the logo eventually appearing, the projector cycles a few times between normal fan speed and high power speed a few times. This might be as I cycle through the input and menu buttons (trying to force the logo), it also could merely be coincidence.

Anyways, just wanted to keep those interested up to date. Optoma is sending me a shipping label so my projector is off to Optoma yet again. Hopefully, it won't be 3 weeks again like last time.

George

Not bad. I hope it turns out well for you! At least they pay for shipping. Marantz does not do that.

finally all ok for me (hd7300 without scaler with pc as source in dvi), starting it without source resolved the power up problem from when I tryed that trick (thanks to CaspianM), flickering idem, only at 160hr I had this problem, but using high lamp mode for some hours resolved it, and now at over 370hr no flickering, I can say that with Hd movie it's just fantastic absolutely fantastic...:)

A good friend of mine when asked about specs said specs are lies created by marketing people in order to sell things.

That is actually illegal. There will be "small print" that absolves them of responsibility for much of it, but not completely if they are lying.

Not bad. I hope it turns out well for you! At least they pay for shipping. Marantz does not do that.

They didn't pay for shipping for me... Either I got hosed or Optoma decided to pick up the tab due to the abnormal number of RMAs from on PJ

Could be. I remember reading a post by a guy that only buys BenQ because he lives in Irvine and can just walk the things over to them! I like it. Can't get away with that stuff living in Hawaii. We are lucky if they will even ship to us. I think I will go down to the beach, crack a beer, stare at the opalescent water and fume at the injustice of it all!

Want to trade abodes?

gireesh, you know anything about a runco dtv-947 and what's a good deal? Have a chance to get one.

Want to trade abodes?
Depends--where do you live? And are you OK with flying cockroaches the size of VWs? Well, maybe not that big!

gireesh, you know anything about a runco dtv-947 and what's a good deal? Have a chance to get one.

A runco DTV-947 is rebadged Barco 708. The DTV-947 package came with a scaler which is pretty darn weak by todays standards.

This is a 7" ES focus machine. It throws an OK 1080i picture but if you are going to go CRT, with todays prices, it does make much sense to go for anything less than a good 8" EM focus machine.

The 947 would be fun to play with, but I wouldn't pay more than $200-300 for it.

A runco DTV-947 is rebadged Barco 708. The DTV-947 package came with a scaler which is pretty darn weak by todays standards.

This is a 7" ES focus machine. It throws an OK 1080i picture but if you are going to go CRT, with todays prices, it does make much sense to go for anything less than a good 8" EM focus machine.

The 947 would be fun to play with, but I wouldn't pay more than $200-300 for it.

+1.
Examples of 8" EM are Sony G70. EC 8500, Nec XG and Barco 1209 and more.
Check out curtpalme.com for more detail.

Thanks for the feedback guys on the runco.

Depends--where do you live? And are you OK with flying cockroaches the size of VWs? Well, maybe not that big!

In cowboy country...

I grew up in the tropics, I am used to roaches the size of VWs:)

Thanks for the feedback guys on the runco.

Mike, I am cheap... I don't even read up on Runco equipment.

Did you guys hear about Denon selling $500 CAT5 cable? Talk about selling snake oil.

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/denon_sells_5_feet_of_cable_for_500/

In cowboy country...

I grew up in the tropics, I am used to roaches the size of VWs:)

No offense, but I don't know if I would do to well in Texas.

However, if you are ever out this way, we can always rope some B52 cockroaches and mount their heads so you can put them up on your trophy case!:rolleyes:

Or we could just watch some blu rays on whatever PJ I have at that time. Might be safer.:D

Cheers!

So any good or bad projector tales lately?

So any good or bad projector tales lately?

Check out the LED thread... no more bulb and start up issues once these babies come to market. Oooooh Haaaaaa!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14220817&posted=1#post14220817

Check out the LED thread... no more bulb and start up issues once these babies come to market. Oooooh Haaaaaa!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14220817&posted=1#post14220817

But now you'll have to deal with a whole new set of problems like any new technology brings with it. A bulb can be replaced by the user not an Power LED.

My HD7300 has started exhibiting the “No Logo” problem more and more often. Currently I’d estimate that it doesn’t start up on the first try about 10% of the time. There’s nothing worse than sitting down to watch a movie and having to wait 10 minutes for the projector to start up. I’m about ready to scream once it finally turns on.

For some reason, Optoma seems to be content with sending out a replacement projector instead of finding the root cause of the problem. I haven’t even bothered calling them about my problem because I know they will just send me a different unit that will have the same problem after 100-200 hours. I don’t have the flicker issue, so I guess I’m lucky. Has anyone actually gotten confirmation from Optoma about the root cause of the “No Logo” problem? I can’t believe that they won’t dedicate one R&D resource to find root cause. It’s not like they can’t reproduce the issue. Turn mine on 10 times and you’ll see it. Isn’t Optoma management embarrassed by the detect\return rate on this projector? Don’t they care that they have effectively lost thousands of potential repeat customers? If Optoma released the best 1080p projector on the market tomorrow for $200 I wouldn’t buy it. If they would put out a firmware update for my defective HD7300 then I would consider it. If it’s a defective component or poor design then re-spin the board and replace it. If that isn’t cost effective then give us all a favorable upgrade path toward a projector that doesn’t have this problem. How about upgrading our HD3000’s to 1080p for free as a show of good will?

The worst part of this whole thing is that none of up would put up with it if the projector didn’t throw such a beautiful picture. I know that when I upgrade to 1080p in a few years I won’t see much improvement over what this machine gives me today. Please Optoma, fix the root cause of the problem and stop pretending that sending out replacements is the answer. If an Engineer from Optoma is reading this, please forward it to your management.

Hey chrobins, I feel your pain, believe me.

So, how many times would you say that Optoma has replaced your projector? They only replaced my new HD7300 once, and since then it has been 'repaired' three times, with a fourth on the way.

Here is the latest, just received my HD7100 back. I was told they had replaced the lamp, did something with the ballast and repaired/replaced another piece (sorry I can not remember what, was told over the phone). Also, during the last 'repair', a couple of dust blobs were introduced to my projector (I never had any before) and they were less than careful with the lens, getting some sort of oil/lubricant on it. I notified my contact about this and was assured that both would be taken care of.

Well, neither was! In fact, the lens came back in much worse shape than it was even from the last time Optoma's tech 'repaired' it. It looked like someone had used a very dirty rag to hold the lens assembly during the 'repair'. It was scratched and had foreign material all over it. One of my greatest regrets was not getting a good digital picture of it before tackling the cleaning job myself. The dust blobs were in their exact same position.

Also, on to the 'repairs'. I noticed absolutely no difference with the projector after it was 'repaired' for the third time. I fired it up 5 times over the two weeks since I had it returned (was away for an entire week) and it failed to light the bulb properly 3 of those times. As well, the projector was returned with a brand new bulb, as indicated by the zero hours in the menu. Which quickly brought to mind, don't they test their work? If they had, they would have very quickly realized that their 'repair' efforts failed totally (well, the exception being no lamp flicker (but if history is any indication, I can count on that happening as well, just have to wait a 100 hours or so)).

So, there you have it.

Luck all,
George

I just this second received a call from my Optoma contact. He assures me he will be there in case I need service again. I do have to commend him, he really does seem very willing to help. I just don't see that I can have my projector 'repaired' again though, something different has to happen next time. One thing he said though, the HD7100 does take some time to fire the bulb and five minutes was not an issue (my characterization there) as far as he was concerned. Like I said earlier, if that is the only issue, I guess I can live with it. What I can't live with is the lamp flickering at 100 hours (and I don't mean a little fluctuation, I mean it looks like the lamp is about to explode).

I haven't sent mine back yet for the very reasons you mentioned. I'm guessing I have around 400-500hrs on the bulb but I haven't checked in a while. I'm afraid that if I send it in it will come back in worse shape than before. I don't have the lamp flicker issue, so I don't want to risk getting it back with that problem. I guess if I get a new bulb out of the deal then it might be worth it.

Since my last post the projector has gotten noticeably worse. It didn't start at all last night after the 3-4 retries. It finally gave up, so I powered it down and it started on the first try. According to Optoma 3-4 retries is acceptible :mad: I'll probably wait until closer to the end of the warranty period before I call Optoma. I also need to double check my startup sequence to see if that will help. I don't recall how I have my harmony remote configured.

the lamp flicker bug has appeared in eco mode. Did it last time at start up but went a way.
Kept reappearing throughout my viewing this time. Went to bright mode for short time.
solved the problem for about 45 minutes then reappeared only to have to go to bright mode several times to stop the flicker. My bulb only has 50 + hours on it. Will try running longer in bright mode next viewing. So few hours on the bulb, what a shame. need to find out bulb life info in bright mode verses eco mode.

I guess a lot of threads were lost here. Trying to revive interests. Solved scaler problem with cycling on and off every 2 hours. In the sevice menu set burnin to on, this will stop
this problem. This is a repeat of a lost thread

Is there a way to backup the existing firmware of the HD3000? Step by step for the less computer gifted?
Thanks in advance.

My lamp flicker went into remission which is good.

Sorry if this kind of post isn't allowed, but I'm looking to pick up an HD3000(just the scaler), anyone in this thread have one that they're looking to part with?

Long story, but my house was burgled while I was on vacation, and they nabbed all the light stuff out my rack...I guess that's the positive side to owning 80+lbs receivers:) But the hd3000 is gone, and I was hoping to keep the status quo for awhile until I can afford a completely new FP setup. So if someone is thinking of upgrading let me know via pm:)

Thanks guys,
Tristan

This HD3000 is locked at 720p and won't work with your HD81. Plus I think there's a interface problem being the HD81's HD3000 uses RS232 to receive the function menu's. I think the HD7100's HD3000 just gets hooked up with HDMI/DVI?

This HD3000 is locked at 720p and won't work with your HD81. Plus I think there's a interface problem being the HD81's HD3000 uses RS232 to receive the function menu's. I think the HD7100's HD3000 just gets hooked up with HDMI/DVI?
Tom,
I think all HD3000 have an RS232 with input/output capabilities and so do the HD7100 pj. I don't know if the HD7100 and the HD3000 can talk with each other through the RS232; however, they sure can talk to a connected computer.
By the way, Do you/anybody know how to back up the existing fw on the HD3000?
Thanks.

I still think you're going to have a problem with the HD81's HD3000 being used on a HD7100, pretty sure the firmware's different. You have to have Optoma do the firmware, I did it on my HD3000 and I was a little shaky when doing it. In fact they had to send me a new unit because the firmware didn't take. It had something to do with a miss hap on the download website, wasn't my fault. And no I can't give out the firmware :)

Long term report:

I am on projector #3. The previous 2 had immediate lamp fire problems and were returned. The third has had the same problem on a very intermittant basis. When it happens I am not at all pleased, but this one is much better than the other 2. Thanks to Optima for standing behind the product and replacing it when I had problems. I am now at 2687 hours. You can search for my other reports for the problems that i had.

I am now at 2687 hours

are those all on 1 lamp ?

I am at over 1200 hours and still going strong!

are those all on 1 lamp ?
One lamp on the third projector. I had a few hundred hours on each of the first 2 projectors.

You can see my set up in this thread: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=141415

My HTPC (ati hd4850) will not sync with the HD3000 via HDMI. If I send the signal directly to the projector, it works fine but I get the "no signal" error when sent to the scaler.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing my problem & the solution? I thought I read of someone having a similar issue but I cannot for the life of me find the posts.

Thanks!

My HTPC (ati hd4850) will not sync with the HD3000 via HDMI. If I send the signal directly to the projector, it works fine but I get the "no signal" error when sent to the scaler.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing my problem & the solution? I thought I read of someone having a similar issue but I cannot for the life of me find the posts.

Thanks!

check out gireesh's threads, he had lot of trouble syncing.

Hey fellas, been awhile. Just thought I would let you know what has been going on lately in my world...

I had purchased the Mitsubishi HC5500 1080 LCD (actually was able to try two of them out before deciding that LCD's are just not for me (if the Mits was indicative of the LCD technology in general)) and then moved onto the BenQ W5000 1080 DLP. I started with the InFocus IN72 480 DLP and then upgraded to the Optoma HD7100 720 DLP.

Anyways, in my opinion, the Mits could not hold a candle to the Optoma HD7100 720 DLP, let alone the BenQ. The image was flat and completely unremarkable. I have a colorimeter and tried and tried to get things dialed in but never could. As well, LCD's are prone to convergence issues and the Mits was no exception. I found mis-convergence to be quite annoying. Bottom line, I would choose the HD7100 over the HC5500 any day.

Now, onto the BenQ W5000. Wow, this projector really is the bomb. It calibrates really well, is quiet, and throws an amazing image with plenty of pop. Very reminiscent of the HD7100. Of course, you get more lumens, more pixels, and believe it or not, a very workable CMS. At this price point, one in a million on that score.

For you guys who were wondering how well the HD7100 would stack up against the new lower end 1080p LCD's, stop wondering. You got a great projector that beats the LCD's (at least the Mits, and if the Mits is indeed about what you could expect from the other low end LCD's) in almost every way. Pixel count alone is definitely not the deciding factor in whether to upgrade or not. Again, I would select the HD7100 over the Mits HC5500, without hesitation.

Now, how does the HD7100 hold up against the BenQ??? I would say, believe it or not, that the HD7100 provides about 70-80% of the image quality the BenQ does. The HD7100 threw one hell of an image. The BenQ has more resolution, more brightness, better blacks and a lot better shadow detail. It is very quiet and easy to calibrate. It wasn't as close to 'dialed in' out of the box as the HD7100 was. But, after calibration, very close to each other.

BenQ has a very good price on the refurbished W5000, very good.

Anyways, just wanted to jump in for a minute to let you guys know what I've been doing lately. Don't let the 'pixel envy' get to you too much, the HD7100 (when it works properly) throws a great image!

Luck all,
George

George, thanks a lot for your comments. I have been considering the LCD 1080p pjs.
In your comparison to the W5000, have you included the HD3000 at all, in with the HD7100 or may be both, HD7100 and W5000?
We will miss your posts in this thread.
Good luck,
Fermin.

George, thanks a lot for your comments. I have been considering the LCD 1080p pjs.
In your comparison to the W5000, have you included the HD3000 at all, in with the HD7100 or may be both, HD7100 and W5000?
We will miss your posts in this thread.
Good luck,
Fermin.

Hey Fermin, no I really only have viewed the mentioned projectors, IN72, HD7100, HC5500 and now the BenQ W5000 (and I only had the HC5500 for a couple of days, but I did have two of them (long story) so unless I got two funky units our of two...).

The W5000 has new firmware that has a CCA and CMS (jury might still be out on if the CMS is full featured or not). You are able to calibrate the color space and dial in the color. This makes as much difference in the end image as going from non-calibrated greyscale to calibrated greyscale, HUGE.

For the price, I think it the best bang for the buck (imho).

Good luck,
George

The HD3000 users manual says that new firmware can be downloaded from Optoma.com, of course there is nothing there... Did Optoma ever release downloadable firmware for the scaller, or is that just wishfull thinking. I noticed the owners manual says the vertical zoom is limited to 1.2x, but I set it to 1.33x for an anamorphic lens without problem. I haven't even taken the projector out of the box yet, just opened the scaller to see if it was 720p locked, and of course it is.

Has anyone had their HD3000s unlocked in Canada? If so, who did you speak to at Optoma Canada? I'm going to call them tomorrow and see how far I can get. I just picked up the last HD7300/HD3000 package that they had left. Hoping to be able to use the HD3000 with 1080p projectors as well. Otherwise I'll have to just sell the pair.

The HD3000 users manual says that new firmware can be downloaded from Optoma.com, of course there is nothing there... Did Optoma ever release downloadable firmware for the scaller, or is that just wishfull thinking. I noticed the owners manual says the vertical zoom is limited to 1.2x, but I set it to 1.33x for an anamorphic lens without problem. I haven't even taken the projector out of the box yet, just opened the scaller to see if it was 720p locked, and of course it is.

Has anyone had their HD3000s unlocked in Canada? If so, who did you speak to at Optoma Canada? I'm going to call them tomorrow and see how far I can get. I just picked up the last HD7300/HD3000 package that they had left. Hoping to be able to use the HD3000 with 1080p projectors as well. Otherwise I'll have to just sell the pair.

I believe they no longer offer the upgrade.

I bought the HD7300 a while back and am just now getting around to setting up my homer theater and was looking for advice on the best setup options for a Blu-ray player...

I had hoped to use the Blu-ray's 1080p24 output mode get 1280x720@72Hz from HD3000 to the PJ. However, a search of this thread does not turn uo anyone who has said this will definitely work. There are some older posts that says there is tearing, etc., in this mode.

I assume 1080p24 via HDMI to HD3000, scaled to 720p72 will give the best results (all digital, no 3:2 pulldown). Can anyone confirm they have working setup in this mode and if so, are there any special settings required to make this work?

If 1080p24 via HDMI to HD3000, scaled & frame rate adjusted to 720p72 to PJ is not supported, what is the next best solution?

1080p60 via HDMI to HD3000, scaled to 720p60

3:2 pulldown implemented in Blu-ray player.
Is 1080p60 input even supported by the HD3000?

1080i60 via HDMI to HD3000, deinterlaced to 720p72

What does the Blu-ray player output in this case gven 24Hz progressive data?
Will HD3000 restore proper 24Hz cadence using the 60Hz input fields before tripling frame rate?

1080i60 via HDMI to HD3000, deinterlaced/scaled to 720p60

3:2 pulldown and scaling implemented in HD3000.

720p60 via HDMI to HD3000, w/no processing

3:2 pulldown and scaling implemented in Blu-ray player.

picked up an electrohome ecp4101 crt projector for next to nothing and am wondering what opinions are for this unit.

picked up an electrohome ecp4101 crt projector for next to nothing and am wondering what opinions are for this unit.

I hope it was VERY close to nothing.

This is a 7" electrostatic (ES) focus machine. Tube condition dictates how will it will focus and it will never focus even close to as well as an 8" electromagnetic (EM) machine. It will not fully resolve either 1080i or 720p, though 1080i is the best to run it in due to the lower bandwidth.

These machines were somewhat popular in home theater circles when the best digital projectors were horrid LCDs like the early Sonys costing $10,000 and the top CRT projectors where over $12,000. An ECP back then would go for a couple grand and be a bargain.

But times have changed. The only things it will do better than something like the HD7100 is absolute black level and on/off CR. Personally, I would not hang one of these today as the availability both in the CRT and digital world of projectors costing under $1000 (or even under $800) that are vastly superior.

I had hoped to use the Blu-ray's 1080p24 output mode get 1280x720@72Hz from HD3000 to the PJ. However, a search of this thread does not turn uo anyone who has said this will definitely work. There are some older posts that says there is tearing, etc., in this mode.

I'm using an HD7100 with a Lumagen scaler. I have some occassional tearing issues when outputing 720p/72 or 720p/48. 720p/60 always yields perfect results. I'm not sure what the issue is and if I can get perfect 720p/72 100% of the time.

I assume 1080p24 via HDMI to HD3000, scaled to 720p72 will give the best results (all digital, no 3:2 pulldown). Can anyone confirm they have working setup in this mode and if so, are there any special settings required to make this work?

You have to have your HD3000 "unlocked" to be able to output 72Hz. See this thread for details.

If 1080p24 via HDMI to HD3000, scaled & frame rate adjusted to 720p72 to PJ is not supported, what is the next best solution?

One thing to bear in mind is the downscaling is a relatively simple to effectively implement function (much easier that upscaling). I'm not familiar with the HD3000, but I doubt it will accept 1080p/60. If it accepts 1080p/24, that is your best bet--period. If it does not, than you have likely two choices:1080i/60 or 720p/60. If the HD3000 has a good film-mode deinterlacer, than 1080i/60 would most likely be the best. However, given that downscaling is easy, outputting 720p/60 from the player will either yield extremely similar or exact results.

As far as getting the frame rate correct, if the scaler correctly handles the 3:2 factoring in drop frames, etc, then conversion from 60 to 72 should be similar or identical to 24 to 72 (the 24 to 72 is just so much easier because there is not "thinking" to do).

I hope it was VERY close to nothing.

This is a 7" electrostatic (ES) focus machine. Tube condition dictates how will it will focus and it will never focus even close to as well as an 8" electromagnetic (EM) machine. It will not fully resolve either 1080i or 720p, though 1080i is the best to run it in due to the lower bandwidth.

These machines were somewhat popular in home theater circles when the best digital projectors were horrid LCDs like the early Sonys costing $10,000 and the top CRT projectors where over $12,000. An ECP back then would go for a couple grand and be a bargain.

But times have changed. The only things it will do better than something like the HD7100 is absolute black level and on/off CR. Personally, I would not hang one of these today as the availability both in the CRT and digital world of projectors costing under $1000 (or even under $800) that are vastly superior.

picked it up for 100 pecos(translated $). Except for its size I thought it would be fun to play with. Has less than 2000 hours on it. Has been sitting for a while. Thought I'd take the chance. There are also a couple of Kloss Novabeams available dirt cheap but not sure about these. I have the 7100 with the 3000 scaler I'm very happy with but decided another toy would be OK to play with. Didn't go with the Runco cause they wanted too much money for it.

You have to have your HD3000 "unlocked" to be able to output 72Hz. See this thread for details.
Thanks for the info. It's not 'unlocked', but I thought that was only to enable 1080p... I guess I am stuck with 720p60 output only.

