Somehow, my husband and I have gotten into the habit of hosting movie nights. I don't know whether it's because none of our friends or family members have home theater surround sound, whether it's because we have a lot of movies on DVD that our buddies haven't seen, or whether my husband's treasured popcorn recipe is the main attraction. Regardless, we've gotten used to curling up on the sofas, dimming the lights, and settling in to enjoy the hair-raising effect of the THX intro played at full blast.

Somehow or other, our filmophile leanings gave me an idea. This year, why not have folks over for an Oscar party? We can watch the red carpet arrivals, giggle at this year's sobbing honorees, and cheer for — or object strenuously to — the Best Picture winner.

I figured we might hook a couple other folks, even though the Academy Awards are always on a work night and always run late. But I didn't expect that we'd end up hosting a bunch of people on a Sunday night. And once I pictured them all huddled around our smallish TV set — 27 inches isn't bad when there are two of you, but it starts looking pretty tiny in a crowd — I realized I needed to take action.

Enter the InFocus ScreenPlay 4800 DLP front projector — and exit all my preconceived notions about why I would never buy one of these things for myself. I have to admit it: after one night of use, I was a changed woman, and spent the next day boring my coworkers with tales of huge screens, sharp pictures, and intense viewing experiences. There is nothing quite like these projectors. But I digress.

Even if I didn't plan to own one, I've been intrigued by front projectors ever since I first saw the ScreenPlay lineup in action — and Mark Fleischmann's recent review of the 4800's big brother, the 5700, just increased my curiosity. The 4800 doesn't have the native widescreen aspect ratio or higher resolution of the 5700, but it is said to provide a crisp, impressively large picture. So I took this $1300 DLP projector model home for review.

Getting to know the ScreenPlay 4800
First of all, I have to say it was pleasant to be taking home cool gear which I could still carry without help. These projectors are compact and easily transportable. And if the 4800 had been in the padded carry case supplied with it, rather than in its cardboard box, it would have been even easier to shuttle about.Secondly: like most people, I'm very happy when I get easy setup instructions and good-quality cables included with my purchase of a component. (Supplied cables aren't unusual, but inclusion of cables thicker and sturdier than dental floss is — way to go, InFocus.) The 4800 came with a composite video cable, S-video and component video adapters, a VGA computer cable, and a very straightforward manual.

The ScreenPlay 4800's simple back panel nevertheless accommodates composite, S-video, component and VGA (computer) connections.

Setup was easy, therefore. We placed the projector on the coffee table, aimed it at the wall, made power and video connections (audio connections aren't necessary, if you've got your TV and movie sound running through a receiver to speakers already), and turned it on. Next, I turned the zoom ring a little, to make the picture as large as possible. Then, I turned the focus ring a little, to make the picture as crisp as possible. Voila!

Granted, there was other stuff to do. For example, there were lots of presets for presentation mode, film, video, etc. It's worth playing with these and figuring out which one suits your tastes best — and using a set-up disc (I usually recommend the AVIA calibration disc) can really help. One basic fact to remember is that brighter isn't always better. We also had to set the aspect ratio preferences, and to avoid lots of switching, ended up settling for the one-size-fits-all "Native" setting. That way we saw letterbox when we were watching a widescreen movie, and 4:3 when we were watching TV. We didn't worry about getting an HD signal connected, since the 4800 can't deliver true high-definition video; its maximum resolution is 800 x 600.

Eventually, we ended up switching to our own cables for viewing — the supplied A/V cable was long enough for placement on our coffee table, but not long enough for the high-up-behind-the-sofa balancing act we eventually achieved. We used three composite video cables connected with extenders, a far from ideal solution, with a visible loss in precision compared to S-video or component. And despite my AVIA recommendations, I upped the brightness and contrast a little, too, since we were watching the picture on a wall.

That's right, a wall. Now, I know there are wonderful screens out there for these projectors, and I know they improve your black levels and keep other scenes bright, but I had neither time nor money to buy or borrow a screen, and then mount it temporarily in my living room. So a big, bare white wall it was.

The award goes to . . .
The 2004 Academy Awards® weren't hailed as the most enthralling ever, but the 4800 performed beautifully, with a delightfully big, surprisingly crisp picture that kept us tuned in and interested for the whole show. Video was involving and surprisingly bright, especially with the lights lowered completely. There was enough detail for the more fashion-conscious in the crowd to ogle celebrity gowns and tuxes, and for movie fans to spot their favorite actors in the crowd. When Charlize Theron won Best Actress, we could even see that she had a bit of sunburn, from the way pale handprints appeared on her arms every time someone hugged her. Amazing!

Even more amazing was the projector's ability to entrance. When the show ended at half-past midnight, we popped in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and watched the whole of the battle at Helm's Deep. Everyone had just finished watching a four-hour award show, and had to get up for work in a few hours, but they still stayed glued to their seats for over a half an hour. For a first run with a DLP projector, it was quite an experience.

The stupendous picture astonished me; if it looked great using our ancient composite cables, it would probably look amazing when we made a higher-quality connection! If I owned the 4800, I'd go for a longer video cable right away, but I might hold off for a little while on the screen. I might have to replace the lamp inside it a little earlier, with the brightness increased, but that's the only problem I'd envision. It's this kind of flexibility that makes the ScreenPlay 4800 perfect for folks on a tight budget who want a really big picture.

Movie Night, Take Two ... and Three ... and Four ...
We were lucky enough to keep the 4800 for a couple weeks of — ahem — review following the Academy Awards®, and we really put it through its paces. We viewed portions of all of our favorite movies, with superb results. For example, we checked out the entire sequence beginning at Balin's Tomb and ending with the Balrog from the first Lord of the Rings movie — it handled those dark scenes very capably. We also watched The Missing, School of Rock, Galaxy Quest, and portions of The Fifth Element, Lawrence of Arabia, and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Missing is full of blue-tinted, isolated settings, and they were rendered with convincing loneliness. Jack Black's comic bursts of Nicholson-esque deviltry were all the more fun for being writ large upon our walls. The glittering, shimmering desert vistas in Lawrence were fabulous. And don't get me started on what fun it was to watch Pirates — a rollicking adventure of the best kind — viewed as it was meant to be viewed.

Every viewing experience was newly cinematic, thanks to the 4800.

It obviously made sense to host a more typical movie night, so we invited my husband's entire family over for dinner and a movie. In the end, there were ten of us crammed into our living room as we cued up Finding Nemo (even if we weren't looking for age-appropriate, Pixar movies can be counted on for a great picture, great sound, and a great story). The widescreen image we were viewing, however, was more than large enough to satisfy the whole crowd — measured diagonally, as typical TV screens are, it was a whopping 79" widescreen picture!

As we were drawn into the movie, one immediately noticeable difference was that the dramatic surround sound of some sequences — for example, when Bruce the shark is chasing Marlin and Dory — was finally in keeping with the screen size. If you've got a great surround sound system, but a small TV screen, the two can seem unbalanced. But now, they were perfectly matched. And of course the 4800 did a lovely job showing the movie. Marlin and Nemo were a brilliant orange, and the projector had no trouble rendering the delicate iridescence sometimes visible on their white stripes. The underwater scenery shone with jewel-like color and realism.

Also, the 4800 is perfectly suited to video games. For example, GameCube's Metroid is known for its atmospheric, three-dimensional feel. The projector brought those scenes to life more believably than any video display I have ever seen. There were times when, looking down a dimly lit rocky tunnel toward an unexplored room beyond, I could almost believe both the tunnel and room were real.

The ScreenPlay 4800 took video gaming to a new and fantastic level.

Best of all, we watched all ten episodes of the outstanding HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers. I could write an entire and very lengthy article about how superb this series is, with its fantastic direction (even with multiple directors at work), excellent acting, thoughtful script, careful pacing, and haunting music. But the part best showcased by the 4800 was the stunning cinematography. Band of Brothers was seemingly shot using filters that impose slight sepia tones over many scenes. This approach obviously gives the viewer a sense of a bygone era. However, it also means your TV's ability to handle a complex picture is important. The 4800 passed the test, and then some: the bright scenes had a glowing quality like that found in old photos — exactly what I imagine the directors intended — while darker scenes were easy to watch thanks to capable contrast and black level. Shots of backlit parachutes drifting out of the skies were astonishingly beautiful, while battle scenes took on an intensity they had never held with our small 27" tube TV. Frankly, I don't see how you can do justice to this incredible drama without a large superb picture matched to an enveloping surround system.

Downsides to DLP projectors?
TV aficionados will tell you that there are a few:

• The user-replaceable lamp costs $300
• A fairly dark viewing room is a necessity
• The rainbow effect

Although it's worth budgeting with the lamp in mind, the replacement issue doesn't ring big alarm bells for me. Why? Because even if you watch 5 or 6 hours of TV a day — and that's a lot of viewing! — it'll still take you two years to use up the lamp. $300 every two years or so isn't a dealbreaker, to me.

The dark room was a larger concern in my house. DLP projectors are more forgiving of partial lighting in the viewing room than many other projectors. Still, if you try to watch the 4800 in a room which has bright sunlight streaming through the windows, you're won't be able to see much of anything. During the afternoon, my blinds didn't quite cut it. I'd need to switch to serious drapes, or roller shades, or both, in order to watch during daylight hours.

And then there's the rainbow effect, a visual artifact that a small percentage of people experience. It's the result of the color wheel and DLP chip's complicated tango, as they cycle through colors to give you a complete picture. If you, like me, are one of the unlucky few that can see it, then what you tend to notice is an out-of-the-corner-of-your-eye ripple of red-green-and-blue color, often in the wake of on-screen action.

What I saw in practice was that, of the 18 different people who watched with us while we had the 4800, I could see the rainbow effect, my husband spontaneously commented on "this funny rainbow-y thing," and no one else spotted it. I think that's because our sixteen guests were engrossed in watching the material being shown, not tracking back and forth across the picture itself looking for deficiencies. Basically, I've noticed that when I look all over the picture for stair-stepped diagonal lines, ghosting, screen-door effect, and all the other things I automatically check for when watching a fancy new TV, I open the door to the rainbow effect. But when I just sit down and get drawn into an exciting movie, I rarely, if ever, notice it. Bottom line? The rainbow effect might be a problem for the more antsy and distracted types of viewers, but for a huge majority of people, it's a non-issue.

Hooked!
The viewers' reactions say it all, really. My husband and I are enamored. His mother — not a technology fan — took me aside after Finding Nemo, asked how much the projector cost, and proposed going in on the price together, if that would ensure us always having such a fabulous display for movie viewing. And my parents, who saw Galaxy Quest, part of Band of Brothers, and quite a lot of sports, are already making plans to buy this projector, and have directed me to choose a nice screen for them.

I can say, with utter confidence, that there is no better way for movie and event fans to get a great-looking and huge picture, without spending a ton of money, than with a front projector like the ScreenPlay 4800. For me, going back to my 27" TV set is going to be really difficult. It's just a guess, but I'm willing to bet that in a few months, visitors to my house will find a DLP projector permanently installed in my living room.

Jared's Movie Popcorn Extraordinaire
This recipe is for popcorn cooked on the stove. (If you've never made popcorn in a pot on the stove before, you've got to. Failing that, go for popcorn cooked in a popper, or Jiffy-Pop. Microwave popcorn just doesn't perform as well with the toppings I've recommended.)

You will need:

• popcorn kernels (from a tightly sealed bag or jar; otherwise your popcorn can taste stale)
• a few tablespoons of vegetable oil (you can use other oils, including specific popcorn-popping oils, but vegetable oil is a tried-and-true method)
• a large pot with a lid (avoid cast iron or ceramic)
• a big bowl
• some butter or margarine

1) Pour in just enough popcorn kernels to cover the bottom of the pot.
2) Pour just a bit of vegetable oil into the pot — enough to coat the kernels thoroughly.
3) Turn the stove on high. Place the pot on the burner.
4) Keep a close eye and ear on things. It will take a minute or two for the oil and kernels to heat up, but you need to stand watch over the process. And don't let kids do this unsupervised.
5) Once you hear a few pops, get ready. Soon, there will be a fusillade of exploding kernels bouncing off the lid of the pan. Resist the temptation to open the lid and peek in: movie watching is seriously impeded when one is nursing a wounded eyeball! Instead, give a the pot a shake every three to four seconds, while still keeping it low enough to the burner to stay on the heat.
6) In a minute or two, popping will slow down. Once you're only hearing a pop or two every second, lift the pot from the stove. Keep shaking it, so as to toss the popcorn inside and prevent sticking and burning.
7) Once off the stove, popping will diminish even more rapidly. Give it a few more seconds of waiting and shaking, and then take the lid off and dump the popcorn in a bowl.

Here's where the magic begins.

1) Turn the burner down or off.
2) Scoop some butter or margarine into the still hot pot, and place it back on the stove to melt. (There won't be much oil left in there, but if you're concerned about healthiness, you can certainly melt margarine in a separate, oil-free receptacle while the popcorn is popping.)
3) Once it's melted, pour it quickly over the popcorn in its bowl, tossing it periodically to ensure equal dispersion. You don't need a lot; a little melted butter goes a long, long way, and too much can make your popcorn soggy.
4) Then, quickly, it's time to season the popcorn. Our secret recipe is Lawry's Season Salt and a dash of garlic powder. Don't use too much (you can always add more) and be sure you toss the popcorn thoroughly throughout the seasoning process. Taste a handful — or two, or three — and make sure the mixture is right. Then, get munching! Popcorn is always at its best piping hot!

If you thought popcorn was addictive before, it's amazing with this mixture on it. Some flavor variations include using lemon pepper salt, or Southwestern seasonings. But for us, the Lawry's-garlic powder-melted butter mixture is tough to beat. Enjoy!