Just pulled the trigger on an IF5700. For me it was at a comfortable enough price point to upgrade from an X1 without worrying too much about what fabulous FP technologies will come out next year.
Two things I cannot comment on; rainbows, I was unaffected by this on my X1 and have no problem with the IF5700 either. HD material, unfortunately in my neck of the woods we do not have the pleasure of HDTV so I cannot comment on the PJ’s abilities in this regard.
X1 vs IF5700: Typically the specs do not tell the whole story. Contrast on the X1 is rated at 2000 while the IF5700 weighs in at 1400. In my HT the IF5700 beats the X1 hands down in the contrast stakes. Both are rated at 1000 lumens, again the IF5700 is noticeably brighter. Ease of setup, most reviews will tell you that right out of the box the IF5700 is a go, this not a bullsht cliché, it is factory calibrated to 6500k and to my admittedly amateur eye they are not lying. The X1 as we know requires extensive tweaking to get it running at peak performance, while this process may have its charms to the tweakers among us; it rapidly became a tedious bore for me. Unless Angelo Manutti conjures up some magic setting I am unlikely to potter about in the IF5700 menu. I will keep my X1, at its price point it is unbeatable and will now do duty as my gaming PJ on my PC. Of course at twice the price the IF5700 should better and it is. Two times better you ask? Very close to it I say. So far I have watched Finding Nemo, Leon the Professional and The Fifth Element all Region 1 NTSC disks and from PAL Region 2, One Giant Leap, Dune (the new one) and Shrek. The biggest compliment I can pay this PJ is that within seconds of the movie starting I am immersed, I am not sidetracked by jaggies, colour saturation, noise (fan or picture) etc. Although it is optimized for PAL regions I have found no major differences in the PQ with my Region 1 disks. The colour on this PJ is just fantastic. I will in due course throw the standard “difficult” disks at it, the “Morea” scene from LOTR, Dark City etc. and see how it fares. For now I am blown away by it colour repro, relative silence, ease of use and the overall vivacious picture. Something I could not do on my X1 is sit through 2 consecutive movies without getting eye fatigue; on the IF5700 I watched ‘Nemo and ‘Element one after the other. Both are very brightly coloured movies and I had no fatigue whatsoever. I have not yet ceiling mounted the PJ and did notice that if you sit within 1 ½ m of it one is enveloped in a pocket of superheated air from the exhaust fans, tabletoppers beware. That’s it for now. Not a comprehensive review perhaps but enough to pique your interest?
Setup: Pioneer DV535 – Component – IF5700- Matte White wall (dedicated room still under construction)
60w shaded table lamp in a corner behind the PJ ambient lighting and total darkness tested.
Habe ad alius ad ait immoderatio
Two things I cannot comment on; rainbows, I was unaffected by this on my X1 and have no problem with the IF5700 either. HD material, unfortunately in my neck of the woods we do not have the pleasure of HDTV so I cannot comment on the PJ’s abilities in this regard.
X1 vs IF5700: Typically the specs do not tell the whole story. Contrast on the X1 is rated at 2000 while the IF5700 weighs in at 1400. In my HT the IF5700 beats the X1 hands down in the contrast stakes. Both are rated at 1000 lumens, again the IF5700 is noticeably brighter. Ease of setup, most reviews will tell you that right out of the box the IF5700 is a go, this not a bullsht cliché, it is factory calibrated to 6500k and to my admittedly amateur eye they are not lying. The X1 as we know requires extensive tweaking to get it running at peak performance, while this process may have its charms to the tweakers among us; it rapidly became a tedious bore for me. Unless Angelo Manutti conjures up some magic setting I am unlikely to potter about in the IF5700 menu. I will keep my X1, at its price point it is unbeatable and will now do duty as my gaming PJ on my PC. Of course at twice the price the IF5700 should better and it is. Two times better you ask? Very close to it I say. So far I have watched Finding Nemo, Leon the Professional and The Fifth Element all Region 1 NTSC disks and from PAL Region 2, One Giant Leap, Dune (the new one) and Shrek. The biggest compliment I can pay this PJ is that within seconds of the movie starting I am immersed, I am not sidetracked by jaggies, colour saturation, noise (fan or picture) etc. Although it is optimized for PAL regions I have found no major differences in the PQ with my Region 1 disks. The colour on this PJ is just fantastic. I will in due course throw the standard “difficult” disks at it, the “Morea” scene from LOTR, Dark City etc. and see how it fares. For now I am blown away by it colour repro, relative silence, ease of use and the overall vivacious picture. Something I could not do on my X1 is sit through 2 consecutive movies without getting eye fatigue; on the IF5700 I watched ‘Nemo and ‘Element one after the other. Both are very brightly coloured movies and I had no fatigue whatsoever. I have not yet ceiling mounted the PJ and did notice that if you sit within 1 ½ m of it one is enveloped in a pocket of superheated air from the exhaust fans, tabletoppers beware. That’s it for now. Not a comprehensive review perhaps but enough to pique your interest?
Setup: Pioneer DV535 – Component – IF5700- Matte White wall (dedicated room still under construction)
60w shaded table lamp in a corner behind the PJ ambient lighting and total darkness tested.
Habe ad alius ad ait immoderatio
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