InFocus X9 Projector Calibration
11/12/2008 -Art Feierman
We calibrate each home theater that is reviewed. The InFocus X9 receives a pretty standard calibration, there's always more that can be done by some of the "hi-end" calibrators.
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Color Temperature
Interestingly, the color temperature balance of the X9, right out of the box, is better with Brilliant Color on, than off. All four modes - PC, Movie, sRGB and Game, have almost identical color temperatures, with white consistantly around 6120K, with Brilliant Color off, but those same four modes are all in the 6556K to 6593K range, with Brilliant Color on.
Here is the same data as found in the Brightness section, which shows the white (100 IRE) temperature for each mode, with Brilliant Color off, and with it on:
With Brilliant Color Off and On
PC= 6120K , 6543K
Movie= 6118K, 6574K
sRGB= 6112K, 6593K
Game= 6119K, 6556K
The X9 has no separate R,G,B controls to fine tune grayscale balance, just a color temp slider. That adjustment has virtually no effect with Brilliant Color of, and isn't needed with Brilliant Color on.
Here is the grayscale balance for Movie mode, Brilliant Color On
- 100 IRE: 6574K
- 80 IRE: 6582K
- 50 IRE: 6478K
- 30 IRE: 6287K
And this set is for PC mode (Game mode is almost identical, within the error range of our equipment). Again, Brilliant Color is on:
- 100 IRE: 6543K
- 80 IRE: 6548K
- 50 IRE: 6337K
- 30 IRE: 6169K
Both of these are very much "good to go", a good thing, due to the lack of separate controls to adjust.
For sports and some HDTV viewing in PC (or Game) mode, you may want to increase the color temp setting by one, to reduce red a small amount. I suggest trying that out. I recommend not changing the color temp for Movie mode.
Bottom line, is that with Brilliant Color on, in Movie mode, the InFocus X9 really does have extremely good color, without a calibration of grayscale.
Basic Settings
Below are all our image settings for the InFocus X9 projector.
The numbers in parens are the default numbers. In this case we have provided numbers for all four modes:
| PC | Movie | sRGB | Game | ||
| Contrast | 0 (-5) | -1 (8) | -1 (8) | -1 (8) | |
| Brightness | -1 (-17) | 3 (-15) | 4 (-17) | 4 (-17) | |
| Color temp | 0 | -1 | -1 | -1 | |
| Color | (0) for all | ||||
| Tint | (0) for all | ||||
| Degamma | 0 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
Lamp Mode: Full power for all measurements, and settings.
As is typical, there is a slight shift in color in Eco-mode. We did check out Eco-mode's effect on color temperature. Based on our measurements for 100 IRE, in low power, Movie mode, with Brilliant Color off, was slightly cooler (more blue), at 6238K instead of 6118K at full power.That's a slight shift, but in the right direction, toward 6500K. That means Movie mode is a tiny bit closer to ideal when in low power. With Brilliant color on, since those numbers (except dark gray (30 IRE) are all around 6550K, again, no harm and maybe a touch better in low power - not enough to really consider.
RGB Settings
Once again, the X9 does not provide separate RGB controls, so no grayscale calibration was done.
Overall, Movie mode, with our settings, really was rather impressive, and of course, very bright. PC and Game mode are only slightly different, and either can be used as your "brightest" mode.