Infocus SP8600

InFocus SP8600 review

Usually projectors that cost less than £800 are either aimed at the business/education markets or absolutely rubbish. And there can be no hiding place for shoddiness when you're watching a picture that's 100-inch wide or more. With this in mind, I was wary of the InFocus SP8600. But then scepticism changed to enthusiasm when I found out it uses a DarkChip 3 (DC3) chipset.This is a generation on from the DarkChip 2 system usually found in budget DLP PJs (such as the recently reviewed BenQ W1100), and typically delivers benefits over the DC2 in terms of colour response, noise levels and, especially, contrast. The other key part of the SP8600's optical system is a three-speed, six-segment (RYGCMB) colour wheel, which should help single-chip DLP's rainbow effect. Colours, meanwhile, ought to benefit from the inclusion of UNISHAPE lamp technology – here, the lamp continually adjusts its output to match the colour segment in play on the colour wheel. Meanwhile, the SP8600's connectivity includes a handy two HDMIs and a 12V trigger output. In short, there's really nothing on the SP8600's spec sheet that betrays its decidely cheap market position. Maybe its build quality is shoddy? It's certainly not the prettiest projector around, with some rather plasticky, gloss-free black bodywork.