Infocus 4805 or Optoma H31 ?

[ntt]

Hi guys,

I'm searching around the net for comparison between these two projectors and was not able to find a good answer. Can someone gives me an advise as which one should I buy ?

Thanks in advance,

Toan

[BlazeMaster]

hey ntt, have you checked out the AVS Forum yet, there's a section dedicated to FP, but separated in 2 different price catagories by price. There's a thread there about a shoot-out between the 4805 and H-31. I just bought the H-31 a couple of days ago and pretty happy with it. I can give you more details if you need it. They're both 480p projectors, so if you sit pretty close to the screen like less than 1.8x the screen width, you might see the pixels pretty easily. I just ordered mounts for them and Carada and DaLite are sending me screen samples.

Things that swayed me towards the H-31 over the 4805 was:
1. H-31 is a newer model than the 4805...
2. The H-31 is more quiet on the fan noise...
3. I found the H-31 for cheaper price than the 4805...
4. H-31 has a real DVI input, rather than the M-1 connection, that needs an adapter for the 4805.

They're both great bang for the buck, I don't think you can go wrong either way. I'd link you to the thread in AVS, but I think that's against rules of HTGUIDE. Good luck.

[ntt]

Thanks very much BlazeMaster,

I'm currently have an 4805 from Bestbuy and have two more weeks to decide if I want to keep it or return it. I could not find a local retail store that sell the H31 with 30 days return policy in order to compare between the two . I live in LA.

So far, I must say I'm very impressed with the image quanlity of the 4805. However, the fan noise is QUITE annoying (even with the ceiling mount setup I have). Do you think that the fan of H31 is indeed quieter than 4805 and it has comparable image quality ?

One more thing, does DVI connection go over 10m without image degradation ? I have component cables right now and plan to upgrade to DVI.

Thanks,

Toan

[BlazeMaster]

I cannot comment on the differences in PQ between the 2, but I can about the fan noise. The fan noise is for sure more quiet on the H-31. Because my mount is still on delivery, I have the H-31 sitting on a ladder resting right behind the couch very close to eye level. The fan noise on the 4805 did sound a little bit more irratating when I saw it in the stores, it has more of a high pitch noise combined with the fan. The fan noise of the H-31 is less so. Even with the projector right behind my head, I don't usually hear it, unless it's completly quiet scene during a movie. I think with the mount setup, with the H-31 further behind and well above eye level, I pretty much won't hear it at all. Some have commented that the 4805 is a little bit brigher after calibration and it has a better or more accurate PQ out of the box. Like I said, you can't go wrong with either.
Before I bought the H-31, I was thinking about spending a little bit more and get the Panasonic 720p LCD or the Infocus SP5000, but decided to save a little bit of that money and just upgrade when the 720p DLPs come down in price a little bit more. If you have the extra $, then go ahead and exchange for a 720p DLP or LCD. I don't think you'll see much difference by going with the H-31 instead.
Can't comment on the PQ by going with a DVI, since I'm still using component myself. I'm quite happy with the PQ that I'm getting with a 76" diagonal image and best of all, I got a great deal on it. I'm not going to be using DVI until I go into the HTPC route. Good luck.

[Brandon B]

There are some DVI cables that will go 10 meters or better, and the fact that you would be sending 480 makes it better. Cables tend to fail to perform at longer lengths mostly at higher resolutions where you are bumping up against the bandwidth limitations of the cable.

So for DVD at 480p, DVI will be fine. If you are send HDTV at 1080i over DVI, you might see a problem at 10+ meters. Make sure whoever's DVI cable you buy has a return policy that will credit you if you end up with picture problems because of the length. And any decent DVI cable at that length is going to be well over $100, maybe $200 or more.

Also, being somewhat of an anti-fan of Bestbuy, I'll suggest you might consider returning the 4805 and getting it at Costco instead. With their lifetime return guarantee on anything (except computers) purchased from them, it's probably worth any price difference.

BB

[ntt]

Thanks for all the info guys.

I'm planning to order H31 from Visual Apex which includes a free 100" Elite HDTV screen for less than 1100.00 total. Does anybody have experience with this screen ?

Toan

[ntt]

Hi guys,

I got my H31 and the free 100" screen today. After more than one hour setup, I have them running and compare it to the 4805 I've just returned to Bestbuy two days ago. Here's what I can say:

For low light mode, noise level is indeed lower on the H31 but not enough for me to not noticing it. The high light mode, it's no brainer. The H31 is much much quieter. However, I rarely use high ligh mode, so the H31 did not provide important improvement in terms of noise level. I must say here that I'm ultra- sensitive to noise.

For picture quanlity, it's the same to my eyes. (The H31, strangely enough, by default sets the brightness to +12 and contrast to -18 so the picture appears washed out initially. Setting both of them 0 and I could not tell the differences between the 4805 and the H31. Of course, this is an opinion from a guy who could not tell the difference in picture quality between a 25ft Monster component cable and a cheap $40 50ft component cable.

Overall, for my usage, I'm very happy with the H31 and will stay with it for hopefully two years before an upgrade to all the high-resolution stuffs.

Bests,
Toan

[Brandon B]

Of course, this is an opinion from a guy who could not tell the difference in picture quality between a 25ft Monster component cable and a cheap $40 50ft component cable.

In point of fact, there probably is no difference to see there. Monster's stuff is not anything special, unless you are evaluating on profit margin.

BB

[George Bellefontaine]

Toan, congrats on the new PJ. Always good to see another Front Projection fella in the crowd.

[ktaillon]

Has anyone tried the H31 using the output from a PC(htpc) using DVI or RGB?
People have been saying that the PC has a hard time seeing the PJ, and when it does there is a hoz. line in the middle.