Optoma HD803: 1080p Home Theater Projector Review - Image Quality - 8

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Art Feierman

The Lower Cost 1080p Projectors Comparison

Optoma HD803

Sanyo PLV-Z2000

Pansonic PT-AE2000U

I've been concentrating on the Epson and Sony, since I have had both here, while reviewing this Optoma. The other reason is that they represent perhaps the two best of the lower cost 1080p projectors.

Click to enlarge. so close.The Panasonic (and to a lesser degree, the Sanyo) has a more pinkish shift in its colors, although the differences in these images is far greater than what you would see on the projectors, side by side. Also, you can easily see, that the Optoma image is noticeably darker.

Click Image to Enlarge

HD803 Projector Image Quality: Bottom line

After watching the HD803 for a period of time, I appreciated its "film-like" qualities, and that it is a well balanced projector in terms of image quality. That said, it faces some really serious competition from the best of the 3LCD (Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB), and LCoS (Sony's SXRD VPL-VW40. Although I found the Epson image a little less film-like, I favored its significantly better black levels that really made a difference on dark scenes. The same was true for the Sony VW40, which is also more film-like than the Epson, and fits very neatly between the Optoma HD803 and Epson in terms of black level performance.

Because of the black level advantages of the Sony and Epson, the Optoma is going to compete more directly with entries like the Sanyo and Panasonic.