The Unofficial Infocus ScreenPlay 4805 FAQ

1. About this FAQ

2. InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 Overview

3. General

4. Questions and Answers

5. Setup and Maintenance

6. Video Calibration

7. Troubleshooting

1. About this FAQ

1.01. Background

This FAQ is long overdue. This FAQ is a work in progress and is my further contribution to the great Infocus 4805 thread on avsforums that can be found here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=414103&page=1&pp=30

Index  Top

1.02. About this FAQ

The questions and answers here are many of the questions answered over and over in the great 4805 thread on avsforums.com. With over 1million views and 16000 posts, many questions have been answered and can be found with a search. However, searching has become nearly impossible due to the severe size of the thread, that the same questions and answers are still being asked over and over. This FAQ will relieve some of this.

Most of the answers in this FAQ was what I learned as I have read through and participated in the great 4805 thread. Most of my answers are educated conclusions or a general consensus that I got from having gone through the whole thread. If any further clarification is needed on any of these answers or questionable debate, please feel free to bring it up on avsforums in the 4805 thread here:
The "Official Infocus 4805 Thread: There can be only one!

Index  Top

2. InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 Overview

Overview

Coming Soon

Index  Top

3. General

Can I watch HDTV on the 4805? How so?

Yes. The 4805 is capable of receiving HDTV resolutions of 720p and 1080i, despite it not being a true HDTV projector. The 4805 will scale 720p and 1080i content down to its native resolution of 854x480 and HDTV will still look great. You will need an HD tuner box (OTA HD box, HD cable box, or HD satellite box) and connect it to the 4805 via component or DVI/HDMI (using an adapter).

Index  Top

General

Coming Soon

Index  Top

How can I watch regular tv on the 4805? There are no coax inputs.

In order to watch tv on the 4805, you will need some kind of tuner box to connect to the 4805, like a vcr. The 4805 does not have a built in tv tuner and needs an external tuner box to watch tv content and change channels.

Index  Top

How do I turn on Faroudja DCDi processing?

The Faroudja DCDi processing of the 4805 is automatically turned on when you feed it a 480i/576i video signal via composite, s-video, or component inputs. You can check to see if it's on by going into your about menu on the 4805, if it says 480i, 576i, composite, or s-video under input then it is on. There is no way that I am aware of Faroudja to turn it off for these video signals.

Index  Top

Should I set my HD box to 480p since the 4805 is only 854x480 native?

By setting your HD box to 480p, you are having your box automatically scale down HD content to 480p before it is sent to the 4805. If you send HD content to the 4805, the 4805 will scale it down to its native resolution of 854x480. I would advise to send the 4805 the native resolution of the source to the 4805 and let the 4805's scaler do the work as it is likely the 4805's scaler is better than the HD box's.

Index  Top

What's new in the x.xx firmware? Should I update to the latest one?

There are currently 3 firmwares available for the 4805. The original firmware is 1.02, with 1.13 released in December 2004, and 1.2.1 in September 2005. I would update firmware if you feel that you need the fixes addressed in the update. An important fix found in latter firmwares is improved switching when changing video signals. The original firmware would require you to press the "auto-image" button when changing video signals, or you will only see a distorted picture. However, firmwares 1.13 and 1.2.1 have an odd random pulsating picture issue that was not apparent in 1.02.

Here are the updates in 1.2.1:
* Removed PIN feature from Service menu
* In Source Enable, all options may be de-selected
* Watermark no longer remains onscreen after factory reset

Here are the updates in 1.13
* Sync Threshold control changed to a slider
* 1080i -> 720p switching improved
* 1080i -> 480p switching improved
* Letterbox support on DVI
* Lamp life warning set to 2,980 hours
* EDID modes made for digital
* Keystone adjustment image anomaly resolved. Image no longer changes to horizontal stripe when adjusting keystone setting.
* "Setting up image" message no longer partially hidden
* Horizontal lines no longer appear at the bottom of a computer image while projector locks to signal
* Vertical line in video image no longer appears when Brightness is adjusted in 4:3 or native aspect ratio.
* Text in User Settings Saved no longer remains on screen if menu is removed then brought up again

Index  Top

Where can I download previous firmwares?

