Hello,
I have a PE8700 and am spoiled by the picture that I get with my DVB318 using component cables, upconverting to 1080i...

Are you certain you are getting 1080i over component? I tried getting 1080i or 720p over component on my Benq 8700+ using the 318 with upscaling component firmware installed. The dvd display will show 720p and 1080i but when I resume play on the DVD the projector resets back down to 525p (the projector OSD shows this).

I have done both 720p and 1080i over component with my BenQ 8700+... without problem.

Are you using the BNC component inputs?

Hello,
Yes... I went to RadioSlack, and for 15 bucks bought 3 component to BNC adapters....

Man - Between first the Pb6200 (Owned 1 year), and now my PE8700 (owned for 3 weeks), I swear I have spent more time tweaking then watching movies. Of couse thats because every time I get it perfect... I find ways to make it more perfect... and if I do it this way, I can make it more, ummm perfecter... etc...
Jamie


I have done both 720p and 1080i over component with my BenQ 8700+... without problem.

Are you using the BNC component inputs?

Hello,
I have a PE8700 and am spoiled by the picture that I get with my DVB318 using component cables, upconverting to 1080i... But I have a question and an issue
Equipment:
3.00 mhz Pentium HTPC running Microsoft Media Center 2005(MCE).
Video card is GeForce 6600GT 128mg (Using purevideo) connected by DVI

The question: Can I get a HTPC using Microsoft Media Center 2005 to have as nice a picture as my DVB318?

The issue is:
When I try 1080i the picture gets the severe jutters, how do I get 1080i to work with my HTPC?
I have tried verious default settings in the 6600's software, and powerstip to no avail....

I can get 720p to work great... but cannot get 1080i to work...
If you have a suggestion for a better (under $200.00) video card if need be, that's fine, considering I do not game at all....
... Any help would be greatly apprecated...
Thanks
Jamie

I have done both 720p and 1080i over component with my BenQ 8700+... without problem.

Are you using the BNC component inputs?

Yes, I am using a custom component/BNC cable from BlueJeans Cables to connect the DVD straight to the 8700+. I have no problems upscaling from a Samsung 941 (other than Macrovision skew artifacts). The Zenith/8700+ combo is funny though - the zenith says its doing 720/1080 but the 8700 will sync back to 525p on the OSD.

Yes, I am using a custom component/BNC cable from BlueJeans Cables to connect the DVD straight to the 8700+. I have no problems upscaling from a Samsung 941 (other than Macrovision skew artifacts). The Zenith/8700+ combo is funny though - the zenith says its doing 720/1080 but the 8700 will sync back to 525p on the OSD.Then the zenith isn't outputting 720/1080 but 480.

When I hook the Zenith up to my Toshiba RPtv which is 1080i compatible the unit has no problems syncing at 1080i. I am confused how the Zenith could output 1080i to one and not the other. CLearly it cannot change outputs without user input correct?

Ou8thisSN,

There are some small issues. There is some pixel cropping on one or both sides. On the DVD-S97 the HDMI status always states that the player is in 576p mode no matter what mode you pick. We are pretty sure the player is actually outputting the correct mode, but with the pixel cropping. At 720p the projector should be in its native format which should provide a 1:1 pixel mapping when using the HDMI-DVI digital link. From what other 8700+ owners have tested, there are cropping problems with some of the Denon players and others. If you look back a few pages on this post, I have listed the problems with the packet of data that the projector provides back to the DVD player. There isn't any cropping at 1080i, but I think the picture looks slightly better at 720p even with the cropping.

Any update on this issue? The S97 is a great dvd player but the pixel cropping with the BenQ is truly annoying.

I just started using the the DVI input with an adapter cable connected to the HDMI output of a Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD cable converter. The problem I'm having is that on certain channels with certain programming (usually SD content on HD channels) I'm seeing a couple lines of noise at the top of the screen. When viewing the same channels via component the noise is not visible, obviously cropped. Is this commonplace when viewing cable TV via DVI? Is it something I'm just going to have to live with until the broadcasters or head end operators get their act together? Is there a tweak, in the service menu maybe, where I can intentionally introduce some overscan to mask the noise? I use a DIY retractable screen so black velvet masking would be difficult. I sometimes see (usually on recorded programs I think) a thin vertical green line on the right edge as well. This is easier to ignore since it doesn't flicker but it still bugs me that it's there in the first place.

Thank You for your comments.

I just started using the the DVI input with an adapter cable connected to the HDMI output of a Scientific Atlanta SA8300HD cable converter. The problem I'm having is that on certain channels with certain programming (usually SD content on HD channels) I'm seeing a couple lines of noise at the top of the screen. When viewing the same channels via component the noise is not visible, obviously cropped. Is this commonplace when viewing cable TV via DVI? Is it something I'm just going to have to live with until the broadcasters or head end operators get their act together? Is there a tweak, in the service menu maybe, where I can intentionally introduce some overscan to mask the noise? I use a DIY retractable screen so black velvet masking would be difficult. I sometimes see (usually on recorded programs I think) a thin vertical green line on the right edge as well. This is easier to ignore since it doesn't flicker but it still bugs me that it's there in the first place.

Thank You for your comments.

I have the same problem with my Motorolla HD/DVR cable box. That's the blessing and curse of zero cropping with the DVI input - you see the junk on the edges that gets overscanned out of sight by regular TVs. I have a permanent screen with black velvet borders, so I just zoom the picture slightly for a "maunual" overscan. If that's not an option, I'd consider just using the component video connections. I've flipped back and forth from component to DVI on the best HD channels and I really couldn't see any difference (after calibrating the two inputs to look the same).

Hello, i wonder if someone could help me.. i own a 8700+ it broke down and i got a replecement machine now the problem is my old indicated 576p but the new indicates 625p with the same settings.. the question is why and how do i change it so it indicates right imean the picture is of same quality as earlier but iy bougters me..

with certain programming (usually SD content on HD channels) I'm seeing a couple lines of noise at the top of the screen.

You're seeing the closed captioning info in the SD signals that is usually rendered invisible with overscan on conventional CRT displays. It's the price of a crappy NTSC source being shown on a revealing display with minimal overscan...

decalpha (does DEC make Alpha workstations anymore?), what is the firmware on your Benq 8700+? Also, what DVD player are you using? Maybe your replacement machine has older (or newer) firmware.

You're seeing the closed captioning info in the SD signals that is usually rendered invisible with overscan on conventional CRT displays. It's the price of a crappy NTSC source being shown on a revealing display with minimal overscan...

Yeah, I know what it is. I was just wondering how prevalent this is across different cable systems, etc. I was also wondering what tricks folks have come up with to eliminate or minimize the noise other than just using component inputs.

Hi! I recently purchased the 8700+ and hooked up my Time Warner HDTV DVR via 16 feet component cables. Last night, while watching the football game on ESPN HD, the screen suddenly went blank for a split second, displaying a turquoise screen. The image soon returned as if nothing had happened. This happened 2 more times later.

I read earlier posts reporting the same problem but so far no follow-up posts if there was/were any successful solution(s).

Thanks

I have my BenQ Pe8700+ since approximately 1 years. It has 700 hours at the meter and at present it functions perfectly and delivers a splendid image.

Is there a regular maintenance to make so that I can keep my projector a long time? (until the DLP 1080p are under 5000$ :D )

A filter to be cleaned?

A ventilator to be vacuum-cleaned?

The chromatic wheel or optics to be cleaned?

Thank you

vacuum the vents on the front,rear, and side. on the bottom is a vent also, vacuum it. take out the lamp and there is e squirrel cage fan, use a small vacuum attachment and vacuum it. the optical engine is sealed and shouldn't require cleaning. it has no filters. i also have a 8700+ with cloe to 800 hours on my first bulb and it's been trouble free. seems the 8700/+ was less problematic than the 7700 is.

muncey

Thx.

There is a small transparent glass disc situated between the lamp and the colour wheel meant to protect and prevent dust from entering the sealed area. I find that this glass disc requires cleaning every 100-200hrs.

No harm cleaning that too as dust seems to accumulate on that disc.

My 8700+ is getting louder as well. I believe it is the fans that are causing the racket and not the color wheel.

Although, if I switch off the projector (using the rocker switch) and leave it off for a day, turning on the projector will result in a nasty horrible grinding noise, not unlike a circular saw cutting through wood. It's probably the color wheel bearings - if they are cold they grind - well at least that is my theory.

This is after the 600 hour mark.

I got this as well on my BenQ (700+ hours) and decided to send it in for service. It came back this morning, the list of operations performed included the item 'Color Wheel replaced'.

So it's worth a go.

How long did it take to get it back? My 8700 is just over a year old now (14 months?)...I might look into this - I wonder if they would replace the fans too?

I have the original version with about 650 hours on the lamp and the picture is still gorgeous. I've had others tell me that while the rainbows can be seen more than the the HD+, the HD+ has more artifacts due to the faster wheel. I don't see any artifacts, in fact ,I had a person with a new Optima see mine and his jaw dropped, he wanted it. I was willing to trade, but, shoot, if mine is that good, why would I? Anyway, I was wondering if others are having the same experience I am--that the original is somewhat better. I also have a 125" wide DRAPER 2+screen which helps me.

Bob

Interesting - as far as I know, the only difference between the 8700 and the 8700+ is the chip - nothing else was changed. The wheel shouldn't be spinning any differently. In fact, the firmware is supposed to be identical.

I think this projector, + or not, throws a fabulous picture - I haven't seen any projectors that are better except the Sharp Z12000. It handily blows away the RPTV sets I've seen too. I haven't seen an Optoma but have seen an Infocus X1 (too many rainbows, but pretty good aside from that), a Runco 1024x768 resolution projector, an NEC LT240K, and an NEC HT1000. The Benq 8700 to my eyes looks better, even if its contrast isn't quite as good as the HT1000.

With that said, I think most of the differences can be attributed to calibration - a calibrated Benq 8700 should blow away an uncalibrated Optoma, and I'd expect the reverse to be true! Also, other factors include the quality of equipment used - a cheap interlaced component video DVD player is no match for a good upscaling DVD player with DVI output! My Momitsu V880 with DVI blows away the old Panasonic RP91 using progressive component - and my HTPC is markedly better than both the Momitsu and the upscaling Panasonic S97 DVD player - but only if you watch properly mastered DVDs - the HTPC has trouble with older anime titles.

My biggest issue is the 8700's 60.00 hz locked refresh rate using DVI - I can see stutter on my Panasonic S97 because it outputs the standard 59.94 hz. Damn!

You are right. I looked it up and the only difference is the +. Perhaps I just got lucky with calibration...

I've had both and I think that the + is a slightly better picture...smoother looking (less dimple) and blacks were a tad darker.

Just curious, has anyone upgraded from 8700 to 8700+ over the phone with Benq. I've heard they will do it for a price...Bob

...
My biggest issue is the 8700's 60.00 hz locked refresh rate using DVI - I can see stutter on my Panasonic S97 because it outputs the standard 59.94 hz. Damn!...


Hi, havent been in this forum for a long time.. Had my 8700+ since last year. I use the Denon 3910 and the BenQ display always indicates 50hz, once the DVD starts playing with region 2 DVDs..

/ HLI

How long did it take to get it back? My 8700 is just over a year old now (14 months?)...I might look into this - I wonder if they would replace the fans too?

Eight days total, but I am in Switzerland, so things might be different in your neck of the woods. ;)

hli, mine does too, but the color wheel doesn't change speed. With the JudderTest software from the HTPC forum, I can confirm that it stutters a fair bit - or rather, isn't completely smooth. However, my firmware is 1.4 and the AC power going into my house is 60 hz - the Benq probably behaves differently when given AC at 50 hz or/and with newer firmware (1.7) that isn't available anywhere for download.

Grubert, that sounds really good - I hope they didn't outsource customer service to India (or some other country across the ponds) in my neck of the woods - it would take months. :)

maxleung, I have 1.7 on my 8700+, if it's fairly straight forward I can pull it off the projector? What do I need?

clubfoot - good question - I don't know how to pull it off. I will have to look into that. I don't recall the firmware update software having that feature, but I could be wrong. Thanks for the offer anyways. :)

Does anyone know how to unlock the options under the menu PC&HDTV ?
Whatever format I feed the projector through dvi, this menu seems locked.

My target is to play with the frequency option in order to take better motion at 720p50hz.

