InFocus IN82 Projector: Black Levels and Shadow Detail

Let's look at a few images that will help you get a handle on black levels. Most of these images are in most recent reviews, and some, have been used for a couple of years.

The first image is from Space Cowboys (I love space images, as most of you have figured out by now), and looks pretty good. All the stars are there, and the blacks look very black, but not quite what I would call that magical "inky" black, that only a small handful of projectors can achieve.

IN82 Home Theater Projector: Shadow Detail Performance

While black levels were very good, the IN82 was definitely better in terms of revealing shadow details. To do so, you not only need some really good black level capability, but contrast, brightness and gamma all impact what you end up seeing.

The first image is from Space Cowboys, the re-entry scene:

The purpose here is to see how much detail is there in the dark areas on the right and bottom right. Now, if you compare this image with the similar one on other reviews, you'll find that there are differences in exposure. Most are close, but not all. You'll have to "compensate" to figure out which ones are really best (or take my word)? The thumbnail image on the right is from the Sharp XV-Z20000, which has the best black levels of any of the single chip DLP projectors tested.