Optoma HD81 - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Couple '1080p projector' with '£5,000' and you've got an exciting proposition. Optoma's new DLP video projector is the first to offer full-on HD at this price point, and it has many other tricks up its sleeve too

Pros: Separate connectivity box, Good basic spec, Superb picture performance

Cons: Difficult and limited setup, £5,000 is a lot of money

Verdict: A magnificent projector that delivers excellent results, but you may need a professional to set it up for you

Review summary: This is the projector that home cinema fans in the know have been holding out for - it's the first (relatively) affordable DLP model to use a genuine 1080p chipset.

Pros: This is one of the highest-specified projectors available and there's no denying its fabulous performance with 1080i material.

Cons: Niggles like the optical lens shift could make it look as if the HD81 was hurried to market

Verdict: This is one of the highest-specified projectors available. The HD81 twinset is a must-see attraction

Review summary: Cinema has come closer to Home Theater. What we see in a movie theater can almost be experienced at home. Optoma HD81™, a single Texas Instruments® DarkChip3™ 0.95" DLP™ chip projector, has narrowed down this gap deeply. Films transferred on to ...

Verdict: This combination of projector and processor seems expensive but the Video Enhancement Processor is the heart of this whole machine and it can take care of your other analog and digital devices. Just reel back to the days when Lexicon™ line doublers ...

Review summary: The new Optoma HD81 is one of several aggressively priced 1080p resolution home theater projectors to come to market this fall. It is the brightest of the new 1080p models and delivers a particularly sharp and detailed HD image. Other performance ...

Review summary: The Optoma showed a slight amount of color decoder error (-5% green) via both its HDMI and component-video inputs. Color points were very accurate - a factor that, along with the projector's precise color decoding, contributed to its rich, well ...

Pros: •Crisp, detailed pictures with all sources

Verdict: At $7,000, the Optoma HD81 1080p DLP front projector is an undeniably great deal. Its setup features are somewhat basic, and the Auto Iris feature is, unfortunately, a work in progress that Optoma claims will be fixed with a firmware upgrade.