HD7100 Build Quality and Remote Control
We were very eager to get our hands on the new Optoma HD7100 home theater projector, considering the very high performance we achieved with the recently reviewed Optoma HD72. The New HD7100 boasts 5000:1 contrast ratio, incorporates the new 0.80-inch DarkChip3 technology and includes horizontal and vertical lens shift.
Build Quality
Like all of the recently reviewed Optoma products, the Optoma
HD7100 is well packed from the manufacturer to prevent shipping damage.
The projector includes the following accessories: one composite video
cable, one S-video cable, one RS-232 cable, a backlit remote control, a
lens cap, a user manual, and a power cord.
The Optoma HD7100 is beautifully constructed and elegantly styled. The projector's case is contoured and shaped to look like a UFO from a Sci-Fi movie. The outer shell is painted a gorgeous glossy pearly white and the lower front panel is metallic silver.
The top of the projector contains the user controls for the HD7100. The user control buttons are well laid out and include: power On/Off, input, exit, and eco, enter, and joy control for navigating the menu. Two small thumb wheel adjusters are placed on the top of the projector for horizontal and vertical lens shift. Toward the front of the projector is the manual zoom and focus adjusters.
On the bottom of the projector you will find two threaded adjusting
feet and the mounting holes for the ceiling mount. The ceiling mount
holes are in a conventional configuration and you should have no
trouble using a good universal mount for ceiling installations. A
well-constructed mount should be considered given the weight of the
HD7100. The projector lamp assembly is located behind the side cover
and is easily accessed by removing two screws.
Remote Control & Operation
The backlit remote supplied with the HD7100 is very ergonomic and the buttons are well laid out. We liked the inclusion of brightness, contrast, gamma, color temp, and aspect ratio buttons on the remote. This allowed for easy on the fly adjustments. The remote also has picture setting and white balance shortcut buttons placed below the multi-way keypad.
We found the remote control operation to be slow and sporadic. Navigating the user menus became frustrating at times due to the unresponsive remote control operation.
Set-Up
The HD7100 does feature an active automatic input search. This means that if you turn off one source the HD7100 will automatically search for the next active input. The user can override this feature by selecting any of the input buttons on the remote for manual selection of the desired input.
On the rear of the projector you will see composite and s-video inputs as well as dual component video inputs which can handle up to 1080i inputs. There is also, of course, a DVI connector for high definition digital video feeds (HDCP-compatible) and even a VGA input for optimal PC connectivity. RS-232 control is provided, but there is no 12VDC trigger present on the unit.
