To Darbee or not to Darbee... That is the question!

[Jmunz]

Will I see any improvement if I add this to my Optoma HD142X. Some say it is awesome, some say it is not worth it.

What do you say/think?

 

[TheWarrior]

I helped a friend setup an Oppo 103D and did appreciate the enhancements the Darbee processing offered, but it's hard to say the Darbee alone explained the difference as I still use an older Oppo 93 - could have just been newer chips all around.

What else is connected to your Projector? Have you calibrated the colors on it? If not, start there!

 

[BMXTRIX]

View attachment 23569
Will I see any improvement if I add this to my Optoma HD142X. Some say it is awesome, some say it is not worth it.

What do you say/think?

It's a video processor. If you like what it does to your image, then it's great. If you don't like what it does, then it's a waste of money. As you have already seen, reviews are across the board on what you are going to get.

Personally, I think it is a waste. Just calibrate your projector and use quality sources for your content instead of downloaded content all the time. Try a Blu-ray Disc in a BD player and see the difference in quality that delivers.

Still, if you want to try it, then it's your $100 to throw at it.

I'd rather save up for a projector that starts with much higher color accuracy, has better color saturation, and doesn't trade brightness claims over color accuracy the way Optoma does. Enjoy what you have, put the $100 in the bank, and save up for a model with a rgb/rgb color wheel or (far) better yet, a LCoS projector.

 

[GlocksRock]

I was in the same boat as you recently, I wanted to try one but didn't want to spend a lot on it either. I was able to score a brand new Darbee on ebay for under $100, so I figured I'd try it out. I can say that I'm impressed with the results and would recommend it. My recommendation is based on having a projector with a 120" screen, I can't comment on how well this would work for someone with a tv. The Darbee does not affect color accuracy or brightness/contrast, it only enhances the current image at the pixel level. You can adjust the effect in 5% increments up to 120%, I leave mine on the HiDef setting at 80%. When switching the processing on/off you can definitely notice a difference in sharpness, detail, and depth of picture, but it's nothing unnatural looking. I would say it's definitely worth getting, and if you don't like what it does for you then you can always sell it.

 

[fuzz092888]

I had in the 103D. My assessment of Darbee is........I sold my 103D. Take that for what it’s worth.

 

[TheWarrior]

I had in the 103D. My assessment of Darbee is........I sold my 103D. Take that for what it’s worth.

My 'friend' was the buyer. Perhaps I should have set it up for you ;-)

 

[fuzz092888]

My 'friend' was the buyer. Perhaps I should have set it up for you ;-)

Lol, perhaps, but I doubt it. Results were barely evident and most times I had to pause the scene to really see the difference. Calibrated JVC X55R on a 135” screen. On the Samsung Plasma couldn’t see a bit of difference.

 

[TheWarrior]

Lol, perhaps, but I doubt it. Results were barely evident and most times I had to pause the scene to really see the difference. Calibrated JVC X55R on a 135” screen. On the Samsung Plasma couldn’t see a bit of difference.

Oh I know. There was no doubt the 103D was an upgrade over my 93. The unanswered question is how much better was the Darbee variant over the standard 103.

 

[fuzz092888]

Oh I know. There was no doubt the 103D was an upgrade over my 93. The unanswered question is how much better was the Darbee variant over the standard 103.

Before I sold it, I compared to my 95 and the differences weren’t night and day to my eyes. I also compared it to whatever top of the line Sony I replaced it with and again didn’t notice a huge difference. I probably tried for like 10 hours fiddling with settings and comparing to the two other BD players I had trying to get on board, but in the end felt like I was doing more banging my head against a wall more than anything else. Obviously YMMV lol

 

[TheWarrior]

Before I sold it, I compared to my 95 and the differences weren’t night and day to my eyes. I also compared it to whatever top of the line Sony I replaced it with and again didn’t notice a huge difference. I probably tried for like 10 hours fiddling with settings and comparing to the two other BD players I had trying to get on board, but in the end felt like I was doing more banging my head against a wall more than anything else. Obviously YMMV lol

Not certain, but I seem to recall the Darbee presets were frivolous at best. The out of the box settings were completely inadequate and had him agreeing with you.

I watched Mad Max - Fury Road at my house with the 93 and a plasma and then used that as my reference to calibrate the 103D. His screen is larger than my plasma, and I might even argue my overall picture quality is better, but once the 103D was calibrated it was totally superior!

 

[fuzz092888]

Not certain, but I seem to recall the Darbee presets were frivolous at best. The out of the box settings were completely inadequate and had him agreeing with you.

I watched Mad Max - Fury Road at my house with the 93 and a plasma and then used that as my reference to calibrate the 103D. His screen is larger than my plasma, and I might even argue my overall picture quality is better, but once the 103D was calibrated it was totally superior!

Could be. Its been so long I don’t have a good memory of everything, but I definitely remember abandoning the presets pretty quickly.

 

[TheWarrior]

Could be. Its been so long I don’t have a good memory of everything, but I definitely remember abandoning the presets pretty quickly.

I guess time will tell what the masses thought, by the inclusion of a 200 series of Darbee 'enhanced' models.

 

[GlocksRock]

I wonder how the darbee darblet differs from what is offered in the oppo player, must be pretty different as those with the oppo don't seem impressed with it. The OP asked about the darblet though, so I think it's worth a try on a projector. It's easy enough to add into the mix, and remove if you don't like it, just connect it to the monitor out on the receiver so the processing can be applied to all the sources.

 

[fuzz092888]

I wonder how the darbee darblet differs from what is offered in the oppo player, must be pretty different as those with the oppo don't seem impressed with it. The OP asked about the darblet though, so I think it's worth a try on a projector. It's easy enough to add into the mix, and remove if you don't like it, just connect it to the monitor out on the receiver so the processing can be applied to all the sources.

Idk, I think it’s unlikely Oppo would include a scaled down version. Nothing I could find indicated as much.