Optoma HD73 Projector Review - Image Quality

Posted on March 20, 2007 by Art Feierman

As I mentioned in the beginning of this review, image quality is the key strength of the HD73. With classic DLP "film-like" performance, and especially good black levels for such an affordable projector, it is very satisfying to watch, especially on challenging movie content.

The overall color balance - out of the box, is very good. Just minor color adjustment, as I will cover in the next section takes it from very good to excellent.

Flesh tones are very natural, and when watching content that has director adjusted color balance, it is apparent that the shift is part of the movie, not an issue with the projector's capabilities.

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Let's start with skin tones. I have prepared the usual collection of images. Please remember, there is no accurate way to first, capture the images, and second put them up on our site, and third, be seen on your computer, with its unique characteristics, and expect to see what I saw when taking these images. So, take them with a grain of salt. There is much you can tell, but they can be misleading, especially regarding saturation. For example, n my own laptop, when viewing images from my site, I find them a touch oversaturated. OK, let's go:

HD73 Image sharpness is good. I'm not sure if there have been minor improvements, but the HD73 just seems little bit sharper than the HD72. Most likely it is the result of the higher contrast rate, but the net result is that the image is nice and sharp. It can't match the Sanyo PLV-Z5, but then the PLV-Z5 has a more visible pixel structure, which enhances your feeling of a sharp image, but doesn't provide more detail

Consider this image from Aeon Flux (HD-DVD) look at the sparkle in her eye, the detail in her hair above her forehead, eyebrows, and strands of hair: