Optoma HD81 1080p DLP official discussion - Page 155

I just began setting my 35 and 30 up and so far got a handshake with the 35 at 24P without any video problems. I can not get it to deliver Dolby True HD to my Integra 9.8 via HDMI.

Art,

Considering the previous poster has had no luck with 24P using the same HDM players as you are with his HD81, this would lead me to believe that the HD81-LV might be the difference. A different HDMI implementation perhaps?

Whatever, I am happy to hear that 24P is working for you. I would like to hear
your views of 24P playing out at 48P vs. 60i or 60P.

THANKS ART AND OTHERS FOR YOUR HELP.
1GASMAN

While I seem to be getting the A35 to operate at 24P, I can not get the Panasonic BD30 to do the same. In fact, It will not allow me to select 24p in its software. Thoughts?

Also, this Advanced Audio Codecs thing is not easy to implement. I am not seeing what I should in the Integras 9.8.

Jeff, to be quite honest, I can not see any difference in PQ regardless of the frame rate.

The projector no longer operates on low blower. After a few seconds on low blower I get blue and red blinking light that require an unplug/replug. PIA

This saturation thing is a big deal. Whites are devoid of detail. Maybe the 1000+ hour bulb..

Art,

The HD81 needs 24P sources with forced 24P ability, not sure if the BD30
does this.

I'm sorry that 24P doesn't give you an obvious improvement in motion. I
was hoping it would. Another reason for me to not feel too bad about not
taking delivery of my Samsung combo player.

That's a pain about the LV not working at low power mode. This has never
been an issue with the three HD81's and one LV I've had.

Are your clipped whites on all inputs? Component and HDMI? If just HDMI,
are you using the Integra for HDMI switching? If so, have you bypassed the Integra to make sure it is not causing the clipped signal?

My LV continues to work very well and is stable in all areas, other than a shutdown when connected to a PS/3, but it worked fine for many hours
after that.

Please refer to the inserts above.

Has anyone used the 12v connector on the back of the HD81? I want to connect this to my anamorphic lens sled but I don't recognise the connector on the HD81. I have a 3.5mm stereo jack on that device.

Also I don't know if I missed this in other parts of the discussion but I have set up a custom format that allows you to select LBX and 48Hz. Only thing is that I have no idea if it actually works as I can't force my XA2 to deliver 24hz. Anyone tried this?

Ok after fighting with the "Loop" Optoma says will work for a week, I had to abandon it and put the jumper back. I now run my two DVI sources directly to the VXP
at HDMI 1&2. My new Integra 9.8 feeds HDMI 3. Everything works perfectly except
24P. Neither player will lock with the VXP. Both the XA2 and BDPS300 connected at 24P. I can't understand why these do not but I accept your words Jeff. Everything looks and sounds incredible. I can decode all the new Codecs through 7 channels + the Sub. The Audessy works beutifully making all speakers sound the same and providing an erie soundfield. By connecting both HD DVD and BluRay and the Comcast DVR to the 9.8, I eliminated the 5 minute waits for HDMI locks after 3-6 retries. The LOOP does not work.!!!!! I've just about finished my system now. Everything from my Nakamichi Dragon to my Teac R to R and my PSX800 Turntable go to the Controller. I have 1200 hours now on the bulb and contrast is quite poor.

BTW, Lost another Remote Control. They will replace it.

Received a replacement remote today. Warren is the greatest.

Also received this statement from him.

"Hi Art,

I'm glad to hear all is well. Just remember to shut it down after 8 hours of continuous use and let it cool for 8 hours before you turn it on again. Heat is the enemy and it really builds up after 8 hours. Happy New Year and enjoy that projector!"

I answered the following:


"Warren,



I have been adhering to the 8 hour cool down since the first projector. There are so many flaws in these machines that I can not understand how a company could continue to sell them. Besides the heat issues, there is a problem with the “loop”. It does not work. The HDMI handshake with an AV receiver is almost impossible. I normally let mine cool down for half an hour on the rare occasions that I need to have it on for an extended period of time. With the amount of air movement in my home, that is sufficient to cool it to the core to room temperature.



I am grateful for all your intervention Warren but to be honest I have never owned any projector that I found quite as temperamental. I believe that Optoma should revise its design standards to prevent failures that occur so frequently. I know of no other CE device that requires a cool down period to prevent its destruction. While I am required to comply with OPTOMA’s use standards because of the need to protect my $7,000.00+ outlay, I do not like it. I have not mentioned the noisy color wheel that sometimes sounds like a motorboat on startup. Nor have I mentioned the evenings where the projector will not turn on for an hour after shutting down precipitously without cause.



I recently purchased an Integra 9.8 Controller to decode the new audio codec’s available on High Def players. I planned and attempted to install it in the AV loop as directed by OPTOMA. Unfortunately, OPTOMA’s HDCP implementation is flawed and after a week of discussion with the manufacturers of the source devices and the Controller, I have been forced to reconfigure my setup to not use the “loop through” feature. This has made operation cumbersome requiring several commands for every action. Also, I can not understand why OPTOMA did not engineer a normal 24 fps ability into this projector. The need for a player that forces 24 fps has caused me a lot of expense and frustration.



Frankly, Warren, I am sick of owning and living with this projector. Installation and reinstallation expenses have been outrageous I am thankful you have been there for me always to honor OPTOMA’s warranty. I trust this will continue. I will do everything required to maintain and follow the letter of the law with regard to the 81-LV’s operational requirements.



Art

I offer this so that those of you using this projector in an environment where you might want to have it working for periods longer than 8 hours, do not. Also, it is interesting that in a 24 hour day you can not run it for more than 12. Sad if you ask me. Also, I do not believe the failures have anything to do with long hours of operation. Heat does not accumulate like water in a bowl. Instead it reaches a plateau and stays there in a stable environment.

Thanks for keeping us updated. I haven't sent my HD81 back yet due to the small "vaseline" issue at the top of the image since we are in the thick of the NFL playoffs.

Part of me wants to live with the problem based on how many more problems people seemed to have after sending it back for warranty repairs. While I love the picture, I will not buy another Optoma.

I'm using the loop with out any issues but it is to an NHT Contoller. Unfortunately they have just discontinued that so I am looking for a new processor at the moment. Sounds like the Integra doesn't mate too well with the HD81? Anyone using a NAD T175? For that matter I am probably going to look at a new PJ as well. Any views on what might be an upgrade on the HD81 picture? And preferably something quiet too!

Today I could not keep the projector on for more than 20 sec when I turned it on. I had been living with difficult startups for a few weeks but after raising the blower to high and praying a lot, it would always work. Today it would not. Called Warren and he told me that he was almost positive that the bulb was at fault. The inability t keep the unit on after startup is a symptom of bulb failure. I put in a new bulb and VOILA!!!! everything worked perfectly. The color and vibrancy is back and the shift to green I had reported lately is gone. I can't tell you how beatiful the picture is again. Watching American Idol via cable routed through HDMI and using the Integra 9.8 set on 1080p (it has a Reon also) with the LV set on Native, the picture prompted a positive comment from my wife. It was truly stunning. For the record, the LV and the 9.8 work well together. HDMI just takes a while.

Also learned from Panasonic that there will never be a 24 fps firmware upgrade to their Model 30 BluRay machine. So, I can not do 24 fps with BluRay or HD DVD (A35 model). Why the LV has to be forced is ridicuous. Panasonic's people said that they will never design any player to force 24 fps and can not imagine why a projector would require such an enhancement. They said tat the 24 fps issues had been hammered out 5 years ago and that implementation in a display is straightforward. Apparently, the code for doing this is readily available to manufacturer's design teams. I have to wonder where the Optoma designers were when such desicions were being made. Perhaps the marketing folks at Optoma decided that it was an unnecessary frivolity. Hard to believe the 48Hz switch is there but it is of little use.

Anyway, with respect to the failed lamp. I got 10 months of use and 1049 hours out of it. Warren advised that this is not uncommon if you use the projector a lot and with a Bright setting. I used "BRIGHT" at first to keep the LV from shutting off as previous units had. Can't seem to win.

Conclusion.... I will use my 1971 Sony KV-1500 to watch SD and 4x3 programming to save the bulb. $500.00 a pop is a lot of money every 10 months. Interstingly, my father's Infocus X1, that runs 16-18 hours a day, has required 2 bulb changes. Each bulb lasted between 1500 and 2200 hours.

This is progress guys. I would be really pissed if the picture and now with the Integra 9.8, the sound weren't so amazingly striking. I can honetly say that I have seen the future of home entetainment excellence. It is alive and well in my living room. The LV, the Integra 9.8 with its ability to decode the DTS MA codec and all the others, the 7.1 speakers and the Velodyne 18" sub, the 96" wide screen all combine to provide a brief glimpse into Nirvana. Try it guys. You will be amazed. BTW, the A35's street price is below $250.00. It deliivers every codec via HDMI. Combined with a BD 30 BluRay and an Integra 9.8 and you can be at the "state of the art". Of course no 24 fps but I never couldd see any difference when I switched it in. And yes, I know it worked when I had an XA2. It just provided no observable benefit, IMHO.

Art,

the XA2 only recently got the 24fps upgrade (or at least the fix for it) and it still doesn't have a forced mode. Right now you can't get 24fps from the XA2 with the HD81 so maybe the reason you didn't see the benefit was because it wasn't working. I understand that the XA2 will get forced mode and I really hope that happens. I'm glad to hear the LV is back on track.

Piers

btw thought I add some impressions myself.

Content over HDMI is great. I also installed the latest firmware which was quite simple (V2.5 dated Sept 11, 2007). Though one thing it does require a female to female serial cable.

I will you though, 480i content gets a good upgrade on the projector end but do not expect miracles

Latest firmware? Do you have a link?

Art,

I am really glad it was only a bulb issue and that you have regained the fantastic picture that keeps us all with these products.

Are you running your LV on high altitude or bright mode? I ahve not had to run my LV at either and so far I ahve had no issues other than a somwwhat intermittant blank screen with an associated shutdown. (Again, only when I dim my ceiling lights.)

Joe

I have been using mine in the lower mode most of the time. I use the Bright setting occasionally.

I agree about thhe XA2. Apparently I did not see it because it was not happening. I did see 1080p 24 at the "Signal" message. Guess I will never see 24 fps.

Is there really a new firmware version for the LV? I did not understand the whole message. Please clarify.

Hey Art,

I went looking for the firmware upgrade on the optoma web site. Didn't find it but noticed it states taht for the LV, the bulb has a 1 year warranty.

I cannot imagine you have had your LV for a year yet.

joe

Regarding forced 24fps mode...
Perhaps you could use a DVI Detective from Gefen:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=1378

to record the EDID from another projector that 'advertises' 1080p@24fps and then use that to fake out the XA2 (or any other source that wants to see an EDID that officially advertises support for 24fps).

Give me a few weeks and I'll try it myself, I have 2 DVI detectives I use for other things. I just need to get a hold of a 1080p@24fps EDID source to record.

I have no idea what I'm doing so please excuse the placement of the post. The specified ceiling mount for this data project is Bering BM-2006N. I volunteered to buy the equipment and install it in our little church. Optoma's website and the on-line store show this mount to be the correct model (CM-H72X) but I do not see any mounting holes in the data projector to match the mounting plate. Any experience anyone can share with me? Happy New Yar. Thanks, Eric.

Hi all, I am looking into the HD81-LV for doing a very large theater with the smx screen, since it has moderate gain, and the projector is so bright, I thought it would be my best shot at doing a very large HT setup. Personally, I want to go as big as I can, this will be in a dedicated HT in a basement, so light control is at its finest. I am looking to do a 250" or so screen. I am having a hard time getting to the bottom of some things though, projector central's calculator pro cuts the light output to less than half when you select movie mode, why is this? I understand that you loose some light after calibration ect. but why do they always count on loosing over half? Is this accurate? Can I really only expect to get 1200 lumens out of this 2500 lumen projector.

I will using this with a panamorph lens for a CIH theater, I would like to make the image as large as possible, the room will have a 14' ceiling where the projector is going to be so I can get it high enough, the issue is, will it be bright enough?

Edit: Just an fyi, I would like the image to ideally be 112" high because thats how tall my speakers are, if I need to trim it down because there aren't any sub 10k projectors that will go that big, I can take one cabinet off and trim that down to 84" high, which would yield a 218" screen, I am going to have a hard time settling for anything smaller though.

army,

Before you attempt a 250" image listen to what I am about to say.

I have a 96" wide image on a 1.3 gain screen. With my original bulb that just became unusable at 1049 hours, the brightness had dropped to a level that required the iris to be wide open and the bulb on High Brightness. My new bulb creates a beautiful picture with the IRIS at 12 and Low Brightness setting. I would never go beyond a 120 " width. Make sure you check all this before comitting a lot of money to the endeavor.

yeah I have seen bulbs go, my first PJ is at my friends now, it has 1400 hours on it and he just had to use high output on his small 84" wide screen, and that PJ was 1800 lumens. My second one, a Hitachi PJTX100 has 600 hours on it and it won't do the 160" image that it used to do.

I haven't done large images on a gained screen yet, so I haven't seen for myself what improvements are to be had, I'd like to get 16 fl or so, so that as the bulb dies, I can still get 12. I don't use PJ's as often as some here, 1000 hours would last me about 3 years.

A few other options may be that I could scratch the CIH and go with a 90"x160" screen and just deal with the smaller 67" tall anamorphic mode, not that I'm crazy about the idea. Another idea that I'm even less crazy about would be getting a 1366x768 projector with a much beefier output like a sanyo plv-wf10 with 4000 lumens. I don't know how bad the sde is on that, being an lcd projector and all, I imagine it would be fairly noticeable on a 200+" screen though.

Guys, I'm very much a newbie here and need some help.

I am in the process of buying all the needed equipment for my HT setup. I've already bought the sound equipment and have ordered a 110" SI Performance Screen. I've been seriously comparing the JVC DLA-RS2 and Optoma HD81 for the last month or so and have concluded that the Optoma's Lumens is where I need to be. I have a custom built home that has a single room upstairs. It's design was to be an entertainment room with a bar, pool table, dart boards and a balcony so it's not a dedicated "Theatre Room" as some would say here. I will have the ability to Black Out the room in the afternoons for daytime movie watching but I also want the ability to have the curtains open while entertaining guests with a party or on Football Sunday's and have everybody see the screen easily. So I need a high lumens output during the this time.

My question to you guys is which HD81 should I go with? The HD81 LV or the original HD81? I have 10" cielings and I'm sure the HD81's "fixed lense" isn't going to be a problem because I'm only going with a 110" screen. But I noticed that the Lumens power on the LV is substantially higher. It actually seems too bright for my setup according to ProjectorCentrals calculator. But my thinking is would it be too bright even if I had it set on Low Output or without the Iris at night or during Blacked Out veiwing...and will it be perfect for when all the windows are open during the day? I don't want to purchase the original HD81 and it's 1400 Lumens not be enough to fill the screen with an acceptable brightness during the daytime with the curtains open. I will purchase the LV if I know for a fact that I can run it on Low Output when the room is dark to not get "spectro-vision" from it's brightness as I'm only going to sit maybe 13"-15" away from the screen itself.

HD81 or HD81 LV??? Which one shall I go for? I am ready to purchase ASAP but still on the fence.

Any help is quality from my POV.

I own the HD81, not the LV and based on what you have written can tell you to get the LV. Even a little bit of light produces a washed out image. I do have a 126" screen, but I don't think my larger screen will make a difference in the effect "wide open curtains" will do to the screen.

Honestly, I don't think you'll like any PJ with the curtains wide open.

If you REALLY want my advice - get the HD8000. It's about $2,500 and comes with a longer warranty than the HD80 (believe me, you want the longer warranty when it comes to Optoma's products). Then take the savings and buy a 720p 50" Panasonic Plasma. Put your front projector screen on motors and retract it when the curtains are wide open.

On occasion I run my LV during the daytime with bright sunlight on the other side of curtains. The room is not dark. The picture is acceptable but nowhere near as nice as at night. You WILL need the LV. You should not buy the 81 because it breaks down and is out of production bvecause it was a disaster. Forget the 81.

If you plan to watch BluRay or HD DVD at 24 fps, forget it. None of the new players have what it takes to make our projector play at 24 fps (48 Hz setting). NADA, NOTHING will fix that. I've talked to SONY, Panasonic and Toshiba. All three say that it is Optoma's fault and they will not "force 24 fps." If for no other reason, consider buying another brand if 24 fps is something important to you.

On occasion I run my LV during the daytime with bright sunlight on the other side of curtains. The room is not dark. The picture is acceptable but nowhere near as nice as at night. You WILL need the LV. You should not buy the 81 because it breaks down and is out of production bvecause it was a disaster. Forget the 81.

If you plan to watch BluRay or HD DVD at 24 fps, forget it. None of the new players have what it takes to make our projector play at 24 fps (48 Hz setting). NADA, NOTHING will fix that. I've talked to SONY, Panasonic and Toshiba. All three say that it is Optoma's fault and they will not "force 24 fps." If for no other reason, consider buying another brand if 24 fps is something important to you.

JTHV,

I agree with all that Simple Theater posted. I have had the HD-81 and HD-81LV currently.(Actually three HD-81's due to problems, but my LV has been pretty solid since I got it in August.)

The HD81-LV will be the better choice for a high ambient light room. If you plan to have the projector D65 calibrated, expect to lose a lot of lumens there. Also, such things as "Brilliant Color" boost lumens, but won't do good things for color accuracy.

My priority for the LV was not high lumens, but better contrast ratio. The HD81 has a contrast ratio of around 1800:1, the LV around 2800:1. I believe the HD-80 and 8000 are closer to the LV in that regard. Any light entering the viewing room will completely destroy the contrast range instantly.

So, were I you, I would consider two things; first, consider a more reliable option than Optoma products; second, rethink having any window coverings
open during viewing of any front projection system. LCD or Plasma is a better
approach to that environment, as Simple Theater stated.

Good luck!

I am not sure how this would "force" 24 fps from either the BD30 or A35 but if you think it will work, please let mme know.