Optoma HD66 - First 3D home theatre/gaming projector - Page 3

well this is a good little review, glad to hear the blacks and color are nice. can you really notice the noise from the fans on the projector.

also do you have faith that it will produce a nice 3-d image when the movies start coming out later on this year.

also i cant find any info on this but is the hdmi ports 1.3 or 1.4
thanks

David,

Thanks for the info. In my room, I will be watching some sports during the day. What is the picture like with some ambient light?

Here is a fuller review from my other topic- the main reason there are no screen shots is because I dont really think my camera will do a good job of it, but I might give it a try later. The rainbow effect I talked about doesnt make me sick or really distract me from the movie. I watched fifth element, UP, Lord of the Rings Fellowship, Enemy at the Gates, and a few random clips. I only notice it because I was looking for it. It will probably get better with some more calibration.

So, I got my projector today and I immediately ripped it out of the box and started playing with it. So here are my thoughts on the projector.

Packing Materials: The box is great, and the projector was definately safe, however, the compartment that holds the remote and cables is accessible from the outside of the box without opening anything.. Im not sure why this should be, but it was OK - nothing fell out into the bigger box it was shipped in.

Included Accessories:

Yellow RCA

VGA To Component Cable ,fairly well made, 6 foot

Power Cable, Standard black cable

Batteries for remote ,Nokiosmackiobahigio brand, they have absolutely no weight and I probably wouldnt use them for fear they might rupture and ruin the remote.

Remote, The remote is sturdy but light and generic looking. It looks like a remote for a room air condtioner or a floor fan. I dont particularly like the remote, but if you are all anything like me youll be using a better universal remote. I dont like the buttons, and there is no backlighting or even glow in the dark.


Projector:

Size:
11" X 3.5H X 7.5D as I measured it. Its less than an inch off in all directions vs the HD65.

Color:
Out of the box, only one of the presets had a color that was close. I watched it a few minutes like that, then I adjusted it some and it looked really good. A lot of non technical people will just hook it up and watch it on one of the presets and enjoy it. After I set it up properly with the HDTV wizard DVD the colors and everything were great. The colors were fantastic and really popped while watching 720P movies, and with standard DVDs it looked almost as good. There is a lot of detail on Lord of the Rings that I have never noticed on a standard LCD tv or my LCD projector. I cant say how awesome the colors and blacks were after a minor bit of calibration. The reason I dont have screen shots is because until my roof mount comes in the screen was lopsided and crooked due to it sitting on a table at not the right distance. I was playing with it on 3/4 of the screen.

Final Opinion: Colors were awesome. I am impressed.

Blacks:
Out of the box, the blacks were a shade too dark losing detail, but doable. After I set it up they were great - DLP is definately miles ahead of LCD in blacks. Watching shadows and fogs it actually looked real. Im excited to rewatch all my favorite movies. In all different scenes this projector did a great job of making it look how it was supposed to look when it was filmed.

Final Opinion: Projector far exceeded my expectations of the blacks.

Brightness:
Having read the review on Amazon like all of you probably have, the reviewer complained of brightness. This projector is extremely bright. My Epson Moviemate 33 put out 1200 lumens on brightest settings, and this projector easily outshines it on even its dimmest settings - So Im going to say the brightness on this projector in low light modes is something along lines of 1000-1500. Even with 2 lights and some light coming in from the window, and a halfway light on shining through the door the proejctor looked great on the low settings.

Final Opinion: I dont see how anyone could possibly fault this projector for brightness.

Aspect:
This is a 16x10 Projector. This is a positive thing for most users and anyone who plans on watching regular TV in the next couple years. 4x2.5 aspect ration(16x10/4) This means 4:3 shows will play with less letterboxing. Stretching 16x9 pictures to a 16x10 format will be all but noticiable. This is a very positive aspect.

Final Opinion: Good call on 16x10 instead of 16x9 Optoma.

