New Optoma HD33 HD3300 1080p 3D Projector Review - Page 170

I'm looking to do the same. Were you succesfull?

Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. Right now, we have just playing DVDs via VGA and HDMI cable from computer to projector and using the computer speakers connected to some external speakers. Need to save some money to buy receiver and speakers and 3D player.

Concerning the white ceiling, it is a drop ceiling and ceiling grid. I plan on putting some magnets on some black cloth and throw it up on the ceiling.

Hi, I guess no one is able to answer my question about AMD releasing drivers that allow 1080p 30hz 3D and whether we can utilise this
Anyway, I thought I'd let everyone know an interesting finding, well, I think this is UK owners only..... And apologies if this has been covered already but on the Optoma site, there is currently a recall on the power leads with a free replacement, I'm not sure if it is what caused electrical arcing inside my PJ but I will certainly be getting a replacement!

Seems like Optoma has some serious quality problem on these projectors. After lens, there is a recall for electrical issue. Since this would be my 3rd replacement, I give up on this still amazing hd33 and upgrade to different model.

Please forgive my ignorance, I have not finished the mammoth task of reading this whole thread, has there been other recalls? I have bad focus issues where it is in focus on one part of the display and not another. Thanks for any info, I really need to look into why my PJ is nowhere near as good as it was!

@james111333; My 1st brand new HD33 as well as its replacement, both suffered from mixed pincushion/barrel picture geometry distortion for reason unknown. It is not very much noticeable when playing movies but when displaying Windows desktop or test pattern, it was very apparent.

Yes, my HD33 is now the same, the grid test pattern is not evenly displayed on each side and when I focus the centre perfectly the edges are out of focus slightly. I'm sure this was never the case until I heard electrical arcing from inside the unit. The noise has never returned but the picture annoys the hell out of me now Like you say, the windows desktop really highlights this. I am worried about my RMA as I can see on the Optoma site that I was meant to register it for an extended 3 year warranty within 30 days or purchase. However, on the site I bought it from, it clearly says it comes with a 3 year warranty and no note to say it requires registration, it is just a few days outside my one year as I bought it for Christmas last year

In US, the hd33 model comes with 1 yr warranty while lamp is covered only for 90 days. 3 yrs warranty applies to hd3300 model which supposed to be hd33 twin brother but in black finish dedicated for custom installation market. I tried to contact optoma usa couple of times regarding hd3300 but they never got back to me. Go figure... :-/

Where I purchased my HD33

In the UK we get a 3 yr warranty, can anyone see on this page where it states I have to register it? Did I miss it stupidly!?

It's mad how products differ between countries, I bought a galaxy tab 2 in the UK and was annoyed to find that only the ones released in the US had an IR emitter but the UK ones don't. I wanted to use it to control my AV, I wonder if I can get a USB emitter, another thread needed for that though!

Looking at the HD3300 for my first ever projector, which I will ceiling mount. Will be getting a 100" screen, and should be able to achieve "bat-cave" conditions in the room. The distance calculator tells me that for my screen size, throw distance (13' aka 1x zoom), that the image may be too bright for a low ambient light room (27fL) on a 1.0 gain screen. It suggests that a gain of 0.8 or lower will be acceptable.

After three hours of reading this thread I've found lots of people talk about using 1.0 gain screens, or high power screens, and I haven't found any mention of <1.0 gain screens being suggested. Not sure what to make of this. What's the best screen gain to get for my situation? Does the distance calculator not take into account brightness adjustments that can be made on the projector itself?

Sorry for the newb question...

Bat cave type room should not require low gain screen as there should be no scarred or reflected light due to dark walls and ceiling. With fairly small (100" is small) screen size in dark room, a neutral or slightly above gain screen should not be a bad idea to get most of the projector bulb in 3D mode.
If mostly 2D will be used then 1.0 gain screen is a good balance. Higher gains are good in installations where screens are much bigger (120+) or protection with some ambient light instead of complete dark is preferred.

I also think no one is recommending < 1.0 gain screen simply because HD33 is not bright enough to keep decent brightness for 3D projections. Myself, I can't imagine 3D picture having lower brightness from what it is on my 1.0 gain screen with this projector.
Edited by esdwa - 1/3/13 at 12:48pm

OK. Found this theater system. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A5871354&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=13&~ck=dellSearch

What I'm wanting to know is if the DVD player also functions as a receiver, meaning it will play the sound? I assume so because it includes the speakers and they are wireless.

