Review by C. T. Cushing
Rating:
I have logged about 350 hours on my X1 and am still impressed by what I see. I thought that DVDs looked amazing with s-video in, but Hi-Def is even more incredible, almost 3 dimensional.Slight rainbows from the 2x color wheel may or may not bother you. I am a broadcast professional and highly critical of image quality, and although I notice them, they are not a deal breaker, and seem to diminish the more I watch.If I were buying today, I’d give serious consideration to the newly announced Screenplay 4805. Although it looks like the X1, it is “enhanced” in many ways. For another $600 you get DVI in with HDCP (trust me, your gonna want this when HD-DVD hits the market), a 25% brigher bulb (the X1 when set-up for video without the white wheel segment, is less than 500 lumens), a default calibrated set-up for video out of the box, and a 16×9 image panel instead of 4:3. Instead of 800×600, it’s 854×480. This means no vertical scaling on DVD material down to 800×450 (should be much sharper and should be markedly sharper using DVI for input from the new DVD players. Basically we’re talking about digital pixel for pixel imaging right from the DVD) and no gray bars on the top and bottom when viewing 16×9 material. As a further home theatre bonus, they’ve added a 12v screen trigger for electronic pull-down screens.Of course, it’s got the proven Faroudja DCDi processor as well.The X1 rocks and is cheap, but if you primarily want to view movies, check out the 4805 which should ship sometime this spring.

Review by Samuel M. Samuelian, Jr.
Rating:
Hi everyone,
Each year around this time, your old friend Sam gets into high tech gear and explores the latest gadgets out there. This year I wanted to add big screen video to our bedroom to take advantage of watching more of the many, many DVD’s I have amassed in the past few years. Why watch lousy TV programs when you can see a good feature and see it movie size?
Well, I had NO IDEA what a REVOLUTION has occurred in video processing technology at a price ANYONE can afford right now. Those of you who have seen my eight foot projected picture at home will appreciate what I am about to tell you….you can have close to that great quality for DVD’s, Cable TV or High Definition, or other sources for only $999.99 and all you need do is go to Circuit City and buy the INFOCUS X1 projector. Infocus is one of the leading manufacturers of projectors for industrial use and their sets are now being tailored for home use. Their products use the DLP technology (Digital Light Producing) and the latest Texas Instruments chip. This baby is smaller than a typewriter (about 5 by 10 by 12) and weighs only six pounds. The bulb will last for up to FOUR THOUSAND hours and is relatively cheap to replace. The brightness and contrast specs are actually better than my two year old six thousand dollar Sharp XV-9000 projector. It has lower resolution than some higher priced machines, but still enough punch to make any DVD look great for picture sizes up to nine feet. It even has a small speaker and amp built in so you don’t need to hook up a sound system, which is especially handy if you want to carry it out anywhere. It has a zoom lens that allows you to adjust picture size and a handy remote control that provides all the choices for any adjustments you need.
Right out of the box, and without making any adjustments, the picture on “Annie Get Your Gun” (an exceptional DVD!) looked beautiful. I hyped the brightness, color, and contrast a bit and was even more pleased. Truly, this projector is just unbelievable and it is a thrill to share this review of its great performance with you.
You don’t even need a screen to enjoy the picture, as it will work on a white wall or even a sheet. A cheap screen will be better, however. Anyone with at least a five foot throw distance can enjoy this baby in a darkened room. I had mine about fifteen feet from the screen for an eight foot picture. Even with light on in the room, the picture can be enjoyed.
This projector was introduced at $1,600.00 and was recently lowered in price because a newer model is coming out next year…BUT the new model will not include the fine Faroudja processor that is built into the unit. This processor is great at cleaning up imperfections in video. Jagged edges, video noise, and more will be smoothed out.
As usual, I did much research into this and compared other models and read countless reviews to find the best bang for the buck right now. There are a few other models that average a couple hundred more and will probably give similar performance, but I don’t think any other machine will come close for this price.
So, if a big beautiful video experience is what you have been waiting for….go get one and enjoy! Just hook up your cable box or an inexpensive DVD player and you are in business. BOTTOM LINE: People who are going out and buying those huge rear projection TV’s that are heavy and take up a lot of room paid from two to three thousand dollars and sometimes much more. You can have a picture double their size, that will have no “burn in” problems, take up no space, and almost certainly will have a superior picture….for a third of the price. The projector also has a THREE year warranty.
I think Santa Claus came early this year…because it feels like Xmas here today!
best to all,
Sam