Infocus LP350 / LP340 FAQ

FAQs usually have disclaimers, so I figured I'd put one on this one...
Disclaimer: This document is copyright 2001 by Gregor Menasian, all rights reserved.
This document is for personal non-commercial use only. You may link to it in it's original location http://www.gregorvision.com/lp350/ and read or print it for personal private non-commercial use, but this notice must remain intact in any copies you make of it.
This document contains information based on various peoples' reported experiences with the Infocus LP350 and LP340 projectors, which I am not neccessarily able to verify.
I therefore make NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND about this document or the information provided herein, and I can not be held responsible for anything bad (including but not limited to damage and or injury) which befalls anything (including but not limited to you and or your projector) as a direct or indirect result of any actions you may take which are in any way related to this document or the information it contains. IE: You perform any procedures discussed in this document COMPLETELY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
All company names and trademarks are owned by their respective owners

Now that that's over with, on with the FAQ

Contents:

1. What is the Infocus LP350?
   
2. What other projectors are actually an Infocus LP350?
   
3. How much do the projector and replacement lamps cost?
   
4. How does the LP350 work with HDTV?
   
5. How does the LP350 work with DVDs?
   
6. How does the LP350 work with other interlaced video sources - how's it's deinterlacer and comb filter?
   
7. What about Progressive Scan DVD players?
   
8. What about a Home Theater PC?
   
9. How does the LP350 handle Component inputs?
   
10. What's the difference between the LP350 and the cheaper LP340?
    
11. How does the LP350 compare to other comparably priced projectors?
    
12. Do I need an external scaler for video with the LP350?
    
13. What video display and overscaning modes does the LP350 support?
    
14. How does the LP350 handle different video standards such as NTSC, PAL, etc.?
    
15. How big of an image does the LP350 project?
    
16. What about the "screen door" effect - how does the picture look?
    
17. How are the contrast ratio and blacks?
    
18. What's the deal with dead pixels?
    
19. What's the deal with Rainbows?
    
20. What's the deal with Light Leakage - is there a fix?
    
21. Why do I see "perfecting image" for a long time?
    
22. What's the deal with Macrovision?
    
23. What are the mounting options for the LP350...
    
24. What is the best screen to use with the LP350...
    
25. What's the best way to turn the LP350 on and off?
    
26. Is there a problem with bulbs exploding?
    
27. Why do the sound levels change when the projector is looking for a video signal?
    
28. What's the deal with versions, and how do I upgrade my LP350 to the latest version?
    
29. Can I really control the LP350 with my computer?
    
30. What do all of the advanced menu options really do?
    
31. Does the LP350 work with a [insert device name here]?
    LP350 External Device compatibility chart!
    
32. Useful Links:
33. Contributors:
    

FAQ:

1. What is the Infocus LP350?
   Basicly, it's a 6.7 lb. 1300 lumen 1-chip XGA (1024x768) DLP computer/video/HDTV projector with a great deinterlacer for all worldwide video standards via composite and S-video, plus RGB and DVI M1-DA inputs for computer and HDTV sources.
   Full technical specs, tech support info, and the owner's manual are available from the "service and support" section of the Infocus homepage. (it's in the "Site Quick Pick" menu)

2. What other projectors are actually an Infocus LP350?
   Here are the brands and models we know of so far:
   - Infocus LP350 (original version)
   - Boxlight CD-555m
   - Toshiba TDP-T1

3. How much do the projector and replacement lamps cost?
   Current street price for the LP350 is "only" about $4200 - 4700 in the USA, plus there's a $200 rebate good on projectors purchased by the end of February 2001!
   Bulbs last about 2000 hours, and can be purchased for about US$350 each, which works out to just under $0.18 per hour, or $0.35 for a 2-hour movie.

4. How does the LP350 work with HDTV?
   Short answer: Reportedly very nicely, although I haven't seen it myself yet. See compatible devices section for compatible tuners.
   Longer answer: It displays 720p or 1080i scaled down to fit into a 16:9 portion (1024x576 pixels) of the display. There is aparently no option to disable the 16:9 scaling of HDTV signals for people with external optical 4:3->16:9 convertors (such as the Panamorph). Infocus could easily add this feature to a future firmware version if they wanted to...
   According to Infocus tech support, the LP350 is officially incompatible with EDTV 480p signals, even though that's basicly just 60Hz VGA, which it is officially compatible with. In practice, 480p sources such as the Sega Dreamcast VGA box seem to work well, although some line doublers such as the iScan v1 and v2 seem to be incompatible with the LP350 for some reason, see the compatible devices chart and the Macrovision question for more info...

