Optoma HD72 Projector Review - General Performance -5

Posted on February 21, 2006 by Art Feierman

Projection Screen Recommendations

Tougher than usual. First this projector can handle a large screen without great difficulty, because it is especially bright. The HD72 has no problem at all with my 128" diagonal Stewart Firehawk screen (a light gray high contrast surface).

Screens are subjective it would seem. People who agree on most aspects of a projector's performance may like complete different types of screens under different environments, or even the same environment. Myself, I tend to prefer High Contrast screens. Gray screens also lower your black levels, which are a real plus if you have a very bright projector.

As a result, I would tend to recommend a high contrast gray surface for the HD72 if your screen isn't really large. Definitely for 100" diagonal or less. Myself, I'd probably stay with that recommendation to 110" or maybe even a little larger. Consider such screens as Stewart's Firehawk or their darker Grayhawk (which will really lower black levels), Da-lite's Cinema Vision or HC Cinema Vision, Carada's High Contrast Grey...

Calibration

Shown here are the color measurements after calibrating quickly with my Avia Pro software and Optic One light meter. The first graphic shows 30 IRE (dark gray), the second one is at 80 IRE. As mentioned, as you can see, after calibration (and a hard core calibrator can spend hours - I took about 20 minutes to get these color results).

The projector was set for AI on, Brilliant Color was 4, Color Temp = 1, Sharpness = 4, Contrast=-10, and brightness -1

Brightness and Contrast were set using the regular Avia disk (not the Pro), projecting on the Carada Brilliant White screen. You'll get different settings with different screen types

Click Image to Enlarge

The RGB settings I ended up with: (source Oppo DVD player over HDMI)
	Gain	Bias
Red	11	16
Green	5	17
Blue	7	15

That's a good place for anyone to start, if you don't get a calibration disk of your own. Remember that over time, lamps will dim, and the colors will shift a little. Buy a disk!

As mentioned elsewhere, in the very brightest ranges there is s slight shift toward cool (blueish whites - very slight), and in the black range a slight shift to a bit of brown.

Image Noise

Last topic. If you look closely into the dark areas of an image, you will find some noise. This is typical of DLP projectors as compared to LCD models. The noise levels on the HD72 are very typical of DLP projectors, and I have not found the noise to be an issue.

Some people do notice the noise, but for the vast majority, I think, its way below radar, compared with screen door effect on LCD projectors or rainbow effect (if you are one of the few that can detect it.) Oh, if you stand 3 feet from your 100" screen it will be obvious. But who watches a projected image from that close (the pixels start looking like little golf balls). 3 feet is for people who like to study their projector's flaws, not for people who like to watch movies on the big screen. Again, a non-issue for almost all.

That raps up this section. As you have read, there are some issues, mostly ergonomic ones, with the HD72. If none of them is a problem for your particular installation, the HD72 should be at or near the top of your short list.