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Optoma HD81 1080p DLP official discussion - Page 159

post #4741 of 4809
12/27/09 at 1:42pm
Have you tried running the HDMI straight to the projector and digital audio to the receiver? Not sure if the PS3 does this.

Scott
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #4742 of 4809
12/27/09 at 2:02pm
ps3 via hdmi straight to projector always worked, but then I can't use hdmi for audio. ps3->receiver->projector via hdmi is ok if I use toslink for audio, but of course that is not lossless, which is part of the reason I bought the receiver.

edit: Well, it isn't lossless for 5.1 etc.
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post #4743 of 4809
12/27/09 at 3:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Infinitenothing View Post

Just FYI to follow up on my old post, the new bulb fixed by lamp error. I'm not sure I understand completely why the bad bulb would light up briefly and why I wasn't warned that the end of bulb life was coming but, it's back up and running. I'm going to take it out of high altitude mode and see if I get more life out of the bulb that way.

Now why would this gentleman say taking it out of high altitude mode could make the lamp last longer. I would think it would be the opposite.

Bad lamps can still go on for 10 seconds or so I've seen it. Info I got was the projector wasn't seeing the power it needed to use the lamp. Probably a shift in the center piece in the bulb. If it shifts you lose the lamp. That electrode is in a very delicate state when it's all fired up. Watch out for bumping your projector around when it's on. I have a garage door very near the projector that slams (spring recoil) this shakes the wall and ceiling where the projector is mounted. I always watch it.
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post #4744 of 4809
12/27/09 at 3:38pm
How long have you had the receiver?
I'm guessing on stuff so don't feel offended.
Did you go in and assign HDMI?

Scott
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post #4745 of 4809
12/28/09 at 10:58pm
Thank you, I found and resolved my issue.
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post #4746 of 4809
12/29/09 at 2:39pm
Sorry to be slightly off topic, I'm currently using a HD70 and thinking about revamping the video portion of my system. Looking into getting either a anamorphic lens or a entire new projector. I've had good luck with Optoma in the past, but cannot find a dealer that can allow me to demo any of their newer 1080 projectors in person. I wished I still lived in Northern California, as the Optoma HQ was in Milpitas and I been there a few times in the past when I was shopping for projectors and the reps there were a pleasure to deal with. Does any of the guys here know where I can get a demo of the newer Optoma 1080p units in person in Southern California? If anyone is willing to let me see their setup, I'll bring you some free beer for your time?
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post #4747 of 4809
2/22/10 at 10:29pm
Hello all, I have an HD81 with the C08 firmware, it's been back to the manufacturer on 3 separate occasions, but has been pretty good for the past year or so. Unfortunately, within the past few weeks it's started flickering and showing some pretty severe color banding, especially noticeable in flesh tones. This happens with both component and several HDMI input sources. I've double-checked all the connections and they seem good. The reds are off, as well -- with a traditional color bars test pattern, the bar that should be red is closer to lavender. I've tried leaving the projector and scalar off for several minutes, as well as changing a lot of menu items and resetting to factory defaults. None of these helped. I'm going to try another bulb, but the brightness is pretty good so I doubt that's the problem.

Has anybody experienced problems similar to this? Any recommendations for things to try?
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post #4748 of 4809
2/23/10 at 10:15am
With the red being mixed with a lavender tint, I would guess it is an issue with the timing of your color wheel. Instead of the DLP mirrors turning on only when the red filter passes by, they are flashing somewhere in between the red and the blue filter. This would also explain your banding.

Read this this thread to find how to enter the service menu and then adjust the color wheel timing using a red test pattern from a disc such as Video Essentials. Adjust the color wheel timing until you see the most saturated red and see if that solves your problem.
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post #4749 of 4809
2/23/10 at 12:39pm
Kevin,

Thanks for the reply -- that definitely sounds like it might be the issue. I'm not sure how to get into the service menu, though, and I couldn't find it in this thread -- do you think you could give me a pointer to the post or quick instructions?

Many thanks for the quick response,
--Austin
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post #4750 of 4809
2/23/10 at 1:51pm
Try this key sequence on the remote:

Down Down Left Left Down Left

I don't recall the name of the parameter that adjusts color wheel speed, but it should be somewhat obvious. Something like "CW" or "Index."

Don't change any values without first writing down the original value. This will allow you to restore any screw up. Be careful, don't change things willy-nilly, and you are fully responsible for anything that happens.
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post #4751 of 4809
3/13/10 at 9:01pm
It seems unusual that I am unable to get a visible 1080P display when I:
plug a PC running 1920x1080x60Hz via a DVI-HDMI cable directly into the media processor. Trying all 4x3 modes, they display fine. I can get 1280x720P to display ok. Yet, no 1920x1080x60 when going through the media processor.

Now, here is the _only_ configuration that works for me:

Set the same PC to 1920x1080P at 60Hz and
plug the same DVI-HDMI cable directly from the PC to the projector, directly. Bypassing the Media Processor altogether.

For some odd reason, this works. HDCP?

What I would like to find out from other owners, is if:

a) this scenario matches yours... and you have to plug a PC in directly
and/or
b) You have a working solution with no issues through the media processor.

Provided you have "B", would you be able to help I and other forum onlookers obtain the Windows scanning (or modeline) information using a Windows tool called PowerStrip. I can help with Powerstrip, if you can help with the projector issue.


-Karl
ps sorry about the crosspost to the hd81lv forum.
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post #4752 of 4809
3/15/10 at 8:57am
What OS and video card are you using? I was never able to get either of two NV cards to work right under vista at 1080p, yet they worked fine under XP. I'm now running windows7 with an AMD HD 5750 and it seems to work well. Right now I've got the HDMI out going to the receiver and then to the processor. I've also run it directly to the processor in the past and it's worked fine. What are you looking for with powerstrip? I think I have the monitor.inf data at home if that's what you're looking for.
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post #4753 of 4809
3/15/10 at 9:45am
Hi Ted,
I am using an Intel i945 mobile chipset and XP sp2.
The connection is from DVI to HDMI via a conversion cable.

Here is where the powerstrip app comes in.
With your working setup, you could run the powerstrip app and then reveal the timing that is being generated by your gfx card to the media processor

I will send some screenshots of the menus to walk through.
For you it might take 15 min to get this data. It should be easy.

What I am interested in most is creating a Linux modeline for the HD81 in 1080P mode.

Provided you have a working config, the powerstrip app will expose both the Windows mode setup timing and the Linux setup timing, or modeline.
Once the shareware app is installed it will be easy to do this.

I'll try and post the photo steps in a couple hours. And see if you can help.
-Karl
-Karl
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post #4754 of 4809
3/15/10 at 12:10pm
Here are the details on Powerstrip.
PowerStrip can be downloaded from this site:

http://entechtaiwan.com/files/pstrip.exe

After installation on your Windows machine, the GUI is located in the toolbar.

(A quick note: the screen captures are from another pc, running at a different resolution. When you see a resolution displayed, yours should say 1920x1080 instead of what you see in the photos below. If you have a dual screen setup, you'll want to be sure you have the correct output selected.)

Here are the images sequences from PowerStrip:

1) Click on the PowerStrip icon. Hover Over Display Profiles, and select Configure.



2) Select only the button for Advanced Timing Options. Provided that you see the 1920x1080 resolution displayed. (Pardon the image below, as it does not say 1920x1080. Its only a guide.)



3) You won't have to change any settings on this panel. The only button you're interested in is the Copy Button that is labeled in the photo.
Once you press the copy button, the PC mode information is copied to your Windows Clipboard.




4) Open any text editor. Select Paste. Your output will look similar to the image below. Your output should include "Linux modeline parameters:". This is the information that can be used to recreate the display mode.

Please post your results (the text in the clipboard) to the forum so everyone can evaluate.



Thanks
-Karl
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post #4755 of 4809
3/16/10 at 7:03pm
I tried installing powerstrip to get you the info but the advanced timing options button is grey for me since the HD5xxx cards are not supported yet. You'll need to get someone with a supported card to grab it for you I'm afraid.

Here is the optoma.inf I produced with moninfo read of the EIDE info when it was plugged into the processor. You might be able to use this as the monitor driver (look for the 'Have Disk...' option) to get windows to see a good mode for it.
Code:
; INF file generated by Monitor Asset Manager, 3/13/2010
; Copyright (c) EnTech Taiwan, 1995-2009.
; Internet: http://www.entechtaiwan.com

[Version]
Signature="$WINDOWS NT$"
Class=Monitor
ClassGUID={4d36e96e-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}
Provider=%MFG%
DriverVer=3/13/2010, 1.0.0.0
;CatalogFile=YourSignedCatalogFile.cat

[DestinationDirs]
DefaultDestDir=23

[SourceDisksNames]
1=%DISC%

[SourceDisksFiles]
;YourColorProfileFile.icm

[Manufacturer]
%VENDOR%=EDID_OVERRIDE,NTx86,NTamd64

[EDID_OVERRIDE.NTx86]
%PRODUCTID%=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install, MONITOR\\OTM4844

[EDID_OVERRIDE.NTamd64]
%PRODUCTID%=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install.NTamd64, MONITOR\\OTM4844

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install.NTx86]
DelReg=DEL_CURRENT_REG
AddReg=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.AddReg, MODE1, DPMS
CopyFiles=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.CopyFiles

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install.NTamd64]
DelReg=DEL_CURRENT_REG
AddReg=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.AddReg, MODE1, DPMS
CopyFiles=OVERRIDDEN-EDID.CopyFiles

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install.NTx86.HW]
AddReg=OVERRIDDEN-EDID_AddReg

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.Install.NTamd64.HW]
AddReg=OVERRIDDEN-EDID_AddReg

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID_AddReg]
;Base EDID
HKR,EDID_OVERRIDE,"0",0x01,0x00,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0xFF,0x00,0x3E,0x8D,0x44,0x48,0x19,0x04,0x00,0x00,0x2B,0x10,0x01,0x03,0x80,0x00,0x00,0x78,0x0A,0x0D,0xC9,0xA0,0x57,0x47,0x98,0x27,0x12,0x48,0x4C,0xAD,0xCE,0x00,0x81,0xC0,0xD1,0xC0,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x01,0x1D,0x80,0x18,0x71,0x1C,0x16,0x20,0x58,0x2C,0x25,0x00,0xC4,0x8E,0x21,0x00,0x00,0x9E,0x8C,0x0A,0xD0,0x8A,0x20,0xE0,0x2D,0x10,0x10,0x3E,0x96,0x00,0x13,0x8E,0x21,0x00,0x00,0x18,0x00,0x00,0x00,0xFC,0x00,0x4F,0x70,0x74,0x6F,0x6D,0x61,0x20,0x48,0x44,0x38,0x31,0x0A,0x20,0x00,0x00,0x00,0xFD,0x00,0x18,0x3C,0x0D,0x44,0x0F,0x00,0x0A,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x20,0x01,0x3A

[DEL_CURRENT_REG]
HKR,MODES
HKR,EDID_OVERRIDE
HKR,,MaxResolution
HKR,,DPMS
HKR,,ICMProfile

[DPMS]
HKR,,DPMS,,0

[MODE1]
HKR,,MaxResolution,,"1920,1080"

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.AddReg]
HKR,"MODES\\1920,1080",Mode1,,"13.0-68.0,24.0-60.0,+,+"

[OVERRIDDEN-EDID.CopyFiles]
;YourColorProfileFile.icm

[Strings]
MFG="EnTech Taiwan"
DISC="Monitor EDID Override Installation Disk"
PRODUCTID="OTM Optoma HD81 (EDID Override)"
VENDOR="OTM"
Here is a dump of the info I see from moninfo when the computer is connected through the receiver to the processor. It's more verbose and may have the timing info also. I've got it set to only output 1080p right now (it has a scaler too) so that might alter the settings a bit, but since you want 1080p anyhow it should help.
Code:
Monitor
  Model name............... DTR-9.9
  Manufacturer............. Onkyo
  Plug and Play ID......... ONK0899
  Serial number............ n/a
  Manufacture date......... 2007, ISO week 0
  -------------------------
  EDID revision............ 1.3
  Input signal type........ Digital
  Color bit depth.......... Undefined
  Display type............. RGB color
  Screen size.............. Undefined or variable
  Power management......... Not supported
  Extension blocs.......... 1 (CEA-EXT)
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI................... Not supported

Color characteristics
  Default color space...... Non-sRGB
  Display gamma............ 2.20
  Red chromaticity......... Rx 0.625 - Ry 0.340
  Green chromaticity....... Gx 0.280 - Gy 0.595
  Blue chromaticity........ Bx 0.155 - By 0.070
  White point (default).... Wx 0.283 - Wy 0.298
  Additional descriptors... None

Timing characteristics
  Horizontal scan range.... 13-68kHz
  Vertical scan range...... 24-60Hz
  Video bandwidth.......... 150MHz
  CVT standard............. Not supported
  GTF standard............. Not supported
  Additional descriptors... None
  Preferred timing......... Yes
  Native/preferred timing.. 1920x1080i at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline............... "1920x1080" 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1094 1124 interlace +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #1....... 720x480p at 60Hz (4:3)
    Modeline............... "720x480" 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  72Hz - VESA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  72Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  70Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - VESA STD

EIA/CEA-861 Information
  Revision number.......... 3
  DTV underscan............ Not supported
  Basic audio.............. Supported
  YCbCr 4:4:4.............. Supported
  YCbCr 4:2:2.............. Supported
  Native formats........... 1
  Detailed timing #1....... 1280x720p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline............... "1280x720" 74.250 1280 1390 1430 1650 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #2....... 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline............... "1920x1080" 148.350 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #3....... 1280x720p at 50Hz (16:9)
    Modeline............... "1280x720" 74.250 1280 1720 1760 1980 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync

CE video data (timings supported)
    1280 x  720p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  576p at  50Hz - EDTV (4:3, 16:15)
    1920 x 1080i at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
    1920 x 1080i at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  480i at  60Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 8:9)
     720 x  576i at  50Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 16:15)
    1920 x 1080p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1440 x  576p at  50Hz - DVD (4:3, 8:15)
    1440 x  480p at  60Hz - DVD (4:3, 4:9)
    2880 x  480i at  60Hz - Console (4:3, 2:9-20:9)
    2880 x  576i at  50Hz - Console (4:3, 2:15-20:15)
    2880 x  576p at  50Hz - Console (4:3, 4:15)
    2880 x  480p at  60Hz - Console (4:3, 2:9)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

CE audio data (formats supported)
  LPCM    2-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  LPCM    8-channel, 16/20/24 bit depths at 32/44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  AC-3    8-channel,  640k max. bit rate at 32/44/48 kHz
  DTS     8-channel, 1536k max. bit rate at 44/48 kHz
  SACD    6-channel                      at 44 kHz
  DD+     8-channel                      at 44/48 kHz
  DTS-HD  8-channel, 16-bit              at 44/48/88/96/176/192 kHz
  DVD-A   8-channel                      at 44/48/88/96/192 kHz

CE speaker allocation data
  Channel configuration.... 7.1
  Front left/right......... Yes
  Front LFE................ Yes
  Front center............. Yes
  Rear left/right.......... Yes
  Rear center.............. No
  Front left/right center.. No
  Rear left/right center... Yes
  Rear LFE................. No

CE vendor specific data (VSDB)
  IEEE registration number. 0x000C03
  CEC physical address..... 3.1.0.0
  Supports AI (ACP, ISRC).. Yes
  Supports 48bpp........... No
  Supports 36bpp........... No
  Supports 30bpp........... No
  Supports YCbCr 4:4:4..... No
  Supports dual-link DVI... No
  Maximum TMDS clock....... 165MHz

Report information
  Date generated........... 3/16/2010
  Software revision........ 2.44.0.825
  Operating system......... 6.1.7600.2

Raw data
  00,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,FF,00,3D,CB,99,08,00,00,00,00,00,11,01,03,80,00,00,78,0A,0D,C9,A0,57,47,98,27,
  12,48,4C,AD,CE,00,81,C0,D1,C0,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,01,1D,80,18,71,1C,16,20,58,2C,
  25,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,9E,8C,0A,D0,8A,20,E0,2D,10,10,3E,96,00,13,8E,21,00,00,18,00,00,00,FC,00,44,
  54,52,2D,39,2E,39,0A,20,20,20,20,20,00,00,00,FD,00,18,3C,0D,44,0F,00,0A,20,20,20,20,20,20,01,7D,
  02,03,39,71,50,13,10,11,85,04,02,14,06,15,1F,1D,0E,0A,19,25,23,38,09,7F,07,0F,7F,07,17,07,50,3F,
  06,C0,4D,02,00,57,06,00,5F,7E,01,67,5E,00,83,4F,00,00,66,03,0C,00,13,00,80,01,1D,00,72,51,D0,1E,
  20,6E,28,55,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,F3,39,80,18,71,38,2D,40,58,2C,45,00,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,01,1D,00,
  BC,52,D0,1E,20,B8,28,55,40,C4,8E,21,00,00,1E,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,87
One other somewhat helpful thing I remember from when I was trying to get Vista + NV to work was I could set it to the res right below 1080p and then manually tweak it up to 1080p by the advanced settings in the NV driver. It would never stay there (reset on boot) but that was another issue.
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post #4756 of 4809
3/17/10 at 6:03am
MAGIC BOX

I had this issue when I first got my HD81. It seemed that I had issues trying to run the windows desktop and games at 1080p 60hz, I would get no display. I had to use my monitor and set the games to 30hz before I got a display. I think I had the issue at 1280x720p also but this was awhile back so cant remember.

I sent the projector in to Optoma who changed some hardware board on the machine. This fixed both the blue screen issue that users were experiencing on this forum as well as the resolution and refresh rates from a PC using the DVI-HDMI adaptor connection.

This "could" be your problem?
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post #4757 of 4809
3/25/10 at 6:41pm
Thanks all for your updates. I sincerely appreciate everyone's attention to detail.

Over the last week or so, I have worked through a number of configurations.

HDMI cables have been swapped in/out, different configurations tried. And today I brought in a DVD player that upconverts to 1080P.
I had thought there could be an HDCP issue.... but that doesn't make sense either.

Meanwhile I did verify that the video processor will pass through 1080P with the unconverted DVD player. So 1080P _is_ possible through the video processor.

Still the PC does not display. It is using onboard Intel GMA 950 graphics, not a more sophisticated NVidia or ATI graphics card. So, this could be a red flag.

I have verified the output from my PC devices are delivering a valid 1080P mode. The only catch might be that I'm going from DVI to HDMI.

The video processor says it is in 1080P mode (via text overlay) , yet the rest of the image remains black. No device video shows through.

When I drop down to 720P video... everything works great. PC displays fine, etc. No trouble at all.

I had considered that the video processor might be bad... which is why I brought in the DVD unconverted player. And verified that it is indeed in 1080P mode. And it worked with no hassle.

Summary:

The score looks like this:

PC Windows XP Sp2 Intel GMA 950 via DVI-D --> HDMI through the video processor maximum resolution 720P 60 hz

Same PC Windows XP, via DVI-D --> Projector Directly, same cables maximum resolution 1080P 60 hz


Upconverted DVD player via HDMI --> video processor maximum resolution 1080P Hz -- unknown.

Thought / suggestions welcome. Especially if you think the video processor needs fixing.

-Karl
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post #4758 of 4809
3/30/10 at 1:34pm
MagicBox:
Have you tried any over-riding of the detected display properties when the PC is connected to the processor? It sounds like your problem is the video card/driver is not detecting the display correctly. The processor is almost certainly sending different information when it's in the chain than the projector alone. Have you tried using powerstrip when it's connected directly to the projector and then again when you have the processor in the chain? You might try forcing the settings you detect when connected directly to the projector when it's connected to the processor. Depending on how motivated you are to solve this you could throw a cheap video card in the computer, assuming there is room for one.
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post #4759 of 4809
9/17/10 at 3:32am
Hi there, was hoping someone can help me, I wanted to go into the service menu for the Optoma HD81 but cant seem to get in. I referred to the key pushes (as below) that Kevin Anderson suggested,

"Try this key sequence on the remote:

Down Down Left Left Down Left"

I DO get a response as the screen turns blue and then back to normal and a menu comes up but the menu is just the standard one when you use the remote and not the service menu.

Kevin if you get this message or anyone, can you please advise. I am technical and configure AV equipment so know about the care to take in the service menu area.

Thanks in advance all....
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post #4760 of 4809
9/17/10 at 6:40am
Try "power off, left, left, up"
Works on HD82.
regards
KRID
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post #4761 of 4809
3/1/12 at 5:56am
I posted this in the sub-$3000 category, but no responses. Maybe a better place to ask past/current HD-81 owners what they think of the new cheaper pj's.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
About seven years ago I got an Optoma HD-81 for about $6k. My dealer just quoted me $450 for a new bulb and I'm wondering if someone can compare the HD-81 with one/any of the new sub $3k PJ's on the market. Due to my low gain screen, size and placement, only a few projectors are bright enough for my needs. Two I'm very interested in are the BenQ W7000 and the Epson 5010.

3D is not that important to me. But I just saw an HD-81 sell on eBay for $500, so if I sold my pj and pocketed the $450 for the bulb, that brings my real cost down almost a grand. I figure the best time to get a new pj is before replacing the bulb (it's not blown yet, but it's getting dim).
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post #4762 of 4809
3/1/12 at 9:48am
I just had a lamp delivered yesterday from myprojectorlamps.ca (or .com in the States). The price was much less than you quoted. They claim it is oem and a direct replacement. This is my second lamp from them. You have to replace the lamp in the housing, but I found it pretty easy to do the last time (haven't opened the package yet for this go round). Diamondlamps are cheaper still. I don't think they are oem but the price is half of what you mentioned. If you are thinking of selling the projector for $500 anyway, you might consider this. You have little to lose. I know the on/off contrast on these sucks, but the optics are very good.

More than a few on this forum have had problems with the hd81, I know I have, so I'll be looking to replace when this lamp dims, but that is what I said when I bought the last one. You might want to try one more lamp and then see what the led or laser camps have to offer in a couple of years.
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post #4763 of 4809
3/1/12 at 9:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sstephen View Post

I just had a lamp delivered yesterday from myprojectorlamps.ca (or .com in the States). The price was much less than you quoted. They claim it is oem and a direct replacement. This is my second lamp from them.

How many hours do you get out of these lamp replacements? The same 2000 hours? Thanks.
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post #4764 of 4809
3/1/12 at 10:03am
I sort of made a reference to this in my last post, but my hd81 is a lemon. It has been back for repairs twice and is giving me more problems. I was wondering if anyone else has had the problem of the projector shutting down for no apparent reason? If so, any "fixes" you know of? I'll have this happen a couple of times a week now. Could be 5 min. after I turn it on, or I could have it on for 5 hours straight with no problems. When I look at the lights flashing, they are blue and both lights (or at least the 2 end lights) are flashing blue. Nothing in the manual indicates that this will happen. The flashing blue on one side by itself indicates the projector is shutting down, the other flashing by itself would indicate an rs232 problem. Both together aren't mentioned in the manual. I get no warning, which I should get if it is the rs232 cable. It is just playing one second then shuts off the next.

I was trying to run a media player from my pc. That causes the PJ to shutdown almost every time I try it, probably in the first hour, but could be later. I checked my video card and the timing is off. It actually outputs at 59hz rather than 60, so probably a poorly designed circuit around the crystal. I tried to adjust timings to get it back to 60, but the PJ wouldn't accept them, so I'm not really sure if that is the problem or not. I also tried plugging the PC output directly to the projector, bypassing the controller box, but that didn't fix this problem. Getting output from the PC is minor to me, though. If there is anything I can do to fix the problem with output from my bluray player or my ASUS media player (problem happens on both, with about the same frequency), I'd like to know what it is.

Any ideas? People with the same problem? Sympathizers?
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post #4765 of 4809
3/1/12 at 10:06am
My current lamp is at about 1700 hrs. I replaced my original after about 2000 hrs, but my recollection is it was dimmer than my current one. That was more than 2 years ago, though, so I might be mistaken. I know back then I had adjusted the iris to be wider open than it is now because it was too dim.

p.s. Also, I start off in low lamp mode, then change to bright when it starts to seem to dim. My recollection is I did that later with the first lamp than this one, but probably because I was willing to live with it being dimmer back then. But I'm getting old and life is too short, so what the hell, I figured I'd cough up for a new lamp sooner this time.
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post #4766 of 4809
3/1/12 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sstephen View Post

I sort of made a reference to this in my last post, but my hd81 is a lemon. It has been back for repairs twice and is giving me more problems. I was wondering if anyone else has had the problem of the projector shutting down for no apparent reason? If so, any "fixes" you know of? I'll have this happen a couple of times a week now. Could be 5 min. after I turn it on, or I could have it on for 5 hours straight with no problems. When I look at the lights flashing, they are blue and both lights (or at least the 2 end lights) are flashing blue. Nothing in the manual indicates that this will happen. The flashing blue on one side by itself indicates the projector is shutting down, the other flashing by itself would indicate an rs232 problem. Both together aren't mentioned in the manual. I get no warning, which I should get if it is the rs232 cable. It is just playing one second then shuts off the next.

I was trying to run a media player from my pc. That causes the PJ to shutdown almost every time I try it, probably in the first hour, but could be later. I checked my video card and the timing is off. It actually outputs at 59hz rather than 60, so probably a poorly designed circuit around the crystal. I tried to adjust timings to get it back to 60, but the PJ wouldn't accept them, so I'm not really sure if that is the problem or not. I also tried plugging the PC output directly to the projector, bypassing the controller box, but that didn't fix this problem. Getting output from the PC is minor to me, though. If there is anything I can do to fix the problem with output from my bluray player or my ASUS media player (problem happens on both, with about the same frequency), I'd like to know what it is.

Any ideas? People with the same problem? Sympathizers?

Having lived with '81's for at least 6 years, I can tell you that you need a new bulb. I've had it happen at 700 hours. I never had a bulb last 2000 hours. When I went to look for a replacement projector, nothing at any price produced as good an overall picture as my HD81-LV. So, I bought another one for replacement parts.
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post #4767 of 4809
3/1/12 at 11:05am
Art:

Nobody I've ever known has put up with the problems a product has had like you have with your hd81 lv's

It makes little sense to me that an old lamp could cause the problems I described, but this design hardly seems bulletproof. Fortunately, I have one in hand and will replace shortly. Maybe I'll even try to get my computer to talk to my hd81 again.

I've had no experience with other projectors in my house and I've seen very few at other peoples places, or in stores. Nonetheless, I can state that I find the picture VERY satisfying with this PJ, other than the on/off contrast. I don't use the dynamic iris feature on this. I tried it years ago, could hear it, could see it, didn't like it, turned it off. I'd rather put up with decreased contrast than with the pumping I see when the iris on this changes. It's obvious that Optoma never designed this thing with dynamic iris in mind.

The first time I sent it back to Optoma, the power supply was flakey, which was a known problem with the very early models. I preordered mine from AVS. I found out the thing was flakey when the lamp failed after a couple hundred hours, and about a week after the 90 warranty on the lamp expired. Optoma at least replaced the lamp for free when they repaired the power supply. Then the colour wheel went about 2 months after the warranty expired. They charged me to fix that. I've stopped using the 24 fps mode on the off chance that that caused my colour wheel problems, or at least added to them.

I've also had problems recently where the thing wouldn't turn on via remote, and I'd have to press the power button several times to get it on. Also, one of the hdmi inputs is buggered. It's as if it only sees about 30 different luma levels, but spread over the entire range. So brutal banding. I opened the controller box and blew some air through it, but it didn't look dirty. That seems to have fixed the turn on/off problem but not the hdmi input problem. Could just have been unplugging it that fixed it, or I jostled something. I don't think it was blowing the air, but again, who knows.

I sure hope replacing the lamp fixes the sudden shutdown problem. I don't want to have to send it back to optoma again. This thing has been a mixed bag. I'm not likely to give optoma any of my money in the future.
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post #4768 of 4809
3/1/12 at 11:32am
Hi sstephen,

Recently, I bought a refurbished LV. I needed a new VXD unit. I payed $2,550.00 for both the VXD and the projector. The new VXD is connected to the old projector and everything is great. Let me know if you would like to buy just the refurbished projector from me. It is still in the box. $1,900 sounds about right. Regarding computer issues. Early along I learned from Optoma that the VXD will only process up to 720P through the VGA inputs.

That turn on issue is exactly why I bought the refurbished VXD. I know the turn on problem is definitely a VXD issue so you may not want to buy just t he projector. Sounds like you are in the same boat I was in several months ago. Sorry.

Honestly, I did some looking for a replacement that looked as good. Forget the 3 panel units. The convergence issues took me back to my CRT projector days. The DLP's in this units class are very expensive. For $2,500.00 i figure I can keep it running another couple of years. Repairs at Optoma's repair contractor are outrageous so forget that.
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post #4769 of 4809
3/1/12 at 3:06pm
Art and I conversed recently about out HD-81LV Woes. I gave up on my VXD quite a few years ago. I am using a Denon receiver in my theater and I run the hdmi out form the Denon directly to the projector. On the Denon I configured the hdmi output to a constant 1080p so that the projector would recognize the signal. I still use the VXD for the serial portion of the control. But I do remember someone a while back using a computer and using it to issue the serial control commands to the projector.

Joe
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post #4770 of 4809
3/15/12 at 12:05am
I haven't put the new lamp in yet, but I did solve my problem with computer output. I kept adjusting the timing from 60 hz up until it stopped being accepted by the projector, then down until it stopped being accepted, then chose a refresh value in the middle (about 59.97). That seems to work ok. I also reset the hours to zero after what Art said. I don't know if that is what did the trick or the change in timing, but it has been a week now without it shutting down when viewing via computer.

The replacement lamp from myprojectorlamps is philips, as was the one Optoma put in the first time I sent it back (which I refer to as "the original"), and the specs are correct, but the original was made in Belgium, the new one made in China. The reflector in the new one has a yellowish tint to it compared to the original. It looks intentional, since I see some gold colouring near seams. I also think the glass on the outside of the lamp is kind of cloudy looking whereas the original looks clear. Has anyone replaced a lamp lately that they purchased directly from Optoma? Have you noticed the same things I have? I told this to myprojectorlamps, and they told me to install and they'd replace if it didn't work properly (which I'll take to mean if it messes up the colours).


I also decided to try to automate a sled for my anamorphic lens, and of course the trigger doesn't seem to work properly. I've tried setting on only 16:9, or LBX. In both cases it will change from 0 to 12V across the terminals when I first change, but doesn't switch off when I change back. Sounds like Jeff Regan had problems as well. Has anyone got this to work properly? Is there something else I need to change? Those are the only 2 modes I use, since auto235 is useless. Sometimes that switches on or off during a movie.
Optoma sure screwed up on this. What a simple function, yet they can't get it to work. It is very frustrating and makes me think of terms like "mickey mouse" and "class action".


p.s. Thanks for the offer, Art, but I've put as much money into this PJ as I'm going to.
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