I'm not the only one with an InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 looking to upgrade to a 1080P projector. Lots of people are, and I think it is a difficult question since the 4805 was a great value. To help us out, let's hear from other previous 4805 owners what they went with (I'm including the "cheap" $3K 1080P projectors in this too!), and what their impressions are.

Most importantly, what do you miss? What just doesn't measure up? This part of it is so very important since it informs on whether to upgrade now, or wait.

So, here are a bunch of discussion questions:

1) Noise level - trying to remember your 4805 before color wheel buzz saw grind noise, and on low power, is your new thing quieter? How much?

2) Dust blobs - is it worse than on the 4805?

3) Brightness - is it better than the 4805's low power mode?

4) Contrast - the 4805, in its day, was pretty unexpectedly good. Are you disappointed with the contrast of your new 1080P in comparison?

5) Does your new projector not do anything the old 4805 did? Something brain-dead obvious, like a native resolution mode, "letterbox" zoom mode, or something else?

6) "Doh, it doesn't work with my old projector mount (like the Premier Mounts universal mount thingy). Just had to spend a bunch of money more!" - tell me your story.

7) If you moved to a technology other than DLP, what do you think of it in comparison?

8) Other than the obvious "The resolution is better (duh)" - what really stands out about the new projector? What blew you away (e.g. "I can leave the lights on and see everything!", "Dark City looks even better!", "The fans must not be working - I can't hear any projector noise?!", etc.)

Please, no posts like "I didn't have the 4805, but get the fizbin-86, you'll love it!" as those just aren't helpful (and they're all over the place). The 4805 had a special "benchmark" place for entry level projectors. For those of us that have had them for a while, it really helps to get feedback from previous owners.

Whatever info you can give about your sources, room, room light, viewing distance, and screen are helpful too. Girlfriend / Wife complaints and praises important too.

Thanks!

P.S. If you have found or know about a post somewhere that has impressions of a previous 4805 owner, please post a link

I used a 4805 for 2 years, went through 2 lamps, and suffered with the progressively deteriorating "buzzsaw" color wheel. I had it ceiling mounted, 12 feet from a 98" 16/9 screen. I didn't notice dust blobs, but there were other annoying "aging-artifacts" that distracted me.

My main interest is audio, and had little interest in early-adopting the HD video formats. But then I read about TrueHD encoded on some HDDVD's, so I picked up a Tosh A1. I enjoyed it alot - and video looked better, on the old 4805!

That started the wheels in my head: I had planned to replace the 4805 with the current $1k "bang-for-the-buck" projector, but I knew that I would never be able to silence that nagging voice in my head ("what if... what if.. it was 1080 instead of 720...). So I started the reasearch, stretched my budget, and ended up on the RS-1 pre-buy.

I've lived w/ the RS-1 for a couple months...obviously a very nice upgrade from the 4805. It's more than I need, but I have no regrets (my mind is peaceful for now!)

Other comparisons (keeping in mind I am NOT qualified to critically evaluate projector performance!):

-Seems brighter
-Very quiet
-Physically larger
-Picky about incoming signal. I use hdmi 85%, component 10%, s-vid 5%. The 4805 seemed to display anything, but I've had to troubleshoot a couple instances of the RS-1 displaying "Input frequency out of range".
-Replaced my old diy hanging contraption with a new ceiling mount. (a caveat: the new mount is more rigid, and I notice vibration from my IB sub can blurr the image).
-contrast seems better, plus all other obvious improvements relating to resolution, etc.

Like I said, I'm happy. As for long-term, I hope that paying a little more will net me better longevity (in addition to the expected performance). Time will tell. The 4805 was a fun introduction, but quickly became throw-away.

The last PJ I had before the RS-1 was the 4805.


1) Noise level - trying to remember your 4805 before color wheel buzz saw grind noise, and on low power, is your new thing quieter? How much?
As much as I complain about the RS-1, the 4805 was worse. That thing was freaking loud. And the oddball color wheel buzz didn't help.

2) Dust blobs - is it worse than on the 4805?
I don't think I've seen dust blobs on any PJ I've had. I guess I'm just scrupulously clean. :D

3) Brightness - is it better than the 4805's low power mode?
The RS-1 is brighter by far when the bulb is new. I never felt actual pain from the 4805 image. I think after the RS-1's bulb burns in a bit they will be close enough for most, but the RS-1 will still be brighter by far.

4) Contrast - the 4805, in its day, was pretty unexpectedly good. Are you disappointed with the contrast of your new 1080P in comparison?
That is the only thing I miss. The 4805 had better (at least subjectively) intraframe contrast than the RS-1, and it will occasionally show. But overall the image from the RS-1 is so much more involving and engaging (between resolution and contrast and color rendition) that it's not even a competition. No regrets there at all.

5) Does your new projector not do anything the old 4805 did? Something brain-dead obvious, like a native resolution mode, "letterbox" zoom mode, or something else?
The RS-1 does not have stretching, and the various 48/72hz modes were useful for some input sources. The 4805 also was a hell of a lot easier to focus with less pixels and more obvious screen door. :) It also doesn't have misconvergence problems like the RS-1 (or any 3-chipper), but it's not that bad except at the edges of the screen.

