InFocus IN3108 business projector

The InFocus IN3108 is a multimedia projector with a high brightness level, a sharp and clear lens and an adequate contrast ratio. At the maximum brightness level the loud fan may annoy people sitting close to it, but overall the InFocus IN3108 is a strong performer.

It looks similar to the rest of InFocus’s models, such as the InFocus IN1102 portable projector and the InFocus 5108 business projector which share a similar form factor, design and colour scheme. A touch-sensitive control panel and zoom/focus controls sit on top of the projector. There’s plenty of ventilation for the internal fans to draw air through, which is good because the InFocus IN3108 can get pretty hot.

The rear of the InFocus IN3108 is where the action happens; plenty of ports are available to suit anything from an office to a theatre. A single HDMI connection takes pride of place — we prefer this for its all-in-one convenience. It also has two VGA inputs, a VGA output, S-Video, composite, DisplayLink and various audio inputs.

We tested the InFocus IN3108 using a Xbox 360 via HDMI as well as with a Dell Inspiron Mini 9, using the netbook's VGA output.

The InFocus IN3108 has a default widescreen resolution of 1280x800. The Xbox 360 and Mini 9 support this resolution without any issues, and we were pleased to see crisp projection of text when using both devices. Images were consistently sharp from corner to corner, with no noticeable distortion of straight lines or graphs.

Colour depth was more than acceptable. A contrast ratio of 2000:1 is reasonably high for a projector with such a powerful lamp, and the InFocus IN3108 does not disappoint in terms of colour representation. Our test images were quite accurate and a good deal of vibrancy and colour range was visible. This makes the InFocus IN3108 acceptable for movie watching as well as business presentations.

As InFocus’ premium projector in the IN3100 series, the IN3108 has a maximum brightness output of 3500 ANSI lumens (with an operating life of 3000 hours). We found this more than bright enough inside a dark room or one with fluorescent lights, and it should work well in a daylight-filled board room.

The downside is high heat output and lots of fan noise when using the maximum brightness mode. If you’re sitting next to or directly in front of the projector this may prove annoying, but there aren’t too many times in which you’ll be using the high brightness mode. If the projector is mounted on a ceiling or on a high shelf it won’t be an issue.

If you can handle the heat, the InFocus IN3108 projector is a good all-rounder and will be equally at home in a living room or a board room.