You can't access anything there when using DVI. Sucks. :( I don't think it will work with RGBHV either, but maybe you can give it a shot?

Has anybody run into this problem? My PE8700+ was working beautifully since I bought it new about three months ago, including last night. I tried to turn it on tonight and it will not respond to the remote power on button or the power on button on the projector itself. None of the LED lights come on, and the fan does not come on either. The lamp only has about 300 hours on it, and the electrical outlet is working. I also changed to another power cord without any luck. I really don't want to go through the hassle of a swap, and a refurbished unit. Any ideas on how to fix this would be greatly appreciated. When a bulb goes bad, I would assume that the unit's LED lights and fan would still power on, but does anybody know for sure? Thanks.

is the hard power switch near the power cord switched on? other than a electrical problem internally, that is all i can think of.

muncey

Have you tried unplugging the projector and leaving it unplugged overnight?

Also, maybe plug in a lamp into the power outlet, just to make sure there is electricity flowing into it.

Zim,

I have had my 8700+ for 18 months and about 1800 hours so far. Twice I have come in to turn on the projector (and then left the room). When I came back the projector was "sort of" running, but there was no image on screen. When I looked into the lens it appeared that there was a small amount of light coming out, but the bulb must have failed to "strike." I found that if I unplugged the projector or used the power off switch on the back of the projector and left the projector for a few hours, then the next time I turned it on (after plugging it back in or putting the switch back into the on position) it worked normally.

As I mentioned this has happened twice in 18 months.... no clue as to why, but I was always grateful when it fired back up!

HiHo, that reminds me of the one time where I shut off the projector. The bulb turned off and the fans ran while I left the room. When I came back a few minutes later, the fan was still running - and they never stopped! I had to unplug the projector to stop this (it is in a little box so the power switch was hard to get to).

The next day the projector fired up and shut off with no problems. Go figure.

My appologies if there is somewhere else that explains this, but I am finding it difficult to understand why my 8700+ has so much difficulty showing 16:9 sources.

I have used many different DVD players, and tried their alternate output settings (normal/P&S/Wide/Stretch etc) but only about 50% of the DVD's I play actually show at the proper resolution, the rest I have to use the "LB" setting for 16:9 films, which in itself is a little weird.

I do understand what the LB, Wide and Through settings do (Through actually doesn't seem to do "Through" but that's another story).

I am a relative noobie to Projectors, but having been an IT pro for many many years, I just find it incredible that just outputting a video signal at the correct aspecty ratio is so unbelievably difficult.

I did actual measurements and calcualted ratios when I first got the projector, and using Star Wars (ep 1 or 2 I can't remember) none of the DVD and Projector setting combinations actually produced 2.35:1 (although a couple were close).

I have read that Anamorphic sources are the best to use, but why should non-anamorphic cause so much problems? I'd appreciate if someone could either direct me to a thread/website that will explain this to me, or tell me that perhaps other projectors do not exhibit this issue? My old CRT seems to adjust to the correct resolution for different source rations, why can't the projector do so too?

Sorry if this is the wrong thread, just my rant.

try the anamorphic aspect ratio on the remote.

muncey

exactamundo......... push the "ANA" button on your BenQ remote and set your DVD player for "wide-screen."

I have been using the 8700+ for 18 months with no problems playing DVD's and using the full capabilities of the projector. I use "ANA" for all "widescreen" DVD's and HDTV. I use "wide" for SDTV.

If your DVD is 1.78 ratio it will fill your 16x9 screen... if it is 1.85 or 2.35 you will have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, but the image will be full width on your screen.

Thanks guys, but I always set to ANA first, that is when I have the problem 50% of the time.

I have tried all the settings on my Oppo DVD player (normal/P&S/Wide/WideSQZ), and had similar problems with my other players (one of which was the Philips 963SA). The problem appears to be disc encoding (most likely) or projector related.

The most recent ones I have played which caused the problem were the TV series "House MD" and Armageddon (which is 2.35:1 but still gets the "squashing effect" which needs "LB" to show correct ration). Both are Non-anamorphic as far as the box says.

I am sure that it is because they are not coded Anamorphic, but my question is why does anything other than Anamorphic coding cause this problem?

If I am correct, and all Non-Anamorphic widescreen discs have the same problem, which devices actually play these Non-anamorphic widescreen discs at the correct ratio (i.e. without distorting them via the projector)?

Also, if you have the time to do a test, please select a few discs in your collection that you know are non-anamorphic widescreen, which play at the correct resolution on your system, and if I have one of the same discs I will tell you the results at my end.

Did some more research and found that my assumption/suspicion was correct. The best explanation I found was here:-

http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/vidwide.htm

It is the "letterbox" coding on the disks (actually writing the black bars into each frame to disk) that is the problem. The films are 16:9 but becuase the black bars are coded on the disks, the anamorphic setting leaves them in, and just stretches them horizontally with the rest of the frame.

This means that for the non-enhanced (read non-anamorphic) 16:9 disks, you must set to "LB" on the projector. The only problem with this is that you usually lose some of the subtitles. This is one of the reasons I don't like using LB, but guess I'll have to live with it, and make more effort to remember when purchasing DVD's to make sure it says either "Anamorphic" or "Enhanced". That should then allow me to show the full frame (including full subtitles) using the "Anamorphic" setting.

The sad thing is that I need to use subtitles frequently, and prefer them to be below the actual picture image. This leaves me with this situation (assuming I virtically stretch letterbox DVD's to full screen image) :-


_________________More data lines in frame_____Subtitles
16:9 anamorphic------Yes-----------------------Full but superimoposed on image
16:9 letterbox----------No-----------------------Usually some lost at bottom of screen
2.35:1 Anamorphic----Yes----------------------Full and hopefully not over image
2.35:1 Letterbox-------No-----------------------Probably not over image, but may lose some at bottom still


One thing I do remember is that when using one of my older DVD players, I some settings on the player caused the subtitles to be below the image, and others caused it to be superimposed on top of it. I cannot remember the exact settings, it was a long time ago, but I am sure using the same DVD, the subtitles appeared in different places. Does anyone know anything about this?


FYI in my last post, I was remembering incorrectly about the projector distorting the image. I was confusing the WIDE setting (which does distort - non- linear stretching) with the LB setting (which does not distort - just stretches virtically).

Sorry if this has now gone off thread.

Subtitles that appear below the image area are always a problem for those with 16x9 displays. One of the reasons why I'm glad the Blu-ray allows player-generated titles to be customized (moved around, font/color changed etc.) by the user.

One thing I do remember is that when using one of my older DVD players, I some settings on the player caused the subtitles to be below the image, and others caused it to be superimposed on top of it. I cannot remember the exact settings, it was a long time ago, but I am sure using the same DVD, the subtitles appeared in different places. Does anyone know anything about this?

Setting your DVD player for a 4x3 versus 16x9 TV can change where it places the subtitles. 4x3 may place them lower in the black bars, and 16x9 setting may cause the subtitles to appear higher in the image area.


Regarding the whole 4x3 letterbox versus 16x9 anamorphic thing...

Just in case it's still unclear:

DVDs can be recorded one of two shapes: 4x3 or 16x9.

The aspect ratio of the "movie" is another matter...we can fit any aspect ratio movie into both 4x3 and 16x9 encoded DVDs...by filling any used area of the frame with black.

"Anamorphic" is the common term to refer to DVDs that encode the feature in a 16x9 frame.

"Non-anamorphic" is the common term to refer to DVDs that encode the feature in a 4x3 frame.

In the case of movies that are widescreen...by using a 16x9 frame instead of a 4x3 frame to digitize the movie, less (or none) image area is wasted on black bars. Encoding the same widescreen-shape movie into a 4x3 frame results in larger black bars...and therefore lower vertical resolution of the actual picture area.

If you pick "WIDE" on your OPPO, it will leave 16x9 movies in their native form, but also leave 4x3 movies in their native form too. This means on your projector you'll have to adjust the aspect ratio setting to get a proper image.

With the BenQ 8700 this would mean using the "anamorphic" setting for anamorphic/16x9 movies. But anything that's 4x3 encoded...including both full frame and 4x3 letterbox DVDs...needs an adjustment so it won't look stretched. Clicking the 4x3 button restores the 4x3 image to the 4x3 middle area of the 16x9 screen...showing you the 4x3 image in the proper shape. Perfect for "full frame" movies, but letterboxe movies now have black bars on all 4 sides...so then the "letterbox" button on the projector remote zooms the image in...magnifiying it to fill the whole screen left-to-right and cutting off the top/bottom in the process (which is generally ok now because that's just letterboxing that's getting cropped).

This is the best method in terms of picture quality with the OPPO and the BenQ projector...but it forces the user to switch aspect ratio on the PJ every time you go from 4x3 to 16x9 or the other way around.


If you select "WIDE/SQZ" on the OPPO...it will take 4x3 encoded DVD pictures and put the black bars on the side digitally in the DVD player...so you can leave the projector set in "anamorphic" mode the whole time. However, if you now get a letterboxed movie...you'll have to "zoom" on the OPPO to try to magnify the image...and here's the problem...the OPPO's zoom when blowing up 4x3 images in SQZ mode distorts geometry...so the shape looks little squished.

Therefore, I never use the WIDE/SQZ mode for letterboxed movies...but it may be convenient for you to watch full-frame DVDs since it saves a step of having to switch the PJ aspect ratio manually.


Did I help to clarify what's going on and the best way to go about solving it? Use "WIDE" on the Oppo and then adjust the aspect ratio on your projector. If you CAN'T adjust aspect ratio on your display when feeding it a 720/1080I signal...then fall back on the OPPO's WIDE/SQZ mode...but you'll have the distortion problems with non-anamorphic letterbox movies. I hope a new update fixes that.

-dave

It was already clear for me, but thanks for all the effort David.

The Oppo's Zoom whilst a useful option, IMO degrades the image too much, and the projector adjustment produces better results.

Now waiting for the Oppo to fix the problem with 1:1 mapping at 720P.

Now waiting for the Oppo to fix the problem with 1:1 mapping at 720P.

do you mean the way it employs the black matting rather than using the full 1280 x 720 for image content?

No, there is a know issue that it does not do 1:1 mapping. It is on their list of fixes to do.

Hooked up my Time Warner HD DVR box to my PJ via HDMI DVI cable last night. This took care of the intermittent turqoise screen that used to show up via component HD connection. However, I now cannot select 720p to be sent from the cable box to the PJ. No matter what I do, the output stays at 1080i. Anybody have the same problem? Thanks.

Help...

when I do the "letterbox" zoom on my BenQ, the picture looks great (better than zooming on my DVD player) but I get this occasional "rolling seam" that starts somewhere in the bottom 1/2 of the image and, like a horizontal line or "seam" in the picture...which then scrolls down to the bottom. Sort of reminds me what some folks called "tearing" on the Hitachi. It happens about every few minutes or so when in this mode. What gives? It's not the DVD or the DVD player....happens only in this "letterbox" zoom mode.

I have the OPPO DVD player with latest firmware.

Does it go away if you switch to 480p or 1080i?

Certainly is a head scratcher. Hmmm. Oh - maybe try disabling the Filters setting in the display menu.

As far as I can tell, setting Filters from +1 to 0 turns off the 8700's sharpness control, at least with the DVI input. If the sharpness control is already set to 0, then you won't see a difference. But maybe it will turn off the "feature" that is adding the seam?

Good suggestions. I'll give those a try (never thought about switching the output of the DVD player but that could have an affect...I'll report back).

maxleung,

you da' man

Changing filters settings didn't seem to affect it, but switching the DVI output to 480P and letting the BenQ do the math to scale to 720 solved the problem completely...I can now "letterbox zoom" without getting the rolling-seam/tearing I was seeing.

THANK-YOU.

(of course I'll switch back to 720P DVI with normal 16x9 or 4x3 1.33:1 MATERIAL).

No problem David! But man, that is a weird feature. Thank goodness there isn't much Letterbox widescreen content out there.

When I watch anime with my Panasonic S97 player, most of the time I have to tell the player to output 480p because the macroblocking on anime faces (which are mostly uniform in color) is horrible at 720p or 1080i. Pink square blotches! Yuck!

Another odd thing - the microstutter that is present at 720p and 1080i through DVI on a 59.94 hz source is gone when I use 480p. So, at least on my 8700, it locks onto 59.94hz properly at 480p. Otherwise, I have to use 60.00 hz on my HTPC to remove this little stutter at higher resolutions. Strange.

