Optoma HD8300 Special Features

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1.5:1 Zoom Lens

The manual 1.5:1 lens provides very good placement range, more than is typically found in less expensive DLP projectors, and at the shorter range of the LCoS and LCD projectors which mostly have 1.5:1 up to 2.1:1.

HD8300 Projector 3D

The HD8300 home theater projector is fully 3D capable. It can use IR or RF based active glasses. Optoma provided me the RF glasses, but I've also been using the IR glasses Optoma has sent me with Optoma gaming projectors we've been reviewing.

3D performance is very good from a crosstalk and other artifacts standpoint. One of the best I've reviewed so far.

Color is also very good, with two color modes selectable - 3D mode, or you can use your calibrated User mode.

Brightness was my primary issue with the HD8300 projector when it came to 3D. Of course brightness has been my number one complaint all along for 3D viewing, as 3D, at best, so far, may be able to deliver at most, 25% of the brightness to your eyes that you would get when viewing 2D.

With our calibrated User mode, the projector produced close to 700 lumens, about as good as any of the more expensive LCoS and DLP 3D projectors we've seen under $12,000. That said, many will find the HD8300 projector a bit dim for viewing on a normal 100" diagonal screen. I can stand it, but wish for brighter. As with some previous experience with other projectors doing 3D, some friends have not enjoyed watching some movie content in 3D (including Alice in Wonderland), due to the lack of brightness.

On the bright side (pun intended), the projector can put out more than 1000 lumens if you take advantage of the brightness of the lens when in wide angle, brighter modes. Most recently I've moved the HD8300 so it is in full wide angle, and I find enough extra brightness to make a bit of a difference. Let's consider the HD8300 one of the brightest of the over $3500 home theater projectors we've seen when doing 3D. Just remember, some less expensive competitors will be shipping soon, which claim to be almost twice as bright.

Consider 3D to be pretty acceptable, especially for those with smaller screens or going with high gain screens. In both cases, that can give you enough brightness to really enjoy some 3D.

The HD8300 looked great on digital content in 3D. I loved Revealing China 3D, Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D, and other "Discovery HD" type content in 3D. Of course most of that content is inherently bright. It is the dark scenes in Alice, and other movies, where some folks are most likely to complain about the 3D brightness.

HD8300 Creative Frame Interpolation - CFI - smooth motion

CFI performance of the Optoma HD8300 is fairly typical of today's projectors that offer this feature. In the low setting, you do get a bit of the soap opera, "live digital video" type look to 24fps movies, which most of us enthusiasts do not care for. The CFI works pretty well on the sports programs I've watched. On other types of medium, it generally performed very well, with some minor artifacts occasionally detectable on some high speed motion. There are a few projectors with exceptionally good CFI, where you can barely detect it even on movies (in the low setting), but the HD8300 is not one of them. Those are very few, and include a couple of Runcos, but also some less expensive projectors, including, I believe, the Panasonic PT-AE4000. The Epson 8700UB I'd also say is slightly better, (though the Panny is best of the three).

All considered, you get good CFI for sports and some other things, and as usual, I don't recommend using CFI for movie viewing as it definitely changes the "director's intent". Of course, a lot of folks don't care, including many of my college age daughter's friends.