One thing to bear in mind is the downscaling is a relatively simple to effectively implement function (much easier that upscaling). I'm not familiar with the HD3000, but I doubt it will accept 1080p/60. If it accepts 1080p/24, that is your best bet--period. If it does not, than you have likely two choices:1080i/60 or 720p/60. If the HD3000 has a good film-mode deinterlacer, than 1080i/60 would most likely be the best. However, given that downscaling is easy, outputting 720p/60 from the player will either yield extremely similar or exact results.

As far as getting the frame rate correct, if the scaler correctly handles the 3:2 factoring in drop frames, etc, then conversion from 60 to 72 should be similar or identical to 24 to 72 (the 24 to 72 is just so much easier because there is not "thinking" to do).

The unit has the Gennum GF9350 VXP video processor chip, and is billed in the manual as having "Studio-grade 480i/576i Standard Definition de-interlacing and 1080i High Definition de-interlacing." but this came out ~2 years ago so not sure how that compares with today's HW. The manual says it only accepts up to 1080i...

In addition to the Blu-ray player (leaning toward Samsung BD-P1500/2500), I'll be feeding HD content from an HD-DVR (Sony DHG-HDD250). I was hoping to get some definitive input as to whether there be much improvement if I use the HD3000 for de-interlacing/downscaling compared to just letting each of these units de-interlace 1080i and downscale to 720p.

If there is not much difference in the 1080i->720p performance, I still have to consider DVD playback since I have heard that DVD upscaling is not so good in many Blu-ray players. I assume the HD3000 will maximize the quality of that output as well if I just use 480i/480p mode from the player. I also want the best upscaling from the component out of my 400-disc Sony DVD changer.

FYI, I'll be feeding everything into an Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver for switching and HDMI conversion and then either direct to the projector or via the HD3000.

There are also a couple of Kloss Novabeams available dirt cheap but not sure about these.

Do not get these, they are video only (i.e. 480i only).

Didn't go with the Runco cause they wanted too much money for it.

Sam Runco originally made is living by painting things black and slapping a name plate on other peoples products (not a bad for making money if you can charge $4000 for a $10 paint job and $3 name plate!). As such the vast majority of the Runco CRTs are either NEC or Barco CRTs. What was the model number of the Runco?

HD3000 accepts 1080p@60hz. I will try 24 fps and will report back soon.

Do not get these, they are video only (i.e. 480i only).



Sam Runco originally made is living by painting things black and slapping a name plate on other peoples products (not a bad for making money if you can charge $4000 for a $10 paint job and $3 name plate!). As such the vast majority of the Runco CRTs are either NEC or Barco CRTs. What was the model number of the Runco?

A runco DTV-947 is rebadged Barco 708 from previous post. Guy wanted a Grand.

I am at 560 hours and no problems for now (I am crossing my fingers:)) the false starts was solved for me by remaining the pj connected and powering the source after the pj put the "black source searching" screen (in my case a pc), no flickering for now...I hope that anyone can solve his problems:)
I can say that if I would not pay it really low considering features and quality (top notch for the 720p sector), I would never buy a "lucky pj" at normal price...

I saw a comparison with others PJ some weeks agò, and this Pj would do a good impression also with good and very good 1080p dlp (I saw planar 8130 and Benq W1000) but the epson tw5000 and jvc are way superior in all terms...

must be crazy. picked up my second torus today 78". Now I own a 60" and 72" as well. Came upon this accidentily trying to google info on CRT projectors.

A runco DTV-947 is rebadged Barco 708 from previous post. Guy wanted a Grand.

Too much money by about $400.

BTW, you don't need to google, go to www.curtpalme.com

I bought an HD7300 ~1 year ago and have finally gotten the media room setup. I mounted the PJ and fired up a movie last night for the kids. However, today when setting up the 7.1 systems the PJ wasn't showing anything from the receiver (Onkyo TX-SR606 with HDMI out) during setup, and then I heard a pop and then nothing else from the PJ.

There is no blue light even though the power is good (tries several outlets). I even tried installing a spare bulb I got with the PJ, but no luck.

Does anyone have any advice? This is pretty disheartening since I have < 20 hours on the PJ so far....

pcbrew,
I would contact Optoma asap. Your pj should have about 2 more years of warranty.
Good luck.

Thanks. I emailed them just before posting but was hoping there might be some magic cure. I had just mounted it in the HT room we just finished when it went out so this was a big downer on Saturday. They responded today and with an RMA form and said it needed to come back home for a few days.

Looks like I won't be watching the Texas Tech/OU game on the big screen after all.

Can you confirm the warranty is for 3 years? They did not mention whether it was covered or not so I just emailed back asking about that.

I only had 2 incidents with this projector to date. The first time I turned it on and attempted to adjust the feet on the unit. A momentary loss of power resulted so I don't
attempt any movement once I power It on . The other time I tried another scaler through the vga input which resulted in the overtemp light coming onwhile sequencing through it's inputs. Don't know whether these were just quarks but I pretty much don't experiment with trying out other equipment and stay with my routine of placing most inputs through the 3000 and religiously power up with all equipment off until I get the Logo then I turn on the other units. Powering down while the bulb is cooling I shutdown all connected equipment.
Since I have my unit table mounted. I listen to the slight whine in the balast during starup. There's an initial whine and a 2nd whine just before the bulb strike, a momentary
dim flash followed shortly thereafter with the logo then the DVI search.
Then I know all is well so far.

pcbrew,
Yes, the standard warranty for the HD7300 is 3 years. The lamp is not included in the 3 year warranty.
However, the issue you described looks like power supply failure and your pj should be ok after repair.

Thanks for the info on the failure mode.
I just got the RMA paperwork from Optoma so I'll be sending the unit out soon.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that after the logo appears then I power up all the connected sources.

I listen to the slight whine in the balast during starup. There's an initial whine and a 2nd whine just before the bulb strike, a momentary
dim flash followed shortly thereafter with the logo then the DVI search.
Then I know all is well so far.

This is exactly what I do and it is always on DVI I never use any other input (as the DVI input is fed from my Lumagen scaler). It is a bit of a pain because I can't have the PJ in my remote's start up macros, but I'll live. Over 6 months of use so far and no incidents (knock on wood).

PCBrew, did you get your projector back? I'm curious which configuration you ended up going with for your Blu-ray player. My HD-DVD player is basically a paper weight at this point, so I'll be picking up a Blu-ray player after Xmas. I've been 100% satisfied with the picture when outputting 1080i from the HD-DVD player (HD-A2) and letting the HD3000 down convert to 720p/60hz. The HD-A2 doesn't output 1080p, so I've never been able to test 1080p. I was hoping to be able to feed the HD3000 1080p/24 from the Blu-ray player but no-one seems to know if that's actually supported.

Let us know how things worked out.

PCBrew, did you get your projector back? I'm curious which configuration you ended up going with for your Blu-ray player. My HD-DVD player is basically a paper weight at this point, so I'll be picking up a Blu-ray player after Xmas. I've been 100% satisfied with the picture when outputting 1080i from the HD-DVD player (HD-A2) and letting the HD3000 down convert to 720p/60hz. The HD-A2 doesn't output 1080p, so I've never been able to test 1080p. I was hoping to be able to feed the HD3000 1080p/24 from the Blu-ray player but no-one seems to know if that's actually supported.

Let us know how things worked out.

If your HD3000 is a "locked" one then it won't take 1080p. If it has been unlocked, or was the unrestricted model, I think to remember that someone posted that through firmware update his unit could accept 1080p 24Hz. However, I have never, ever seen a fw update at Optoma's site.
You may wish to do a search in this thread. Pls. let us know if you find something.
Good luck.

Hey all,
Been awhile since I've been on, but just wanted to let you know the panasonic bd35 i recently acquired does connect to the 3000 scaler and is auto detected at 1080p 60hz through the hdmi connection. It is better than 1080I picture quality. My hd3000 is also the standard locked unit. I tried to switch the player to 24 but it would not.......not supported.
Peace

For those with an HD7100 (without the scaler), I'm using mine with a lumagen. I input 1080p/24 from BD and HD DVD and the scaler outputs a frame rate locked 720p/72 and it looks great. The scaler also performs the vertical stretch for CIH as well as image quality tweaks (this PJ crushes black, but the Lumagen allows a parametric grayscale tweaking that has let me pull the PJ out of black a little faster without disturbing the whole gamma curve and making the image look washed out).

Hey all,
Been awhile since I've been on, but just wanted to let you know the panasonic bd35 i recently acquired does connect to the 3000 scaler and is auto detected at 1080p 60hz through the hdmi connection. It is better than 1080I picture quality. My hd3000 is also the standard locked unit. I tried to switch the player to 24 but it would not.......not supported.
Peace

Eric770,
This is great news because the HD3000 manual says (pg. 55) that it accepts as input 1080i at 60Hz and my own experience corroborates that; no 1080p input.
What is the fw version of your Hd3000?
Cheers.

HD3000-U720P C03 2006/05/04
Hope this helps, I definitely am enjoying the view.

Has anyone had problems getting HDMI signals recognized by their HD3000? None of the HDMI equipment that I have is detected by the unit! My PC, my new Dishnetwork VIP722 DVR, nor my DVD player will be detected. The PC and DVR both output at 720p and the DVD at 480i.

Have you tried to reset your hd3000 back to default settings.....maybe the timing or sync is out of whack....worth a try.

Have you tried to reset your hd3000 back to default settings.....maybe the timing or sync is out of whack....worth a try.

No I have not. Thanks for the tip; I'll give it a try when I get home.

I'm a bit hesitant on sending the unit in for RMA with some of the terrible stories which people have had with Optoma and their HD3000s(though I did send in my projector without problem)

Temporary use a short cable.. if solved you know it is the cable.
I have never had that issue since I switched to bluejean twisted pair 35'. Never have had false start either no matter what the sequence.

Temporary use a short cable.. if solved you know it is the cable.
I have never had that issue since I switched to bluejean twisted pair 35'. Never have had false start either no matter what the sequence.

The cables from the HD3000 to the projector is fine & am not have issues with false starts. I cannot get the HD3000 to recognize sources connected to it via HDMI. I am using a 3' HDMI cables.

Has anyone had problems getting HDMI signals recognized by their HD3000? None of the HDMI equipment that I have is detected by the unit! My PC, my new Dishnetwork VIP722 DVR, nor my DVD player will be detected. The PC and DVR both output at 720p and the DVD at 480i.

What DVD player are you using to get 480i via HDMI? Are you sure the HD3000 in the shipped configuration can do this?

CUPCAK3, are you using the small hdmi cable in your HD3000, you have to use it if you want to conect HDMI devices.

CUPCAK3, are you using the small hdmi cable in your HD3000, you have to use it if you want to conect HDMI devices.

