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Optoma HD37 Projector – Calibration & Settings

Posted on July 2, 2015 By Lisa Feierman

OPTOMA HD37 PROJECTOR:  CALIBRATION SETTINGS:  General settings, Out of the Box Color Temp, Calibrated Color Temp settings and results

Optoma HD37 General Settings

Optoma HD37 Calibration Settings – General
Cinema Bright Vivid Reference Game User
Contrast (0)= -1 -1 -1 -1 -1 -1
Brightness (0)=  1 (0)  1 2 1 1
Color = (14) (24) (6) (0) (18) (6)
Tint = (3) (3) (3) (0) (3) (3)
Color Temp = (D65) (D65) (D75) (D65) (D75) (D75)
Gamma = (Film) (1.8) (Graphics) (2.2) (2.0) (Graphics)
Dynamic Black = (On) (Off) (Off) (Off) (On) (Off)

Brilliant Color = (10 for all except Reference)

Lamp Mode= Bright (unless noted otherwise)

All other settings at default (untouched)

 

Optoma HD37 Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):

Optoma HD37 Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE (mid zoom):
Color Mode Lumens Color Temp (K)
Cinema 1475 6450
Bright 1475 6445
Vivid 1314 7376
Reference 1228 6471
Game 1314 7371
User 1314 7339

Lumen Output (Eco Lamp, Bright mode): 1133 Lumens

Effect of Brilliant Color setting on lumen output (Bright mode):

Brilliant Color setting (Lumens): 
10 = 1475
5 = 1295
1 = 1228

Effect of zoom on lumen output (Bright mode):

Zoom out: 1637
Mid-zoom: 1475
Zoom in: 1226

Color Temp over IRE range (Bright mode):
30 IRE 6424
50 IRE 6450
80 IRE 6481
100 IRE 6445

Mike’s Note:  Cinema and Reference have similar grayscale balance, which are all very good – (right out of the box)

Optoma HD37 Post-Calibration

Optoma HD37 Calibration
Bright Mode
Gain Red (0)
 Green (0)
 Blue (0)
Bias – Red (0) -5
 Green (0)
 Blue (0) -3
Lumens at 100 IRE 1475

Bright mode used for calibration.  HDTV Color Gamut and Gamma on 2.2.  All other settings as above.

NOTE:  No QuickCal of Bright mode was necessary, because the brightest mode is also the calibrated mode.

Optoma HD37 Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):

Color Temp over IRE Range (Post calibration):
User Mode
20 IRE 6425
30 IRE 6546
40 IRE 6419
50 IRE 6522
60 IRE 6510
70 IRE 6482
80 IRE 6505
90 IRE 6509
100 IRE 6495
 Average gamma = 2.14

NOTE: Using Film gamma yields the same result.  Using 2.4 gamma results in an average gamma of 2.34

From a color temp standpoint, Mike’s final calibration numbers worked out great, with all measured IREs within a tight 150K range!

Mike's General Calibration Notes

Finally!  Any mode can be adjusted without it turning into User mode.  On the negative side, User mode is basically a duplicate of Vivid mode, so it’s of little use.  It would be nice if you could set a reference mode for User mode as a starting point and then calibrate it from there.

Even though there are six modes, Bright and Cinema are very close, as are Vivid and Game (and, of course, User).  The only real differences lie in the default Color or Gamma settings for each.  As you’ll see in the next two sections, grayscale and color gamut are very good by default, probably the best of any of the lower-cost Optoma projectors to date.

Optoma has gone back to full grayscale calibration, with both RGB Gain and Bias settings.  However, it doesn’t work quite like it’s supposed to, with Gain affecting the full range more than it should. 

Fortunately, the RGB grayscale is very well balanced to begin with, so changing the Bias settings only, resulted in the best overall balance.  Adjusting the Bias to improve the low end actually makes the balance at 20 IRE worse, but the tradeoff is better performance through the rest of the IRE range.  I was able to get a very good grayscale balance with a Delta E of 1.2 or less from 30 to 100 IRE, only bumping up to 3.6 at 20 IRE.

Optoma HD37 Home Projector Review – Performance
Optoma HD37 Projector – Advanced Calibration Information