Home cinema projector a compelling alternative to a movie theatre

The world is moving to flat-screen television in more ways than one. Not only are we throwing out our old cathode-ray tube televisions for new flat-screen plasma and LCD models, we're buying home cinema projectors and casting the image up against a flat wall or pull-down screen.

It's proving to be a compelling alternative to sitting in a movie theatre - the film industry is even exploring the idea of releasing movies on DVD and pay TV at the same time as their theatrical release.

Director Steven Soderbergh has tried to pave the way with his film Bubble.

Even if the business model doesn't take off, we're soon going to have more entertainment options at home when high-definition media players go on sale here, so a night in front of the projector may soon be the done thing.

But how much do you spend on a projector? A Toshiba home theatre projector and screen goes for about $1999 at Noel Leeming, while a Sony Home Cinema Projector comes in at the other end of the scale at $15000.

Many buyers will probably be looking for something in the middle.

The Infocus IN76 home cinema projector is a good option. It uses the impressive Dark Chip 2 technology, which allows for darker blacks and better contrast. It's a high-definition projector with 1280 by 720 resolution and is future-proofed for the world of high-def content.

The IN76's picture looks great, with virtually no "noise" on the image - the swirling, pixelation that plagues lower-resolution projectors. High-definition Xbox 360 games also look crisp with no graphics lag.

The projector's connection options are numerous. There's an HDMI port for high-definition digital signals from computers and high-end DVD players, an M1 port to plug in a VGA monitor or DVI input with the right adapter, an S-Video port, one component-video and one composite input.

The graphical user interface is easy to navigate using the remote control. Aspect ratio can be changed quickly, from wide-screen to letter-boxed to TV, as can the gamma choices.

The IN76 is the best looking model in the Infocus fleet so far - the familiar silver, square body of the line replaced with a rounded, black case. It sits on its own swivel stand.

The remote is laid out in familiar Infocus style and is backlit for use in the dark. The IN76 is the quietest projector I've used. It made the Xbox 360 seem incredibly noisy in comparison.

The luxury of having a big colourful picture initially makes up for the some of the screen quality issues of some cheaper projectors. But after the novelty of having your own little cinema wears off, the "screen door" effect obscuring the image, poor contrast ratio and brightness become somewhat grating.

For the same price as the IN76, you can pick up a 50-inch Pioneer high-definition plasma TV screen. Ideally, I'd have the plasma for TV and the Infocus for movies, but I'd happily be saddled with having to choose between the two.

Infocus in76 home cinema projector

* Pros: Stylish; high-definition resolution; quiet.
* Cons: Only one component-video input.
* Herald Rating: 7/10
* Price: $6499