Infocus Screenplay 5700 vs. 7205 (1 Viewer)

[Dave Thomas]

I am in the process of researching my first front projector home theater setup after 5 enjoyable years watching a Hitachi Ultravision 53" TV that I built into the wall matched with an NHT 5.1 setup and Onkyo receiver. I have been working with a local home theater store here in Oakville, Ontario. I have been able to demo both the Infocus Screenplay 5700 and the 7205, although they are in different dedicated demo rooms. They were both projecting onto 92" screens on completely blackened rooms. I was sitting about 10 feet from the 7205 and 15 feet from the 5700. I have been able to watch HDTV and by zipping back and forth between rooms, get a pretty good idea of the differences in the projectors. I've done the same thing with DVDs.

Some observations:

1) HDTV on both projectors is gorgeous;
2) The 7205 has a slight edge in resolution but this is only important when being very critical of the image;
3) Shadow detail is better on the 7205;
4) Contrast a bit better on the 7205;
5) Both projectors are very bright;
6) When viewing DVDs the 5700 image looked a bit "flat"; I don't know how to otherwise describe it;
7) HDTV on the 7205 was truly approaching a 3-D quality, it was that good.

Here is my question. The price of the 7205 is double that of the 5700. The 5700 is a very nice projector but is inferior to the 7205. Price-wise I can swing a 7205 but I'm wondering if, once I get down to simply watching DVDs and HDTV, whether I will be dissatisfied with the 5700 given my above comments or will the 5700 provide a satisfying picture. What have others done in similar circumstances? Opted for the better but more expensive or gone with the good but not best but at half the price option? Note: My room will accomodate the lens throw of either projectors. Thanks!

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Will you be able to jump between rooms at home to see the difference? I think not.

By itself, either of the units would look fine. You figure that you are probably paying for something ...

Regards

 

[david stark]

I'll probably be doing the same thing, but with a 4805 and 5700 in a few weeks (in toronto). I was originally looking more at 5700 and 7205, which I probably could stretch to, but it would mean cut backs in other areas.

Even a fwe weeks ago I was looking at more the 5700 range, but other factors since then have made me think twice about making that much of an outlay - at the moment I live in a 1 bedroom apartment so it can't have a dedicated room, I also want to upgrade my cd player and speakers (front 2 only). I also checked out prices the other day from a local dealer. I also got a quote from the same dealer about 10 months ago and in that time the price of the 5700 has dropped from (all prices CAD) $7200 to $5600.

With prices going at these rates I think I'm better off saving $3000 (the 4805 is approx $2200) and spending it on speakers/cd player which are not moving forward at the same rate that digital projectors are.

 

[Dave Thomas]

Good point. That is the main problem - the technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that it is hard to shell out major dollars for something that will undoubtedly be improved upon in the coming years. But at some point, you have to also ask yourself: "How much better a picture do I really need". I am hard pressed to think that I won't still be satisfied by the image the 7205 produces in, say, 5 years time (an eternity in front projector time, but still...).