InFocus Play Big IN76 DLP Projector

Reviews: Multimedia

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Mark Korff
Kurtis
InFocus
Nov. 6, 2006

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Testing

Let me just say right up front that if you're not already used to watching TV and movies on a HD projector, you'll be totally blown away the first time you see one like the IN76 play anything in HD quality at over twice the average diagonal screen size of a "big screen" LCD or plasma based TV. For this review I had the IN76 placed 15" from the screen, which had a diagonal length of 130". Granted, for the size of my living room, the image was actually larger than what is recommended for "ideal viewing purposes" but I enjoy the "at the movies" feel you get with such a large screen, but it also acts as a good stress-test for the projector since any visual problems would be magnified.

Even while filling the entire 130" screen, the IN76 produced startlingly crisp and bright images. I couldn't measure the actual brightness in lumens but I can say without a doubt that in a properly darkened room, the IN76 will not disappoint in terms of brightness. Most of my viewing was done after dark to get the best image possible, but even during the day the IN76 was able to provide impressive images, with discernable contrast in dark colors despite the presence of a fair amount of ambient light in my living room. The DarkChip2 technology is what really helps the IN76 shine in this regard and is one of the primary selling points of DLP projectors as compared to those that are LCD based. When viewing movies like Saving Private Ryan, which involve a lot of very dark scenes, I could still make out a lot of the details in the shadows since even very slight differences in shades of gray and black were distinguishable from one another.

Most of my time with the IN76 was spent watching HD quality sources such as sports on ESPN-HD, movies on HBO-HD, as well as Xbox 360 games, all of which were in 720p. Out of all the different things I watched, the most impressive was when I was watching the ALCS and World Series on FOX. I live in a suburb of Detroit so I was rooting for the Tigers, but even when I knew the series was out of reach I couldn't help but watch the games because the HD broadcast quality combined with the superb image projected by the IN76 provided some of the best video images I've ever seen. When one entire wall of your living room is filled with a brightly detailed picture that can display a slow motion replay where you can distinguish the individual seams on the baseball as it's delivered to the plate, while simultaneously being able to make out the expressions on the faces of the fans behind home plate as that same ball is crushed over the left field fence... well, you just might not feel the need to actually go through the hassle of heading down to the park to watch the game in person ever again.

The only image quality issue that I experienced throughout all of my testing was that there was a noticeable "screen door effect" if you got within a certain distance of the screen. In case you're not sure what the screen door effect is, it's when the fine lines that separate pixels are visible in the projected image. With my setup, that distance was about 10 feet from the screen. Of course, as I've already mentioned, the dimensions of my screen are significantly larger than what is recommended for "optimal viewing," so I would imagine that for most users this would not be an issue at all.

For those of you that like to game in HD, the IN76 can provide a new level of immersion as well. I played an assortment of demos on my Xbox 360, which proved to make full use of the great image the IN76 offers. The most memorable gaming moment I experienced was in the demo of Just Cause, and I jumped out of a helicopter, high over the tropical island below and glided down to land on a beach with the handy reusable parachute. It was almost like being on one of those virtual reality rides where you're supposed to be flying and the screen fills so much of your field of view that you almost feel that you are. The only thing missing from that experience was the part where your seat moves with the action taking place on screen, but you could probably even get that effect as well if you can convince a friend, Kurtis, or your significant other to wheel you around on an office chair while you play the game. [Editor: You order the pizza, and I'm there!]

In the past, many InFocus projectors were notorious for having very loud lamp cooling fans. I'm happy to say that the InFocus designers have mostly reversed that reputation with the IN76. No, the projector isn't completely silent, but it's close enough that if you're watching something with the sound on at any reasonable listening volume the fan on the IN76 fan will be completely imperceptible. Sure, if you switch the lamp to high power mode and are close to the projector the story will be different, but I think this will be a non-issue for most people since the high output mode is overkill if you're in the right kind of darkened setting anyway, and you'll also want to get as much life out of the lamp as possible since we all know replacement lamps are expensive.

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Impressions
Page 3: Testing
Page 4: Conclusion

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