A fantastic entry-level home theater projector.
Written: Sep 16 '03 (Updated Aug 10 '04)
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Pros: A-m-a-z-i-n-g picture quality. Many projection options. BRIGHT!
Cons: Not going to win any design awards. Generates a fair amount of heat.
The Bottom Line: If you want to take the plunge into projectors, this is the way to do it.
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| chrisell's Full Review: InFocus X1 Multimedia Projector |
We've been toying with the idea of a full-on home theater setup for ages and I thought I'd settled on a 52 inch Sony TV. My thinking was that projectors were simply too expensive and that they didn't have the resolution I needed.
Well I spent some time reading up on all this, and it turns out that if you're going to be mostly watching DVDs, like I do, then an 800 x 600 projector has more than enough resolution. For DVD quality you need a projector that will do 720 x 480. Some projectors accept only 720 x 480i (interlaced - can be used with any DVD player or sat/cable box). Others take 720 x 480p (progressive - can be used with progressive-scan DVD players). The X1 accepts both although they have to be sent through different inputs. If you're planning to use interlaced mode, you'll need the component video to S-video adapter. InFocus has added pins to their S-video input to allow component video to be sent in there too.
If you're going to use progressive mode, you'll need the component video to PC DIN connector to feed the signal through the PC input.
Of course you could just as well send the video in through the S-video input too. The X1 has plenty of options. It will take some HDTV signals too but my primary use is for DVD playback so I can't comment on it's capacity to handle higher resolution input.
Here's something worth knowing : all projectors, the X1 included are progressive image generators - they do a whole frame all at once, whereas a TV does the image in lines. This is the difference between interlaced (tv-like) and non-interlaced (projector-like, or progressive). The average DVD player and cable or satellite box will output interlaced images. Progressive-scan DVD players will output progressive images.
So your logic would say "if my DVD player outputs progressive mode, and the projector can take it as input, surely that's the best image quality?"
Perfect logic, but that's not quite what happens. Read on:
The theory
Movies on DVD are stored in 24 progressive frames per second. To output them to a 30fps device such as a TV, a normal DVD player has to apply what's known as 3:2 pulldown. This splits every one of the original frames into two interlaced fields (48 half frames per second), then it adds one additional field for every other frame. This adds 12 half-frames per second which gives you the required 60 half-frames for a 30fps display.
So the result is: 2 fields of frame1, then 3 fields of frame2, then 2 fields of frame3 etc etc. These even and odd fields are what form the interlaced display we all know and love on TV.
Now you know that, I'll tell you what a progressive-scan DVD player does. You'd think it would pull the progressive-scan frames off the DVD and feed them out like that to the display device, but it doesn't. What is does is all the interlacing stuff I outlined above, but then there's another video processor that re-combines the images to form progressive frames again. That video processor is the reason progressive-scan DVD players cost more.
Remember I said projectors were progressive-scan devices? By default, they must have that same video processor in them so that they can take regular interlaced video and make it work in their native display format. This is why projectors typically cost so darn much. The chips, wires, bulbs, filters and power supplies cost about $100. The video processor that makes it work is the majority of the cost. It's fair to say then, that the video processor in a $1000 projector is likely better than that in a $200 DVD player.
With the InFocus X1, they have chosen to use Faroudja's DCDi video processor. This is matched to the performance of the projector and designed to work with this particular application : ie. making projected video images as clean and artifact-free as possible.
So why all this nauseating detail? It's simple. You'll get a better picture out of the InFocus X1 if you feed it the interlaced video coming out of your DVD player. (Unless you have a $1500+ DVD player, in which case, why are you looking at a 'cheap' projector?) Why? Because you're allowing the in-projector video processor to make the final image, and that's what it's designed to do.
The technical bits
The X1 is a DLP - a digital light projector. This is different to LCD, and for my money, gives a much better image for watching movies.
DLP projectors were especially designed from the outset to work for theaters and digital cinemas. They work by shining a light on to a chip which is covered in 480,000 microscopic mirrors. The light is reflected off these mirrors through a spinning colour wheel and out through the lens. The chip varies the mirrors based on which colour is present in the spinning wheel for each moment in time. Because these mirrors are jammed so close together, DLP images have far less visible grid and line patterns than LCD projectors and the X1 is no exception. The image is crisp and clear and it's a totally different beast to watching an LCD image.
1st-generation DLP projectors used slower rotating colour wheels, which could create some color fringe or rainbow effects in fast scenes. If you've ever looked into a color scanner during scanning? The white light can sometimes produce this rainbow effect - it's the same with DLP projectors. The X1 has a 2x colour wheel - it spins twice as fast so the rainbow artifacts are not nearly as noticable. More expensive projectors use a 4x colour wheel.
But this is very subjective and it comes down to each individual. If I blink or pan my eyes quickly across the screen, I can see the effect on some bright spots in the image out of the corner of my eye. It's not distracting to me though. My wife can't even see the effect. It's up to you to decide if you can see it and if it's distracting. I'd say probably not.
