*Official* Optoma HD20 Thread - Page 105

I don't know if this has been posted yet. Projector Central recently completed a shootout on the budget end including the HC4000, Epson 8350, BenQ W1200 and the HD20 among others. I thought that the HD20 may have fallen by the way-side but it really held it's own against the upper end budget pj's.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/home...80p_review.htm

Mine still really impresses me.

Thank you, I'll try this

Do you have a screen, or is the HD20 permanently mounted? It really sounds like you are getting horizontal keystone because the projector was moved to the left and losing 90 degree square of the screen/wall.

I was planning to upgrade my LCD TV into a projector, this is my first choice the HD20 but after checking this thread im kinda thinking now if im still going to get this stuff, looks like theres a lot of people experiencing problems with this product. This is a great forum by the way, just saw it while im doing some research on this projector.

It may seem to you that people are having more problems with this projector than most but in reality there are just more people that own this projector. By far most people will tell you that it's a great buy for the money and most people are very satisfied with the HD20. Other popular projectors 'seem' to have a lot of issues as well, just look at the 8350 thread. However it's a great budget projector like the HD20. No matter what you buy nothing is ever perfect.

I have been with this thread pretty much from the very start. And I don't expect you to take the time to read this huge thread. But if you did, you will find more positive posts than negative ones.

And if you compare the HD20 with other projectors in these threads, you will also find basically the same patterns. No projector (or product) is perfect. You will find plenty of stories of people with problems with products. Optoma stands behind their warranty and so you should rest assured. I also got mine from Costco (which they now sell the HD180) and so I know I am fine for 2 years.

I have also noticed in general that people with negative experiences tend to make more of an effort to share their thoughts in forums and review sites, than people with good experiences. Which means that what we see is likely skewed. So if you see 1 bad review for every 10 good ones, it likely means there are way more good experiences that were not shared making the bad ratio even lower. I don't have stats on that, but it seems that most people that avoid taking time to make reviews, will take the time when it means sharing a bad experience.

I don't think your question should be if you should get the HD20 or another projector. I think you might want to re-ask if you want to "replace" your LCD with a projector. Or "Supplement" your LCD with the addition of a projector.

I have both and I would not use one exclusively over the other.

How much is this thing going at Costco (HD20)? i was planning to get it at Amazon, but the 2 year warranty sounds much better.

You have to see if your local Costco sells it. Or do a search for HD180 on the US www.costco.com site. I bought my HD20 from Costco online when it first came out.

I agree with Xenon. I have my primary TV which is my Samsung LNB52750U and I love it, use it for daily TV watching...but I also made room in the budget for the HD20 for the home theater room so I had options. I love watching movies and playing video games on the HD20 at 105 inches. It makes such a difference. Most of my friends seem to enjoy the HD20 rainbow free, and prefer playing games or watching blurays on the HD20 vs the LCD TV. My wife prefers the regular LCD TV because she doesn't like always being in the dark in the theater room.
The HD20 even does fine with the lights on, but looks so much better in a light controlled room. For the price, the HD20 is a great alternative to your regular TV. It makes movies special, like they should be. We rarely go to the movies now, instead opting to wait for the Bluray to come out so we can enjoy it at home without talking people and overpriced food.
If you can afford both, I say go for it. You wont regret it.

Hey Guys, i just got this projector to try out to see if i will like it for a few days. Since i dont have it for very long, i dont have alot of time to calibrate it 100% perfect. Can anyone tell me what to calibrate the settings to? Is there a somewhat standard for the HD20? It would be used to test mostly movies and some TV.

Thanks

04rex, this should get you started:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1175774

This is what I've used. What do you have as a screen?

Right now i have a 106" screen (i think Accuscreen or something), in a basement with light control. I can make it Black.

Cool, keep us posted

The title explains why I am asking this question. I have an HD20 and feeding it from a PS3 is amazing. What I do not understand is when I switch to a Directv receiver (480I) the picture looks broken up and it looks like there are scan lines missing. I realize that the picture resolution is lower but I did not expect it to look as bad as it does. Is there a setting I am missing. On my flat screen Vizio it looks smooth. I would expect similar smoothness on the projector. Hope someone can help. Thanks.
johnf

John, can you elaborate on the connection from the DirecTV box to the HD20, like if there is a receiver in the mix, what type of cable, which HD20 port, settings, etc? If it looks amazing with the PS3 as a source then there's probably something wrong with the signal the HD20 is getting from your DirecTV box.

The directv receiver is fed via hdmi to a Pioneer 1021. Then from the pioneer to the projector via hdmi also. I have tried to run from the directv to the projector but the results are the same.
johnf

Try different HDMI cable

Sometimes re-seating the cable will also work. I had a similar issue with my satellite receiver when I first got my HD20. After re-seating the cable it has shown a solid picture.

Hey guys I've had my HD20 for about 6 months now and it is awesome. I"ll try not to make this winded but here it goes.

My Samsung DLP flat screen yesterday made a loud pop and screeching noise before smelling some burning. Unplugged it and when plugged back in it makes a wierd noise? (Any ideas?)

Well I took the hd cable box that was hooked up through hdmi on the tv and hooked it up to the hd20 which is run through a yamaha rx v367 receiver. I've had my xbox hooked up through hdmi no issues. I can get sound into the movie room from the cable but no picture on any of the sources on the HD20. Any suggestions?

When I disconnect and try an xbox I get picture and sound through the same hdmi cable.

Any help would be awesome. Now what to do with the Samsung DLP flatscreen.

Thanks Thirsty

Hey all, so I finally got my new color wheel from Optoma for my HD20 (been on back order for almost 6 weeks). I installed it last night and it fired up just fine and looked pretty good. Then about 5 minutes in, the colors started flickering and what seemed like they swapped (reds were blue and so on). I turned it off and unplugged it for about 5 minutes then turn it back on. Again about 5 minutes in and it started doing the same thing

I read online here and there that these symptoms are often due to dirt/dust inside the unit. But I cleaned it really well from dust before installing the new CW. I also read it could be out of sync? I pressed the re-sync button and it flashed the picture and the colors were good again, but only for a minute or so and back to the same issue. Any ideas? I remember Rew mentioning something about "changing the index value" and not to worry about it. Could this have something to do with it? I don't know what that term means.

I took it apart again and confirmed the inside is clean and so is the glass of the CW. It is mounted correctly and the sensor seems to be as in-line as it could be. I also confirmed the black strip is in the same place and size on the wheel for the sensor to look at. I am going to try to take a closer look to make sure the sensor it not dirty, but it looks decent in the mounted position.

This is so bumming me out, been waiting 6 weeks to get my PJ back up and it still isn't working. Optoma being the pathetic company they are said they won't give me any advice and to send it in but I can't because it's out of warranty.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Perps

Malkey - I am looking at getting the 100" version of your screen and wondering if attaching to the ceiling I need to buy mounting brackets? Looks like you screwed it directly to the joists above using the housing of the projector?

How do you like your screen still, do you recommend it?

On both ends of the screen there are metal loops. Like this: ^ sort of a triangular shape.

I cut a slot in my ceiling on each end for the loop to fit up in because I needed it mounted as high as possible. My house is old and the drywall also has a thick layer of plaster on it so the loops barely stuck through to the top side of the drywall. BTW I have an attic directly above which made it easy to work on.

I bought some 3/8" J bolts to hook through the loops, but they were too thick. So I first attached some thinner S hooks through the screen loops, then attached the top of the S hooks to the J hooks. The J hooks are bolted through a 2x4 that spans 2 ceiling joists on each end.

Do I still recommend the screen? I'm incredibly happy with it, yes. I have noticed that it's sometimes not perfectly flat, it can have a few ripples/waves. But, since it spends most of its life rolled up it is completely acceptable. I've only ever noticed the slight waves on a scene where the camera pans slowly from one side to the other. I doubt anyone but me has ever even noticed. Upon further inspection I can say the waves are NOT due to the center sagging as would be expected. It's almost as if the center arches slightly upward to combat gravity over the long term which I'm quite pleased about.

My setup continues to wow people every time they come over. The first time a guest comes over they usually shout a variety of profanities at the size of the screen and the clarity of the picture.

Hope that helps!

hey guys i need some help here. i have the optoma hd20 in my basement and for some time now, the colors have been flickering and i don't know what's wrong. under lamp settings it says i have watched 420 hours, and the website says it should last 3000-4000. pretty much what happens is when i turn it on, the colors are okay...but then after 5 minutes, the screen is constantly flickering with messed up colors and everything is off and it is hard to play xbox/watch movies/watch tv on it. please help

Are you on Low or High on the lamp setting?

Are the colors varying in intensity or is color constantly changing; out of sync?

Rew

Please post your complete setup. There can be many different factors. My issue was the Xbox HDMI and HDMI switch. Once the switch was gone everything worked great. Only had 720p via Xbox until I swapped out HDMI cables.

Once the basement is finished floor to ceiling will be 7 foot 7 inches.

My question is to mounting the projector. For a 100 inch screen projector central says from the middle of the lense to the top of the screen must be 7.8inches.

So I could mount the top of the optoma hd20 as close to the ceiling as possible and as long as the top of the screen is 7.8 below the lense everything should be ok?

I am asking because I am framing the bulkhead in the morning and instead of spending money on a mounting bracket I was thinking of building a recessed shelf into the bulkhead for the projector to sit on(assuming it has feet). The recessed shelf will sit about 8 inches down from the ceiling but I can raise the projector by stacking a few books under it to raise it, or should I not go this route? and stick with a mount?

Hey Guys, i seem to be having some trouble with my projector. I cant seem to connect my Laptop to it. When i try to, on the screen it is just weird lines of color. Thats it. What is the problem? I am connecting to through an HDMI cable and my laptop is a Dell laptop.

Thanks

Has anyone had any experience with the PCMD ceiling mounts?

I'm looking for a mount that will give me about 10-12 inch extension from ceiling to bottom of projector? Any suggestions for the Optoma HD 20?

Mine is about 7 1/2" to the center of the lense from the ceiling. My screen should really drop much much more than it does, but then it would cover my center channel speaker. So, I mounted the screen as high up as I could and then angled the projector up so it would hit the screen in the right spot and then used the keystone to correct the fact that I am doing it wrong Hope that makes sense.


ON AN UNRELATED NOTE could some one tell me where to find the serial number on my projector? As mine is already mounted on the ceiling I'd rather not take it down. Thanks!