Optoma ThemeScene HD82

With its ThemeScene HD82 home cinema projector, Optoma is targeting high-end users specifically. Is it worth your money?

We’re pleased to say the answer is yes. In line with its positioning, the HD82 boasts both 720p and 1080p display capabilities, meaning you’ll never have to deal with downscaling when watching current video content. The projector also boasts the preferred 16:9 aspect ratio - which makes for a more natural display - and sports a contrast ratio of 680:1.

These specifications suggested the projector would perform brilliantly and when it came to testing, the ThemeScene exceeded our expectations. We watched several movies on Blu-ray disc and the Optoma blew us away with each. The visuals were sharp, supremely detailed while colours were bright and vivid – a tribute to the projector’s DLP engine. The HD82 also went about its business with minimal noise, meaning the only sounds we could hear were those related to the movie.

Optoma ships this projector with a remote and we found it gave us ample control over the projector. As a result, you can hide the HD82 away and control it without ever needing to hit a button on the projector itself.

The projector boasts a full complement of input ports too, so unless you’ve got a seriously complex setup, you should be able to connect your Blu-ray source, a PC and gaming consoles without resorting to cable swapping.