Using the Denon DVD-2910 DVD player, set for HDMI and 720p output, we began our viewing evaluation in a totally dark room. As the projector began to warm up in the dark room, we noted there was very little light leakage emanating from the case. We did, however notice that the HD7100's fan noise was a little louder than the previously reviewed Optoma HD72.

DVD: X-Men 2: X-Men United
We thought it would be fitting to evaluate the HD7100 with the DVD X-Men 2 , considering X-3 was just released. The X-Men 2 DVD is not reference material but its picture quality is decent and its DTS sound track is superb.

Selecting chapter 3 舠 Alkali Lake 舡 , Wolverine walks through the doors of the abandoned secret industrial complex located in the snow-laden mountains. Wolverine is wearing a worn dark brown leather jacket and backpack with black straps. The HD7100 displayed these colors beautifully, contrasting them against the snow blown door. Flesh tones looked natural and the overall picture had depth and clarity. We were able to distinguish all the imperfections in the door but the fine detail appeared a bit soft at times in this passage. We tried several sharpness settings and adjusted gamma settings to see if we could produce a shaper image but we were unsuccessful. Displaying this same scene on one of our other projectors, the Sharp DT-400, the scene was razor sharp.

Chapter 4 "The Field Trip" places the characters in a museum. We chose this scene to evaluate the HD7100's ability to reproduce colors, particularly flesh tones against black and white. The colors the HD7100 reproduced with this particular scene were absolutely stunning. The colors of the little girl's green shirt, lavender backpack and pink fingernails were bright and vibrant, almost popping off the screen. The mother's black shirt was inky black, the ice cream was snow white, and the flesh tones were natural. The whole scene was dynamic and razor sharp.

We couldn't conclude this part of the evaluation without sneaking in a scene of Professor Xavier, played by the talented Patrick Stewart. The chapter begins with Professor X trapped in a state of illusion and hypnosis connected to Cerebro's mind. Once again the HD7100 did an outstanding job of displaying blacks and contrasting colors. Detail was razor sharp the fine signs of wisdom and aging in Professor Xavier's face were easily discernable as were the links in the cables connecting to his helmet. The motion of the objects circling the Professor in the background was smooth and judder free.

Throughout the DVD evaluation process, we tried to detect rainbows (RBE), but at no time during the DVD evaluation period did we detect the effect.

From our seated viewing position at a distance of 16.5 feet, observing the 106-inch diagonal screen we were unable to see any significant screen door effect. The only brief instance that we viewed SDE was on a total white background. SDE should not be considered a problem with the HD7100 at normal viewing distances because the projector has excellent fill factor and pixel structure is not noticeable from a normal viewing distance of about 1.5x the screen width.

Standard Definition Viewing
With the DVD evaluation completed we were eager to see how the HD7100 would perform viewing standard definition TV in the daytime with ambient light streaming into the room.

*Note: It is often difficult to capture live screen shots as they happen with a digital camera. Pausing live TV would not give us an accurate representation of the projector's ability to display the content.

Using the Carada Criterion Brilliant White 92-inch diagonal screen we were very pleased with the 7100's ability to overcome moderate ambient light in our room displaying standard definition content. The images we observed for the most part were smooth and artifact free and text was easily read. Colors were fairly bright considering the light broadcasting on the screen. Switching over to high definition content was like lifting a fog off the screen material. The image we viewed was pristine and sharp as a tack, every little detail jumped off the screen.

Operation report

Throughout the evaluation period, we did encounter some minor operational quirks. We noticed at times, if a bright scene occurred in a long succession the lamp would intermittently strobe and flicker. The strobe/flickering effect was brief then the HD7100 would revert back to normal operation. We also had trouble using several DVI cables over 25 ft in length. The HD7100 would sync then begin to pulse and or lose sync. Switching to a 15ft HDMI cable and using a DVI adapter eliminated the problem.

Shutting down the HD7100 places the projector in a cool down cycle that spins the fans at a faster rate. When the projector is shut down in standby mode the blue power indicator light remains on but this is very unobtrusive.

Conclusion

The Optoma HD7100 projector produced reasonably sharp, well-defined images. The color and black levels that the projector obtained after careful set up and calibration are among the best we have viewed in the under $5000 projector price category. Considering we had a pre-production unit for evaluation, we can only hope that the minor shortcomings we found will be corrected.

The fact that the HD7100 has both horizontal and vertical lens shift should place this projector high on the shopping list for installations where the projector needs to be offset from the center of the room, or where height is a consideration. Optoma continues their tradition of offering long warranty periods for their products .The HD7100 has a three year limited parts and labor warranty.

We had very high performance expectations of the HD7100, considering the phenomenal performance we obtained with the lower priced Optoma HD72. The Optoma HD7100 didn't quite meet our expectations, mainly due to the minor flaws outlined in the review. That being said the HD7100 is guardedly recommended for installations that need flexible projector placement.

Optoma HD7100 DLP Projector
MSRP: $3299
(888) 289-6786
http://www.optomausa.com

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