Blue~Laser Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
The Projector I Have Been Waiting For, 2009-12-31
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
This is my first projector purchase as I had been waiting for the 1080's to be affordable. I have installed a few Optoma's in the past and have always liked their quality. Well, the HD20 does not disappoint.

I purchased this projector along with a 120" Elite Screens Power Gain Sliver Frame to be used in my living room as the main display on my quad core gaming/media rig. I was a bit worried about lighting in the room since there is a sliding glass door and window directly facing the screen with sun shining in from the east (with very poor blinds, but hey, it's an apartment). On a perfectly sunny day with the blinds shut and up until about 2pm (when the sun is completely cleared my windows), there is, of course, a significant loss of brightness/color on the screen, but, it is very watchable and enjoyable as far as I'm concerned. Then, as the day moves on, it gets better and better. The actual lights in the room seem to have a minimal effect compared to sunlight, but I am not a video enthusiast so I'm pretty easily satisfied. I'm sure better blinds would greatly improve the situation and I'm headed that direction. By dusk, this thing is amazing. The color rivals my previous display, an asus 1080 p 25" LCD. Movies, PC games, and even browsing the web are incredible. We even put up a recipe on the wall from the net to cook the other night as we can easily see it from the kitchen. This thing has turned my living room into a virtual world!

On the tech side of things, it was a bit touchy to setup as others have described. The zoom is minimal only allowing about 2 feet of play. You can easily use the distance calculator on Optoma's web site to get an idea of projector placement and measurements. I would also recommend the thx viewing calculator on the net to get an idea for the best viewing distance per screen size. It worked well for me. There is only a manual zoom/focus, but if calculated accurately, works fine. There are very few adjustments on the projector to compensate for any installation details, but for 1000 dollars I am not complaining. One very important thing to note is a lack of a lens shift feature. If you are planning on mounting this right side up (as in, not upside down) it has to be installed at the table top level and cannot be mounted high on the wall (such as on a shelf) unless it is flipped upside down. The user controls are very easy to use. I change it daily between bright mode and economy mode to save on lamp life during the evening when the sunlight decreases. I would definitely recommend using the HDMI input as well. I experimented with the others and there is a definite quality gain via hdmi. PC gaming on this thing in 1080p is my childhood fantasies come true :) (Crysis, Left for Dead 2, Burnout Paradise, Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare, and GTA IV to name a few).

All in all, there could be a few more features; it could be brighter, etc. But you can also spend another 1000 on top of this to get those features. I don't miss them and I'm sure others won't either for the price. I will post a warning to those considering its purchase though, you may have a fight in the house if more than one person wants to play a game or watch a movie!

This IS the projector I have been waiting for and I am very satisfied with my purchase.

****UPDATE****

I have put 1000 hours on this projector since purchase in November. It still performs incredible, I haven't had to adjust brightness or contrast since purchase. I do switch between bright and normal lamp modes for day and night viewing. It is powered on and off multiple times a day.

P. MILLER "Mr.Owl" Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Excellent projector for the money, 2009-08-22
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
This projector was everything that the description said that it was. Best to go to the vendor's website, of course, for more specifications.

Only real limitation is the absence of an audio output. If you want to use this for a home A/V setup, you'll need to run your HDMI source through an A/V receiver first.

Nice: powers down very quickly. Crisp image.

Cons: don't expect this to be a $5000 projector with auto focus, zoom, keystone, etc.

Anupam K. Nath "tapu_anu" Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Calibration is tougher!!, 2010-01-01
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
I have been playing with the HD20 for last couple of days. I am still not sure what to say. Unlike any of my previous projectors(Optoma HD31 and HD70) it gives u too many options to calibrate. I guess that is a good thing. However,I am still struggling with this process and seems like quite overwhelming to me. Good thing is picture is much bigger and brighter than HD70. Super wide is a nice option. However, in terms of picture details I am still not sure what to say especially with the downloaded HD content. Apparently it needs lot more tweaking( and hard work) to calibrate it properly. I was reading different forums and there I read that it actually needs 100 odd hours for the bulb to settle down. So that might be the reason too. Hence, to summarize, in terms of size and brightness, the improvement is significant. But as of now sadly I cannot say that in terms of picture quality and details. I will keep u updated as I keep continuing the calibration process.

Update: Finally I have managed to calibrate it properly. Now the picture looks fantastic and the quality is significantly better than HD70. Now I have 20 odd hours on the lamp. I guess that also helped to have proper picture quality. So as of now my conclusion is that the picture quality might not meet your expectations out of the box. However, it eventually does meet your expectation and perhaps some more. Enjoy!!

G. senger Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
PERFECT PICTURE ONCE ADJUSTED, 2010-10-01
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
The picture out of the box is OK. However, once projected on a gray projection screen to increase contrast (not white) and some minor color adjustments this projector comes to live when playing blue ray disks. Perfect picture !!

Here are my adjustments made in the setup menu of the projector!
My HD20 settings:
Lamp: Bright Mode Off (still very bright even when off)
IS : Off
Mode: Cinema
Gamma: Film
Component 1080p
Contrast 48
Brightness 40
Color 53
Tint 50
Sharpness 10

Advanced Film
Gamma film, curve type -1, Offset 3

RGB
R gain -2
G gain 0
B gain -8
R bias -6
G bias -1
B bias -5

Tustinfarm Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Initial impressions, very pleased, 2009-08-21
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
This was an upgrade for me from a 720p, DLP projector (Mitsubishi HD1000u). Initial impressions are very positive, based on about 10 hours of viewing & tweaking. Very quiet, and plenty bright running in low power mode. The high resolution (1920 X 1080) approaches that for a typical 2k digital cinema, so my 145" diagonal screen, viewed from about 15 feet distance, provides a very pleasing movie experience. That said, the increase in resolution from 720p is an incremental step, so it is not the be all and end all of image quality in projectors. More specifically the source material you feed it is what really brings out the quality. Many HD feed materials (from cable or satellite) don't ever approach the inherent resolution of the projector, so at this point only blu-ray source material will really give the utmost in high resolution detail (and not even all disks, depending on the original mastering, etc.). Black levels are similar to my previous DLP projector, so if you are obsessed with having pitch black star fields, you should opt for a pricier DLP or LCD projector, which may more closely approach jet black in those situations. I don't worry too much about this aspect, reminding myself that even film projectors don't provide jet black when the screen goes blank, so the HD20 actually matches the real cinema experience more closely (how's that for rationalizing why a cheaper projector is better!) . At this price level (<$1000) it is hard to imagine a bigger bang for the buck in terms of image quality. Finally, I highly recommend you check out www.avsforum.com , where there is an extensive discussion thread about this and competing projectors.

Christopher Pike "Piker" Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
1080p Goodness for the budget-minded!, 2009-10-21
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
I first wrote this review on another site, and now that I've had more time with this projector I have added and changed a few things and am reposting the review on Amazon. I think more people will look to Amazon when purchasing this projector, especially since the other site is not stocking it anymore. Hopefully this review helps those of you who are on the edge about purchasing this projector.

Pros: Good looking, gloss-white finish. Low-noise fan on normal-bulb mode. 4000 hours lamp life on econo is greater then most projectors! Good enough to use in bright mode to use with lights turned on in the room. In the dark, it looks simply amazing!

1080p content looks very good. Blu-rays played from a PS3 (or other blu-ray player) look awesome. I watched Kung-Fu Panda and was "wowed" by what you can notice on a much larger screen. I just watched Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen on it last night and I was amazed at the details and I noticed things I didn't even notice when I saw it in IMAX. This might have been because in IMAX you have such an insanely huge screen that you miss some things you might not have noticed before since you have to actually turn your head to look at the entire screen. Still, blu-ray content is amazing to see with this projector. I find it very hard to believe you can buy this for under $1000.

Video games look awesome. It works well with PS3 and 360 consoles. You get a huge advantage over other players when you can see them off in the distance before they could actually see you on a normal HDTV. This of course all depends on the size of the screen you use. I'm using a 92" diagonal white screen by EliteScreens. Not the greatest of screens but will get me by for a year or two until I get the funds for a good, fixed screen.

When using my PS3 with my tv I set the RGB color-spectrum to limited range in the display options on the PS3. On the tv, with the setting on full it would be far too dark and black out way too much shadow detail. On this projector you can turn on full-range and make use of the entire spectrum and it will give you better blacks and whites this way. If you put this projector on the bright pre-set setting (not high lamp mode) then you can blind yourself by the whites this thing is capable of in the dark. Bright setting should really only be used when you have a lot of ambient light to fight with. Otherwise the Cinema, Reference, or your own custom settings with the help of a calibration disc is probably best.

There are lot's of options for adjusting brightness, contrast, sharpness, etc. Everything you find on current HDTV's seems to be a setting you can change here. I personally find cinema mode is about perfect for use in dark environments where you can shut off all the light and enjoy a movie. Sharpness is used differently on this projector then it is on many HDTV's. With my tv I took the sharpness down to zero, because all it was doing was adding pixels to make the picture appear sharper and it would actually take away from the realism of the picture. On this projector the default value is 7 and if you lower it you are actually softening the picture and going negative with the sharpness effect. I found the sweet spot to be 10. At the value of 10 I get extremely sharp, crisp looking text in all my games and the picture looks better at that setting then at the default of 7. Anything below 7 would turn too soft and look blurred... like looking through a water covered windshield.

The Optoma features automatic shut-off which you can adjust. By default I believe it is turned off. I set mine for 15 minutes. This feature will automatically turn off the projector after no signal is detected for "xx" amount of minutes. Very useful if you are not the only one using the projector and have fears of friends/family leaving it turned on.


Cons: I have been used to using a Samsung 46" LN46A650 model tv, and then going to this, there is a very noticeable difference in black level. You will not get the deep blacks with this projector that you can on a good HDTV, but thankfully it doesn't ruin the experience. Black level detail is there, which is good, it just does not produce an inky-black. It's more of a very dark shade of gray. I messed around with the Digital Video Essentials blu-ray for the contrast/brightness adjustments for a while. I was not able to get the entire line-chart to display. Either the whites would get too washed out and too bright, or the darks would get too dark and force the white sections to get dark. The projector seemed about correct with out-of-the-box settings on cinema.

I did not mess around with deeper menu's such as the gamma, and film modes, or try changing the colors yet. I'm not experienced at self-calibrating, so don't take my word for it, but I could not get the contrast portion much better then it already is out-of-the-box.

Auto-focus would have been a nice option. It's not a big deal if you get this projector mounted and won't have to keep moving it. You can just find the right spot and leave it there, and it should be fine. On that note, if you are planning to leave this on a coffee table it will probably work alright. At first, I tried to shelf-mount this projector to save having to buy a ceiling mount. I had it about 5 feet above ground-level and I could not get a picture I was happy with. I had to angle it way down by rotating the back legs so they were fully extended and then adding a couple slim-cd cases to raise the back even further. I adjusted keystone all the way and it was still off and looked like a trapezoid. Unless you plan on using this within 3 feet of the floor, I would expect to be ceiling mounting this baby! There's your warning to anyone wondering about this.

None of my cons knock a star off my rating on this wonderful product though. You can't really say too many negative things about a 1080p projector for <$1000!!

I am very glad I bought this! At first I was worried that 92" might be too big for me, sitting back about 9.5 ft away, but having used it a while now, it is perfect. The projector will utilize up to a 300" screen, so I cannot wait till I move into my first house and have a nice area to set up for a 150" screen! I think that would be idea.

*** Update 3/5/10 ***

I've now owned this for about 5 months, and I have yet to run into any problems with it. I have over 300 hours of use on the bulb now. Once the bulb has had proper time to break in (200+) you will notice a better black level than when it was brand new. I still don't have any gripes with the performance of this projector. Everything has been fantastic. You really get all of your moneys worth with this sub-$1000 HD projector. I haven't been to a movie in the theater at all this year, and I was the guy who usually went almost every Friday. I can stay home and get the same experience now.

