InFocus IN116xa Projector Review - Performance: Brightness, Contrast, Audible Noise
| Bright Setting | Dynamic Setting | Eco Setting | |
| Bright | 2965 | 2700 | 2200 |
| Presentation | 1680 | 1482 | 1120 |
| Movie | 1344 | 1219 | 922 |
| sRGB | 889 | 856 | 626 |
| Blackboard | 1976 | 1779 | 1285 |
The InFocus IN116xa is a pretty bright projector for small to medium sized rooms, with a manufacturer rated output of 3,500 lumens in its brightest mode. My light reading came in slightly less than I was hoping for but still close enough to the manufacturer’s claims at 2,965 lumens.
First things first, there are three lamp settings, Bright, Eco, and Dynamic, and there are seven other display modes which we will cover in a second. As discussed above, Dynamic is the lamp setting to utilize to obtain InFocus’s claimed 15,000 hours of lamp life. The whole XA series makes the same claim and does so because in Dynamic mode, the lamp is reduced by 9% from Bright mode for a total of 2,700 lumens, but in addition, the lamp will automatically adjust the power consumption between 30% and 100% and dramatically extend the life of the lamp. Eco mode clocks in at about 2,200 lumens for about a 25-26% reduction from my measured reading in both Bright settings and Bright mode.
That combination, the Bright lamp setting combined with Bright display mode, clocked in at 2,965 lumens as stated above, a 15% reduction from the manufacturers stated claim of 3,500 lumens. We would have liked to see it come within 10% of claim, but even 15% down is fairly typical. Far less projectors hit claim than come up short. We’ll stay in the bright lamp setting for now and go through the rest of the Picture modes.
In Presentation mode, the lumens dropped to 1,680 lumens, but the screen remains reasonably bright and the colors were much more accurate. For Movie/Cinema mode, we ended up at 1,318 lumens, no surprise, as it is typical for “Movie type mode (on other brands it might be called Cinema, Theater, etc.) - no matter the name, these “best picture quality” modes, have lower brightness in order to produce more accurate colors.
In sRGB/Game mode, we measured 889 lumens, technically that is the best mode, and allows for color matching for special applications, but that’s not something to be used with projectors in this class. On the off chance that you have an “old school” blackboard in your classroom, Blackboard mode clocked in at 1,976 lumens, but it’s not ideal on a regular screen. There is also a User mode!
Note: Once you go to edit any of the contrast, color, or brightness settings, those settings become your User mode. The downside of that is that you can’t really save more than one edited mode. This is not likely to be a real problem, but if it is, search elsewhere. Regardless, we would have preferred to see more than one User mode to edit and save as anything that makes things more efficient for the end users is endorsed by us.
In the Eco lamp setting, the IN116xa is reduced to about 2,200 lumens at its brightest mode. Presentation mode saw a reduction down to 1,120 lumens, Movie mode went down 922, and sRGB mode was reduced all the way to 626 lumens. And once again if interested in Blackboard mode, this was able to put out 1,285 lumens. Table provided below for all lamp modes and color settings.
The InFocus IN116xa claims to have a high 18,000:1 contrast ratio providing a sharp and detailed picture.
That said, we typically see contrast ratio as just a number, and for its purposes as a portable for education or business, this projector performs well enough to get you a detailed, quality image, but nothing that is going to provide you with the richest color performance blacks and whites, nor will you be getting the sharpest picture out there.
For your purpose of presenting, the IN116xa will deliver a sharp enough picture at a very affordable cost.
The InFocus claims the IN116xa to have 31 dBA in Normal mode and 28 dBA in Eco mode. I did not think the projector was loud in either mode, but Eco was certainly much more quiet and ideal if you don't need the brightness.
I tend to pay close attention to projector noise when presenting as the fewer distractions the better and in both modes. And I would feel very comfortable knowing my audience was focused on me and not some really loud fan noise coming from the projector.
If you can afford to sacrifice brightness, Eco is the way to go if only to have a real quiet experience. If you need the brightness, do not fear normal mode as the IN116xa is not loud enough to distract your audience.
