InFOCUS LP 350

Retina Burns under 1300 Lumens...

InFocus confirms its place as world leader in digital video projection as much for video as for computers, with the release of a new model based on the now famous DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology, developed by Texas Instruments. This little firefly answers to the name of LP-350 and will logically find its place in the ranks of the LP-300 series of the manufacturer – which scooped an "excellence" award at the last PC EXPO in New York.

The construction and presentation of this machine summarise the philosophy of the group: to offer, in a package reduced to a strict minimum, good performance levels and a universality allowing it to cope with numerous applications. And it sounds like they’ve kept their bet if one can believe all the specifications proudly put forward by the manufacturer.


InFocus LP-350:

It’s true that the presentation of a video projector does not constitute a major asset at the time of choosing a machine; the latter being condemned working in the shadows.

This being said, it’s always nice to be won over by the aesthetics of a product which, it has to be said, represents an investment of thousands of Euros and, thankfully, the LP-350 is without contest one of the more pleasant to look at.

The compact size of the casing (B: 27.7; L: 28,6; H: 9,9 cm) presents a sober design with pleasantly rounded forms, somewhat in the spirit of bio-design which has been popular of late. The ceiling mounting of this little beast doesn’t risk leaving your physical state worse for the ware … the LP-350 weighs 3 little kilos on the scales. In short, when InFocus presents one of its siblings as being "portable", one can definitely take them seriously.

In the area that interests us (of course, I’m talking about XVth Century Byzantine Literature), this luminous particle accelerator also disposes of several serious technical points:

A real XGA matrix, allowing for a definition of 1024 x 768 pixels, a more than probing luminosity of 1300 lumens and a reported contrast scale of 400:1, all this developed by an ultra-powerful lamp of 270 watts with a respectable longevity of 2,000 hours of use.

Packed with features, the LP-350 is compatible with High Definition (HDTV) TV, meaning 720 lines in progressive scan or 1080 in interlaced mode. Of course the latter would necessitate an interpolation of the image in order to bring about the 1024 lines resolution allowed by the video projector.

Don’t worry!: this "re-formatting" won’t take away the wide screen aspect of your video signal, which will remain intact. This being said, the management of the "wide screen" format on the LP-350 is purely software, the matrix being in "standard" 4/3 format.

This is where the necessity of a scaller comes in – to be able to better utilise the 786,432 pixels available (around 40% more than a standard S-VGA 800 x 600).

In addition, while one may be concerned about the purely Home Cinema aptitudes of this projector to all intents and purposes made for data screening, InFocus assure us otherwise, putting forward the "Home Theater Quality" argument, a process destined to sublimating the video signal, putting a particular accent on "natural" image depiction.

A benediction that comes to complete this line up of features, also stemming from the DLP technology when it’s properly used, is the true colours and deep blacks that result.

On the other hand, it is regrettable that this eye for detail when it comes to video hasn’t flowed down to the interfacing department. Here, there’s no YUV or even RGB input available. You have to content yourself to a simple S-Video plug, or (worse!) a vulgar composite link for your various image sources.

Users of DVD-ROMS should, for their part, be a little better off, with the presence of DVI plugs for the transfer of future digital formats (certain graphic chips are already equipped) and a USB port for the more conventional links in analogue.

In terms of ergonomics , InFocus had wished for the utilisation of their little prodigy be clear and intuitive: menu on a very complete screen, automatic management of PAL / SECAM / NTSC video formats as well as black/white levels and connection simplified for alignment with "CableWizard" particular to the manufacturer for plug & watch ceiling mounting. In short, the LP-350 should be as difficult to get up and running as a Spice Girls album in the studio: sheer simplicity!

The zoom, with a ratio of 1/25, and the focusing of the machine, will, on the other hand, be manual.

Seen at SATIS on numerous stands, where it attracted a great deal of attention, the LP-350 should be available in most decent stores around the place at the time you’re reading this for a price of around 7,000 Euros. It comes complete with a full range of accessories (transport case, remote control, and computer and video cabling etc.).

To find out even more about the product, I suggest you download the colour brochure in PDF format, or even better, test the interactive demo of the product, accessible via the link in the column on the left hand side of this article.