I am still new to the whole projector thing and I am having a weird problem with my HD70. If we are watching a movie that has any kind of bright flash in it (like a gun flash etc) the projector acts like it loses the signal and searches for a input. We were watching Saw II lastnight and every time it did a cut scene at the end where it flashed the projector would search for an input for about 3 seconds each time. The small menu comes up and is it shows "searching for input". :confused: Sometimes it will even go to one of the alternate inputs and then I have to put it back to RGB.

It almost seemed like how a speaker will clip when it's input is too high.

This is annoying as hell, any help is greatly appreciated.

Have you checked your cabling or tried different cables to eliminate that as a possiblilty?

I watched SawII just the other night on my HD70 and had no problems. There is a source lock feature though I've never had to use it. Maybe try that and see if it goes away.

I've tried the source lock and it still does it. It does not switch to different sources though.

It does it on all inputs with different cables and different sources. I've also tried different brightness levels and it still happens.

I'm at a loss on this one.

I can't imagine what it is either.
I do know that with the Infocus X1 one needed to upgrade the firmware if one was going to use HD sources. But the HD70 is already doing 720P so that can't be it. The symptom was the same however, losing sync when a white flash ocurred onscreen.

Not a real solution but what happens if you turn off all the other sources in the menu on the pj so that there is no other source to jump to? Also, have you covered your IR windows to see if for some weird reason the light is tripping a remote function?

That is weird. I would cover up all the IR windows too.
perhaps the projector is protesting the display of such wretched cinema that is known as Saw II... Just kidding. How long are your cables? What type of DVD player do you have?
Are you using component or HDMI?

Try to run the DVD source directly into the PJ bypassing any switchers/receivers and try to use 6 foot cabling to see if this fixes the problem. Sounds to me that your cable/switcher/receiver are faulty as it can't handle the higher bandwidth of the brighter scenes.

I haven't tried to cover the IR windows yet. I will try that.

The distance is 10 feet. Using Monster RGB cable for DVD and Monster S-video for Direct-TV. (Already had these cables from when I bought my rear projection TV and was suckered at Best Buy) Optoma supplied component cable for VCR, all direct wired, no switcher.

I used Saw II for an example as it was happening every couple of seconds. Maybe it was skeerd? :D

The DVD player is a combined VCR/DVD player with seperate outputs, but it is also happening on my HD Direct-TV DVR on the S-video.


I contacted Optoma support via the E-mail process and they said it was normal to do this and they requested the cable type and length. I replied back with the setup, cable type and lenght and never heard anything back. I tried calling Friday but nothing again.

I had this problem on my first HD70 where it would always go to the blue screen every other minute for no reason, i solved this problem by exchanging the projector.

Call Optoma back and tell them you want to talk to Robert S, he's excellent and will give you a exchange new unit no questions asked.
Also make sure Image AI is set to OFF.

Still having the issue. I just turned the image AI off as suggested. If it still happens I will request Mr. Robert. Thank you all for the help.

Dont know if this helps or not.......but mine was doing the same thing. I was using an upconverting dvd player and every time a bright flash would happen in the movie it would go to the blue searching for signal screen. I was using the component cable inputs. I switched to a HDMI cable and since then I have had NO issues whatsoever. Like I said don't know if it helps......good luck.

Still having the issue. I am going to try the HDMI cables before calling in to the support group again. Thanks for the ideas, I will keep everyone updated.

Try to run the DVD source directly into the PJ bypassing any switchers/receivers and try to use 6 foot cabling to see if this fixes the problem. Sounds to me that your cable/switcher/receiver are faulty as it can't handle the higher bandwidth of the brighter scenes.The brightness of the picture has nothing to do with the bandwidth of the signal.

The projector just went back to Optoma under a RMA. Still had the issue. They are being very helpful. I will post updates as I get them.