Menus:
There are a LOT of options. Advanced users will appreciate the many options that are tweakable, and beginner users will appreciate that the advanced settings are not in the same screen as the ones they are likely to use.

Final Opinion: Good nuff for me.

Other Thoughts:
The projector automatically searches for whatever is being inputted through it. Im unsure if I like this for my usage, however, my wife was incapable of turning my old setup on by herself. Rainbow effect. Unfortunately, I got to see the skittles - its not horrible for me, and Its only if I look side to side or move my head quickly, I only seen them because I was looking for them though. Im going to be watching movies tonight after I tack my screen up so I can see the whole picture. If I can watch 2 movies in a row without issues, Ill be ok with the rainbow effect. I honestly think Ill be used to it fairly easily. I also think most people see the colors to some extent, they just dont look for them and the brain filters them out. Ill know in the next couple days. Why are so many projectors white, silver, or grey?

Final Thoughts on Entire Projector:
If you dont taste the rainbow then this projector is an awesome buy for 700 dollars. Colors are awesome once calibrated, and OK without calibration for most nonpicky people. Bright enough to summon batman, and the blacks are well.. black. Space scenes are actually black and the stars are bright. Im very happy with my purchase, and when I get the 3d setup, if it works well, Ill be floored.

Thanks for reading.

David

HDMI - It doesnt say what HDMI revision it has. Do you know how I can check? It doesnt mention it in the menus, and it does have it in the user manual anywhere. However, from what Ive read online about HDMI 1.4, it mentions that 1.4 establishes 3d standards across the board. I would assume they would make it 1.4 for the 3d standard alone.

Fan Noise - Mine is on lower light settings - and I cant hear the fans. People ask that a lot but I have to wonder what they are doing with the projector that would allow you to hear the fans? When I watch a movie I cant hear anything but the movie with the surround sound. All in all, with the projector on and no sound playing sitting with the projector 2 foot above my head I can hear it, but its not loud. Its definately quiter than either my XBOX 360 or my XBOX w/ xbox media center on it. With a movie on with low volume it completely fades away. Its not going to distract anyone from a movie experience.

3D - That being said - 3d from nvidia wouldnt require projector feedback, so I think 1.3 would work just fine - all you are doing is playing 2 60hz videos side by side or top and bottom. As long as you can play 120hz your fine. I am confident that the 3d glasses will work just fine - ill probably wait a month or so before I buy a pair. The only thing that might be bad is it not being certified by Nvidia, yet. Im sure they will soon, and Im also sure I can make it work without a certification.

Brightness - this is a bright projector, and I dont think youll have any problem watching sports in a room with lights/windows. On lowest light settings it took quite a bit of light to dim the picture. My HD66 is brighter on the lowest settings than my Epson Moviemate every was on high settings (1200+ lumens)

Hope I answered everyones questions.

You might have mentioned it, but what size screen do you have it running on?

HDMI - It doesnt say what HDMI revision it has. Do you know how I can check? It doesnt mention it in the menus, and it does have it in the user manual anywhere. However, from what Ive read online about HDMI 1.4, it mentions that 1.4 establishes 3d standards across the board. I would assume they would make it 1.4 for the 3d standard alone.
yeah i agree with this i would assume that it is 1.4


Fan Noise - Mine is on lower light settings - and I cant hear the fans. People ask that a lot but I have to wonder what they are doing with the projector that would allow you to hear the fans? When I watch a movie I cant hear anything but the movie with the surround sound. All in all, with the projector on and no sound playing sitting with the projector 2 foot above my head I can hear it, but its not loud. Its definately quiter than either my XBOX 360 or my XBOX w/ xbox media center on it. With a movie on with low volume it completely fades away. Its not going to distract anyone from a movie experience.
well for me i know my last projector epson home 10+ i was a little loud when lots of action is going on i couldnt hear it but when there is nothing going on i could hear the fan this was on economy mode too. i guess technology has advanced sense than.

