The Optoma Themescene HD82 is a mid-priced projector designed to deliver a truly cinematic experience, and they're using some pretty strong words. So can it live up to its billing?

To qualify as a paradigm shift, the HD82 would have to deliver technology and performance so stunning that it would become a new standard by which all other home cinema projectors would be measured.

It certainly has a great pedigree; Optoma is making in-roads into the projector market in every area from the tiny pocket Pico to the affordable GT-7000 for game players. Previous home cinema projectors such as the HD80 have set a high standard, so the HD82 would have to be something really special to hold its end up.

Certainly the claims for the HD82 make impressive reading. It's powered by Texas Instruments' DLP DarkChip3 DMD technology, and has a claimed 20,000:1 contrast ratio. New technologies include a motion control video-processing system designed to deliver smooth HD playback; PureEngine and PureMotion technologies using a frame insertion system; and a new and highly flexible lens arrangement.

In appearance, the HD82 is certainly an improvement on earlier generations. Adopting a centre-lens layout, it's not small or light, and weighs around 8kg, but it is sleek, elegant, glossily black, and devoid of ugly panel controls. Mind you, Optoma realises this could be inconvenient should you lose or damage the main remote, so includes a mini-remote, which clips magnetically to the rear of the projector.

The main remote is similar to previous models, with backlit keys and a fairly obvious layout.

Spec respect

The HD82's connection panel is as well-specified as you could desire. You get two HDMI 1.3 inputs that support DeepColor, a DVI socket that supports HDCP, component YCbCr/YPbPr phono sockets, an S-video input, a composite video input, an RS-232 control socket, and not one, but two +12V trigger sockets.

Optoma themescene hd82 connections

Plenty of connections then, but more significant are the lens shift functions. Under the case are three wheels that control the 1.5x lens zoom, and vertical and horizontal shift, along with a manual focus ring. Between these, it should be possible to install the HD82 without difficulty in a wide range of environments – and the menu system offers all sorts of installation options, too.

By avoiding digital keystoning, the PureShift system ensures a uniform quality for all the image. Projection range is from around 1.5m-12.5m, with an image size of 0.76m-7.67m (diagonal, for a 16:9 image). An anamorphic lens is an optional extra, and one of the 12V trigger sockets can be programmed to activate a lens 'sled'.

Another new technology – which accounts for a significant portion of the case – is a twisty-turny system of cooling airducts. With much of the air-cooling done passively, Optoma can reduce the work done by the cooling fan, and hence the noise it produces. Clever, yes?

At around 26dB it's a big improvement on previous DLP models, though still not the quietest around. Standby power consumption has been reduced too, from around 10W to under 1W – of course, that's to be expected with the new EU regulations soon to come into effect.

Real test

Given that the HD format sets a minimum standard for resolution, the real tests of a projector are now its brightness, black levels and colour reproduction. Optoma makes some extraordinary claims for the contrast ratio of the HD82, and while they might be achieved under exacting manufacturers' laboratory conditions, few of us live in laboratories, so we have to apply some real-world standards as well.