New Optoma HD33 HD3300 1080p 3D Projector Review - Page 91

You need to send in your unit for firmware upgrade from C01 to C02 as it involves changing some dsp chip depending on unit. As for C02 to C03 you can upgrade yourself but need to call optoma for the firmware. It is not released publicly.

Thanks to all who replied regarding my handshake issues, the new hdmi cable arrived today and everything is working beautifully. Watching Lion King 3D with the good woman and it's a sight to behold!

Strange though that the old hdmi cable passed 3d fine when hot swapped but just couldn't establish the initial connection. Might hang onto it and try it out with my PC see if they play more nicely together

A couple people called Optoma on here, as far as I know, to get the new firmware, but were told to wait. They were on C02 looking for C03. They never posted if they were successful or not. Just curious. (Well not enough to call Optoma )

Awesome images jaask.... Let me ask you somethings about the High Power High Contrast. The blacks level it's better with this screen? Your projector it's ceiling mounted?
My HD3300 it's coming and i wish to know more information about it, what did you think about this material?
Because i will setup a 2.40 152" and use diy anamorphic lens... really will need a bright material.

The HP screen material is MAYBE ok for this, but keep in mind the viewing angles if you watch a lot of stuff with more than 2 people in the room. Also with CIH and a retro-reflective gain screen this big, you may notice some drop-off in brightness uniformity from one side to the next, not sure how much since I've never owned an HP in CIH format. The material will also be really expensive for this screen size and need to be custom cut by Da-Lite I think.

How screens affect Contrast Ratio:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...t=how+contrast

There is a common misconception repeated throughout this forum about black levels and screens in the sense that a screen can change the contrast ratio (it can affect it passively in NON-Bat caves only).

A gain screen (including the HP) raises black and white levels at the same time. A screen cannot increase Native contrast ratio, it is impossible for it to do so, screens are passive devices. The one exception is reflectivity characteristics and some other stuff that causes clipping and light reflection bounce-back, but in a sense it still didn't change the native ratio, but it did mess up the picture or cause clipping ranges. So as long as you have a dark room or bat-cave, and can calibrate the projector down enough in brightness correctly, then you will not get any negative effects on black levels with any gain screen, other than the drawbacks of the screen material itself. The light reflectivity paths can get complex on choosing a screen material, but as long as your room is pretty dark and not reflective, you should be fairly ok with any material.

Now what a screen can do (like a gray screen) is to change reflectivity characteristics to passively affect contrast, but even this only applies to a NON-Bat Cave.

HI Coderguy very informative material...very very good.
Living and learning! Thank you very much.

i'll build my house next year and i'm sure will have a dedicated room , and i already have a an Optoma HD65 with a diy anamorphic lens. When start to project this room and the choose for HD3300 it's just because the light output thinking in the CIH setup. My interest for the High Power besides that, its the 3D side of the equation.

Now my screen it's 106" (1.78) and i just want to go a little more to 120"(1.78) because it's totally new dedicated room i'm building from ground up for that purpose.

We always want the bigger screen that our room it's capable

Great review, ered! Have some questions if you have time. I tried to send a PM, but couldnt. Would you mine sending me a PM? Thanks!

Also found that they "ghost" more than than the Optoma DLP link glasses while watching Green Lantern.

Can't say that I agree with this comment.

I have a panny VT series 3D TV and it ghosts more that the Optoma 33.

I prefer "less" ghosting!

Honestly, I don't think most of these projectors are "so much better" than another. You will get trade-offs almost always.

The Panny 7000 has some advantages of course at about double the price, it has the CIH and lens memory features. It has lens shift and easier placement. The Panny 7000 also has the IRIS for the darker blacks, and probably the better FI modes.

The Optoma hd33 has some advantages at half the price:
No Ghosting (Panny sounds like it has minimal)
Brighter Best Mode
Faster pixel response time of DLP, which means higher motion resolution
Consistent convergence of DLP units (DLP's don't vary here much).

Those are the things off the top of my head, of course there are other factors as well.

I called Optoma late last week and was told that they would e-mail me C03 "as soon as he could". My guess is my request and e-mail address is on a sticky note in a trashcan. I'll call again when I have time.

Just curious, as I have firmware C01 I believe, do C02 and more importantly C03 I guess add anything worthwhile for sending in my HD33 to Optoma to update?

I'm on my second HD33, soon to be third.

First one (got it September 7th with C01) wouldn't keep settings stored, had a few lockups, a line or "tearing" 2/3rds of the way up the screen in SBS 3d, and had a LCD style dust blob. Returned to amazon for an exchange.

Second one (got it September 24th with C01) still wouldn't keep settings stored, lockups were more frequent, still had the line or "tearing" 2/3rds of the way up the screen in SBS 3d, and the ever so slightest reddish tint on the lower left portion of the screen. Decided to keep this one or a little bit a I just received a bunch of 3d movies and Batman AC, GoW: Colletion 3d, Uncharted 3D and wanted to enjoy it for at least a minute. Called optoma Monday and was told to do an RMA online, filled out the info and sent a mail off and received an automated response stating i would have my RMA within 24 hours. Waited till today with no response so I called and they said the RMA is still being processed and I should have it within 24 hours.

Fingers crossed.

Also, I did state (to the rep on the phone and in the email) that I'm already on my second HD33 and since this C01 firmware is a known flaw/issue on optomas part, I feel like myself, the consumer, shouldn't have to front the shipping for the firmware upgrade. Phone rep told me they would take care of it.

Again, fingers crossed.

Maybe because I only watch movies, not play games, I've had no issues w/my C01 HD33, but I'd obviously like to get firmware improvements if they add anything of substance.

Anyone and Everyone:

If anyone wants to help me do some keystone effects testing, much appreciated. Trying to establish some baselines of what is seen by using keystone by different folks on different projectors.

Here is the testing thread, anyone can contribute, all comments welcome, but no-one is obligated to of course since for some of you that have your PJ's perma-mounted it would be impossible:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1373350

...

Ready to pull the plug on this. Whats the consensus that there'll be a bundle deal over the next couple of weeks? I need 4 pairs of glasses so going to be close to $2k for me right now.

+1 and I play games (Xbox 360 and Ps3)

I hope so too since Newegg canceled my order... pretty peaved about that one but stuff happens I guess

I have been here before with projectors, and I know it is frustrating, but let me give you the upside on it:

I had a similar problem with Epsons and even a Mitsubishi. I had two bad Mitsubishi hc3800's and hc4000's in a row, checkerboard of death. Turned out I was a statistical abnormality, and 2 years later almost no-one is having these problems anymore with either of the units, and they are now considered to be some of the most reliable.

So the good news is, you probably are just one of the statistical exceptions, and since these projectors have warranties, hopefully that makes us all feel better.

So I just got my HD33 replacing my HD20 today and have it hooked up. Everything works great except for 3D dvd through the ps3. I am able to get 3d on demand through Comcast just fine, but when I try to put a movie in the ps3 it doesn't recognize the 3d capabilities. Is there something I am missing? I tried switching the HDMI cords between the cable box and ps3 but neither worked.

Thanks

Thanks for the words, Appreciate it. But I should have mad myself clearer. I have my fingers crossed on the optoma customer service coming through. I'm all in and in love with this projector, so no qualms there.

Actually, I'm not frustrated at all with the issues I'm having with the HD33. Ya, in a perfect world I wouldn't have any issues but with mechanical/electrical items I understand there can/will be issues, especially as an early adopter. I've learned this all to well being the tech addict I am. It's just when customer service says one this and you get another, that's what frustrates me. "RMA for your HD33 Projector has been created and our customer representative will reply within 24 hours" and I get no reply. Tell me it's going to take three days and I'll accept that. Tell me it'll take 24 hours and I'll expect that.

I guess in the end I'll just blame apple! being an apple guy and dealing with their customer service has given me lofty, almost unattainable, expectations for every one else.

You probably just have to run the display set up again on your ps3.

Settings > Display Settings > Video Output Settings

No, I'm aware of that. Definitely not a different signal issue. I mean the freezing warrants a RMA anyway, but Im certain it's not a source setting gaff on my end.

Finally got my setup in place.

Thought I'd give some feedback to those that might be interested. I bought 2 pairs of True Depth for $75 each and 4 pair of Ultimate3DHeaven Ultra-Clear for $50 each. Both are pretty good, but the True Depth definitely gives a sharper image. Also, looks a little brighter. I did find Ultimate3DHeaven slightly more comfortable. I recommend the True Depth for your primary glasses. Hope that helps.

The PS3 needs to run Video setup. When you ran it last, you didn't have a 3D system hooked up so it was disabled.

That and you need a firmware update to get 3D support (if you haven't been upgrading it regularly). I think it was in Q4 2010 that added 3D support.

Thanks....I updated to the latest firmware and re-ran the video output settings, however it still won't detect the HD33 as 3D capable.

When you run the video settings setup again (make sure you do auto detect) , after it says what your display will output, it should say "3d display detected" then ask for your screen size. If you do not get that then something is up. First, I would check the cable. Make sure you have at least a 1.3b, but preferable a 1.4 hdmi cable (I know you cable box does 3d, but the ps3 might be a bit more finicky) also, if you are using an avr, try taking that out of the mix and plug the ps3 direct into the hd33 to see if you can get 3d.

Ok, so the problem seems to be pushing the signal through the AVR with the PS3. I was able to get it detected going directly to the ps3. However when I put it back into the receiver it loses the source when it tries to play the movie. Comcast 3D goes through the AVR fine though.