Optoma DV11 Calibration & Benchmark Testing

Calibration – Getting Those Black Levels Right!

I do not recommend calibrating this projector. Frankly, it didn't seem to need it. With the measurements we took, once we selected the correct settings, the performance was on par with what we'd want to see in our particular viewing room. If there was a deficiency it would have to be that it had a slight saturation loss for both green and red. We have seen a LOT worse, so it didn't particularly bother us.

We utilized datacolor’s ColorFacts Professional 6.0 software to calibrate and measure the grayscale response of the DV11. What we found was that the initial Color Temp settings were not perfect, but once we selected '0' (instead of the default '1') everything snapped into place.

Here you see that we measured a not-bad-at-all grayscale from 30 to 80 IRE. Color temperature was excellent once we adjusted the setting and was more linear than many more expensive displays I've encountered this year. The Gamma measurement came in at 2.21 - which is about perfect, unless you prefer a slightly brighter picture.

We pulled in a little under 19 fL in Cinema mode and over 48 fL in PC mode! To say that this projector can be bright is an understatement. My notes above indicated that we were able to watch movies in significant ambient light and you will too.

Contrast was good in a general sense but the DV11 didn't break any records for deep blacks. Performance was more akin to an average LCD projector and light leakage from the casing didn't help when trying to make the room as black as possible. None of this seemed to affect the enjoyment factor when playing titles like Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith or animated films like The Incredibles.

Daytime Viewing Experiences

The system did very well during the day. In fact, I was able to engage PC and Vivid modes to view a movie in plenty of ambient light. A darkened room is still going to deliver the best picture, but it's good to know that you can still eat a meal "picnic-style" and enjoy a family movie without having to black out the room.

Audioholics/HQV Bench Testing Summary of Test Results

Perfect Score is 130

Optoma DV11 Benchmark Score: 40 (Average performer)

* Passes fully in native 1:1 pixel mode but blurs images when scaling 16:9 images to the screen.

Comments on HQV Testing

Obviously we tested the DV11 with its on-board DVD player. The results were somewhat disappointing, but there is a difference between benchmarking and real-world. While I did indeed see jaggies on the test patterns, I didn't observe much of this in full-motion video during DVD viewing except when there were very slow movements of angled lines that had just the right amount of contrast. Another good item to note was that I really didn't have a problem with RBE (rainbow effect) when watching films or even when specifically attempting to encourage the anomaly through test patterns. This surprised me because the system uses a basic 2x 4-segment color wheel - perhaps simple is best sometimes. Layer changes on the integrated DVD player were fast like the menu navigation - a speedy .45 seconds.