[longshot]

Last night I ventured out into the snow to John Andrews (abigpicture) house to demo the InFocus 7200. I was joined by fellow member David Boulet.


John has a dedicated theater/demo room that is separate from his house. Upon entering the fiirst thing we saw was Toy Story projected on a 92x52 Firehawk. The brightness of the 7200 really stands out. The clarity is amazing. After a few minutes we popped in LOTR EE. The scenes in the Shire were just incredible. I have never seen colors this vivid. I have a Sharp 9000/Firehawk combo and it just doesn't have the same snap and vibrancy of the 7200. I know someone is going to ask how were the black levels? I have never seen a CRT demo so I don't know how to compare. The blacks on this machine are significantly better than my 9000. I would think even the most critical viewer would find these black levels acceptable.


The biggest surpise I thought was when we demoed Moulin Rouge. Like many others I have been using TFESB and LOTR EE as my reference demo. Not any more. The show scenes in MR was nothing short of astonishing. As good as the colors were in LOTR, Moulin Rouge is on a completely different level. Pure eye candy. Nicole Kidman in garters isn't too shabby either!


We concluded the evening by watching the open scenes from Austin Powers Goldmember. Again the picture was incredibly detailed with just beautiful colors. The movie itself is absolutely hilarious.


I had myself convinced that no matter how good the 7200 looked I was going to just keep my Sharp and be happy. No can do. Mark Haflich was right. There's no comparison. I really would like to compare the 7200 with the Marantz and the Seleco. But considering the price difference the 7200 is a no brainer. Now if I can only persuade my wife......

 

[ksoza]

Is this a HD2 difference over the Sharp z9000? The marketing changes from HD1 to HD2 have been somewhat unclear as they relate to pq, so this may be a good sign for all pj's now being reviewed. If so, will the z10000 also display these same differences on similiar material. I also look forward to that review.

 

[yahoojames]

john,


i had a chance to preview a 7200 yesterday at a dealer here in Denver. We watched LOTR (not EE), SW EII, and some DirecTV feed (non HD unfortunately). I'm not sure of the DVD player used, but according to Scott, I believe it was providing 480i, so the 7200 was doing all the scaling (which, by the way is quite good). The screen was a VUTec 100" screen.


As far as color and image detail, I was very impressed. Black levels were outstanding in certain situations (e.g. SW EII shots when Obi-Wan comes out of hyperspace at Geonosis, I could see even the faintest stars, not the case with the Yamaha LPX-500). However, in LOTR, the Kazaad Dum scene, when they run into and are surrounded by the orcs, the grays seemed washed out a bit (this must be difficult to render correctly for any PJ). The LPX-500 seemed to perform better here. Of course, this could all be because the unit was brand new and required some more setup/tweaking. As you said, the Shire shots were amazing in color accuracy. Flesh tones seemed off (green), but again, maybe more setup was needed (we viewed using the default presets).


DirecTV feeds looked acceptable on both PJs (I believe they both have the same scalers), and definately better than what I've seen on the Sharp 9000. My criteria for selecting a PJ has a lot to do with how it can display low rez stuff (DirecTV), since that is the majority of my viewing. I think both PJs do this well.

 

[yahoojames]

I forgot, fan noise was not so good on the 7200 (compared with the LPX-500). I could hear it from the second row, 1 seat over (it was table mounted in the first row), but did not hear it at all during viewing.


James

 

[CCDAstro]

I agree with the above posts..... here is a page with some pics of my install:

http://willmclaughlin.astrodigitals....mp/theater.htm


Take Care


Bill McL

 

[plammerdi]

James - so you're saying it was noisier than you'd have liked when the room was quiet, but not noticable when the movie was on? In your opinion, is this a deal breaker at all? Bad comparred to other FPs (12S2 if you know)? Did you notice any light leakage, if so, was it a problem at all?

 

[Wavy]

yahoojames,


What dealer in Denver gave you the demo. I am very interested in seeing the 7200.

 

[yahoojames]

Quote:

Originally posted by plammerdi James - so you're saying it was noisier than you'd have liked when the room was quiet, but not noticable when the movie was on? In your opinion, is this a deal breaker at all? Bad comparred to other FPs (12S2 if you know)? Did you notice any light leakage, if so, was it a problem at all?