You can download the previous firmwares using the links below.

1.02 Firmware

1.13 Firmware

You can download the latest 4805 firmware from the InFocus website here:
4805 Firmware page

Index  Top

4. Questions and Answers

How does the 4805 compare to the Infocus X1/X2/4800?

Here is a good summary of the differences between these projectors from krasmuzik on AVS.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=3953759&&#post3953759

You get the new high contrast, less screen door DarkChip2 chipset (the 480P version of the HD2+ DMD) - the X1/X2 are the older 4:3 chipsets.

This DarkChip2 has resolution that is native widescreen DVD resolution - no more cropping/scaling to fit your DVD onto a SVGA presentation chip.

You get a RGBRGB color wheel that is optimized for saturated HT colors at the D65 Hollywood standard - no more blown out whites, weak colors and rainbows from the X1/X2 RGBW colorwheel.

You get a 12v trigger for your drop screen.

You get the latest Faroudja chip that has been dropped in the X2.

You get an actual selectable component input that accepts worldwide interlaced/progressive formats rather than the adaptor on the VGA/SVideo port of the X1

You get DVI/HDCP for your PC/SAT/CABLE/DVD players for a pure digital signal path (allowing you to watch Hollywoods copyprotected movies)

You get a backlit home theater remote with aspect/source/preset adjustments on it - instead of a remote suited for presentation.

The specified lumens of 750 and contrast of 2200:1 are at D65 optimized home theater mode, the X1 in this mode was about 400 lumens and 800:1 contrast.

To sum up - the excitement about the SP4805 is because it is the only widescreen DLP that has been optimized for DVD home theater. Based on the Denver shootout results - it compares quiet well on DVD with its older SP7205 sibling at 6x the price as long as you sit back twice the screen width. You could put one in every room of your house for that price!

Index  Top

How does the 4805 compare to the Optoma H31?

Here is a quick comparison of the 4805 and Optoma H31 from this AVSForum thread
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6354327&&#post6354327

--- The 4805 is louder than the H31
--- The 4805 has better optics (thus sharper)
--- The 4805 is more accurate (and not just out of the box)
--- The 4805 works as it should with HTPC's (DVI-D) while many H31's have issues here
--- The H31 does not have better blacks than the 4805 it is just dimmer once calibrated
--- The H31 case design is more pleasing than the 4805 and it is lighter weight
--- The H31 has a smoother (more CRT like) image due to less optimal optics (4805 can be defocused to allow for the same look)
--- The H31 has a deeper green (less accurate but deeper) that many people like
--- The 4805 has wonderful Reds (not orange like the H31) and fantastic Blues while the accurate Greens are sometimes less pleasing to look at vs. the deep H31 greens
--- The 4805 contrast ratio claims are real world after proper calibration (and can even be exceeded) while the H31 CR claims are bogus (does not come close to 3000:1 in HT use)

--- They both throw amazing images for the investment $$$

Index  Top

How does the 4805 compare to the Sanyo Z2?

The 4805 is a 480p DLP while the Sanyo Z2 is a 720p LCD. The 4805, being DLP, has better black levels and higher contrast than the Z2. The Z2 is greater resolution meaning you get less screen door effect and more detailed picture for HDTV sources. The 4805 also has a louder fan while the Z2 has lens shift for easier set up. I would recommend the 4805 over the Z2 in most cases because of its great black level and almost double the contrast. The greater contrast helps give a better 3D feel to the picture by giving more depth to the picture. The greater contrast is noticeable no matter where you are viewing the picture. On the other hand, the increase resolution of the Z2 for HDTV sources is more noticeable only at closer distances.

When the 4805 first came out a room full of 60 people saw a side by side comparison of the Z2 and 4805 and everyone in the room preferred the image of the 4805 over the Z2.
http://archive.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3936459#post3936459

Index  Top

What is a dust blob?

Dust blobs are dust particles on the DMD chip can cause faint circles of light just off your screen. In order to get rid of them, you can try contacting InFocus with your issue or remove it yourself. See the instructions on how to remove them here.

