Despite the pitfalls, it produces a beautiful image on the cheap
Written: Aug 07 '03
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Pros: cheap, good scalar, lightweight, great image
Cons: bad color decoder, no tint and color control on progressive
The Bottom Line: Produces a great image when calibrated; crappy out of the box.
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| zhany2's Full Review: InFocus X1 Multimedia Projector |
This review will be far more technical than the others posted here. The other reviews here are no more than a rehash of the [often incorrect] technical specs found elsewhere (e.g., stating a contrast ratio of 2000:1, which is absolutely false for film mode with the clear segment off—more on this later). This review will hopefully help those who are videophiles make a decision. Other reviews of the X1 neglected to make any mention of anything videophiles care about—the quality of the digital scalar, color temperature controls, quality of color decoders, overscanning, cropping et al—so much so that they’re pretty useless.
Background
I recently acquired an apartment in Manhattan, and wanted to duplicate the home theater system I have in my Boston apartment (which is based on a Toshiba 42H81).
The Toshiba 42H81 I have was calibrated by a ISF tech to be very close to the D65 color standard. That is, the color of white more or less 6500 Kelvin—the NTSC standard. If you would like to know more about the matter of color temperature, google for “color temperature”. Practically, it means that the colors are just right, not too blue, and not too red; grass is green, and the sky is blue—no more suffering from watching [literally] blue glass or a permanent red sky. Also, the Toshiba was lens-stripped to improve color uniformity.
So I have rather high expectations when it comes to video quality.
However, a rear-projection system was simply impracticle due to the size. I did not really consider front projection systems, as the ones usable for home-theater were priced way too high.
Then I read an article in the WSJ about the popularity of projectors. The WSJ article was filled with technical errors, but did make a passing mention of the Infocus X1—specifically, that it’s priced under $1000. I decided to do some research on the X1 and ended up buying one. It was cheap enough that I was willing to take a gamble.
Package
The projector comes in fairly small box and includes the projector, a carrying case, power cable, a DB-15 video cable, a remote control, and some manuals.
Installation
Setting up the X1 takes was a bit annoying. After you turn on the projector, you see the projected image on the surface (most likely, a wall) in front of you. The Infocus logo is displayed prominently, which allows you to focus the image easily enough. The hard parts are dealing with image size, geometry, and image height.
Image Size
Basically, the further you are from the screen (or in my case, a wall with Sherwin Williams Luminous White flat latex paint) – the longer the “throw”, the larger the image. The X1 includes a zoom lense that change the image size somewhat. However, you are limited by the physics of the optics.
Geometry
One of the more annoying issues with respect to front projection systems is geometry. For you to have perfect geometry, the projector lense must be perpendicular to the screen. Any deviation will distort the image geometry significantly. If you swivel the projector from side to side, you will end up with either the left or right side of the image taller than the other. If the left side of the projector is not exactly level with the right side, the image on the screen will seem be tilted to one side. And if you the projector’s front is not level with the rear, you will see an effect called key-stoning, in which the vertical sides of the image are not truly vertical. (Note that the X1 includes a digital key-stoning correction feature, but you should avoid using it at all cost, as it significantly degrades the image quality.)
Image Height
The projector projects the bottom of the image at the level of the lens, so if you have to leave the project on a fairly low table if you do not want the image squished near the ceiling. Better yet, get a ceiling or wall mount and hang the projector upside down.
Calibration
Calibrating the X1 takes quite a bit of work; the default settings for the project is horrible.
I have a JVC XVN40BK progressive scan DVD player. Initially, I had to use a S-Video cable, as the Infocus X1 doesn’t come with component cables. With the DVD player on the S-Video input and the defaults set to Film Mode, I popped in the Avia DVD to calibrate the X1.
Black and white levels
To set the X1’s black level, you use Avia’s Picture Line-Up Generation Equipment (PLUGE) pattern. This test pattern is used for setting the black level (brightness at the darkest part of an image) of a display. The black level must be properly set to ensure a video image is not washed out (too light) or the blacks are “crushed” (you can’t see the details in the shadows). The PLUGE test pattern allows the black level to be set properly so that the video display can perform optimally.
I noticed that the black-level is completely screwed up—the default is so low with respect to the actual video black that black is utterly crushed. This means that low Average Picture Level (APL) scenes are unwatchable. Adjusting the brightness to about 74 solved the problem—viewing the low APL PLUGE patterns on Avia now showed a good gradiant of black and dark grey. The default peak white level seems to be okay.
Color
Next stop is the color bars on the Avia disc. The color bar test pattern is used to adjust the saturation (labeled “color”) and hue (labeled “tint”) of displays. A color bar test screen features bars of solid primary and secondary colors along with black and white. Displays showing the color bar test screen can be adjusted for the optimum color rendition and picture quality via primary subtractive colored filters. But the most important color to adjust for is blue.
Unfortunately, the blue hue (tint) on the X1 out of the box is awful. Blue skys are purple! The tint control was brought down quite a bit, and saturation (color) was brought down a notch. It’s much better, but the red and green color channels are still a bit screwey—though this is far less noticable.
I also brought the green color channel down by 2 as shadows seemed too green.
Results
The picture is now gorgeous. The contrast level is quite good. Unlike what another reviewer stated, the contrast level is not 2000:1—that is true only in presentation mode with a clear color segment on the color wheel enabled. In film mode, the usable contrast level is more like 1200:1.
“Rainbows” are occasionally noticbable, especially when you are blinking rapidly. It is not distracting at all.
The fill factor of DLP systems definitely helped in the “screen-door” area—pixelization is not noticable from a good viewing distance.
The black level of course is no where near as good as a CRT—even black is grey due to light leakage. This can be resolved by painting the screen grey, but I’m not going to bother with it. Frankly, the amount of light in the black area is similar to what you see on film. Next time you go to the movie theater, try looking at the screen during the credits—you’d notice that even film doesn’t give you true black.
There is one minor quirk about DLPs I haven’t seen anyone write about—there seems to be a significant amount of dithering in the dark areas. This is not noticable from a normal viewing distance—you’d have to be standing 4 feet from the screen on a 75” image to be able to notice the dithering. However, do understand that a single chip DLP will resort to dithering.
Component Input and Issues
The X1 doesn’t come with component video inputs. Infocus does sell a special Component to S-Video adaptor that uses extra pins to allow it to display interlaced component signal. If you want to display a progressive component signal, you’d have to buy a component to VESA adaptor, which plugs into the VGA input. I bought a component VESA adaptor, and a week later, plugged my JVC DVD player into the X1 with a 480p.
The biggest problem with progressive component signals is that the Infocus X1 does not allow you to adjust saturation (color) or hue (tint)! This would be okay if the X1 is even remotely accurate with respect to the color reproduction out of the box—but it is not. It is accurate to say that the Infocus X1 has one of the worst default color settings of any consumer level product I’ve dealt with in a while. (Though I must admit I only deal with multi-thousand dollar HDTVs.) Fortunately, the JVC DVD player has a built-in hue and saturation control. On mine, adjusting the tint to -6 and color to -2 seems to have done to trick. But be aware, if your DVD player does not have a built-in color and tint control, avoid the progressive scan input!
Conclusion
The Infocus X1 is not perfect, and requires a lot of work to get it running well. However, the effort is well worth it as the final image exceeded all my expectations for a sub $1000 device.
One final thing--occasionally, you will see odd colors dancing around on the screen. This is because a flake of dust has managed to get stuck to the color wheel. Take out the lamp and blow some air into the area. Annoying, but solvable.
Recommended:
Yes
Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 999
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Epinions.com ID:
zhany2
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Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 8 members
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