ScreenPlay 7200 High-Definition DLP™ Projector
The
latest Digital Light Processing™ (DLP) home theater projectors have
come a long way from previous generation models. The ScreenPlay 7200 from
InFocus Corporation uses the latest HD2/Mustang Digital Micromirror Device™
(DMD™) from Texas Instruments for a stunning high definition image.
The new HD2 DLP has an increased deflection angle of 12° versus 10°
(used in the earlier HD1 DLP) and a Dark Metal process used on
the individual mirror surfaces further improves image contrast. The native
resolution of the HD2 DLP is the same 1280x720 pixel array used in the
earlier HD1 DLP. Complimenting the new DLP technology used on the ScreenPlay
7200 is Faroudja's highly regarded video deinterlacing and scaling processing.
The ScreenPlay 7200 is medium sized projector (measuring about 13" wide by 9" deep) with all the attributes of a great home theater projector. However, the look better resembles a portable projector with a large molded handle on the front housing. We certainly have no objections to this since the handle proved to be convenient during our installation. Further evidence of this projector being used in portable applications is the full set of user controls on the top of the chassis.
Light
from the ScreenPlay 7200 projector is produced from a 200/250-Watt UHP
lamp. The precision lens optics is designed by the optics experts at Carl
Zeiss as noted on the lens housing. Single DLP projectors require an internal
color filter wheel to produce sequential red, green and blue images at
a high rate on the screen. The natural persistence in our vision integrates
these sequential images and produces a color picture on the screen. The
faster the sequence, the easier it is for our eyes to integrate the colors.
One of the problem associated with single DLP projectors is the "rainbow
effect" often seen when the color sequence becomes apparent during
fast motion or when the viewer's eyes move rapidly. Some people are more
sensitive to this effect than others. To minimize this problem, the ScreenPlay
7200 uses a new six-segment color wheel (Red-Green-Blue-Red-Green-Blue)
that runs at 9000 rpm. The result is video projecting the RGB color sequence
300 times per second or five times the 60 Hertz frame rate. This helps
reduce the "rainbow effect" phenomenon for a lot of viewers.
DLP technology is really quite amazing when you look at how it works. The array of 1280 by 720 pixels are individually controlled and determined by the incoming video signal. Each pixel toggles between two discrete states (on/off) and a high rate. In other words, the micro-mirrors don't tilt slightly, but rather tilt completely (12 degrees) from end-to-end. By varying the duty cycle (on-time versus off-time) and keeping the frequency fixed, the different levels of brightness or shades of gray are produced and synchronized with each of the three primary colors to create the picture. The end result is a beautiful, high contrast image, especially with the new HD2 DLP chip.
Setup
Our setup included the ScreenPlay 7200 with a 100" diagonal Stewart
FireHawk screen mounted on a Luxus Deluxe ScreenWall. The FireHawk is
an excellent compliment to today's DLP projectors; It has a gain of 1.35
and a wide viewing angle of 100 degrees. FireHawk's ability to resist
ambient light in the room helps maintain a high contrast image. In addition,
the gray characteristics in the screen coating deepens the black level
to further enhance the already impressive HD2 DLP chip. We mounted our
projector from the ceiling and positioned it to minimize geometric errors.
No lens shift adjustments are provided, so the projector must be mounted
correctly to avoid using the digital keystone adjustments. The keystone
adjustments tend to degrade the image quality, so ideally we prefer not
to use them. Zoom and focus on the 7200 are fully manual, so it's a good
thing this is a one time setup. The zoom lens is actually more powerful
than many projectors we have seen. This allowed us to project a 100"
diagonol image onto our 16:9 FireHawk screen at a distance of about 13
feet. We didn't get prefect geometry due to the optics, but it was very
close to ideal, allowing us to slightly overscan on the screen. The VeLux
material on the Luxus frame absorbed the entire overscan, resulting in
a perfect looking 16:9 image from our seating position.
Connectivity
The rear panel of the ScreenPlay 7200 has a variety of video inputs including
both analog and digital interfaces. One composite and two S-video inputs
fully compatible with NTSC, NTSC 4.43, PAL, SECAM standards are provided.
There are two component (YPrPb, 3 RCA jacks) video inputs and one VESA
(15-pin D-sub) input. The projector can actually accept either component
or RGB with sync-on-green on the RCA connections labeled "component".
The VESA input can also run in either component or RGB/HV formats for
the ultimate in video interface compatibility. However, the user must
select the correct Color Space option in the setup menu. All common
formats (480p, 720p 1080i and 1080p) are supported with these inputs.
The ScreenPlay 7200 also has a rather unique M1-DA connector that greatly
resembles a standard DVI connector. There are two adapter cables available
from InFocus for connecting to the M1-DA connector. The DVI-D to M1-DA
adapter cable (Part number: SP-DVI-D) includes a 24-pin male DVI-D connector
and a 4-pin USB interface. The DVI-A to M1-DA adapter cable (Part number:
SP-DVI-A) includes a standard analog VESA (15-pin) male and a 4-pin USB
interface. Both cables are just over 6 feet in length. The DVI-D interface
is fully DVI/HDCP compliant for encrypted content. A D-5 connector is
also provided on the ScreenPlay 7200, but we did not test this interface.
Additional connectors include a pair of 12V triggers for screen control
(drop-down screens or curtains) options and an RS232 interface for serial
commands. Professional installers may also take advantage of the serial
interface for full control of the projector settings.
Remote
The infrared remote supplied with the ScreenPlay 7200 is small and lightweight
with a well designed backlight for the dimly lit home theater environment.
Pointing the remote at the screen to command the projector (positioned
well above our heads) worked flawlessly. The remote is simple with the
menu navigation buttons (Menu, Select, Up and Down)
located at the top. The screen Resize button along with the dedicated
Contrast and Brightness controls are located near the middle
of the keypad. Just below this are four video input buttons, each of which
can be defined by the user based on the video connections on the rear
panel. The fifth source button cycles through all of the video inputs
in the event the four main video buttons don't cover all of the connected
inputs. Using the aspect ratio menu, the user can select Native,
16:9 (1.78:1), 4:3 (1.33:1), Letterbox, and Natural
Wide modes. The Native mode looked the best since full resolution
of the display is maintained. However, having different screen modes increases
the flexibility of the display with the many different video sources available.
Finally, the Preset button recalls one of three predefined user
settings.
Several more advanced controls are provided for the user. Image processing parameters that are adjustable include NR (Noise Reduction), Cross Color Suppression, 2:2 pulldown, Color Space (YUV or RGB), Gamma (Film, Video or PC), Color Temperature (6500K, 8200K or 9300K) and Video Standard (Auto, NTSC, PAL or SECAM). Phase and position controls are also included in these menu items.
Color
Tracking
We connected our Sencore VP300 video generator to the 15-pin D-sub connector
and ran 720p video in the RGB/HV mode. We set the black level using the
PLUGE pattern and checked the stair step levels to ensure we had properly
adjusted the display. Using the menu settings we selected the 6500K color
temperature and proceeded to check color tracking accuracy. Using our
Sencore CP5000 All-Display Color Analyzer, we measured the color temperature
in 10 IRE increments starting with 20% IRE. Amazingly, the ScreenPlay
7200 tracked 6500K very well across all measured IRE levels. Our lowest
reading was 6412K at 100 IRE and our highest was 6526K at 60 IRE. Having
measured such good data from the screen, we didn't feel the need to adjust
the color tracking. The ScreenPlay 7200 does provide both Gain
and Bias controls for fine tuning the color temperature.
Display
Primaries
We measured the primary colors produced by the ScreenPlay 7200 using our
GretagMacbeth Eye-One Pro Spectrophotometer along with the Milori ColorFacts
software. The CIE chart shows where the ideal primaries are located with
the smaller three points with the darker lines joining them. The measured
primary colors are marked by the red, green and blue markers connected
together with the white triangle. Only colors inside this triangle can
be generated by the display. The bottom line is colors looked excellent
overall with deep reds and rich blues. Green was not as deep as I've seen
on some displays, but still looked quite impressive. Flesh tones looked
beautiful with this projector.
The light output of the ScreenPlay 7200 running in high power mode produced over 1000 lumens. We measured 58 foot-Lamberts on our 87-inch wide Stewart FireHawk filmscreen which has a gain of 1.35. Although blacks were not completely black in our dark theater environment we found the projector produced the best picture in a dimly lit room. The standard lamp mode decreased light output slightly and improved the black level in a dark room. This also increases the lamp life by 50% to 3000 hours as compared to the 2000 hour life in the high power mode.
Faroudja Processing
One of the great attributes of the ScreenPlay 7200 is the inclusion of
Faroudja's latest deinterlacing and scaling chip (FLI2300™). One
of the common problems with film-based movies on DVD is properly deinterlacing
the video to eliminate interlacing artifacts. The Faroudja video processor
detects the 3-2 pulldown sequence by storing multiple fields of video
and determining the original film frames. Once the original 24 fps (frames
per second) film frames are recognized and reconstructed, 60 Hertz video
frames can be generated with minimal artifacts. Faroudja's Cross Color
Suppression detects and corrects cross color artifacts that often
appear as 15 Hertz flashing colors or rainbow patterns. Advanced motion
detection selectively performs temporal filtering only where there's no
motion in the image. This technology works on all sources recorded from
a composite video signal.
Faroudja refers to these algorithms as their DCDi processing. The performance
of this deinterlacer and scaler was excellent. Watching DVDs revealed
virtually no significant artifacts from the deinterlacing and scaling
process.
The color decoder worked well with the composite and S-video inputs. However, the composite input should be avoided whenever possible. Luminance and chroma separation always results in some artifacts and with this high resolution projector you are almost guaranteed to see some of them. The S-video inputs looked better, but still require the color decoder to derive the component color signals. As a result, the picture didn't look as good as the component and RGB inputs on the projector.
Performance
Watching high-definition material on the ScreenPlay 7200 was truly breath
taking. High definition material spoiled us making it difficult to watch
anything with less resolution. DirecTV HD came from our RCA DTC100 using
the analog RGB interface. DirecTV is offering more high-definition channels
with the recent additions of Discovery HD Theater™ and ESPN HD. These
compliment the already popular HD-Net, HD-Net Movies, HBO and Showtime
HD channels offered on DirecTV. We also watched some over-the-air programs
with this set-top box. We also saw the benefits from the DVI-D interface
as we took advantage of our Samsung SIR-T165 set-top box. The Tonight
Show broadcasted in HD here in Los Angeles looks great. The advantage
of using the DVI-D interface is that there is no need to convert the signal
to the analog domain. Unfortunately, DVI-D cables do have length limitations,
so this has to be factored into the installation of the projector.
Our JVC HM-DH30000U D-VHS VCR was a great source for pristine high-definition video. HD-Net provided a tape from their Bikini Destinations series and the quality was truly reference material. Skin tones were very natural looking with subtle details revealed. Even though the video coming from our digital tape was 1080i, the ScreenPlay 7200 did an admirable job of converting the video to the projector's native display resolution and scan rate with no noticeable artifacting. We also watched several D-VHS D-Theater movies on the JVC including Galaxy Quest, Kiss of the Dragon and U-571. These high-definition movies were equally impressive on the ScreenPlay 7200 with just a bit of low level video noise which seems to be somewhat inherent in the telecine process when going to digital tape.
While DVD resolution is considerably lower than the high definition material we loved to watch on this projector, the picture quality looked excellent with our favorite material. Scenes from Shakespeare in Love produced accurate flesh tones with good color saturation. Dark scenes had impressive shadow detail while still maintaining deep black levels.
Conclusion
The InFocus ScreenPlay 7200 is a high performance projector capable of
producing a stunning high definition picture. If you have this projector
you will want as much HD material as you can get your hands on. The light
output and contrast ratio of the ScreenPlay 7200 works incredibly well
in rooms that have some ambient light, especially when combined with a
quality Stewart FireHawk filmscreen. The high performance, ease of use
and straight forward setup makes this projector an excellent candidate
for serious home theater enthusiasts. We will really miss this projector
after the review period.
-
Kevin Nakano
