Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-4 Posted on October 15, 2009 By Art Feierman 1. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 Home Theater Projectors - HD8000 Projector Overview - Optoma HD8000 Highlights2. Optoma HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Optoma HD80 and HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones4. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-2 - Optoma HD8000 Black Levels and Shadow Detail5. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-47. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-58. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-69. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-7 - Optoma HD8000 home theater projector: Sharpness10. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-8 - Optoma HD8000 home theater projector: Sharpness-2 - Optoma HD80 Overall Picture Quality - HD8000 Projector Image Quality: Bottom line 11. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - Optoma HD80, HD8000 with Optional Anamorphic Lens - ptoma HD80 Projector: Menus12. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-2 - Optoma HD80 Memory Settings13. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-3 - Optoma HD8000 Remote Control14. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-4 - Optoma HD8000 Projector: Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Optoma HD8000 Screen Door and Rainbow Effects - Optoma HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Light Leakage15. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5 - Optoma HD8000 Audible Noise Levels - Optoma HD8000 Brightness - Measured Lumens - Optoma HD8000 Lamp Life and Replacement16. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-16 - Optoma HD8000 Projector Screen Recommendations - Optoma HD8000 Calibration - Optoma HD8000 Image Noise 17. The Optoma HD8000 and HD80 Projector Review – Warranty18. Home Theater Projector Reviews: Optoma HD8000 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons19. Optoma HD8000 Projector: Pros20. Optoma HD8000 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD8000 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD8000 Summary21. Optoma HD8000 Projector Specifications Optoma HD8000 Projector: Lens Throw and Lens ShiftThe HD8000 has no adjustable lens shift, which makes it pretty much either ceiling mounted or table top. The shelf option is basically non-existent. The projector will end up being placed (due to the significant fixed lens shift), either well below the bottom of the screen, or ceiling mounted well above the top of the screen. If you are using a 100″ diagonal 16:9 screen, that offset is going to be just over 16 inches (above the top or below the bottom of the screen surface). In terms of placement distances; for a 100″ diagonal screen, the front of the lens can be as close as 13 feet 6 inches, to approximately 16 feet 2 inches from the screen. That’s only a 20% range, far less than the range offered by LCD and LCOS home theater projectors. A good place to start in determining if the HD80 is for you, is to see if you can place it in your room. If your ceiling isn’t too low, however, you should be fine, when ceiling mounted, as that’s where you have maximum flexibility. If ceiling mounting, try to get some space between the projector and the ceiling (not flush mounting) as the hottest part of your room is the six inches closest to the ceiling. Being down 8 to 12 inches means better ventilation, a cooler running projector, and ultimately probably a slightly longer lamp life. Optoma HD8000 Screen Door and Rainbow EffectsI love 1080p resolution projectors – pixel structure visibility is no longer a real issue. I viewed the HD8000 in my theater room filling about 115″ diagonal of my 128″ diagonal Stewart Firehawk G3 screen. To make out any pixel structure at all, in credits or stationary type and graphics on the screen, I had to lean foward and strain, and I have really good vision. I never could spot pixel structure in any normal viewing. And 11 feet back from a 115 inch diagonal screen is fairly close! What about rainbows? The HD8000 and HD80 are classic DLP projectors, but, unlike most, they have a 6X speed color wheel, instead of the usual 5x. That means even fewer than the normally very small portion of viewers may see rainbows (which are most visible when fine edge white areas are moving across a dark background). That also means even those rainbow sensitive that see them occasionally on a dark movie scene, are not likely to ever see one while watching a football game, or a typical well lit sitcom. Fortunately for 95+% of the population (my best guess), rainbows will not be an issue. I happen to be slightly sensitive to the rainbow effect, mostly on fast moving bright objects on a dark background, and especially when I’m tired, or am moving my head. Truth is, it hadn’t occured to me that I rarely noticed any rainbows during the 30 or so hours of viewing, until I noted the 6x spec. At that point, I said to myself, “you know, I was wondering why I had only spotted the rainbows a few times, despite lots of content viewing that would tend to make rainbows more visible.” I had owned two 5X color wheel DLP projectors prior to my JVC, and learned to live with the occasional rainbow (maybe a few times a movie), but, on principle, I always wished I they were less noticeable. I appreciated the Optoma after just coming from reviewing the InFocus IN82 with its 5X color wheel. Bottom line, the 6x wheel may not be the perfect cure, but it may mean that, the limited group of people that won’t buy DLP projectors because they can spot the rainbow effect, is now an even smaller group Optoma HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Light LeakageThe Optoma leaks a small amount of light out the lens. You can detect it if your walls aren’t dark, and the scene on the screen is extremely dark (black, or maybe a starfield). Although easy to spot when feeding the projector the right dark image to project, it isn’t something that I noticed during normal viewing. Better than most. 1. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 Home Theater Projectors - HD8000 Projector Overview - Optoma HD8000 Highlights2. Optoma HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Physical Tour3. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality - Optoma HD80 and HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Skin Tones4. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-2 - Optoma HD8000 Black Levels and Shadow Detail5. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-36. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-47. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-58. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-69. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-7 - Optoma HD8000 home theater projector: Sharpness10. Optoma HD80 and HD8000: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review – Image Quality-8 - Optoma HD8000 home theater projector: Sharpness-2 - Optoma HD80 Overall Picture Quality - HD8000 Projector Image Quality: Bottom line 11. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance - Optoma HD80, HD8000 with Optional Anamorphic Lens - ptoma HD80 Projector: Menus12. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-2 - Optoma HD80 Memory Settings13. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-3 - Optoma HD8000 Remote Control14. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-4 - Optoma HD8000 Projector: Lens Throw and Lens Shift - Optoma HD8000 Screen Door and Rainbow Effects - Optoma HD8000 Home Theater Projector: Light Leakage15. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5 - Optoma HD8000 Audible Noise Levels - Optoma HD8000 Brightness - Measured Lumens - Optoma HD8000 Lamp Life and Replacement16. Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-16 - Optoma HD8000 Projector Screen Recommendations - Optoma HD8000 Calibration - Optoma HD8000 Image Noise 17. The Optoma HD8000 and HD80 Projector Review – Warranty18. Home Theater Projector Reviews: Optoma HD8000 DLP Projector: Summary, Pros, Cons19. Optoma HD8000 Projector: Pros20. Optoma HD8000 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD8000 Projector: Typical Capabilities - Optoma HD8000 Summary21. Optoma HD8000 Projector Specifications Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-3 Optoma HD8000 and HD80 DLP Home Theater Projector Review – General Performance-5