Optoma HD7100 Projector Review - Image Quality - 2

Posted on May 3, 2006 by Art Feierman

One thing I must really point out, is that the HD7100 really seems to bring out colors, not just in bright scenes but even in dark areas. In this regard, I find the HD7100 to even slightly outperform my own, somewhat more expensive BenQ PE8720 projector. I noticed this on a number of scenes, such as the texture and colors in the gates of Mordor, from Lord of the Rings, but it is evident on almost everything I watched.

For other HD content, here are a fewf images fed to the Optoma HD7100 from my D-VHS deck. These images are output as 1080i, and are component video, not digital.

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Click to enlarge. So close.I had hoped to also show images from HD-DVD, alas, I was on vacation when Toshiba started shipping the first HD-DVD player, and everyone seems to be sold out. I'm hoping to get my hands on the Toshiba player in the next few days or so, and will immediately add images from HD-DVD (of course there are only a few titles, and none that I work with from regular DVD, but I have already picked up the HD-DVD version of Phantom of the Opera, so all I need now is the HD-DVD player.

Click Image to Enlarge

Click to enlarge. So close. For other HD content, here are a fewf images fed to the Optoma HD7100 from my D-VHS deck. These images are output as 1080i, and are component video, not digital.

Click Image to Enlarge

The HD7100 is, despite a claim of only 1000 lumens fairly bright. Although it can't match the brightness of Optoma's own, less expensive HD72 projector, I had no trouble enjoying movies on my 128" Firehawk screen (light gray surface, slight gain). I must confess to using Bright Mode for some of the viewing, but even standard (Eco) mode it managed a satisfactory job, on a screen that large.

The next section considers a wide range of aspects of the HD7100, including menu layout, the remote control, projector screen recommendations, lamp life, brightness, settings and calibrations. Click on General Performance, to proceed.