Calibration & Benchmark Tests
Get your black and white levels correct and you're apt to have a good viewing experience. The other important thing you want to pay attention to is the color temperature of the unit, as changed by the Modes and various settings in the menu system.
The CIE Chart is used to display the colors for the Optoma EP1690's HDTV color reference, as well as the gamut of colors that it is capable of creating. We observed that the Optoma DLP projector had slight deficiencies in all three primaries, but Red seemed to be the most affected in practical viewing.
Contrast ratio measured in at 532:1 before calibration (with some crushed blacks and an overall darker image). After calibration we saw a measured contrast of 304:1. Color temperature varied less than we would have expected for the various modes: Bright (6100K), Cinema (6400K), TV (7300K), and sRGB (6300K).
Here are some of the before and after measurements as shown by the DataColor ColorFacts Professional 6.0 system :
|
The default settings in the Cinema mode were not exactly spot on, though I felt that the image was pleasing to the eye and didn't have any dramatic color casts. |
After calibration, the EP1690 fell nicely into place. Red and Blue Gain and Bias had a very high interaction level so it was quite difficult to get the settings exactly perfect (I had to set a 5% tolerance). Overall the image looked fantastic and we were pleased with the results. |
|
While the original settings showed a darker image, the blacks were crushed up to 20 IRE. |
After calibrating the projector we have a nice smooth luminance histogram with a gamma that matches our target almost perfectly. |
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Pre-calibration color temperature of Cinema mode was a nice 6400K - not bad and certainly a good place to start. |
A result of our calibration produced a slightly higher color temperature overall, but the improvements in performance were worth it. |
Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test
Results
Perfect Score is 130
Optoma EP1690 Benchmark Score: 63
(room for improvement, but this is still an excellent
performer)
|
Test** |
Max
|
Results |
Pass/Fail |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Color Bar |
10 |
10 |
Pass |
|
Jaggies #1 |
5 |
5 |
Pass |
|
Jaggies #2 |
5 |
3 |
Pass |
|
Flag |
10 |
5 |
Pass |
|
Detail |
10 |
10 |
Pass |
|
Noise |
10 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Motion adaptive Noise Reduction |
10 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Film Detail |
10 |
5* |
Pass |
|
Cadence 2:2 Video |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 2:2:2:4 DV Cam |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 2:3:3:2 DV Cam |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 3:2:3:2:2 Vari-speed |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 5:5 Animation |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 6:4 Animation |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 8:7 animation |
5 |
0 |
Fail |
|
Cadence 3:2 24fps film |
5 |
5 |
Pass |
|
Scrolling Horizontal |
10 |
10 |
Pass |
|
Scrolling Rolling |
10 |
10 |
Pass |
|
Total Points |
130 |
63 |
|
*Film detail showed a very slow lock on the first pass and then caught on quickly on
subsequent loops.
** All tests were done via DVI-D inputs at 480i
Comments on HQV Testing
We did all tests at 480i resolution using the DVI-D inputs of the Optoma EP1690. The source component was the new Denon DVD-3930CI which allowed us to send 480i from its HDMI output - a nice feature to have when testing the deinterlacing capabilities of front projection systems. We also tested 1080p into this projector, since it is a supported format. When switching from 480i directly to 1080p the projector was thrown for a loop - and even hitting the re-sync button didn't help. However, once we powered the projector down and brought it back on line, 1080p came up just fine. The scaler on the EP1690 did a very good job of allowing the 1080p/60 to fit into its native display and we noticed only a slight softening of the image overall.
Our moving zone plates test results were amazing. The projector occasionally took its time locking on (especially during the 2-3 diagonal movements) but overall the projector locked on and did much better than many models I've seen to date. This is the first projector we've testing using 480i through DVI-D inputs which might account for some of the performance gains, but regardless this was a very impressive performance. You aren't likely to have jaggie issues (due to bad edits or interlaced input) in real world viewing when using this projector.
I noticed no rainbows (RBE) on this projector during normal use and could, in fact, only see them on our Rainbow Dither test by rapidly darting my eyes from side to side. As I am susceptible to RBE (the RainBow Effect of the Red, Green, and Blue sequential firing from the DLP light engine) this impressed me and let me know that Optoma didn't skimp on this model, even though it isn't targeted solely for home theater use.
