Digital Trends

Optoma HD80 February 11th, 2008 | by Marshal Rosenthal

Setup and Use

Still waiting on the projector to warm up, we turned on our Dish HD satellite receiver and fed the signal to the projector which is now coming up to full brightness. So now we’ll zoom the image to fill the screen. No such luck - the zoom is pretty short (1.2X) and there’s a 36% offset. What this all means is that we have to move the projector much farther back and adjust it to fill the screen. We can see this being a real problem if the desire is to use it is in a small room or den, and especially if not ceiling mounted. Also, the focus tab is a bit stiff, although acceptable, and the focus ring a bit small for large hands such as ours to grasp onto.

Having made the physical adjustments for the projector, we’re now going into the menus to calibrate it. We always recommend zeroing out everything including all of the enhancements, and then working on the settings till they suit your personal preference - aided by memory settings that allow for some variation depending upon the sources being watched. We know that a lot of folks go with the factory settings, and in fact these are often more than watchable - but in the case of this projector, personal calibration is really best. You really need to spend a good deal of time calibrating the projector in order to gain a quality image, and we agree with those assessments of other reviewers noting that “out of the box” the overall image is much too blue and the color temperature too high. And that having a professional calibrate this for you is a good idea.

But most of us will rely on our eyes and “gut” to discover what looks best and frankly that’s a fair way to go, providing you’re willing to take the time and have the patience to work your way through it all. So while the best look towards color temperature, contrast and color can be very personal, the best way to start is looking to gain a clean and pure view of blacks, whites and grays. On a very simple level, just put in a black and white DVD and check that there isn’t any color bleeding; then use it as a guide towards finding strong blacks and whites to view. When it comes to the color modes, you’ll have to experiment as we did to find what appeals: Cinema for home theater working best for video from DVDs and HD sources like a Blu-ray player; Bright which provides an extremely bright image to circumvent high ambient light situations; TV which seeks to modify analogue and digital TV signals (primarily suitable with standard-def); and RGB for standard color which requires a lot of experimentation to find where it can best be used. We also recommend avoiding noise reduction entirely, and being very careful when adjusting the gamma for gaining better blacks. You might find, as we did, that this particular adjustment can have wildly different results: the kind of projection screen being used tying in very strongly with the adjustments and the apparent “density” of the blacks.

The rear offers plenty of inputs including DVI, component video and two HDMI 1.3 connectors

The Image AI (with lamp at full illumination) has the ability to adjust the level of brightness “on the fly” and for the most part is a valuable addition to use. Generally it handles its task quickly and efficiently, although there was some occasionally sluggishness during the variety of sources presented to it. By the same token, altering the iris manually can provide for a stronger image when there’s more ambient light, but at the expense of blacks and contrast levels. It becomes a bit of a trade off, but at least there’s the option for doing this if the situation warrants it. In our case the screen is protected from outside light by a blocking wall, but light from the kitchen nearby “peeks” in - so we did open the iris while watching TV. But when going back to films, especially in high-definition, we took the iris back down. The best way to proceed here is to save settings that you can reacquire for use later.

Testing and Performance

Now using this projector as a TV is a very pleasant experience, thanks to the high illumination. This does point out defects when watching standard-definition, but then switching to a HD signal you’ll forget all about that. We particularly like the way it handles colors, although contrast can be a bit much and so should be watched out for. The scaling/de-interlacing of imaging, such as from the Dish Receiver’s 1080i HD signal is excellent by the way. The image appears sharper and with better blacks in comparison to the LCD projector (we did pick up a bit of overscan, but quick use off the remote took care of that).

We can also see a bit more “grain in the image when watching standard television though this clears up immediately when going to HD. And the white shirts of the salespeople of the NBC show Chuck were a bit harder in contrast than we’d like - although highlights were very good and shadow areas opened nicely. And as regards that Bright mode - it certainly increases the brightness but also adds a pretty sharp edge to the visuals: our take on it is to reserve its use for standard-def and low-resolution imaging where it can boost the overall visibility. We’d say save using this mode for those times when there’s a lot of ambient light to fight against.

Using the HQV benchmark DVD with our reference Oppo 981HD player, the projector performed quite well. Playing a few familiar DVDs, like The Fifth Element and Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, images had sharp details, good contrast and tight color. This was especially true of episodes from the recently re-leased third season of Doctor Who (BBC Video), which mixes a fair amount of live and CG action; the occasionally less-than-high-end effects not glaring, thanks to a smooth image and very good color re-sponse. Dialing back a bit on the contrast helps as well, although when switching to HD discs the need for this is less necessary (again, the projection screen’s unique response dictating some of the “on the fly” calibrations when watching). Going to HD discs, such as the HD DVD of Stardust brings out the dogs loud and snarling - the 1080p resolution is clear throughout and the detail you can see, whether that’s on skin or in objects or scenery as exacting as you could hope for. There's excellent shadow detail and CG effects impress as well. Of course you can dispense with CG entirely by watching Pride & Prejudice (HD DVD) and becoming enthralled by the subtleties that are now displayed.

Conclusions 

We’re a bit disappointed in this projector - not from the standpoint of its high visual performance, but due to a lackluster performance “out of the box” that requires either a lot of time and patience or a professional installer in order to gain the type of quality image the projector is capable of putting out. Also for the majority of users, the positioning limitations of the projector could be a deal breaker. But once you get past this bugaboo, you’ve a high-end 1080p projection system that can handle any image with style (did we mention that those looking for an optional anamorphic lens assembly can get one here? - a pricy accessory to be sure but at least the option’s there). So for those who do their homework before making the purchase and cultivate patience in arranging and calibrating the HD80, the rewards could be bright and beautiful. 


Pros 

• Bright and vibrant image
• Multiple inputs
• Stellar remote

Cons 

• Image performance requires serious calibration
• Loud fan noise at high light output setting
• Image offset problematic for positioning