Customer Reviews
Great picture......Poor design 
2007-12-13
Owned about 2 years before it went caput. The unit is not sealed like many other higher end projectors, so dust can get inside. This can be very annoying as one piece of dust covers a big area and is very noticeable on a 120' screen. The bulb cannot be tightened to tight or the bulb casing will rub against the color wheel, as it did in my case, cauing holes in the glass color wheel and loss of color. Was fun while it lasted and looked great, just need to improve design.
awsome ED projector!!! 
2006-12-04
The 4805 Home Theater projector is a very nice machine.I bought my projector way back in the summer of 2005 and as Dec 06 it still going strong and I still have the orginal bulb.Yes this projector is an ED 480p but High Def stuff still looks great on it and I have an XBOX 360 along with the HD DVD add on hooked to the projector and it looks great-looks like HD to me.A very nice projector.
Still the "best value" DLP projector with a built-in speaker! 2006-11-17
It's been about a year since I ordered a refurbished 4805. And after 1,000+ hours of sleepless and late-hour viewing of many standard DVDs, I have concluded that this projector is the BEST home theatre projector for the money.
I set up a gray screen (sized to 92" diagonal) which was a painted textured wall (using two coats of Wal-Mart's Kilz Fountain Gray [J25]). Even though the factory defaults on RGB gain and offset are all 50, I made changes to Color Control as follows: red gain, 54; green gain, 48; blue gain, 53; red offset, 52, green offset, 48; blue offset, 50. Nevertheless, in order to customize these settings furthermore [to the 92" screen], I increased the Contrast to 54 and the Color to 54, accordingly.
Furthermore, I found the best connection to a DVD player was via the RCA Component connection (NOT Composite or S-video).
To cool down the bulb, I found that at least 20 minutes was sufficient time before actually toggling off the power switch on the projector. This shut down period allows for complete cooling of the color wheel which, unfortunately, is very susceptible to overheating. I expect to extend bulb life to 3,000 hours using this cool down procedure.
In conclusion, this is truly the "best buy" in theatre quality projectors that anyone could ask for in creating that "WOW" movie experience.
STUNNING!!! 2006-05-04
What is it?
When my 18 month old son brutally murdered our HD widescreen TV by pounding on it, I sought a home theatre solution that would keep us happy while keeping things out his reach. Enter the Infocus 4805. About the size of a phonebook, this projector is optimized for DVD watching, but also delivers amazingly nice images from HD cable boxes via component cables. It is NOT true HD, but you might be fooled when watching HD sports and movies. It's that good. The unit is best hung from the ceiling and inexpensive excellent mounts for this popular model are available on that big auction site. While you can use a white wall, you'd do better to get some type of screen. We hung a 100 inch pull down manual screen
Does it work well?
When I got this thing home I slapped it on my coffee table just to "see it work" and threw a 11 foot wide image on a wall via Spiderman 2 from my DVD player. WOW! Unless you've been looking at these recently, you'll be amazed at the quality this unit delivers. Everyone who sees it says its like being in a theatre...and many of my friends are in the film biz! Sitting back 1.5 to 2 times screen width distance you have a true theatrical display in 16X9 format. Other aspect ratios are rendered nicely and it's really a kick to revisit films like Treasure of Sierra Madre to see Bogart as he should be seen...BIG!
What about regular TV?
It's viewable, but the unit loses close to half of it's resolution with the lower quality cable output. We tend to use it for HD shows. HD HBO or even American Idol look amazing.
What will I really spend?
You'll need the projector, screen, cables, projector mount and maybe some hardware to hide wires and so on. The projector is designed to be used with an external home theatre of some type, but we'll assume you already own that. Circuit City sold us our for 1100.00 with a 100 dollar rebate. In addition we got a 4 year warranty for 175 that covers the 4000 hour bulb! We spent about 1600.00 setting up our projector with mount and a 100 inch screen. We spent under 300 on a screen and that's cheap. You can spend a lot more of course.
What are the downsides?
Well, you really need a dark room. This is probably not ideal for casual viewing while you hang out and eat frozen dinners. It works best with a nearly dark room. There is also fan noise: It's there and easily audible, especially during quiet passages of a soundtrack. Some people build a projector box to cut the sound but I don't find the computer type fan noise too bothersome. Replacement bulbs, if you didn't get the warranty, are 329.00. Still, 4000 hours is a LOT of viewing time. In a week of use...watching movies and some HD programs we racked up 25 hours on the bulb which means one bulb should last 3 years and then the warranty gives us a free bulb. No problem there.
Shouldn't I just get a LCD or Plasma?
I'm not going to tell you that a 1000 dollar projector has a sharper better image than a good Plasma or Wega CRT. But in REAL WORLD applications this unit simply blows away conventionally sized sets. The image simply pops and at 8 or 10 feet (or more) wide, you get an amazing experience. More than one person has said they felt like they were watching a giant plasma. Forget about the details of resolution and contrast ratios...this simply SLAPS any plasma, CRT or LCD set with it's very good image and truly huge screen. No one has preferred my previous HD widescreen CRT (which was very carefully set-up and tweaked) to the projector. Yes, it's that good.
Maybe I should buy a better project?
Maybe you should but this unit actually has better contrast levels than some premium models out there. I think this is a perfect unit to buy while we wait a bit on newer technology and the new DVD formats. They'll be introduced soon, but it may be another year after that before the dust settles. If you are happy with your current system, waiting is rarely a bad idea. If you see a 4805 properly set up you probably won't wait. Have I seen a projector I liked better? Sure, and it cost over 5K and looked only a bit better with HD signals. Infocus has tweaked the 4805 into a giant killer, though a lot of salesmen will call it an entry level projector.
Is it reliable?
Yep, until it breaks. I hear of a LOT of projectors of all types failing. Get the EXTENDED WARRANTY and you'll be fine. Or don't get it and be sorry like some other folks. I'll never understand people who don't get extended warranties on this type of item...or laptop computers!
Conclusion:
If you have the space, dark room and love movies this is the only way to fly. You get a system that is quite close to watching a movie in a smallish multiplex theatre. It's also out of the reach of small children and eliminates that big box of a TV or huge wall mounted plasma. The 4805 theatre system essentially disappears when the screen is retracted. My wife loves it.
Good luck!
Capt RB
EDTV not HDTV 2006-02-15
First off let me say that this is not an hd projector it is only edtv. HD compatible means it can handle no less than 720p. This projector can handle it but it is not 720p! They need to be more frank with the fact that it is not an HD projector. Other than that for the price and quality it is a great buy. The picture is great but on my Xbox 360 i can see jaggies. Movies look fantastic (best reason to buy) and so does most hd programing. I only gave it 4 stars becuase the HD compatible thing is bs, it only means you can view the hd signal.
Infocus SP4805 - A real nice Projector 2005-11-09
Turn your living room into a Home Entertainment center. With a screen size that can fill a wall, the InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 makes any big-screen TV seem tiny. Expand your idea of Home Entertainment with award-winning InFocus innovation and discover details you didn't even know were there. The InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 is easy to set up and use in any room with your DVD player, cable or satellite receiver, VCR, game player and more! You'll never "just" watch a movie again.The ScreenPlay 4805 projector gives you a screen width that's measured in feet (meters), not inches (centimeters) - up to 9 feet (2.8 meters). So big, athletes jump out of the screen at you and video game characters take on real-life size. An optical zoom lens enables you to adjust the huge image to fit virtually any size screen from any location, in perfect focus and clarity. Native 16:9 widescreen format gives you movie-theater proportions, so finally you have a big, bright, high-resolution image that compliments your surround sound and DVD.
Good overall, but... 
2005-10-04
For the money, it's a really good projector. There are many options to enhance picture quality, though I have encountered three distinct problems in the two weeks I have now had it.
