Jeff and Kevin,

I find it interesting that you both like the 720p ABC and FOX broadcasts. In my opinion, those are the worst quality pictures out of all of the dozen or so HD channels that I get. All of the 1080i stations are much superior. That surprised me at first, but I suppose it's that a higher resolution source downscaled and deinterlaced could look better than a source that was natively that way (due to the higher resolution allowing for more data in a given space).

Anyway, that's what I've experienced.. YMMV. :)

In my case, I definetly find that 720p broadcasts (with the STB set to 720p) look much better than 1080i.

About the only HD I watch is NFL, and with 720p the picutre is much smoother and has less artifacts than 1080i. This is especially the case where the original broadcast is in 720p.


Dan

According to ultimate AV 7700 has a flatter video frequency response with 720 signal. The 1080i gets more rolled off at the top end of the frequency hence somewhat softer.

so which broadcasts are 720p vs. 1080i? Fox, NBC, ESPN, CBS etc?

I find NBC to be better quality than Fox NFL for example...I was switching from NFL on FOX to NBC Nascar last week and the Nascar look far superior. I also find some of the ESPN broadcasts to be very drab in color.

Jim

In my case, I definetly find that 720p broadcasts (with the STB set to 720p) look much better than 1080i.

About the only HD I watch is NFL, and with 720p the picutre is much smoother and has less artifacts than 1080i. This is especially the case where the original broadcast is in 720p.


Dan
I think the keywords there are "original broadcast is in 720p". Obviously, a 720p upconverted and downconverted is going to be worse than a native 1080i downconverted. I'm talking about native 720p vs native 1080i. Again, I'm just relaying what my experience has been with 1080i vs 720p.

"I think the keywords there are "original broadcast is in 720p".

Definetly agree.

In my setup, native 720p (with STB set to 720p) on the 7700 looks better than native 1080i (with STB set to 1080i). Comparing FOX to NBC/ABC for example.

I haven't compared a native 1080i source in how it looks with the STB set to 720p vs 1080i. I would imagine 1080i would look better being output as 1080i rather than converted to 720p.

Again, most of my comparisons have been done watching sports type programming, so maybe results vary by type of programming as well.

As you say, YMMV.

Dan

I've been using a Scientific Atlanta 3250HD box that was configured to output 1080i exclusively since I've had this PJ. Very recently I changed it to 720p to see how it looked. For me, I noticed very little if any difference. I've also checked the native 720p channels vs the 1080i channels and I'm not sure if I see a difference or not.

Maybe it's just my setup but in general I'm a bit disapointed with most HD material. Sports and live stuff looks great. However, most TV series content does not. These tend to look quite dark for some reason. I suppose I could adjust the display as best I could depending on the source material and save it to one of the alternate PJ memory settings. Incidentally, for me, calibrating contrast/brightness on broadcast HD source material is hit and miss.

I'm noticing on my Scientific Atlanta 8000HD set top box, that when I'm watching standard definition (480i) channels, that the projector scaler produces a much better picture than when I use the set top box to upscale standard definition to 720p. anyone having a similiar experience?

After owning my BenQ pe7700 for about four weeks i noticed that the upper right portion of the screen was no longer square (meaning there was noticable tilt leftward from the lower right hand corner to the upper right hand corner).
Then the HDMI input stopped functioning.
I contact BenQ customer service where, after a 45 minute wait, I spoke to Lisa Sierra. She was very helpful and informed me that although there were no new units, they would ship out a refurbished unit under the program where my credit card is charged for the unit until they receive the broken unit back, and that when they had new units, they would ship one to me to replace the refurbished unit. I did not want my unit repaired as I did not want to be without a projector and beleive a new unit would be better anyway.
Two weeks passed with occasionaly emails to Miss. Sierra with not reply. Week three I received an email back from her stating that there was some confusion about what I wanted done, and that she would take care of it (there was no confusion).
Well into week Four I decided to call Benq customer service. Again, after about forty-five minutes I sopke to a customer service rep. I explained the problem to her and complained about the lack of service. She checked the status and said that the unit should have been sent to me. She stated that she would cc a supervisor to assure the projector would ship. I thanked her, then asked for her name in case there was no follow though again, and it turned out to be Lisa Sierra, to whom I had previously been complaining about Lisa Sierra!. She stated that she was the only customer service person there, which made sense considering the two forty-five minute waits I had listening the the BenQ, I love you, song.
Well hopefully the unit will really ship this time.
[I also thought it was weak that BenQ would not allow me to have the benefit of the free bulb offer which the started three days after I bought my unit.]

