July 26, 2005

Hi folks,

There is no such thing as the perfect projector for all applications. That is why there are hundreds of different models on the market. InFocus is one of the manufacturers that puts a lot of effort into designing projectors for very specific uses and market niches. And nowhere is this more obvious than in the comparison between the Screenplay 4805 and the X3.

The 4805 and the X3 share the same casework, but that is where the similarity ends. The 4805 is designed for home theater, and the X3 is designed for conference room and classroom multipurpose presentation. And both are strong solutions for their intended markets, specifically because of the attention that went into each of them as solutions rather than just projectors. A review of the InFocus X3 has just been posted.

Can you use the X3 for home theater? Yes, of course you can. Do we recommend it? Not particularly, but not because it is a bad video projector--it isn't. Rather, for the same money you can get better overall home theater performance from models that are designed specifically for that use. On the HT models, color wheel speeds are faster, color saturation is better, fan noise is often lower, and you generally get better video processing. Nevertheless, there will be those who buy the X3 for home theater, and who will thoroughly enjoy it. And there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Thanks for using ProjectorCentral,

Evan Powell