In short, if I want to use my Panasonic S97, 480p works out best for me. There are more jaggies, but I can live with that to avoid the macroblocking. I also reset the S97's sharpness to 0, and increase the Benq's sharpness to +2 or +3 - this looks pretty decent, at least with anime.

David: I saw EXACTLY the same problem with my Oppo (set to 720P), but hadn't made an effort to resolve it yet. WELL DONE! You seem to have at least found a work around.

Have you reported it to the Oppo people, they can at least add it to their list of fixes to work on. I think it is an Oppo issues since I have had the projector for a long time, and never noticed it with any other source device.

I'm not sure it's the OPPO's fault exactly...as the unzoomed picture looks just fine on the BenQ...it's only when engaging the BenQ's own "letterbox" zoom of the 720P image that the strange scrolling/tearing occurs. So it might be something in the BenQ for that matter...that it has trouble zooming 720P signals.

In any case...yes...the workaround is GREAT...just switch to 480P with the OPPO when zooming on the BenQ. Hopefully the OPPO guys will get that Faroudja aspect ratio conversion implimented in the next couple of firmware upgrades, but this work around is ok for now...

dave :)

Guys - is there any update from Benq on the updated firmware to allow for 720P at 50Hz and 720P at 59.94Hz?

I read earlier in this thread that the Runco firmware can be used. Any guidance on how to do this?

Many thanks - Louis

Louis the hard part would be getting hold of the Runco firmware....

I would like to try it also, but I have never found anyone with a copy.

i really would like the 720p at 59.94Hz. i get the occasional stutter on the dvi input. i just called benq tech support a couple days ago in regards to this and they said they never heard of this problem. maybe everyone needs to call them and complain.

muncey

Those lugheads! I sent them an email and notified them about the 59.94hz and 50hz problem (DVI@720p and probably 1080i) several months ago!

When I switch back from interlace to progresivescan on my rotel rdv1080, the interlace looks cleaner and brighter. Is this because the rotel is not a good progresive player? Also it always displays 525p on the progressive inputs why? I have about 600 hours on my projector and Im tring to get the most out of it, Is there any thing I can do to boost the performance? Is there a DVD player out there worth buying that willl make my projector that much better? Is cleaning the color wheel recommended or is that a job of a proffesional? How about cables, Im currently using cables I bought from projector people.com the cables were comprehensive premium cables. Im thinking about buying monsters ISF certified component cables, will this cables make A huge difference over the comprehensive? Any reply's will be greatly appreciated.

I am using a 25 foot HDMI->DVI cable I purchased at www.monoprice.com . They work just as good as $300 monster cables, but at only a tenth of the price.

An upconverting DVD player with DVI or HDMI output, that scales DVD content to a higher resolution (such as the 8700's 1280x720) usually put out a better picture than standard progressive scan DVD players using component output. However, some people can't see the difference. I can.

Don't worry about the 525p message - that is normal when the 8700 is fed a progressive signal from component video. Nothing you can do about it anyways.

For the moment, you can play with the sharpness setting on your 8700. There are also 4 filter settings in the Display menu you can play with - I have yet to figure out what each of them do, except that ifyou set Filters to 0, it will turn off the sharpness control (ie. same as if you set the Benq's sharpess to zero).

Anyone sent their 8700(+) in for repairs because of the "metallic whining sound/grinding" issue? My first unit had this issue after a couple of hundreds of hours usage and now my replacement unit also has begun to produce this sound. It is now on about 1300 hours of usage. The BenQ customer service says they can arrange for "a local PJ service" to come pick it up for repairs but I am seriously doubting that this issue can be resolved by a "repair".

The only two moving parts on the BenQ are the color wheel and the fans. The sound you describe strongly suggests it is the color wheel, which is a discrete component, meaning they can pull it out as one piece, put in a new one, and you should be good as new.

If the local repair service has the color wheel in stock, it shouldn't take more than a day to fix.

Anyone sent their 8700(+) in for repairs because of the "metallic whining sound/grinding" issue? My first unit had this issue after a couple of hundreds of hours usage and now my replacement unit also has begun to produce this sound. It is now on about 1300 hours of usage. The BenQ customer service says they can arrange for "a local PJ service" to come pick it up for repairs but I am seriously doubting that this issue can be resolved by a "repair".

I had this problem before as well. BenQ had me send it someplace in NJ where they looked at the unit and returned it back to me saying there wasn't a problem ! I was without my 8700 for about a week. Turns out the service center only tested my pj on a table and the noise only happened when it was upsidedown (ie ceiling mounted). When I called BenQ back after receiving my "working" pj and let them hear the noise they crossshipped me a new one. So if you do send yours in I would advise that you leave note describing your installation so they can replicate the problem.

I am using a 25 foot HDMI->DVI cable I purchased at www.monoprice.com . They work just as good as $300 monster cables, but at only a tenth of the price.




That's good to hear, as I just ordered some stuff from them. I can't wait for my stuff to arrive.

The grinding issue is more common than I thought. :(

Some time next year I will try mounting my 8700 on the ceiling - with my luck it will probably grind like crazy instead of only the first 15 seconds of power on (and only when it is cold - when I unplugged it from the wall outlet for an hour or so).

Monoprice has pretty good service. Sometimes it takes a few weeks for the order to arrive though - my first order got to me in a week, but my second order took 3 weeks! Hopefully you beat the xmas rush, emagdnim!

monoprice is 15 minutes away from me, i just drive there and get my stuff. friendly people but it's a small place.

muncey

I'm not sure it's the OPPO's fault exactly...as the unzoomed picture looks just fine on the BenQ...it's only when engaging the BenQ's own "letterbox" zoom of the 720P image that the strange scrolling/tearing occurs. So it might be something in the BenQ for that matter...that it has trouble zooming 720P signals.

In any case...yes...the workaround is GREAT...just switch to 480P with the OPPO when zooming on the BenQ. Hopefully the OPPO guys will get that Faroudja aspect ratio conversion implimented in the next couple of firmware upgrades, but this work around is ok for now...

dave :)

I still think it is the OPPO. I remember when I had a DVDO HD+ putting out 720P and my PC also puts out 720P, but neither ever displayed this problem, and I just did a quick test with the PC that seemed to support this idea (i.e. no problem with 720P letterboxed).

Have you reported it to OPPO?

I can't remember which was better at scaling the OPPO or the BENQ. I had mine set to let the OPPO do it (i.e. set to 720P) so I guess I probably decided the OPPO, but if you get a chance, please do some testing yourself. I definitely found that one of them was a lot worse at handling camera movement when there are a lot of parallel lines on the screen (got the jaggies bigtime).

I reported to OPPO and they said "You may still want to try another cable if you have one available. The DVI signal from the OPDV971H is weaker than other devices, so a cable that works for one device, may not work on the OPDV971H"

I don't think this is the issues, but I guess it is possible that the extra data required for the higher resolutions could be a factor. They have referred to the technicians.

I guess (if you get have time to test) I'd like to know :-

1) Which do you think does the better scaling Projector or OPPO ?
2) Do you still get the problem at 720P if the projector is set to Anamorphic instead of letterbox?

I had this problem before as well. BenQ had me send it someplace in NJ where they looked at the unit and returned it back to me saying there wasn't a problem ! I was without my 8700 for about a week. Turns out the service center only tested my pj on a table and the noise only happened when it was upsidedown (ie ceiling mounted). When I called BenQ back after receiving my "working" pj and let them hear the noise they crossshipped me a new one. So if you do send yours in I would advise that you leave note describing your installation so they can replicate the problem.

That is exactly what I am afraid will happen. They turn it on ... "Well this thing is working fine..." and send it back. The sound actually disappeared again this time. A few times I heard it for a couple of seconds but now it's gone again. Don't know what to do really. I will wait a few more weeks and see if it comes back. It was only a second or two just when the projector was turned on. During the first minute that is.

Another thing I wanted to share with you; I emailed the BenQ support about possible firmware updates and got this very annoying answer from the guy:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Nikola,

There are no issues of dithering with PE8700+, also there is not firmware in
development for PE8700. Also This: "Unfortunately the Benq can't sync to 50hz signals when the input Signal is DVI 720p or 1080i" is not true, these are just rumors on the internet.

Best regards,

Henry Peeters"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also This: "Unfortunately the Benq can't sync to 50hz signals when the input Signal is DVI 720p or 1080i" is not true, these are just rumors on the internet.


That's evading the issue. It does sync to 720p/50 (otherwise you'd get no signal), but with noticeable tearing. But they can't notice that with static images.

If I could find a clear example of tearing, I would rip that scene to a DVD-R and send it along with the projector. Then again, they could blame it on the software. :mad:

That's evading the issue. It does sync to 720p/50 (otherwise you'd get no signal), but with noticeable tearing. But they can't notice that with static images.

If I could find a clear example of tearing, I would rip that scene to a DVD-R and send it along with the projector. Then again, they could blame it on the software. :mad:

It feels like there is no more work being put into "older" models like 7800 and 8700. With new models coming out all the time it feels units become obsolete much to fast and is supported no more. All is happening to fast nowadays. I don't think there will ever be new firmwares for these units. That's what if feels like when being in contact with BenQ at least.. :(

My projector seems to show blue on the top and green on the bottom of horizontal lines and it gets progressively worse towards the lower lines. To a lesser extent it also appears on vertical lines. It appears on test patterns from my 1:1 mapped video processor and the internal test patterns.

Does anyone know what could be causing this?

This is from thread item no: #232

Hi All,

Unfortunately I am a newbie and am wanting to confirm/get advice on the above quote. I have the same type of issue with my newly purchased 8700+ projector and am wondering what is considered abnormal? :confused:

The aboration exists on the right hand side of the image and moves downwards, and presents in a purple and green aboration. As it moves to the left hand side of the screen it becomes perfect.

Is this an issue that would require a return for another unit? Are most units without this issue? I am particularly fussy and want to get the best unit for the money I paid. Am I being unreasonable?

I have also experienced the unit having the 'colour wheel whine' thought not often and not for long. What would be the forums recommendations?

Also, I have noticed that there is a possibility to get access to some calibration sofware from this forum. Can anyone direct me to the best option? :D

Thanks in advance.

This is from thread item no: #232

Hi All,

Unfortunately I am a newbie and am wanting to confirm/get advice on the above quote. I have the same type of issue with my newly purchased 8700+ projector and am wondering what is considered abnormal? :confused:

The aboration exists on the right hand side of the image and moves downwards, and presents in a purple and green aboration. As it moves to the left hand side of the screen it becomes perfect.

Is this an issue that would require a return for another unit? Are most units without this issue? I am particularly fussy and want to get the best unit for the money I paid. Am I being unreasonable?
Get a replacement

You are likely seeing a form of chromatic aberration. The lens is the issue here. I have a little bit on my 8700+, but it doesn't bother me as much since it is less than 1/5th of pixel aberration. It is usually worst when you zoom out (ie. shortest throw) and is the best at around the middle zoom level. Also, it gets worse the farther out of focus the image is. On my unit, the aberration is relatively small and fairly even cross the screen - I can't see the problem unless I'm less than 0.5x screen widths away.

If the aberration results in what looks like a misconvergence of more than half a pixel in the middle of the image, I'd be very worried. Personally, I'd be intolerant of a 1/3th pixel error or more.

Thanks guys. I have had a look at the unit and it is greater than about 1/2 to 3/4 of a pixel in some locations. I have taken it from smallest viewable image to largest and the smallest appears the best, however, still shows up issues. :confused:

I live in a location quite some distance away from where I bought it from. Fortunately, I will be going there in the next 4 weeks. I will take the unit with me and have them look at it.

Would you suggest on this basis that it should be replaced?

I am a newbie :o and I guess I am trying to make sure that I am not stuck with something that is below par for this projector. I gather from your comments that I should expect better quality than that from the unit. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance.

Do you find this problem distracting when viewing movie content (not test images) from 1.5 screen-widths away or greater?

If not...then there's no problem...

most projectors show this type of chromatic abberation to some degree. My BenQ does as well but it's not noticable from a 1.5 screen-width distance with real image content.

what would be my best choice of providing protection to my ceiling mount pj, i have a hts3500, would a longer power cord work? or how do you guys protect yours, thanks

Hey fellow 8700 owners...............

I have about 1850 hours on my 8700+ so I suppose it is time to get off my duff and buy a new bulb.

Does anyone have any "good" experiences in bulb purchases they would like to share?!?

I have read about the PE8700 and the incorrect EDID file sent. Has there been any developments on this issue? I am encountering the same problem with the 8700 and SONY's DVP-NS70H. No matter what settings I use on the NS70H the signal detected is alsways 525P.

I appreciate any help on this. Thanks.

I'm also interested in any bulb tips...

Sorry, I don't think there has been any progress on the EDID front. As usual, Benq support is ignoring it.

A friend told me that BenQ was back in production on the 8700+.........

Has anyone else heard this?

(no, we were not talking about the oft delayed 8720)

could be with all the 7700 problems. the 8700's never had many problems.

muncey

If they really are back in production, I hope they have a new firmware to address refresh rate issues. If the 7700 can sync to 50hz, 60hz, and 59.94hz over DVI, then the "new" 8700s should too, dammit! (Mine doesn't unless I use component video)

I think they would need to keep the 7700 though - the 8700 has no HDMI and is quite loud.

Does anyone have an 8700+ calibrated with an XBOX 360? I am working on it but just wondered.

Does anyone have an 8700+ calibrated with an XBOX 360? I am working on it but just wondered.

Mine looks great - Of course I'm using the HD pack and you need to connect your Xbox to the BNC inputs on your 8700.

I had to throw Avia into my 360 as the color and brightness were way off. I just saved the setup as one of the presets and it looks good at 106"

Typically games do not use video levels and instead use PC-levels (black is at zero instead of level 16 that video uses), so you may need to up the brightness a little.

If you use Avia to calibrate the 360, I would up the brightness a little until you see some dither when doing the black level calibration - this should give you enough shadow detail for most 360 games.

I had to throw Avia into my 360 as the color and brightness were way off. I just saved the setup as one of the presets and it looks good at 106"


Can you post your settings here ?

Keep in mind when you use the xbox 360 and avia to calibrate your 8700 that DVD output is only going to be 480p. Therefore you are only really calibrating for 480p movie playback, none of those settings would be applied to your 720p interface for gaming.

Well guys...... I was so excited about all the new toys at CES I had to plug my the new bulb into my 8700+ (1933 hours).

Wow it is like having a brand new projector again... red pushes a little bit, but I think that is normal for a new bulb... I guess over the last many months I forgot just how bright and vibrant this little puppy can be.....!

Does anyone have a copy of or a link to takisot's last set of settings for the 8700+?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=403476&page=1&pp=30&highlight=8700+factory+setting

muncey

HiHoStevo, where did you find a bulb? They're backordered everywhere.

http://www.tvauthority.com/Lamps-and-Bulbs/Lamps-and-Bulbs.asp

muncey

Geez, almost 15 bucks ABOVE list price! :eek: And only one in stock!

I'm still under a thousand hours but I guess I should have bought one 6 months ago when I found them for around $360-$375.

The old laws of supply and demand at work I guess. :(

I got mine from Ryan at TVauthority.... initially they were told that BenQ had them in stock... which turned out to be incorrect... Ryan had to jump a few hoops, but found one and shipped it to me... Installed it and was knocked out by just how great the picture looked. I am keeping the old on (1933 hours) as a "just in case" spare.

If you want one call Ryan and ask him to hook you up... talk nice and he might be able to get you a bit of a break!

Hi :) ! Does anyone knows if it is possible to change manually the vertical frequency to 50 Hz. My 8700+ sticks to 60 Hz even if it has a 50hz signal at dvi input :( .

Hi, I've searched all the posts, but I cannot find a link to the service manual for the 8700+. Would it be possible for someone to forward a copy to me or post one? I can get into the service menu just fine, but I don't have the manual.

Thanks!

i got a q about dvd should i use a sony es777 or a samsung with dvi i for get the modle i have but i want to add a mega changer dvd to the mix and they olny come with rgb and not dvi will i lose any picture quality letting the projector scale the 480i or shoud i stick with the dvd scaleing?

Sjeffray, as far as I know, the Benq 8700+ (at least mine anyways) will not resync the wheel to 50hz when I use the DVI input. The OSD says 50 hz, but the color wheel never changes, resulting in stutter. This is using my HTPC and the JudderTest software.

AZJeepdude, send an email to rectalprolapse@gmail.com with the email address you wish to receive the service manual from. You'll need a couple of megs free in your mailbox.

Thank you maxleung,
does that mean i cannot switch to another frequency than 60Hz ? The OSD on my 8700+ indicate 1280x720x60 (60 for 60 Hz ?) as soon as i use the dvi input and whatever the frequency from the video card (50, 60 or 75 hz) :o ...
My configuration : PCHT, Theatertek + Ffdshow.

From my testing, you cannot use anything other than 60 hz (60.000 hz) with an HTPC. I have TheaterTek 2.2. I use Powerstrip to dial in an exact 60.000hz refresh rate at 1280x720. Attempting to use 59.94 hz results in a stutter every 16 seconds (1/(60-59.94) = 16).

I verified this with my Panasonic S97 upscaling DVD player @ 1280x720 w/DVI. I get a bit of stutter. Changing the S97's output resolution to 480p eliminates the stutter.

My 8700+ has version 1.4 of the firmware. Another member has 1.7 and sees the same stutter at 50 hz.

Yes, the 8700+ has a lot of room for improvement.

Why would 50 hz provide stutter even if the 8700+ don't change the refresh rate?

If the color wheel is 5x, then it would rotate at 5x60hz which is 300. And you can divide 300 by 50hz and get a color wheel speed at 6x.

Did I miss the point?

I haven't seen it stutter at 50Hz even though the colour wheel speed doesn't change when going from 60Hz (when at 720P). I've speculated before that maybe the c/w at 5x60Hz stays at 5x resulting in a 5x50hz, but who knows?.

I think i got the explanation and the solution.
The stutter you mention depends on the type of DVD you play with your HTPC.
If you play NTSC media you must adjust your vidéo card and projector to a frequency multiple of 30 hz (ie 60 hz or 90 hz) to prevent from stutter.
If you play PAL media you must adjust your vidéo card and projector to a frequency multiple of 25 hz (ie 50 or 75 hz) to prevent from stutter.
In my case (playing PAL DVD) i had to set my video card and projector to a frequency either 50, 75 or 100 hz (multiple of 25).
My problem was that my BENQ 8700 DID NOT want to switch to these frequencies; it stayed at 60 hz whatever frequency i adjust with the video card of my HTPC :mad: .
Then i when to the EntechTaiwan site for Powerstrip where i could read : "ensure you're never stuck at just 60Hz no matter what OS you're using" :cool: .
Then a tried with the advanced options of Powerstrip where you can "control over refresh rates - with floating point precision " . I tweaked the frequency to whaterver refresh rate i wanted over 60hz : 70, 72 and 75 hz. This time the BENQ projector followed without any problem and i got much less jerky images i had before ;) .
I believe that the color wheeel have a rotation speed compatible with all the different frequencies; or it able to adjust this speed :o .

My 8700+ doesn't adjust the color wheel speed, and I see stutter using the JudderTest software and DVI output even with the videocard outputting 50 hz. It is a definitive test IMHO. Jules, you may not see this since you live in Europe and it might just work based on the powerline frequency - which is 50 hz AC power if I remember correctly.

When I use component video using a VGA-to-Component-Video transcoder the 8700+ DOES change speed and the stutter is gone. I can hear the colour wheel resynce. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to get 1:1 pixel mapping using component video - is that even possible?

BTW, on my 8700+, I get 50 hz stutter if I use the VGA (analog) output of my videocard plugged into the BNC inputs. So the problem is DVI and VGA.

Keep in mind that I also get stutter at 59.94 hz frequencies using VGA and DVI, but they work find with component video.

Has anyone used the "blue filter" option under Test Mode in the service menu, does this allow adjustment of the hue and tint controls in the user menu without the need for a filter when using DVE/Avia?. If it does are the results the same.

I haven't tried the blue filter option - I doubt it would be of much use though with the different video sources anyways (ie. component, svideo, DVI). But I could be mistaken.

I am still learning so I need your help...

I have a PE8700+ hooked up via DVI to a Denon 3910.

I have this very strange behavior occurring which has puzzled me for some time.

When I set the Denon to DVI @480P, the image looks fine. When I set it to 720p or 1080i the movie is visible but it displays tiny green pixels across the entire screen. It is not a huge amount, I would best describe it as some "snow" on the image.

At first, I thought it was the 8700+ so I sent it in and had it replaced. Once I got it back, the same behavior occured. At this point, I have become suspect of the Denon 3910. I spoke to the folks who sold me the Denon unit and they told me that if I had run DVI-D cable from the Denon to the BenQ 8700+ which takes DVI-I, this is most likely the culprit.

My DVI cable has been installed through the wall to the projector so I cannot replace it and I believe it is indeed DVI-D cable.

Is there any merit to this argument? Anyone else had this experience with the Denon 3910 + BenQ8700 combo? What can I do to fix this? HELP! :eek:

That sounds like a bad DVI cable to me. I had the same problem when I bought a $20 DVI cable from ebay to try and save a few bucks and got all of the colored blocks scattered across my screen. I later bought a higher quality DVI cable about $200 bucks and everything has been beautiful since.

ramos.......

Easy to find out is to get a short DVI cable and move your DVD player within 6 feet of your BenQ. Run the good short DVI cable to the projector and see if the problem persists. If it goes away then you have found the problem.

However my understanding of a DVI-I port was that it would accept either a DVI-D OR a DVI-I cable.

Does your Denon have the capability of altering the signal it is sending out of the DVI port? By that I mean can it send either a digital or analog signal? ... I know it sounds weird, but I was wondering if it was something parculiar about the signal from the Denon. The 3910 is a really nice and very expensive player so perhaps it has options we mere mortals are not familiar with... if the 3910 has an "owners" thread you might post this over in their thread also.

I am still learning so I need your help...

I have a PE8700+ hooked up via DVI to a Denon 3910.

I have this very strange behavior occurring which has puzzled me for some time.

When I set the Denon to DVI @480P, the image looks fine. When I set it to 720p or 1080i the movie is visible but it displays tiny green pixels across the entire screen. It is not a huge amount, I would best describe it as some "snow" on the image.

At first, I thought it was the 8700+ so I sent it in and had it replaced. Once I got it back, the same behavior occured. At this point, I have become suspect of the Denon 3910. I spoke to the folks who sold me the Denon unit and they told me that if I had run DVI-D cable from the Denon to the BenQ 8700+ which takes DVI-I, this is most likely the culprit.

My DVI cable has been installed through the wall to the projector so I cannot replace it and I believe it is indeed DVI-D cable.

Is there any merit to this argument? Anyone else had this experience with the Denon 3910 + BenQ8700 combo? What can I do to fix this? HELP! :eek:Definitely sounds like a DVI cable problem. Client Ultralink makes HDMI Repeater for long throws like many have with PJ installs. It is $250 SRP but you'd need a short HDMI to DVI cable and a DVI-Female to HDMI-Male adapter too. Tom Norton of SGHT UltimateAV.com tested it to 100 feet with 1080p/60 with none of the signal loss breakup you described.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10106&cs_id=1010602&p_id=2721&seq=1&format=2

look at the bottom of page.

muncey

I am still learning so I need your help...

I have a PE8700+ hooked up via DVI to a Denon 3910.

I have this very strange behavior occurring which has puzzled me for some time.

When I set the Denon to DVI @480P, the image looks fine. When I set it to 720p or 1080i the movie is visible but it displays tiny green pixels across the entire screen. It is not a huge amount, I would best describe it as some "snow" on the image.

At first, I thought it was the 8700+ so I sent it in and had it replaced. Once I got it back, the same behavior occured. At this point, I have become suspect of the Denon 3910. I spoke to the folks who sold me the Denon unit and they told me that if I had run DVI-D cable from the Denon to the BenQ 8700+ which takes DVI-I, this is most likely the culprit.

My DVI cable has been installed through the wall to the projector so I cannot replace it and I believe it is indeed DVI-D cable.

Is there any merit to this argument? Anyone else had this experience with the Denon 3910 + BenQ8700 combo? What can I do to fix this? HELP! :eek:

Yes this is a problem others have experienced on this forum. The Denon line dvd players (especially the 1910) when hooked up to a BenQ 8700 via DVI often gives sparklies and/or artifacts on the screen. I have a 23ft DVI cable from RAM electronics and people on this forum kept telling me to switch the cable. However, after trying other cables the problem was not resolved. I swapped the Denon DVD player for another Denon and problem continued as well. Finally, I ditched the Denon player altogether and went with the Panny S97 which worked like a champ. If only BenQ would fix the excessive pixel cropping problem on upconverted signals everything would be golden.

If only BenQ would fix the excessive pixel cropping problem on upconverted signals everything would be golden.I have no pixel cropping on DVI 720p input with the 8700.

I have no pixel cropping on DVI 720p input with the 8700.

It depends on the dvd player being used. Some dvd players hooked up to the 8700 work fine. However, others like the Panny S97 and some Denon's have issues. There is a packet of information that is passed from the Projector back to the DVD player(or computer) called the EDID. BenQ appears to deviate from the EDID standard. I've stopped holding my breath for a fix - i dont think its coming.

Yeah, the EDID on the 8700 sucks - it reports to my HTPC that it is a 1024x768 projector! Fortunately, NVIDIA's (and ATI's) drivers ignore it. I wonder if the EDID issue is the cause of the 60.000hz limitation over VGA and DVI? Hmmm...

I doubt there will ever be a fix.

muncey, nice find on that HDMI switcher - has anyone used it? It could come in real handy...

Yeah, the EDID on the 8700 sucks - it reports to my HTPC that it is a 1024x768 projector! Fortunately, NVIDIA's (and ATI's) drivers ignore it. I wonder if the EDID issue is the cause of the 60.000hz limitation over VGA and DVI? Hmmm...

I doubt there will ever be a fix.

muncey, nice find on that HDMI switcher - has anyone used it? It could come in real handy...

For the moment, I have a buddy who received his and it work very well with its DVD Panasonic S77 connected to a PT-AE700 but it is unable to make it functioned with his satellite receiver Bell ExpressVu 9200 (Dish 942).

I will receive one of these HDMI switch (4X1) this week. I will keep you informed.

For the moment, I have a buddy who received his and it work very well with its DVD Panasonic S77 connected to a PT-AE700 but it is unable to make it functioned with his satellite receiver Bell ExpressVu 9200 (Dish 942).

I will receive one of these HDMI switch (4X1) this week. I will keep you informed.

There is a whole thread in the other FP forum about this switcher. There is a new one replacing the existing switch in the next few weeks which is supposed to improve connectivity issues. I'm watching that thread to see how this switch works out as I need one for my setup.

John

There is a whole thread in the other FP forum about this switcher. There is a new one replacing the existing switch in the next few weeks which is supposed to improve connectivity issues. I'm watching that thread to see how this switch works out as I need one for my setup.

John

Can you give me the link towards this thread ?

Can you give me the link towards this thread ?

Here is the link.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=615608

John

Here is the link.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=615608

John

Thanks !

HELP MEEEEEE: I bought an xbox 360 today, tried to hook it up to my 8700 and when I switch to hdtv on the cable switch (the cable that plugs into the back of the xbox 360) the picture is complete garbage. The 8700 picture switches from black screen with squiggles to the green turquoise (blank screen). I've been on the phone with xbox customer support and they are not any help.

Try switching the video dongle on the back of the 360 to standard def and hook up to standard def tv. Make sure that works. I think you can then set the video output to 720p in the xbox setup or system screen, switch the dongle to HD outputs and should be good to go. Also worst case you can set at 1080i and even though the PJ then has to scale back down, I have occasionally had to do this to get a good picture. I think that I have had some similar issues to yours but have been able to work it out. I cannot explain it but I can go a month and be good then with no changes to anything, the picture is messed up. I then switch the rez back up to 1080i and works, then days later the picture is good back at 720. No Clue what the issue is.

HELP MEEEEEE: I bought an xbox 360 today, tried to hook it up to my 8700 and when I switch to hdtv on the cable switch (the cable that plugs into the back of the xbox 360) the picture is complete garbage. The 8700 picture switches from black screen with squiggles to the green turquoise (blank screen). I've been on the phone with xbox customer support and they are not any help.


Make sure you're connecting via the BNC connectors on the 8700 (you'll have to buy RCA to BNC adapters, available at Radio Shack). The RCA inputs only accept a 480i signal. The 360 looks amazing on the 8700!

The projector will display standard tv when the "dongle" is on tv. It's when I switch it to hd-tv that it goes haywire. It won't display on 480 either. It's a mystery to me.

Try re-running the initial 360 setup and if not keep playing with the output settings of the 360. This reminds me of taking my 360 to a friends house and he had a older HD Mitsu rear projection. It was all messed up since it was a 1st gen HDTV and it didn't display 720p. It was something odd 950. Anyway since my 360 was set to 720 I was kinda screwed. I then reset it and I can't remember how --on that TV I could only do low rez. Also mskreis has good point if you are new to 8700. Thinking out loud here and frankly I don't want to verify on my setup, but I think you had to go standard def, rerun the initial setup (can't remember why), and I think somewhere in that setup you can set it for 720 or so. Then I think the screen will go blank as it will not actually resolve depending on the inputs you are using. This I know for sure, it will ask if you want to keep those new settings and you have to verify by "D Pad up and then A button", you only have a few seconds to do it. I am pretty sure that I have done this blind knowing that that was to proper HD rez and then had to switch system back over from SD to HD. Sorry talking in circles but keep trying. You have scared me off of screwing with my own setup again to test here but I think you need to run through as many scenarios until you get the right one.

The projector will display standard tv when the "dongle" is on tv. It's when I switch it to hd-tv that it goes haywire. It won't display on 480 either. It's a mystery to me.

How is your 360 connected your 8700?

component cable straight to the 8700. I run my hd-tivo and dvd player through a dvi switch and then a dvi cable up to the projector.

Robert..

and you ARE plugged into the BNC connectors on the 8700.........?

I think I'm plugged into the Component connectors. They are marked Y, Cb, Cr. They have red, green and blue insulators, just like the markings on the cable. I only know enough to be dangerous, I don't really know what I'm doing.

Robert..........

The component connections you are plugged into ONLY accept 480i input.

You need a quick trip to the closest Radio Shack to pick up some component to BNC connectors. They just slip over the RCA ends on your current cable and then plug into the BNC connectors. The BNC component connection will give you full HD capability... 480p, 720p, & 1080i.

Here is a link to what you need from Radio Shack

RCA-BNC Connector (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102688&cp=&kw=bnc+rca&parentPage=search)

Robert...that's why everyone is telling you over and over to use the *BNC* connectors.

The 'normal' component jacks on the BenQ only accept 480I. That's right. Just 480I.

You'll need to get $1.00 adaptors from RADIO shack to connect to the BNC inputs and that's where the BenQ can accept 480P, 720P, and 1080I analog.

Making sense now?

dave :)

Thanks for the help! It's working great now. The kids really like the xbox 360. The graphics are pretty good. I'm not sure it's worth the money or that it lives up to the hype.

Nice to hear.

Hey everyone,

I've got a BenQ 8700+ question myself.

I used to live in an apt. where my PJ was table mounted and I bought the Hipower Dalite screen. Was punch and bright...very saturated.

Then I moved into my new place and ceiling-mounted the PJ (over my head instead of slightly in front of me like when it was on the table) and it still looked decent, but was noticably dimmer.

Lately though I can't help but think "wow, that looks dim" whenever I watch something. Oddly HD feed looks much more saturated than DVD via DVI from the OPPO (is this normal). DVI in is calibrated with AVAIA and I've got just over 1000 hours on the bulb.

So...are the bulbs known to suddenly start to drop off brightness after 1000 hours? Is there a trick to mounting the PJ that I don't know about...like will moving it closer to the screen even with a ceiling mount brighten the image? Some PJs have optical paths that affect brightness at different zoom settings so I'm prepared for anything. Would getting a new angular-reflective screen (firehawk) solve my problems?

Has anyone else gone through this too?

thanks!!!

-dave :)

My 8700 started to be "less bright" at about the 900 hour mark. I got some relief tweaking in the service menu. I don't recall the specifics, but I needed more detail in the lower luminance levels. I also used the service menu to set brightness and contrast because it allows more resolution than the user menu. However, it was never like it was the first 400-500 hours.

I'm not aware of any difference in light output that would result from a ceiling mount vs. a floor mount.

The HiPower screen is retro-reflective so it's brighter when the projector is more in-line with your eyes (like a table mount in front of you or just barely over your head). In my case the ceiling mount places the PJ farther off angle so it gets dimmer. A conventional angular-reflective screen might brighten it up a bit.

So...can you share some more details about your service menu tweaking? I know how to get in there. Does anyone have any S.M. "tricks" to tweak up the brightness of the BenQ as it dims with the aging bulb???

thanks!!!

You are right that you are now less in the "reflection cone" of the hi-gain screen because the projector is further from eye level.

You can somewhat mitigate this by angeling the projector and screen. Use a laser from the projector and a mirror on the middle of the screen to find the exact angles that reflect the laser back to the sitting area at eye level -- usually the angle is so minor as to not be noticable.

I sold my 8700 some time ago, so I don't have the settings. Obviously, it didn't increase the brightness so much as bring up the luminance in the low IRE levels.

I used my colorimeter to juice RGB gains a little (red is always at max 512 but you can get more brightness by increasing green and blue with a little trade-off in color temp) and I played with the gamma settings. Trying using an IRE step pattern in increments of 10 or less (less is better) to juice up gamma at low levels and increasing contrast and/or RGB gain while trying to avoid blue or green tinting in the high IRE levels.

Hi Dave & Kevin........

I started noticing the dimmer picture around the same time... I just replaced my bulb at 1940 hours and was knocked out by how bright the picture was with the new bulb!

I think Dave's problem is exactly as he suspects.... he has been dazzled by the retro reflective HP screen with it's 2+ gain. Somewhere around AVS Darin (or is it Darinp2) has published some gain numbers for the HP as you move off-axis. I was amazed at how quickly the HP falls off... much faster than you would suspect based on the numbers Da-Lite publishs... As I said I cannot remember the exact numbers but you only need to get off to one side about 15 degree's (and this happens both horizontally and vertically) with the HP and it's gain is already down to about .9! Yikes!

When I grow up I am dreaming of a SilverStar...........

The PE8700+ is none too bright after 1000 hours.

I'm running a similar configuration (ceiling-mounted PE8700+ with ~1100 hours projecting onto a high power). The trick is to hang the projector low, mount your screen relatively low and tilt the projector slightly upward to minimize the viewing angle. You will get some very slight keystoning, but not enough to worry about. An angular reflective white screen such as the studiotek would probably help some, but the firehawk would be too dim. Judging from my screen samples, you have to go drastically off-axis before the firehawk appears brighter than my high power screen.

The high power gain drops down to around one-ish fairly quickly, but you have to go to extreme angles to get much less than one out of it.

Plan B is to clean the color wheel. There are a few old posts around about how a hazy coating tends to bake onto the color wheel cutting the light throughput noticably. If you remove the lamp, you can inspect the color wheel, but it looks like you would need to open the case to actually clean it. The was an old thread on cleaning the HT1000/HT1100 that had some before and after pics of a dirty wheel. I believe you may have to break a tamper seal to open the case, so you will probably not want to do this if you are still under warrantee. When I inspected my wheel after 1000 hours it looked very hazy, but I haven't been brave enough to clean it yet.

Plan C is to buy a new bulb. . . groan.

Assayer -- good point about cleaning. I did clean my color wheel and that did make a noticable difference, but I was sweating it the whole time.

I used info from the link you mentioned about the HT1000 (had good pictures). Basically, you get to the color wheel housing, remove a small "port window" by unscrewing it, and then use a Q-tip and distilled water to wipe and then dry the color wheel filters. It took a lot of work but a lot of "gunk" came off the wheel.

I would not try it if still under warranty and then only if I was feeling reckless or extremely competent.

My 8700 started to be "less bright" at about the 900 hour mark.

My 8700 just went past the 900 hour mark and I just noticed this too last week! Ugh. Oh well, I am projecting a 65" diagonal image anyways, table-mounted.

I should have bought a bulb when the prices were reasonable...now they are hideously expensive!

Kevin,

How much benefit did you 'feel' you gained from cleaning your color wheel? Did it noticably improve the brightness or color accuracy?

I hate to recommend cleaning the color wheel because the consequences of a screw up can be serious, but it made a big difference and restored the color saturation. The "gunk" on the color wheel is like a greasy film that dulls the filters and blocks the light.

I think if one is careful and meticulous, it can be done. I would take photos before removing each component and carefully mark each screw as to its location (I wish I had photos to post). Unfortunately, the service manual does not include any instructions on how to access the color wheel, so you just have to carefully figure it out yourself. It also took a lot of Q-tips and distilled water to get it all off.

This is getting interesting...

maybe some of us could combine expertise. I'm very interested in cleaning my color wheel if that might make a difference...as long as I have some good guidlines to follow. Anyone got that old link?

In your opinion, would replacing the bulb without cleaning the wheel make more of an improvement than keeping the current bulb but cleaning the wheel?

I would think replacing the bulb would make a bigger difference but the film on the filter does extract a cost in PQ. I'm overstating the difficulty of doing this -- I just don't want someone to try it based on my post and then tank their projector.

If you've ever swapped out a motherboard or taken apart a small electrical device, you can do this. Just document your work and be slow, careful, and thoughtful.

When you get to the color wheel, there is a small "port hole" with a glass cover. Carefully unscrew the round metal frame that holds in the glass. With the first few swipes with the Q-tip you will think you are ruining the filters because you will see a lot of smearing, but just change the Q-tiip frequently, and it will soon be clear. I kept rotating the wheel until I was sure I had it all off -- took more than a hour just to clean the color wheel filters and went through a couple of dozen Q-tips.

David,

Here is a link to the HT1000 thread I was refering to with before and after color wheel cleaning pictures as well as cleaning instructions. I would anticipate the process for the PE8700 is similar:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=381733&page=1&pp=30&highlight=ht1000

The 'before' pics are fairly representative of what I see when I remove the lamp and inspect the wheel through the lamp port.

Thanks guys. I'm working up the courage. Anyone know a simple source for distilled H2O?

BTW, what are these machines *designed* to get contamiation on the color wheel? Wouldn't it have made sense to simply put the wheel in a sealed housing so it doesn't "woosh" in dirty air? And does this affect all or just some DLPs? I'm just amazed that people don't talk more about it...it seems it would be a major issue affecting performance over the life of a unit.

I think this is DLP's "dirty little secret" that is generally concealed as a bulb issue even though has been addressed somewhat in later models. One more reason to hasten the transition to LED "bulbs" for DLP.

I think the problem is that the color wheel gets very hot in front of the bulb and requires some ventilation. The BenQ PE7700 has an air filter that will hopefully lessen the problem.

Interestingly Bob Williams mentioned this color wheel issue in the IN76 thread - on the SP4805/X1 platform the cause was outgassing of high temperature plastic parts that are switched to aluminum in the new case design.

It is that all crucial weight factor irrelevant to HT but important in portable projectors that we have to thank for color wheel contamination (since they all have cases in common with biz projectors)

I am a new 8700 owner. (and new to the Hi-end digital forum as well) A great machine after a 4805 and the matterhorn based sharp xv-z200. I decided to revisit the HTPC option for DVD playback. I used a HTPC with my X1 and 4805 with great success, but the Sharp was happier with an upconverting DVD player. After comparisons with the panny s77, I think this machine is better with the HTPC. My question is will I see any further gains by using the DVI out of my VC? I am using the 5 bnc connectors and it looks great. I am using the DVI input with my HD cablebox now, but I would have to buy a DVI/HDMI dongle for the back of my VC and a switcher. Is it even worth bothering with?

I believe you will see enough improvement to bother with switching from RGBHV to DVI Basically you avoid the losses of a digital to analog back to digital operation and any cable noise picked up in your analog cabling. The best approach is probably to order or buy a cheap DVI cable to hook up your PC to the projector and see for yourself. I've had good experience with the cables from forum sponsor Monoprice.com.

Nelman, DVI looks really good on my HTPC. The Panasonic S97 (which should have the same PQ as the S77) has flaws in the upscaling process - minor macroblocking (particularly noticeable on animated and anime titles, hardly at all on live action) at 720p and 1080i. At 480p it will be using the 8700's scaler, which isn't as good as an HTPC's scaler.

An Oppo 971H, or whatever it is called (David Boulet uses one!) might do as good a job as an HTPC, but your mileage may vary!

I use a 25 foot HDMI->DVI cable from Monoprice.com on my Panasonic S97 and my HTPC (with a DVI->HDMI converter). Works great!

(I'm scared to do the color wheel cleaning - and from what I read here it seems it would be harder to clean on the 8700 than the NEC HT1000 or other projectors.)

I have the 8700+, an HTPC, and the Oppo. I find the DVI input provides a visually superior picture to the component input. I think the HTPC does the best job, but I have the Oppo set up for the family to use and I tend to use it a lot also because it just saves the time of firing up the PC.

I would definitely recommend that you use the DVI input for everything possible.

I just performed a color wheel cleaning last night. It turns out that my color wheel was actually not very dirty, it was just a trick of the light that made it appear to be hazy. I did remove some dust and maybe a little residue, but not enough to make a noticable difference. The cleaning operation went smoothly, but removing the color wheel cover shroud was considerably more involved than I had expected. The bottom line is that it didn't help or hurt anything, but it was about twice as labor intensive as I had anticipated and there are many different screws to keep track of. If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't have messed with it.

Unless you are confident that your wheel is getting nasty, I would not recommend cleaning the color wheel.

I contacted BENQ to ask if there was any recommended service period for cleaning of the color wheel, and they would only say that you would have to get an RMA and return the unit for this. So it sounds that if you are still under warranty and have a hazy color wheel, they will take care of it (minus the pain of no projector for a while).

Regarding cleaning the color wheel...

wouldn't *both sides* of the color-wheel get equally dirty? If the color wheel needed to be cleaned at all...wouldn't it really need to be cleaned on both sides?

Glad to hear that someone's wheel didn't need that much cleaning after all. I should probably get a new bulb first and see how that solves my brightess problems.

Though I will ask this:

Has anyone paired a ceiling-mounted 8700+ with a @100" Firehawk??

What I really want know is would that be brighter, dimmer, or the same brightness as using a Hi Power with a ceiling mounted 8700...which is what I do now (and I've tried my best to mount the PJ lower than normal with it facing up slightly with mild but forgivable keystoning on 4x3 pillarboxed material).

Thanks!!


p.s. On the topic of a new bulb...what's the "best cheap source" going right now? Have folks had success with those "refurbished" bulbs that recycle the outer cartidge housing?

Also...since the *bulb* is clearly a defining element of the projector's brightness...are there any *other* bulbs that can be used safely with the 8700 that would provide a brighter picture? Or I suppose using any bulb other than the one in the specs would void the warrantee?

I got mine from Ryan at TVauthority....
..

So,

no thoughts on various bulbs to change the 8700's brightness? Anybody bought a bulb lately? What's the best going deal?

dupe

Not sure why or how but all of the sudden I have a little box in the lower righthand corner telling me the aspect ratio that won't go away. Normally it would stay for a few seconds and appear again whenever I switched sources or inputs but it doesn't. I didn't see anything obvious in the menu or hidden menu. Does anyone know how to get rid of it ?

Not sure why or how but all of the sudden I have a little box in the lower righthand corner telling me the aspect ratio that won't go away. Normally it would stay for a few seconds and appear again whenever I switched sources or inputs but it doesn't. I didn't see anything obvious in the menu or hidden menu. Does anyone know how to get rid of it ?
Hit the MENU button on the remote

Not sure why or how but all of the sudden I have a little box in the lower righthand corner telling me the aspect ratio that won't go away. Normally it would stay for a few seconds and appear again whenever I switched sources or inputs but it doesn't. I didn't see anything obvious in the menu or hidden menu. Does anyone know how to get rid of it ?

You are experiencing a known bug with the BenQ 8700 model. Turn the power switch on the projector to off, wait 30 seconds and then turn on again. It should go away. Gotta love memory leaks.

I assume you can have the projector in standby mode (ie. bulb not lit), turn the switch off (the switch on the case not the remote!), and then turn it on 30 seconds later? That way, you don't have to worry about wear and tear on the bulb. :)

Thanx to those that responded to my post on the previous page about using the DVI input for HTPC. You all were right...instantly much brighter picture! Desktop razor sharp and TT 2.2 with ffdshow give this a picture that is a click or 2 just below hi def. I do notice lousy transfer DVDs much more but good transfers really shine.

I initially wanted to buy a sharp xv-z2000 because I had the opportunity to see one live and I really liked it. I bought the Benq used from a fellow forum member for a price that was great and I am glad I did. I think that this pj is as good or better than that sharp that I originally wanted.

So...gonna test out my BenQ on the firehawk maybe this week and I'll report back if it's brighter or dimmer with ceiling mount than with my ceiling-mount hi-power...

still waiting for some more info on the bulb issue (as in if there are better/worse bulbs to consider)...



One more question...

how do I calibrate my 8700 for HD? I use AVIA for DVD but is there some other "test" signal I can use for HD via component-analog input?

I have comcast cable if it makes a difference...

David, do you have an HTPC? If so you can look in the Display Calibration forum for HD mpeg2 test patterns:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=570937

Although, I guess you are probably using a component video settop box.

Do you still have your Momitsu player? You can set the momitsu to output the desired resolution over component, and try using Avia or DVE with that. Hopefully it will get you in the ballpark - and if you have calibration equipment you could get it pretty close, assuming the set-top box isn't doing anything funky (my guess is it will crush blacks and whites, but hopefully preserve your grayscale).

I assume the Oppo can only do 480i over component.

David if you have an upscaling dvd player you can just hook it up to the interface that you would connect your comcast box to and output the same type of signal (720p or 1080i) that you output from comcast. This way you can just use you avia disk to calibrate but you have to use the same interface and the same output settings because all of the memory is independent in the 8700. I also have comcast for HD and for some reason 1080i from the comcast box scaled to 720p looks much better than just feeding it a 720p signal. I guess the 8700 scaler/ de-interlacer is just much better than the comcast unit.

sorry :) I guess max already answered that question.

still waiting for some more info on the bulb issue (as in if there are better/worse bulbs to consider)...



I changed mine a few months ago, because when it came back from repair of the colour wheel, the bulb went downhill fast (from viewable to virtually nothing in about 1 hour!). The supplier gave me a good deal because it happened same time as the repairs, and it had not reached the 2000 hours (but was pretty close).

As I remember last time I searched (maybe 6 month ago) the best online price in the US was about $320, and I also seem to remember a mention on this thread of a refurbishment service which was cheaper but not sure what the results would be like, since when I looked at the housing of my old bulb, it was not in a state that I would image could be easily refurbished.

Something to be wary of is that I was told that the warranty on the replacement bulb was nothing like that for the original, and rather than 2000 hours, it was more like 500 or 3 months! Can't remember exactly, but think these numbers are pretty close. Before anyone asks, yes I bought it from a BENQ dealer, and it is a genuine BENQ product. Maybe this reduced warranty only applies in Asia, and I would be interested to know what warranty others have got on new bulbs.

Have any of you guys tried to calibrate your 8700 with SpyderTV meter ?

On my 7800, which is very much like the 8700, the whites are too powerful. It tends to wash out the entire scene when white is shown.

Is there anyway to less the power of whites while maintaining the color saturation of other colors? I thought this PJ has no "white" color wheel but it sure is powerful.

Speedy, do you have Digital Video Essentials or Avia? Or have GetGray's calibration DVD?

Sounds to me like the contrast is set too high on your 7800. I am assuming it isn't the fault of your DVD player.

Has anybody had any problems caused by static electricity discharges from a Benq 8700? I just fried my second Direct TV HR10-250 ( HD Tivo) unit. I suspect it was caused by static electricity building up from the cooling fan. I've noticed a pretty good shock when I touch the projector, especially in the wintertime. Also, static discharges make my Gefen 4x1 switcher change inputs unexpectedly.

Robert, it must be very dry there! Humidity is also very low here in Calgary - often dipping below 20% indoors - even rubbing bare feet will produce static!

I've never had any trouble with static on my projector, but I regular get shocks when I touch my metal desk or my HTPC case. I very rarely touch my projector though.

Do you have a pocket-size humidistat (like the ones they sold at Radio Shack)? You may need to invest in a humidifier to keep static under control. And don't wear socks and sweaters around the house!

Loaded question:

When displaying HD on the 8700, which resolution looks better: 1080i or 720p?

TIA.

That depends - does the Benq convert 1080i to 540p, then scale up to 1080, losing half the resolution? I don't know - I use my HTPC to view HD files - it properly converts 1080i to 720p.

The native resolution of the 8700 is 720P. If your HD unit has 720P try it first.

Late last year I suddenly had a piece of foreign debris show up right in the middle of my projected image. It looked like a hair or piece of lint or something and it wiggles rapidly as if it is being blown by the fan. I opened a email service request with BenQ but before they responded the problem went away. I watched over the course of about 3 days as it traveled up and to the left and finally off the screen.

Well, it's back, much to my chagrin.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

I took out the lamp assembly and vacuumed out the chamber, cleaned the lens and the face of the lamp. It must be trapped inside the light path somewhere. Possibly in the color wheel housing.

Any thoughts?

Late last year I suddenly had a piece of foreign debris show up right in the middle of my projected image. It looked like a hair or piece of lint or something and it wiggles rapidly as if it is being blown by the fan. I opened a email service request with BenQ but before they responded the problem went away. I watched over the course of about 3 days as it traveled up and to the left and finally off the screen.

Well, it's back, much to my chagrin.

Has anyone else seen anything like this?

I took out the lamp assembly and vacuumed out the chamber, cleaned the lens and the face of the lamp. It must be trapped inside the light path somewhere. Possibly in the color wheel housing.

Any thoughts?Turn it upside down and shake it. Worked for me and hasn't come back.

Turn it upside down and shake it. Worked for me and hasn't come back.


Yikes! Are you serious about shaking it? Better make sure the lamp is completely cooled first...probably should just remove it.

Any idea where the schmutz was lodged?

Ok...I'll ask one last time...

:D

What's the best (affordable) source for a bulb for the 8700 right now? I'm searching this thread and most of the websites are out of stock anyway...not good! And my BenQ is not so dim it's almost unwatchable...I need a new bulb!

dave :)

p.s. I'm too much of a chicken to clean the color wheel...though I'm tempted...

The only price I've seen is $400 US. Hmm, but with the high Canadian dollar...

I've got over 1000 hours now - ugh, I want my black detail back!

I've got over 1000 hours now - ugh, I want my black detail back!You might do well to either modify your Brightness Level in the User Menu or DLP Brightness level in the Service menu if you're losing detail in dark scenes. This is normal during blub life.

David.........

I have responded to your question each time you have asked.........

This is who I purchased my bulb from. Tell him you got the number from me on AVS and he will give you as good a deal as anyone will!

Ryan Tartisel

TVA Santa Monica Store Manager

Office: 888.286.5353x507

Fax: 310.899.9525

Also.........

I have looked around the menu's on my 8700 for an "overscan" feature, but cannot find one.

Am I missing it somewhere? (or is the 8700 missing it...)

I would love to get rid of the noise at the top of the picture on SDTV.

Also.........

I have looked around the menu's on my 8700 for an "overscan" feature, but cannot find one.

Am I missing it somewhere? (or is the 8700 missing it...)

I would love to get rid of the noise at the top of the picture on SDTV.There is no overscan adjustment on the 8700. You'll have to use the Lens Zoom to hide it in your screen's black frame.

I was afraid of that.........

I have been spoiled recently with the InFocus that I set up at my retirement house... it has a menu selection for "crop" that does away with all that silliness!!

Jim: Yeah I know - it just sucks that in this day and age bulbs age as they do, and we have to tweak to get around it. I suppose a Da-Lite High Power screen would help too if I keep the 8700 table mounted. I really dislike the dither. :)

How many hours are you at Dave? 2000?

Jim: Yeah I know - it just sucks that in this day and age bulbs age as they do, and we have to tweak to get around it. I suppose a Da-Lite High Power screen would help too if I keep the 8700 table mounted. I really dislike the dither. :)

How many hours are you at Dave? 2000?

I replaced mine at 1960 & now have 275 on the new one...

Apologies if this has been answered before but the search function on AVS needs some work. I use my PE8700+ for everything, including connecting to a PC for web surfing and gaming. I have used the following 3 methods of connecting a PC to the projector with varying levels of success (ordered from best to worst):

1. DVI to DVI - seems to give the best brightness and most accuracy
3. RGB to 5 BNC (provided by BENQ) - not as bright
2. DVI/component adapter from ATI Radeon 9800XT to HD component-in on projector - worst brightness and blurry text

Can anyone confirm what I've observed? I don't own a DVI switcher so switching b/w the PC and my Oppo DVD player is a pain. Is it possible for me to calibrate the RGB to BNC cable connection to have the same level of performance as the DVI or is that impossible?

Sorry I cannot confirm or dispute your findings... I connect my HTPC via the DVI connection using a Gefen 4x1 DVI switch for my Oppo and HD-Tivo.

The output from the HTPC looks great via DVI. I run the PC at 1280x720 which is a native resolution both for the projector and the PC if you are running Windows MCE.

I would suggest you look at the switches on www.monoprice.com.

Hi guys, hope one of you can help. I ordered a replacement bulb about 1 month ago, was a bit annoyed when it arrived as I guessed it may not be an official part as I had to dissassmble what I would call "the cartridge" to put bulb inside and then back in pj. Is this normal with replacements?

Anyway since Sunday the pj is shutting itself down after an hour or 2 of use with the red bulb light flashing on top, I'm guessing due to overheating. Can I clean out/help airflow or do you think the bulbs to blame?

All I can tell you... is that mine came already mounted in the "cartridge" where I just slipped one out and the other one in... I have put about 300 hours on the new bulb with no issues thus far.

1. DVI to DVI - seems to give the best brightness and most accuracy
3. RGB to 5 BNC (provided by BENQ) - not as bright
2. DVI/component adapter from ATI Radeon 9800XT to HD component-in on projector - worst brightness and blurry text
Makes sense, just know that you'll need service or at least user menu brightness, contrast, color level adjustments for either the DVI or RGB on 5-pin inputs.

Has anyone connected the PE8700+ to one of the new HD-DVD players using a DVI to HDMI connector?

Just wanted to know if the connection works. IF so, how was the picture compared to an upconverting DVD player?

I now use a Bravo D1.

My experience is that the DVI to DVI (or adapted HDMI to DVI) on the 8700+ is the brightest picture. The RGBHV is slightly dimmer. Don't know about the component adapters from the HTPC's.

Much will depend on your source, your cabling and the accuracy of the calibration you make on the signal. All things being equal, I think the digital path is the best looking.
-Alex-

Is anyone thinking about upgrading their 8700+ to 8720? Has anyone seen them side by side (properly calibrated, etc...)?

I am wondering if the $$$ spent on this upgrade is really worth it or if waiting for the next gen of projectors (beyond DC3 and 720p) is the way to go. And yes, I know that there is always "something" better in the offing...just don't know if the 8700+ to 8720 upgrade is so incremental as to be unworthy.

Thanks,
-Alex-

My personal "opinion" is that the 8720 is overpriced.

For some strange reason BenQ has sort-of lost their way the last couple of years... With the 8700 and 8700+ BenQ had a killer product at a perfect price point to lead them into pre-eminence in the HT world. They sold a ton of the 8700 series and most all of us are really happy with them! Are there currently better projectors... you bettcha, but as has been alluded to it is like the computer model... there is always something better showing up just any day now!

However, after the 8700 there must have been some shake-up's in BenQ management because the guys I spoke to at CES in 2005 did not really know where they were going in the HT world. They had the then new 7700 and 8720 being demo'd but no one there really knew much about them. For some reason BenQ was not able to bring the 8720 to market in a timely manner and they have been "johnny late to the party" ever since. They are constantly behind the curve when it comes to their market position and pricing on this unit.

Throw into the mix the "bulb disaster" that BenQ had with the 7700 and they act like a company just floundering around with no leadership and no direction.

When I started looking for a projector at my retirement house (8700+ is being sold with theater in current home), I did not even give anything from BenQ much cerebral time... in today's marketplace I do not think they are player.

Now all of this is just my own silly opinions........ but there you have it! YMMV

My personal "opinion" is that the 8720 is overpriced.

How so?

Only the noisy, crummy cw HD7100 is cheaper in the DC3 world.

Well the 8720 is kind of weird "in-between" duck. When the 8720 was originally supposed to appear it's direct competition would have been the Optoma H79 and InFocus 7210. The 8720 has a better lens system than these units, but does not have an image to compete in the Sim2 CX3 world either.... So my "personal opinion" is that it is more in common with the H79 and IF7210 than it does with the 720p projectors that were in the $10k range.

At it's current price it is still considerably more expensive than the H79/IF7210, but does not provide much extra other than a nicer lens(yes I have spent personal time with the 8720 over serveral days at last CES, but no I am not nor pretend to be any type of expert). Hence my personal observation that the 8720 is just to late to the party and too far behind in the pricing curve. I expect that we will shortly see the 8720 chassis sporting a 1080p light engine and depending on pricing and performance then BenQ could be back in the race...., but I am not holding my breath.

Once again...... just opinion and speculation :-)

[QUOTE=DaViD Boulet]Ok...I'll ask one last time...

:D

What's the best (affordable) source for a bulb for the 8700 right now? I'm searching this thread and most of the websites are out of stock anyway...not good! And my BenQ is not so dim it's almost unwatchable...I need a new bulb!
QUOTE]

I found a decent price at

http://www.buy.com/prod/59J0B01CG1_PROJ_LAMP_FOR_PE8700/q/loc/101/201700916.html


Listed as sold out, but if ordered it will show up in about 2 weeks.

David.........

I have responded to your question each time you have asked.........

This is who I purchased my bulb from. Tell him you got the number from me on AVS and he will give you as good a deal as anyone will!

Ryan Tartisel

TVA Santa Monica Store Manager

Office: 888.286.5353x507

Fax: 310.899.9525

Can you not post the price you got? Last time I searched (yahoo shopping, CNet etc) the best prices were around US$340, but not looked recently.

I changed mine once already, but think I'm back over 1000 now. The first time it didn't reach 2000 and since it had also just returned from repair (where it could have been damaged), the supplier gave me a special deal.
Mine was suddenly very noticeably dim, then went to just about no light at all over the space of about 60 minutes use as I recall. Is everone's experience with these bulbs the same?

Can you not post the price you got? Last time I searched (yahoo shopping, CNet etc) the best prices were around US$340, but not looked recently.

I changed mine once already, but think I'm back over 1000 now. The first time it didn't reach 2000 and since it had also just returned from repair (where it could have been damaged), the supplier gave me a special deal.
Mine was suddenly very noticeably dim, then went to just about no light at all over the space of about 60 minutes use as I recall. Is everone's experience with these bulbs the same?

I do not think I can given the rules of this forum.

My bulb was noticeably dimmer, but still going just fine when I replaced it at 1960 hours.

Thanks to all who responded to my PC to 8700+ question!

HiHoStevo,

I've heard good things about the monoprice switchers on this forum. However, I just read on the AVREV website that Accell will be selling an 2x1 HDMI switcher for $99.99 MSRP!

The specs seem to be satisfactory and I don't know why anyone would buy a more expensive Gefen or Monoprice after seeing this! There's gotta be a catch somewhere!

Bairda,

If you currently own a 720P projector, I would wait until the price on the Sony SXRD 1080P drops. Eventually there will be 1080P DLP projectors and since Sony's model is already established, I can't imagine them debuting with a higher price than $10k MSRP. From what I've read on the HD-DVD players, they are downconverting the native 1080P to 480P and then upconverting to the native 720P display (like the 8700), which results in a worse pic than setting the display at 1080i to avoid this scenario. This is yet another reason to wait for the new 1080P projectors if HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to be this finicky.

Thanks for the advice EWL5!

Also, there is a new HDMI switcher that I just saw. Maybe this is the same one that you brought up:
http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/video-hardware-software/ultraav-hdmi-highdefinition-multimedia-interface-2-to-1-switch.asp

Maybe a bit overpriced?
-Alex-

Alex,

Yes, that is the same HDMI switcher. For the typical price of one 2x1 Gefen switcher, I could almost buy 3 of these Accell 2x1 switchers! The only major differences I see is that the Accell does not come with any cables (Gefen gives 2 6' HDMI cables), the Gefen is powered (signal amp?) and the Accell comes with a 5' IR extender!

I cannot vouch for the quality of the included Gefen cables and 6' may be too long for my needs. Hopefully the switcher is compatible with my Harmony 880 remote. Next month can't come soon enough!

Alex,

Yes, that is the same HDMI switcher. For the typical price of one 2x1 Gefen switcher, I could almost buy 3 of these Accell 2x1 switchers! The only major differences I see is that the Accell does not come with any cables (Gefen gives 2 6' HDMI cables), the Gefen is powered (signal amp?) and the Accell comes with a 5' IR extender!

I cannot vouch for the quality of the included Gefen cables and 6' may be too long for my needs. Hopefully the switcher is compatible with my Harmony 880 remote. Next month can't come soon enough!


Don't know why you are waiting for this switch to appear when Monoprice is offering this switch (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=2778&style=&seq=1&format=1#largeimage) for considerably less right now. It is the same quality switch as the 5X1 switch discussed in another thread. And Monoprice is providing great support should the switch not work out.

Just a suggestion.
John ;)

John,

The monoprice switcher's only advantage is the equalizer (anyone have real world experience on pic quality?). Other than that, the Accell is less than half the size, includes an IR repeater, and is HDMI 1.2 compliant (monoprice is only 1.1). This is important for me because I listen to SACD's.

The abundance of HDMI switchers ALMOST negates the need for an HDMI-equipped receiver for most people. Now if we can only get the hardware manufacturers to play nice and design their equipment to full HDMI spec so we don't have to deal with switching issues...

Hi Folks,

I'm thinking of upgrading my receiver to a Yamaha RX-V2600 and picking up an HD-DVD player (the Toshiba HD-A1). I would connect the HD-A1 to the RX-V2600 by way of a Blue Jeans Cable Series-2 HDMI cable. I would connect the RX-V2600 to the PE8700 by way of a Blue Jeans Cable Series-2 DVI/HDMI cable (there is a DVI-D connector on the cable, that can plug into the DVI-I port on the PE8700).

Has anyone tried this, or see any potential problems? I'd like to save some money and buy the RX-V2600 from a "non-authorized" dealer, so it would be nice to know if someone has tried this, as it could be hard to return if I run into problems.

By the way, I bought the PE8700 about 20 months ago, and have not updated the firmware.

Thanks for your help.

Bob

Bob,

There are known issues b/w the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player and receivers with HDMI switching. The problem is with Toshiba's implementation of the HDMI standard and how the HDCP will not properly be transmitted through a switcher (like a receiver).

I refer you to the following article on CNET:
http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6526656.html?tag=blog

CNET is not the only website to have come across this problem as numerous others have as well. I've had at least one customer complain the day he bought a Pioneer Elite 72TX (also HDMI switching).

If you buy that HD-A1 with the Yamaha receiver, you are hoping for a firmware update by Toshiba. I would rather sit this one out and let the HD-DVD and Blu-ray hardware vendors work out their uglies. That's just my 2 cents...

I have a message on my screen that the unit has over heated... After 2+ years this is the first time. I have vacuumed the inlet and outlets and left the unit unplugged for several days before trying again. Is there a way to over-ride this message. I seriously doubt the unit over heated as it's in a 60-65 degree basement and hasn't been used much lately.


Thanks.

Elmer

When you look at the temperature reported by the 8700, what does it say?

Also, in the same place you look at the temperature, I think you can also check the state of the temperature sensor - it should be online, but maybe ifyou temporarily set it to offline, it may reset the message? Then re-enable the sensor and see if it stays away.

I never played with the sensor before, so be careful. :)

I believe you need to enter the service menu to get the Thermal menu item.

Quick refresher on getting to the service menu? I haven't been in there in a while.

Thanks.

Elmer

Just press the Menu button to get the regular menu on the screen, then after waiting a second or two, press the On button on the remote. Now you're in the service menu! To get the regular menu back, press the On button again while the service menu is on the screen.

Is only one person going to share their bulb experiences?

Since most people on this thread seem to love their machines, it's going to become a more prominant problem for everyone soon ....

I'm waiting for David Boulet to get his bulb - then wait a month or two and if it didn't explode I'll get the bulb from the same place he got it from. :D

Hi, :)

I asked today to the french BenQ Hotline if the first units of the BenQ 8700 (not the "+" version) had the HDCP system on the DVI input.
The technician told me that the BenQ PE 8700 didn't support HDCP on its DVI input.

His knowledge about the BenQ specifications didn't convinct me.

Can you certify me if my BenQ PE 8700 has the HDCP on its DVI input ?

Thanks.

The PE8700 had HDCP from the beginning. I should know, I have one of them. ;)

Thanks for your answer, Grubert. :)

Did you test your BenQ 8700 with the Toshiba HD-DVD player ?
Did it work to the first time or have you been obliged to uptdate the firmware ?

A+

I have the Toshiba HD-DVD player and the 8700+ and have never updated the firmware. Works well. Amazing and stunning picture. This is the best upgrade I've ever gotten for my system.

Troy35, is it safe to assume that you don't have the HD-DVD player connected to a receiver via HDMI or HDMI switch since you've had no problems so far? Once you add another HDMI-capable device into the picture, you may want to look into an HDMI switch of some sort and hope for a firmware upgrade from Toshiba.

One question: are you outputting in 720P or 1080i from the HD-DVD player?

Not connected to a receiver. It's connected to a DVDO. Definitely outputting 1080i. It looks way better. I haven't tried the new firmware update from Toshiba that's been flying the forum, but supposedly it helps some with HDMI.

Thanks for your answer, Troy35. :)

I have an 8700+ that I need to have looked at by a qualified tech (having possible fan issues which are causing my proj not to work). I live just outside Washington D.C. in Northern Virginia. Can anyone recommend the best way to go about getting my 8700 repaired? I have never had a problem with the proj until now so I do not know if sending it to Benq's New Jersey service center (got this info from Benq's website) is the best option or finding a local repair shop etc..

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Andrew

hudsonator, you need to contact BENQ tech support and have them issue you an RMA. If your projector is still in its first year, then the shipping is free. If not, I think you pay for shipping. If it is older than 3 years, then you pay for full repair and shipping. My repair was not bulb related. There was something wrong with my power supply as the proj wouldn't turn on. I got my projector back after waiting for over a week.

Make sure to have your serial number and date of purchase ready when talking to BENQ.

Thanks for your help. My 8700 is less than 2 years old, so does that mean that repairs are free? I do not believe that I have my original receipt, so will Benq still provide service?

Just as added info on my issue...whenever I power on my proj the following happens...

-green power light comes on
-normal "noise" at startup (i.e. fan noise etc..) is not there. noise made currently is much less...seems that "jet engine" wind up noise from fan is not there.
-after about 30 secs Lamp indicator light (next to Power ind. light) flashes red continuosly
-lamp does not come on...no image projected (obviously)

I wonder if the proj realizes the lamp fan is not working properly and therefore keeps the lamp from coming on so as not to have it overheat.?.?

Repair should be free but you MAY have to pay for shipping. You shouldn't need the receipt, just the serial number and approximately when you purchased it (this process is easier if you ever submitted the warranty card). Sounds like the fan is shot. Either case, talk to a BENQ tech and he will try to diagnose what the problem is over the phone and issue you an RMA. Hopefully the bulb hasn't been damaged in the process. How many hours do you have on the bulb?

I have the Toshiba HD-DVD player and the 8700+ and have never updated the firmware. Works well. Amazing and stunning picture. This is the best upgrade I've ever gotten for my system.

Troy35, Can I ask what resolution is displayed by the BenQ projector when feeding it 720p & 1080i from the Toshiba ? ex: 1280 x 720 x 60hz ?

Thanks.

Sorry. Out of town for a couple of days. But you hit the nail on the head. That's the output. I run 1080i out of the Toshiba and into the DVDO, which converts it to 720p for the Benq. Sounds kind of backward to me, but it looks stunning.

I've got a two year 8700. Are there any firmware updates I should know about? I've got close to 900 hours and the fan is on med to hi speed all the time. Whenever I clean the theater I vacuum the unit. Just saw the post about pulling the buld and cleaning in there. Might give that a whirl tonight.

I've got a two year 8700. Are there any firmware updates I should know about? I've got close to 900 hours and the fan is on med to hi speed all the time. Whenever I clean the theater I vacuum the unit. Just saw the post about pulling the buld and cleaning in there. Might give that a whirl tonight.

The latest (and probably last) FW is 1.07 and it keeps the fan from changing between speeds as rapidly (the fan speed will still change with the internal temp, it just wont move up and down as often as it did with the prior FW). Check you version by going to the service menu.

As far as I know, firmware 1.07 is not available for download. Benq had (has?) the 1.04 available on their US website for quite a while now.

Well, I yanked the bulb last night and vacuumed off the mesh on the bulb housing. It was covered in dust and so was the fan above it. Cleaned it up and put it back together and she's whisper quiet again!

Has anyone noticed that both HD-DVDs and SD-DVDs look kind of dark when played with an HD-A1?

I've been using a Denon 2910 and takisot's settings for the PE8700, and seem to get a brighter picture than with my recently purchased HD-A1 (via HDMI).

Is it uncommon to have to recalibrate the video settings? I've never done that, can I use my Avia disk?

Thanks for your help.

Bob

I think this a problem with the HD-A1 when connected to any display via a DVI input

This link to the Video Processor forum should answer your question better

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=678171

Sorry if I missed this earlier but does anyone see any sparkling or a couple rows or dancing pixels at the top of their screen while watching SD cable? I never see it with HD or DVDs. It doesn't matter if I'm watching DirecTv or Comcast cable, both do it. It's not the end of the world but it kinda bugs me. Oh yeah, I have a 30' DVI cable running to the projector. Is it possible the run is too long?

Thanks.

J.J.

What you are seeing are the data fields sent by the broadcasters for sync, data, captioning, etc. (e.g., NTSC broadcasts 525 lines but only 480 of those lines contain image information).

This is not a problem with your projector. One generally does not see the data fields because of overscan, but front projectors tend to show every line which is why you are seeing the data fields.

You can eliminate the flashing data lines by enlarging the image and thereby creating overscan. Try using the anamorphic, wide, or zoom setting (I don't recall the specific names used by the BenQ).

An even better solution than overscan is to vertically shift the image upward if such an option is available for your projector. You don't want to lose information!

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'll try your suggestions later tonight.

J.J.

I'm considering buying a used 8700+ now to replace my NEC HT1000 and have a quickk question. From what I understand the colorwheel will not sync to 1280x720 50 Hz with RGBHV on the BNC input, but will it sync to 1280x720 50 Hz component at the BNC connectors?

tahustvedt, good question. I don't have any PAL material to test with, and when I tried to get 50hz output from my HTPC, I wasn't able to get it to sync using a VGA->Component transcoder.

I live in North America, so that may be why.

Ok, thanks.

I have an ATI Radeon X800 XT HTPC with component out. The lack of 50Hz support with a HTPC is the only thing that has bothered me with my HT1000 so I'd like my next pj to support it.

Anyone know of a service depot in the GTA area. I just got suckered in to purchasing a used 8700+ and after a half hour of use the lamp light flashes and no picture. Sent email to BENQ and they said it can be repaired out of warranty but that will probably be expensive. Darn thing only has manufacture date of aug 2004. Just over two years old. OH well, I'll probably scrap it rather than sink more money into it and buy a new proj with warranty once I can afford one. :(

it's probably the lamp, just get a new lamp.

muncey

The lamp seems fine. Once the proj has cooled down, it will fire up again and work for another half hour. Could this be a cooling issue. I just have it sitting on a table with nothing blocking any vents and it shuts down....Would anyone have a service manual?

This could very likely be a cooling issue. Dan Rapp had a post about this same problem that he fixed by taking off the cover and blowing out the fans with compressed air while concurrently using a vacuum to capture the particles. He was surprised at how much dust he cleaned out.

For those that went from a NEC HT1000 to the 8700+, what differences did you notice?

Update: got an RMA from BENQ for ithe unit shutting down and took it to a repair shop in Scarborough.
They had a quick look at it, and found the bottom of the unit had been pried off to access the fan in the bottom of the unit ,and in the process breaking the screw mounts. Then silicone was used to glue it back on???? I was told by the fellow I bought it from that it had the fan repaired once by some electronics repair shop.
The unit still has warranty, so I can't understand what kind of AUTHORIZED repair shop would use silicone to replace a cover which they broke. I said that I'd pay to the have bottom cover replaced, so hopefully it won't cost too much.
I can't believe my luck, just to try to save a few bucks I get stuck with someone else's problems. I could have bought a brand new proj for just a little bit more then what I paid.
Well as they say "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR"