Infocus ScreenPlay 7210
Pros
- Beautifully rendered images, great feature set
Cons
- Lacks lens shift functionality
Bottom Line
We have no hesitation in recommending this projector to anyone who appreciates an excellent projected image.
-
Price
$ 10,999.00 (AUD)
If you say it fast enough, the price of this unit can almost sound like a reasonable amount of money. For most of us, however, that kind of cash represents a substantial investment in a piece of home theatre equipment, so obviously, whatever the toy, it had better be worth it. Fortunately, InFocus is a company with a strong pedigree in projector design and manufacture, and while you may struggle to justify the price, you can't deny the quality of the ScreenPlay 7210. Barring the insanely good ScreenPlay 777 which we have looked at as well, this is InFocus's top-of-the-line consumer-oriented projector.
The 7210 boasts a high-definition resolution of 1280 x 720 (it uses Texas Instruments' new DarkChip3 DLP engine) and this, when coupled with high-quality video scaling electronics from Faroudja, provides an onscreen image that's pin sharp. With one of these nestled away in your lounge or home theatre room, you'll.have no problems sampling the delights of HDTV. Standard DVDs look utterly superb as well.
We calibrated the 7210 using the Digital Video Essentials DVD but, to be honest, other than a minor tweak to get contrast and brightness right for my liking, the factory default settings were completely in order. There are plenty of options for tweaking should you so choose and it's all made easy thanks to the Infocus menu/remote.
Dark scenes, such as those found in the Collateral and The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King DVDs, are a good way of finding out how well a display processes shadow detail. While a projector's black level is somewhat dependant on the lighting conditions of the room, the 7210 showed off plenty of fine details in areas where lesser projectors produce nothing but darkness.
Flesh tones were completely natural and avoided the tanned look some displays like to produce, no matter how much you tweak things. There was nary a sign of false contouring (quantization errors) and there's plenty of power on hand to produce a rich and bright image.
A five-speed, seven-segment color wheel spins at a rate high enough to almost eliminate the rainbow effect; it's still noticeable but is one of the best I've seen and shouldn't bother the majority of people.
Build quality is excellent, although there are a couple of minor ergonomic issues. Firstly, there's no lens shift option, a feature that is becoming more and more common with many manufacturers. It allows a user to make fine adjustments to image positioning without having to physically manhandle the projector, which wouldn't be such an issue if Infocus had added a means of doing that. Sadly, the single adjustable foot at the rear and single adjustable leg at the front allow for only minor alterations, and in a table-top installation it's a real pain to maneuver.
Still, in a more permanent installation this issue all but disappears and, given the image quality and otherwise excellent features.
Brand Post
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 HP Spectre x360 16 review: The right 2-in-1 at the wrong time
- 3 Acer K242HYL review: An affordable monitor for any occasion
- 4 GeForce Now review: You bring the games, Nvidia streams the hardware
- 5 Asus ProArt PA279CV monitor review: The go-to for content creators on a budget
Latest News Articles
- Epson launches its most advanced 4K home theatre projector in Australia
- Sony’s new 4K native projectors include Sony Bravia TV technology
- Epson sheds light on five new projectors
- Epson’s new high-end 4K laser projector promises compact size for demanding large venue use
- Epson's new LS500 Laser Projector hits out at Hisense
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks
Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers
Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world
Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles
PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D
The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D
Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G
Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65
This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76
It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Which Lenovo Laptop Should I Buy?
- Every TV in Samsung's 2022 line-up: OLED, Neo QLED and more!
- Top 10 best Android and Apple phones for under $600
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?