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Optoma GT1080 Darbee Full HD 3D Short Throw Gaming Projector

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Thanks to Optoma UK, I’ve had the opportunity to test out the Optoma GT1080 Darbee Full HD 3D Short Throw Gaming Projector over the past two weeks.  In that time, I’ve watched many films with my family, watched live sports events and of course, spent the majority of time gaming.  Read on for my thoughts on this gaming projector.

Again, I am not an expert in projectors.  My opinions on the projector are based solely on my own experiences of using it in my home.

Product design

The GT1080 Darbee gaming projector looks like… a projector!  It’s a relatively small product which doesn’t take up too much room and doesn’t weigh too much.  It has many vents built into the case of the projector, which keeps it as cool as possible. 

The projector comes in a white plastic finish. It has all of the inputs that you would expect; 2 HDMI ports, 3D Sync, Audio-out, USB amongst others. The projector also comes with a white remote control and a black carry case.

Setup

At only 1 metre away, you can get a 100″ picture in full 1080p HD.

The Optoma GT1080 Darbee gaming projector was simple to set up.  Plug in the power lead, grab an HDMI cable or other input, and you’re good to go.  The remote control is pretty self-explanatory, and you’ll be changing the settings to suit your own needs, in no time at all.

Audio

The projector comes with an integrated speaker.  I was slightly concerned that it wouldn’t be loud enough.  However, I was impressed by the volume and clarity of the sound that they produced.  If anything, even at volume level 1, it was a bit too loud for night time tv watching.  I’m not sure that many gamers would find this a problem though!

TV and Film

My wife really enjoyed watching Strictly Come Dancing on the big screen.

We used the projector for watching TV and films, and what a fantastic experience it was.  My 5-year-old daughter thought that we were in the cinema and my 3-year old was particularly excited to see her favourite pig in all her full HD glory!  I watched a WWE Live PPV on the 100″ projected screen, and it certainly added to the event.

Gaming

The GT1080 is marketed as a gaming projector, and I can see why. It comes into its own when hooked up to a console.  During my time using the projector, I had it linked up to my Xbox One.  Luckily for me, my review period with the projector coincided with the releases of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.  Playing these games in Full HD on a 100″ screen is something that every gamer must experience.

Darbee

The feature that stood out for me with this projector was Darbee, especially when gaming.  I have to be honest and say that I didn’t notice much difference at all when watching a film.  Gaming though was a different matter.  You can see a brighter, sharper, more detailed picture.

Darbee’s acclaimed Visual Presence™ patented technology further enhances Optoma projection technology, from Blu-rays to video games, and instantly improves the way it looks.  Visual Presence adds more depth and realism delivering a clearer sharper picture by embedding stereoscopic depth information from a human-vision-based model.  The image processing is adjustable, giving you the flexibility to customise the visual enhancement to suit your particular taste.

https://www.optoma.co.uk/projectortechnology/darbee

As you can see from the pictures and video below, it certainly makes a difference to the picture quality and detail with the Darbee feature enabled.

Issues?

The only things that I felt might be negatives were:

A)  It gets hot.  This is to be expected though.  Especially if taking part in marathon gaming sessions.

B)  It can be quite loud.  This can’t be helped though as it is the fans keeping the unit as cool as possible.

Conclusion

At almost £800, the Optoma GT1080 isn’t something that you would buy to watch the occasional film or to play a game now and again.  However, if you are a serious gamer, and would have the projector permanently setup, I would highly recommend it.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4.5 out of 5

You can read more about the Optoma GT1080 Darbee Full HD 3D Short Throw Gaming Projector on the following link, https://www.optoma.co.uk/projectorproduct/gt1080darbee

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