Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector
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List Price: $999.99
Our Price:
$984.11
You Save: $15.88
Features
• Device Type - DLP projector - High Definition
• Image Brightness - 1300 ANSI lumens
• Max Resolution - 1280 x 768
• Image Contrast Ratio - 5000:1
• 7.00 Lbs (WxLxH) 3.72" x 13.56" x 9.67" |
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Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector description
Offering true 720p high-definition resolution, the Optoma HD72 DLP (digital light projection) home theater projector features new technologies to deliver brighter images and truer colors to the projected picture. With a proprietary 7-segment color wheel with BrilliantColor and TrueVivid color enhancement technologies, the Optoma HD72 produces superior ... review details
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Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector Customer Reviews
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Put through it's paces
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The HD72 is a decent priced midrange DLP projector (even for Texas Instruments nestled between their HD70 and HD80)that does what it claims to do, but is not without it's limits. I tested it ceiling mounted on a 110" screen (96"x54" viewing) at approx 13'-15' distance. Various tests were done, first using the component(Red,Blue,Green) inputs, S-Video, and Composite (RCA), and finally HDMI for high def. Component input basically gives you the 720i, or 1080i if the source is there, without using the HDMI input. The projector will do its best to digitalize the signal on all inputs, but it does not do well with the lower end inputs. Even in componet mode darker colors are not perfectly read across the grey scale and results in the familiar "metalic sheen" look in certain areas (when certain colors can not be determined by the processor and as a result produces the next closest color which gives off distinct lines rather than a smooth transition between colors). Even with Optomas TrueVivid and TrueVision technology turned "on" it did not correct the problem. This would probably not be as noticeable if the screen size were smaller, or the viewing distance was further away. Which is fine if you were, say, in a "theater" but assuming that most people will be using this in a designated rec room, or even their living room, larger pictures will propose this problem. I would advise that if you plan on being within 12-13' of your screen at any angle, produce a picture around 72"-80" maximum. I was impressed however that I had to get very close to the screen to see the actual squares of the projected image. They are very small and virtually unnoticed as compared to older models that produced what many have referred to as the "screen door" affect.
Optoma claims that there is a 7-segment color wheel to deliver great color saturation. Outside of the problem mentioned above, I will say that the colors in the basic spectrum are indeed bright and true. By putting up a test pattern and going through the contrast and brightness settings using a blue filter, I did fine that the spectrum of these two settings needed a little fine tuning. Turning off the TrueVivid and TrueVision settings, and sharpness set to zero, I was able to at least get the brightness and contrast little closer to where they should have been, but still was prevented from getting them perfect. [A note on sharpness: You should really always have this setting to zero or less, especially for Hi-Def, as it produces artifical elements that are not part of the original source material and can cause bad destortion].
After getting the 16:9 format centered on the screen (which, if necessary, can be done with various methods of Keystone correction, screen shift, zoom, etc) when I switched to the 4:3 format (for those older films or video tapes that certainly exist in most librarys)I was saddened to see a very small square in the center of the screen. Yes, the zoom function can make it a little larger, but the result was that the picture shifts dramatically to one end of the screen and under no circumstances can you get it to fill the whole screen. I should also mention that you would also need to refocus whenever you use the zoom funtion on the projector. The problem exists that both the focus and the zoom are manual on this projector, so if you have it in the ceiling mounted posistion you will need to go up there and do it yourself the hard way. If you set your projector in the maximum resolution (1920x1080) which can be done by the remote in setup mode, it does make the picture a little larger. [Helpful Hint: In the 1920x1080 resolution you can actually view anything recorded in the 4:3 format (even televison) in 16:9 and even get enough away from the "Short-fat" syndrome that results in trying to view 4:3 source in a 16:9 invironment].
The seperate modes available [Cinema, Bright, TV, RGB, Native] can all be adjusted to your liking individually (brightness, contrast, color, etc) and the projector's memory chip will remember these settings for you. You can also lock in your source if you don't wish for the projector to continually search for a source everytime you have multiple sources going into the projector that are turned on at the same time.
There are also computer inputs RS-232, and DVI inputs if you don't have a recent Hi-Def DVD player or Blue-Ray yet to connect to the DMI input.
Finally, there is also a life meter for the lamp (ave life 2000-3000hrs)that can remind you when it is time to think about replacing the bulb (average price around $350).
I used to own a 3-CDD LCD projector that probably out performed this one in overall performance, but did not have as high a contrast ratio and was not ready for the HDMI future. If you really want a dedicated smooth picture with all color and gray information interpreted correctly, I would probably stick with a LCD projector or televison. But again, with a little more work, the right adjustments, and viewing distance, and lets not forget the price range, this little quiet DLP projector can deliver as much as the it's bigger brothers. |
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Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector home electronics.