Infocus X1a projector for 3D

[Gae43]

I was toying with the idea of buying the Zalman 3D monitor but, being a big screen fan, in the end I picked up a second hand Infocus X1a and expect it to arrive in a few days. Does anyone have one and how good is the 3D effect using page flip at 85Hz over VGA? Any ghosting, as good as CRT?
Even though the projector is only 800 x 600 native resolution and has a contrast ratio of only 2000:1 (compared to my Panasonic AE900 which is 5500:1) I'm still hoping it will display 3D movies in a reasonably good way....at least as good as my CRT monitor anyway.

One more question. Is it possible to set up two different projectors, both DLP and LCD and use them as dual projectors for passive polarised 3D? If yes, I may even go down this route in the future.

Gae43

[user179]

Hi,

I've had very good experiences with my old infocus X1a and 3d. It works great at 85Hz and I believe it was one of the first mainstream projectors that could do this, (based on reports on the "stereovision forum", which used to be the main source of info at that time), the X1 only goes to 60 Hz. There is the usual problem with the slight difference in color between left and right (seems to be a common problem with most, if not all, not-designed-for-3d-DLP-projectors). The difference between 85Hz and 60Hz is quite a lot, it makes the difference between very noticable flicker and very little flicker. There is virtually no ghosting, X1a was way better than my 21" IBM 260 CRT monitor. Works great with e-dim and revelator and old nvidia 3d drivers. I have had no 3d solution since my x1a and loss of free nvidia drivers which, quite frankly, sucks. The x1a is not very bright, which is quite bad for 3d, but it's still a nice very nice, you can use the "presentation mode" to boost the brightness.
Have fun with it!

Cheers,
HEMEX

[Gae43]

Thanks for that info....looking forward to trying it out now....

Gae43

[Gae43]

Just got this projector and its perfect for 3D...no ghosting at all. One quick question for any owners. I don't have the remote and so can only switch the projector off directly...no power down or anything. Is this OK? Apparently Infocus have told Projectorcentral that a hard switch off doesn't damage the bulb. Any info is appreciated.

Gae43

[Tril]

Normally, when you power down a projector, it leaves the fan running for some time to cool down the bulb a bit. It's usually not recommended to disconnect power because the fan won't run as it should and you may lower the life of the bulb.

[user179]

Yeah, I also really hated that about the x1a, there just doesn't seem to be any way to turn it off other than that main switch. I got an universal remote (pretty simple one actually) that worked great with my Infocus X1a, you might want to try that because it's quite anoying to turn it off and on manually, especially when wall mounted. When you turn it off by remote controll, the PJ goes in a "stand by" mode or whatever you want to call it, in which the lamp if off (off course) but the fan keeps spinning slowly. Since the fan is so loud, this can be a bit anoying, but you can only hear it when the rest of the room is pretty much silent.
I also loved the X1a and stereo, and there is very little ghosting. Be sure to use it in 85 Hz mode! There is a huge difference in flicker between 60 and 85 Hz.
Hope you enjoy your X1a! I really hate having no 3dstereo solution at the moment.

Cheers,
Geert

[Gae43]

Yes, got it running at 85 Hz either at native resolution 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768 (or 1026 x 768 as shows up on the Infocus screen!! ). I really like this projector and I'm loving the 3D on it.
With regards the power down, projectorcentral has a note up in their review saying that Infocus has stated that it is safe to do a hard shutdown on the projector as the lamp cools down within 90 seconds and it supposedly has no detrimental effect to the lamp life on this particular model. How much truth is in that only time will tell. I'll be damned if i'm spending £40-£50 on the remote though just so I can power it down. This is only a second projector for me specifically to view 3D movies.

Gae43