Infocus 4800 (1 Viewer)

[Jack Gilvey]

Sounds like a good analysis, Joseph.




Will do. Since I've used a 4800 for the last month, I may be able to make some meaningful observations.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Todd:

Congratulations!

The X1 blows plasma out of the water in the area of picture size and durability. Depending on the plasma model, it may have even have better apparent contrast ratio!

Here's some initial setup parameters for you to try with anamorphic DVD projected to a 1.0 gain screen (of course, you'll want to calibrate the projector for your setup with Avia or something similar.)

* Aspect ratio: 16:9 (And don't forget to switch your DVD player to 16:9 via its SETUP menu.)
* Preset: Film
* Contrast: 48
* Brightness: 52
* Color: 65
* Tint: 55
(On the Advanced Picture Menu)
* Sharpness: Sharper
* Color Temp: Warm
* Red Gain: 71
* Green Gain: 71
* Blue Gain: 71

Note: Some people like to run with the color temperature set to "Cool", and with the Green Gain set to 50, while setting Red and Blue to above 70. This seems to increase the apparent contrast ratio, but the colors seemed more vivid for me with the setup described above.

* DON'T FORGET that the X1 defaults to "Presentation" mode when it's first powered up, so the most important thing to remember is to switch it to either "Film" or "Video" mode. Either one of those modes will switch the white segment of the color wheel off for better color purity.

* You can save your settings to one of three User Presets and you can then set a User Preset to a source input via the on-screen menus. That way, every time you switch to the s-video source, for example, the projector will automatically load the desired settings for that source. (The default is to utilize the last adjusted settings for the particular source.)

* You can "map" the STAR key (called the EFFECT key in the manual) on the remote to allow you to toggle through the various available aspect ratios (4:3, 16:9, and "Native"). The "Native" mode will allow you to view, for example, 4:3 bonus material on an otherwise 16:9 disc by centering the 4:3 image inside the 16:9 area. This would allow you to stay with a 16:9 screen area for all sources if you desire. The key can be mapped via the on-screen "Settings" menu.

* Check your firmware version by selecting the "About" option from the menu. The most recent firmware version is 4.1. The 4.0 version and below had some "sync" issues with a few HDTV sources. If you don't have the latest firmware, it's no problem since its "flashable" via the USB ports on your computer!

* Finally, here's a link to an invaluable resource for X1 users:

http://members.shaw.ca/technut/x1faq/


Have fun!

 

[todbnla]

Thanks again Joseph!

 

[todbnla]

Thanks again Joseph!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Got the 4805 yesterday...

80" foamcore screen, white. Just to play with, screen still not set. I'm feeding it a Panasonic XP-30, an XBox, and a Motorola 5100 HD STB all via component.

In comparison to the 4800, the most noticeable improvement is the blacks/contrast. Even on this white/shiny surface, they look black. There's enough brighness (even with brighness set to under 20) that I may take advantage of a grey screen to blacken them further. Fan noise is lower than the 4800 in low-power mode, not an issue. Colors are stunning. No rainbows at all, even when I try. "SDE"/pixelation is not an issue at 2x my 70" screen width.

This will be the first pj I own (demo'd an X1 and 4800 in my home), and it's everything I need based on what I value in an image and what I watch. There's no way I'd buy an X1 at this point. If I were fixated on resolution at the expense of all other image attributes, I may have gone LCD. My next pj will likely be a 720p DLP when they enter this price range and when I can buy stuff to watch.

There's some first impressions.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Got the 4805 yesterday...

80" foamcore screen, white. Just to play with, screen still not set. I'm feeding it a Panasonic XP-30, an XBox, and a Motorola 5100 HD STB all via component.

In comparison to the 4800, the most noticeable improvement is the blacks/contrast. Even on this white/shiny surface, they look black. There's enough brighness (even with brighness set to under 20) that I may take advantage of a grey screen to blacken them further. Fan noise is lower than the 4800 in low-power mode, not an issue. Colors are stunning. No rainbows at all, even when I try. "SDE"/pixelation is not an issue at 2x my 70" screen width.

This will be the first pj I own (demo'd an X1 and 4800 in my home), and it's everything I need based on what I value in an image and what I watch. There's no way I'd buy an X1 at this point. If I were fixated on resolution at the expense of all other image attributes, I may have gone LCD. My next pj will likely be a 720p DLP when they enter this price range and when I can buy stuff to watch.

There's some first impressions.

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Thanks Jack. Mine comes today ....

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Thanks Jack. Mine comes today ....

 

[Citizen87645]

Good to hear...the X1 pricing is incredibly tempting right now, but I'm trying to stay strong. Hearing the good things makes it worth waiting.

 

[Citizen87645]

Good to hear...the X1 pricing is incredibly tempting right now, but I'm trying to stay strong. Hearing the good things makes it worth waiting.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Jack,

Great!! Thanks!

Would you agree with me now that, at least for Home Theater applications, the 4805 is three times better than the 4800?

One thing:

Just for the heck of it, I'd like to see you run the XP-30 into the 4805's s-video input. This will allow you to sample the abilities of the new 4805 Faroudja chip. I know the XP-30 has Faroudja built-in; but, based on what I've heard, the chip in the 4805 should be even better! Perhaps you could do an A/B comparison on a scene with a lot of action in it, like, say, one of the battle scenes from the new LOTR:ROTK disc?

Thanks again for the impressions!

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Jack,

Great!! Thanks!

Would you agree with me now that, at least for Home Theater applications, the 4805 is three times better than the 4800?

One thing:

Just for the heck of it, I'd like to see you run the XP-30 into the 4805's s-video input. This will allow you to sample the abilities of the new 4805 Faroudja chip. I know the XP-30 has Faroudja built-in; but, based on what I've heard, the chip in the 4805 should be even better! Perhaps you could do an A/B comparison on a scene with a lot of action in it, like, say, one of the battle scenes from the new LOTR:ROTK disc?

Thanks again for the impressions!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Will do, ASAP. I plan on ordering a Bravo D2 and using DVI in my permanent setup.

 

[Jack Ferry]

While the 4805 has a MAP of $1499, it can be found for about $200 less from one or two authorized resellers. (But on the negative side, Jack G got his already, and I'm going to be waiting another week yet. That's okay with me - my room won't be ready for a couple more weeks yet.)