Digital Trends

Optoma Bigvizion HDBV3100 October 19th, 2006 | by Dennis Barker

Nuts, Bolts, and Installation

BigVizion uses the TI DarkChip3 DLP light engine with a 6-segment color wheel that produces images that have a pixel resolution of 1920 x 1080, or 1080p native. The screen itself features a 16:9 aspect ratio and measures 100 inches diagonally (model HDBV3100). There are different exterior frames, which can be changed or painted to suit different decors. Optoma claims that the contrast ratio is 10,000:1, but it was measured as approximately 5,800:1. Thanks to a 180-watt lamp, images were quite bright and punchy. The display uses a first surface glass mirror with honeycomb support backing for added stability and an optical screen with 1.8 grain high contrast, along with a fresnel lens.

The BigVizion system is modular, coming in three crates on one pallet; the crates contain the screen assembly, the assembled electronics (assembled and all on one rack), and the mirror. The pre-assembled electronics are comprised of the light engine and system controller, which are tethered together by an HDMI cable. The system controller houses the video scaler and processor along with all connectivity, which is quite versatile and well thought out. There are three HDMI inputs plus an additional one from an A/V Receiver, two component video inputs, two S-Video inputs, and two composite video inputs. There's an HDMI output to the display and an HDMI output to A/V Receiver. There's also RS 232C connectivity, a 12v trigger, and an IR extension module.

To set up the wall, all you need is for your carpenter to create the wall opening and space with two-by-fours, into which the screen assembly is simply attached by screws. In fact, it appears to be very easy installation; the carpentry is the hardest part. Once the screen assembly is in place, it's simply a matter of the installer attaching the shelf that houses all of the pre-assembled electronics, which are already bolted into place. From there, the installer puts the mirror in place and attaches the HDMI cables, the source components such as an HD DVD player, Blu-ray Disc player, a satellite system (DirecTV HD was used for this evaluation), and an A/V Receiver. Obviously, you could hook up all of the sources to the BigVizion or to the A/V Receiver. Either way, the audio can be easily ported out the A/V Receiver or brought into the BigVizion via its very own HDMI port.

The Optoma BigVision