IN82 Audible Noise Levels

Posted on October 4, 2007 by Art Feierman

The IN82 is quiet, for a DLP projector. it's not particularly quiet, and most LCD projectors are quieter to much quieter. Still, the IN82 seems to sound like the claimed spec of 30db in full power mode. This compares with an extra 2db to 3db for most other DLP projectors. For those who really dislike any audible distraction at all, this is probably the best bet of the DLP's. With fan on low, its quieter still. Then, consider, that in Low fan power mode, it's 900+ lumens in best mode, is still the second brightest of all 1080p projectors we've measured to date, and about twice the brightness of most 1080p projectors in their best modes.

And, I should further note that our "reigning champ", the winner of our Best In Class award for best overall, over $5K 1080p projectors, is the JVC RS1. At just under 800 lumens, is about 35% less bright than the IN82.

IN82 Projector Screen Recommendations

Somehow it seems the better the projector the more screen choices.

Let's start with size. The IN82 didn't even break a sweat on my 128" Firehawk G3 (high contrast gray surface), in its "best mode" at full power". Due to the lens throw, I couldn't quite fill the screen - only about 120" diagonal. Still, even dropping to low power, it had no problem at all, and was visibly brighter than my RS1.

In my testing room on the 106" Carada (rated a 1.4 gain), filling about 80" diagonal, it was almost blinding, looked like a plasma display, when cranked all the way up, even under full lighting it looked good.

I would say first, that the projector can easily handle typical, quality 130" diagonal 16:9 screens, and should work well up to about 150".

For smaller screens, say 110" diagonal or less, closing down the iris at least part way, may be necessary to dim the projector enough so that the blacks aren't too bright a dark gray. Of course closing the manual iris also improves contrast ratio, but in my opinion not drastically so. (Mostly it means using less of the lens, so less stray light bouncing around and getting out the lens, to wash out the picture slightly.

On the other hand, some people like a very bright image, and others can use all that horsepower, with the iris wide open, to fend off a moderate amount of ambient light.

Now, back to screen surfaces. I thought the Firehawk was a superb match for the IN82 - so, I'll recommend first, a high quality HC gray surface screen. The Firehawk G3, in particular, though expensive, is optimized for 1080p projectors, and is an excellent choice.

Still, if you are using a fairly large screen, a white surface will do just fine.