FULL REVIEW: Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector (DLP, HD, 1080p)

Considered one of the lightest--and smallest--home theater projectors on the market, the Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector also delivers surprisingly crisp, high definition quality without being too difficult to use.  More bonuses: This projector sits just below $1,000 but blows even higher-end projector models out of the water.  Here's my review.

Pros

• Delivers crisp, clear 1080p high definition quality
• Is small and light; easy to place on most surfaces
• Is fairly cheap as far as projectors are concerned

Cons

• Image quality degrades while in 480i (the standard resolution for digital television)
• Doesn't have as many output ports

Design

Unlike the Epson PowerLite, this projector is remarkably light and small; there aren't any clunkiness issues here.  Vents mark the front and side panels, with a smooth, sturdy surface which should make cleaning easy (should it gather any dust).  The projector lens, not surprisingly, sits at the front of this projector, with controls nearby to adjust the zoom and focus.  During testing, experts reported that these controls were fairly easy to use--they didn't feel stiff or take too much effort to move.

Unfortunately, its compact size sacrifices another feature--a bigger selection of output ports, such as S-video.  While this isn't a huge issue, it may deter some customers from purchasing this home projector system.

Overall, the Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector is an improved, lightweight version of most cheap-end models in this market, and aside from a lack of output ports, it's also feature-rich.

Functionality

If you're not a fan of spending too much time on setup, you won't like this device--setup can take a while, especially considering it doesn't contain the cables necessary to use it initially in its crisp, 1080p HD resolution setting.  Optoma only comes bundled with a standard cable that allows you to see movies and video games in 480i, which, according to experts, doesn't look as clear or realistic as 1080p.  You'll need to connect the appropriate cables together to enable it to work, but once this is set up, using the device becomes very simple--simply adjust the zoom and focus rings, point the projector in the desired direction, and you're good to go.  The Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector also comes with a remote which also controls the projector, with buttons that light up in the dark--clearly designed for night use.

Overall, setting up the projector took some time, but otherwise it was easy to configure once the initial setup was out of the way.

Quality

What makes the Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector an excellent device isn't its cheap price or ease of use--it's the rich, crisp quality it delivers.  in 1080p, the projector produced a clear, sharp image with few fading or color issues; the blacks appears true to life, and none of the colors appeared pixelated or less saturated.  During testing, experts observed the 1080p format resulted in noise reduction and jagged edges, which also helped make the produced image look clear and sharp.  

The only problem experts ran into was when it was tested in 480i mode--the standard resolution for digital television.  During playback, this resolution resulted in posterization and a loss of detail; some customers argue that this resolution is just unwatchable.  Still, the Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector excels in this category, and customers should be pleased with the high quality image it can produce.

What the Customers Say

From a customer standpoint, the Optoma HD20 Home Theater Projector is nearly a perfect system.  Here is what they had to say:

"I still don't have any gripes with the performance of this projector.  Everything has been fantastic.  You really get all of your moneys worth with this sub-$1000 HD projector."

"At this price level it is hard to imagine a bigger bang for the buck in terms of image quality."


Verdict

If you're looking for a high quality projector for cheap, then this projector does the job well. Just be aware that it may not deliver the same image quality in all resolutions.