Optoma HD66 720P 3D-Ready DLP Home Theater Projector
Posted: May 31st, 2010 | Author: admin | Filed under: Buy 3D TV | Tags: 3DReady, 720P, HD66, Home, Optoma, Projector, Theater | 5 Comments »
- DLP Technology by Texas Instruments with BrilliantColor Technology
- 2500 Lumens produce a bright, crisp image
- Produces mind-boggling 3D images for high intensity gaming!
- Complete on-screen menu adjustments in 23 languages
- Native 720P widesreen resolution
Product Description
Optoma’s HD66, 3D-Ready home theater projector delivers the future! Breathtaking and bold, the Optoma HD66 hometheater projector provides stunningly beautiful widescreen viewing. The 3D-Ready HD66 adds a whole new demension to the gaming and home theater experience-and delivers more dynamic learning in education and training applications. With 2500 ANSI lumens, 4000:1 contrast, and native 720p widescreen resolution, the HD66 delivers subtle details and striking clarity for pure viewing delight!
Optoma HD66 720P 3D-Ready DLP Home Theater Projector
I bought this projector 3 weeks ago from Amazon. Delivery was prompt and on time. The projector came in the usual Optoma box but without a carry case. Of course I knew that, but one would have been nice anyway. I had already printed out the manual (at work of course) from the Optoma website.
Set up was easy enough but a little time consuming as the settings where totally off. I believe everyone using this projector primarily for home theater will and should set the bulb to standard. The extra lumen will come in handy however when using the 3D glasses to view 3D content.
Once calibrated, picture quality was very impressive for a 720p projector. Blacks were black enough, color and shadow, rich and detailed. The projector does a good job (imo) of scaling 1080p content. I have two Blu-ray players and the projector showed Blu-ray content a lot better with my Philips player so like everything else the source is important.
Overall I’m very happy with my purchase. Couldn’t convince the wife at this stage to let me spend the extra money on a 1080p projector, so I was already looking at the HD65. I was encouraged by what was being said by the very early adapters that had pulled the trigger on the dedicated AV forums (God bless them). Early veiwings included Iron Man and Transformers, and Walle and UP for animation, all in Blu-ray on a 72″ 16:9 screen and I’m truly impressed. The harshest critic is too, the wife. Picture is as good, if not better, than my Sanyo 42″ 1080p plasma. I’m English; my wife is American so were now looking forward to the World Cup being shown in 3D. By the time the tournament begins hopefully the price of active shutter glasses will have fallen enough so were not passing one pair around the room to everybody.
If you have bought this projector from Amazon just post a review good, bad or indifferent. I was compelled to do so because for a long time the only one posted nearly caused me to pass on the HD66. $700 is a lot of money (to me at least), so I utilize reviews all the time without giving back. This was my first one ever, hope it helps.
Rating: 5 / 5
Very nice projector, good colors, brightness and black levels. This is not going to compete with a $2k projector, but for its class, it does a really impressive job.
I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because out of the box, the settings make the image look quite poor, complete loss of detail in faces, skin tones are definitely off. After some quick calibraiton, Specifically:
- I turned down the bulb to standard
- turned “Brilliant Color” way down
- reduced the contrast to about 42-45.
- I also turned down the brightness to 43, but after doing a THX optimizer, brought the brightness back up to the standard 50.
AFTER CALIBRATION, I am VERY pleased with the colors, the black levels are good (not great, but pretty darn good) and the shadow detail is much better than what I have seen in the past.
I would recommend this projector to anyone looking for a ht projector in this price range.
(Also, as others have reported, the remote is not laid out well at all (although this would not sway my purchase decision, it is worth noting))
Rating: 4 / 5
i have used many projectors before at friends homes and at work. i love this projector, 3d tv’s are around 2000 to 4000 dollars but for $799 this projector is really good. i watch with all the lights off in my theater room and the brightness, color and quality are very good. i would really say that i have an imax experience at home. i would suggest this product to anyone.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this projector for watching movies and video games, and its doing remarkably well. The picture is clean and crystal clear. The HDMI port makes your Blu-ray connectivity easy. This projector is 3D ready as long as you have the appropriate glasses, i cant wait to see how Avatar is going to look on my 4 by 7 1/2 foot screen. It came 2 days early and snugly packed in a box. I do not notice any of the “color wheel effect” Great buy.
The UPS driver left a $700 projector sitting on my front lawn, so make sure you are there when it arrives.
UPDATE: Avatar look astonishing!
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this projector for use in theatrical productions (2D only). The image quality is terrific and the image is bright enough to be seen in a medium sized proscenium theatre (500 seats). It fills the cyclorama backdrop (about 30′ wide) quite well (placed in the third row of the theatre). For my initial use I used this projector on one side of the stage and an older Epson projector on the opposite side. The Optoma HD 66 is much brighter. Obviously full theatrical lighting washes out the image but with careful focusing and level setting the image is quite viewable. I was projecting a variety of textures and videos on the performers and on the backdrop. The performers’ shadows were visible on the backdrop but the alternate projector added textures within those shadows. Projecting from a left or right angle does create a slightly skewed image, not a problem for this production. Keystone is easily adjustable (for projecting from ground level)
I also tested the projector with a rear projection screen (about 15′ wide.) It produced a bright and clear image – viewable even with house lighting up full.
Settings are simple and my MacBook Pro recognized the projector instantly. I’m looking forward to experimenting more with the Optoma HD 66 for future productions.
Rating: 5 / 5