The 1st Official Infocus 4805 Thread - Page 3  

No problem, you can still do upgrades by plugging the USB end directly into your PC. I just wanted to make sure I knew which cable it is included, thanks.

Cool, glad I could help.

This is one of the reasons I sent my H30 back, to get a firmware problem corrected the unit had to be sent all the way back to the factory at your expense and it takes weeks to get it back. I never understood why Optoma doesn't allow user firmware upgrades. All the units come from the factory with a red push now too, at least both I had. It will be nice to get a calibrated PJ for once.

For what it's worth, InFocus is telling people that AVS is not an authorized reseller for the 4805. If that's not the case, (and I'm pretty sure it is not), hopefully someone will straighten it out.

From an email today from InFocus Customer Service: "But you are correct in stating that the warranty will be void if purchased from a company not listed on our website such as avsforum.com. "

Is the 4805's power cord hardwired or removable?
_________________________________________________________
Quoting Jack Ferry: "InFocus is telling people that AVS is not an authorized reseller for the 4805."

What's up with that AVS?

removable

Martin,

and are you asking so you can put a $1500 power cord on your $1500 digital projector?

Twice now I have completed IF's form for ascertaining where your nearest resellers are located. Twice I have received a response that is completely blank except for the format. Is IF telling Canadians that: 1) They don't have any Canadian resellers, and
2) If they buy from a reseller in the States ie: AVS, there's no warranty.

I'm beginning to have my doubts about Infocus and the 4805 especially after some of the reports of the lack of sharpness in regard to the picture quality, so I want to see for myself how the PQ stands up and not buy sight unseen and repent at leisure.

I must be missing these posts. Where are they?

On Page 11:-

"I got the SP4805 last nite and watched it for 5 hours.

My viewing distance is 14' and SP4805 ceiling mount above my head.

Under my eyes here is my though:

HDTV: connected to my digital cable timewarner via component. The picture was soft and the color is not vivid, it seem like it was missing something. I loved the HD picture on the Z2. (I like the sharpness and vivid color). Plus I have the dalite high power 106" screen so for HD viewing, the image rather suffer on the sp4805."

I am presently viewing on a Sony GWII, so the PQ has to be comparable or better to persuade me to change just for the sake of increased screen size.

jgvp,

the SP4805 is a SDTV (sometimes called EDTV) projector. It is not a HDTV capable display, though it will downconvert it. Compared to DVD - HDTV on a SDTV display does have improved color resolution. But if you are comparing to HDTV resolution devices and that is your most important criteria rather than brightness, color, contrast, screen door, etc. - then you are considering the wrong projector.

You need to move to the $20K high end forum if you are looking for a movie screen display that has comparable resolution to direct view CRTs.

Well I don't know about anyone else, but I for one am going to start saving up for the $20K projector... :rolleyes:

Some? Please realize that this is not an HD projector. Don't lose sleep over any single post/poster.

Yes, see for yourself. You can buy "sight unseen"...just get a good return policy.

I'm using the Infocus asia site and I've tried putting in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, and get zero results on the dealers. I'm guessing that they just haven't implemented the search function outside the US.

J.

To those posters complaining about "softness", what signal are you feeding it? Is it true HD signal with box set to output 1080i or 720P? Or is it an HD listed station that is broadcasting a SDTV signal on an HDTV channel. TW here in Ohio only has one channel that I noticed broadcasting HDTV 24/7 (Discoery HD)....all the other HD channels were only occasionally showing HD.

Unless you want to subscribe to Voom (haven't tried it), its going to be a few more years until cable/satellite is offering large selection of HD at a given viewing hour. To me this PJ is a good compromise of resolution for the other aspects of image quality.

Definitely try it out before ruling it out; I think you'll be suprised.

Oh good, another swiss cheese thread about the format of this and other threads.

Just shook my piggie bank and there's not quite $27,000 in it yet. So has anyone seen the 4805 next to the X1? I love my X1 but was unhappy daytime viewing and wanted something with more lumens. Right now, I have a 6200 as well but I'm unhappy with the picture for darkened room video. I was thinking about the 4805, but the more I read about it, it seems like not much more than the X1 for a lot more money.

Can anyone recommend a decent quality, nice looking projector stand? I would prefer something that looked like furniture, maybe a wedge shape so I can flank it with 2 recliners. Anyone know a good manufacturer?

I am googling for it but haven't found what I want...mostly business oriented.

Or should I create a new thread for this?

Why don't you use the X1 for darkened room and the 6200 for daytime?

I don't view anything on my GW2 until after 8.pm., if I want to view a program that has HDTV PQ, and even then the PQ can vary from one network to another. But I do discern the difference between HDTV and EDTV when I see it. What I'm concerned about now is the fact that Infocus claimed the PQ of the 4805 would make you believe you had bought a projector that cost you tens of thousands of dollars, but I'm now being informed that if I want the kind of HD PQ I've become accustomed to ( but admittedly on a larger screen, ) then I need to spend tens of thousands of dollars. Who's right ?

I've been following this thread and all the other threads on the 4805 with very great interest. This PJ has just started shipping in the UK and I am seriously considering buying one.

My main concern is that the 4805 seems optimized for Region 1 DVD (NSTC) but my Denon 2900 only plays Region 2 (PAL). Has anyone any idea how the 4805 will handle down-converting from 1024 x 576 to its native 854 x 480? The 5700 fits the PAL resolution perfectly but is over my budget. It also has a longer throw than the 4805 and I'll be mounting it about 11'6" from the screen to suit my room size (viewing from 12'0''). I would like a 78" wide screen if possible which is easily got on the 4805 but not possible on the 5700. I would have to limit it to 72" in that case which is not a huge constraint but the differences in image quality at 2x viewing don't seem to justify the significant additional expense of a 5700.

