Work Big IN26

Good Gear Guide

  • Review
  • Specs
  • Images
  • User Reviews
  • Buy Online

The InFocus Work Big IN26 is a 1024x768 native resolution DLP projector designed for business use. It performs well with only a handful of minor flaws, has an excellent throw distance and a more than adequate range of connection options. Like other InFocus business projectors, to get the most out of the IN26, users will need to calibrate it a little as the under default settings the colours are a little inaccurate. However, with a small amount of time invested, this projector is sure to impress at any office presentation.

Pros

  • Great image quality, attractive design, lack of rainbow effect

Cons

  • Minor flaws in resolution tests, mediocre speakers

Bottom Line

The InFocus Work Big IN26 is a good all-round projector that can handle a wide range of sources and has above average image quality. If you are in the market for an attractive unit with good performance, you should give this model a look.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 1,599.00 (AUD)

Special Offers

This type of projector is best used for displaying presentations and other data from a PC. As such, for our first series of tests we connected the IN26 to a PC via the D-Sub connection. We were immediately impressed with the desktop clarity. Text was very easy to read and the icons were clearly defined. There was no over-saturation of white like we found in the Work Big IN24 and the colours were quite reasonable. That being said, they weren't exactly correct. We still had to use the on-screen display to calibrate the colour scheme. We found that using the pre-set "movie" colour scheme and increasing the brightness and contrast fixed and discolouration we encountered. While this isn't a massive problem is still should be considered for those that are expecting perfect plug and play performance without having to spend time on calibration.

We ran tests on the IN26 using DisplayMate Video Edition and found that it had very few problems. It easily passed all the geometry and distortion tests and flawlessly displayed the colour and greyscale tests as well. The only problem we found was what looked like signal interference on all vertical lines during all the resolution tests. This is usually indicative of an interpolation problem but we were testing at 1024x768 to make sure the projector was at its native resolution. This is a very peculiar result but we don't consider it to be a major problem as it doesn't seem to affect the image quality during normal use. We ran some spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel to check if the vertical lines in the documents would be affected and they weren't.

We also checked to see how the projector performed with DVD playback and found that it was rather good. There was no motion blur, no noticeable noise and excellent colour reproduction. While this isn't a home theatre projector by any means, if you need to switch between a PC source and a DVD in a presentation, the IN26 will easily playback a DVD without any problems. The IN26 uses a four segment, two speed colour wheel which greatly reduced the level of rainbow, usually a downfall of DLP systems. This is impressive, as trying to watch a presentation when on a projector that suffers from this phenomenon is not a pleasant experience.

Since the IN26 has no lens shift options, the only way to fix any keystone problems is to use the digital vertical correction function. We ran the DisplayMate Video Edition resolution tests again while using keystone correction to see how well it worked and found that it caused a wide range of issues, the most noticeable of which was horizontal banding and pixel misalignments. However, this is a common problem with projectors that employ digital methods to repair keystone problems and on par with most DLP projectors we have reviewed. If you avoid keystone correction by placing the projector directly in front of the screen, these issues can be avoided.

We found the throw distance to be quite good for a business unit. From a minimum distance of 1.49 metres the image size is 85 centimetres (measured diagonally) and from a maximum distance of 10 metres it can reach up to 6.31 metres. If you don't have a lot of space in the boardroom, this can represent a problem as the minimum throw distance may not work for you, but from the back of the room in a moderately sized boardroom, the image size will be more than adequate.

The design of the IN26 is identical to the lower resolution Work Big IN24. Looking sophisticated and professional, it can easily be assimilated into an office environment. The inputs are housed on the rear panel and include 15 pin D-Sub, USB 2.0, S-Video, Composite Video, RCA audio and both monitor and audio out. On top of the unit are the function interface and on/off buttons. The lens also has separate focus and zoom rings which both work quite well. The speakers in the unit aren't the best and sound a little muddy but for an office presentation with limited video playback, they are adequate.

Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the PC World newsletter.

Be the first to comment.

Post new comment

Users posting comments agree to the PC World comments policy.

Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.

Most Popular

What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
Samsung’s 2013 Smart TVs: everything you need to know
Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?
How do I connect my TV to the Internet?
Windows 7 Home Premium vs. Windows 7 Professional

Best Deals on PCWorld

ProjectorsView all »
TVsView all »
Home EntertainmentView all »
MonitorsView all »
Digital VideoView all »