I have looked for a long time for the perfect big television set, and discovered that I had been looking in the wrong direction. For the fraction of the price of a 60" plasma, I now have an Optoma H30 projector that projects a sweet gorgeous 5 foot by 7 foot image onto a large screen. YES, thats 5 feet by 8 feet, a diagonal of 105 inches! The image is almost FOUR times as large as a 60" widescreen. So lets get to the basics:

What is it? The Optoma H30 is a 600 x 800 resolution DLP (texas instruments proprietary digital light projection technology) that can place a 100" image from as little as 13 feet away.

Image Quality. Thanks to the good folks at Home Theater Expo, a division of Adtech, in Sudbury, MA I was able to compare several projectors before making my selection. (No I don't work for them, but they were so helpful in my selection process, I wanted to mention them by name) I looked at 6 projectors in the 1000-4000 range. DLP is definitely the way to go with projectors. Although a Panasonic AE 500 LCD projector had better resolution specs (1280 x 720), the picture quality didn't match the seamless quality of the DLP projectors. The LCD projectors have a "screen door" quality which although subtle is noticeable. To be honest, I only noticed the screen door effect because I looked at the LCD Projectors side by side with the DLP projectors. I brought ICE AGE as my test DVD. Nothing like white snow to test image clarity and quality. The Optoma displayed the image flawlessly. It looked clean and bright and pixelless. Unless you stand within about two feet away, the pixels are INVISIBLE.

At home, the first week, I just displayed my projector against the wall, and now its displayed on a DA-LIGHT hi contrast Cinema Screen. The image is flawless. Watching DVDs is a whole new experience on the BIG screen. I literally felt like I was at the movies re watching Lord of the Rings Return of the King, Monsters, INC. and the first Jurassic Park. Your viewing room should be dark for optimal viewing, that is one drawback of projection vs. standard televisions. Using a movie screen made the whites whiter, and the colors more natural than my cream colored wall. This is affordable home theater!

HDTV Technically, the Optoma H30 is EDTV quality, not HDTV, but in the showroom I only noticed a marginal improvement of the higher resolution projectors ( and none with the DVDs which in wide screen are shown in native progressive scan 480 resolution. ) That aside, HDTV from the projector is amazing. I had friends over to watch the Red Sox play in HDTV on ESPN, and it was stunning. In my living room the 16:9 movies display about 93" x 54". I watched Jay Leno in HD, and he appeared life size on my wall and you could make out the stars and stripes on his American Flag lapel pin. I also watched a lot of nature shows in HD. The grand canyon, penguins, dolphins etc. all look terrific.

Digital Cable. Digital cable has enough quality to retain a very nice image even when shown at six by four feet.

Regular TV. Well, you can't really take 480 interlaced, blow it up huge and expect too much now can you.

INPUTS The Optoma allows for VGA input ( you can hook your computer up, and project it on the big screen), an adapter allows one component input. I use the one component input. I have my DVD player and new HD cable box connected to my surround sound receiver, and the surround sound receiver has component out to the projector. My son is happy, because it also has S - Video input, which is great for the Playstation 2 (which by the way, also looks pretty stunning on the huge screen, but I suspect that 480 progressive scan X box would look even better). The Optoma also has a regular video input, which I don't use.

EASE of SETUP. I had it up and running in about 15 minutes. It took longer to get it into a good spot to project where I want, but again, this is easier to postion than a big TV. I have ordered a ceiling mount, so it will be up and out of the way and still put the screen where I want it. The lens allows some zooming, which lets you adjust the picture size. In my 14 foot viewing room, the picture can be expanded from 6 feet wide to 7 feet wide. On lower resolution inputs, the smaller screen size doesn't magnify the inherent inadequacies. With DVDs, digital cable and HDTV, the largest size still looks stunning. A flat screen on the wall uses very little space too.

REMOTE. The remote control is small and easy to use for the power, 4:3 / 16:9 switching, and menu functions. I suspect it will be much handier when I have the projector ceiling mounted. I do wish it lit up however, the room is dark for the best picture, and I sometimes need to put a light on to use the remote.

MENU The menu allows you to see lamp life remaining (its good for 2000 hours or 3000 in economode), make many adjustments to brightness, contrast, color, tint, or individual RGB adjustments. It also allows you to use the projector for front projection, rear projection (image reverses) and ceiling projection (image upside down because the ceiling mount has the projector hanging upside down). It also has presets for cinema (your DVD collection), video (television) and P.C. (your computer) use.

FAN NOISE The fan is hardly noticeable unless you are right next to it. It is no louder than my refrigerator or my fish tank. It is a lot quieter than a house fan.

DISADVANTAGES There are a few drawbacks to using a projector over a tradition television or Plasma TV. One, you need dark for the image to look its best. You need to put this in a room where you can make it dark. I have heavy drapes I can pull over my windows to get the optimal darkness. If I don't darken the room, the image will be washed out. The second disadvantage is the price of the bulb. They cost $400.00. Third, you need a certain amount of space between the projector and the screen. To get my image of 105" diagonal (5' x 8'), I have my projector set back 13' from the screen. If you have less space, you will get a smaller picture.


SUMMARY I can't imagine why I ever wanted a puny little 60" DLP or LCD TV when I can have a projector and 7 foot screen. It's like I am at the movies in my living room. I already have the surround sound system with DTS and dolby digital and plenty of microwave popcorn. Before you buy that big TV, LOOK LOOK LOOK into the possibility of a DLP projector and screen.





Recommended: Yes

Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 1400