Any thoughts?

The PJ will only be used in an almost blacked out room as the screen will drop over a 42" plasma which is used for normal daylight viewing.

Sadly, HDTV seems a long way off at the moment in the UK so it's DVD's mostly and movies on Sky digital television.

jgvp, you don't _need_ to spend tens of thousands, fact is a REAL HD HD2 projector can be had for under 4k (not hd2+), while it doesn't have inredibly good contrast, it's pretty damn good, and you get more than 2x the pixels the 4805 has... or if you really want great contrast (same resolution as and hd2 though) you can go get yourself a sharp 12k for about 10 grand. but lets recap here... if you want PQ comparable to your sony GW2, then it gets a whole lot easier.. get a Z2 or an AE500, and if you really want allmost identical PQ just go get the sony HS20 for about 2.5k. (i think it should actually be better)

This PJ was blown out of proportion in the older threads, i'm sure it looks just fine, but it's still missing what made me go to "the big screen" in the first place, and that's the ability to see more detail as you go bigger (i blame my IMAX experiences for that, now THAT looks sharp, not just "bigger"!)
i'm not a huge fan of soft images, and the bigger you go with low res material, the softer the pitcure will seem.
i'm still sure a lot of people will be very happy with this, it's just not for evryone.

JeffUK,

The 4805 will just scale the picture. I'm sure it will look good as people report that 720p and 1080i look good. Another option is to get an xga projector which is 1024 by 768 which will resolve all the resolution with bars on the top and bottom such as the benq 6200

Sadly, for the same reason I cannot keep my Explorer AND my Corvette. My wife won't let me. :p

Kamus, do you have a 4805? Aslso, keep in mind, it's unlikely that those considering the 4805 are also considering a model in your "big screen" range.

I would like to get an XGA projector (1024 * 768) or 786000 pixels with an anamorphic lens DVI input and run it against the SP4805 and run another blind shootout... IE cover up the projectors... it would truly be interesting... If anyone is interested in a fair comparison with some other eyecandy stuff let me know.. or if you have some ideas of some good choices of DVI output XGA projectors






Actually Columbia TriStar will be releasing all of its titles on HD DVD in the Blu-ray format in just over a year. Cost to produce the Blu-ray discs is suppose to be the same as a standard dvd..

Toshiba and NEC are coming out with HD-DVD

The Bravo ,,, Momitsu,,, Samsung among others put out a 720P or 1080I pic.

Most of the sports on the networks is already HD...

PBS is showing concerts in HD and other programming

Discovery HD is 24hrs of HD and they are adding the regular programs to HD.. even shows like American Chopper and Monster Garage.

HDNet has Nascar , Major League soccer , Champ car..
HDNET movies..

Fox is going HD in the Fall... all the regular season football games will be in HD ... likely the world series.... Half of their primetime shows and yes it will be true HD 1280 * 720 pixels ( a total of 921600 pixels per frame) You can do the math for what the SP4805 will do.. every time I post a fact I seem to get static from the SP4805 bonanza..

ABC, CBS ... all the scripted shows are in HD...
NBC.. about 13hours

HBO HD

DiscoveryHD 24 hours/day

INHD

Cinemax HD

Starz HD

The Movie Ch 8 hours/day

Bravo ? hours/day

Encore ? hours/day - - 271

Playboy ? hours/day is starting some content

TNT ? hours/day also starting more programming in HD


WB increasing

ESPN HD

PBS increasing

UPN ? hour/day

Learning channel

Pay-per-view

So I totally disagree with the above mentioned comment that it will take a few more years until cable/satelite is offering large selection of HD at a given viewing hour... 99% of the US population can pick up OTA HD from at least one carrier..

Robert

Please accept my comments in the most constructive light. From someone who is new to home theater and this forum, and certainly not wealthy. The tone here can seem somewhat condesending at times.

Translation: Make sure you peons down here at the cheap end of the spectrum don't get too excited about your pathetic little projectors.

In answer to that question "would you expect a $1500 proj to look like a $5000 unit?". No, but I wouldn't be surprised if a $1500 projector of next year looked as good or better than a $5000 projector of today.

Huh??!

Did I miss something in their literature somewhere? Because I've read most of it and I've never seen a claim even remotely resembling your statement!

jgvp - Aralex is the Canadian distributor for InFocus Screenplay series. They can be reached at 604.528.8965 if you're looking for a dealer in Metro T/O

Maybe I'm cranky tonight or maybe the 4805 threads are just getting me crankier, but the wise souls earlier are right. We should remember what the projector is: a cheap HT optimised unit set at the resolution of 16:9 DVDs.

It is an SVGA projector. A 1/4 HD projector. Obviously it cannot show the full resolutional glories of HD.

The questions shouldn't be whether it kicks the ass of $5K projectors, but rather whether it is an improvement over the already excellent InFocus X1 and Optoma H30.



Steve

Amen, Steve.

What I'm looking for here are comments by the lucky gentlemen who already have their 4805's - and many, many thanks to the fellows like JeffKB who have already taken the time to write up their much-appreciated reviews. I hope to be among the next wave, whenever that happens (':rolleyes:'). I'm hoping to get info on setup recommendations (are the defaults fine, or are you guys doing 'tweeking?'), is the offset as expected (27% or so), things like that.

I am another first-time PJ guy and I believe I have reasonable expectations for this machine - good quality DVD reproduction for a reasonable price. The beauty and value of this forum is in sharing information, not arguing opinions.

I don't know about anyone else, but if it wasn't for this great forum, I wouldn't even have considered a front projector, never mind the 4805. I am in the debt of everyone who has contributed here.

Mark T.