Optoma H31 review & screenshots - Page 16

Interesting. For me it did it like 4 times in a row over the course of 2 weeks, so it got me a little worried.

But, it's fine tonight.

Ok, time to watch irobot.

Fleaman

Beam1 - got your pm, glad to help. I'm using a Sony DVP-CX777ES changer through component. DVI for HD.

Ben

I think this is exactly it. I saw the 4805 and 5700 together on a range of screens and liked the 4805 better in every case, even with HD content. The 5700 resolved a little more detail but the lower contrast ratio was obvious. The 5700 had a more washed out and less-3D look.
--Eric

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And perceived contrast on the h31 should be higher due to greater brightness. They also spec'd it at 3000:1 if specs are of any value that is higher than the 4805.

You can safely cut the H31 contrast spec in half - Optoma does not rate their machines at optimized D65 greyscale like Infocus.

Kras...any plans to review/calibrate the H31? Do you consider this next generation a substantial improvement?

Not unless someone local gets one and gives it to me for review. Not an Optoma dealer.

The DarkChip2 is a significant improvement - but as competitors have shown the direction of market implementation varies.

BenQ/NEC went the multimedia portable projector route with a 2x RGBWY color wheel. Optoma/Infocus went the route of RGBRGB color wheel for dedicated HT.

Read the H30 threads and decide if you think tigers change their stripes. Marketing of brightness and contrast at calibrated D65 is not something that Optoma does - so I stand by my statement. It remains to be seen if they have better calibrated presets consistent across firmware - which they never achieved on the H30. IMPO they better if the calibration presets are there - who wants to pay for ISF at this budget except 10% of the videophiles that love to calibrate.

Aside from the calibration issue - look at feature differences and see which ones you like that the other has not.


I don't disagree with comparisons of the SP4805 and SP5700 at all. The SP5700 is much brighter - and the older gen chip with less contrast. Plus 576P softens DVD compared to 480P. I would only suggest the SP5700 if someone wanted a larger screen up close for HDTV. Even with the SP5705 which hopefully has more contrast - I would make the same recommend.

If you are DVD only at 2x screen widths away - buy a DVD projector and don't waste your money.

Tom: ..just that naggin early poppin bulb situation. True, of all the projectors sold, the percent is probably quite low..but still..it nags at me. The 4805 is right there for pq and, it seems, less bulb problems. But, then, we have that naggin noise situation with the Infocus. Well, I know, we should know there is no perfect projector. But, hey, I keep lookin and wishin.

sorry noob question whats pq? sorry

I think he meant picture quality.

Hi-

It is still not clear to me if the 4805 has a feature set similar to what is described above. Does it? If it does, is it as easy as it appears to be on the H31?

Thanks,

Regarding bulbs, the InFocus product manager told me they use 3 different brands in their projectors and he hasn't seen any difference in longevity among them. However, the 4805 bulbs are actually made by a company that they have invested in and work with in development.

Optoma's people (and press releases) at CES were still spouting the $1499 MSRP, but have since confirmed the $1299 price.

Mike: It almost goes without saying Optoma h31 would have to compete with list pricing of Infocus 4805. In todays' market you can not get more for a given product when your competetion is as good as you. $1299 is fair list price. And the Optoma h31, along with Infocus 4805, probably represents
the best value in digital front end projectors. In a showroom I have seen the 4805 up against 2 other projectors, both over $3500, and the much cheaper Infocus more than held its' own on DVDs. The more expensive projectors did not beat the 4805 in colors.

Well, because of football playoffs, decision time is near. Seems it comes down to 2 choices, the Infocus 4805 and the Optoma h31. Considering the PQ, on average, about equal that leaves us with the possible noise of the Infocus and the possible early bulb burnout of the Optoma. Even with list price the same, the 4805 is hitting the street somewhat less in cost. By the way at $300 more, the ht510 Nec is a fine choice. OK, I am thinking..thinking..thinking..

With regard to the H31, I personally wouldn't risk being an early adopter of a machine that's barely on the market yet. Particularly without user upgradeable firmware - what's the H30 on now, version 8? If you need a projector now, get the 4805. If you can wait out the H31's growing pains (if there are any), then it might be interesting to wait a few months and see how it pans out.

Mike
Happy H30 owner

nevermind.. i retract my post.

well my h-31 arrived today will let you all now somethind later tonight when i get it set up

beam1..Please do..with dvds and with HD, if possible. thanks. Let us know how it looks out of box...and rating on overall quality (workmanship) on the projector, itself.

Ok thanks

well i got it temperayr set up just so i could start watching this thing. it's seems to be built well it comes with a nice carry case i gues so you can take it with you on vacition. right out of the box it looks great watched an hour of empire strikes back only thing i done was turn down the briteness some now i;m watching van helsing as i type. really excellant picture. i am using a zenith 318 dvd player through commponnet up converted to 1080i i have to use setting 2 on 1080i on the projector or i get really bad cropping on the right side of the screen i dont have HD tv so i can't comment on that .the unit is really silent runnig so far i'm pleased but i just got the unit. picture is smooth blacks are black still playing with will report back soon.

beam 1. As you may know, for me, it is probably between h31 and 4805 so I would welcome more comments in the coming days from you. Happy viewing, my friend. And get to bed before too late!

MAN! all i cam say is WOW! watching return of jedi and had to post this this thing is incredable this movis looks like it was made yesterday I'm with Tom and Ben on this one HIGHLT RECOMENDED! Darth vaders helment really shines i've not seen the 4805 but i don't see how it coukd be better. just my opion. i don't beleave I'll be in that big of a hurry to upgrade to HD DVD or tv as good as this unit looks. Who needs to go to the movies anymore

Tom! now i'm confused. i was also looking for a new dvd player that would dvi right because my 318 has some quirks but after watching these 3 movies tonight on the H=31 through componet upconverted i really don't see how the image could be better so maybe i should just live with the 318. I've been reading in the dvd forum and it seems all upconverted players have quirks also and my player upconverta over commponet. any thoghts or help BTW thanks for recommending this unit.

also i have not tried the dvi output on my 318 yet everyone says it has the white crush issue. they say the 318's stong point is commpnet. what is white crush is it something i will notice? I've also looked for the macro=blocking everone talks about and i can't see it but it's hard to focus on that issue watching this great picture.well gotta go luke and vader are fixing to dule might have to play sick tomorrow.

I have the same player with the X1 projector. Your component hookup is fine. No need to go DVI with this player unless you need to free up the component output of the player for another use.

White crush has been fixed by a firmware upgrade which you can get by going to KeohiHDTV website. Michael TLV is the person who's all over this. You can also do a search in the DVD forum here. White crush essentially makes the whites far too bright at the upper end of the white spectrum and the 90th to 100th percentile on the IRE window of test disc's are indistinguishable.

Do I understand completely what I just said. Hell no!

But those are the facts anyway. You won't need to acquire this firmware fix unless you plan to utilize the DVI function.

On the other hand, you could try the DVI and see whether you notice anything wrong with the picture. You may not.

Enjoy your new toy!

the reason i have not got the firmware fix is because you lose upconversion over compnett thanks for the info