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A budget DLP projector with Darbee Visual Presence? Where do I sign?
For it's $799 (£699, AUS$1,334) ticket price the Optoma HD28DSE ought to be one of the best-looking, most affordable home cinema beamers going. Except it's just not the full package. It's highly detailed, relatively quiet and pretty versatile too. But it can be a pain to setup, making it a poor choice for a projector that you're going to have to pack up after you've made with the cinema fun.
We liked
The detail. Forget 4K; the HD28DSE is all about getting the very best out of Full HD, and for a very reasonably price.
By adding that detail within a nicely balanced image, DarbeeVision Visual Presence on the HD28DSE gives it a real leg-up on the competition.
It's also a wise decision not to include a pair of 3D specs in the box since that would take the price up closer to rival projectors and, even more crucially, 50-inch+ TVs.
The built-in speaker adds versatility when watching TV or gaming, though the HD28DSE isn't a noisy projector on its own; I measured its output at 60 decibels.
While it's a little on the small side, the backlit remote control is another welcome feature; all blackout-bound beamers should have one.
We disliked
If projector manufacturers really want to crack the domestic market, both horizontal and vertical lens shift levers should be first on their list. The HD28DSE has neither, and it lacks a decent optical zoom, too.
All of which makes this the placement and set-up of this DLP projector a pain; forget whipping it out to put on a coffee table (it really needs to be carefully set-up permanently in a spare room).
The onscreen menus and general user interface are rather basic, too; it's surely time to try something new on projectors.
The appearance of rainbow effect is perhaps more forgivable since I've seen this on every single-chip DLP projector I've tested. My eyes are sensitive to the red, green and blue flashes (most frequently seen when scanning across an image), but yours may not be.
The speaker manages zero bass, so don't consider using it with content with music.
Verdict
For eight times the price of the HD28DSE it's possible to get a 4K projector from Sony and Epson, and while Optoma is not competing with those behemoths, this budget beamer nevertheless gets close on detail.
Its picture is not perfect, and the projector itself lacks any kind of versatility during set-up, but the inclusion of a 10W speaker, backlit remote and the most detail Full HD yet seen on an entry-level projector make the HD28DSE easily worth an audition.