Oliver Chang Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Great HD projector for the price, 2009-09-17
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Not an expert review, but from an experienced user:

I have been using this projector for about a week now, and so far so good. I did quite a bit of research on HD projectors and found that this was the best one for the price. Does not fully match up to the more expensive HD projectors, but quite comparable. Colors are deep and good. Images are vibrant and do not wash out as much as I had expected (even in a reasonably lit room).

Fan is somewhat loud (but not terribly noticeable if you have a sound system working), and can get very warm if you sit diagonal to the front right of it (good for keeping you warm during the winter).

Great purchase overall.


UPDATE:
I have owned this projector for over a year now (~1000 hours). Still no problems, and it performs as well as day one. As with other projectors, works best in a darker room where you can control the ambient light. I have had time to compare it to newer projectors, and especially the new LED and 3D televisions. While the colors and depth perception are not as good as what you would see on those higher end home theater displays, you certainly get a great value for what you pay for. I have mine displaying on a 120" screen (projected in an average apartment sized living room at 15 feet away), and it consistently wows my guests. As other reviewers have noted, you are limited in room placement and set up: you can only move the image so many degrees in each direction (i.e. projector best suited for placement on a low shelf or table in the center of the room).

greg Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
QualityFreak ... 6 months later & still off the grid, 2011-01-07
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
I decided to dump satellite and experience television off-the-grid, so-to-speak. So along with my macbook pro (if you know how to obtain content) and trusty PS3 +media server +netflix, surround sound system and 50ft HDMI and VGA cables, I created my ideal media center, complete with 93"-diag homemade 16:9 projection screen (1.0 gain screen material stretched over a wooden frame; there's other sites to help you with that). You definitely have to be a bit of a tinkerer for this kind of setup. Friends who come over struggle sometimes just "putting something on the tube". But it's mine, I don't care.

Just like the old days, I think tv viewing is meant to be an event.. like going to see a movie. Now I haven't been to one of those in 6 months (darn you 3d avatar)- it's way too expensive. Now I watch blu-rays in amazing, better than theater quality at home and I don't have to step in a sticky mess on the floor or sit in gum, thanks AMC). But on the flip side, I don't watch as much tv with this setup as I used to. When I do though, it's the stuff I want to see, WHEN I want to see it. And the shooting noobs on video games.

Now for the technical bits (coming from a quality snob):

-The 1080p/720p image is fantastic. COD Black Ops is scaled up a bit from 720, but it's computer generated anyway, who can really tell the difference. It's awesome for gaming, but only after you tweak your settings a bit. Blu-rays look awesome.

-Sometimes the screen goes pink when the input signal changes (like from 720p to 1080p), but a quick refresh of the input selection on the remote will put everything back. Once or twice the scaling got messed up after a blu-ray changed to 480p for preview, but just hit hdmi input. Hence the "tinkering"

-The remote buttons are crazy BRIGHT, but you'll appreciate it when you're watching stuff in the pitch black. Just keep it close by and think of it as a flash light.

-Once you get your color/brightness/contrast settings for each of the 4-5 setups you get (ie. cinema, bright, photos etc..), they're set. You don't have to revisit them every time you watch something different. I only really switch modes if the room light changes. I did eventually black out a window to create evening/night all the time.

-The light spill folks talk about definitely varies, but never effects the quality of the picture and I rarely notice it.

-It's only really loud for a few seconds when you turn it off (the fans spin faster to cool the bulb, i think). I don't notice it at all when I'm watching stuff, except when the show/movie is deafeningly silent (or paused) and it's less than 2 feet from my head (behind me). My central air/heat is louder and much further away.

-Don't bother using the auto-brightness thing, it's too delayed in the response.

