My venerable SharpVision XV-Z9000U is giving up the ghost, and I’ve got to replace it (cheap)! I’m a DLP man through and through; in my opinion no other technology matches the sense of depth, which is the main reason I seek out HDTV.

Is the HD808 the same as the HD8200? Have you completed and/or posted reviews of one, or both?

Many thanks!

Thanks again and look forward to your comments.
Some of the best reviews I’ve read. Honest and thorough.

Scott
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GOOD JOB SCOTT, (and thanks!)

You are correct, in that Cinema 1 (setting for the iris) is much better than Cinema 2. That discovery has elevated the HD8200 in my opinion.

I should note, that I find that the iris is still detectable, but the issue is minor – on some scene changes it seems to make the change a fraction of a second, to maybe a second after the change from dark scene to bright, but even when replaying the transition, it’s not consistent, unless I go back a full scene or more. Unlike Cinema 2 it isn’t distracting, you pretty much have to look for it.

The point is, it is barely noticeable, even when does happen. By comparison, Cinema 2 was driving me nuts – I consider Cinema 2 pretty much unwatchable. BTW, I’m just starting to write the review up. It’s probably going to be late this weekend, as I still haven’t even completed the photo shoot. -art

Thanks,
Scott
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Tell you the truth, I spent a few hours (4-5) with it before I got into the meat of the review. Tonight will be the first time I’ll be viewing it again since about 4 weeks ago. The other reason, is that I have my shiny new RS20, fully calibrated, and I have been so thoroughly enjoying it, that night after night, the HD8200 is sitting on the table just waiting to get plugged in. (well, tonight it is).

My initial impression of the HD8200 was pretty good picture. In fact I was initially most impressed.

However, the next thing I noticed was their dynamic iris. Unless there’s an option beyond on or off, I find it unusable. When scenes change, it’s often 2-3-4-5 seconds and the iris change “snaps” into place. In most cases that means an instant when the projector gets visibly brighter, as the iris opens back up going from a dark scene to a bright one. (likely doing the opposite when transitioning the other way, but the change to brighter scenes was instantly on my radar.

With the iris turned off, the black levels become mediocre. I’m hoping there is some settting allowing a different “better” iris action. At least it’s quiet. Most Optoma’s have a rather loud clicking type sound with the iris, which I’ve slammed them on before.

We’ll see how this all plays out over the next week. I should publish next Monday or Tuesday, but you never know as I’m still adding head to head comparisons to the Report. -art

Thanks,
Scott

No, haven’t really looked at it since my last post. I just got back from a week away. I’m writing up the whole 1080p report and I probably won’t get but a few more looks at it before that report is completed in the next 10-14 days.

Sounds like it needs a firmware update before it actually hits the street.

Pity I was really hoping for about 1100 lumens calibrated.

Any news about a “first look” blog on it ?

Are you pleased with it and is it comparable to the Planar 8150 and the IN83 ?

Richard
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Sorry, not yet.

I’ve been doing some viewing, and it is calibrated. I’ll try to knock out a short “first look” before I head out on vacation on Wednesday. (Celebrating my mom’s 85th, with a cruise.) While away, I’ll continue working on the 1080p report, which at this time, I must report, is only about 25% done.

Most likely though, I’ll write it on the plane, and post from Florida on Thursday. -art

Steve

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Another country heard from! Hi Steve:

Well, it works as expected. I’ll be doing a first look in the next 3 days. Here’s a clue, however.

1. Finally – an Optoma who’s dynamic iris can’t be heard effortlessly from 15 feet away.
2. But dynamic irises are still a problem for them. The HD8200, with iris engaged, tends to wait several seconds going from a dark to brighter scene, and then all of a sudden, the iris apparently pops open. And the result is that you see a definite, sudden, noticeable brightening of the scene.

That doesn’t sit well with me. I couldn’t live with that for movie watching, it annoys, but then it may not bother a lot of people. This type of iris behavior was more typical of several years back. Of course back then, black levels weren’t as good, and we’d tolerate more “artifacts” in exchange for a significant black level improvement.

3. it calibrates reasonably well (haven’t taken a close look at Mike’s settings), and the final color was very good.

4. Brightness – I’ve got some numbers although I haven’t really had a chance to put it up against some references – hopefully for a few minutes tomorrow night, so I can report in the blog.
The Cinema mode is cranking out 645 lumens (at a very cool color temp) right out of the box. After Mike’s calibration, that dropped to 525 lumens, still nicely on the bright side.

5. The big news is here: a 1.5:1 zoom, and lens shift.

There aren’t that many more in lumens in its “brightest” modes. So, it’s limited in terms of handling ambient light.

That’s it for now.