The other bits
The fan on the X1 is pretty quiet. In all but the quietest, most noiseless movie sequences, you'll probably never notice it's on. When you turn the X1 off, the fan remains on for a minute afterwards to cool the bulb down.
Bulbs are notoriously expensive items to replace in projectors. The X1 is rated at 3000 hours, and costs about $250 to replace so it's got a pretty good life expectancy without having a hard-to-stomach replacement cost at the end.
The X1 has 4 projection options. Right way up or upside down, front or rear projection. The lens is anamorphic which means that it's designed to make a square image when it's actually below the level of the screen (or above it if you mount it upside down). This means you don't have to tilt the projector to get the image on to your screen, which reduces the need for keystone correction. The X1 does have it and it's pretty good, but mount the projector properly and it's one less thing that needs to be done to the image before you look at it.
The focus and zoom on the X1 are all manual. Could be a pain but in a permanent installation, you set them once and never touch them again. This is another cost-save on the X1. No autofocus and no power zoom = less cost.
One thing to point out is heat : this projector does generate a lot of it so don't box it in. The fan is at the back and it draws air through the projector and out the front, meaning the area directly in front of it can get a little toasty. Just make sure it's well ventilated.
The picture
The image is bright. Really really bright. It's rated at 1100 lumens with a 2000:1 contrast ratio. If you've got a room where you can control the light, like a basement or dedicated home theater room, you might even find yourself turning the brightness down a little.
Colour reproduction out-of-the-box is pretty amazing if you've never seen a projector before. There's three colour temperatures to choose from which alter the overall hue of the image. If you're going for a projector, I would recommend you splash out an extra 45 bucks for the AVIA calibration DVD. It has all manner of test patterns on it to ensure you have a square image that is properly colour and brightness tuned. It does make a difference. Fortunately, the X1 has plenty of knobs to tweak in pursuit of your ultimate idea of 'the best picture'.
Unlike rear-projection TVs, front-projectors don't have limited viewing angles. One thing that always bugged me about big screen TVs was that unless you're dead centre, the image gets dim really quickly. Not with a projector. I can see the image on the wall through a full 180° with no dropoff in brightness, focus or colour.
The on-screen menus are pretty simple and are navigated from the small but useable remote. The text in them is crisp and readable. Every option is here from colour tuning, to black levels (brightness and contrast), to image orientation. One neat feature is the special 'hot' key on the remote. It can be assigned to any of the projector functions such as swapping inputs, changing aspect ratio etc. I've set mine to switch from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio.
A word about games consoles
I'll keep this short: You'll never go back to a TV once you've played Gran Turismo on an 84 inch screen.
A word about screens
It goes without saying that if you're buying a projector, you're putting the image either on to a screen or a wall. I recommend you start with a wall painted in plain satin-finish white paint. It works really well with this projector. Once you've set foot on the slippery slope of home theater though, you could find yourself looking at $2500 projector screens with a whole new mindset. You've been warned.
What have I done with my X1?
I purchased a Perfectmounts 2000 Series ceiling bracket with the intention of mounting the X1 to the ceiling in my basement. They list at $150 but you can pick them up brand new for $65 off eBay. I'm using a 25ft component video cable ($34 from cableshack.com) and the InFocus component-to-SVideo adapter ($4 from provantage.com). You could splurge on hundreds of dollars of Monster Video cable if you want but I've found their products to be indifferent to all but the cheapest cables. The entire kit is being run from a Sony Dream System DAV-C770 (reviewed here).
I estimate the projector is about 14ft from the screen and the diagonal square image size is something in the order of 84 inches.
Final thoughts
For comparison, a 42inch plasma TV is currently around $6000 plus tax, and needs a reinforced wall to handle the weight.
A 65 inch projection TV is currently hovering around the $3500 mark and you know how big those things are.
The X1 is slightly smaller than a shoe box, under $1000 and can generate an image that is 252 inches diagonal.
Am I happy?
What do you think?
Sept 19th update
The ceiling bracket arrived last night and I mounted it in my basement. I'm putting this update here to revise the screen size : my X1 is generating a perfectly watchable 100-inch screen :-)
November 17th update
After living with this projector for two months, I can safely say I'll never go back to TV. Plasma screens are too small and expensive. Rear-projection TVs have hot spots. CRTs are too heavy and you can't get the size.
Apart from that, two of my friends have since also bought this projector and I'm now helping them design a basement install to go with it.
August 10th 2004 update
Nearly a year on and my projector has suffered no noticable loss in bulb brightness, and it does get heavy use. The image is still crisp and clean, and despite a massive blow to the projector when I walked into it at full-tilt (it's hanging from a low ceiling in the basement), it never flinched.
InFocus have shelved the X1 now and replaced it with the X2 and the Screenplay 4800. The X2 is identical as far as I can tell, and the Screenplay 4800 is basically the same box but with a more home-theater oriented remote and menu system. Apart from that, the mechanics of it are identical.
I've raised my star rating from 4 to 5 having lived with this for a year now.
Recommended:
Yes
Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 979
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