The Optoma HD806 is the newest of Optoma's family of DLP 1080p projectors. From the outside, the HD806 looks identical to the HD80, released in July of 2007. We reviewed it at that time (see review) and we were extremely enthused with it, eventually giving it an Editor's Choice Award. The HD80 was quickly followed by the HD8000, which is basically the same projector with some additional calibration features, and it is sold through the CEDIA channel rather than via internet resellers.

The big difference between the HD806 and the two previous models is the color wheel - the HD806's color wheel has six segments, including red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, and yellow. Meanwhile, the HD80 and HD8000 have seven segment color wheels, with red, green, blue, red, green, blue, and dark green segments. The advantage of the HD806's new color wheel is that it delivers more light output at the expense of color saturation and contrast. As such, the HD806 is built for use in situations with more ambient light.

ANSI lumens: 2000

Contrast (full on/off): 8,000:1

Light Engine: 1920x1080, native 16:9, 1.0" DLP with 2x speed, 6-segment (RGBCMY) color wheel and 300W UHP lamp.

Video Compatibility: 1080p/60/50/24, 1080i, 720p, 576p, 576i, 480p, 480i.

Connection Panel: Two HDMI 1.3 ports, one DVI-I port, one YPbPr component input, s-video, component video, one RS-232C port.

Lens and Throw Distance: 1.2x manual zoom/focus lens. Throws a 100" diagonal 16:9 image from 13' 5" to 16' 1".

Lamp Life: 3,000 hours.

Replacement lamp price: $479.

Warranty: One year.

High Lumen Output. Our HD806 test sample measured a very high 1,036 ANSI lumens in its brightest cinema mode. This is a significant jump in brightness as compared to the HD80 which produced 687 lumens in the same mode. 687 lumens is plenty of light for dark room viewing, but the additional lumen power of the HD806 opens up more opportunities to use it in higher ambient light environments.

• HD Sports. The HD806 is an excellent choice for sports bars looking to step up to large screen 1080p resolution video. At home, is a good projector for the living room, multipurpose room, or den if you do your viewing with a few lights on. With 1036 lumens, you can compensate for moderate amounts of ambient light without sacrificing much in color accuracy. As a result, the football game looks great, and your friends aren't tripping over themselves in the dark.
• Video Games. While video games are getting more and more cinematic as time goes on, and are therefore best played on a cinema projector, many people don't like playing in a pitch-dark cave. The HD806 lets you move the action into a living room or den, making it a great secondary projector. Even better if your kids like video games and you don't - the HD806 can be used as the gaming projector, keeping hours off of your dedicated theater projector.

Advantages and Limitations

Reader Comments(4 comments)