Optoma HD75 review

Optoma's HD75 is a DLP-based 720p home-cinema projector. It's relatively expensive at £795, and has some serious competition from Panasonic.

Contrast is rated at 5,000:1, which is roughly equivalent to the Panasonic PT-AX200E's 6,000:1. In our tests the HD75 produced impressive image quality, with better contrast in a fully darkened room. However, with a little light in the room the PT-AX200E's more powerful lamp - 600 lumens brighter than the HD75's - produced a more watchable image. Replacement lamps for the HD75 are a bargain at only £120 including VAT as they last for 3,000 hours; that's just 4p per hour.

Comparing scenes from numerous movies on both projectors showed clear differences. The HD75 has a rich yet natural-looking colour palette that gives everything a lifelike appearance, while the LCD-based PT-AX200E has a more clinical but vibrant look. The HD75 gives video a smoother appearance, while the PT-AX200E shows more fine detail. It's hard to separate the two, but for us the PT-AX200E wins out over a wide range of video content.

The single HDMI port will accept HD video up to 1080p, and the projector will display 24fps content from Blu-ray movie discs. There's also a DVI input, so you can easily connect a PC at the projector's native resolution of 1,280x720. Alternatively, you can plug in a second HD source using an HDMI-to-DVI cable. There are the usual component, S-video and composite inputs, and the VGA input can accept an RGB SCART signal using a supplied adaptor. This can be very useful if you want to connect a Freeview box.

There's no lens shift, so you'll have to place this projector squarely in front of your screen or resort to keystone correction, which distorts the image. The small 1.55:1 to 1.73:1 zoom range provides little leeway on how far you can position it from the screen to create the size you want. The combination makes this projector far less flexible than the PT-AX200E. There are some useful features, though, such as a 12V trigger relay for controlling a motorised screen, while the 2W built-in speaker and sliding lens cover are handy for occasional portable use.

The HD75 is fairly quiet, generating 28dB at standard settings. Optoma couldn't provide lamp life or decibel figures for the low-lamp mode. The colour wheel in this projector spins at a speedy x4 rate, so most viewers shouldn't notice any unsightly rainbow effects - a common side-effect of DLP projectors.

We think the HD75 will drop in price once it becomes more widely available. However, it would have to fall to around £650 including VAT before it could seriously challenge the PT-AX200E. The Panasonic's lens shift, big zoom and extra lumens make it more convenient and appealing.