Hi!

I'm experiencing some issues with my HD81-LV and I was hoping that somebody could help me:

1) I've connected my HTPC to HDMI 2 on the scaler and I'm trying to get it to work at 24Hz. Unfortunately, the scaler doesn't seem to report the supported refresh rates correctly, so the display driver doesn't offer 24Hz directly. Therfore I'm using PowerStrip, which offers a standard timing for 1080p24. When I select this mode, the projector switches to 24Hz (it displays "Processing..." for a few seconds and the color wheel slows down audibly). HD playback is now smooth and everything seems to be fine. However, after a few seconds (between 5 and 30, it varies), the screen goes black for a second (NO "Processing.." is displayed!) and the color wheel spins up again. Obviously, the projector switches back to 60Hz, because HD playback stutters again. PowerStrip still reports the 24Hz mode, so the computer seems to output the signal correctly. What's going on? Why doesn't the projector stay in 24Hz mode? I've enabled the 24Hz in the options of the projector of course (when I set it to off it immediately switched back to 60Hz) and I've tried different graphics cards (Radeon 2600 Pro, X1800XT and nVidia 7600GS) under Vista and XP, but the result is always the same. Strange!

2) The brightness uniformity is very bad. The hot spot in the middle is much more visible than with the other projectors I had and the left side of the screen is visibly darker than the right side (ceiling projection). I've measured it with a light meter and the results for the left side are 10-20% lower than on the right side. Is this normal? I doubt it.

3) I'm a bit disappointed about the sharpness, because there is a visible blue and green halo around the pixels (e.g. in the on-screen menu of the projector - see the attached image). It looks like a convergence issue of LCD devices. I thought DLP should be perfectly sharp? Black text on a standard Windows screen at 1920x1080 therefore doesn't look black, but only grey and I can not focus it perfectly. Is this normal? (I must say I'm using almost the maxmimum zoom in a distance of almost 7 meters - maybe the optics just aren't good enough for image sizes of 4 meters?).

Please share your experiences concerning these issues, because they are really bothering me. Other than that, it's really a great device!

Thanks,
Martin

I have an HD81-LV, but don't have any 24p sources yet. I am assuming that you are enabling Film Mode 48Hz? I know of some HD81 owners who have had issues using HTPC's.

Regarding what looks like chromatic aberration, this is not typical of the three HD81's and one HD81-LV I've owned. I have seen a bit of blue fringing, but not green as well. Good optical qualiity is something the HD8x series is known for, able to resolve every pixel. I do know of an HD81 owner who had a unit that was soft and he sent it back. I would consider doing the same with your HD81-LV. I don't consider the CA that your
projector is exhibiting to be acceptable for a one-chip DLP projector.

Hi Jeff!

Thanks for your answer! Yes, I have film mode enabled (without it, the projector switches back to 60Hz immediately and not after a couple of seconds). This 24Hz issue is really bothering me, since HD material looks much smoother in 24 Hz.

Does nobody of the HD81-LV owners here use a computer to feed HD material (Blue Rays and HD-DVDs)? Which graphics card do you use? Does it work with 24Hz? How can I get it to work with 48Hz - maybe that's how it's supposed to work? Does anybody know the PowerStrip settings for 48Hz the LV will accept? All variations of 48Hz I've tried lead to a "No Signal" message.

My device will be picked up for repair tomorrow, so let's see if this will bring progress. I just fear they will not do anything, because here in Austria, Optoma's repairs are handled by some 3rd party company. I doubt that they will know anything about home theater stuff, since they are specialized in medical equippment - strange isn't it? Optoma can't even handle their own repairs in Europe. When I emailed them about the problems with my device, they just answered: "you can send it in for repair if you want" - so much for that company...

Because of this, I'd really like to know the experience of other LV users here, so that I can tell the repair company exactly what should work and how.

Thanks!
Martin