InFocus Bows DLP TV Projector

INDIANAPOLIS, IND.— InFocus introduced the ScreenPlay 7205 home single-chip DLP TV projector during the CEDIA Expo, here, earlier this month.

The projector, which will be available during the fourth quarter with a suggested retail of around $10,000, fits into the "home theater" niche the market, according to InFocus.

Scott Hix, VP/general manager, explained that there are three levels of the market:

• "Home Cinema," with projectors going from $15,000 to $50,000;
• "Home Theater," which ranges from $7,000 to $15,000 products in the "premium" area and $3,000 to $7,000 in the "value" segment"; and
• "Home Entertainment," with products there priced no higher than $3,000.

Hix added that most of the industry's business is still in the "Home Cinema" and "Home Theater" areas describing "Home Entertainment" as a "developing market."

Built on the platform of the ScreenPlay 7200, the 7205 features the new "Mustang" HD2+ chip from Texas Instruments, which provides improved brightness, contrast and reduced pixel structures. The 7205 also features a custom-designed seven-segment 5x color wheel and the enhanced Faroudja DCDi, the FLI2310, that converts 60Hz video to the same refresh rate as film projectors. InFocus also noted that the unit also features a 35mm lens and 16-by-9 resolution.

The number of retailers and installers that carry InFocus products has grown in the past year, Hix said. During last year's CEDIA Expo 318 U.S. dealers sold InFocus projectors while today 719 carry the brand. By the end of the year InFocus will be carried by around 1,000 retailers and installers and will cover the top 150 markets that can properly sell, explain and install the line, according to Jim Davis, senior director/home entertainment.