With the room completely quite, it was quite audible. This is compared to the Yamaha, which was "virtually silent (only slightly detectable). To me, not a deal breaker. Didn't notice any light leakage, but I wasn't really looking for it.


James

 

[yahoojames]

Wavy, I'll PM you.

 

[mark haflich]

 It is a far far better thing to have opined and be right, than to have opined and be wrong.


Hopefully my demo will show up next week.


Re the source of the improvement. I think it is the whole hardware and software engineering package with only a small amount of the improvement due to the HD2 over the HD1. Now when TI fixes the HD2's dimple problem, then the let's call it the HD2+ will be a substantial improvement. I would think a manufacturer could do a HD2+ swap out for the cost of an HD2+ and some labor. Who knows?


Will we see an HD2+? Who knows?

 

[Cinedave]

Do you guys notice any motion artifacts with this pj? Jaggies, pixellation, whatever? To me it's between the SX21 and the 7200. D-ILA tends to blur the pixels more for a more film-like image which is attractive to me, not to mention that I can probably project a bigger image onto a Stewart screen with D-ILA. Comment are welcome.

 

[longshot]

I disagree about the fan noise. John had his 7200 on an end table that was maybe two feet from my seated position. It was almost silent. During scenes of mostly dialogue I could notice the fan if I really concentrated on it. This is a non issue.


Cinedave,


No pixelation whatsoever.

 

[Timbelmont]

Can anyone tell me where on the San Francisco Peninsula the Infocus 7200 is being demo'd?? (or Santa Clara - San Jose)


TA

 

[Dan2112]

Quote:

Originally posted by Timbelmont Can anyone tell me where on the San Francisco Peninsula the Infocus 7200 is being demo'd?? (or Santa Clara - San Jose) TA

Magnolia Hi Fi on Winchester is scheduled to have a Infocus 7200 in soon. Try calling on Monday. I called this week and they had one, but it was already promised to a customer. More expected soon. I think they are going to use it with a Firehawk. Call to be sure.


- Dan

 

[elf]

There's a demo setup in the new Magnolia HIFI store in Emeryville. It's not calibrated yet. They're using a Firehawk screen and a Denon 3800 or the new Sony 999es. (The Denon looked much better btw.) First impression was that it's a little brighter but not quite as smooth as my VP12s1. Very quiet though. We were watching my superbit 5th Element. We tried both progressive and interlaced from both DVD sources. The Sony looked better interlaced and the Denon looked better progressive. Hard to judge blacks without it being calibrated.

 

[warr]

Regarding fan noise, Its both very quiet and slightly noisy. That is, I notice that when I am under it or in front that I can hear it (in a quiet room), and when I am behind it I can't hear it at all. So the answer is it is a positional thing. I can't hear at all with audio going.


mw

 

[Timbelmont]

OK, I know what the 7200 manual says about throw distance, but I'd like to hear from real end-users concerning their screen size and how far back their 7200s are. I have a room that's only about 12' X 16' and I want a 92" diagonal 16:9 screen.


TA

 

[Chris Dallas]

Quote:

Originally posted by Timbelmont OK, I know what the 7200 manual says about throw distance, but I'd like to hear from real end-users concerning their screen size and how far back their 7200s are. I have a room that's only about 12' X 16' and I want a 92" diagonal 16:9 screen. TA

Yes, I second that!


I also need to know, I have to have my PJ 18.5 feet away from the screen, there's no way around it and my screen is 119" diagonal, will it be adequate or not?


TIA

 

[WScott]

Wishing is not going to alter physics.

Do the calculations:

119 diag is approx. 103 width. Max zoom on 7200 is 2.08.

That means the max. throw distance is -- 214" or 17.85 feet.

End of Story.

PS I don't have to touch the projector to "know this"

If your 18.5 feet is the minimum distance away. Your screwed with this projector!

 

[noah katz]

"PS I don't have to touch the projector to "know this"


Maybe, maybe not. A spec is just a spec, and you draw conclusions from them at your peril. As an example, the Sanyo PLV60's throw ratio was quite a bit shorter than its spec.