The HD80 is a DLP projector using Texas Instruments’ latest 1080p digital micro mirror device. The use of a single chip (more expensive projectors actually use three chips) necessitates the use of a spinning color wheel to separate the colors. The HD80 uses a six segment color wheel which in my experience did not produce any of the rainbow artifacts that color wheels sometimes do. It’s a bright projector, using a 300 watt lamp producing a stated ANSI lumen output of 1,300. The stated contrast ratio is also fairly high at 10,000:1.
The HD80 is well outfitted with inputs. There are two HDMI ports, one DVI (that also functions, with adaptors, as a VGA or SCART port), and one each component, composite and S-video. Ideally, you’ll only want to hook up a single HDMI that comes from a receiver or processor that transcodes all the other signals into HDMI, but there aren’t a lot of those on the market at present.
Making a projector with these kinds of specs suggests a few tradeoffs. In this case, as is the case with other Optoma projectors, the tradeoffs affect installation issues. The HD80’s combination of a fixed lens angle, limited zoom range and long throw distance means that you need to be very careful of the room you’re going to put it in. As with the HD73 reviewed earlier this year (on e-gear.com), I highly recommend you measure with extra care before you start drilling holes in your ceiling. In the room I tested it in, the HD80 needed to be mounted several feet back from the location of the HD73 in order to fill the same screen. With only a 1.2:1 zoom ratio and no mechanical lens shift, the projector doesn’t offer you any room for error when setting up. That said, if this is a do-it-yourself project, then take your time. If you’re using a professional home theater installer then just step back and let someone else do the math.
Once I had it all aimed and squared on my Stewart Grayhawk screen, I dove into the projector’s menus. The menu system is easy to find your way around and responds quickly to the remote. I especially like the fact that a few test patterns were worked into it, a bonus the HD73 lacked. It offers many of the same image processing options, such as Image AI (II), BrilliantColor, and an iris. I opted to keep the Image AI off as it automatically switches the lamp mode into bright bringing down the lamp life by about a third. The iris and BrilliantColor features I engaged only minimally, but enough to make some improvements.
After I had spent time tweaking the picture settings, I played a series of high definition and standard definition sources. Through a PlayStation 3 and a Toshiba XA2 I viewed a variety of 1080p/24fps material and all looked fantastic. HDTV 1080i content from my Verizon FiOS TV receiver also came across beautifully. The first thing I noticed was the extremely impressive back levels—this projector really knows how to make blacks (or more precisely, it knows how to not send out light when it’s not needed). Throughout the BD version of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest I was continually impressed with how dark the HD80 was able to render dark parts of the screen while still maintaining the details. On brighter scenes the high contrast level resulted in punchier colors.
While I still firmly believe that projectors and flat panels with 720p resolution produce great HDTV pictures, a true 1080p source with a large 1080p display is even more impressive. This is one that will give you that boost in picture, without the sports car price. yy
Companies Mentioned:
 |
