*Official* Optoma HD20 Thread - Page 102

Replaced my Color Wheel with the Optoma part all seems well for now but will have to adjust index and color durning the evening or earliy in the morning over the next few days.

I took pics and will post a short How To Do soon.

Rew

My friend says he never touched the index after he switched wheels

After a lot of research, one is to

The color wheel timing can be set in the service menu. This is done by displaying a red field and looking for any blue or green in the pattern. This is difficult to do by eye, but with instruments we can see the full color spectrum and look for any of the other primaries bleeding in.

I too have found color to be quite good leaving index as it was but will check it as part of my color calibration.

Thanks
Rew

I hope this is the proper thread for HD180 issues.
We recently purchased an HD180 (Costco) and connected it to our Denon AVR 4306 with an HTPC as a source. We have used this combination to play media through to a Sony 70" rear projection TV and now a Sony 60" LCD panel. At times we switch over to the Optoma projector, but we're having an issue:

With the resolution set to 1080p 60hz we will get extreme banding throughout the picture. I've tried changing every setting I can on the projector without luck. It will play well for a bit, but get worse. It's especially bad on the black bars outside a picture...but you can also see bands of "interference" in greens or reds.

I tried changing some settings on the HTPC and was able to get rid of the "interference" by reducing the screen refresh to 23hz (24). Anything higher (59 or 60) and the problem comes back.

We are using HDMI to connect the receiver to the projector.

The projector is supposed to handle 1080p 60...

Thanks for any help you can give me.

When you send a 24fps signal to the Optoma HD20 does it display the image at 30fps or 48fps?
I've seen both answers elsewhere on the forum, and just wanted to know which one was correct.
(wouldn't 48hz produce less/no judder as opposed to 30hz?)

Guys,

My Optoma HD20 has 2x2=4 dead/struck pixels. These pixels never change in color. They appear bright in dark background and vice versa.

Can someone explain what is actually happened and why? Sometimes I lost power supply during the projection, is this the reason of the problem?

The projector only goes down to 48hz. So a 24p signal is double framed for no judder 48hz playback.

Yes, it handles 1080/60p just fine. So you are using this with an HTPC. Have you tried 1080/60p from another source? Tried bypassing the receiver? I would try both of these things to make sure it's the HD180/HD20 with the issue.

Hi guys,

Just need to ask, have any of you used an anamorphic lens (or DIY) fitted to your HD20 to get 2:35 ? Just wondering if it can be done and if anyone here has done so. If you have, what are your experiences....? Thanks.

I'm looking at this PJ for my brother. With no lens shift how do I calculate how far down the PJ needs to be mounted from the ceiling...

I'm looking at a 92" inch 16:9 screen....which looks like i need to be between 10 and 12 feet back....the issue is, the ceiling are only 7'8" tall and the screen is actually under and 12" soffit...so the bottom of the soffit is at 6"8'.....its about 12" deep as well.

How would i figure how low the PJ needs to be mounted. That 10'-12' is going to put it directly above the second row riser....so if its too low, it might just not be feasible....

*EDIT*

K I actually found the answer...at least partially. The lens offset is 15% so on a 92" screen im looking at almost 7" of drop from centerline of the lens. So I think that we could make it work without bumping peoples heads.

Can you tilt a projector up or down without it screwing with the picture?...Within reason of course.

Looks like I may need to send the HD20 to Optoma. I've been having issues with the projector recently, where, if I have it on for a bit, then turn it off, and then attempt to turn it back on a few hours later, it will attempt to power on, but will not project anything. The green power light comes on, there's a sort of whirring noise (color wheel?), then the fan will kick in, then a red and an amber light will come on and flash. Usually if I unplug the projector for about a day, it will turn on, but today I've had it off for hours at a time, and it won't project when I plug it back in and turn on the power. This doesn't seem normal, and I didn't have this issue for the first few months of owning it. Also, when the projector does turn on, when the word "Optoma" flashes on the screen, the red swoosh above the word flickers green and maybe a couple other colors before settling on red. I don't have issues with color flickering as I've read in this thread other than when it first starts up, so not sure what that's all about. I was half tempted to just open it up, clean it myself, and see if that would resolve my issue rather than go through the hassle of sending it in to Optoma, but I didn't want to void the standard parts and labor warranty in case that didn't fix it.

For those who've returned their projectors, what's normal turn around time?

Projectorcentral's calculator will tell you exactly what your offset needs to be. Put in your values for screen size, calculate how far away you want to mount the projector, and then calculate your offset based on how far from the ceiling the top of the screen will be.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/Opto...ulator-pro.htm

Anyone know where I can get a replacement bulb for the HD20?

I was just watching the Lakers game, when I heard a "pop" and projector went black.

I have owned the HD20 since August 2009, with around 3400 hours or so on the bulb.

Look on eBay. I bought one from Hong Kong and it is the same as the original. Took about 10 days to get it though. There's another seller from east coast that also sells them. I actually got one from each and paid $60 more for the one from USA. Both are identical but if you are jones'n it will get there quicker.
These are just the bulb, not the housing. Easy to assemble into the housing and will save some coin.
My bulb barely lasted 2300 hrs.

Adrift -

I did an RMA on an HD-20 about a month ago. Optoma took about a business week to fix it, test it, and get it back in the mail to me. Similar issues as yours is having. Repair action was listed as 'replace part' or something like that. But the good news is that it has been perfect since. This was a refurb unit but it started giving me problems within weeks of purchase. Apparently not refurbed enough.

Ah, that sounds painless enough. Thanks for the input ctsteve!

I did end up trying to reseat the lamp, because of something I read in Onkyo's FAQ, but that didn't really help. Hopefully I didn't void the warranty by punching through the tape to get to the screw under it by doing that.

More projector woes. Last night I hooked up my new Onkyo HT-S5400 HTIB using a 15ft. highspeed HDMI cable from my HTPC to my receiver, and then a 25ft. highspeed HDMI cable from the receiver out to the HD20. I had mentioned in a previous post that the image projected from the HD20 was often very dim for me. xenon2000 agreed with me that it probably had something to do with a handshake issue with my previous 50' HDMI cable, well... that may not have been the case because the image was still dim after using shorter cables and the receiver.

Just to make sure, I swapped out the cables to different HDMI ports, but after doing this, the image projected on my screen was all scrambled looking. I could still bring up the Optoma menu, but could never get the image unscrambled even after plugging the cables back into the original ports. I thought maybe the scrambled image had something to do with the new receiver so I found a short HDMI cable for a macbook I had lying around and plugged that directly into the HD20... same results... scrambled image. So now I'm thinking its certainly an issue with my particular HD20. To make matters worse, I decided to take the projector down from its mount so it was easier to handle, as I turned the projector over I heard a rattling of some piece or part moving around in the unit.

The good news is I'm in the process of RMA-ing the unit with Optoma's tech support. Hopefully they'll be able to take care of me.

Anyways, just thought I'd post my recent experiences since I haven't seen any examples of others having similar issues in forum and web searches.

Out of curiosity, I've noticed that on some of the fan vents (especially the front one ) the plastic is slightly discolored yellowish. I'm assuming its from venting heat maybe, but I could be wrong, has anyone else noticed anything similar?

Edit to add: I just powered the projector on with the receiver in the mix and an image displayed. I'm chalking the scrambled image issue I had last night to overheating of the projector and its overall malfunctioning. I just got the RMA so will be sending it out today or tomorrow.

It was DEFINITELY the bulb, as when I took the lamp casing out, there was glass everywhere inside the projector. Replaced the lamp casing with one I got from buy.com and everything works again.

On a sidenote, I guess I never realized how much dimmer the old bulb had gotten over the course of time. Even the better half made a comment on how much "brighter" the picture was with the new bulb.

Anybody see anything similar to the issue here?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archi...t-1317192.html

My projector is having the exact same issue and am not sure if I should get it looked at under warranty (mine is under warranty for a few more months).

Post 2

Post 3

Well I learned enough from reading this thread that I feel like I may as well post my results.

I purchased the HD20 refurbished from Woot! for the now standard $649

I purchased this 119" Screen for $119
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JTDXOM

I used this mount from MonoPrice
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I used two of these wall plates
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I used this HDMI cable to run through the walls
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

My projector wound up being a little over 14' from the screen which allowed more than enough adjustment to get the image to fit just about perfect.

To avoid the problem of my HDMI cable becoming disconnected in the wall behind my cover plates I put a zip-tie on each and then zip-tied those together like this


At this point I was too tired to bother with splicing into the home wiring in the ceiling for power (it is a rental after all) and instead ran an extension cord through a $5 channel from Home Depot


To compare my new screen to the 32" tv I was using is pretty amusing (excuse the piles of junk)


So this is what all of the above gave me






At this point, would I have done anything differently? Nope. For what probably totals $900 I have what I consider a movie theater in my living room.

Is it all perfectly color corrected yet? No, but it doesn't make it any less awesome.

Is it better than the 50" plasma screen I was thinking about buying? Without a doubt. I still use my TV during the day which just makes using the projector that much more special because I'm not constantly using it.

Have any questions or comments? I'm all ears. Thanks again for all the help!

Very nice set up. Mine is almost identical to yours, except I used a 30ft monoprice cable and have not used a screen yet. I solved the wall plates issue by wrapping the connection with electrical tape in-wall. I have had mine set up for 4 months now, and have not had any issues. I did cut a hole in the ceiling for the HDMI/power, but have yet to run the electrical in my attic to the wall plate so I am also using an extension cord. Hasn't bothered the GF yet, so I have had little incentive to finish the electrical or buy a screen.

I'm looking for a permanently mounted screen instead of a rollup, or I might just do wall paint.

I wish I used a plate like that instead. Of two separate ones

It actually is two separate fixtures, but uses a common decora plate that I picked up at Home Depot. It was a pain finding a plate that had outlet on one side and decora on the other, but I finally got one. Then I simply used that plate instead of the one the HDMI adapter came with.

You could technically use a dual decora plate that you find anywhere. And use a decora surge protected outlet, and a decora HDMI plate.

I used 2 separate plates because I wanted and did use a recessed scoop plate for my HDMI, VGA, Component, and CAT5 cable. Which is for the 12v trigger and LED lighting. Not yet used. And I am using a one time hospital grade with alarm surge protector outlet since I can't put a power strip up there. lol.

After 3,800 hours on my first lamp I pulled it and replaced it with a brand new one from B&H Photo.
The Lamp from B&H died after 1400 hours.
No ones fault both lamps are original Optoma lamps.
I am just saying it is true these things can go out at any time.
Though it would have been nice to of gotten half the lamp life out of it.
Both lamps on economy settings. I put the dim lamp back in the HD20 and am going to order again from B&H.

Edit:
What part of the bulb in the lamp lights up? There is a glass tube inside the glass lamp but it is the wire that goes outside of that and to its side that broke.
The same place on the old lamp that still works is a little dark in the same place on the wire.

Hi well have had no problem with the HD20. Love it! But just turned black and white. Owned it almost 2 years and the bulb has 3500 hrs. Was about to replace the bulb, but picture is still watchable and sharp. Just a little dimmer. But it's a steady decline definitely not as bright than the first day. Has anyone sent theirs in to get repaired and if so how much and where? Don't feel confident about the color wheel. Bulbs I've done before no biggie.

Thank you for any advice.

Jason

Sounds like you had your color wheel shatter. If so inclined it is not hard to replace yourself at < $100 for parts and about 45 minutes taking your time.

You can find diassembly info earlier in this thread and I will try and post additional pics for the CW replacement soon.

It is not hard but that 's your call. But would replace lamp as well if it were me.

Rew

Sounds like you had your color wheel shatter. If so inclined it is not hard to replace yourself at < $100 for parts and about 45 minutes taking your time.

You can find diassembly info earlier in this thread and I will try and post additional pics for the CW replacement soon.

It is not hard but that 's your call. But would replace lamp as well if it were me.

Rew

Thanks Rew,

I would love any advice on the install. Yep a new lamp would be great too. How do these things shatter? Just use and/or overheating? If you wish to send it by email that would be great also. I thought I read there is a bit of tweaking or something once plugged in.

Thanks again,

Jason