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(More customer reviews)Pros:
For months I struggled to determine which type of projector would best suite my needs. I was looking for a relatively high lumen projector that could be used both for projecting video in an art gallery setting (ambient light) as well as to watch movies at home (little or no ambient light). The DLP vs LCD question was my first obstacle. After reading endless articles and endlessly searching the Internet for any helpful information, I had come to believe that a high lumen DLP was the way to go.
I am fortunate to live in the vicinity of B&H Photo and Video in New York City and went in to the store to see their various projectors in action. Originally I had my eyes on the Optoma EP739 DLP projector, but when I saw the image projected from the InFocus LP-540 I had to rethink my whole strategy. B&H has over a dozen projectors being demonstrated and above and to the left of the projection area is a large plasma screen TV used for image comparison. The InFocus was the only projector on view to match the color quality of the nearby plasma screen. This was surprising to me since most of the projectors on view are home theater projectors, and I expected they would have better color than a projector designed for business applications. All of the DLP projectors looked washed out in comparison.
Now I know what you might be thinking "of course an LCD has better color that a DLP", this is pretty much a known fact if you have done your homework. But what I should mention is that not only was the color better, but the image itself was much sharper. Again, this is an expected difference between DLP and LCD, but the difference was striking.
The articles I read warned that LCD projectors usually deliver a sharper image than DLP projectors, but the technologies use of pixels instead of color wheels make them prone to a "chicken wire" effect. The InFocus shines in this respect. The so called "Chicken Wire" effect was obvious on the other LCD projectors at B&H like a nearby Epson LCD. In this respect the image produced from the LP-540 was as good as any of the DLPs on hand.
Cons:
The only issue that I have with the InFocus LP-540 is that it has a low contrast ratio (400:1). I knew that I was making this trade off when I chose a LCD over a DLP projector. Considering I wanted high lumens and excellent color saturation for around $1100 I had to make this sacrifice. I found that there is no perfect product on the market for under $1500 that offers high lumens (1500-2500), a high contrast ratio, and the kind of color saturation that a good LCD projector can produce.
Since I have purchased the LP-540, I have watched dozens of movies on it. It has performed very well with the exception of movies that are shot under low light, like horror movies (it in no way makes them unwatchable). If you plan on using this projector exclusively for home theater there are better choices out there than the LP-540 (the Sanyo PLV-Z4 had the best image of any projector at B&H. It offers amazing color saturation and a contrast ratio of 7000:1), but if you need a more versatile projector the InFocus LP-540 a solid all around performer.
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