The projector just went back to Optoma under a RMA. Still had the issue. They are being very helpful. I will post updates as I get them.
Did you try Huey's alternative?: "run the DVD source directly into the PJ bypassing any switchers/receivers" I read what Resaebiunne said, but in my case, I found that my old Pioneer receiver was causing the same problem.

All are run directly to the projector, no switches. I have tried all the ports, all directly connected with different sources. Same issue on all, no matter the source or the port. They seem pretty interested in seeing the projector as they have not had one do this. It should be there by now, I'll have to run my RMA and see what the status is. They give you a link when they send it to you.

Projector has been running flawlessly for 2 months. They replaced the board and put in a new bulb. I wanted to make sure it was good before I posted back. This was done at no charge.

Thanks for the update Lead

I too just wanted to say that Optoma and Robert S has been a great help. My colors were dropping out and it wasn't faulty cabling or what not so I had it sent in, they worked on it, provided me with a report and sent it back next day. It's great when companies do that rather than Best Buy taking 4 weeks!!! Optoma took 5 days! I did sent it over 2nd day so that I can have it back much faster.

(they replaced the photo board (??) and the main logic board for no cost, good stuff!)

I've called Optoma many times last yr and it seems Robert is the best, he goes the extra distance, last yr i had some hd70 problems right before superbowl and i had a new hd70 in less than a week, my remote had no range and i waited months for a replacement remote.

Was on backorder from china, i had another problem where it would go dim so he sent me a new one, been great since.

Mine has this problem. It's something that has to be sent into Optoma to fix. I'm sending it in tomorrow for repair/replace.

Mine has this problem. It's something that has to be sent into Optoma to fix. I'm sending it in tomorrow for repair/replace.

Argg. Optoma's repair service has been sucking it up for me. I sent my unit in a few weeks ago. Got it back and they said the unit would not power on and so they replaced the power supply. That was never the issue so I have no idea how they came to that conclusion. The firmware was upgraded, but the unit still had the loss of signal issue. The new firmware does recover the signal much much faster though. Sent in the unit again. This time on Optoma's payment of shipping. I get a call back from my RMA guy Steve C and his repair service tells him they cannot reproduce the issue. I was very clear that I have this issue with multiple cables, multiple inputs, from multiple sources. The issue does not happen when those same sources and cables are run to my Sony Wega. I specified their best possible chance at reproducing the issue. Xmen 3 was the my test movie and also commericals on ESPN. So I'm still in limbo. The unit was still at their repair facility. They are telling me 3-4 day turn around. One other thing, they tried to get me to replace the lamp because it was "below factory light levels". The lamp is not under warranty. I've only got <1000 hrs on it. Kinda seems shady considering it's normal for the lamp to dim with use. I told them I would replace the lamp when it actually needs it. I haven't perceived a loss of light output.

Talked to Optoma again today. Their repair service, who incidentally is not Optoma, says they retested and still cannot reproduce. So they are sending me back my projector to test my side again. They also said to try to have source lock on, which I had already tried. The good thing is that if it still has the problem Optoma is going to replace my entire unit.

Could it be that your hdmi cable is too long and you are getting video dropouts since that happens when the cable is over 50 feet.

Might want to test the power outlet you are running the PJ off of.

same problem i'm having. guess ill be calling optoma tomorrow since there doesnt seem to be a real solution.

UPDATE---

fyi, i changed projectors and i get the same problem. for me it seems to be my ps3 or wii and not the projector. whenever there is an overly bright scene the screen goes blank and it takes a second or two for it to come back.

i decided to do some testing myself and found that the wii with component output does the clipping thing where composite output is fine. i dont have cables to test the other way with the ps3 and try hdmi but i will be testing that asap and ill post the results. btw, i went from the hd70 ot a mitsu hc1500... much better picture and a lot brighter imo.

another update-- tried the ps3 with hdmi and had no problems.

does this sound strange to anyone? anyone know why ps3/wii with component would cause clipping in high white scenes when cable over component has zero issues?