Optoma HD25-LV Projector - Performance 4

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Art Feierman

Image Noise

Ouch. Image noise on this HD25-LV is a real weakness. I find that DLP projectors (for home) tend to have more general - mosquito noise, than other technologies. It's often easy to spot when you pause a scene. That said, even running, it's a bit too evident on this projector. It's not a terrible thing, we see plenty of single chip DLP's that look this "noisy", some a bit less so, but here's an area where the 3LCD projectors typically are better - cleaner.

I have just a couple of images - closeups of faces. In one case, below you'll see the image from the HD25-LV, and also the same image from the BenQ W1080ST. In this case notice the apparent limited color palette in use. A lot of pancaking, that is, it seems to be flat areas all the same exact color where there should be more variation. Motled isn't the right word, but it is obvious on closeups when paused. The good news is it's a lot less noticeable when a movie is playing.

Still this could be done better in the image immediately above, the same image with a brighter exposure, and zoomed in so you can see her right cheek details better on both, expecially the larger image. This flattening of the image palette which I usually expect when there's a lot of Brilliant Color turned on, did not seem to go away on the Optoma HD25-LV even when I reduced Brilliant Color all the way to 1. Even turning it off the issue remained.Still this could be done better in the image immediately above, the same image with a brighter exposure, and zoomed in so you can see her right cheek details better on both, expecially the larger image. This flattening of the image palette which I usually expect when there's a lot of Brilliant Color turned on, did not seem to go away on the Optoma HD25-LV even when I reduced Brilliant Color all the way to 1. Even turning it off the issue remained.

All I can do is say that it should be better than this, but remember: What is easy to spot on an enlarged photo of a paused scene, may go completely unnoticed by many owners (let's make that most), during normal watching. (Yes, it's easy to spot if you are watching for it, instead of watching the content). Let's say that the HD25-LV therefore performs a lot better under causal viewing than under close scrutiny. Motion artifacts were a different story. In observing slow pans, I thought the HD25-LV to be smoother than most - less judder/jerkiness. I mentioned the BenQ W1080ST a couple of times, that BenQ is better in terms of static image noise, but the HD25-LV wins on motion noise. Overall, image noise is not up to the competition, but then, who's going to notice (unless maybe you)? Still, this isn't an area that generates very much consumer "noise" or blowback.

I guess most just don't notice or notice enough to care. Certainly I watched many hours of movies and only occasionally was made aware of it while watching. And I'm pretty picky. That said, it should be better! Optoma?

Optoma HD25-LV

BenQ W1080ST

We start out with the first image from The Hunger Games. Click to enlarge, and look closely at the details on her right cheek (and other areas as well). On the left is the Optoma HD25-LV, while the right is the BenQ W1080ST, which is smoother.