Index  Top

What is an ND2 filter?

An neutral density filter will cut down on the light output of the lamp and have no effect on the color balance of the picture. The ND2 filter will bring down the lamp brightness by 50%. The 4805 is a pretty bright projector at 600 lumens (in low mode). For most people with a screen under 100", the 4805 can get quite bright causing headaches from eye strain and rainbows. With the ND2 filter on, the picture will be easier on the eyes, reduce rainbows, improve black levels, and reduce screen door effect.

The 62mm Hoya HMC ND2 filter is the most popular filter used by 4805 owners. Other ND2 filters will also work fine on the 4805.

Index  Top

What is the advantage of the DVI/HDMI port on the 4805? What is the advantage of pixel mapping to 854x480 (or 852x480 or 848x480) on the 4805?

Using either the M1 to DVI or M1 to HDMI cable/adapter, 4805 users can connect DVI/HDMI to the 4805. DVI/HDMI are digital connections, allowing the source to send video data directly to the projector without any sort of digital to analog or analog to digital conversions. Being digital, souces capable of pixel mapping to the 4805's native resolution of 854x480 can help give an outstandingly detailed picture (however it also depends on the quality of the source). There are also a handful of dvd players capable of outputing dvds at 852x480 such as the Momitsu 880, Bravo D1/D2, and Snazio players that seem to get much praise for its level of clarity, despite some of their other issues. When pixel mapping to these resolutions, you should set the 4805 to "native" mode.

Index  Top

What is the M1 port?

From what I understand, is only used on inputs and it is somewhat of a derivative of a DVI port. is used on the 4805 so that it will give users an option of what they want they want to connect to it, whether it be component, DVI, VGA, or even HDMI. It also allows the aforementioned connectors be matched with a USB output using the M1.

Index  Top

5. Setup and Maintenance

5.01. What dvd player do you recommend for the 4805?

Since the 4805 has a very good deinterlacer in the Faroudja processor, any decent dvd player outputting a 480i picture will look great. I would recommend finding a dvd player that will give a nice detailed picture. The inexpensive Toshiba 3960 have been quite popular. I must note that there are 2 versions of this player. The more recent version of this player is not the same as the original as it uses a different mpeg chip. The older version of the player has got good results with the 4805.

With so many dvd players out there, it's impossible for me to test out all of them. I'd recommend putting in the HQV Benchmark DVD and run the picture detail test to get an idea of how good your dvd player is at in this regard.

There are many 4805 owners (including myself) who also use the Oppo 971 dvd player. This dvd player also uses Faroudja deinterlacing that is the same as the one used by the 4805. There are many issues found in dvd players such as their ability to properly deinterlace film material along as how they perform as a dvd player in regards to layer changes and pixel cropping. The Oppo contains no pixel cropping, has no layer change, and is a very fast and responsive when navigating menus. It is also region free and has great customer support. The Oppo is an upscaling dvd player with DVI output. It is recommended with the 4805 for only DVI output (at 480p or 720p) and not its less than stellar component output. I would not recommend this player if you are not going to use it over DVI.

Many users also use an HTPC for their dvd player. A nicely tweaked HTPC pixel mapped at 848x480 (or 854x480) using TheaterTek dvd softare or other software using ffdshow is getting rave reviews from many users. Being able to pixel map to these resolutions involves no scaling by the 4805 and helps give a very sharp image.

Index  Top

5.02. Why should I set my dvd player to 480i (interlaced) instead of 480p (progressive)?

The 4805 uses the Academy Award winning Faroudja DCDi processing. As a progressive fixed panel display, the 4805 will take any video source and output it to it's native resolution of 854x480. When the 4805 receives a 480i (or 576i) video signal, it will apply Faroudja deinterlacing and scaling to make it 480p. The 4805 will show in its About menu that it is receiving a 480i signal when Faroudja is processing.

When you set your dvd player to progressive, the dvd player will use its own processing and deinterlacing to output the 480i video to 480p and then it will be sent to the 4805. The 4805 will show that it is receiving 480p in its About menu.

So why should you let the 4805 do the deinterlacing versus your dvd player? Most dvd players under $200 dollars (and even some over $200) use a less than superior deinterlacing chip compared to the top of the line Faroudja DCDi processing used by the 4805. All dvds are 480i (interlaced) and contain progressive flags in the video data. Most of these lower end dvd players use deinterlacing chips that rely on these progressive flags to properly deinterlace the interlaced video to make it progressive. However, when dvds are being authored, the progressive flags are not always correctly flagged in the dvd and causes the dvd player to not correctly deinterlace the video. More advanced deinterlacing chips like the Faroudja used in the 4805 are motion adaptive deinterlacers that do not rely on the progressive flags and automatically adapt the video content to progressive depending on the video.

Index  Top

5.03. Okay. So why does the picture at 480p on my cheap dvd player look better than the processed 480i image from the 4805?

If you are simply A/Bing your dvd player against the 4805, you may see a dramatic difference. However, most dvd players when in Progressive mode will increase the contrast and brightness of the picture in order to give a better percieved image. Most people in this situation would prefer the brightest picture. If you calibrate your dvd player at 480p and 480i with a calibration dvd like AVIA, or Digital Video Essentials (DVE), you should get a very similar looking image. Where the 4805 will shine over the dvd player would likely be over badly flagged DVDs. Of course, this would depend also on how good your dvd player looks at 480i and how well your dvd player is at 480p.

Index  Top

5.04. When would I let the dvd player do the processing over the 4805?

You should let your dvd player do the processing over the 4805 if it uses a better deinterlacing solution over the 4805. Popular deinterlacing solutions comparable (and better) than the Faroudja processing used by the 4805 include Silicon Optix HQV chip (found in the Denon 5910) and Silicon Image SIL504 chip. A good way to test the processing of your dvd player would be to run it through the various deinterlacing tests found on the HQV Benchmark DVD.

Index  Top

5.05. How should I shut down the 4805?

IMO, the best way to shut down the 4805 is to do a "hard" power off, where you would manually switch the 4805 off using the power switch on the side of the projector. You should do this when you are done with the projector for the rest of the day/evening.

It is best to shut the 4805 off this way because it is better to let the lamp in the projector cool off naturally, versus it being forced to cool down with a fan when you do a "soft" power off using the remote.

If you plan on turning off the 4805 temporarily, then you should do a normal "soft" shutdown with the remote, therefore the lamp will be cooled enough to be struck again.

It is not good for the lamp to be struck while it is still hot. This can kill the life of the lamp (if not kill it altogether). Fortunately for us, the 4805 has protection against this. The controller board will prevent the projector from striking the lamp if it senses that it is still hot. When this happens, the LED on the 4805 will be red blink 3 times.

Though I must mention, personally, I do a soft power off until the fan slows, then a hard power off, just in case I should want to turn the projector back on anytime soon. I think either way, the difference between doing a soft and hard power off isn't much.

Index  Top

5.06. What screen would you recommend for the 4805?

There are many factors involved in choosing a screen for the 4805. How big of an image do you want? Do you have a dark and light controlled room? Do you have lots of ambient light?

I would recommend finding a screen with a gain and picture size combination that would help you achieve the movie theater lamp brightness standard of 12ftl (foot-lamberts). Try to find a combination that would get you somewhere between 12ftl to 18ftl.

The 4805, being a very bright projector at around 600 lumens in low power mode, can be very bright for most people. It is recommended for most people with a screen under 100" to apply an ND2 filter to the 4805 in order to cut down the lumen output in half. This will help bring down the 4805 down to 12ftl in most cases.

You can calculate ftl with this formula (width and height are in feet):
(Lumens/(Width x Height)) x Screen gain

For example, I have a 92" diagonal screen, which is 80"x45" with a 1.1 gain.

Width = 80/12 = 6.66 ft
Height = 45/12 = 3.75 ft
Lumens = 600
Screen gain = 1.1

(600/(6.66x3.75)) x 1.1 = 26.4 ftl

After applying the ND2 filter, the ftl would go down to 13.2 ftl.

I am personally using a 92" Da-Lite High Contrast Matte White (HCMW) screen with 1.1 gain. This is a pulldown screen. It is also very similar to the Da-Lite High Contrast Cinema Vision material used on fixed screens which also has a 1.1 gain.

Index  Top

5.07. What is vertical offset?

The vertical offset is the offset in which the image is projected from the lens. The 4805 has a 27.8% offset. This means the image is projected at 27.8% of the height of the image from the lens. For example, a 92" diagonal image will have a width of 80" and a 45" width.
27.8 x 45 = 12.51" offset
So in a table mount situation, the bottom of the image will be 12.51" from the center of the lens. If you are in a ceiling mount set up, the top of the image will be 12.51" from the center of the lens.

Index  Top

5.08. What is the recommended seating distance?

Infocus recommends sitting 2x the width of your screen in order to reduce the amount of screen door effect that you would see should you sit closer. Some people are more sensitive to screen door than others. I would recommend demoing the projector and see how much screen door bothers you if you feel that it may be a problem. Personally, I can sit as closer than 1.5x and not be bothered with screen door, even though I can see it, the great big picture has my attention more than anything.

Index  Top

5.09. How do you remove dust blobs?

AVS member SuperGoop wrote a great tutorial on how to clean dust blobs here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=556431

Index  Top

5.10. Color Wheel Cleaning

Some people have found out that after a period of time, the color wheel used in DLP projectors can get dirty and a cleaning will help improve your picture dramatically. When you take out the lamp housing to clean your filters, you can get a good look at your color wheel. If it looks dirty/dusty or has some haze around the color wheel, a color wheel cleaning may be needed.

AVS member SuperGoop posted a guide to cleaning the color wheel on the 4805 here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=581503

Color wheel cleaning was brought up with the original InFocus X1 here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=380491

Note: A color wheel cleaning will not void your warranty, but should something happen to your projector while it is being cleaned, the warranty will not cover it.

Index  Top

5.11. Filter Cleaning

Infocus recommends that you clean the filter in your lamp housing every 250 hours. Cleaning the filter is rather simple, just open the hatch on the side of the 4805 with a flathead screw driver and then use that screw driver to loosen the 2 screws holding the lamp housing. Pull out the lamp housing and clean each filter with a vacuum on low with a brush vacuum head.

Index  Top

6. Video Calibration

5.12. Using Zoom

If you want the absolute best picture to come out of the 4805, use no zoom. Get the image as small as it can get and move your projector back until you get it to your desired size. Personally, I would leave some room to zoom in and zoom out for set up purposes. However, using zoom is not a bad thing, the extra detail of using no zoom may not show any difference depending on the user, I know it doesn't matter to me.

Index  Top

6.01. About Video Calibration

If anyone complains about the quality of their picture, the first thing I will tell them to do is to do basic calibration of the 4805's picture settings with a calibration dvd like AVIA, Digital Video Essentials, or THX Optimode. Both AVIA and DVE are good calibration dvds and each come with a blue filter to help dial in the right color saturation and tint. AVIA is more user friendly and easier to follow, while DVE's menu structure is complicated but it contains more tests. THX Optimode can be found in all THX certified dvds, however, their tests are not always consistent for each disc, and you need to get a blue filter separately to do the color calibration. THX is a good start, but AVIA or DVE is highly recommended.

If you are feeding the 4805 a video signal through DVI, it is recommended that you go into the advance settingns in the picture menu and set each of the gains (Red, Blue, Green) to 58 and each offset to 28.5, assuming that your source is setting the correct studio (video) DVI levels. The 4805 by default is set to PC DVI levels and the aforementioned adjustment is needed to set the 4805 to studio levels. If your DVI source is sending the correct studio DVI levels, with these settings, the Blacker than Black (BTB) test and Whiter than White (WTW) tests in DVE should be correct and need no adjustments. If your source is not sending the correct dvi level, I'd suggest adjusting your brightness and contrast on the 4805 to where it will pass those tests.

Index  Top

6.02. Calibrating the DVI input

By default, the 4805's DVI input is set to receive pc dvi levels which is different from studio (aka video) dvi levels. In order to correct the 4805's DVI input to the right studio dvi level you will need to adjust the gains and offsets of the DVI input in the advanced menu of the 4805's picture settings. Once there you need to set each gain (Red, Blue, Green) to 58 and each offset to 28.5. When adjusting the offsets, there is an extra step between each number setting. In order to get for example, from 50 to 51, you will need to have 2 clicks on the remote. In order to set the offset to 28.5, I'd recommend going to 29 and step down and stop as soon as it changes to 28.

Index  Top

6.03. Calibrating Black than Black (BTB) and Whiter than White (WTW) with Digital Video Essentials (DVE)

DVE is a little hard to navigate, but I usually just jump straight to the test patterns.

To calibrate BTB, I use the pattern found on Title 12, Chapter 13.
You want to set your Brightness (aka black level) so that the outermost black bars will blend in with the background. On the 4805, I would recommend getting as close the screen as you can and lower the brightness until the black bars are completely indistinguishable from the background. It should also be the point where dithering (dancing pixels) should disappear. Some dvd players are not capable of showing the outermost black bars, in this case, lower brightness until the dithering disappears as mentioned earlier.

To calibrate WTW, I use the pattern found on TItle 12, Chapter 14.
Looking at the 3 dots in the bottom right corner of the pattern, you want to increase the Contrast (aka white level) so that the white bar above the 3 dots blends in with the white bar next to it. Lower your contrast so that you can distinguish the bars from each other and increase contrast until the bars blend in together.

Index  Top

6.04. About Keystone Correction

I would highly recommend that Keystone Corrrection not be used in a set up. Keystone Correction is done digitally and will distort your picture. So leave keystone at its default setting of 50. Some people notice little or no image degradation with very little use of keystoning. Use it at your own risk.

Index  Top

6.05. Calibrating black level with AVIA calibration DVD

There was a good discussion on how to do this here on AVS:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=543915&page=1&pp=30

Index  Top

7. Troubleshooting

7.01. My 4805 just froze or is not responding, what happened?

There seems to be an issue with the 4805 freezing should there be a change in the video source or an auto-sync while you are accessing the menu. Be sure to stay out of the 4805's menu should you switch sources.

Index  Top

7.02. Why do I have black bars above and below my picture?

First, make sure you've set your display type in your dvd player's menu to Widescreen or 16:9. Second, make sure the 4805 is set to 16:9 mode.

If your picture is stretched horizontally, it's likely that your dvd is non-anamorphic widescreen. Set the 4805 to "Letterbox" mode and the picture should be proportionate.

If your picture is proportionate and you still have black bars above and below the image, then that's because the movie was filmed that way in that aspect ratio. The 4805 is a native 16:9 projector, which is equivalent to a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is also used in most HDTV programming. Most movies are filmed in either 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratios. 1.85:1 ratio movies should fill up most of your screen leaving very small black bars, which may even be unnoticeable. 2.35:1 aspect ratio movies will have black bars above and below the picture.

To get a better understanding of anamorphic widescreen and aspect ratios, check out these links:
Ultimate Guide to Anamorphic DVD
Widescreen-O-Rama: All About Aspect Ratios

Index  Top

7.03. Why is my picture stretched horizontally? Everything seems wider.

If you are watching 4:3 content, you will need to set the 4805 in 4:3 mode so the picture will be proportionate, and there will be black bars on the side of the picture. If you want your 4:3 picture to completely fill the screen, thus cropping some of the top and bottom of the image, set the 4805 to "Letterbox" mode.

Index  Top

7.04. Help. Why can't I adjust the colors on the 4805? The setting is missing in the menu.

You can only adjust the color through the picture menu when the 4805 is receiving 480i/576i via component, svideo, or composite. The color adjustment will not be available for 480p, 576p, 720p, or 1080i video signals. Color adjustments in this case needs to be done in the source (ie. dvd player, tuner box). Unfortunately, not all sources have settings for color adjustment.

Index  Top

7.05. Why can't I map 848x480 or 854x480 with my pc?

Mapping to 848x480 or 854x480 cannot be done over VGA. It must be done via DVI-D. Unless your card can support those resolutions via its advanced menu, you will need to use Powerstrip in order to get your pc to correctly output those resolutions.

Here are the Powerstrip parameters to achieve 848x480 at 48hz courtesy of DaGamePimp:
PowerStrip timing parameters: 848x480=848,24,88,96,480,1,3,13,25167,2304
Generic timing details for 848x480: HFP=24 HSW=88 HBP=96 kHz=24 VFP=1 VSW=3 VBP=13 Hz=48

Note: Not all cards are capable of 854x480 as it is an irregular. It seems Nvidia 5xxx/6xxx/7xxx cards have had success with this resolution.

Index  Top

7.06. My lamp is flickering. Do I need a new lamp?

Lamp flicker should not be confused with slight strobe-like pulsings in the picture. For this problem, click here.

If your lamp is flickering when you initially start up the projector but stops after 20 or so seconds, then it should be ok. When the 4805 starts up initially, the circuitry in the 4805 that prevents the lamp from flickering is not activated immediatly and may take a few seconds to start.

If you've got a new bulb, flickering within the first 100 hours is normal as the lamp is still new and the arc on the lamp has not been fully stabilized. Running the lamp in high power mode for a few hours can help stabilize the arc and the flickering should stop.

Even if you are beyond the 100 hour mark and still get flickering, running in High power mode for a few hours will still work.

If this solution does not work, I would recommend contacting InFocus for further instruction. For more detailed information about lamp flicker, there was a great explanation about it from InFocus engineer, Bob Williams, here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5820302#post5820302

Index  Top

7.07. I'm noticing a slight pulsing in my picture, what is wrong?

Not to be confused with lamp flicker, for more information on lamp flicker, click here:


There seems to be an issue with the 1.13 and 1.21 firmwares on the 4805. Every now and then while watching on the 4805, there will be some slight strobe-like pulsings in the picture, some people notice it more than others and it seems to vary on anything that you watch, and is most noticeable in darker scenes.

The only solution to get rid of this issue is to revert to the original firmware that you can download here:
1.02 Firmware

InFocus is aware of this problem and is working hard to fix this. There seems to be a fix for this and is going internal testing as we speak Hopefully it will be available in its next firmware update.

Index  Top

7.08. Why do I get a wierd line above my picture when watching TV?

What you are seeing is usually tv data such as Closed Captioning that is stored in the video signal. Most regular tvs have a certain amount of overscan (around 5%) where it will crop all 4 sides of the picture, thus eliminating that data. Many projectors including the Infocus 4805 have no overscan and show the full video feed. The 4805 has an "Overscan" setting that will simulate overscan and crop the image from all 4 sides.

Index  Top

7.09. My picture gets distorted when changing channels.

Pressing the "auto-image" button usually resyncs the picture and should fix it. The latest firmwares should do this automatically.

Index  Top

7.10. Why does the 4805 resync when I change channels?

The 4805 automatically resyncs when switching video signals (ie. 480i to 720p, 720p to 1080i). If this is a problem for you, I would recommend setting your tv tuner (cable box, hd box, satellite box) to a fixed output resolution (if applicable) to prevent the "auto-sync" from the 4805.

Index  Top

7.11. Why is there a lag when watching 480i content (tv or dvd)?

You may notice a slight lag when changing tv channels or navigating dvd menus on the 4805 when you are outputting 480i from your source. This is due to the Faroudja processing/deinterlacing done by the 4805. This processing will cause a slight lag in response for this reason, but is not noticeable in most cases when during regular watching.

Index  Top

7.12. Why does TV not look as good on the 4805?

Regular tv (SDTV - standard definition television) quality will vary from channel to channel. The fact of the matter is, it's crap in and crap out. When watching regular tv on a small television, you usually don't notice the imperfections of standard tv. Blowing it up 80+ inches and these imperfections are more noticeable.

Index  Top

Copyright © 2005 Ja Phule. All Rights Reserved.