Recently I found out about people using these so called “presentation projectors†for home theatre. I thought you were all nuts. Seeing that I am at least one beer short of a six pack, I decided to check this out. Two days ago I called for a demo LP350 unit. They shipped it out next day. I found this site last nite and noticed a number of posts on this projector. I noticed mixed reviews from the thread headers so I decided not to read them until I formed my own opinions.
I have nothing to compare this projector to, so I will detail my initial impressions. I plan on reviewing the NEC,Sanyo, and Sony as well. Anyway here goes…
Hardware/Setup:
Infocus LP350.
Portable Panasonic DVD LV70
DSS Satellite Receiver.
S-Video connection.
Projected on a bare wall in a very dark room.
I setup the LP350 about 17 feet from the wall. It painted a wide screen image measuring 8’ wide by 4.5’ high (sweet!). I popped in the first DVD – El Dorado, and me and my 5 yr old little girl watched it. She said “Wow! – that’s cool†and then she remained fixated on the “cool wall movie†until it was over. I thought it was pretty cool too, but it was an animated movie and I needed to test more. After that I watched most of Armageddon and Sixth Sense with my wife. We also watched some satellite tv as well
Review/Comments
I was pretty impressed. I was very skeptical that a projector would be able to produce an acceptable image. This one did. My wife also thought it looked very good. The animated movie looked excellent to me and I thought the other movies looked very good as well. I noticed light outside of the picture. There were clear lines that the video fit in, but it looked like typical “extra light†around the image that projectors make. The colors are not obviously as vibrant as my picture tube tv, however, there were very true reds, greens, and blues. I wouldn’t say that the image was muddy or dull. I shouldn’t really comment too much on color because this is being displayed on my bare wall painted a yellowish eggshell color. I suppose a screen would help the colors. The picture was amazingly clear. It was a little less clear watching satellite tv, but still acceptable. The LP350 really peaks my interest in projectors and I would love to see the difference with a screen.
After reading some other comments on the forum I would have to make these comments…
Black is not black: There was not an instance during the time we watched the movies that either of us thought “gee, that black is not really black enoughâ€. After re-reviewing it is true you will not find a pure black, but you wouldn’t really think about it unless you were looking for it.
Crawlies: Yes. Certain scenes/colors show a wavy/crawly thing going on with the image. It is not really persistent or annoying.
Screen door effect: here is a quick fix – MOVE MORE THAN 3 FEET FROM THE IMAGE! My wife and I were watching the movies from 12-15 ft away on a 8’x4.5’ image and could not see any screen door effect, and its not our eyes. (I had laser surgery and tested 20/20 a month ago.) I had to fire the projector up to look for it. I slowly stepped in and saw it about 3 or 4 feet from the wall. Other than that, it all blends in nice.
Rainbow: No. I did not see it.
Halo: Yes. I described some of that above.
Overall
The LP350 is probably not the best thing since sliced bread, however, it did surprise me that it looked very acceptable. It was fun to watch such a large image with good clarity. I can wait to test other units. Then I will be able to compare them to each other. Does anyone know how much better it would look with a screen? Anyway, you ba$tards got me sucked in.
Hope this helps someone.
Take care,
Mike
I have nothing to compare this projector to, so I will detail my initial impressions. I plan on reviewing the NEC,Sanyo, and Sony as well. Anyway here goes…
Hardware/Setup:
Infocus LP350.
Portable Panasonic DVD LV70
DSS Satellite Receiver.
S-Video connection.
Projected on a bare wall in a very dark room.
I setup the LP350 about 17 feet from the wall. It painted a wide screen image measuring 8’ wide by 4.5’ high (sweet!). I popped in the first DVD – El Dorado, and me and my 5 yr old little girl watched it. She said “Wow! – that’s cool†and then she remained fixated on the “cool wall movie†until it was over. I thought it was pretty cool too, but it was an animated movie and I needed to test more. After that I watched most of Armageddon and Sixth Sense with my wife. We also watched some satellite tv as well
Review/Comments
I was pretty impressed. I was very skeptical that a projector would be able to produce an acceptable image. This one did. My wife also thought it looked very good. The animated movie looked excellent to me and I thought the other movies looked very good as well. I noticed light outside of the picture. There were clear lines that the video fit in, but it looked like typical “extra light†around the image that projectors make. The colors are not obviously as vibrant as my picture tube tv, however, there were very true reds, greens, and blues. I wouldn’t say that the image was muddy or dull. I shouldn’t really comment too much on color because this is being displayed on my bare wall painted a yellowish eggshell color. I suppose a screen would help the colors. The picture was amazingly clear. It was a little less clear watching satellite tv, but still acceptable. The LP350 really peaks my interest in projectors and I would love to see the difference with a screen.
After reading some other comments on the forum I would have to make these comments…
Black is not black: There was not an instance during the time we watched the movies that either of us thought “gee, that black is not really black enoughâ€. After re-reviewing it is true you will not find a pure black, but you wouldn’t really think about it unless you were looking for it.
Crawlies: Yes. Certain scenes/colors show a wavy/crawly thing going on with the image. It is not really persistent or annoying.
Screen door effect: here is a quick fix – MOVE MORE THAN 3 FEET FROM THE IMAGE! My wife and I were watching the movies from 12-15 ft away on a 8’x4.5’ image and could not see any screen door effect, and its not our eyes. (I had laser surgery and tested 20/20 a month ago.) I had to fire the projector up to look for it. I slowly stepped in and saw it about 3 or 4 feet from the wall. Other than that, it all blends in nice.
Rainbow: No. I did not see it.
Halo: Yes. I described some of that above.
Overall
The LP350 is probably not the best thing since sliced bread, however, it did surprise me that it looked very acceptable. It was fun to watch such a large image with good clarity. I can wait to test other units. Then I will be able to compare them to each other. Does anyone know how much better it would look with a screen? Anyway, you ba$tards got me sucked in.
Hope this helps someone.
Take care,
Mike
