First High-Resolution Projector Under $5,000 Now Available

[Gregg Lengling]

Optoma H56 DLP Projector Delivers High Contrast, Crisp Images at a Sub-$5K Price

 
 
  MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 20, 2003 -- Optoma Technology, Inc. announced the availability of the Optoma H56, the world's first XGA Digital Light Processing home theater projector priced below $5,000.

Using advanced DLP technology, the H56 displays images as large as 16 1/2 feet on the diagonal. In addition, the projector delivers a high contrast ratio of 2000:1, two times greater than professional film-based movie theaters. With an estimated street price of $4,399, the Optoma H56 is the lowest cost high-resolution home theater projector on the market.
rice that makes home theater affordable for more people than ever before."

Power of the Projector
The power of the Optoma H56 projector can be seen in the details -- from its high resolution to its true color. In 4:3 ratio, H56 delivers a resolution of 1024 x 768, and in 16:9 format, the resolution is 1024 x 576, a 61% increase over standard TVs in this same mode. H56 also offers a unique Native Mode feature that allows the incoming video signal to be displayed at its native resolution -- without scaling. This means viewers see the best possible image.
 
Optoma combines the best technology in the H56, beginning with Double Data Rate (DDR) DLP technology from Texas Instruments. The projector also uses the advanced Silicon Image Sil504 de-interlacer. As a testament to H56's proficiency in de-interlacing, Optoma recommends that users defeat line doubling on many DVD players to allow the process to be accomplished inside the H56. In addition, the projector's flawless reverse 3:2 pulldown and other processing technologies allow movies to be displayed as the director intended them to be viewed -- without artifacts and annoying jerkiness, a common problem with other projectors.

With the same attention to quality, the H56 is optimized for vivid, true color projection and features a new six-segment color wheel coated with an advanced material that achieves superb color saturation -- especially in the area of projecting rich reds. The brightness, contrast, color, and aspect ratio settings are optimized for each video source at the factory, and because of this, users will notice video quality that is higher than other projectors right out of the box. The H56 also enables users to make adjustments to these image settings, offering more user controls than other projectors -- from gamma controls to viewing formats. Users can even save different settings for each video source.

The Optoma H56 is a quiet projector -- at 32 dB -- thus allowing users to hear the movie and not the projector. Additionally, the H56 accepts HDTV connections in the form of component video cables as well as next-generation DVI-I digital video. It also supports present-generation signals including S-Video and composite video and "up-converts" them.

[Pat]

In 4:3 ratio, H56 delivers a resolution of 1024 x 768, and in 16:9 format, the resolution is 1024 x 576, a 61% increase over standard TVs in this same mode.

1024 x 576 doesn't sound very high-res to me!  Certainly not HD.

[Matt Heebner]

That has to be a typo somewhere. 4:3 by definition can NOT have more resolution that 16:9.

Matt

[JoeK]

This appears correct to me.  It is a native 4:3 projector.  When projecting a 16:9 image it overscans above and below the screen.  The 16:9 picture only uses 576 of the 768 vertical resolution.  The projector is not using Texas Instruments latest chip.  Their best Home Theater chip is native 16:9  1280 X 720, outputing a 720p image.