The Bottom Line
Pros
- Great overall picture quality for the price.
- Native 16x9 aspect ratio - Great for today's DVD and HDTV source material.
- Easy to setup - extensive setup options easily accessible via projector or remote.
- NTSC and PAL compatibility
- Excellent remote control -- each button is tied to a specific function.
Cons
- Generates a lot of heat - housing is very warm to the touch during operation.
- Keystone correction is a little tricky to adjust.
- Lens focus and zoom controls not accessible from the remote.
- HD sources are scaled to 852x480 ED resolution for display.
Description
- 16x9 DLP Dark Chip2 technology from Texas Instruments with four-speed, six-segment color wheel.
- 852x480 native pixel resolution, with 16.7 million color and 256 grayscale level capability.
- Native 16x9 aspect ratio, with additional aspect ratio presets of 1.85:1, 1.66:1, 2.35:1, and 4x3.
- Average of 850 lumens with 3,000:1 contrast ratio. 2,000 hr lamp life in bright mode.
- Built-in de-interlacing with progressive scan 3:2 pulldown capability.
- NTSC/PAL compatible with Composite, S-Video, Component, and DVI-HDCP/SCART/VGA inputs.
- HD-compatible input capability with scaling to 852x480 display.
- Keystone Correction, lens shift, and projector angle functions.
- Manual zoom control and Focus ring on projector lens assembly.
- All on-screen control functions can be accessed from projector and remote, including power on/off.
Guide Review - Optoma H31 16x9 DLP Video Projector
The H31 does not have the brightness output or native Hi-Def resolution capability of its more expensive cousins, however, I was pleasantly surprised how well it did perform on various screen sizes, ranging from 40 to 100 inches.
I found the colors on the H31 to be visually accurate, with good black levels and contrast. Although I found that the brightness level dipped as I projected on larger size screens (in comparison with other projectors I used) I still found the H31 to be of acceptable brightness at up to 100 inches. With regards to the lack of true native Hi-def resolution display, I found the scaling capability of the H31 maintained good image detail on larger screen sizes and different aspect ratios.
Also, for those intimidated by a video projector, you don't need a pro to assist you with the H31. The setup and adjustment menus were very easy to navigate and were accessible either via remote or the projector itself. Although you can do additional tweaking if you have specific installation requirements, the H31 still performs very well out of the box.
The only significant misgiving I have about the H31 is that it does generate a lot of heat for its small size, and, as a result should only be installed on top of a table or ceiling mounted in a manner where it is accessible to good air circulation.
