*Official* Optoma HD80 thread - Page 6

Tom,

Glad to see you finally got your paws on one!

Fun way to spend the weekend heh?

Really looking forward to a in depth review from you on this unit.

Pics?

Thanks

Yup, Tom, waiting for your in depth review, if possible, have some comparison to the pj you familiar say tw1000 or hc5000 or even rs1?

Peter

Tom,
I am confused about this statement. I do not understand what correlation there is between DC3 and brightness, I thought DC3 just gave better contrast.

I thought Optoma rated this projector at 1300 lumens, how is it twice as bright as the HD81? I want better blacks not a light torch. Will wait till Tom gets it dialed in to see how the black levels are. Sounds like people with really big screens will like this projector.

Mike

One of the key thoughts on DC3 was the mirrors adding more brightness. I've had both HD2 Dark Chips and DC3's, they wouldn't want me to say it but the difference isn't all that hugh in picture quality. DC3 720p had less screen door and more brightness due to less pixel gap. This little puppy has tiny pixels and from my light test is super bright. I'd recommend the HD80 to anyone looking for a powerful projector with high resolution.
We watched some movies tonight that I thought would be so/so but not so on this projector. Things looks very good,

Tom how is dithering error, RBE and fan noise?

Tom, do you have HD source (1080p) ? I would like you to see if this projector can vertically stretch 2.35 movie in 1080p input.

Thanks

It can stretch up any 1080 source with the letterbox aspect so you can use a lens for a 2.35 setup. All aspect control is available on any source resolution 1080 HDMI or Component. I haven't seen any rainbows and tried which is good because on my 720p H77 I can if I try. The color wheel has a dark section which takes care of dithering in the blacks. I ran it for four hours with HDMI and Component HDTV feeds and things looked excellent. It's dark now so time to see what the CR ratio is.

I'm anxious to hear how the contrast numbers stack up against the HD81 you reviewed. How close in pq is it to the HD81? What are the noticeable differences?

Thanks,
Mike

Would you recommend it to someone wanting high resolution and inky blacks?

Thanks,
Mike

yes, would you recommend to people who want high resolution and inky black? I have audition tw1000 and hc5000 before but none of them can satisfied me for the black. Hence I was quite exicted when Optoma introduced the HD80.

Peter

They are very close in Optics clarity and picture sharpness, super sharp picture quality, I'd say identical. Coloring is very nice on the HD80 with it's brillant color features. Not so over colored like other brilliant color models I've looked at. HD70, HD72.

That's a great deal...especially if it's a re-badged Panamorph UH380/M380, which sells for $2K more! I have the UH380 with my RS1 and I absolutely love it. I don't even move it out of the way anymore, I just use my scaler to go from 16:9 to 2.35:1, and everything in between.

Blacks are nice and dark with little or no dithering. Closing down the Iris will darken the blacks very well, there's also 10 gamma choices and I found -3 gamma will give a perfect 2.2. At the 14 iris setting I get 2900.1 which is very respectable at fully closed I got 3100.1 which is about 400.1 more than I got on the HD81. That's putting the meter closer to the lens to cut down error.

Thanks Tom. What was the top lumen in FlT with closed iris?

It was about 500lumens on my screen at 12 stop, with 2900.1. You wouldn't want to go much lower things would be too dim maybe.

Thanks.

My H77, which I picked up for about $3K a couple years ago, works great on my 7' ceiling. I was hoping to go 1080p with the H80, but I'll have to wait for lens shift. Even if I had the room there's no way I'd put it on a table. Above and behind is the only place the projectors should be!

SWEET!!! That means we can take it outside, blow it up on an insane screen, and invite the neighborhood over. Can't wait for your full review!

Yes, you were able to pick up the H77 for $3k... however, you must remember how far into the product cycle the H77 was by the time you could do that. By the time the H77 was $3k the H-79 had been out for over a year and the H78dc3 was also out.

When the H77 was a "new" projector it was closer to $7k not $3k (at least MSRP, Tom could remind us exactly what it was).

Wait another 18 months and you can probably buy a "new" Sony Pearl for $3k, which will have lens shift and be 1080P.

My only "point" was that to date we have only seen lens shift on the more expensive DLP units and unless there is a change in the DLP light engine that makes it less expensive to add lens shift it does not seem to be showing up on the projectors that many of us would consider "affordable." Not that I would not like to have it... man it would make installation so much easier :-)

I have to chime in on that as well. Add your comment to the over priced concessions, rude and obnoxious theater goers, 12 year old managers that can't control an audience, teens dropped off by parents, unruly children, cell phone talkers & the guy next to you that saw the film twice and is now giving a blow by blow description to his mates in an effort to be Mr Cool, and there you have it.

My Home Theater may be the best investment I ever made, now that I think about it. Uncle Willie

Hi Tom, do you mind to share the physical design difference between HD81 and HD80? I know they are different in Darkchip, Video processing and removal of dynamic iris. Besides that what else is the real diffferences? The lens?

Does HD80 accept 1080p24hz?

Peter

They both share the same lens which is a high quality large lens that can cover the 9.5 chip, pictures are sharp as a tack.

Some info shots of stock settings.
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/hd80cie.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/hd80stocktemp.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/hd80iris12cr.jpg (2939.1)
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/hd80sh1.jpg
http://www.cigarbest.com/sales/hd80sh2.jpg

Peter,

According to the manual (http://www.projectorcentral.com/pdf/...anual_3762.pdf) on page 42, it looks like it should support 1080p24.

Tom,

Can't wait for more of your review

Wow, those screenshots of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory are punchy and colorful. I have watched the HD DVD on my first generation 720p DLP projector and those 2 screenshots show me why I need a new projector.

Mike

For sure, the Hd80 has allot of pop, high ansi contrast and deep blacks plus high white level equals plenty of image pop. Don't forget all those pixels, you can't see the resolution jump on a screen shot with a monitor but it's there for real. Lines of images are very tight and sharp.

At this price range, and that RBE and dithering seem to be a non-issue, would love to see a shootout with the Sony Pearl or one of the 1080p LCD's.

Keep up the good work, Tom.

DLP is still the King. I have a Pany AX100 here right now. ANSI contrast and 1 chip sharpness still rule the video plane.

Tom,

If one does not need the brightness (I have a HP screen), by closing the iris, is the detail in dark picture areas visible?

Also, does Optoma still require projectors to be sent back for firmware upgrades? I have been out of the market for a while and now looking to upgrade. Is buying early riskier in terms of requiring upgrades (I have a Toshiba XA2 so will eventually do 1080p24)...

Thanks.

Right now I'd say this is the 1080p DLP to get. I plan on buying one from having the test PJ in my home for the last few days. I don't want to spend 6k 9k for this type of item, but $2.5k is workable. Plus the machine has great inputs, 2 1.3 HDMI's and one DVI, Component and the little guys s-video and composite, composite there's a good one. I could hook up my HD-DVD, Pany S97 and Bravo D2 all at the same shot. The projector offers allot for the 2.x dollar. The pixelsworks chip does a good job on deinterlacing, the thing has a 16 steps iris, enormous brightness if needed, all packaged in a simple classic DLP package. I'd expect this PJ to be a huge seller for the videophile looking for a lower priced deal market.

Oh I've been testing it on a HP screen and it works. The HP with it's smooth texture and nice brightness works well. You can use the Iris to set the bright level you need.

Wing has been working on user firmwares but has been busy lately on getting the new stuff out. It will happen, but from the start he works hard on having the PJ do what it should do in aspect setups for letterbox and 2.35 setups, 1080p etc.

I don't think they're be many firmwares needed.