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Light Leakage

Posted on November 18, 2008 By Art Feierman

The X9 is very clean in this regard. A very small amount of light leakage comes out of the lens, however, it certainly is not going to ruin anyone’s viewing experience. There is one spot however (on the front of the left side – if you are looking at the front of the X9), where you can see light shining out. So, if you are sitting on that side, exactly even with the front of the projector it might annoy you. If you move your seat forward or back, just a few inches, the issue goes away.

Image Noise

For color accuracy reasons discussed elsewhere, we recommend running the X9 with Brilliant Color on. Doing so, however, as is typical, means you will have a bit more image noise, than found on other projectors, be they LCD projectors, or DLP projectors running with Brilliant Color off. Still, the image noise levels (mesquito noise) levels are not a big problem, especially when you consider our take, that the X9 is not an enthusiast’s projector, but one for the masses, where subtle differences in image noise are not likely to be noticed.

Audible Noise

Rarely are DLP home theater projectors overly quiet. For the most part, LCD projectors are significantly quieter. The X9 as a DLP projector, is fairly typical. InFocus actually claims 28 db in eco-mode, and 30 db at full power.

We are not set up to measure audible noise, but I have “listened” to the X9, in both my theater, and with other projectors in my testing room.

I’ll buy into the 28db noise level in eco-mode, that sounds about right, just quiet enough, that it’s a non-issue for all but the most noise intolerant owners. The 30 db, is probably a stretch. First of all, there is no question in my mind, that switching from eco-mode to full power, increases the projector noise by 4 or 5 db

that would put full power noise around 32-33 db, which is typical of DLP home theater projectors, and 31-33 db is where most manufacturers claim their DLP projectors are, at full power.

Bottom line: Audible noise is average for a DLP, and there is significantly more noise than you will find with most LCD projectors. Is all this a problem? For most of us, not at all, but running at full power, may be a problem for those overly sensitive to fan noise.

Sharpness
InFocus X9 Projector Calibration