5. How does the LP350 work with DVDs?
   The LP350 has the same deinterlacing chipset (Genesis) as many progressive DVD players use. However, it has extra memory and has had optimized for the LP350's specific display characteristics, so it displays an incredibly sharp, stable image from any regular DVD via the S-video input. It really does - try it!
   Actually, it's almost too sharp, but fortunately the LP350 has a "Sharpness" control in the "Display" menu. It clearly displays every detail of your DVDs (including compression artifacts) at it's rightmost setting, so I recommend that you soften the picture a bit if you hate compression artifacts.

6. How does the LP350 work with other interlaced video sources - how's it's deinterlacer and comb filter?
   Devices with S-video outputs such as laserdisc players, some videogame consoles and VCRs, etc. benefit greatly from the LP350's built-in deinterlacer and look great compared to a normal TV.
   In about 100 hours of DVD watching, I have occasionally seen some "combing" artifacts, most frequently when something which was still starts moving, or when DVD subtitles appear or disappear, however the combing only seems to last for 1 frame in my experience, it's probably due to the deinterlacer switching modes.
   However, the comb filter in the LP350 is pretty bad, resulting in lots of dot crawl from composite sources, so you will want to avoid using the composite inputs if possible. (avoiding composite inputs is usually a good idea anyway, except with laserdisc players if you have a really good comb filter in your TV or SVHS VCR)

7. What about Progressive Scan DVD players?
   The LP350 actually deinterlaces video better than the average progressive scan DVD player (although it could conceivably be improved), so you should really just use a good regular DVD player with the S-video input. 99% of Progressive scan DVD players output their progressive 480p signals in Component mode only, so if you really want to use one, see the component video question below, the HDTV question above, and the device compatability chart below..

   Update - I tested the LP350 with the hot new Skyworth DVD-1050P progressive scan DVD player through it's RGB output, but although the Faroudja deinterlacer chip in it is a little bit better than the one in the LP350, the picture is not much clearer at all. (at least by my quick initial tests)

   Also, it should be noted that although my LP350 seems to synch OK to the RGB 480P signal from the Skyworth (it had trouble the first time I tried, but after that it was very fast to synch to it!?!), I could not get any better than a totally garbled image with the 576P output with PAL discs, so the LP350 is unfortunately incompatible with 576P signals :(

   Plus since you cannot manually select 16:9 mode on the LP350 with an RGB input, you either need to use your DVD's internal 16:9 -> 4:3 letterbox conversion for anamorphic DVDs (which looks worse than the S-video input with 16:9 mode) or use an external anamorphic lens such as the Panamorph or Isco to optically compress the image...

8. What about a Home Theater PC?
   The best connection between a HTPC and the LP350 is DVI through the M1-DA port, but an RGB conenction still looks excellent. However, many people preffer the LP350's internal deinterlacer with a regular DVD player via S-video to an HTPC via RGB or DVI...
   For specific video card compatability issues, see the device compatability chart at the end of this FAQ.

9. How does the LP350 handle Component inputs?
   It doesn't, at least not directly. If you really need to use component video sources, they must be converted to RGB and optionally scaled with an external transcoder / scaler / line doubler - check the Device Compatibility table for compatible devices...

10. What's the difference between the LP350 and the cheaper LP340?
    The LP340 only has an SVGA (800x600) DLP chip, but it can display XGA (1024x768) images scaled down to SVGA. Otherwise the two projectors are almost the same.
    However, there is one problem which seems to be exclusive to the LP340 - it has been reported to crop the bottom of the image off when displaying 16:9 enhanced images when the "overscan" option is set to "off", whereas the LP350 displays the picture properly uncropped with these settings.

    *** News Flash *** Aparently Infocus is replacing the LP340 with a new LP340-C model which does NOT include the great deinterlacer discussed here, although they aparently have no such plans for the LP350

11. How does the LP350 compare to other comparably priced projectors?
    There are few DLP or LCD based projectors with as good of an internal video scaler/deinterlacer ad the LP350, especially in the same price range. However, The LCD based Sony VPL-VW10HT is the closest LCD based competitor, and there's an interesting comparative review of them at: Projector Central (They have a very useful database of information about lots of projectors, although their reviews seem a bit too glossy and commercial for me, so I suggest you take them with a grain of salt)

12. Do I need an external scaler for video with the LP350?
    Not really - unlike most propjectors, the internal deinterlacer and scaler in the LP350 are excellent! Also, since some popular deinterlacers (line doublers) seem to be incompatible with the LP350, you should be careful when selecting a deinterlacer if you decide that you need one.
    For the line doubler enthusiasts, the LP350 review at ProjectorCentral seems to be wrong - there *is* some occasional single-frame combing artifacting (which I've heard from other sources is handled perfectly by the DVDO iScan line doublers), and even some extremely minor jitter with some sources (which may be trying to compensate for an interlaced display), but these problems are very minor, and the image is always solid with no black scanlines. From the reports I've heard of the latest DVDO iScan's deinterlacing ability, it is more thorough at preventing combing than the LP350's Genesis chipset, but I can't imagine that it's a huge difference overall...

13. What video display and overscaning modes does the LP350 support?
    The LP350's modes for displaying standard interlaced video (after processing by the internal deinterlaver) are changed with the "Resize" option in the "Image" menu, which can be set to:
    - Native (4:3, no scaling, the center of the display is used, which is *roughly* 640x480 for NTSC or 768x576 for PAL)
    - Standard (4:3, scaled up to 1024x768)
    - Widescreen Letterbox (4:3, identical to Standard and does NOT mask the picture, probably made for people who want to have their DVD player settings match this setting)
    - 16:9 enhanced (scaled up to a 1024x576 pixel 16:9 area vertically centered in the 4:3 area)
    
    Additionally, the LP350 allows you to display either the full overscan area of your video image, or to crop the edges off like a regular TV does. The LP350's menu system counterintuitively uses the "off" setting for the "overscan" option to mean "show the uncropped image with full overscan"
    In "native" mode, the LP350 displays the image in the same pixel area regardless of the overscan setting, zooming in (but not shrinking the picture) when "overscan" is "on", so either the cropped image is scaled up, or the full image is scaled down in "native" mode. It doesn't really matter since you'll want to use the standard mode instead for a much larger image...
    I like to view the full overscan area of the video image, and even in 16:9 mode with both PAL and NTSC, the LP350 has no problem in this setting, unlike it's cousin, the LP340 (see LP340 question above)
    It is worth noting that many projectors have a single button on the remote to cycle between display modes, and I know that some displays can even autodetect 16:9 or 4:3 video signals and adjust accordingly, but unfortunately, the only way to change modes on the LP350 is in the menu, or with computer control. (see computer control question below)
    *** I have found a strange bug in the deinterlacer/scaler chip when it's in 16:9 mode!
    I have only seen this on one DVD so far, the PAL UK region 2 SE of Snatch, so it may only be a problem with 16:9 PAL sources, but here's what happens: 1:00:43 into the film, the top 1/3 of the image glitches a few times!
    When I stepped through the sequence frame by frame, there was no problem.
    When I switched the LP350 to full screen mode (but didn't change the DVD player settings atoall) it played fine without problems!
    This is obviously a bug in the deinterlacer in 16:9 mode only, but I'm going to ask Infocus about it...

14. How does the LP350 handle different video standards such as NTSC, PAL, etc.?
    Short answer: The LP350 is the ultimate multisystem video monitor, except that it takes a few seconds to adjust to changes of video systems.
    So far I have tested the LP350 with 4:3 and 16:9 enhanced PAL and NTSC DVDs and it has looked great with all of them! I will be testing more signals such as videotapes in SECAM soon, and I fully expect them to perform very well.
    (In 16:9 mode the LP350 uses the middle 576 scanlines of the 768 in it's 4:3 display area, which means that it can even display 16:9 enhanced PAL with full overscan and all of it's scanlines!)

    For progressive scan video, I have gotten my LP350 to synch to some 480P sources although many aparently do not work with it, but it definitely has no chance of synching to a 576P signal.

