Samsung SP-H710AE Projector Review - General Performance 2

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Art Feierman

There are a lot of aspects of the SP-H710AE's functionality and performance to consider. Below is menu that will allow you to jump to any of the topics in this section.

Please note, these "anchors" immediately below will not normally be operational for the first 12-24 hours after the review is posted. Until they are activated, please scroll down the page to find the topics. -art

SP-H710AE Remote Control

The compact remote control of the Samsung SP-H710AE remote is very respectable, although layout could be somewhat improved. There are separate off and on buttons at the top of the remote, and directly below, is the Light button for the blue backlit lighting. I'm pleased to report that the remote's backlight is bright enough. Not one of the brightest around, but definitely brighter than those that I find most annoying as some are so dim that they are hard to read regardless of the backlight. The Samsung remote's backlight doesn't have much brightness to spare, but it is acceptable.

Next come two rows of buttons with discrete source selection.

Then a space and two more rows, this time control for aspect ratio, picture mode, and custom settings, along with a nice Still frame button, the (best avoided) keystone adjustment, and Install (image orientation).

Below those are four more buttons curving above and around the usual four arrows with center enter key.

The four buttons from left to right are Menu, Quick, Info, and the Exit button. The Quick button simply lets jump back to the last menu you were working with.

My minor complaint with the layout, is in part the location of the Light button. Since most button activity will be with the Menu, the presets and the arrow keys, your hand has to go to the top of the remote for the lighting, then slide it back down to easily access the buttons just mentioned. Better, if the Light button was placed lower, or on the side of the remote. Not a real big deal, it's just that I often found myself using my other hand to activate the Light. Other good remotes do a better job on placement of their backlight button.

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Lens Throw and Lens Shift

The Samsung's manual zoom lens has a 1.3:1 zoom ratio. To fill a 100" diagonal 16:9 screen you may place the front of the projector (measured from the front of the lens), as close as 11.3 feet, or as far back as 14.9 feet from the screen surface. The SP-H710AE offers vertical lens shift.

SDE and Rainbow Effect

As a DLP projector you would need to sit pretty close to make out pixel structure at all in bright areas (such as movie credits or a large stationary cloud, in a scene). I found the SP-H710AE to be typical of 720p DLP projectors in this regard. Most will be happy sitting as close as 1.1 times screen width, but those adverse to being able to make out the pixels - ever, will be happier more like 1.5x screen width.

Since the Samsung projector is a DLP, a small percentage of users may detect the rainbow effect at times, and an even smaller group, are bothered by it. (Remember that most home theater projectors are DLP, so the percentage has to be very, very small.) I can occasionally notice it on DLP projectors with 4x or 5x color wheels, and much easier on the slower business models. Again, the Samsung is typical of a good DLP projector, using a 5x, six segment color wheel, to minimize the possible visibility of rainbows.