Optoma HD65 Review & Screenshots - Page 3

Thanks Tom!
Did you ever get around to measuring the contrast ratio? I am interested to see what the native CR is! My guess based on other models is somewhere close to 3K.

So ... is it still 8bit color processing (vs 10 or 12 ...) ?

Remember the previous generation was 8 bit on digital inputs. The analog on previous generation were 10 bit.

I guess when I get the projector I can run some full field patterns and compare the analog to the digital and see if there is a difference. Does anyone have a test to check for 8, 10, and 12 bit?

im also curious about 'super-wide' feature; is the 2.35:1 image being used coming from anamorphic or nonanamorphic 2.35x1 sd dvd

or hdm;

or doesnt it matter?

also, does ep1691 have the super-wide feature?

i've read retailors descriptions on both but no specific info on subject.

thanks! ive read whole thread but may have missed info pertaining to my questions.

thanks for response.

how will s-w fare w hdm material which as i understand it isnt anamorphic (like sd anamorphic widescreen content encoded onto 4x3 'frame') but encoded onto a 16x9 'frame' thereby making anamorphic unnecessary.

or am i way off here?

Well I am looking at a box (very small I might add) for the HD65 sitting here in my office. I hope I get a chance tonight to hang it! I think Friday night I can do a full calibration and see how it looks.

i for 1, cant wait 2 hear about it!

guitarman, would you say from what you have seen is the HD65 that much better than the HD70? I watch alot of football and have friends over all the time and you know what just don't want to watch in the dark, like to see who I am talking to. But from what you have seen is it a better projector for movies also.

Well tried to mount it and my Peerless PRSUNLV mount is to big! I will have to get a smaller mount this week. Interesting thing though... It looks like there is a tripod mount screw located in the center of the three ceiling mount screw holes. No mention of it's purpose in the manual. This thing is really small!

Another review posted...
my411family.com/electronics/projectors/reviews/read.php?id=82

Any idea how does this projector handle the Standard definition videos and DVD... The picture posted by Guitarman looked choppy and grainy for a DVD!

Thanks.

According to the review just posted it has 10 bit processing...

"The internal video processing in more than 10 bits produces 256 shades for each primary color and thus the overall colors achieved are 16.7 million colors (256REDx256GREENx256BLUE=16.7 million colors)."

Also I think the reviewer is off on the offset. I will have to read the manual again but I think it is around 1/2 of what is published in that review.

edit: I just ran the numbers and it appears that the offset it close to 18-19% of screen height.

256 shades are 8-bit. Right?

Guitarman/ p@55w0rd, please let me know the DVD playback quality? This will be the main concern since i be using HD only occasionally. I plan to buy this ASAP

Thanks in advance...

Projection calculator is now active at Projector Central and it pretty much mirrors what the one on the Optoma website says. This unit is a little shorter throw than the HD7X series. I can get an 86-88" diagonal image from my 10' throw distance restriction. Projection calculator says about 40 fL with a 1.1 gain screen given those specs. Can you say... ambient light?

Also- the sales literature on the Optoma website still lists 1 year warranty but VA and PP are saying 2 years. I'd like that cleared up given the HD7300 sales literature fiasco. God- I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on that mess.

Tom- my 3 1/2 year old H30 is still chugging away with a very nice, but pretty dim image (~3,500-4,000 hours on lamp)

Cheers!

Hello

I have a spare room that is 19x20 with an 8ft ceiling. What would be my max screen size with this unit. Thanks

Can someone take a screenshot of a football game in superwide mode? Is it going to cut off the scores?

So I am assuming, for doing a layout of screens, that for the superwide mode, you calculate your projection distance, and then take the screen width at that distance. The screen width divided by 2 would give you the screen height to make your 2.0 screen?

Also, if Width = W, then is the offset of a 2.0 screen going to be (W/1.78)*.19? In another words, does superwide keep the picture "centered" in the 16x9 window?

Correct. As I understand all digital *source* formats are 8-bit/color (at least until "deepcolor" arrives) ... the issue is whether the processing (more important for scaling displays) can smooth out the 8bit gradients.

For instance, it would make difference in 1080i/p (or 480i/p) conversion to 720p ... not so much for a native 720p source. The extra 2 bits are used to ward off rounding/truncation issues.

... And so-called "720p" flat panels are another beast

... Then again if the DLP chip is self is capable of more than 8bit/color display, then it would make a difference at all source resolutions. Personally, that's all beyond my feeble grasp of the topic.

Feel free to correct any inaccuracies.

EDIT: Ok ... stupid me, I see that DLP chips are 10bit devices ... makes sense now that you'd need to "scale" the color info from 16-235 (or 0-255) up to 0-1024 for display.

Guys I went ahead and mounted it last night with a slight mod to my existing mount and was able to fire it up for some prelim. viewing. First and foremost prior to this projector I have owned several projectors. I started with the Sonly W400 and gradually moved through a HT10, HS10, Sanyo Z4, Sharp XVZ3100. So my vast amount of viewing has been done on LCD. The Sharp DLP had issues with bowing and geometric distortion so I returned it. Despite this issue my first experience with DLP was good. I found after the first 30 second with the HD65 I am one of the people who can see rainbows on a 4x color wheel. The Sharp had a 5x and I could not detect it at all. But it is very distracting (at least to me) on the Optima HD65. I spent about 10 more minutes viewing and doing some basic set up just to see if there was anything I could do to reduce the RBE. I set contrast, brightness, and set the lamp into low and turned off/on AI. The picture is decent out of the box (a bit warm for my tastes) but definitely needs a full calibration. I slept on it and ultimately decided to return the HD65. I will now start my quest to find a decent LCD in my price range. Good luck to everyone considering this projector! And if you cannot see the RBE then this would make a fine projector.

The rainbow effect can be more complicated than just 2x, 4x, 5x. I had a X1 back in the day and only rarely saw them. When I got my sp4805 I thought I'd never see any since it's twice as fast(4x) as the X1. But I saw A LOT more on the SP4805 starting 2 minutes after I fired it up. Rainbows are distracting but I only saw them 3 times a movie or so and I just lived with it because the blue blacks of LCD at that time was not a trade I would even consider. If you don't see them a lot I'd give it a week and you eyes will adjust and you'll see less and less, but there are some projectors(most 4x or below) that do have a bothersome amount of RBE. LCD's now have closed the gap in black level and I'm open to either DLP or LCD in fact I'm feeling when I buy next I'll get a LCD most likely esp if the pannels improve again in black level. The HD65 may have more than average rainbows for 4x I guess we'll see a time goes on. Time for 5x or 6x to become the norm though.

For me, BenQ 8700 w/ 5x shows the least RBE, then Mitsu HD1000u, Infocus IN72; BenQ 6200 is the worst w/ 2x.

In terms of black level, the Sony HS51 is better than the panny ae900 which has VB, a deal breaker for me.

I never had a sanyo, but would consider the z5; panny's qc has been inconsistent.

My latest is the Mitsu HD1000u but I would not have problem going back to the sony, though I really enjoyed watching football with the Mitsu. The occasion RBE does not bother me as much.

Guys

Is there a better projector on the market than this unit that is under $1500.00. I have a dark room that will be used strictly as a theater room. Thanks

Feel free to jump in anytime guys!

Check out the Mitsubishi HC4900 threads