6) "Doh, it doesn't work with my old projector mount (like the Premier Mounts universal mount thingy). Just had to spend a bunch of money more!" - tell me your story.
Not a problem. RS-1 is the best projector vis-a-vis placement I've ever used. The 4805 was not a big deal either because I am totally unafraid to tilt DLP's with stupid offsets (and I did). My 4805 'mount' was an end table and a Pirates 2 DVD case shoved under the PJ's rear end, I believe. ;)

7) If you moved to a technology other than DLP, what do you think of it in comparison?
The 4805 was rainbow city, even at 5x. Horrible, horrible for my eyes, especially with such good intraframe contrast. The scene from Pirates 2 where Jack is in his 'cabin' reading maps was just nightmarish with so much dark area and bright lamps. No such problem on the RS-1, and I don't really miss any image depth. Overall color rendition (in terms of out-of-the-box D65) was about the same.

6) Other than the obvious "The resolution is better (duh)" - what really stands out about the new projector? What blew you away (e.g. "I can leave the lights on and see everything!", "Dark City looks even better!", "The fans must not be working - I can't hear any projector noise?!", etc.)
With the RS-1: better black floor (perhaps 1/4 the 4805's, by memory -- but still very noticeable), seriously better resolution (duh), better color rendition (that is, more saturated colors, if overblown once in a while), no outrageous noise problems (or colorwheel buzz), easier to hook up without the retarded M1 cable, more flexible placement, brighter, no screen door unless you use a telescope to watch movies, no appreciable dithering/video noise, clean 24fps input, crazy zoom ratio with lens shift for ghetto CIH, more contrast than can be believed sometimes, better resale value, JVC is not as bankrupt as Infocus (yet), and of course the most important thing of all for AVS: bragging rights for the next 4 weeks.

Please, no posts like "I didn't have the 4805, but get the fizbin-86, you'll love it!" as those just aren't helpful (and they're all over the place). The 4805 had a special "benchmark" place for entry level projectors, and for those of us that have had them for a while, and it really helps to get feedback from previous owners.
It was indeed amazing, if plagued by build problems. Sometimes I wish I still had mine simply because the bulb/depreciation costs are better for watching SD TV and DVD.

Whatever info you can give about your sources, room, room light, viewing distance, and screen are helpful too. Girlfriend / Wife complaints and praises important too.
Bat cave, 12x20', 127" wide 2.35:1 BOC screen, 1.25x viewing distance (for 2.35:1), and nobody to nag me about what I watch or how loud I turn it up.

If I didn't have a problem with rainbow/color separation artifacts, I would have gotten one of those cheap Optoma units for the time being, especially with the HD80 coming out. Crazy offsets, color wheels and build problems... it'll feel like home. :p

Before that I had an X3 (better resolution with an anamorphic lens, worse black level, slightly quieter but not by much, reasonably bright, poor ANSI contrast, cheap to run), and a NEC HT1000 (better color by a hair, similar black floors, not quite as nice contrast, potentially higher resolution, better deinterlacer, quieter, but ridiculously dim by comparison when zoomed out and the iris cranked down).

But what you want to know is what you really get out of spending 10x more, right? Truthfully, a remarkably smaller amount than you would think. Resolution is nice, but going to 1080p is a bit much. I can't even see the pixels. Better contrast is nice but most of the time you kind of get accustomed to whatever your PJ is spitting out. Better black levels would be nice, and that would be a definite bonus.

If Infocus hadn't priced their IN76 unit out of competition then I would have moved to one of those and been fine with it until next year. If you love your 4805 I'm not sure you would feel that you got every dollar's worth by say, upgrading to an RS-1. My purchase was more of a future-proofing thing than a real quest for the best, or a feeling that it was the best value. The smart thing may very well be to move to a cheap 720p DLP unit until 1080p settles down a bit, if you're not jonesing for a better image (and only better resolution).

Well, I'm going to answer my own post.

I went with the BenQ W10000. Here are responses to my own questions:

1) Noise Level: What Noise Level? Is it on? Is it off? Had to tell my wife to look at the blinky LEDs to know what it was doing while warming up. Now, if only my Xbox 360 and DirecTivo were as quiet. The 405 freeway a mile away is louder

2) Dust blobs: None yet. I guess it has sealed optics. I hope.

3) Brightness: Um, really really. I've closed the iris down to 75% closed and I'm projecting on a piece of blackout cloth. Yeah, it's bright

4) Contrast: DC3 vs. DC2. So there. Yeah, it's better.

5) Ok, so there are a couple of things different, but minor.
-No source or aspect ratio cycling buttons on the remote. Direct access only. The SP4805 had both, which made switching these in the dark and with an alternate learning remote easier since there were only two buttons - aspect ratio and source, but no bother.
-No easy "info" screen that showed the source, resolution, rate, etc. like on the SP4805.
-OSD is intrusive - the SP4805 grey OSD in the corner was much more friendly. This one has purple and can't be moved all the way off to the side.
-No VGA connection with EDID info. Just RGBHV. Yeah, I need to switch to HDMI / DVI from the PC now, but I need a ton of HDMI switching (6 inputs!) first.
-Firmware upgrades? Not sure.
-No lens cap, but I never used it anyway. FYI.

6) Projector Mount: Yeah, it worked with my Premier Mounts Universal Mount, but the projector is so wide that I had troubles doing the 180 degree twist to get it to lock since my mount is wall (not ceiling mounted) and there was not enough clearance to twist this very wide projector. By making sure the jointed mounting arms were not stiff, I was able to move the mounting plate on the projector while twisting the whole thing to make sure it cleared the wall.

7) New Technology: n/a

8) Blown Away Factor: Um, brightness, low noise, resolution, and, uh, size! Wow, what a projector. Lens shift is great, especially given my low ceilings (8ft) and large screen - 54 inch tall, 8 foot wide, flush against the ceiling to give good sight lines in small room and have room for center channel beneath screen.

My wife likes it.
My friends like it.
I like it.

Yay!