Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-11 Posted on December 6, 2009 By Art Feierman 1. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review - Optoma HD8600 Projector Overview2. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review-2 - HD8600 Projector Highlights - Pure Motion - Creative Frame Interpolation - Pure Motion - Creative Frame Interpolation3. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review-3 - Color Management System (CMS) - Pure Color - comparision - Interchangeable Lens System - Pure Detail4. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour - Optoma HD8600 Physical Appearance - Input/Output5. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-2 - Optoma HD8600 Menus6. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-3 - Optoma HD8600 Remote Control - DLA-HD8600 Lens Throw7. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-4 - DLA-HD8600 Lens Shift - HD8600 Anamorphic Lens Support8. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality - HD8600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones9. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-2 - Optoma HD8600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - comparision10. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-3 - Optoma HD8600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail-211. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance12. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-5 - comparision13. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-614. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-7 - comparision15. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-816. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-9 - comparision17. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-10 - Overall Color & Picture Quality18. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-11 - Optoma HD8600U Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports19. Optoma HD8600 – Performance - Optoma HD8600 Brightness - Optoma HD8600 Projector - Uncalibrated - Brightest Mode20. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-221. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-3 - BenQ W20000 - Light Leakage22. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-4 - Optoma HD8600 Image Noise - Optoma HD8600 Audible Noise23. Optoma HD8600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Optoma HD8600 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Best Mode (Pre calibration) - Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE - Optoma HD8600 Basic Settings24. Optoma HD8600 Projector Calibration and Settings-2 - Optoma HD8600 Post Calibration Grayscale - Calibrated color temps, 20 – 100 IRE - Gamma settings - Regarding the HD8600 Manual Iris - Optoma HD8600 RGB Settings - Calibration settings25. Optoma HD8600 – Projector Screens - Optoma HD8600 - Projector Screens26. Optoma HD8600 – Competitors - HD8600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro 9500UB - Optoma HD8600 vs. Mitsubishi HC7000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. BenQ W6000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Planar PD8150 and Optoma HD8600 - HD8600 vs. InFocus IN83 and SP8602 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. JVC DLA-RS20, DLA-RS15 and RS35! - Optoma HD8600 vs. Sony VPL-HW15, VPL-VW85, Optoma HD860027. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Warranty28. Optoma HD8600 – Review Summary - Optoma HD8600 Projector - The Bottom Line - Brightness29. Optoma HD8600 – Review Summary-2 - Fancy features - Optoma HD8600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities30. Optoma HD8600 Projector: Pros31. Optoma HD8600 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD8600 Projector: Typical Capabilities32. Optoma HD8600 Projector Specifications Optoma HD8600U Projector: Performance, HDTV and SportsAs I write this section I’m watching the College SEC Playoff Game between Florida and Alabama. The grass looks great, not too much saturation, or too little. Skin tones are really very good for a “brightest” mode, the announcers look great, as do the occasional closeups on players. The picture is pretty bright. In addition I’ve got 6 recessed lights on, partially dimmed. The room lighting is fairly low, I wouldn’t want to read with this lighting, but the image on the screen is sizzling. It’s bright, filling about 116″ diagonal of my slightly larger screen. I even need to turn down the color saturation, which normally I keep set higher for sports with ambient light. Here’s that same shot as seen in the room image above Being brave, I opened the shade on the large window by the screen. With the gray day outside, the projector still looked pretty darn good, with reasonably bright colors, The ambient light is washing out any blacks and very dark colors a bit, but still very watchable as seen in the photo immediately below: Now, we must all realize that if this was a bright sunny day, with sunlight coming in that window, the results would be completely different, it would be unwatchable. Having said that, with just over 1150 lumens, the HD8600 is definitely one of the brighter home theater projectors around without getting up into the big bucks for a 3 chip DLP. Brighter, although not sensationally so. Just a good bright projector. Not quite as bright as, say the Epson UB projectors, but about half way between them, and the average home theater projectors. While the HD8600 does offer creative frame interpolation (CFI), it doesn’t apply it when receiving standard 60fps content like a nice football game. As a result, I do like turning on some CFI these days for sports, but, I got by just fine without, and would hardly consider getting rid of my JVC RS20, for example, for the HD8600, just to get CFI. So I put the lack of CFI for HD sports down as a “too bad” but it shouldn’t be a deciding factor in the grand scheme of things. In fact, I’d rather watch the game now, on the Optoma without CFI, than on the JVC RS25 I have here, with CFI. I’d gladly have the Optoma’s extra 250 lumens and the slightly sharper image. We could wish for just about any projector to be brighter for watching sports, but within the limits of its brightness, the HD8600 is a great projector for HDTV, be your tastes run to sports, regular programming, or interest channels like Discovery HD, SyFyHD, Paladia or History HD. And on that note, I do watch a fair amount of those Discovery and Science channels. The HD is breathtaking 1. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review - Optoma HD8600 Projector Overview2. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review-2 - HD8600 Projector Highlights - Pure Motion - Creative Frame Interpolation - Pure Motion - Creative Frame Interpolation3. Optoma HD8600 Projector Review-3 - Color Management System (CMS) - Pure Color - comparision - Interchangeable Lens System - Pure Detail4. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour - Optoma HD8600 Physical Appearance - Input/Output5. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-2 - Optoma HD8600 Menus6. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-3 - Optoma HD8600 Remote Control - DLA-HD8600 Lens Throw7. Optoma HD8600 Physical Tour-4 - DLA-HD8600 Lens Shift - HD8600 Anamorphic Lens Support8. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality - HD8600 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Flesh Tones9. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-2 - Optoma HD8600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail - comparision10. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-3 - Optoma HD8600 Black Levels & Shadow Detail-211. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-4 - Shadow Detail Performance12. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-5 - comparision13. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-614. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-7 - comparision15. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-816. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-9 - comparision17. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-10 - Overall Color & Picture Quality18. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-11 - Optoma HD8600U Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports19. Optoma HD8600 – Performance - Optoma HD8600 Brightness - Optoma HD8600 Projector - Uncalibrated - Brightest Mode20. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-221. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-3 - BenQ W20000 - Light Leakage22. Optoma HD8600 – Performance-4 - Optoma HD8600 Image Noise - Optoma HD8600 Audible Noise23. Optoma HD8600 Projector Calibration and Settings - Optoma HD8600 Color Temperature - Color Temp over IRE Range, Best Mode (Pre calibration) - Lumen Output and Color Temp at 100 IRE - Optoma HD8600 Basic Settings24. Optoma HD8600 Projector Calibration and Settings-2 - Optoma HD8600 Post Calibration Grayscale - Calibrated color temps, 20 – 100 IRE - Gamma settings - Regarding the HD8600 Manual Iris - Optoma HD8600 RGB Settings - Calibration settings25. Optoma HD8600 – Projector Screens - Optoma HD8600 - Projector Screens26. Optoma HD8600 – Competitors - HD8600 vs. Epson Home Cinema 8500UB, Pro 9500UB - Optoma HD8600 vs. Mitsubishi HC7000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. BenQ W6000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Sanyo PLV-Z3000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Planar PD8150 and Optoma HD8600 - HD8600 vs. InFocus IN83 and SP8602 - Optoma HD8600 vs. Panasonic PT-AE4000 - Optoma HD8600 vs. JVC DLA-RS20, DLA-RS15 and RS35! - Optoma HD8600 vs. Sony VPL-HW15, VPL-VW85, Optoma HD860027. Optoma HD8600 Projector – Warranty28. Optoma HD8600 – Review Summary - Optoma HD8600 Projector - The Bottom Line - Brightness29. Optoma HD8600 – Review Summary-2 - Fancy features - Optoma HD8600 Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities30. Optoma HD8600 Projector: Pros31. Optoma HD8600 Projector: Cons - Optoma HD8600 Projector: Typical Capabilities32. Optoma HD8600 Projector Specifications Optoma HD8600 Projector – Image Quality-10 Optoma HD8600 – Performance