No offense, but WTF does this mean? What is a "small HDMI cable" and what is (by extension) a "large HDMI cable"?

What DVD player are you using to get 480i via HDMI? Are you sure the HD3000 in the shipped configuration can do this?


It's some Panasonic model. You are correct on the 480i comment; I tried doing 720p before over HDMI but now send 480i over component (which at the time didn't bother me b/c my origional plan was to send 480i to the HD3000 anyways b/c the scaler is much better than in the cheap-o Panasonic)



CUPCAK3, are you using the small hdmi cable in your HD3000, you have to use it if you want to conect HDMI devices.

I am also confused by your comment. Pleas explain...

It's some Panasonic model. You are correct on the 480i comment; I tried doing 720p before over HDMI but now send 480i over component (which at the time didn't bother me b/c my origional plan was to send 480i to the HD3000 anyways b/c the scaler is much better than in the cheap-o Panasonic)

As an FYI, I'm using a Lumagen scaler which can do 480i over HDMI if the source device can send it (most can't). There are a couple Oppos that are fairly low priced that can do it.

I don't know about the HD3000, but assuming it has configurable EDID, I'm sending my Lumagen 480i from an LG BH100 DVD/blu-ray/HD DVD player. I have it set up so the player outputs 1080p/24 on BD/HD DVD and 480i on DVD. The playback is very good (better than the PS3 in my "casual testing"). The BH200 I think can also do this.

cupcake3,
Connect the av receiver "to" and "from" on the back of your 3000 with the 15cm hdmi cable. This is the short cable he is talking about. If you don't have one that short use a longer one. The other connections stay the same. Please reference the manual for more info.

Well, I was optimistic despite this thread. Bought a 7100 about 6-7 months ago despite the warnings in this thread. Hey, it was a good price!

Now, less that 150 hours later after completely faultless operation, and with friends coming over to watch a movie tonight, the lamp will not light at all and gets the "clicking" sound noted in this thread.

So, a word to the wise, when there are "problem" threads, listen to the nay-sayers--they are right. Ignore those that say the product is fine. I will follow this advise ruthlessly now.

As for this POS and its POS company, I'm boxing the projector to off for repair (which from the looks of this thread, they will not repair but just send another POS destined to failure) and the search for a replacement begins as there is no way all hang this back up. I will NEVER buy another Optoma product and I will tell every single person that ever asks my opinion to NEVER ever buy an Optoma product.

Ouch!
I have had InFocus, Sharp, Sony and Optoma. All will fail in one way or another sooner or later.
In fact my Optoma 7300 has about 600 hrs now and waiting for it to fail soon.
sound like your power supply has gone bad.

1310 hours and going strong....Knock on wood!

Ouch!
I have had InFocus, Sharp, Sony and Optoma. All will fail in one way or another sooner or later.

This is true, guess you can't expect the 18000 hours my last CRT projector had (and still going strong) out of one of these!

However, what REALLY irks me is that these are known issues. I have the electrical arcing that has been reported in this thread. My projector was sold many months after others had reported this problem and send them in for repair. Optoma had time to correct the manufacturing defects or make allowances for those that got PJs with this well known defect.

So, I would expect that Optoma would either:
1) Have corrected the known issue before selling anymore to suckers (oh, sorry, I assume "sucker" is Optoma's internal term for "customer")
2) Be willing to really help those that have defective units purchased after Optoma chose not to correct the issues.

Well, since my PJ is exhibiting a common well known problem and was bought many many months after such problems were reported, we know that they did not do number 1. They decided to role the dice and gamble they were only screwing a few people.

So, I figure, there is no way a company won't take some sort of action to help a customer that they have knowingly sold a defective product to (i.e. since they decided to "gamble" take good care of those you screwed). Promote me to the "loaner program" thing and ship me a refurb or whatever (I offered to pay shipping both ways for a loaner) or something else like that.

Well, just got off the phone with Optoma customer support (including a supervisor). Nope, they are going to follow the RMA procedure to the letter despite the fact that:
1) My projector is exhibiting a defect well known to Optoma.
2) The PJ was sold to me months and months after the defect was known to Optoma
3) The projector is less than 8 months old.
4) The projector has less than 120 (I said 150 earlier, but I added up all the usage and there is no way it is even 120) hours of use.

So, if I'm lucky, I get my projector back sometime in early January.

I admit, I probably more upset that I would normally be due to the facts that:
1) Optoma knows about this defect and chose not to fix it or really take care of those with the problem, and
2) It broke right at the holiday season so we can't do our annual holiday movies in our theater. So, Merry effing Christmas from Optoma to me. :mad: No holiday movies at my house this year as we have done for the last 5 years!

The only consolation I guess is that I'm the "go to" home theater guy for the dozens of people in my company and personal life. I get to tell all of them to NEVER buy an Optoma product due to their extremely low quality and the company's unwillingness to correct manufacturing defects after they are reported.

The problem is, I can't really in good conscience sell the PJ to anyone else because it is such crap. Figuring what I spent on this PJ and how many many movies we have watched on it, each movie I watched on it cost me about $25 (which is actually more per movie than we spend going to the local 4K cinema!). Thank God I didn't pay $3500 for this thing!!!!

HD3000-U720P C03 2006/05/04
Hope this helps, I definitely am enjoying the view.

I have tried again to have my HD3000 accept a 1080p signal from my blu-ray player w/o success. The display unit would momentarily show a 1080p signal and then change that to a no signal msg. Maybe it depends on what display is the HD3000 connected to.
What display have you have your HD3000 connected to?
Thanks.

I have tried again to have my HD3000 accept a 1080p signal from my blu-ray player w/o success. The display unit would momentarily show a 1080p signal and then change that to a no signal msg. Maybe it depends on what display is the HD3000 connected to.
What display have you have your HD3000 connected to?
Thanks.

Optoma hd7100 and Panasonic bd35k......What firmware do you have on your hd3000? I'm suspecting newer versions are locked out more than the older versions?

Hey all, you know what? Well, I have connected my blu-ray player straight to the HD71000 trhough an HDMI to DVI cable and the resolutions reported by the player were Source:1080 24p and Output resolution: Source Direct, 1080 24p. The projector confirmed receiving a DVI signal at 1920x1080 at 24Hz horizontal and 26Khz vertical frequencies.
The PQ is great and the slow pans are glorious.
Thing is that the pj manual says the pj can take signals ranging from 25 to 75Hz Horizontal Frequency. See pg. 60 of the pj's user manual.
I guess the 25-75hz is only an approximation.
Would anybody like to try it and confirm/report findings?

Eric77,
Mine is exactly same as yours.

Cheers.

This is true, guess you can't expect the 18000 hours my last CRT projector had (and still going strong) out of one of these!

However, what REALLY irks me is that these are known issues. I have the electrical arcing that has been reported in this thread. My projector was sold many months after others had reported this problem and send them in for repair. Optoma had time to correct the manufacturing defects or make allowances for those that got PJs with this well known defect.

So, I would expect that Optoma would either:
1) Have corrected the known issue before selling anymore to suckers (oh, sorry, I assume "sucker" is Optoma's internal term for "customer")
2) Be willing to really help those that have defective units purchased after Optoma chose not to correct the issues.

Well, since my PJ is exhibiting a common well known problem and was bought many many months after such problems were reported, we know that they did not do number 1. They decided to role the dice and gamble they were only screwing a few people.

So, I figure, there is no way a company won't take some sort of action to help a customer that they have knowingly sold a defective product to (i.e. since they decided to "gamble" take good care of those you screwed). Promote me to the "loaner program" thing and ship me a refurb or whatever (I offered to pay shipping both ways for a loaner) or something else like that.

Well, just got off the phone with Optoma customer support (including a supervisor). Nope, they are going to follow the RMA procedure to the letter despite the fact that:
1) My projector is exhibiting a defect well known to Optoma.
2) The PJ was sold to me months and months after the defect was known to Optoma
3) The projector is less than 8 months old.
4) The projector has less than 120 (I said 150 earlier, but I added up all the usage and there is no way it is even 120) hours of use.

So, if I'm lucky, I get my projector back sometime in early January.

I admit, I probably more upset that I would normally be due to the facts that:
1) Optoma knows about this defect and chose not to fix it or really take care of those with the problem, and
2) It broke right at the holiday season so we can't do our annual holiday movies in our theater. So, Merry effing Christmas from Optoma to me. :mad: No holiday movies at my house this year as we have done for the last 5 years!

The only consolation I guess is that I'm the "go to" home theater guy for the dozens of people in my company and personal life. I get to tell all of them to NEVER buy an Optoma product due to their extremely low quality and the company's unwillingness to correct manufacturing defects after they are reported.

The problem is, I can't really in good conscience sell the PJ to anyone else because it is such crap. Figuring what I spent on this PJ and how many many movies we have watched on it, each movie I watched on it cost me about $25 (which is actually more per movie than we spend going to the local 4K cinema!). Thank God I didn't pay $3500 for this thing!!!!

I am not so certain that your problem is as common and/or wide spread AFAIK. Many have had false start but that is different.
Manufacturers don't correct these kinda anomolies but repair/modify as needed basis for cost reason. But I agree they should. These PJ's have very limited shelf life so don't expect too much. Get it fixed and enjoy it while it lasts.:)

Hey all, you know what? Well, I have connected my blu-ray player straight to the HD71000 trhough an HDMI to DVI cable and the resolutions reported by the player were Source:1080 24p and Output resolution: Source Direct, 1080 24p. The projector confirmed receiving a DVI signal at 1920x1080 at 24Hz horizontal and 26Khz vertical frequencies.
The PQ is great and the slow pans are glorious.
Thing is that the pj manual says the pj can take signals ranging from 25 to 75Hz Horizontal Frequency. See pg. 60 of the pj's user manual.
I guess the 25-75hz is only an approximation.
Would anybody like to try it and confirm/report findings?

Eric77,
Mine is exactly same as yours.

Cheers.

FGM, Thats great, Are you also able to connect through your hd3000 or am I the only lucky one able to accept 1080p @ 60hz to the 3000?

No offense, but WTF does this mean? What is a "small HDMI cable" and what is (by extension) a "large HDMI cable"?

There's a short cable that connects the scaler to the switcher(hd3000) that allows switching the various inputs to your projector. If this is not connected
you won't be able to use the internal switcher with the scaler

There's a short cable that connects the scaler to the switcher(hd3000) that allows switching the various inputs to your projector. If this is not connected
you won't be able to use the internal switcher with the scaler

Thanks for helping me in my HD3000 ignorance. So is this a proprietary cable? Not just any HDMI cable with work, but you need a short or small one that shipped with the unit?

I am not so certain that your problem is as common and/or wide spread AFAIK. Many have had false start but that is different.

It was reported in this thread and I found it reported on other home theater forums. When several units are returned for the same problem, I call it a "well known" problem from the manufacturers perspective. "Well known" does not necessarily mean "common". I would say that failures of this unit are "common", though I don't know if my particular issue is common.

Thanks for helping me in my HD3000 ignorance. So is this a proprietary cable? Not just any HDMI cable with work, but you need a short or small one that shipped with the unit?

It comes with the scaler it's somewhere around 6 to 12 inches long.

It comes with the scaler it's somewhere around 6 to 12 inches long.

I think it is a standard HDMI about 2" long. Can be replaced with any other HDMI cable.
I will be putting mine on videgon very soon as I am getting ready for another upgrade after the holiday. Is the new Optoma 1080p any good?

FGM, Thats great, Are you also able to connect through your hd3000 or am I the only lucky one able to accept 1080p @ 60hz to the 3000?

The best I can get through the HD3000 is 1080i at 60Hz converted to 720p 60hz.

The way I see it, if the bd is actually mastered at 1080p, 24hz, the bd player would have to interlace the signal to 1080i and change the timings/frame sequence in order to send to the HD3000 a 1080i, 60hz signal which will then have to be scaled and de-interlaced to 720p, 60hz (fixed resolution of locked processors) to be sent to the pj.
I think it would be much better to send the 1080p, 24hz signal straight to the pj and let the pj just do the scaling to 720p, 24hz.
Any comments on this? Anybody.
Has anybodyelse successfully send 1080p 24hz to the HD7100?
Thanks.

Hey all, you know what? Well, I have connected my blu-ray player straight to the HD71000 trhough an HDMI to DVI cable and the resolutions reported by the player were Source:1080 24p and Output resolution: Source Direct, 1080 24p. The projector confirmed receiving a DVI signal at 1920x1080 at 24Hz horizontal and 26Khz vertical frequencies.

Well ... 1080p@60 did not work (from bd1200 samsung to pj HDMI to DVI cable)
next will try 1080p@24, but i am not sure if i can "force" the 1080@24 with samy

I don't think 7100 would accept 1080p let alone 24 FPS.

I don't think 7100 would accept 1080p let alone 24 FPS.

Mine has done it! I connected Sony BDP-S301 straight to pj through HDMI to DVI cable and put player on1080p-24Hz and selected Source Direct with the Video Format on the remote. Voila, 1080p-24Hz.
Through the HD3000 I could not get 1080p-60hz, just 1080i or 720p.
I understand your incredulity, the HD7100 manual does not list ANY 1080p as compatible video resolution nor does it list any resolution at 24hz horizontal at all as compatible yet, my 7100 has done it
I would love to hear comments from other users that have actually tried this:D
Cheers.

You know even 1080p@24fps would be converted to 720P@60hz unless it supports 48hz. And not all titles support the 24fps anyway.
My HD-3000 would accept 1080p but not 24fps.

You know even 1080p@24fps would be converted to 720P@60hz unless it supports 48hz. And not all titles support the 24fps anyway.
My HD-3000 would accept 1080p but not 24fps.

Is your HD3000 the unlocked type?

You know even 1080p@24fps would be converted to 720P@60hz unless it supports 48hz.

Yes, but I guess that it is better that the pj does the conversion to its native resolution from the full original 1080p-24hz signal than the player scales it down to 1080i and converts the signal from 24 to 60hz AND then the pj has to scale this 1080i to 720p.
In any case, the HD7100 does support 48hz in its NATIVE mode and based in my later observations-experience it does support 24HZ as well.
Any comments on this? Anybody?
Thanks

I sure did not know it supports 24hz. That would be a good thing.
My hd-3000 is 720 version. When I set ps3 to 24 it get blank from the pj so there is no handshake.
I have never run the pj w/o the hd3k so I don't know. I like to have the hd3k mated cause it offers so much tweak including primeries and secondaries, side masking, HD color, gamma and so forth.

Well ... 1080p@60 did not work (from bd1200 samsung to pj HDMI to DVI cable)
next will try 1080p@24, but i am not sure if i can "force" the 1080@24 with samy

I could not make the HD7100 accept 1080p/60hz from the Sony BDP-S301 player either but 1080p/24hz works if connected directly to the BD player. The HD3000 will not take neither 1080p signals.
The projector's bulb is closed to 1300 hrs of use and still going strong :)
Anyone else getting the pj accept a 1080p signal pls. come forth and let us know.
Does anyone know of other short throw DLP 720p pjs that accept 1080p signals?

[QUOTE=FGM;15407498]
The projector's bulb is closed to 1300 hrs of use and still going strong :)


What's your average viewing per day just to see how many on and off cycles you've gone through. It's nice to hear someone is getting good hours out of the bulb

[QUOTE=FGM;15407498]
The projector's bulb is closed to 1300 hrs of use and still going strong :)


What's your average viewing per day just to see how many on and off cycles you've gone through. It's nice to hear someone is getting good hours out of the bulb

The hours of use per strike is roughly about 2 or maybe a little higher. So say around 600 stikes at the econo level.

CUPCAK3, are you using the small hdmi cable in your HD3000, you have to use it if you want to conect HDMI devices.

Hey Poli,
Welcome back to the forum; it has been a while.
Are you still using your HD3000 for 50Hz DVDs?
What is the standard frequency of 1080p Blu-ray in PAL countries? Can you get your pj and vp to accept 1080p at 50hz?
You may have noticed that I have posted my pj takes 1080p at 24hz which is not listed as a compatible signal resolution/frequency in the user manual. I find this is very positive and pleasant surprise for the HD7100/7300 owners. Have you tried that with yours?

Happy New Year to all!!

Hi FGM, how are you doing... yes, I'm using my HD3K 50Hz for DVD´s. I have around 800 hours in my projector now. I use for my Blue ray 1080p/24 and it works fine with the HD3K, also, I can use Blu ray with 60Hz, if I use 50hz with my blue ray, it does not work properly..it jumps..also I bought two optoma lamps in newegg for $200.00, I´m very happy with the quality of the picture and I think that the quality of this projector is better than a 1080p lcd low model. I would like to buy now a better Blu ray player, like the Pioneer LX91 or the Denon 3800, I can tell the diffenrence in sound between my dvd player and my Sony Blue ray.
I have tried my blu ray straight to the projector and it works at 1080p 60Hz and also 1080p/24. if I try to use my hd3k at 1080P, my projector will not find any signal.

Happy new year..

I bought two optoma lamps in newegg for $200.00

Poli,
was this each? I looked for the lamp at newegg but no hits. How long ago?

mkoss, I paid for both lamps $200, it was an offer they had for a few days, I bought them around a year ago. I think they are from the offer they had with the projector with two free bulbs, you can read in the box (free lamp promo), that's why I bought two of them, I read so many things about problems with the bulbs.. and the lamp cost in Spain 500 Euros each.

I would like to buy now a better Blu ray player, like the Pioneer LX91 or the Denon 3800, I can tell the diffenrence in sound between my dvd player and my Sony Blue ray.
I have tried my blu ray straight to the projector and it works at 1080p 60Hz and also 1080p/24. if I try to use my hd3k at 1080P, my projector will not find any signal.

I find it very exciting that the HD7100/7300 can accept 1080p at 24hz and 60hz. My HD7100 will not accept 1080p/60hz from the Sony S300. What model is your Sony BD player? Maybe the HD7300 accepts 1080p/60hz and the 7100 does not? May be our projectors have different fw? I will check the fw on my pj and report it. What is yours? I hope that other users start reporting their experience with 1080p signals into the pjs.

For quality of sound what dvd player are you using?

Thanks.

FGM, Is your scaler opened up or the 720p version?

FGM, Is your scaler opened up or the 720p version?

720p.

I have the Sony S500, and my hd3000 is open to 1080p, how do I know what firmware is my projector?

Mines unlocked, I will check available resolutions tonight,although I think 1080p 24hz would have required a hardware change(not just firmware) that I opted out of that would have delayed my scaler return.

Mines unlocked, I will check available resolutions tonight,although I think 1080p 24hz would have required a hardware change(not just firmware) that I opted out of that would have delayed my scaler return.

If your HD3000 is unlocked it should have the capability to give you, as per the user's guide (pg. 53), 1080p at 48, 50 and 60hz.
If you try connecting a Blu-ray player straight to the pj, you may get the pj to show 1080p/24hz. My pj does not accept 1080p/60hz but other users have reported that their pjs do.
Pls. let us know what your results are if you try it.

I have the Sony S500, and my hd3000 is open to 1080p, how do I know what firmware is my projector?

Poli, this is an excellent question. I thought the info would be readily available somewhere in the menu but I have not found it yet if it is there. I have reviewed the user's manual and it appears to be silent about fw.
Perhaps Guitarman or other advanced users could throw some light into this, hey Tom?

I would like to buy now a better Blu ray player, like the Pioneer LX91 or the Denon 3800, I can tell the diffenrence in sound between my dvd player and my Sony Blue ray.


Are you suggesting that you hear better sound quality out of your dvd player than out of your S500?

yes, I have a Vincent SDV-3 multiformat DVD player and the sound is better,with blu ray it sound better that DVD’s that's why I want to buy a Hi end blu ray player, but prices are still a way to high, I will wait to get it when prices come down, I have in mind: Pioneer Lx91, Denon 3808 and the Sony s5000, my pre-amp don’t have hdmi connections and I need a player to convert the audio signals to pcm/analog, I have read some reviews of these 3 models and they said the sound on these are very good.
mkoss, if you want to have 1080p/24 you need to have only a firmware updated, I remember that guitarman talked about it when I had problems with my HD3k, by the way, when I sent my scaler to Optoma they had to change the hole mother board, that’s why I could not get anything to show, it was out of order.

mkoss, if you want to have 1080p/24 you need to have only a firmware updated, I remember that guitarman talked about it when I had problems with my HD3k, by the way, when I sent my scaler to Optoma they had to change the hole mother board, that’s why I could not get anything to show, it was out of order.

It's been a while(lastnovember 07) I had talked to them about the 24hz,72 hz 1080p feature, my recollection is a little fuzzy, but they told me they would need to make a chip(s) change besides firmware to do this and I opted out because they convinced me at the time I would not see any difference and it would also delay further in getting back the scaler. Considering the problems listed by people in this thread I didn't want to push my luck. Before I discovered how to exit the test loop they had it in, which cycled power every 2 hours, the firmware version would always show in the star up menu. Now I'm not sure how to get in to view it now.

It's the same version as listed by gireesh a while back. He has'nt posted for some time and probably moved on since he had so many problems.

Also a little off topic but you guys might be interested in a new stand alone media player(Western Digital) that forgoes needing a HTPC and plays directly from a hardrive. A firmware upgrade includes 1080p 24hz(haven't installed it yet). Has HDMI output.

The following are the resolutions and frequencies the HD3000 can output:
1280x720p 50/60/72 Hz (default 60Hz)
1024x768p 50/60/72 Hz (Native resolution for some 16x9 Plasma TVs)
1280x768p 50/60/72 Hz (Native resolution for LCD TV and plasma TV)
1366x768p 50/60 Hz (Native resolution for 16x9 plasma TV)
1920x1080p 48/50/60 Hz
If possible, select the native resolution of your display as the output resolution of the HD3000.

The above resolutions where available from the scaler in the menu as listed in the manual. I didn't have a chance to bypass the scaler and check if it will accept the sony blue ray at 1080P 24hz. I will do this weekend.

mkoss, those are the resolution I have in my scaler, I have set up my Sony dvd player to 1080p and in the option fo 24fps I set it up in "yes", and it works, I think it converts the signal to 60Hz.

mkoss, those are the resolution I have in my scaler, I have set up my Sony dvd player to 1080p and in the option fo 24fps I set it up in "yes", and it works, I think it converts the signal to 60Hz.

What converts the signal to 60Hz?
I believe that the Sony S300 has 2 1080p possible outputs through HDMI, the regular at 60hz that comes out of the 1080p setting choice of output resolutions and out of the Auto setting if the display is compatible with 1080p/60hz and the 1080p/24hz that comes out of the Source Direct setting (when 24fps set on "yes") if the display is compatible with 1080p/24hz.
I beleive the Sony S500 is very similar to that.
My HD7100 accepts the Source Direct 1080p/24hz signal but does not accept the 1080p/60hz. Actually, when the pj gets a 1080p/60hz signal it goes weird and I have to turn it off and on to get it accepting video signals normally again.
I understand that your pj accepts 1080p/60hz and there is probably a fw difference but I don't know how to check the pj's fw version. Can anybody shed some light into this?
Cheers.

the scaler is what does everything, the projector is receiving 720p 50 or 60 Hz, when I want to watch a blu ray it has to be set up to 720p 60Hz and the blu ray video format output is set to 1080p 24hz.

If possible, select the native resolution of your display as the output resolution of the HD3000.

I interpret this to mean that it does no good to set the output of the scaler to 1080P if your projector is 720P, otherwise the projector scaler will potentially rescale to 720P. Correct me if I'm wrong

If possible, select the native resolution of your display as the output resolution of the HD3000.

I interpret this to mean that it does no good to set the output of the scaler to 1080P if your projector is 720P, otherwise the projector scaler will potentially rescale to 720P. Correct me if I'm wrong

Yes, it does no good if you want to keep the timing of 60hz, since the signal is going to be scaled down to 720p anyhow AND the HD3000 is believed to have a better scaler than the pj.
However, in my case the HD3000 does not accept 1080p of any kind but the pj accepts 1080p/24Hz which is the mastered resolution/timing of most modern blu-ray disks and I like 24fps:D So, I assume that if I connect the player direct to the pj, in this configuration the pj does a straight scaling of the received 1080p/24hz signal down to 720p/24hz: no interlacing from 1080p to 1080i, no 24hz to 60hz conversion, no de-interlacing to a final 720p.
If I connect the player to the pj through the HD3000 then the highest resolution the player may send to the scaler is 1080i/60hz. So, in this configuration I assume there is an initial interlacing at the blu-ray player from 1080p to 1080i and a change from 24hz to 60hz followed by a subsequent de-interlacing and scaling at the scaler from 1080i to 720p. All of this seems like a lot more signal processing and likely signal deterioration.
Can anyone in the know confirm or correct the above assumptions?

Actually I wonder how any of your HD3000 do accept 1080p since the user's guide says that highest resolution supported is 1080i which is what my HD3000 does :confused: Perhaps it is a fw improvement??

Thanks.

1080p/24hz signal down to 720p/24hz

can you pls. check what is your pj displaying (in pj menu) when you send the 1080p/24Hz, is it "720p/24hz" ?

can you pls. check what is your pj displaying (in pj menu) when you send the 1080p/24Hz, is it "720p/24hz" ?

Yes, the pj reports 1280x720 at 24hz :)

Last night I was watching my HD7100 and a white dot appered on the screen. The lens on the unit is clean. It looks as if a 1/16th of an inch square block has been removed from the picture. I never saw it before. Has anyone had this problem? Any suggestions about what It might be?

It's a stuck pixel, it may free up on it's own. But if you're still under warranty pretty sure Optoma has a zero dead pixel policy. Call them up

I just received my PS3 which I purchased primarily for the Blu-Ray player. Hooked it up to my 50" Panasonic 720p and it displayed a great picture. Then I tried hooking it up to my HD7100 and I get nothing.....nada. I looked thru the 7100's menu to see if I needed to change a setting and could find nothing. I have the Blu_Ray output set at "automatic" and it is feeding the signal thru an HDMI-DVI cable to the projector. Any suggestions?

I just received my PS3 which I purchased primarily for the Blu-Ray player. Hooked it up to my 50" Panasonic 720p and it displayed a great picture. Then I tried hooking it up to my HD7100 and I get nothing.....nada. I looked thru the 7100's menu to see if I needed to change a setting and could find nothing. I have the Blu_Ray output set at "automatic" and it is feeding the signal thru an HDMI-DVI cable to the projector. Any suggestions?

You may try to force the native 720p resolution and see what happens. Don't forget to have the HD7100 ready to look for a DVI signal. If that works and the PS3 can produce a 1080p/24hz you may like to put it through to the pj and enjoy the glorious PQ that it gives.
Good luck.

just purchased a sony blu-ray 350 and hooked it up to the HDK3 and then the pj....the picture is fantastic except for the blacks...wherever there is black there is red sparkles...when the screen is all black the red sparkles look like a fountain coming from the base of the screen...does anyone know how to correct this...thanks

I went to the PS3 website and did the following prescribed voodoo procedure......I had already rset the Output settings to no avail...

"With certain televisions, the PLAYSTATION 3 may not automatically detect the HDMI source (TV) which it is plugged into, even after resetting the Video Output Setting (as described above). If resetting the Video Output Setting did not work, you may need to follow these steps to manually locate the HDMI source:



Connect both the AV Cable and the HDMI cable from the PLAYSTATION 3 to the corresponding (AV and HDMI) ports on your TV.


Proceed with resetting the Video Output Setting on the PLAYSTATION 3 again (follow the instructions above, and then continue to step 3).


Turn the TV channel to the corresponding "Input" or "Video" channel for the AV Cable connection.


Manually change the Video Output Settings to HDMI (follow the instructions below, then continue to step 5).


Now switch the "Input" or "Video" channel on the TV for the HDMI port the PLAYSTATION 3 is currently plugged into.


Accept the display settings for HDMI before the timer runs out (30 seconds). Highlight "Yes" and press the button.


You can now disconnect AV Cable from the PLAYSTATION 3 and the TV, as it is no longer needed."

I have no idea why connecting the AV cable to the 7100 at the same time the HDMI cable was connected would be necessary to enable the PJ to recognize the signal, but it worked. I then set the resolution to 720p and watched "Spiderwick Chronicles". It looked great. Then I changed accepted res to 1080I and it may look a little better. I'll try 1080p and get back to you.

Has anybody else here tried to send a 1080p/24Hz signal to the HD7100/7300 pj? :D
We would like to know how things went for you. ;)
Thanks.

My 7100 converted the signal to 1080 (I assume 1080i) 60hz. Watched Prince Caspian last night......great picture.

Has anybody else here tried to send a 1080p/24Hz signal to the HD7100/7300 pj? :D
We would like to know how things went for you. ;)
Thanks.
Not well for me, I'm afraid. Required resetting of my Panasonic DMP-BD55 before I could restore an image through my HD3000/HD7300.

Not well for me, I'm afraid. Required resetting of my Panasonic DMP-BD55 before I could restore an image through my HD3000/HD7300.

Were you connecting the Panasonic to the HD3000 and the VP to the pj? What were your connections and at what resolutions when you ceased to have an image on the pj?
My pj takes 1080p/24 from the Sony BDP-S301 but it does not accept 1080p/60 and if, in trying to change resolutions on the Sony, I go through 1080p/60 then I have to re-start the pj to get it working normally.
Other users here have reported their pjs accepting 1080p/60; go figure!

My 7100 converted the signal to 1080 (I assume 1080i) 60hz. Watched Prince Caspian last night......great picture.

What makes you think that the 7100 converted the signal to other than its native resolution of 720p?
In case you are not familiar with it, you may go to pj's main menu, options and then status to see on the screen the type of signal received by the pj, the resolution, the vertical frequency, the horizontal frequency and lamp timer hours of use.
The pj will scale a received, compatible signal to 720p.

I played with the projector last night, The best way for me is 720p, 1080p 24hz works but no very well the image is like divided..

Jose.

I played with the projector last night, The best way for me is 720p, 1080p 24hz works but no very well the image is like divided..

Jose.

At 1080p/24 my HD7100 shows some artifacts like you describe but I believe they are very much disk dependent. Some films just go through without showing any or hardly any noticeable artifacts.
On the other hand, if I choose a 720p output resolution at the player, when connected straight to the projector, the PQ that it produces is just as spectacular as with the 1080p/24 feed without the "splitting" artifacts but maybe with some loss in smoothness when playing the film's slow pans.
I think this higher PQ is due to the 1080p/24 original signal from the BD disk just being timed to 60hz (the 3:2 conversion thing) and scaled down to 720p with all that much original information. These processes appear to be done by the pj and/or the BD player quite nicely and without the interlacing/deinterlacing normally required with a 1080i signal. In support of these observations is the fact that I have never noticed this much clarity and 3 dimensional aspect to the picture when playing HD DVD films in my Toshiba D3 player (1080i) either connected straight to the pj or through the HD3000.
I would appreciate it if the users in the know here could correct me or comment on the above.:cool:
Have you guys already tried 1080p/24 on your pjs? Pls. let us know what you think.:)
Fermín
_

I have just added a HD3000 VPU to my setup, as I would use the CMS on my JVC HD350 (lacking this option). However, I am not able to access any of the advanced color-setups! The only color-setting available is the standard RGB gain and bias... I got my unit very cheap, perhaps this is a limited version or something? Anybode else experienced this?

My HTPC (ati hd4850) will not sync with the HD3000 via HDMI. If I send the signal directly to the projector, it works fine but I get the "no signal" error when sent to the scaler.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing my problem & the solution? I thought I read of someone having a similar issue but I cannot for the life of me find the posts.

Thanks!

Sorry, I have not been looking at this thread for a while.

I have very little luck with ATI cards and HD71(3)00. I finally gave up and bought an nVidia card and used some tools to capture the EDID data of the projector and write it back. I have not tried using an ATI card since, so I don't know it that corrected the problem with the ATI cards.

I do have an issue now with the nVidia card not syncing with the scaler. I will probably try reprogram the EDID data on the scaler in the next couple of weeks.

I have isolated the problem to a corruption occurring when the projector, HTPC and Dishnetwork 211 receiver is connected to an HDMI switch or the scaler and you try to switch between Dishnetwork receiver and the HTPC. The EDID data of the projector gets corrupted.

If I succeed, I shall post the tools and instructions here.

I used this thread as the starting point for my work:

http://www.geocities.com/jgeneedid/

I have just added a HD3000 VPU to my setup, as I would use the CMS on my JVC HD350 (lacking this option). However, I am not able to access any of the advanced color-setups! The only color-setting available is the standard RGB gain and bias... I got my unit very cheap, perhaps this is a limited version or something? Anybode else experienced this?

Have you tried to use the set up menu to identify the input signal to your VP?
The OSD menu on the HD3000 will show different display with each input. The OSD menu has 4 components to it. Set up and Image will offer to you lots of adjustments. You will want to take a look at the Image/Advance menu; most of the advanced CMS adjustments are there. Color vividness will allow you to adjust for brightness, saturation and hue for the main and secondary colors.
If you are wondering what I am talking about you probably need to take a look at the manual which is available in PDF format at the Optoma site in the US.
You should have access to most of the menu adjustments even if your HD3000 is "restricted" to 720p.
Good luck.

I will probably try reprogram the EDID data on the scaler in the next couple of weeks.


:cool:How do you access the EDID on the VP? Do you use the RS-232 connection?

:cool:How do you access the EDID on the VP? Do you use the RS-232 connection?

With an HTPC, you can read the EDID using various programs. If have have time, I shall post the tools here later today.

Also, only menu that is missing on a locked HD3000 is the Output Resolution menu. Rest I believe are the same.

1/21/09:

I have attached EDID tools that can used to read and edit and save the EDID back to device whose EDID is not protected. One has to assume that Optomo EDID is not protected as it seems to get corrupted by switches and scalers.

Use at your own risk. Writing wrong stuff to the projector may render it useless.


You can use the EDIDWrit application to read the EDID information. This can be done using any video card, ATI or nVidia. As far as I know, only nVidia cards will let you write the EDID back to the display device. If you have a dual head card, you can plug the DVI and VGA ports of the display to the two heads, use a clean DOS boot, and read and write information to the the display.

Use at your own risk.

That's the way I feel every time I turn on the projector
Although I've had pretty good luck lately approaching 400 hours.

Approaching 1300 hrs here. I am touching wood!

FGM, still have a good picture after 1300 hours?
Jose.

My HTPC (ati hd4850) will not sync with the HD3000 via HDMI. If I send the signal directly to the projector, it works fine but I get the "no signal" error when sent to the scaler.

Does anyone have an idea what could be causing my problem & the solution? I thought I read of someone having a similar issue but I cannot for the life of me find the posts.

Thanks!

What is precisely the resolution and frequency of the signal that is giving you problems with the VP?
Is your VP 720p "locked"?

FGM, still have a good picture after 1300 hours?
Jose.

Yes, the PQ is still excellent. Mind you, I project in a total light controlled room over a retro reflective Panoview Gray Wolf screen with a specified gain of 1.8; however, the room walls and ceiling are painted in some sort of off-white colour.
If I remember well, there is a substantial difference in picture brightness compared to that of the initial hours of the pj/lamp.
Do you guys have any experience with this issue of diminishing brightness; or should I say lightness?

I haven't noticed much change at about 400 hours but I'm using very high gain screens that I can have some ambient light. one's a true silver torus and the other is a silver PVC screen with frosted vinyl mounted on plexiglass with some curvature to minimize hotspotting. The former has so much gain it is perfectly viewable during the day with a
high lumen(2000) projector. My family room has many windows. If I didn't have so many home theater pj's now I thought it would be nice having an el cheapo at high lumens just for day viewing when I'm not so picky.

I am on about 850 hours, the picture is still very nice, I lost some lightness also.

Ok, I used DDCW program from EDIDWrit directory of the attachment above, read the EDID of the scaler and loaded the resultant file into Phoenix.EXE. What I found out is that Checksum of the EDID was wrong, that is why computers are having trouble reading the EDID and hence syncing with the HD3000.

Phoenix corrects the EDID for you. You need save the file and then using DDCW write the EDID back. That fixes the problem.

Now I can switch between sources, and I get picture on all three inputs back.

Ok, I used DDCW program from EDIDWrit directory of the attachment above, read the EDID of the scaler and loaded the resultant file into Phoenix.EXE. What I found out is that Checksum of the EDID was wrong, that is why computers are having trouble reading the EDID and hence syncing with the HD3000.

Phoenix corrects the EDID for you. You need save the file and then using DDCW write the EDID back. That fixes the problem.

Now I can switch between sources, and I get picture on all three inputs back.

Gireesh,
Thanks for Sharing with us the information on the EDID thing and the software to read it and so on!
I am not into computers and not at all into HTPC. I have an older laptop with vga, serial and parallel ports.
Any suggestion as to how I could connect the laptop into the HD3000 for taking a look at the EDID using the software you have suggested?
The pj has a vga input connector but the VP does not. I have a vga to vga cable, an RS-232 to RS-232 serial cable and a vga to component cable.
Any help/comments appreciated.

FGM,

Since your laptop does not have a DVI port, you will not be able to read the EDID information with the software I posted.

There are hardware EDID readers/writers available. I am not sure if it is worth paying the price.

If you connect the VGA cable to the projector, then you can read the EDID information for the projector's VGA port and not the DVI port. My VGA port never had any issues, but the DVI port did, till I reprogrammed it.

Does anyone have the projector connected to a PC via the DVI port?

If so, can you please post the output of the DDCW program in the attachment above using the command:

ddcw >HD7100.TXT

This will just read the EDID. Please do not specify any parameters.

FGM,

Since your laptop does not have a DVI port, you will not be able to read the EDID information with the software I posted.

There are hardware EDID readers/writers available. I am not sure if it is worth paying the price.

If you connect the VGA cable to the projector, then you can read the EDID information for the projector's VGA port and not the DVI port. My VGA port never had any issues, but the DVI port did, till I reprogrammed it.

So, is it correct that the pj has/may have separate/different EDIDs for different ports?

Does anyone have the projector connected to a PC via the DVI port?

If so, can you please post the output of the DDCW program in the attachment above using the command:

ddcw >HD7100.TXT

This will just read the EDID. Please do not specify any parameters.

Gireesh,
How does ddcw recognize your pj, as HD7100 or as HD7300?

I am planning to borrow a laptop with a hdmi port and connect it to the vp's hdmi ports and to the pj through an hdmi to dvi adaptor. Do you think that plan could work?

DDCW will recognize the projector as either 7100 or 7300 depending on when it was manufactured. The first HD7100 that I bought always showed up as HD7300 on my HTPC, even though it was just a projector, without the HD3000. The current unit is recognized by the PC as HD7100, even though it is part of HD7300. As you know, HD7300 is HD7100 + HD3000(neutered).

Each port of the projector has separate EDID, for example, in the 128 byte EDID string, one of the flags indicate whether the display is a flat panel or analog. DVI port is flagged flat panel, and VGA port is flagged analog.

I have not read all the three HDMI ports on the HD3000. My guess is they are all the same, as it represents the same device. There is an extension block that is not part of the standard EDID string. I have not read that yet. Powerstrip is capable of reading the extension block.

If you get a laptop with HDMI port, you can read the EDID data directly from the devices using DDCW. You will need to create a bootable disk and copy the entire contents of the EDIDWrit directory to that disk or pen drive.

Alternately, once you have hooked up the projector directly, and the scaler directly to your laptop, you can use Phoenix to read the EDID string from the registry. It will present you with EDID strings for all the display devices that you have ever (I think) that you attached to the laptop.

The projectors EDID will start with CLIO, and the scaler's will start with OMT (I think). These values are read by the driver and passed on to Windows when the monitors are attached.

I recommend that you use the Phoenix approach first, as long as the devices are detected by Windows. If they are not, you will need to hook up the device, and then in DOS mode, use the following commands:

DDCW - m x

where x is 0 for the first head, and 1 for the second head. In the case of the laptop, it is likely that 0 is for LCD display, and 1 is for the HDMI port. In my case, of the two DVI ports on my graphics card, the bottom one was 0, and the top one was 1.

If in case the projector is not recognized by the laptop, as long as it is connected to the laptop, DDCW should read the EDID. Same for the scaler.

I would first execute the DDCW command without any parameters. It will first output all the command line options and then after a second output the EDID string as set of 128 two character values.

Once you are comfortable with the program, you can pipe the output to a TXT file with

DDCW -m 1 >EDIDOUT.TXT

You have to then edit the EDIDOUT.TXT make it readable by Phoenix.

Once you make edits to in Phoenix, again I don't recommend anyone do this, you have to save the file as a .DAT file.

You have to then strip the .DAT file to create the .TXT file as shown in the middle. It is this 16 x 8 grid that DDCW uses to write data to the display device.

Output of DDCW will look like this at the end, after the brief pause:


00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 3E 8D 44 48 F4 03 00 00 16 10 01 03 68 5D 35 00 2F 6E E1 AB 54 4C 99 22 01 49 4A AF CE 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 64 19 00 40 41 00 26 30 18 88 36 00 A2 12 32 00 00 1E 00 00 00 FF 00 4F 52 30 31 36 32 32 41 31 30 31 32 0A 00 00 00 FC 00 4F 70 74 6F 6D 61 20 48 44 33 30 30 30 00 00 00 FD 00 32 4B 1E 50 0E 00 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 7C


You have to convert that by breaking it into 8 lines of 16 values each, look like:


00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 3E 8D 44 48 F4 03 00 00
16 10 01 03 68 5D 35 00 2F 6E E1 AB 54 4C 99 22
01 49 4A AF CE 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
01 01 01 01 01 01 64 19 00 40 41 00 26 30 18 88
36 00 A2 12 32 00 00 1E 00 00 00 FF 00 4F 52 30
31 36 32 32 41 31 30 31 32 0A 00 00 00 FC 00 4F
70 74 6F 6D 61 20 48 44 33 30 30 30 00 00 00 FD
00 32 4B 1E 50 0E 00 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 88


And then add the three header lines and "00 | " to this for Phoenix to read:


EDID BYTES:
0x 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
------------------------------------------------
00 | 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF 00 3E 8D 44 48 F4 03 00 00
10 | 16 10 01 03 68 5D 35 00 2F 6E E1 AB 54 4C 99 22
20 | 01 49 4A AF CE 00 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
30 | 01 01 01 01 01 01 64 19 00 40 41 00 26 30 18 88
40 | 36 00 A2 12 32 00 00 1E 00 00 00 FF 00 4F 52 30
50 | 31 36 32 32 41 31 30 31 32 0A 00 00 00 FC 00 4F
60 | 70 74 6F 6D 61 20 48 44 33 30 30 30 00 00 00 FD
70 | 00 32 4B 1E 50 0E 00 0A 20 20 20 20 20 20 00 88

Thank you everyone for your help. I gave up on the problem a while ago and will post back with my results.