First, I find that I'm constantly messing with the focus. Every time you turn the machine on, the focus needs adjustment.
Second, after only two weeks, a piece of dust got inside the inner lens and created a visible spot on screen. InFocus told me I have to ship it back already to have it taken apart and cleaned out!
Also, the lamp only lasts about 2,000 hours and it costs over $300 for a new one.
Honestly, if I were to go back in time, I would have kept my 55 inch Toshiba. I like the projector, but it is high maintenance. When using a DVD player, I highly recommend componant monster cables.
Value for money 2005-09-15
I am looking for a projector to serve my current needs to watch 480p DVD movies and connect to digital tv to view sports and few tv events. HD DVD at 1080p and the HDTV at 1080p are future and evolving technologies, there is no point buying a 760p or higher projecter and use a video amplifier for my price range. This projector fits my bill to use the projector till the next generation stuff availble at effordable price range.
I think this is the best projecter under 1000$ at this point, and I like it best with component video cable.
Excellent value for your home theater 2005-09-11
Five years ago when we bought our house, we never thought we could afford to set up a home theater because a line-doubler projector was costing between $5000 and $10,000... but that changed when good DLP projectors dipped below $1,000. After months of research, I chose the InFocus ScreenPlay SP4805 mainly due to rave reviews and its 4000 hour lamp life (in low power mode, which is the default setting). It's been an exciting experience being able to watch movies, sports and play video games on a 100" widescreen screen. In my opinion, this Infocus model gives you the most features and the best performance for your money - highly recommended.
Comparison to BENQ 6200 2005-08-05
I only gave it 4 based on the brightness. However, you would have to pay $6000.00+ to get one any brighter with the resolution this projector has.
I purchased and compared this unit with a BenQ PB6200.
The Benq PB6200 has 1700 lumens, is XGA resolution, has a 2x color wheel and is listed at 2000:1 contrast ratio.
The SP4805 of course is 750 Lumens, SVGA, 4x color wheel, and 2200:1 contrast.
Here are my observations:
Using Conventional Cable TV feed. (To a VCR then Svideo to teh projector). The BenQ is brighter. I would hope so, with supposedly twice the lumens. However you don't really get twice the brightness in reality. It is brighter, but not twice as bright. At the same distance from the screen, the BENQ gives you a bigger screen. I had it in 4:3 mode, which is the only acceptable picture for either of them for watching TV.
The Screenplay 4805 picture had better detail. I actually liked watching it a little better because the detail was crisper. My wife and kids however liked the BENQ because of the brightness, and larger output.
Now the DVD Test:
Using Lord of the rings, the results were about the same as the TV test. The BEnQ was brighter, but the Screenplay was crisper, so it comes down to personal choice I suppose.
The Screenplay does have 4:3, 16:9, and Letterbox. So if you put your DVD player in 16:9 mode, and the 4805 in Letterbox, it makes for a large fully filled screen. The Benq only has 4:3, and 16:9, so the same movie in 16:9, still has the black areas top and bottom. However with the Benq's zoom you can make it just about as large as the screenplay's output.
Bottom Line:
The Screenplay sp4805 is made for a really dark room.
In that dark room you will get great video/DVD output. Like a movie theater.
The BENQ is brighter, and probably better if you want to watch more TV, or sports, and don't want to sit in total darkness.
So it is a trade off. If you just intend to use your projector for movie night, then go with the Screenplay. However if you want to watch TV in a slightly brighter room, you will probably like the BENQ PB6200 better.
In this price range it is a trade off. To get brightness and great resolution, you have to be ready to put out $7,000.00 to $10,000.00 or more, and I just can't justify that yet, unless I get a really big raise in the near future. Not likely.
Now I plan on testing each of them with HDTV. I am thinking that with the BENQ's XGA output, that it will match the Screenplay in HDTV. I will let you know later.