It's looks like that's the case, kinda. A lot of these wireless set ups are the fronts (near the DVD/BR player) are wired (or have a receiver they are wired to) then a wireless signal is sent to the subwoofer/receiver and the rears are wires to that. So in all actuality they are "halfsie" wireless.

Thing to remember is that these set up are typically output only, so you will not be able to run any other kid of audio into it (PC, gaming console, etc .... ) sans maybe a 3.5 inch in or analog red white RCA for subpar 2channel sound.

The general consensus, especially here on AVS, is to avoid Home Theater in a Boxes if at all possible for those reasons stated (among others), and also because you could come to that price point if you a-la-carted a system together and have a much better experience and buildability/expandability.

For example. You should be able to find a get a later model denon (like a 1612, 1712, etc) with a Take Enegry Classic 5.1 system and a 3D bluray player for under $500 bucks. So for just a little bit more price point wise, you get superior sound and equipment, with the added bonus of expandability.

Just something to think about.

Some thing like this would be better for the budget system.
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3500-5-1-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B0077V88V8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1357419479&sr=8-2&keywords=onkyo

It is great we are trying to advise on this but is HT in a box a proper subject to talk about in this thread?

Please take the Off topic discussion to the appropriate forum. This thread's discussion should be about the Optoma projector

Hey I wish I had some answers for you but it seems 1080p 30hz 3D per eye is just not in demand enough for there to be a firmware revision to accomodate this. Shame really as it would be a nice stop gap for us gamers until we have true 1080p60/eye 3d projectors. I've tried an haven't been able to force the projector to recognise this mode with a custom resolution, it just defaults to 1080/24 3d.

With regards to your uneven focus issue, I too had this problem and when I sent my projector back for a different problem I asked them to have a look at it an see if they can tweak the internals at all. It turns out they can and when it returned the focus continuity was much improved, not perfect, but almost. Something to consider if you are still under warranty.

Cheers,

Joe.

So I decided to recalibrate in 3d mode after noticing some clipping of the whites. After using film gamma for a while I have decided I prefer graphic gamma. Here are my settings (1200 hours on bulb , using the Optoma dlp link glasses ) :

Contrast : -22
Brightness: +4
Sharpness: 12
Color: +18
Tint: 0

Graphic gamma / curve type: -7, -1 offset

Puredetail and color set to 1, pure motion off , bright lamp mode.

Gives a great, deep, vibrant picture without clipping the low or high ends.

PS to CVH - sorry to hear you are having to part ways with your HD33...you have been a huge help in this thread
Edited by oleus - 1/8/13 at 10:43am

I have rediscovered pure motion on my HD3300 for 3D movies. I tried it when I first got the projector on 2D material and didn't like the video soap opera look, so forgot about it. After reading the discussion about HFR and apparent added clairty of 48 fps in the Hobbit thread, I thought I'd try pure motion again on Avatar to see if it added anything, and wow, I was pleasantly surprised. It didn't have that soap opera look, but did reduce the judder and seemed to add a level of clarity and reality to all scenes. I now use on all 3D movies and the clarity (not to be confused with sharpness) is much better.

Personally I am unable to watch anything recorded in 24p without PureMotion because it looks just bad and makes my eyes tired especially in movies with lots action scenes when I try to followfast moving object. I do not perceive picture to become soap opera like, even when setting PureMotion to max and to be honest I do not understand why so many users does. Maybe it is similar symptom as to some folks seeing rainbow in dlp displays while some not.
Recently I upgraded my hd33 to hd8300 and this last rainbow issue is behind. As much as lack of deep blacks which were major pain for me especially watching so many sci-fi movies with lots of dark cosmos background scenes. Nevertheless both optoma protectors would never be in my setup without PureMotion. For me such or similar feature is always an important selling point for all displays including PJs or led/led tvs.
In general I find consumer movie theater experience to be unpleasant anytime I see stuttering fast moving object. Back in old days of film technology this was never a case because of basic principle of how film technology worked comparing to modern crt /dlp projectors which by nature have its disadvantages which by the way for some viewers became a reference viewing experience but not for me. I think if more viewers could remember those film like experience from 20-30 years ago they would appreciate more PureMotion or similar features in modern protectors.
Edited by esdwa - 1/9/13 at 9:01am

Hey, thanks for the reply, I thought I'd gone unheard!
It is a shame but I guess the great performance and having a 100"+ screen softens the blow a bit
Witcher 2 and Skyrim in 3D 1080p seemed flawless to me even at 24p I couldn't detect poor motion however I see it all the time when watching films etc. This is with Pure Motion off to avoid input lag while gaming.

Are you in the UK? I am starting to get very annoyed with Optoma, I paid a lot of money for their product and they can't even be bothered to reply to first my online warranty submission and then still not after I have emailed them direct. My HD33 is sat in a box waiting to ship it for repairs and now Optoma have my money, they don't care about fixing it!

Anyone else had to deal with Optoma UK? I adore this PJ but it is making me think twice about Optoma when I come to upgrade in a few years or recommend to friends......

I see again here someone mention -22 for contrast setting.
If I put mine below +8 it starts to look really washed out.

So do folks running such low contrast have really high gain screens?
When I calibrated form the disney disc I set contrast to +28 and brightness to -12, now I have contrast +8 and brightness 0.
Edited by MarcusarilliuS - 1/10/13 at 8:59am

I got an hd33 a couple months ago. I'm having trouble fitting my fios signal to a 90" screen. The picture produced by my ps3 fits perfectly to the screen but at the same projection distance the fios picture is about 2 inches smaller around all edges. Anyone know why this is happening? (Please forgive my simplicity when describing the situation)

You Fios STB may be underscanning the picture, that is why you have 2 inch frame around it. Look into STB setting for ovescan and adjust. Depending on the type of STB you may be able to do it or not. Good luck.

I see posterization of fine gradients between red and orange. Lowering the contrast "fixes" this but is there any other way? Also note that adjusting the brightness has an effect also.

See it in one scene of Judge Dredd 3D with fire flames out of focus in the background, the orange rubber gloves on the mechanic from the TV show Wheeler Dealer (DirecTV), commercials with red to orange gradients and on PC with certain (not all) test patterns that feature a rainbow gradient with red to orange in them.

The default settings on my C04 firmware projector seem to strike a balance the best they can. Turning off all PureEngine settings and adjusting Contrast and Brightness both to -6 totally remove the posterization on my projector but I don't like the overall resulting look and I'm not in an ideal projector setting. Adjusting either setting from these points will re-introduce the the posterization or color banding again.

Am I asking too much of the DarkChip2? I do know the DarkChip3 in my 92" Mitsubishi I sold did a better job with contrast and gradients than this projector or any RPTV I had before.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

I'd imagine that the disney WOW charts are similar? I got +28 for contrast and -12 for brightness with those patterns.
I have backed it off to +8 and 0 now for 2D stuff as I found that high a contrast really hard on the eyes, even though it was in line with what the charts said it should be.

Might try recalibrating with the THX one at some point to see how that goes.

Most of the calibration settings I see form guys here though are crazy low contrast numbers compared to what I am having to dial in on mine. Dunno why that is? Maybe higher gain screens or darker coloured walls?

The lowest I have been able to set my contrast is +8, any lower and stuff looks washed out.

I find though when I set the contrast high enough to get the correct clipping on the chart, it tends to make certain colours bloom too much.

I'm contemplating getting a 155" diagonal acoustically transparent screen, 1.6 gain.

Do people think the HD33 will be adequately bright on a 155" 2.37 screen? Projector Cental calculator suggests 12fL @ 3.6m wide screen (155" diagonal). That's with the projector as near as possible to the screen. And I intend to zoom for 16:9 content (yes I know I can't do it completely due to limited zoom). I'm have a black wall behind the screen but stuck with white ceiling and yellow walls. I only watch movies at night (no daytime viewing). How will 2D/3D differ?

Cheers.

Aren't there serious side effects to getting an acoustically transparent screen with that much gain, didn't even know they made those?

It will be ok for 2D if it is really 1.6 gain (and not a MFR fib), but a big NO for 3D. You can however just get a smaller tripod screen that you keep in the closet for 3D usage.

I think you should also know that when you go with screens that big, you end up replacing lamps more often usually due to brightness loss (of course it does depend on you being a heavy LAMP user).