New Optoma HD33 HD3300 1080p 3D Projector Review - Page 137

but in that scenario, the 720p material is being scaled twice - once to 1080i and then to 1080p in the projector. i have found everything looks a lot better keeping the material in its native resolution at the oriignal source, and scaling everything to 1080p before it gets to the projector with a good upscaling receiver (with 1080p 24fps material being set to direct pass-through with the no scaling).

Yes, but having tested sending many different 1080i and 720p signals straight to the HD3300, and then testing it with an Onkyo upscaler, you could really see a pretty big jump in picture quality using the Onkyo as opposed to letting the Optoma do the deinterlacing/scaling. It was immediately obvious with football and baseball games, with the scrolling tickers and game graphics (and overall movement) looking much better when the signal going into the HD3300 was 1080p. This leads me to believe that the scaler/deinterlacer in the Optomas are inferior to those being used in some home theater receivers that offer true scaling.

PS - spoke to Optoma on Friday about my firmware update, they said it was going into quality control and being shipped back to me either today or tomorrow. So, their turnaround time seems like it's down to a week now, for those on the fence about sending their unit in for whatever reason.

Makes me feel better about sending mine off. Thnx.

I'll only use a 3D Blu-ray player and Comcast cable box content to my HD33, which I will run through my receiver. I have a Denon 1612, but I want to change it out to another room due to some issues I've had. Which AVR would you recommend for this setup that is user-friendly and easy to configure?

FWIW, after getting my unit back with the new firmware all issues including the annoying lockups are now gone. I'm a happy Optoma owner again---although it would have been so much easier if I could have done the update myself instead of sending the unit off.
R

Hi all,

Finally made it through this thread and wanted to thank everyone for all their great info! I recently purchased a HD33 (they call it a HD33CA) from Costco here in Canada and have been loving it so far. I'm guessing that the HD33 must be a little less bright than the HD3300 as I have it around 11 ft away from a Mustang 92" matte white screen at full zoom and don't find it crazy bright and have had to put some blackout curtains in for daytime viewing (was expected but was hoping that it might be able to handle ambient light a bit better).
This is my first foray into the home 3D world and my wife and I love it! We already liked to watch a lot of movies and even watching 2D at this size in our modest apartment is awesome! I also like to game on the PS3 and on PC which disqualified the Epson 3010 due to the lag and have had on and off success with using 3D but love having the option. I do sometimes regret ever touching the RF emitter as it seems like no matter how I set the polarity now I often have to change the L/R sync on the Projector menu for movies or games (not a huge deal though).
I did have a little scare last night when out of the blue the projector would not respond to any commands on the remote EXCEPT the left and right arrow keys. I would have to turn the projector on manually then could use the left arrow to change the source or could resync with the right arrow but that was it. I also use a Philips Universal remote and have all the keys mapped over to it and only the left and right arrows on it would work as well. I had never quite seen anything like this and left the unit on while I began to debate my options. About 10 minutes later I came back to the projector and lo and behold everything is working fine again! All I can say is that I am happy that I have my Costco 2 year warranty.
Well that wraps up my first post here, hoping that the Canucks can get their crap together tonight so I have more than one game left to watch on my new setup!

Cheers,
Kyle

Reechings -

Sounds like the lockup problems that the C03 firmware fixed (my HD3300 is on its way back from Optoma for this very issue). Can you check on your menu screen which firmware you have? I had C02 firmware and it would stop responding to any commands a couple of times a week at least (unplugging was the only workaround).

Do most of you guys have these setup on a coffee table ? Placement was my second conern with this unit as my current LCD projector sits above my seating position.

Hi Oleus,

I actually have C03 (which I was really happy about after hearing of your troubles). I just found it weird because I could manually turn the projector on and off and it would pick up picture and sound fine but would only respond to the left and right arrows. It would have surprised me less if it had totally locked up or didn't respond to ANY of the buttons on the remote.

that's not good! maybe the remote is wonky? have you tried different batteries?

I did actually try new batteries right away but like I was saying in the post, the exact same limitation was happening on my universal remote that I have the projector remote mapped to as well!

Hi guitarman, any update on the C04 firmware update where user can do the upgrade themselves?

Make sure you get an Nvidia card with the excellent Vision 3DTV software transforming most games into awesome frame packed 3D (vs side by side/Half SBS 3D software which kills your resolution).

Some great 3D vision games are Trine 2, The Witcher 2, Dungeon Siege III and Alan Wake.

On the PS3 some games such as uncharted 3 require you to set your screensize in settings to 10" (if you have a 100" screen like me) and lowering depth ingame in order to work correctly.

So after a ton of back and forth, I finally decided and bit the bullet on the HD33. It'll be my first projector, and I'm pretty excited.

I've got a question, though. Ill be using a 120" screen, and with my wall height, that leaves me between 14-12 inches to play with between screen edge and ceiling. The projector pro calculator shows I need a distance of 9.4" from the lenses center to screen edge. Can anyone recommend me a good lower priced ceiling mount that will get me there, or at least close enough that I could use spacers of some kind? Perhaps tilting the projector downward or upward a few degrees if I can't get the spacing exact?

What ceiling mounts are y'all using? Any drop distance problems?

Thanks for the info! I do have a GTX 570 which seems to handle anything I throw at it so far. I had already finished the Witcher 2 before I got the projector but I did go back and play the final battle in 3D and it was great! I have Trine 2 but haven't installed it yet but have heard good things. I also finished Uncharted 3 before getting the projector and have lent it to a buddy but am looking forward to getting it back and trying it out in 3D.

Of course I wish that HDMI supported 1080p/60Hz 3D as I do get kind of annoyed with having to change my desktop resolution and the in game resolution setting to use 3DTV play. I have been using IZ3D and Tridef to do SBS and have found it looks pretty good too and more options are always nice! I had almost convinced myself that maybe 3D was too much of a pain in the ass (mostly after fighting with Mass Effect 3) and was thinking of sticking mostly to 2D until I recently started playing Kingdom of Amalur and it is wild running around in 3D!

In regards to movies, I have found that a lot of the software 2D to 3D conversion is hit or miss and sometimes wish that the HD33 had that built in too but you can't have everything for the price I guess!

I use the following ceiling mount and it is almost exactly the dimensions you have. I do not use the extension arm that comes with it. I have also attached photos on the mount setup for the hd33. Look for my user name cvh on the amazon website.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o01_s00_i00

how do i get into Absolute Brightest Mode on the menu?

watched Polar Express 3D for the first time last night on the HD33. I have watched the 2d version with my son many times over the past 2 years. Last night my son and I were blown away by the 3D version. We felt as if we were watching it for the first. I enjoyed it way more than 2D.

anybody seen immortals 3D. What's the verdict. A 3D movie to own?

So, i got my projector back from Optoma yesterday with CO4 firmware.

Not sure if this is standard for service work, but the lamp was reset and many of my presets were changed. Also, before sending it to them the unit looked brand new and it came back with a LOT of scuffs on the surface.

I can't say i'm surprised, but this firmware update 1) shouldn't have been the ordeal it was, since technically it should absolutely be able to be done at home, and 2) UNITS SHOULDN'T BE HANDLED WITH SUCH CARELESSNESS AND SENT BACK IN A MUCH ROUGHER CONDITION THAN WHEN IT WAS SENT TO THEM!!

I'm in contact now with the Optoma corporate offices about this. The attitude from the customer service/support end has been so bad that I'm not even remotely considering contacting them at this point. It's absolutely ridiculous.

So if anyone was on the fence about sending their unit in for a firmware update, you may want to take pictures of your unit as evidence before sending it in. I would have assumed they just sent me a refurbished unit but they said they did the work on my unit specifically, and it came back in the box i sent.

so far no lockups, but i've only had it back one night.

why would they reset the bulb hours? do they put new bulbs in repaired units?

i really am starting to wonder if i actually got the same projector i sent to them, given its physical condition and settings.

very very frustrated overall....this is my last Optoma product, for sure. I advise anyone who visits this thread thinking about buying a Hd33/3300 to only do so with the understanding that you will deal with some of the worst service imaginable if you have a problem with the unit. Having dealt with Epson's wonderful customer service in the past, it's really very disappointing to deal with a team who obviously could care less about their customers.

That really is disappointing news. I sure am glad I have CO3 firmware on my HD3300!

Did you check the serial number on the unit to make sure that they didn't send you a diifferent PJ?

I will check tonight. I took really good care in packing the HD3300 up, and the surface of the unit was pristine. It literally looks like they slid it on a rough surface without any protection while they worked on it.

I've sent some emails to the corporate offices at Optoma and will make some phone calls on Monday. I'm was thinking about filing an insurance claim with fedex, although it was packed up securely and was certainly not damaged in transit so that's probably not a good idea.

I did send Optoma support an email just to see if they attempt to rectify the situation, but I have very low expectations on that front.