HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour Posted on May 22, 2008 By Art Feierman 1. Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review - Optoma HD65 Projector Highlights2. HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour - HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Optoma HD65 - ImageAI - HD65 Projector: Skin Tones4. HD65 Projector: Black Levels and Shadow Detail - Optoma HD65 Black Levels - Optoma HD65 Shadow Details5. Optoma HD65 Shadow Details – 26. Optoma HD65 Shadow Details – 37. Optoma HD65 home theater projector: Sharpness - Optoma HD65 home theater projector: Sharpness8. Projector Overall Picture Quality - Projector Overall Picture Quality - Picture Quality - Bottom Line9. HD65 Menus - HD65 Menus - HD65 User Memory Settings10. HD65 Projector – Remote Control - HD65 Projector - Remote Control - Optoma HD65 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - HD65 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility11. HD65 Projector Brightness - HD65 Projector Brightness - HD65 Projector - Light Leakage - HD65 Audible Noise Levels12. HD65 Projector Screen Recommendations - HD65 Projector Screen Recommendations - HD65 Projector Measurements and Calibration - HD65 Image Noise13. Optoma HD65 Projector Warranty - Optoma HD65 Projector Warranty14. Home Theater Projector Review: Optoma HD65 DLP, 720p Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons15. Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Competition: - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Competition: - Optoma HD65 vs. the Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Optoma HD71 Projector - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. Sanyo PLV-Z5 Projector - HD65 vs Epson Home Cinema 720 - HD65 vs. Mitsubishi HC150016. Optoma HD65 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 Projector: Pros - Optoma HD65 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD65 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 Summary: The Bottom Line17. Optoma HD65 Projector Specifications HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical TourThe HD65 really is very small, with only a 10.2 inch by 7.4 inch footprint. It’s white, with silver and black trim, so it’s cute. From the front: The recessed zoom lens, only sticks out enough so you can adjust the focus ring. Like the HD71 it has minimal placement flexibility, as it only has a 1.1:1 zoom ratio (10% adjustment range), and lacks adjustable lens shift. There is a button for the front drop down foot, near the center bottom. It’s a really small button, easy to overlook. Like almost all lower cost home theater projectors, the lamp door is on the bottom of the HD65, so to change the lamp, you would have to unmount the HD65 from a ceiling mount if you are using one. Further towards the back, is the control panel. In this case a multi-ringed affair. The outer ring has three buttons, the AV Mute, the Power button (once on, twice off), and the Menu button. There are also three indicator lamps, one for power, one for lamp, and one for temperature. The inner ring has the four arrow keys for navigating the menus, with the left and right arrow keys doing a second function when the menus aren’t in use. The left arrow is the Source select button, and the right one, Re-Sync, for triggering the auto-sync button to let the projector figure out the best settings for a computer source. And, finally, in the very center, is the Enter button. All considered, very functional! That takes us to the Input panel on the back. The Optoma HD65 input panel, from left to right has S-video, an analog computer input (the standard HD15 connector), that supports analog computers, European SCART, or component video. Next comes three RCA jacks for component video, and a single RCA jack for composite video. Further to the right, is an HDMI input (1.3), a service port, and finally a 12 volt trigger for controlling a properly equipped motorized projector screen. Below all of this, is the power receptacle on the left, and a Kensington security lock slot on the right. There is no rear infra-red sensor, which wasn’t a problem in either of my rooms, but could pose a slight challenge if you are mounting the projector in front of you, in a larger than typical room, making a clean bounce of the signal off of the screen a bit difficult. OK, time to take a close look at the HD65’s overall picture quality. 1. Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review - Optoma HD65 Projector Highlights2. HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour - HD65 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Optoma HD65 - ImageAI - HD65 Projector: Skin Tones4. HD65 Projector: Black Levels and Shadow Detail - Optoma HD65 Black Levels - Optoma HD65 Shadow Details5. Optoma HD65 Shadow Details – 26. Optoma HD65 Shadow Details – 37. Optoma HD65 home theater projector: Sharpness - Optoma HD65 home theater projector: Sharpness8. Projector Overall Picture Quality - Projector Overall Picture Quality - Picture Quality - Bottom Line9. HD65 Menus - HD65 Menus - HD65 User Memory Settings10. HD65 Projector – Remote Control - HD65 Projector - Remote Control - Optoma HD65 Lens Throw and Lens Shift - HD65 SDE and Rainbow Effect, Pixel Visibility11. HD65 Projector Brightness - HD65 Projector Brightness - HD65 Projector - Light Leakage - HD65 Audible Noise Levels12. HD65 Projector Screen Recommendations - HD65 Projector Screen Recommendations - HD65 Projector Measurements and Calibration - HD65 Image Noise13. Optoma HD65 Projector Warranty - Optoma HD65 Projector Warranty14. Home Theater Projector Review: Optoma HD65 DLP, 720p Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons15. Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Competition: - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Competition: - Optoma HD65 vs. the Panasonic PT-AX200U Projector - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. the Optoma HD71 Projector - Optoma HD65 Projector vs. Sanyo PLV-Z5 Projector - HD65 vs Epson Home Cinema 720 - HD65 vs. Mitsubishi HC150016. Optoma HD65 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 projector, Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 Projector: Pros - Optoma HD65 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD65 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD65 Summary: The Bottom Line17. Optoma HD65 Projector Specifications Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review Optoma HD65 Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality