Optoma HD806 Projector Review-2

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• Compact, good looking design
• On the noisy side, in terms of audible fan noise
• 2x color wheel increases chances that some will see the rainbow effect
• Commercial and business, as well as home theater applications
• Very good price performance

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MSRP: $5199, MAP (minimum advertised price): $2599, but lower prices easily found
Technology: DLP Darkchip2
Native Resolution: 1080p (1920x1080)
Brightness:2000 lumens
Contrast: 8,000:1
Zoom Lens ratio: 1.2:1
Lens shift: None
Lamp life: 3000 hours in eco-mode, 2000 hours at full power
Weight: 10 lbs. (4.5 Kg)
Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor

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Optoma, in order to deliver an extremely bright home theater projector, uses a six segment, 2x speed, color wheel, and a 300 watt lamp. The color wheel, and 2x speed, is the first trick in getting more lumens out. The 300 watt lamp is brighter than most DLP projectors. The vast majority of them use either a 200 watt or 250 watt lamp. The 300 watt lamp will suck more energy, so you'll run a slightly higher energy bill than with most other projectors, but that shouldn't be a big thing, in the grand scheme. The other Optomas, with the seven segment wheels, add a dark green segment to help produce slightly better color accuracy.

The other trade off is that the 2x wheel will have more folks seeing the rainbow effect than they would with the typical 4x and 5x wheels used on most 1080p DLP projectors. Keep in mind, though, that Optoma sees this as a bright projector, great for family rooms and also commercial installations such as sports bars, or even conference rooms where a wide screen projector is needed. On content that lacks really dark scenes (such as sports), even those of us who are rainbow sensitive, don't see them. Rainbows are most detectable on dark scenes with fast moving bright white (or near white) objects. Those bright moving objects on dark scenes are where you tend to see the rainbow flashes. I doubt anyone would ever see one on a football game.