Infocus X10 projector

The manual zoom control has only a rather modest 1.2x range of adjustment, providing a throw ratio of between 1.85:1 and 2.22:1. It’s therefore important to consider where you want to mount the projector and your desired screen size before purchase. If you have a small room, you may not be able to get the picture big enough. At 476 x 148 x 432mm, the projector itself is pretty large and could easily dominate a room.

A distinct lack of control buttons on the projector body means you’ll be using the remote control to carry out most tasks. Infocus has paid considerable attention to the design of the controller, which has an expensive two-tone gloss black and silver look and a soft blue glow illuminates the buttons so you can use it easily when the room lights have been dimmed.

However, the projected 'on-screen' menus themselves are a little disappointing. Small, grey, word-heavy dialog boxes pop down from the top left corner of the screen with a distinct lack of descriptive icons. You won’t be spending a lot of time in the menus though, because compared to many projectors there are relatively few options to get to grips with here.

InFocus has given considerable attention to the remote control

For example, we’re used to seeing image presets for various view modes, such as “Cinema”, “PC” and “Video”, which are absent on the X10. However, once you’ve set up the picture to your liking you can create up to three presets of your own.

Of course, there’s much more to a pleasing picture than a high pixel count. We want 1080p in order to get the best possible quality from our Blu-ray Discs, but a poor 1080p projector can easily be outclassed and out-priced by a good 720p model – especially if your screen size isn’t large and you’re not sitting with your nose pressed up against it.

Bearing this in mind, we weren’t sure what to expect from the X10. Thankfully, we were very pleasantly surprised. The picture quality is pretty good. It’s sharp and vivid, although perhaps lacking a little of the subtlety found on more expensive projectors.