InFocus IN2114 business projector

The InFocus IN2114 is a business projector that makes a good compromise between the projector Holy Trinity of high brightness, high contrast and low fan noise. It's compact and reasonably versatile, and its price tag isn't excessive.

Aimed at budget installations in small to medium-sized boardrooms and meeting rooms, the InFocus IN2114 has two VGA connectors as well as S-Video and composite ports. Ethernet and serial ports allow remote control of the projector's functions, while a rear-mounted USB port allows presentations to be displayed without connecting a computer. We don't like the lack of digital video input; a DVI or HDMI port would have made the IN2114 a more well-rounded projector. To get digital video support, you'll need to upgrade to the slightly more expensive InFocus IN2116.

The InFocus IN2114 sits in the middle of the IN2100 model series. It has a 1024x768pixel resolution and a 4:3 ratio, but it can display 16:10 and 16:9 content with letterboxing. We found that content was displayed crisply with good per-pixel detail and no over-sharpening. The lens of the InFocus IN2114 is sharp, with manual controls that allow finetuning of focus and screen size. The lack of physical vertical or horizontal lens shift means you'll have to position the projector correctly before adjusting focus and zoom lengths. Vertical keystone adjustment means you can project onto a wall from a low table or benchtop.

A maximum brightness rating of 3000 lumens makes the InFocus IN2114 capable in dim and reasonably lit rooms, although we wouldn't use it in a large bright room at its maximum projection distance — that's the domain of models like the InFocus IN5504. We used the InFocus IN2114 predominantly in its Eco mode, which drops maximum brightness to 2400 lumens but also reduces audible fan noise. Contrast is an acceptable 2100:1 — in our video tests we noticed some lost detail in especially dark and bright areas of the screen during The Dark Knight. For regular presentation duties and the occasional Friday afternoon movie, the InFocus IN2114 will perform acceptably.

You can use the InFocus IN2114's internal five Watt stereo speakers to play presentation audio. Although audio is strongly biased to treble and lacks any kind of mid-range warmth, it will do in a pinch and is well suited to playing back dialogue. The speakers' maximum volume is not particularly high, but we didn't notice excessive amounts of distortion. Fan noise is well controlled in Eco mode at 28dB, but even in maximum brightness settings we found it to be bearable without any annoying vibrations or hums.

The strongest competition to the IN2114 is InFocus' own IN2116. For only $250 more it boasts a widescreen resolution more suited to notebooks, and it will display the 1024x768 resolution of the InFocus IN2114 perfectly as well. Unless you really need to pinch pennies, we'd consider splashing out for the more expensive model.

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