Optoma GT760 Projector - Picture Quality 1

I went into my secret MAN lab and went to work.  I decided to link up a garden variety Samsung Blu-Ray player to both the 42” JVC flat display and The Optoma GT760 running both simultaneously just for a visual comparison while I had the room lights still on. I selected a level of room lighting typical to what you experience watching TV on any evening around the house. The soft lighting measured at approximately 38 lux (approx 3.5 foot candles). I played with the light settings alternating between that and a bright room of about 50 lux (about 4.65 fc.). Finally, I cranked the room lighting down to 13 lux (1.2 fc.) which is ideal for quality flick-time or geeking out to a tall order of Modern Combat 4 with a side of GTA-5.

Playing with Brightness and Color Modes

I alternated between different brightness and mode settings. As a general rule, a projector out of the box will deliver about 60-70% of the stated brightness. But when you’re talking 3400 lumens, that’s still pretty bright even if you are only getting 60 to 70 percent. There are three different brightness settings; BRIGHT, Eco, and Eco+.  BRIGHT is maximum power. Eco reigns back on the output to dim the brightness, lower energy consumption and extend your lamp life. Eco+ automatically detects brightness levels and adjusts them accordingly thus prolonging lamp life even further. I tried all 3 and although I found none of them to diminish my gaming experience per se, I still have to give the nod to the Bright setting if I had to make a choice here.

Running Images Off Cheap Media Players

❮ ❯

I started off using a garden-variety portable 1.0 gain matte white projection surface. I did this on purpose since your average Joe/Jane-consumer who buys this is not going to accompany it with a projection screen that costs more than the projector does. I looked beyond the comparatively poor video performance of my laptop and the $19.99 “cheapo-mart” DVD player to recognize this setup as an inexpensive and honestly, impressive way to entertain the kids. I ran the Big Lebowski in true college fashion and it looked great for what it was…even off my laptop drive. However, I could only take so much of the mickey-mouse media players for so long before trading up to my blu-ray and Playstation.

Mode Comparison

Blackboard mode

I tried running various modes in moderate room lighting. As expected, I got the best overall picture clarity (IMHO) on blackboard mode because of its sheer brightness to compensate for moderate room lighting.

Movie mode

Although the picture dimmed somewhat on movie mode, it’s a non-issue as long as the other people in the room don’t mind you dimming the lights just a touch.

Gaming Picture

❮ ❯

Color balance and clarity was honestly terrific. The picture was so clear that one of my gamer buddies mistook it at first glance for a 1080. In an aircraft scene for Grand Theft Auto V, I was honestly impressed with how clear the graphics were coming across. Likewise, I wasn’t ever a casualty to enemy fire on Modern Combat because the contrast sucked and I couldn’t spot the guy in the shadows. I was a casualty because charging into a room full of enemy troops while armed with only a sniper rifle is a stupid move.  In addition to really good picture quality, the contrast was good enough for me to see detail in the dark images and not have a diminished gaming experience.