15. How big of an image does the LP350 project?
    The image *width* at maximum zoom is *approximately* half the distance of the projection lens from the screen, and at minimum zoom it's about 20-25% smaller. There's a chart at the Infocus site, see the first question above...
    For example, at about 12 feet my LP350's image maxes out at ~68 inches wide (~84 inches diagonal at 4:3)

16. What about the "screen door" effect - how does the picture look?
    The LP 350's picture basicly looks great - solid and stable with no screen door or scanlines!
    Fortunately, unlike LCD projectors, DLP projectors are much less prone to the "screen door" effect. (which describes an annoying black border around every pixel on the screen) Also, higher resolution projectors tend to have less of a "screen door" effect than lower resolution projectors.
    The LP350 basicly has no scanlines or screen door effect at all. However, the picture is so sharp that you can see some pixel boundaries or jagged lines if you're really close to your screen, but this is due to the low resolution of video and the sharpness of the display, not gaps between pixels or other display flaws. The LP350 has the most stable and film-like image I have ever seen on a video projector, although the best I have seen otherwise was a Proxima Ultralight DS-1, which is a pretty old DLP projector...
    If noticing pixels annoys you, there is a solution - the LP350 has a sharpness adjustment! The default is very sharp and clear, but you can blur the image to your taste to hide pixel boundaries (and compression artifacts) at the expense of detail!
    For those of you who are picky about the picture, I just calibrated my LP350 with Video Essentials through S-video, and found:
    - At half brightness and half contrast with the color pumped up a bit, the color bars look almost perfect through a blue filter!
    - It handles every test pattern perfectly except for the one with a bunch of purple bars and greyscales, which causes some moving dashes in the right side of the picture even though it's a still frame!?! (the overscan pattern is cut off by 2.5% on the top and right, but I think it's my DVD player's fault...)
    *Update* - with the Skyworth DVD player through S-video, the test pattern glitch described above does not occur, and there is no cropping on the right side of the image, although the top and bottom of the image seem to be cropped by about 5 pixels each compared to RGB mode from the same player...
    - Resolution is off the scale! Unless you turn the sharpness down to blur the image, the 500 lines of resolution is not blurry!
    - Color uniformity is great, with only a narrow yellow on the left edge of a white screen, which is magenta on a green screen and invisible on other full frame solid screens!
    - There is some very slight banding/dithering visible on the full screen greyscale if you're too close to the screen.

    Note on focusing - The LP350 zoom lens seems to be a bit variable in it's manufacture, and so some units may not focus 100% evenly accross the entire screen at maximum image size. The best way to see this is on the Infocus startup screen, see if you can get the words on both sides of the screen in focus as well as the big "INFOCUS" above them...
    Mine has very slight problems with this, but I have found that I can significantly improve the evenness of the focus by zooming down to the smallest image size, focusing there (usually one direction of turning the focus ring will work more evenly than the other direction) and then zooming up to full size again!

17. How are the contrast ratio and blacks?
    Contrast is very good, blacks are solid but rather bright, so for best results use a grey screen. (see the screen question below)
    I have noticed that the LP350 will clip excessively bright inputs and lose detail if it's brightness and the contrast are set too high. (This may have something to do with it's 4-section colorwheel) At the halfway mark for both brightness and contrast, I get a very nice detailed image, even when displaying explosion scenes!

18. What's the deal with dead pixels?
    Unlike LCD projectors, your LP350 should not have any dead pixels when you buy it.
    LCD projectors tend to have several "dead" pixels which are always stuck at a certain color when they are brand new - yuck!
    DLP chips supposedly have an MTBF of something like 90 years, and very rarely develop dead pixels.

19. What's the deal with Rainbows?
    If you can't see them, consider yourself lucky, and just enjoy your projector!
    Seriously, rainbows are an artifact of using a colorwheel with a single DLP chip to produce Red, Green, and Blue (and sometimes white on it's own) in sequence. There are many theories about why rainbows are more or less visible on different projector models and by different people. It is generally believed that rapidly moving your eyes around the image will make the rainbows either appear, or be more pronounced than otherwise. My theory is that the rainbows are most aparent when there is a brief timing desynchronization between the colorwheel and the DLP chip.
    From people who have used several DLP projectors, the LP350 seems to be accused of having intolerable rainbows more than other projector models...

20. What's the deal with Light Leakage - is there a fix?
    The LP350 had some terrible light leakage originally, but there has since been a partial fix. LP350 projectors manufactured in or after week 45 of 2000 (serial numbers beginning with 045 or higher) have the fix, older units can be fixed at the factory under warranty.
    LP350s with the fix still leak light, just not as badly as pre-fix units; they still have a uniform grey strip around the outside of the image area which is roughly 5% as wide as the image area, plus mine has a much fainter gradient bar of stray light about sn inch left of the grey border on the left side only...

21. Why do I see "perfecting image" for a long time?
    Your computer monitor has manual adjustments for you to resize and center it's image properly, but projectors do this automaticly for you. The LP350 has to autodetect the incoming video or computer signal's frequency and adjust it's display characteristics to make sure that the image will be displayed properly. Weak, illegal, out of range, or otherwise unstable or out of spec signals may take a long time to synch to and/or may not be displayable. (see the next question about Macrovision)

22. What's the deal with Macrovision?
    Macrovision is an analog copy protection system which relies on illegal (overvoltage) synch pulses in a non-visible part of the picture to confuse the video auto gain control in VHS vcrs and prevent them from recording video signals properly.
    Unfortunately, many projectors are especially sensitive to synch pulse levels, and can not display a stable image if Macrovision is present. (I suspect that this may have something to do with the reported occasional incompatability of the LP350 with certain line doublers, which may include the Macrovision signal in the RGB output, thereby preventing the projector from synching to the signal - can anyone with an iScan and an LP350 please test and either confirm or refute this hypothesis?)
    Macrovision is on many prerecorded videotapes, and will be output from any DVD player if the DVD you are playing tells the player to output it.
    If Macrovision is affecting your projector, causing it to periodicly lose synch when DVDs and or videotapes are played, you need to stabilize the video signal so your projector can recognize and synch to it. Fortunately Sima makes a relatively inexpensive color corrector (street price US$100) called (amazingly enough) the "SCC Color Corrector", which stabilizes illegal video signals, and allows you to fine tune the color by both color-tint-brightness-contrast and RGB methods! Unfortunately it works with NTSC only, and there is no PAL version, although there may be similar devices made for use with PAL signals.
    A more expensive alternative is to run your video through a high-end stand-alone Timebase Corrector ($800+), although there are some TBCs which can not stabilize a Macrovision encoded signal properly...

23. What are the mounting options for the LP350...
    The LP350 can be mounted either near the ceiling or the floor, and can be configured for front or rear projection.
    Although the LP350 has a keystone adjustment feature, it is virtually useless since it only works with analog RGB inputs at it's native XGA resolution. Plus it's digital, which means that it scales the image to a trapezoidal shape before it is projected, which can cause visible distortion, unlike superior optical keystone adjustment systems.
    There is no vertical image shift adjustment (for double stacking) on the LP350. (many D-ILA projectors have this capability, although running 2 projectors at once can be expensive!)
    If you are cheap, the LP350 happens to be the perfect size to put on an upside-down stack of milk crates, but beware of earthquakes...
    However, most people like to ceiling mount their projectors, and there is an official Infocus ceiling mount kit for the LP350, which costs around $225-300
    If you ceiling mount your projector, beware of stray light reflecting off of the ceiling, you may need to apply black paint or a mask for optimal results...

24. What is the best screen to use with the LP350...
    The LP350 is an extremely bright projector, and most people find that it looks too bright with a high gain screen, good on a low-gain screen, and best on a grey screen.
    If you're cheap, people have reported excellent results for about $15 by painting a piece of masonite with a matte grey paint, I think "Cape Cod Grey" was mentioned.
    If you're *really* cheap or you haven't decided what type of screen to get yet, the LP350 does look impressive even on just a plain matte white wall.
    If you want a real projection screen, a grey screen is reportedly your best choice, and so far there are two good quality but expensive grey screens which are just being introduced to the market:
    - Stewart Grayhawk (.85 gain)
    - Da-Lite HC Da-Mat (.85 gain)

25. What's the best way to turn the LP350 on and off?
    When you turn the main power switch on, the LP350 immediately lights the bulb and starts warming up (takes about a minute or a little less to reach full brightness).
    NEVER turn your projector off if it has been running for less than 5 minutes, as this could damage the bulb.
    After operating for a while, the bulb and projector get very hot. (be sure that it is well ventillated as per the user manual)
    The LP350 is designed to be turned off without a cool-down period. However, you must let it cool down for at least a minute before turning it back on again. A proper cool-down period may lengthen the life of projector bulbs, but cooling a bulb too quickly can reduce it's lifespan...
    When you press the "Standby" button, it starts the standby timer (settable in the "Controls" menu - the default is 15 minutes, but I set mine to "1 minute") and after that amount of time it will turn the lamp off, but keep the fan running to cool the projector off.
    I personally usually wait a couple of minutes after the bulb has turned off before I turn the power switch off. (there doesn't seem to be a thermal auto-shutoff for the fan...)
    If you ceiling mount the LP350, you will need to make sure that you can turn off the power to the outlet the LP350 is plugged into remotely, unless you can reach your ceiling easily, or you don't mind using your projector as a multi-thousand dollar air filter.

26. Is there a problem with bulbs exploding?
    *Updated* - Roughly between March and May 2001, several people have reported bulb ruptures in the first few hundred hours of use which is usually a rather rare problem with projectors, and it has now basicly been confirmed that their bulb supplier had sent them a batch of bulbs with an unusually high defect rate, but the problem was corrected.

    For everyone who had the problem, even if their bulb was technically out of warrantee, Infocus was extremely quick and helpful in replacing the affected bulbs and projectors, and handled the problem well.
    (They replaced the entire projector overnight in many cases just to be safe, even though it was jsut eh bulb at fault.)

    Current theories include:

    - Excessive ambient heat while the projector is in use
    - The projector not cooling down enough before turning it off
    - The projector cooling down too quickly
    - A thermal design flaw in some hardware revisions of the projectors
    

    At least some people who have reported the problem have seen brightness flickering in the image before the explosion happened.

    See the previous question about turning the projector off for more info on proper shutdown procedures.

27. Why do the sound levels change when the projector is looking for a video signal?
    The LP350 remembers the audio (and video) settings for each of it's inputs (video, computer1, and computer2) and it automaticly cycles through the inputs looking for a valid signal.
    If it goes to an input which you probably never use such as Computer 2 (the Cable Mouse input) then the audio levels will jump, unless you adjust them. To adjust the levels of an input which has nothing connected to it, press "menu" when the projector attempts to look at that input, and even though there is nothing on the input, you can adjust it's basic settings including audio settings

28. What's the deal with versions, and how do I upgrade my LP350 to the latest version?
    To check your firmware versions, use the "show status" menu option.
    To upgrade, you need a computer with Windows 95/98/2000, the overpriced ($65) serial cable adaptor and a null-modem cable (or an even more expensive "Cable Wizard" cable set) and you can download the latest firmware from the Infocus site (see question #1) and follow the instructions.
    As of 6-16-2001, the latest version is 1.9, which is supposed to fix synching issues with some laptops. (Hmmm, I wonder if it can fix synching issues with 480P sources as well? Can someone with an iScan test the upgrade?)
    This adaptor (or the Cable Wizard) can also be used for computer control of the LP350! (see next question)

29. Can I really control the LP350 with my computer?
    Yes, you can send commands to the LP350 over a serial port using the same cables you upgrade it's firmware with!
    These commands are mostly limited to setting or reading the state of most of the menu options. You can put the unit into or out of Standby mode, but you can not turn it completely off or adjust the zoom or focus since those controlls are all physical, and not automatable.
    See the support section of the Infocus site for more details on the protocol.

30. What do all of the advanced menu options really do?
    Resize, Overscan, Sharpness, and Status are discussed in other questions...

31. Does the LP350 work with a [insert device name here]?
    LP350 External Device compatibility chart!
    

    Note - due to what I have seen with the Dreamcast, I suspect that the LP350 unfortunately can not handle 15KHz RGB from any sources, although I will test it in future if I have time to make an appropriate cable...

    Note - due to the weak comb filter in the LP350, I am not including ratings of composite connections unless a device does not support any other type of connection...

    Device Type:	Device Name:	Mode:	Compatibility Info:
    DVD player	[any]	S-video (interlaced)	looks great in any video standard 4:3 or 16:9, but no component inputs, turn overscan "off" for the full image!
    Progressive DVD player	[any]	Component 480p	Needs external transcoder/scaler
    Progressive DVD player	Skyworth DVD-1050P	RGB 480p (NTSC progressive)	Seems to work well, although you can't select 16:9 mode with RGB inputs
    Progressive DVD player	Skyworth DVD-1050P	RGB 576p (PAL progressive)	Doesn't work - tries to synch for a long time and finally gives a garbled image
    Laserdisc player	[any] (NTSC Panasonic LX-900 to be tested)	S-video	-not tested yet- quality will depend on the LD player's comb filter
    SVHS VCR	Panasonic AG-1980 to be tested	S-video	-not tested yet-
    Videogame Console	Sega Dreamcast	VGA Box, S-video	Slow to synch to the VGA box, but it looks super-sharp once it does, although some games show a vertical white line on the right edge of the picture. Unfortunately only 60-70% of DC games are compatible with the VGA box, you'll have to use S-video for the rest... VGA box is reported by the LP350 as 640x480 31.46KHz / 59.95Hz S-video looks very good, but VGA box looks better, although it does cause framerate drops on some games :(
    Videogame Console	Sega Dreamcast	VGA Box for Windows CE based games which claim to be VGA compatible	Synchs incorrectly in many video "modes", so you have to revert to S-video :(
    Videogame Console	Sega Dreamcast	VGA Box forgames which you have to trick into using the VGA box	Depends on the game - often synchs incorrectly or yields garbled image, so you have to revert to S-video :(
    Videogame Console	Sony Playstation 2	S-video, 15KHz RGB, Component	S-video Looks great, games that support 16:9 look great in 16:9 mode! You can still see jaggies on games which have them, but it looks amazingly solid! -15KHz RGB not tested yet and probably won't work, and interlaced component will require an RGB transcoder and deinterlacer, so it's probably not worth it- HDTV compatible games should work great though if they ever release any...
    Videogame Console	Sony Playstation	S-video, 15KHz RGB	S-video looks great, but there is sometimes a tiny bit of jitter to the image, although it's very slight (much less annoying than on a regular TV) but it is there.
    [anything]	[any]	15KHz interlaced RGB	-not tested yet, probably won't work-
    [anything]	[any]	31KHz 640x480 RGB	*** bug alert!*** Sometimes the LP350 fails to lock to 640x480 signals, and then reports them (on the info screen) as 1024x768 @ 31.46KHz / 59.95Hz (which are the correct 640x480 frequencies!?!) and shows a distorted and or garbled picture :( This is really strange, hopefully it will be fixed in the next firmware upgrade...
    ATI PC video cards	Radeon series with DVI output	DVI	Numerous reports of incompatibility usinf the digital DVI outpput (RGB is fine), has anyone gotten DVI to work on a Radeon?
    Line Doubler	DVDO Iscan v.1	480p RGB	reports of both compatibility and incompatability
    Line Doubler	DVDO Iscan v.2	480p RGB	only incompatability reported
    Line Doubler	DVDO Iscan Pro	480p RGB, 576p RGB	no reports yet
    HDTV Tuner	RCA DTC100 (and Proscan version of it)	540p, 1080i	Reportedly works quite well in 1080i mode (this tuner scales 720p up to 1080i), but the LP350 may not properly display the DTC100's non-standard 540p output which is uses for regular SDTV, so you should use S-video for SDTV. If the picture doesn't synch right for 720p or 1080i, your DTC100 probably has old firmware, it can be automaticly upgraded via satellite somehow if you have a dish...
    HDTV Tuner	Echostar 6000 receiver with 8VSB OTA module	720p?, 1080i	Reportedly works quite well, be sure to set "AutoImage" to "on"

32. Useful Links:

    Infocus - Makers of the LP350 projector

    AV Science Forums - a great message board and source of information about front projectors and other home theater equipment

    Projector Central - they have some good articles and reviews, but the hilight of the site is their database of specifications of LOTS of LCD, DLP, and D-ILA projectors...

    Studio Experience - The place I bought my Infocus LP350 projector from, mainly due to extensive recommendations of them (and their salesman Hank in particular) on the AVScience Forums...

    Great article on Progressice Scan DVD player chipsets and their behaviour - very interesting reading!

    Da-Lite - makers of projection screens

    Stewart - another maker of projection screens

33. Contributors:
    Thanks to everyone who'se postings about the LP350 I've read on the AVScience forums and other forums through which I have searched for information about the LP350, and to everyone who has provided feedback on this FAQ and finally to Infocus for making this nifty projector!