Optoma H27 - Overview-2

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Art Feierman

There is a drop down foot, with the release for it, located bottom center. An Infra-red sensor for the remote is also found on the front. Offset to the left (facing the projector) is the lens, a manual zoom affair, with a zoom ratio of 1.2:1 (20% adjustment range). The lens itself is fairly long throw, so you may find that it will work shelf mounted in the back of the room. If you have a 100" screen, you can place the Optoma H27 projector as close to the screen as 13.6 feet and as far back as 16.4 feet (measured from the front of the lens). To focus the lens, just adjust the lens barrel. To zoom in or zoom out, there is a slide on the top of this projector - just back from the front, above the lens. Should you need to place the projector closer, there is a wide angle lens adapter that shortens the throw distance by 20% (you can place the projector 20% closer).

Click to enlarge. SO close

There is a nicely laid out control panel on the top of the projector, with the arrow keys doing dual role. When you press Menu, the arrow keys control navigation. When menu is not pressed, the up and down arrows control keystone correction (which you want to avoid using if at all possible), the left arrow selects source, and the right one - Auto image mode.

Click Image to Enlarge

Click to enlarge. SO close

The power cord plugs into the left side (looking from the front) and all the rest of the action is in the back. On the back panel you will find a second infra-red sensor for the remote, and plenty of inputs. From left (looking from the back) to right - there is an RS-232 serial port for controlling the projector from a PC. Moving to the right - three RCA jacks color coded green, blue and red, for component video input, then, an RCA jack (yellow) for composite input, an S-video input, and a multipurpose HD15 (computer) connector, that can handle a second component input (having two component inputs on an entry level projector is pretty rare), as well as a computer input. Lastly is the DVI-I connector which can handle a digital input - DVI, (or HDMI with an adapter -same standard). Normally a DVI-I (as opposed to DVI-D) connector indicates that you can alternately input an analog computer signal. In this case, however the Optoma H27 projector only handles digital. They say they used the DVI-I connector so it could accept either DVI-I or DVI-D cabling. That makes sense.

Click Image to Enlarge

All in all, the H27 projector has more flexibility in handling inputs than most other entry level home theater projector I can think of. Technically, it can have a computer, a component video and either a second component video, computer or digital source, in addition to the lower performance composite and S-video inputs. Well done! Few projectors selling for under $4000 offer more flexibility, and most offer much less. For those not having a A/V receiver with component video switching, this is a huge plus! Buying switch boxes adds hundreds to your cost, and is basically - inconvenient. As I said, a real advantage for this Optoma projector.

Underneath, the projector relys on a 3 point foot system for balance. As previously mentioned the front foot is adjustable. Of the two rear feet the left one (looking from the back) is screw thread adjustable. This assures you that you can have it stable even on an uneven surface.

It's time to find out about the H27 projector's picture quality.