-The black levels are good, and very acceptable (If I don't notice it's a problem, it's not). But they clearly get better as the room gets darker. I use the "bright" setting when I have a small light on in the room (to eat) and it still looks very good. But it's not like I have another TV in the room to compare it to.

-If your computer's graphics card will support it, there's no trouble playing 1080p content through your VGA cable. It just might tax your computer a bit.

-Awesome to see 2 HDMI inputs, since that's all anybody uses anymore.

-Also nice to be able to check the bulb's hours a little deeper in the menus, and bulbs are only $200-230 or so

Overall, a great investment (cuz I'm not going to the theater anymore) and I'll update this as soon as the bulb goes, but absolutely no noticeable difference yet! Have fun~

Jewelrai Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Great product for the price, 2009-09-13
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Ordered this from Amazon.com. Connected it to my PS3 Slim. The picture quality is crisp and perfect. This projector is very light which allows multiple options for mounting, ceiling/wall etc. Hardly creates any noise, would recommend it to others in a heartbeat. All in all, great product for the price.

J. Gibbons Say: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Some Glaring Performance Shortcomings, 2010-04-19
This review is for: Optoma HD20 High Definition 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector (Grey)
Overall, I am satisfied with the performance vs. price of the HD20. For a budget setup, this model is a good choice. I anticipated some performance shortcomings at this price point, and they are fairly obvious. The picture is very clear ans bright for a budget projector, but it is not equivalent to my LCD or even DLP TV. That said, I am projecting at 120" and my other TV's are half that size.

I purchased this unit for my first budget home theater, primarily for playing XBox 360 and watching movies. I paired the HD20 with the Elite M120XWH Manual Pull-down screen, also a budget choice, resulting in satisfying brightness in a room with little to no ambient light. I picked up some very nice black-out, thermal curtains for under $30 to darken the room. My HD20 is ceiling mounted with a Vantage Point CGUPM12-S (very nice mount) at about 9" above the screen, 14' of distance.

I am quite disappointed with the 1080i/720p HD video image processing from an AT&T U-Verse source, however. Please note that AT&T HD video compression is HORRIBLE, rendering entire movie scenes into pixelated tornadoes of motion blur. This problem originates from the AT&T U-verse video feed, occurs with any TV, and is most obvious with fast-moving, CGI-enhanced cinema. However, while expecting a degree of blur and pixelation comparable to my DLP TV, the HD20 adds another layer of blur, rendering some movie scenes unwatchable. I do not expect a sub-$1000 projector to perform as well as a TV, but the shortcomings are disruptive to the viewing experience. Fast-paced sports do not fare well in 720p, either. Occasionally, strange psychedelic glitches occur where images glow or are distorted, but these gremlins seem to come out only during the darkest of scenes. The black levels are acceptable overall, but some movies, such as Dark Knight, are flat at times.

For XBox 360 games, the quality of the picture over HDMI connection is fair, but not great. There is obvious blurriness, even in still shots. I have tried to tweak settings and focus, but I have not been able to produce a satisfyingly crisp picture at 120" viewing. My 55" DLP looks better when my other 360 is connected via component cables, unfortunately. I have tried swapping out the HDMI cable, resetting the 360 Elite's settings, and even forcing 1080p in native mode on both the projector and the 360, but nothing seems to resolve these issues. The picture is far better than 480p, but the quality of the image is dissatisfying. Switching the 360 from HDMI to component degrades the sharpness even further. These problems may be related to the nature of DLP projectors or this projector's processor--I have not tried an LCD projector for comparison.

Overall, this is a good, relatively cheap projector with some image processing shortcomings.

Pros:
1) Great performance value
2) Brightness level
3) 1080p HDMI
4) Excellent color output
5) Intuitive menu for configuration and limited tweaking

Cons:
1) Weak image processing of HD content results in motion blur and other oddities
2) Not great for fast-motion content, such as sports viewing or XBox 360
3) Very limited placement flexibility
4) Applying the lens cap will move the focus wheel
5) Remote backlight is blindingly bright around the buttons but it is difficult to read through the buttons in the dark