InFocus ScreenPlay 5700

Should be at the top of your "must see" list

By Tony Davey

April 2004

InFocus ScreenPlay 5700 DLP projector. $9999

It wasn't that many months ago that I was first introduced to a DLP projector in the form of the InFocus ScreenPlay 4800. The 4800 exhibited excellent picture quality with outstanding contrast (black levels) and a smoothness to the picture that has earned the InFocus range of DLP projectors quite a following. But it also caused eye strain among a few viewers.

The InFocus ScreenPlay 5700 is the next model up in the ScreenPlay range and includes a 16:9 panel with a native resolution of 1024x576 (ideally matched for progressive scan PAL images). The 5700 is significantly bigger than its sibling, weighing in at around 4.5kg (as opposed to 3.2kg) and 10cm wider.

There are lies, damned lies and specifications. The 4800 has a published contrast ratio of 2000:1 and 1100 ansi lumens brightness, the 5700 quotes 1400:1 contrast ratio and 1000 ansi Lumens. Usually as you progress up the range, these numbers improve, not reduce.

Although a side by side comparison could not be made, I am confident in my perception that the 5700 is the better and more accurate of the two. The 5700's black levels were by far the best I have seen so far (even noticeably superior to the Panasonic AE500) and with a 16:9 panel, 100% of the 5700 bulbs energy is being used on the projected image rather than having "wasted light" on black bars, making whites glisten and bright colours leap off the screen at you.

Lamp life is equal between the two machines, rated at 3000 hours each, and the 5700 was certainly quieter than the 4800, although I found it still too noisy to have it too close to your seating position.

The real increase in performance comes through in its internals. The 4800 operates a 2x colour wheel, the 5700 has a 5x colour wheel and has also improved the internal processor to the Mattahorn chip. These two factors help to minimise/eliminate the "DLP nasties" (rainbows and eye strain) and help to provide a more natural film like image which of course leads to ultimately improving the movie watching experience.

Performance

There is always a raft of material to choose from when reviewing a projector, from live action to animation, "reference quality" material to "they need to try again" transfers.

Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers is virtually three hours of home theatre demonstration material, from the opening scenes and the replay of Gandalf in the caves of Morea to the final battle at Helms Deep. The 5700 impressed immediately. The images weren't "razor sharp", but I found that a good thing as the image had a fantastic smoothness to it and felt less "digital". The 5700 gave me more of a feeling that I was looking through a window rather than watching a projected image.

The old maxim of garbage in equalling garbage out still applies. A not so good laserdisc version of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi certainly showed the inferiority of that older format, but it was still watchable. If you are thinking of hooking up that old VCR (you should be shot) or TV to the 5700, I would highly recommend you keep the screen size to "sane" sizes or look to an external video scaler/processor to try and improve the limitations of the source material.

A Bug's Life was the reviewers disc of choice for quite some time, and the 5700 helped reinforce why. From the outstanding colours shown with the bright green of the grass, sandy browns of Ant Hill and even the water in the puddles through to remarkable level of shadow detail (ever noticed the markings on the roof inside of the ants cave from "where's my food" scene?) the entire image was simply stunning, a remarkable effort for digital projection.

So is the 5700 is worth an additional $6000 over the cost of the 4800 or $5000 over the current "king of the mountain", the Panasonic PTAE 500?

Picture quality is certainly far superior to the 4800 and is superior to the Panasonic, with a more "film like" image and outstanding colour fidelity. Blacks appear blacker than on the AE500, while the fan noise is noticeably quieter than the 4800 and on par with the AE500.

For me, these are certainly strong reasons to consider pushing (or breaking) the boundaries of a projector budget. There is the law of diminishing returns, and that certainly applies here. However if you are already looking at projectors around the $10,000 mark, then the 5700 has to be on the top of your must see list.

For your nearest InFocus ScreenPlay dealer