3D - That being said - 3d from nvidia wouldnt require projector feedback, so I think 1.3 would work just fine - all you are doing is playing 2 60hz videos side by side or top and bottom. As long as you can play 120hz your fine. I am confident that the 3d glasses will work just fine - ill probably wait a month or so before I buy a pair. The only thing that might be bad is it not being certified by Nvidia, yet. Im sure they will soon, and Im also sure I can make it work without a certification.

so are the glasses for bluray 3-d gonna be polarized, or the shutter glasses
and is there a big difference between the 2

Brightness - this is a bright projector, and I dont think youll have any problem watching sports in a room with lights/windows. On lowest light settings it took quite a bit of light to dim the picture. My HD66 is brighter on the lowest settings than my Epson Moviemate every was on high settings (1200+ lumens)
this is good news glad to hear that i can watch a movie with the curtains open. im starting to get excited about this projector, i just wish i can find a canadian source that sells this projector.
also do you happen to know which light bulb this projector uses, is it the same one as the hd65 or is it a different one, i would assume that it is the same as hd65 because the hd66 is based off of it

thanks for the info
dave

As for the glasses, The 3d glasses are shutter glasses. Shutter glasses are the best feasible technology for 3d. This projector was built specifically to suit those glasses. The colors are real, no blue or red nonsense. Honest to goodness 3d that pops out of the screen and doesnt bounce around like a red and blue crack addict.

Regarding the brightness. I have a 300 watt CFL lightbulb the size of a gallon of milk I use when cleaning the theater. With that running and my two 60s, and the hallway light I could still watch the movie. Obviously, If its shining right on the screen you arent going to get a good picture.

It does not use the same bulb as the HD65. It uses one of the newer bulbs from Philips I believe it was. Brighter, same wattage, they use them in rear projection TVs too I believe. The bulbs for those are a lot cheaper - but I dont know if that will translate to the projector bulbs.

David

]As for the glasses, The 3d glasses are shutter glasses. Shutter glasses are the best feasible technology for 3d. This projector was built specifically to suit those glasses. The colors are real, no blue or red nonsense. Honest to goodness 3d that pops out of the screen and doesnt bounce around like a red and blue crack addict.
ok so the 3-d bluray will be shutter glasses, or are they gonna throw us a curve ball later on. for some reason im not really understanding the 3-d part, i dunno why.

Regarding the brightness. I have a 300 watt CFL lightbulb the size of a gallon of milk I use when cleaning the theater. With that running and my two 60s, and the hallway light I could still watch the movie. Obviously, If its shining right on the screen you arent going to get a good picture.
once again its really nice to hear about the brightness of this.

It does not use the same bulb as the HD65. It uses one of the newer bulbs from Philips I believe it was. Brighter, same wattage, they use them in rear projection TVs too I believe. The bulbs for those are a lot cheaper - but I dont know if that will translate to the projector bulbs.

hmm i am just concerned about how much the bulb might cost, if i can buy one for 250$ than i think im sold, and probably order a hd66 next month.

also how big of screen and how far away are you watching from.
you should try to get a good camera and take some pics

I am thinking about getting one of these and putting a DYI a-lens in front of it and have a few questions.

When viewing a 16:9 in 16:10 mode does it stretch it to 16:10 or are there black bars on the top and bottom? Same for native mode.

Does LBX mode stretch to 16:9 or 16:10?

If you have a 16:9 source and set it to 4:3 are there black bars on the top and bottom? Does it crop any of the image?

Also for those who may be interested I found the online manual

http://marketing.optomausa.com/PDFs/...s%20Manual.pdf

After looking at the manual it appears it will stretch the 4:3 to use the 800, but leave the 720p images in the center, but expects some DVDs to be in 16:10 to use up all the screen--??? I see that it doesn't have component inputs and it's very much a presentation machine with a home theater mode. That makes it very versatile.

I would imagine the blu-ray just feeds it 2 1080p:24 streams, and the television decides what to do with those... be it glasses, polarization, some other crazy tech with no glasses... etc....

Nice find, I was waiting for Optoma to update their site.

Here are the official specs per Optoma:

Display Type Single 0.65 DMD DLP Technology by Texas Instruments
Resolution HD (1280x720)
3D Resolution (120Hz) HD (1280 x 720)
XGA (1024 x 768)
SVGA (800 x 600)
Maximum Resolution UXGA (1600 x 1200)
Brightness (Typical) 2500 ANSI Lumens
Contrast Ratio 4000:1 (Full On/Full Off)
Lamp Life and Type 4000/3000 Hours (STD/Bright)
185W P-VIP
Throw Ratio 1.55 to 1.7 (Distance/Width)
Projection Distance 3.28' to 32.8' (1.0 to 10m)
Image Size (Diagonal) 27.2 to 301 (0.69 to 7.65m)
Offset 112%
Displayable Colors 1.07 Billion
Uniformity 85%
Audio 2-Watt Speaker
Remote Control IR Remote
Computer Compatibility UXGA, WXGA, SXGA+, SXGA, XGA,SVGA, VGA Resized, VESA, PC and Macintosh Compatible
Video Compatibility NTSC, PAL, SECAM, SDTV (480i), EDTV(480p), HDTV (720p, 1080i/p)
Projection Lens F=2.41-2.55, f=21.8-24mm, 1.1x Manual Zoom and Focus
User Controls Complete On-Screen Menu Adjustments in 23 Languages
I/O Connectors HDMI, VGA-In, S-Video, Composite Video, Stereo Audio-In and RS-232
Security Kensington® Lock Port, Security Bar and Keypad Lock
Projection Method Front, Rear, Ceiling Mount, Table Top
Weight 5.1 lbs (2.31kg)
Dimensions (W x H x D) 11.28 x 3.98 x 7.6 (287 x 101 x 193 mm)
Noise Level (STD/Bright) 28dB/30dB
Keystone Correction ±40° Vertical
Horizontal Scan Rate 15.3 - 91.1 KHz

Vertical Refresh Rate 24 - 120 Hz
Operating Temperature 41 to 104°F (5 to 40°C), 85% Max Humidity
Power Supply AC Input 100-240V, 50-60Hz, Auto-Switching
Power Consumption 255 Watts (Bright), 207 Watts (STD), <1 Watt (Standby)
Standard Accessories AC Power Cord, Composite Cable, VGA to Component Cable, Remote Control, Batteries for Remote, Lens Cap, Multilingual CD-ROM User's Manual, Quick Start Card and Warranty Card
Optional Accessories HDMI cable, Ceiling Mount, S-Video Cable, Composite Video Cable, RS-232 Cable and Panoview Series Screens
Warranty 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor, 90 Days on Lamp


source: http://www.optomausa.com/Product_det...product_id=459

There is something going on here. The manual clearly states 1280x800 and explains about 16:10. Hmmm...

has any one from canada managed to find a place that sells these units online, i cant seem to find any place, all of them are from the states, i would buy from the states but im afraid of getting hit with duty and extra taxes ect.

With only one HDMI input, lots of folks will need splitter/switches. So any switches & cables will need to be 1.4 rated as well - to utilize 3D anyway..right?
A quick web search didn't turn up any 1.4 switches, and not many 1.4 cables either.

The projector is 16x10 and 1280x800, yes. The projector stretches 16:9 to 16:10 in one mode, either that or my XBMC automatically compensated. I played with the controls and finally just set it at 16:10. It seems to work out alright. If you have a good player it will do it for you also. One person in another thread suggested that the extra pixels will be used to overscan which helps make 3d look great. It didnt have bars on top on 16:10 playing 4:3 format.

The projector comes with a RGB to Component adapter cable. So it technically has component. As far as only having one HDMI, my plan is this: Use component cables for everything except the 3d equipment which I will run off of hdmi.

I dont think there will be much difference between 1.3 and 1.4, my understanding is that 1.4 lets your projector/tv communicate back with your player, which isnt necessary for the 3d. If I had to guess I would say a 1.3 hdmi would play 3d just fine. One paper I read mentioned that 1.4 would set standards for all 3d... but you know how standards go.

Shutter glasses basically work by shutting one side off and letting you see the other back and forth so that you end up with 3d in your head. What I assume will happens is something like this: 120hz, that means each side blinks 60 times a second unless Im misunderstanding it. The projector seems to also work in other modes. Basically its going to raise the bluray dvds to 120hz (24fpsx5) then its going to seperate it into 2 streams (60hz a piece) Im unsure technically how its going to work with the extra set of pictures for 1 side, it cant exactly cut it in half. I figure it will rotate back and forth (120hz: r, l, r, l, r) then (120hz l, r, l r, l) Unless Im way off.


I double and triple checks my setup to ensure I could get the size picture I want. It basically sits where my old projector does and fills the screen to the size I want.

My screen size is somewhere between 100 and 110 depending on how much I played with the zoom and such. Viewing distance at 10 foot 8 inches. I will probably actually drop the screen size down more towards 90 once my projector mount gets here.

Ok, I pulled the trigger and bought one.

I've been itching to upgrade for a while (still watchin' my beloved 4805!).
I was leaning towards the Infocus HD20...Jeez - 1080p for 999.00, how could you go wrong? But I opted for the HD66 for a couple reasons:

Obviously, it's less expensive. And coming from a 4805, it'll still be a huge leap forward in picture quality.

I'll be watching a mix of BluRay (haven't bought a player yet, tho), HD cable (mostly sports), upconverted DVD's, maybe even some streamed Netflix. I've read that, while the HD20 looked very good with BluRay (1080p), it did not perform well with lower resolutions. I'm hoping the HD66 will perform along the lines of the HD65 in that regard.

I like the brightness. I have a 125" diag. scope (2.35:1) screen, so the extra lumens will come in handy (I may even go bigger now). If it's too bright, I'll just tame it with an ND2 filter for a while.

I'm not a gamer, but the 3D capability is intriguing...we'll see.

Now all I need is for Guitarman to tweak one up and post his settings!

Floopyguy - can you give me any hints as to what adjustments you made?

I'll keep everyone posted if I stumble across anything useful.

Really?!

Here is my question about the "3d capable" tag for the HD66.

Many of the new 3d capable tv's will have built in emitters to sync the image with the shutter glasses, or will have optional components to do so. The HD66 does not have any sort of emitter, that I can tell. It simply has an available 120hz refresh rate, right?

Also, others are wondering how a bd player or hd stb emitter can truly sync images with the glasses when you take into account any processing delays between the source and the display.

So, is the HD66 truly 3d capable without an emitter?

A person on another thread returned his because it was not compatible with nvidia and that appears to be the only game in town that comes close to supporting the projector from a PC. There are other cheaper shutterglasses, but I suspect the lag time would be too great. I think the PC graphics card is a bigger issue than the projector. It's got to be capable of pumping two alternating 1080p 60hz images within 120 hz. Takes top of line cpu, memory and graphics card to do that and the cable to the PC must be of capable bandwidth--another big problem for long distance connections. I was going to spring for one, but realized that overcoming the obstacles would be way too frustrating for me, though, I have the PC horsepower and cards. But I have done this before using two projectors on a silver screen with polarized glasses and the affect is great if the content is there and works fast enough, but if it doesn't, you will tear your hair out

I have this gut feeling that many of you making this HD66 purchase mainly for the 3D are going to be very disappointed when all this 3D madness is said and done and we actually have a good variance of NEW 3D product to choose from (I hope I am wrong however because at the entry price I would buy one just for 3D gaming).

Best of Luck,
Jason

All early gen technologies have hiccups. While there is no question that quality, standard, and compatibility will continue to improve, I thank the early adopters for taking the leap. Keep us posted on how it goes.

I didnt buy mine for the 3d honestly, I was going to buy a HD65, but I decided to go with the HD66 because its cheaper and will do 3d. I may never spend the 350 bucks it would require for me to hook up the 3d- one for me, one for the wife.

Tcreech, as far as adjustments, I ran AVIA, then another DVD I forget what it was, finally I ran the THX Optimizer for Cars (you can download it by itself from the web) I think that set it up the best, so i left it. Cars is supposedly a neutral kind of movie color wise, so it works out.

Threed, they only just came out with the glasses recently, they dont have many screens oked. It might not work today, but the capability is there, and I expect now that the projector is out it will only be weeks before its either officially supported or a user makes it work.

the requirements are:
* Microsoft® Windows® Vista 32/64-bit or Windows 7 32/64-bit
* Intel® Core2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2 CPU or higher
* 1GB of system memory. (2GB is recommended)
* 100 MB free disk space
* GeForce 9600GT
That setup is a basic computer with a budget graphics card. Its 75 dollars for a 9600GT now.


Fsullivan, Unless I totally misread it, the 3d rendering and the syncing is done by the computer, all the screen does is show the picture. If you look at the screens that it supports, It also lists the following:

100 Hz and higher analog CRTs
Generic DLP HDTV mode

It basically says any screen that runs at 100 hz or higher. What is the functional difference between a generic DLP and a generic DLP projector? They both work the same way besides front and rear projection dont they? The only thing the monitor does it display what the computer says, 120 times a second. You have to use the PC to run the movies, as well as games, so you can either put a bluray reader in your PC, or download 720p content. The glasses come with a 3d video player.

The older shutterglasses work, they just arent supported by a majority of games and such. Nvidia has their own video cards so they made the glasses particularly for their video cards. Without that ability they would only be supported by a handful of games. The other shutter glasses use the special input on the video cards and they are mostly supported by end users now. But they are 20 bucks for a full setup on ebay.

DaGamePimp, I wouldnt be surprised. My motivation was $670 for a 720P 120HZ projector that could potentially do 3d, the 3d part was just icing.

I think you have the right approach--3D is simply a plus and not the reason you bought it. For me 3D would be the reason, and that is why I said it would be frustrating for me. I was once a the manager of a large virtual reality cave for a major company in the late 90s. At that time the only tech that could really drive a live 3D presentation was Silicon Graphics. Times have changed and normal PCs can do the same thing, BUT, we are still in the "sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and there is little content out there" stage, so I'm passing for now. I certainly want to hear your progress--it's still exciting for me to see that we are about to catch up with commercial VR apps of just 10 years ago at the home level.

I agree with RealFloopyGuy, I was thinking to get a inexpensive 3d projector for now. It won't be till the end of the year till you see everything settle down and software/firmware is working right anyway. Even all that, 3D may never take off who knows, so why put a lot of money into it now...

Hi All!

This is my first post. I Have been following the news on the HD66 for about a week now and received a unit a couple of days ago ($638.00 Buydig.com), it was quite a decision making process as i was basically still happy with my H31 which i had purchased a new bulb for thinking i was gonna hold on to it until i could move into a midrange 1080p unit, however i kept coming across the buzz of 3D projectors, and also the news of the PS3 going 3D in the near future so when i saw the deal on buydig.com i just couldn't hold back (30 Day return policy anyhow). So Here's my 2 cents worth.

My main concern was that i would not be getting that "Film" like quality that the HD65 has been praised for (the H31 can hold it's own in that dept. also) as i i had heard the term "Business Projector" used on some of the blurbs around the net and of course the infamous Amazon review didn't help.

Well there is some truth to that, as when i first turned on the PJ the settings were all a little 'off', some certainly tuned for florescent lit classrooms. That being said the "Movie" setting wasn't bad at all. Of course being that i'm writing this on AVS i'm not one to settle for just not bad and felt there was a real gem hidden under that rather conservative plastic skin.

The First thing i did was to hook it up to my Macbook via HDMI/DVI, it quickly recognized the 1280x800 resolution but i found by opening my display pref. (SnwLpd) & switching to 720p TV mode it just looked a little clearer. Next i opened a little program called SuperCal (Free) which guides you very simply through some basic calibrations which helped a lot (far better than the standard mac display calibrator.

Next up was the PS3 running through my Yamaha RX-V861 via HDMI. This came as a bit of a shock as when i first connected the PJ the PS3 welcome screen was all green! Like looking through a Heineken bottle! I checked and changed the wires to no avail, re-connected my Mac with the same cables, no problem, scratch scratch :[ Then i weent into the PJ settings and discovered the "color space" settings were on RGB, on switching them to "auto" it changed to YUV and Voila! Full color again.

I then ran numerous calibration tests, Avia, THX Optimizer and finally a group of programs bundled together created by none other than AVS, called AVS-HD709. I didn't have a colorimeter or gel filters/glasses so was limited to just the basics but finally came close to what i felt was a more "Film" like image. Lastly i surfed the net for HD65 Settings via HDMI and with a few color tweaks am now very happy with the results.

Here are the settings i used for the PS3 setup for now until i get hold of a colorimeter and do the grayscale properly.

PROJECTOR

IMAGE
Display Mode: User 1
Brightness: 48
Contrast: 45
Sharpness: 7
Saturation: 47
Tint: 49
Advanced
Degamma: PC ( Seems to give those inky blacks w/out sacrificing detail combined with other settings)
Brilliant Color: 5
Color Temp: Warm
Color
Red Gain: 4
Green Gain: 0
Blue Gain: -5
Red Bias: -2
Green Bias: -2
Blue Bias: -2
Color Space: YUV

DISPLAY
Format: Native
Screen Type: 16x9

OPTIONS
Lamp Settings: STD

PS3

DISPLAY SETTINGS
HDMI 720p
RGB Full Range: On
Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr Super-White (HDMI): On

VIDEO SETTINGS

BD/DVD Video Output Format (HDMI): Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr
BD 1080p 24 Hz Output (HDMI): On

Last but not least some screen shots from King Kong BD 720p. Enjoy!

P.S. Hope this was helpful as i have benefited much from all the members on AVS.

any news on how much the lamp costs for this thing, hmm im thinking i might jump on the band wagon,

Thank you for that great info. Can't find the HD66 anywhere for less than msrp right now. I'm going to go ahead and buy it. It will be my first projector.
What size/type screen? What mount? How is the image with plenty ambient light?

Well after the all the setup i was very impressed with the amount of shadow detail the image retains while still providing what to me are plenty deep blacks, as for sharpness i had set it to 7 on a scale of 50 which seemed to be in accord with various test patterns while providing that "Film" like image for movies. I didn't have time to take pics (they never truly duplicate PQ) of games such as Gran Turismo 5 Prologue but i can tell you i was blown away by the clarity of detail, all the logos and numbers in the cockpit and dials are completely readable, while reflections are mirror like with no blur at all.

Had this running throughout the day in a moderately lit room (2 windows with v.thin fabric over them, more to stop the drafts than anything else as it's cold here in NYC) and was amazed how it could handle it compared to my H31 with a new bulb on bright mode, while i was only running in standard. Bright mode is not glaringly different on the HD66 (a good thing as it shows balance) it just makes everything "pop" that little bit more and would be great for sit. where there was more daylight.

The PJ is mounted on a small 9 " high mdf platform i made on the floor right in front of me about 11ft from the screen. The screen is homemade also using a product by Parkland Plastics called Duro-Therm (highly recommended at $20 for a 8x4' sheet) which i then stapled to a surrounding frame made from some old 1x2" mahogany strips i had lying around beveled at a 45 deg. angle. This gave me a rigid rectangle 78" x 44" giving a 86" diagonal viewing area. I then just hung it on the wall by screwing through the top of the frame into a couple of wall studs.

Lastly, i wouldn't think a bulb would cost any more than one for a HD65 which retail for around $250, although i couldn't be sure on that.

Cheers