FGM: Yes, mine is the 720p locked version.

Gireesh,
:cool::cool::cool: Thanks a million for your thorough explanations!

:mad::mad::mad::mad:My second bulb blew Sunday :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

:mad::mad::mad::mad:My second bulb blew Sunday :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Are you serious!!! I'm on my second one right now; the first one blew within 100 hrs and optoma replaced it. How many hrs did you have on it so far?



BTW, just to let everyone know. I was able to fix my HTPC by completely wiping all of my video drivers and reinstalling the newest release of catalyst. Not sure what ATI did, but it worked! Thank you to everyone for your help with this.

Looking back, I noticed dimming for last two to three weeks. I thought I was just imagining thing. Sure enough, the bulb blew after a few more hours, probably after about 20 hrs from the time dimming was noticed.


Now, I have a few questions for all of you...

What is your typical usage like?

How often do you turn on the projector?

How long does each session (power on to power down) last?

Do you leave the projector on (with the power to it, i.e., the blue light lit) all the time?

Thanks

Looking back, I noticed dimming for last two to three weeks. I thought I was just imagining thing. Sure enough, the bulb blew after a few more hours, probably after about 20 hrs from the time dimming was noticed.


Now, I have a few questions for all of you...

What is your typical usage like?

How often do you turn on the projector?

How long does each session (power on to power down) last?

Do you leave the projector on (with the power to it, i.e., the blue light lit) all the time?

Thanks

Geeresh,
Sorry to hear about your bulb problems.
My pj has a little over 1300 hrs on its original lamp.
I think on average I have used the pj like 3-4 times a week exclusively to watch movies and do some PQ tuning.
I turn on the projector just once per session and turn it off about 2-2.5 hours later. I used to start the source first and then the pj and it worked well for me for a long time. Then the pj started to fail projecting a picture even though the lamp was lighted and the sound was through. I had to switch sources, dvi and component, back and forth several times until the pj caught-on and showed a picture. When the pj started acting up in this way I started to turn the pj first and the source after the Optoma logo showed and that seemed to fix the problem.
I always cut the power down to the pj (blue light off) after the fan has stopped its cooling thing.
Pls. let us know how you go about bulb/lamp replacement. I think I should start getting ready for a quick replacement.
Cheers.

I have about 400 hours on my bulb.
I only use it on weekends so I put it away till then (I table mount mine)
3 to 4 hours useage with up to 6.
I always connect everything prior to applying any power including standby.
I will place the pj in standby anywhere from a half to an hour before using it, all source equipment is left unpowered.
I always power up the pj first until I see the logo and the search. There's always a distinct pattern to the startup that I monitor.
once the logo disappears after a short time I then power up my sources. I have a dvd player
that has startup pattern that lets me know everything is ok both color and brightness.
There is a momentary high brightness before going to ECO mode.
Most of my sources are routed through the scaler(HD3000).
When I'm ready to power down, I start the pj cool down cycle and shut all my sources
off during the cool down.
Once the pj has finished its cooling down(blue light no fans), I then turn off the power
to the projector.
I'm in the Northeast and my family room is always cool this time of the year so my pj does not see high ambient conditions during use.

What is your typical usage like? I have my projector on for anywhere between 2 and 18hrs / day

How often do you turn on the projector? I rarely turn it on more than once a day. Depending on the week, it is in use 3-7 days. Its our main "TV" though some days we go back to the living room to watch on the old CRT.

How long does each session (power on to power down) last?

Do you leave the projector on (with the power to it, i.e., the blue light lit) all the time? yes

My usual pj time is 3 1/2 hours, 4 days a week. I have a total of just over1,000 hours on the original lamp. I always turn the pj on first, then the source. I leave the power on (blue light on) except when I am traveling as I am now.

I question using the projector as a TV.....too finicky and delicate. Invest $650 in a 42" Panasonic 720p plasma for non-prime viewing, you´ll be happy and so will your 7100/7300.

I question using the projector as a TV.....too finicky and delicate. Invest $650 in a 42" Panasonic 720p plasma for non-prime viewing, you´ll be happy and so will your 7100/7300.


Too finicky and delicate? I'm not so sure about that but I am sure I'll never buy another optoma product again. Its too bad b/c it really does throw a nice picture, but this high end of a unit (for its time) should not have any sort of the problems it has.

I have a bulb warranty and an addition 2 yr warranty on the PJ. I'm good to go for while. I'd rather keep the $650 for the next screen or PJ.

My last projector, a Sony VPL-HS51 was our primary TV after my plasma blew in less than 13 months... fortunately, I bought it with Amex. Amex chose to issue me check for the full price of the Plasma, but I chose to wait for a year to buy a new one, so the Sony was my primary viewing machine for a year. It did not fail to turn on or blow the bulb even once... I retired it after 2000+ Hrs, because resale price of the HS51 on ebay plus the price of a new bulb was equal to the price of the 7300 + an extra bulb at newegg.com. For a couple of hundred dollars more, I could have gotten the Sharp XV12K... to this day, I regret my decision to go the with Optoma, because of the compatibility issues with my video cards and bulbs blowing quite frequently.

I use the projector 3 to 7 days a week, each session lasting anywhere from an hour and half to seven hours. I turn on the projector and then the scaler or HTPC, some times I bypass the scaler.

I turn on the projector and then the scaler or HTPC, some times I bypass the scaler.

Since my HD3000 is restricted to 720p AND it does not accept 1080p signals, when playing blu-ray films I always bypass the VP except in the rear occasions when the BD disk is 1080i instead of 1080p24. I have noticed that the 1080p 24hz direct into the pj gives the best results IF the bd disk does not produce a lot of spliting artifacts, which some bds do. If the bd does produce a lot of spliting artifacts then I let the bd player do the scaling straight from 1080p at 24hz to 720p at 60hz and this is in my view a better alternative that sending a 1080i signal to the VP.
I would like to know how you guys configure your systems to play bds.
Thanks

I did not know that the HD7100 (the projector part of HD7300 :) ) accepted 1080p @ 24Hz. Hmm... that is interesting.

HD3000 720p version accepts 1080p.

HD3000 720p version accepts 1080p.
I must confess that I was wrong and yes, I finally made my HD3000 to accept and scale a 1080/60p signal from the blu-ray player. It has been a pretty convoluted process because initially there were alternating 1080p/no signal msgs for a good 10 minutes with a blue screen most of the time until the main feature showed up and the whole thing stabilized and worked flawlessly to the end of the movie, Body of Lies. I had observed this initial behavior in the past but I surely was not patient long enough so I prematurely concluded no 1080/60p accepted.
Now I will enjoy the power scaling of the VP plus its great tuning capabilities.

CaspianM, have you observed anything like it when using 1080/60?

I am glad you tried it again.
Having said that I feed mine with 1080i. It looks better to my eyes.
I have not had any issues whatsoever with my combo.

Same here I love my combo. Also using 1080i now will go back to 720p just to get a point of reference again. The 3000 also makes my Hitachi pjx100 more enjoyable watching with
my PVC quasi-torus.

With regards to the Bulb issues people are having, I'm wondering whether there are just a bunch of bad bulbs out there, whereby it's the luck of the draw if you end up with one. There seems to be 1 extreme or the other. I wish I could get a copy of the ballast schematic. What happened to the days when manufacturers freely supplied them with equipment. Also the startups between my Optoma and the Hitachi are so different, which makes me wonder.

Well, tonight the HD3000 was acting up again when fed a 1080/60p signal from the bd player. I was playing Across the Universe, very nice film, great songs from the Beetles and some gorgeous photography by the way. The "1080p" and "no signal" msg dance went on and on and the pj would not show anything but a blue screen; switching back and forth with the remote between hdmi1 and 3 ports did not change anything. Then I thought to physically disconnect the hdmi terminal from port #1 on the back of the 3000 and stick it into port #3 and voila, the picture was shining in the screen and we were happy and watched the film.
Weird.
By the way, I find that feeding the VP with the 1080p signal gives a more defined picture, but hey, that may just be me. All is good and I enjoy my set up a lot ;)
Cheers.

Lost power last night for about a half hour. I lucked out in that I was out for dinner and not watching had I been home. My question is how many of you have lost power during a viewing and did you loose a bulb or was it's life seriously affected? I had a sine wave UPS given to me(no switchover time) which just needs a new battery and am thinking of using it now. How many of you use a UPS with your projector? do you know of any threads on this forum listing the pros and cons?

I need just the lamp housing for my HD7300. If someone has a burned lamp around, please email me. Thanks.

I bought my projector in November 2006. I have always had trouble with the lamp not turning on. It usually fires the second time, but always by the third try. This happens about every 25 days, and usually 2 or three days in a row. I now have 2250 hours on the original bulb (knock on wood), and although it has lost some of its brightness, I still run it in economy mode in a dark light controlled room on a 100" white screen with 1.3 gain.

What is your typical usage like?
mostly movies
How often do you turn on the projector
Only once each day
How long does each session (power on to power down) last?
2-3 hours, 7days a week
Do you leave the projector on (with the power to it, i.e., the blue light lit) all the time?
Power always applied to projector.


============================================================ ======
HELP!!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++==
I just got a Panasonic BD35 Blu-ray player, and am trying to calibrate the picture parameters in the Optoma with little luck. I have set the contrast and brightness with an Avia disk, but the color and tint adjustment lines are "grayed out" on the picture settings menu when using the DVI input, so I am unable to set them. The manual indicates that only the computer input won't allow color and tint to be adjusted. I have adjusted the color and tint on the component inputs. Does anyone know how to access the color and tint lines with the DVI input so they can be set, or why they can't be set? Thanks!

HELP!!!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++==
I just got a Panasonic BD35 Blu-ray player, and am trying to calibrate the picture parameters in the Optoma with little luck. I have set the contrast and brightness with an Avia disk, but the color and tint adjustment lines are "grayed out" on the picture settings menu when using the DVI input, so I am unable to set them. The manual indicates that only the computer input won't allow color and tint to be adjusted. I have adjusted the color and tint on the component inputs. Does anyone know how to access the color and tint lines with the DVI input so they can be set, or why they can't be set? Thanks!

The pj, in the service menu, gives access to adjustments of color saturation, lightness and tint for the primary and secondary colors. This is available also when in DVI input.
However, I am not sure if you would need a colorimeter to adjust them.

Thanks for reporting your experience with the bulb in your pj. It is refreshing to see that the failure of the bulb to strike the first time is not necessarily fatal or shortening the life of the lamp dramatically.
However, it remains a great nuisance :mad: