8mm Forum: Optoma HD80 DLP Projector?

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Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on April 20, 2008, 03:20 AM:

Even though I'll always be a die hard super 8 addict, the time has come to replace my current video projector.

Tomorrow I'm seeing a demo of the Optoma HD80 and since I trust the views of you guys rather than some other forums, would like to hear the views of anyone using this projector...I see from one of the other threads that at least someone else on the forum is using one and would love to hear your views on it.

I've seen the Infocus range and whilst I think the full HD image is remarkable for the money, the dreaded "rainbow effect" from the spinning colour wheel seemed more in evidence than on my current 8 year old DLP (don't want to go LCD as I've used them in the past and personally think the contrast isn't good enough).

Apprently the Optoma uses a 6x speed colour wheel as opposed to a 4x on the Infocus.

I know the rainbow effect can't be illiminated totally if you are prone to seeing it, but I wondered what anyone else though if they have seen this projector?

Anyway, just off to run a nice 8mm feature for now [Wink]

Posted by Alan Paterson (Member # 661) on April 20, 2008, 02:40 PM:

Hi Rob,
I've had an HD80 for about 6 months now and I love the picture quality. The rainbow effect tends to only show up on white backgrounds and your viewing angle seems to affect it too. If I'm sitting down looking up at my 7 foot screen, it's very hard to see it, but if I'm standing up looking square on to the screen it is noticeable. If you very slightly defocus the image it vanishes. At this point, the image on screen is still very sharp.
I use it with a Toshiba E1 HD-DVD player and a Sony BDP300 Bluray player. It's like you're watching a very good 35mm print.
The upscaling on standard dvds is also very good.
Shame you're so far away or you could have popped by for a look.
I still like my real film though. I mean the stuff you can hold up to the light.
Alan

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on April 21, 2008, 02:15 AM:

Thats interesting, thanks Alan; may I ask what type of screen you are using?

Going to see the Optoma today and if the rainbow still bothers me I'll try your de-focusing trick; I know what you mean, with DLP you can actually knock the focus out quite a bit and DVDs still look sharp but I never thought about it affecting the rainbow...might just go and try that with my current projector actually... [Smile]

Posted by Keith Ashfield (Member # 741) on April 21, 2008, 04:19 AM:

Hi Rob. I cannot comment on the Optoma HD80 but I have been using an Optoma DV11 unit since January and I am very impressed with the "all round" performance. The picture on my 8ft screen is impressive even under daylight conditions and the sound from the "on board" speakers in the unit is excellent. This unit has an internal DVD player but functions well with "add-ons". Considering the "under £500.00" cost I am more than pleased with it and would recommend Optoma products based on this.

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on April 21, 2008, 07:50 AM:

That's reassuring, Keith.

Saw the HD80 this morning. Loved it. Ordered one. Arrives later this week...can't wait [Smile]

The "rainbow" effect was barely visable. Amazing. Anyone who is put off single chip DLP by this effect really should have a look at this projector. The difference between a 4x speed colour wheel and the 6x speed in the HD80 is huge. I really couldn't have lived with the Infocus but with the HD80 you can hardly see it and otherwise the spec. is the same.

Although the contrast from Darkchip2 (in the HD80) was not quite as good as that in the Darkchip3 machine I saw, it was still great and certainly not worth another £1000 for the difference.

All this plus 3 years warranty and 500 hours (or 6 months) lamp warranty for £1749!

I think I'm going to be very happy with this projector.

PS. My 16mm / Super 8 projectors will certainly NOT be gathering dust and will still be used just as much as they are now!

[ May 22, 2008, 05:21 AM: Message edited by: Rob Young. ]

Posted by Alan Paterson (Member # 661) on April 22, 2008, 05:23 PM:

Rob,
I don't think you'll be disappointed in this projector. It gives a very bright picture and the black levels are better than on most 35mm prints at the local Odeon.
I looked at a JVC HD-1 projector which was hailed as having the best in black levels. It certainly did - but it was also fuzzy with a lack of uniformity of light - and it had been set up by an installation guru who had tweaked it to get the best out of it. The HD-80 was black enough and very sharp.
I run mine with 'out of the box' settings and can't really fault it.
I use it with a 7 foot Draper Luma screen which must be 5 or 6 years old at least. I tension it by hanging 'Keep Fit' weights on bits of bent coathanger at each end and in the middle.

Alan

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on May 22, 2008, 05:41 AM:

Well, have had this projector for a month now and am very pleased.

Despite the better resolution, the most obvious improvement over my previous projector is the colour which is much more realistic whilst also being much more vivid. That and the big improvement with contrast; lots more detail in very dark scenes [Smile]

The picture from standard DVD using my trusty Sony player is excellent with just a vague trace now and then of interlacing.

Next step is Blu-Ray in a year or so once the format has (hopefully) settled down to the final version and players are more sensibly priced.

In the meanwhile I couldn't help but buy a very cheap Toshiba HD DVD player as the last of these seem to be being sold off. I also got hold of a hand full of cheap HD discs (about £5 each for HD discs!) so that I could see what the projector could do with HD.

Well, HD is a revelation...of course there is much more detail in the image compared to standard DVD (anyone who says there isn't seriously needs an eye test!) but there are also much more subtle improvements such as much better colour rendition (no horrible colour-banding which you can sometimes get with badly mastered DVDs) and no "edge-enhancement" (where you get black lines around objects on bright backgrounds).

Have to say that up-scaling standard DVDs is a mixed bag; some look terrrific whilst others, whilst looking sharper still display jagged interlacing lines in the fine detail...some actually look better on my standard Sony player!

Anyway, all good fun.

Projecting onto a 6 ft screen I would say that the best discs compare to a brand new, pristine 16mm print on the latest fine grain film stock (if such a thing existed). Very good indeed.

Thanks to all for the recommendations [Smile]

I am very happy.

(But just to add that I am now off to have a look through the lastest Derann 8mm list... [Wink]

)

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