Vivitek H1080FD Projector Calibration and Settings Posted on July 9, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. Vivitek H1080FD Projector Review - H1080FD Projector Highlights - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Overview - Vivitek H1080FD Special Features2. Vivitek H1080FD – Physical Tour - Vivitek H1080FD Physical Appearance - H1080FD Projector - Control Panel - Vivitek H1080FD Inputs and Outputs - Vivitek H1080FD Menus - Vivitek H1080FD Remote Control - H1080FD Lens Throw - H1080FD Lens Shift3. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality - H1080FD Out of the Box Picture Quality - Vivitek H1080FD Projector - Flesh Tones - H1080FD Black Level Performance4. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality 2 - Shadow Detail Performance5. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality 3 - H1080FD - Overall Color & Picture Quality6. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Performance - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Brightness - Vivitek H1080FD Sharpness7. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Performance 2 - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise8. Vivitek H1080FD Projector Calibration and Settings - Vivitek H1080FD Color Temperature - Vivitek H1080FD Basic Settings - Vivitek H1080FD Post Calibration Grayscale: User mode - RGB Settings9. Vivitek H1080FD – Projector Screens - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Screen Recommendations10. Vivitek H1080FD – Competitors11. Vivitek H1080FD – Warranty12. Vivitek H1080FD – Review Summary - Vivitek H1080FD Projector - The Bottom Line13. Vivitek H1080FD – Review Summary 2 - The very bottom line14. Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Cons - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Typical Capabilities15. Vivitek H9080FD – Performance-4 - Vivitek H9080FD: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage16. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Full Specifications Vivitek H1080FD Calibration notes: We calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. Our calibration is pretty standard. A professional calibrator will do a good deal more, although we cover the items that cause the greatest improvements. Vivitek H1080FD Color Temperature Cinema: Color Temp over IRE Range: 30 IRE 6961K (dark gray) 50 IRE 6912K (med gray) 80 IRE 6978K (light gray) 100 IRE 6984K (white) We used Movie 1 mode as the basis for calibration. Results were then saved in User 1, which was used for all photo sessions unless otherwise noted. We refer to User 1 as Movie 1). Pre-calibration, the color temperature measurements came out like this: While the numbers across the range are exceptionally close, interestingly the H1080FD doesn’t have the usual R,G,B controls for doing a grayscale balance to 6500K. Mike tried some work arounds, including the CMS (individual color tuning controls), but to no avail. As a result, our final measurements are still all up around 7000K. That means a touch too much blue, relative to red. This isn’t a big miss, and it’s very watchable, but not as accurate as an enthusiast would hope for. Fortunately, they didn’t build this one for the video enthusiast, but for normal folks who just want a good, bright image, at an affordable price. Vivitek H1080FD Basic Settings Settings for measurements (default values are in parenthesis): Movie Bright Normal User 1 User 2 User 3 Contrast (10) 0 (4) (10)-10 (4) -10 (0) -10 Brightness (37) (48) (40) (37) 53 (40) 53 (48) 53 Color Sat. (0) -2 Tint (0) 5 Color Temp (Normal) (Lamp Native) (Normal) (Normal) (Normal) (Lamp Native) Gamma (9) Lamp Mode = Boost (High) In addition to our goal of calibrating Red Green and Blue for a correct grayscale balance (6500K), there are a number of other settings that come into play. (As noted, this projector lacks those RGB gain and bias controls for a grayscale balance.) Typically Contrast and Brightness (white balance and black balance), need to be done first. Color saturation and gamma also need adjustment. Vivitek H1080FD Post Calibration Grayscale: User mode Color Temp over IRE Range (User 1, Post CMS): 20 IRE 6909K 30 IRE 6966K 40 IRE 7017K 50 IRE 6937K 60 IRE 6963K 70 IRE 6952K 80 IRE 6983K 90 IRE 7016K 100 IRE 7007K Post calibration, we ended up with the same color temperature as we started, due to the lack of the grayscale RGB controls. Still the picture looked pretty good! when watching the H1080FD. As you can see, very tight range, just about 450K too cool. Fortunately, 450K is rather slight. As one calibrator once said to me (roughly): “When I calibrate a projector that starts out, inherently pretty good (such as off by 400 – 500K), and the customer sees the before/after, they see a small difference, and wonder why they paid a lot of money. Nevermind, that the picture does look better, even by their admission.” Gamma: Mike recommends Gamma of 9 (the default), which measured a near perfect 2.23 (theoretical ideal is 2.2). RGB SettingsAs mentioned above, the Vivitek H1080FD does not have the usual RGB settings. Instead, Mike came up with the best color he could for our “best” mode, using the CMS controls. This improved the overall color, even though it didn’t have any real impact on the measured color temperature: RGB Settings Red Green Blue Cyan Magenta Yellow Hue (-12) (-22) 10 (-10) (-8) 0 (20) 65 (-30) 70 Saturation (105) 110 (94) 95 (98) (86) 95 (98) 101 (90) Gain (100) 93 (104) 159 (104) 67 (104) 114 (106) 123 (100) 129 Drop in thses settings, you should like the improvement. Brightest Modes: Our brightest mode measurement worked out to 1777 lumens. You can up the contrast a bit to find a few more lumens, but that will cause some slight crushing of near whites (a small price to pay when you’ve got too much ambient light). The brightest mode definitely has that heavy green push, that many projectors add to a bright mode, to get out more lumens. With the H1080FD, however, there’s no good way to adjust the brightest mode. I did open a couple of blinds, taking advantage of all the lumens. I would normally prefer to give up a couple hundred lumens for improved color, but when I dropped down to the next mode, giving up about 600 lumens was a big drop in brightness. In the Normal mode, however color is very good. So, Normal, when you can for sports/TV, and Bright when you need every last lumen. 1. Vivitek H1080FD Projector Review - H1080FD Projector Highlights - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Overview - Vivitek H1080FD Special Features2. Vivitek H1080FD – Physical Tour - Vivitek H1080FD Physical Appearance - H1080FD Projector - Control Panel - Vivitek H1080FD Inputs and Outputs - Vivitek H1080FD Menus - Vivitek H1080FD Remote Control - H1080FD Lens Throw - H1080FD Lens Shift3. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality - H1080FD Out of the Box Picture Quality - Vivitek H1080FD Projector - Flesh Tones - H1080FD Black Level Performance4. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality 2 - Shadow Detail Performance5. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Image Quality 3 - H1080FD - Overall Color & Picture Quality6. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Performance - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Brightness - Vivitek H1080FD Sharpness7. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Performance 2 - Light Leakage - Image Noise - Audible Noise8. Vivitek H1080FD Projector Calibration and Settings - Vivitek H1080FD Color Temperature - Vivitek H1080FD Basic Settings - Vivitek H1080FD Post Calibration Grayscale: User mode - RGB Settings9. Vivitek H1080FD – Projector Screens - Vivitek H1080FD Projector Screen Recommendations10. Vivitek H1080FD – Competitors11. Vivitek H1080FD – Warranty12. Vivitek H1080FD – Review Summary - Vivitek H1080FD Projector - The Bottom Line13. Vivitek H1080FD – Review Summary 2 - The very bottom line14. Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros, Cons, and Typical Capabilities - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Pros - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Cons - Vivitek H1080FD Projector: Typical Capabilities15. Vivitek H9080FD – Performance-4 - Vivitek H9080FD: Bottom Line Sharpness - Light Leakage16. Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Full Specifications Vivitek H1080FD Projector – Performance 2 Vivitek H1080FD – Projector Screens