Infocus 4805 (1 Viewer)

I am waiting to get this projector. After reading the posts here, i thought this was suppose to be available sometime in march. Just now, i was scrolling through threads and someone said that it will not be out until late May! Does anyone have additional information on when this projector is coming out, march, may or somewhere in between?

Don't know how accurate this is, but someone posted this schedule on another site. It was reportedly in an email the poster received from Infocus:

Spec sheet PDF available March 20
Spec sheets available to order online March 25
Press release, Marketing Start Date April 5
ScreenPlay 4805 web page live, US April 5
EMEA/APAC launch Q2
FCS May 2004

("FCS" might be First Customer Shipment.)

I wonder why this is hot. Sony's VPL HS3 looks a lot better, and at a lower price.

Hi Bob ...
IMHO .. the specs look about the same btwn Sony VPL-HS3 and SP4805. I dont put much stock in lumens for a home unit, assuming a decent FP HT setup has good ambient light control.

I think the indifference towards the Sony unit comes from the fact that it's an LCD PJ. A lot of people just think DLP's have "Punchier" colors and better contrast ratios. Now, I'm convinced that the newer Panny LCD PJ's have basically solved the LCD black level problem, but I've yet to see an LCD from any other mfr that beats the Panny PT-L500.

Also the 4805 excitement is also coming from the tidal wave of X1 momentum. Simple fact is that a new entry REALLY has to outperform (not simply match) the competition to overcome this kind of momentum.

I think a lot of people believe a calibrated 4805 will be brighter and much higher in on/off contrast than a calibrated LCD projector, HS3 or otherwise. If reviews are done once the 4805 arrives and it doesn't deliver something over 600 lumens and something over 1000:1 contrast then I don't think they'll be selling very many of them for $1,800 when other alternatives exist. OTOH, if they substantially exceed those specifications they'll be backordered for months.

The latest from an avsforum poster, in reply to a recent email (I'm subscribed to the main 4805 thread):



Still sounds like late May or early July.

A poster on AVS said the 4805 will be "tweaked for home theater performance." This includes better black levels. If Sony's HS3 will match the 4805 in contrast I'll be impressed.

I demoed the Infocus X1 last week. It is rated at 1100 lumens and I found it quite dim with a little ambient light. The Infocus 4805 is coming out with only 750 lumens.
I know a lot of HT enthusiasts prefer to watch movies in almost total darkness. Unfortunately, only those with dedicated basements can totally eliminate ambient light, and at this condition only about 600-700 lumens may be needed if calibrated to AVIA. Otherwise, given some ambient light, I feel one has to have at least 1000-1200 lumens.
On the race for black level/contrast, I have my doubts on the units claiming 2000-3000 to 1 contrast. Does it really make a difference? I have also watched a $20,000 projector rated at only 800:1 or so contrast and the picture was out of this world, black levels included.
The BenQ 6100 has good lumens. good contrast, good price. Unfortunately for me, I only want to look at native 16:9,( Sony VPL HS3, Epson Home 10, Infocus 4805) and can only afford the entry level models. Oh well...

According to Bob Williams from InFocus, a 4805 calibrated for home theater use will be substantially brighter than an X1 calibrated for home theater use. The X1's brightness specs are based on it being used to throw a bright, ugly, unsaturated, very cold color temperature picture of a computer screen in a flourescent-lighted conference room. There is no such mode on the 4805 since it is intended for use in a home theater.

The "lumens" and "contrast" specs on projectors, especially business projectors, could hardly matter less in evaluating their use in a home theater. Oh, and another thing to keep in mind is that any 4:3 projector puts out 1/4 less light when used with 16:9 material.

I'm not trying to pick on Bob but I'll also point out that 600 lumens will make a very bright picture on a small screen with some gain. Believe me, if you get an honest 600 lumens on a 45"x80" screen with a gain of around 1.3-1.4 that will be as bright a picture as most direct-view CRTs. Not to mention what you can get with a High Power or other 2.5+ gain screens. The reason a front projector needs light control is that the ambient and reflected light wash out the grays and blacks in the picture.

Thanks Scott, Brent, for the comments. Hope to see a full review of the 4805 soon.

http://www.infocushome.com/amer/eng/...lay/sp4805.asp

Page is up...

Thanks Jack ....

This answers the false rumor that the 4805 was shipping with a native 4:3 DLP ... The InFocus webpage clearly says 854x480 (16:9) TI DARKCHIP(TM) 2 480P

Scott

grrr it's a 404 for me... Can't navigate to it from the main site either :frowning:

The 4805 page was up yesterday ... gone today.
seems InFocus just cant decide what to do about this product launch.

Maybe it's just down until it's finished. (Photos added and links completed.) My (worthless and uninformed) prediction: it'll be back up by the middle of next week.

Well, it's a week later and the site is not back up. Guess I was wrong. Again.

I spoke to someone at Infocus yesterday. They said an announcement will come on May 6 and a release date of May 17. So who knows.

Several people have reported on another forum that Crutchfield is taking pre-orders (by phone only) and promising delivery in 2 or 3 weeks.

Yep, just ordered mine.

How much is crutchfield charging for the preorders???