Digital Trends

InFocus X1 Projector October 19th, 2003 | by Chris Swanberg

Use and Testing

The X-1 has the highly regarded Faroudja DCDi de-interlacer, which can take a non-progressive video signal and internally produce a 480p (progressive) signal. Coupled with the Pixelworks chipset the projector will scale this resolution to fit the 800x600 pixel map of the display chip, resulting in a displayed image that (while not truly High definition) clearly delves into the realm of extended resolution. Even viewed on a screen seven feet wide, the resulting picture from a good quality DVD transfer is crisp and sharp. The rated light output (always a dangerous number since the manufacturers rate their projectors far higher than what the usual light output really is under standard usage conditions) is 1,000 lumens in "presentation" mode. In this mode the white segment of the RGBW wheel is turned on, producing the brightest image. In "film" or "video" mode the white segment is turned off and the lumen output drops by about one third. In real world terms this means is that if a large screen image is required for home theater use, there better be a good light control in the viewing area. Ambient light can overwhelm this projector when it is used to throw big pictures. Used to project a picture the size of the biggest plasma or rear projection televisions (50 inches diagonally or less), the ambient light is not as much of a problem. Screen door effect - the apparent screen display of individual pixels which ends up looking like a window screen over the image - is all but unnoticeable at normal viewing distances of 1.5 to 2 times the screen width. Contrast is excellent, something the DLP system has to its advantage over more expensive LCD setups.

Single chip DLP devices, by their nature, can produce what is called the rainbow effect. Because the projector light stream is a series of red/green/blue bursts of light painting a single image that the eyes blend into a color image, in a dark scene the DLP output can produce a flash of what is best described as a “rainbow comet tail” from fast moving bright images contained within that dark scene. The same effect can be achieved by standing to the side of the projector and looking at the lens and rapidly moving one's eyes. Interestingly, the susceptibility of people to see, and be affected by these rainbows varies from individual to individual - all a part of how the brain and the eyes are individually wired differently from one individual to the next. It was found that using “presentation mode" to watch movies (not a recommended method as the highlights tend to appear washed out) seemed to create more rainbows than "Film" or "Video" did. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the so called "rainbows" are annoyingly apparent to about 10 - 15 % of viewers. In 50 hours of testing, and involving about a dozen visitors, not one complained about rainbows. Knowing that they are there can be detrimental, as once one is seen, it becomes a search to look for more after that. This is not to say that some people are not more susceptible than others. For them the phenomenon is very real and can be very unpleasant. For this reason alone this is a projector that is highly recommended for the consumer to take for a test drive. When on this “test drive” think of rainbow susceptibility as being akin to “car sickness.” For those who have it, it's misery. Those who do not suffer from it have difficulty understanding what the fuss is all about.

Were rainbows seen during the test? Sure, in maybe 50 hours less than half a dozen times. Were they found to be objectionable? No. Tweaking the picture and avoiding "presentation mode" can help too. However, if a consumer is like the susceptible percentage of the population who do see them often and is affected by them, he/she will need to keep looking elsewhere for a projector. However, it is not recommended rejecting this projector without testing it on one's own (best done with a spouse or significant other who may have his or her own susceptibility issues).

The projector itself is surprisingly lightweight - about 6-1/2 pounds. It has 3 threaded holes in the base for inverted ceiling mounting. Its light weight makes a ceiling mount worry free. Although a ceiling mount is not included, INFOCUS offers one and many aftermarket companies have capitalized on this projector's high popularity by offering cheaper versions of their own.

The controls located "on projector" are pushbuttons mounted on the top of the projector (and repeated on the remote control) and a side mounted ON/OFF rocker switch. It was annoying that to completely power down the projector one had to toggle this switch - not easy once it was ceiling mounted (the remote will turn the projector lamp off, but the projector itself stays in a standby mode and the fan runs at a low speed during  this mode.).

Fan noise, a problem in high light output devices like projectors, were not found objectionable. This projector is not "whisper quiet" but maybe because of the pitch of the noise, it wasn't found to be obtrusive even during quiet passages in program material. INFOCUS reports the noise level at 37 db, but in the testing it didn't seem significantly louder than the Sony HS-10 rated at 32 db.

Speaking of noise, the projector has a built in a mono 2.5 watt amplifier and will input an audio source for playback through the projector's built in speaker. For business presentations this speaker is more than adequate. For the videophiles utilizing this projector for home theater, it's probably the one feature on this projector that will never get used.

The projector's lens has an independent manual focusing ring and a zoom ring, although the zoom capability is very limited (more for use in the final adjustment of the image to a screen where the fit is close than for major adjustments in size). Ultimate screen size (projected image) is determined by projector to screen distances rather than by the zoom control.