InFocus Play Big IN76 - European Projector of the Year Review

InFocus’s Play Big IN76 has won the European Projector of the Year 2006-2007 awarded by the European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA). It is in fact, the third year in a row InFocus has won the award. The award was given for both technology and design by a panel of some 50 judges from European multimedia and AV publications covering more than 19 countries.

InFocus Play Big IN76 DLP Projector Review

The IN76 has a native 720p (1280 x 720) high definition output with other formats being scaled to fit the native resolution.. There are two other lower specification projectors in the Play Big range – the IN74EX (native 1024×576) and the IN72 (native 854×480).

The IN76 looks like a performance machine with an eye catching black and silver stylishly curved molded body. An interesting feature of the IN76 is its swivel and tilt pedestal. Users should find the pedestal far easier to use for setup than multiple extendible support legs. Keystone correction would need to be used to correct any image skewing as lens shift is not included. The pedestal can be removed if the unit is to be ceiling mounted.

Two technological highlights of the IN76 are;

the Texas Instrument’s high definition DarkChip 2 DMD chip,
a Pixelworks DNX video processing/enhancing chip.

The Texas Instruments high definition (720p) .65 WXGA DLP (Digital Light Processing) DarkChip 2 DMD chip is an excellent microdisplay chip but does have a higher specification sibling, the DarkChip3. The DarkChip3 has flatter mirrors with superior reflective properties and reduced inter-pixel spacings (better “fill factor”). Although the DarkChip 2 is a “budget” projector choice it does support Texas Instruments Brilliant Color technology. Brilliant Color was designed to compensate for loss of color saturation when a white segment is added to the color wheel which in not the situation with the IN76. InFocus is targeting the home theatre market where deeper blacks are more important than extra brightness is in the business world.

The Pixelworks DNX video-processing included by InFocus improves the quality of video. The DNX technology uses the following enhancement techniques to deliver a clearer, more natural-looking standard and high-definition video images:

DNX Motion-Adaptive De-Interlacing
DNX PixelBoost
DNX Rich Color Processing
DNX Video Enhancement Processing
DNX Noise Reduction
Digital Deflection Control

The DNX chip also provides the digital keystone correction.

Quick Facts:

Light engine: 16:9 format native 1280×720 resolution DLP DarkChip2, and a six-segment (RGBRGB) 4x speed color wheel.

ANSI lumens: 1000

Contrast Ratio: 3000:1

Lamp Life: 3000 hours (normal operating mode)

Compatibility: DVI/HDMI (HDCP), HDTV 1080p50/60 1080p/24, 1080i, 1035i, 720p, 576p, 576i, 480p, 480i, and computer resolutions up to XGA (1024×768). NTSC, PAL, SECAM.

Digital Keystone Correction (vertical only): +/- 20 degrees

Lens Shift: not included

Calibration: calibrated to D65 color standards (ideal color temperature for video as defined by NTSC standards).

Connectors:

HDMI
M1-DA/DVI (HDCP)
RCA component video
S-video 4-pin mini-DIN
RCA composite video
DVI-D 24-pin
mini-phone 3.5mm jack
RS-232 control
12V trigger

The HDMI (high definition multimedia interface), connector is a good inclusion providing a convenient, high quality interface with high definition video sources.

The M1DA port allows firmware updates to be downloaded from InFocus’ web site.

Warranty: InFocus provide a one year warranty.