Kitting out your home cinema with a proper projector is about as close to nirvana as movie enthusiasts get - but the problem has always been their affordability.

You can spend literally tens of thousands of pounds on a box that makes a series of moving images flicker magically on your wall - which isn't something many of us really consider when LCD and plasma TV are affordable.

Busting that conceit wide open is the X10 projector from InFocus, a single chip DLP projector that can give you Full HD 1080p for just £1,099 or less - which not only makes it terrific value for money compared to its rivals, but also turns into in a very worth alternative for a regular telly.

The only catch is that the X10 is available only via the internet, so you'll have to set your mouse fingers twitching if you plan to buy. And at this price, its spec and features are also worthy of examination.

InFocus X10 vs InFocus iN80

The InFocus X10 is essentially a 'detuned' InFocus iN80 - a projector that's already won a string of five star reviews. In practice, there are four major differences between the two:

  • The X10 has a slightly lower contrast ratio of 2,300:1 native compared to the iN80's 2,500:1 with maximum contrast using iris adjustment of 7,000:1 compared to the iN80's 7,500:1
  • The X10 is less bright, boasting 1,200 ANSI lumens (peak) brightness, compared to the iN80's 1,300 ANSI lumens (peak).
  • The X10 has a 2 year product, 6 months lamp warranty, while the iN80 has 3 year product warranty, with 1 year for the bulb.
  • The InFocus X10 is £400 cheaper than the iN80 at £1,099 and £1,499 respectively.

Key features

In most other respects though the two projectors are the same: they both use the same first generation Texas Instruments DarkChip DLP; both have 7-segment colour wheels and Pixelworks Digital Natural Expression 10-bit video decoders.

Both the InFocus X10 and iN80 are also capable of displaying over 1.07 billion colours using Deep Color technology when teamed with an HDMI 1.3 source like a recent Blu-ray player or Sony's PlayStation 3.

Setting up and using the InFocus X10 projector is mostly a breeze. Its size and bulk (476mm x 148mm x 432mm, 6.4kg) suggests that it's best suited to ceiling mounting rather than for casual table top use, although there's a tilt-and-swivel table-top stand in the box.

Certainly the labelling for all your connectivity options suggests ceiling mounting is the preferred option - they're upside down when you stand the projector on its feet, but are obviously the right way up when you suspend the InFocus X10 from the ceiling.

Despite the keen price tag, InFocus hasn't stinted on your connectivity options either. On the back you'll find two HDMI 1.3 sockets - one using the standard HDMI port, plus a second that uses the 'universal' M1-DA / DVI port - plus component video, composite video and s-video connections.

The InFocus X10 also boasts infra-red, serial control and screen trigger ports so you can control it using a home automation system, or even trigger a projector screen to unfurl whenever the X10 is turned on.

InFocus X10 setup

Like all home cinema projectors, the InFocus X10 offers a good range of picture tweaking options including keystone correction, digital vertical image shift and automatic black level calibration.

It also has a great range of Gamma presets that enable you to adjust the colour balance of the projector so that it more closely matches the output from the source - e.g. movie, TV, PC, etc.