Optoma HD72 Features

We were first introduced to the new Optoma HD72 in January at the 2006 Consumer Electronic Show . We were very interested in conducting a review of this projector based on what we viewed at the Optoma booth.

The new Optoma HD72 breaks the price barrier for 1280x768p DLP projectors, selling at just $1999 MSRP. Our friends at Projector People were kind enough to lend us a demo unit for the purpose of this review.

Features

The Optoma HD72 incorporates many key features generally not found on projectors at this price point. The most notable features of this projector are:

• Optoma has included a 2 year limited warranty with a ZERO dead pixel policy . Purchasing a projector only to get it home and discover it has one or two dead pixels can be very annoying. Having to live with dead pixels for several years can be down right depressing. We applaud Optoma for putting their customers first in this regard and hope other manufactures will follow their example. That's why we decided to place this at the top of the features list because it's so important
  
• Advertised 3500:1 Full On/Off contrast ratio (5000:1 with AI activated).
• Advertised 1300:1 ANSI lumen output.
• 7 Segment 4x speed color wheel (GRBWGRB).
• The Optoma HD72 boasts a 3000-hour lamp life. That's a long specification for a projector in the $2000 price class. Obviously, we cannot verify this claim in a review and will take Optoma at its word on the longevity specification for the HD72. Realize that using higher brightness levels and picture modes will reduce bulb life expectancy.
• Brilliant Color: This new technology introduced by Texas Instruments is designed to deliver higher vibrancy and overall brightness and claims to provide truer colors to the image.
• Image AI: This feature is designed to automatically adjust the light output of the projector, to deliver better contrast ratios while marinating high ANSI lumen output. This is the first projector in or near this price class to offer this feature. Many projectors priced above the HD72 offer dynamic iris selection of either high lumen output or high contrast but not both at the same time.
• True Vivid: This color enhancement processor claims to add a deeper more 3-D looking image.
• TrueVision: Is a video processor that eliminates jaggies and smoothes the image for a more film like look.
• The Optoma HD72 has a specified fan noise level of just 27 dB in normal operation. While fan noise is not really a feature, it is an important consideration when contemplating your next projector purchase and we decided to place the information in the feature set.
• The HD72 has dual digital inputs HDMI and HDCP compliant DVI connections. This may be a very important consideration if your system has no video switching or you prefer to route video sources directly to the projector instead of through a video-switching device that could possibly degrade the signal performance.