Description:

This driver controls an InFocus IN74 & IN76 DLP Front Projection unit.

Like many projectors, there isn't a lot of need for interaction with the InFocus on a daily basis. The driver allows you to power the projector on and off, and select from the available sources and navigate the on-screen menus.

Quirks and Limitations:

The InFocus has two concepts of 'power'. There is a hardware power button, which will completely power it down, but in almost all cases that would be left on all the time, and the 'soft' power setting used to control the projector. The soft power mode will put the projector into a kind of hibernation mode, but it will still respond to the serial control port. In this mode, you can power up the projector via CQC, which is definitely the desired mode.

The InFocus communications protocol is fairly good. It provides access to nearly every setting on the projector and continues to process commands during operations (for example, power up and down). Not all commands can be read or written while the projector is in standby, for example, you cannot change the High Power Enable mode or use the menu navigation commands.

This driver provides a subset of available commands although additional ones are easy to add to it. The full list of commands is available in the online manual.

Connection Details

The Dwin uses a serial connection. It requires a three wire 9-pin null modem serial cable (NOT a straight through cable!) The serial port parameters are fixed, so you are not given a chance to configure them, you just get to choose the serial port. The parameters are 19200 baud, 8 bits, one stop bit, no parity, no flow control.

The InFocus protocol is very simple and text based and all commands are enclosed within parenthesis. You can confirm your cable connection by using a terminal program (such as the HyperTerminal one that comes with Windows) to set up the serial port and then type

(PWR?)

which should cause the InFocus to respond with power status. All characters are echoed back by the device so you do not need to turn on local echo. If this works, then you can be sure that any problems you have are not cable related.

Driver Fields

This section lists the fields that the driver makes available, their types, minimum and maximum values, etc...

Name	Type	R/W	Description/Limits
AspectRatio	String	R/W	Get or set the current aspect ratio. This is an enumerated field with the values: Native, 4:3, 16:9, Letterbox, Natural Wide
Blank	Boolean	W	Allows you blank or un-blank the projector output
LampState	String	R	Indicates the current state of the projector's lamp.
Power	Boolean	R/W	Get or set the projector power state (On, Off, Cooling.) When the power is turned off, this field will show change from On, to Cooling, then finally Off.
PowerToggle	Boolean	W	Just a convenience field that toggles the power to the opposite of its current state.
Preset	String	R/W	Get or set the current preset. This is an enumerated field with the values: Default, User 1, User 2, Off
SleepTimer	Boolean	R/W	Get or set the sleep timer enabled status of the projector.