InFocus IN116xa Projector Review - Performance: Brightness, Contrast, Audible Noise
| Bright Setting | Dynamic Setting | Eco Setting | |
| Bright | 2965 | 2700 | 2200 |
| Presentation | 1680 | 1482 | 1120 |
| Movie | 1344 | 1219 | 922 |
| sRGB | 889 | 856 | 626 |
| Blackboard | 1976 | 1779 | 1285 |
The InFocus IN116xa is a pretty bright projector for small to medium sized rooms, with a manufacturer rated output of 3,500 lumens in its brightest mode. My light reading came in slightly less than I was hoping for but still close enough to the manufacturer’s claims at 2,965 lumens.
First things first, there are three lamp settings, Bright, Eco, and Dynamic, and there are seven other display modes which we will cover in a second. As discussed above, Dynamic is the lamp setting to utilize to obtain InFocus’s claimed 15,000 hours of lamp life. The whole XA series makes the same claim and does so because in Dynamic mode, the lamp is reduced by 9% from Bright mode for a total of 2,700 lumens, but in addition, the lamp will automatically adjust the power consumption between 30% and 100% and dramatically extend the life of the lamp. Eco mode clocks in at about 2,200 lumens for about a 25-26% reduction from my measured reading in both Bright settings and Bright mode.
That combination, the Bright lamp setting combined with Bright display mode, clocked in at 2,965 lumens as stated above, a 15% reduction from the manufacturers stated claim of 3,500 lumens. We would have liked to see it come within 10% of claim, but even 15% down is fairly typical. Far less projectors hit claim than come up short. We’ll stay in the bright lamp setting for now and go through the rest of the Picture modes.
In Presentation mode, the lumens dropped to 1,680 lumens, but the screen remains reasonably bright and the colors were much more accurate. For Movie/Cinema mode, we ended up at 1,318 lumens, no surprise, as it is typical for “Movie type mode (on other brands it might be called Cinema, Theater, etc.) - no matter the name, these “best picture quality” modes, have lower brightness in order to produce more accurate colors.
In sRGB/Game mode, we measured 889 lumens, technically that is the best mode, and allows for color matching for special applications, but that’s not something to be used with projectors in this class. On the off chance that you have an “old school” blackboard in your classroom, Blackboard mode clocked in at 1,976 lumens, but it’s not ideal on a regular screen. There is also a User mode!
Note: Once you go to edit any of the contrast, color, or brightness settings, those settings become your User mode. The downside of that is that you can’t really save more than one edited mode. This is not likely to be a real problem, but if it is, search elsewhere. Regardless, we would have preferred to see more than one User mode to edit and save as anything that makes things more efficient for the end users is endorsed by us.
In the Eco lamp setting, the IN116xa is reduced to about 2,200 lumens at its brightest mode. Presentation mode saw a reduction down to 1,120 lumens, Movie mode went down 922, and sRGB mode was reduced all the way to 626 lumens. And once again if interested in Blackboard mode, this was able to put out 1,285 lumens. Table provided below for all lamp modes and color settings.
The InFocus IN116xa claims to have a high 18,000:1 contrast ratio providing a sharp and detailed picture.
That said, we typically see contrast ratio as just a number, and for its purposes as a portable for education or business, this projector performs well enough to get you a detailed, quality image, but nothing that is going to provide you with the richest color performance blacks and whites, nor will you be getting the sharpest picture out there.
For your purpose of presenting, the IN116xa will deliver a sharp enough picture at a very affordable cost.
The InFocus claims the IN116xa to have 31 dBA in Normal mode and 28 dBA in Eco mode. I did not think the projector was loud in either mode, but Eco was certainly much more quiet and ideal if you don't need the brightness.
I tend to pay close attention to projector noise when presenting as the fewer distractions the better and in both modes. And I would feel very comfortable knowing my audience was focused on me and not some really loud fan noise coming from the projector.
If you can afford to sacrifice brightness, Eco is the way to go if only to have a real quiet experience. If you need the brightness, do not fear normal mode as the IN116xa is not loud enough to distract your audience.
