Projector Reviews

Measurements: The InFocus ScreenPlay 7200 was properly calibrated and measured before being delivered to Steven Stone for review. He did not see the measured results until after he'd submitted his findings.

Out of the box, and at its Low color-temperature setting, our sample of the 7200 produced the results shown in the "Before" curve in the accompanying chart. The Medium setting measured just over 8300 kelvins across the full brightness range, High between 10,000K and 11,000K. Post-calibration, the color temperature was very accurate across the range, with the actual coordinates very close to the D6500 standard. The red and blue color points as plotted on the CIE color chart were also very close to the high-definition standard, but the green was shifted a little toward yellow-green. Overall, however, we have yet to review any DLP projector that has produced better color measurements after calibration.

On my 80-inch-wide Stewart FireHawk screen, the 7200's usable peak-white light output was an astonishing 29 footlamberts. This was more than twice as bright as any other HD2-equipped DLP projector we've yet seen under the same test conditions. But high brightness often comes by sacrificing contrast. On the FireHawk screen, the 7200's full on (a 100 IRE full field) to full off (an open input) peak contrast measured 719—about a third that of the Marantz VP-12S2, which has the best peak contrast we've yet measured on a DLP projector. The averaged ANSI contrast from a 16-square checkerboard measured 124, with a peak ANSI reading (the maximum vs. the minimum square) of 180.

The 7200 resolved the full 525 horizontal lines available from DVD. It also resolved all the detail in a 1280x720 HD source. Geometry was good, though I did see some very slight barrel distortion at the outer fringes of the image with test patterns. It was never visible with real program material.

While Steven used a Faroudja outboard scaler for some of his evaluation, the onboard scaling in the 7200, including its Faroudja DCDi processing chip, performed flawlessly as well.

Comments: The ScreenPlay 7200 produced a very crisp image with excellent color. Steven Stone was unable to test the projector with high-definition program material, but I did: In its sharpness, color, and high light output, the 7200 was more than up to the task of reproducing full-resolution, highly detailed HD images.

I was less troubled than Steven by video noise. For whatever reason—screen, associated equipment, or setup—I found it relatively easy to ignore except on the darkest, most difficult scenes. And on those I was more concerned with the projector's shadow-detail limitations. The 7200's contrast was satisfactory on my Stewart FireHawk screen, but was not the equal of that achieved by the other HD2 projectors we've seen. After living for several weeks with the Marantz VP-12S2, the projector I consider to be the InFocus' stiffest competition, the limitations of the 7200's black level and shadow detail were obvious, and bothered me more than they did Steven. On my Stewart FireHawk screen

I was never able to obtain a combination of brightness and contrast that provided good shadow detail without slightly washing out the image. Any potential buyer should look carefully at this limitation before making a final purchase decision.

But in designing this projector, InFocus obviously went for brightness, and in that they've succeeded. In fact, the 7200 is the first single-chip DLP projector I've seen for which I'd be comfortable recommending a screen wider than 87 inches.

Toward the end of the review period, after SS had finished with the 7200, I installed a new software change (v2.9) that InFocus had just released. The upgrade did not, from what I could see, materially change the projector's performance, though it did make a few functional changes, the most significant of which, in my judgment, is an additional film gamma setting.—Thomas J. Norton