Its hard to make generalizations because there are so many variables in any particular system, but trust me that a quality, native 720p image will look better on the BenQ PE7700 than a 1080i image (if I could come to your house with the Accupel signal generator, and show you test signals in 720p vs 1080i, you would clearly see the difference).

However, depending on the brand and settings of your STB, your connections and cables, and the set up of your BenQ, it is possible that 1080i may look better.

I get HDTV over-the-air, so I know the ABC and FOX broadcasts are being sent to the BenQ in native 720p. With a satellite or cable system, this may not be the case.

Indeed, what may be happening Tim is that ABC and FOX broadcast in 720p, your cable or sat company upconverts it to 1080i and then it gets downconverted to 720p for the BenQ. All of these conversions could explain why ABC and FOX look especially bad on your system.

cirenoslo,
Sorry to hear your having so many problems with your projector. I too just swapped out my pe7700 because the hdmi stopped working all of the sudden. My dealer (one of the forum sponsors) took the old one back and overnighted me the new one. Now thats what I call service!!! My wife did all the talking because I was at work, but she said they were wonderful people to deal with. I'm hoping that my new unit does not develop the same hdmi problem. Good Luck!!!

Steve

When I dealt with BenQ service for my bulb, I had to call twice. In both instances, I got a male rep and they were different. So not sure why Lisa claims to be the only rep.

Jim

When I dealt with BenQ service for my bulb, I had to call twice. In both instances, I got a male rep and they were different. So not sure why Lisa claims to be the only rep.

Jim
Where I work, everyone seems to think they're the only ones who do any work.


;) :rolleyes: :cool:

As to the fan issue, with the bulb at economic setting and the High Altitude option set to on, the air temperature out of the front exhaust vent was 127 degrees. When I turned off High Altitude, the temperature climbed to 167 degrees...

Good info.

What would be great to know is the operating temp of units from owners at low altitude. I'd be curious as to whether their units run significantly cooler on normal fan at the same settings.

Anyone out there willing to measure the temp of your exaust air in low fan/economy lamp mode??

What's the deal with the preset modes. They all look the same to me, and with the exception of "Color," all of the other values like contrast, brightness, etc., were the same.

Took a leap of faith and ordered a PE7700 on wed. 11/23 from a forum sponsor. This was after being told by another authorized BENQ dealer that the bulb issue has not been solved to his satisfaction. I have followed this wonderful but long thread and know how bad this problem became after the release of this product. Contact after the dealer with concerns to two other forum sponsors indicated that there has not been a problem in months. The key MFG date seems to be aug. 05. After one email and two phone response calls to BENQ tech. I decided to trust the positive. So, question : can it be confirmed or not that units after aug. 05 are ok from failure. It is interesting to note that both BENQ reps. suggested but did not confirm that the change to the hardware had more to do than with just the redesigned bulb. Also the tech. reps. had no knowledge of an update to the PE7700 in the works as has been talked about in this thread. Happy Holidays To All.

Bronco,

I ordered my pj back in Sept/Oct and have had no issues with it. Also, i think that BenQ will be more than happy to stand by their product.

Hi- I just purchased a BenQ 7700 last on 11/24- waiting for it now. I also ordered a Yamaha RX-V2500 Reciever, Da-Lite 106" 1.3 gain screen, