Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector
by Optoma Technology
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Our Price: $1,436.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-3 weeks Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Optoma HD72 720p DLP Home Theater Projector
Customer Review: Was the best projector of 2006!
Summary: 2 Stars
I am the lead installer for a company that installs RealHomeTheaters, so hopefully my experience can be of some help.
This projector has been on the market since 2006. There is newer better technology out there at better prices. Shop around. Consider the Mitsubishi HC1500 or the Panasonic PT-AX200 and be sure to read my reviews on them too.
Hope this helps get your RealHomeTheaters off the ground!
Customer Review: Exceptional
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned this projector for over a year and a half now and it still blows me away every time I use it. Connected to a Toshiba HD-A2 or HD-A3, the picture quality on either HD-DVD or standard DVD is exceptional. I paid half again what it is currently selling for on Amazon and that was considered a bargain at the time. The current price is a very good deal. I have also used this projector connected to a laptop for digital slide shows with excellent results. I can recommend it without reservation. Customer Review: Put through it's paces
Summary: 3 Stars
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.
Customer Review: Home Theater by Home Owner
Summary: 5 Stars
I completely renovated a room in our basement to a home theater using the Optoma HD72 and DaLite 110 diagonal Cinema Vision screen. What I learned:
- you've gotta plan any projectors location, whether Optoma/JVC/Panasonic/etc, including distance from screen, offset from ceiling, height/size of room, etc. So...if the HD72 fits within your room requirements it should be strongly considered
- the screen is as important as the projector, so any review that doesn't tell you what type/size screen is teamed with the projector limits its usefulness.
The basement room I put this in is 7ft 9in with excellent light control. Being 110" diagonal, the screen sits a little low on the wall. However, it is just fine when either sitting or standing.
Picture is outstanding...rivals a 50" plasma
Bottom line, I can't imagine I could have the quality image I have for the price I paid with any other combination.
Customer Review: bright and clear but poor packing
Summary: 4 Stars
great projector! with HD now a days..can't stand S-video anymore..
easy hook up and auto detect is just great! whatever you input, it will find the signal and you are good to go with no setup hassle.
right out of the box was good enough setting already ready to shoot and watch your favorite movie. 1.take out from the box 2.plug the AC cable
3.plug the video cable of your choice 4.play DVD! so simple!!!
while watching the intro, get the fresh batteries out which is included and watch your remote light up in the dark!
only negative is the heat. it gets hot really fast...instantly.
don't put any soft things near this fire...
and finally, i didn't like the packing they (amazon labeled box) did..
much bigger than the projector(about the size of laptop box)and it was
losely packed with just one SHEET of brown paper..what's with that?
no air bubbles, no peanuts
i picked it up from UPS and it was all shaking.. I hoped the "bulb" was alright..afterall..bulb is the most expensive part of the projector...
luckly everything was alright...but i hope these guys see my review and pack their boxes really good next time!!! it's not cheap stuff we are buying you know.....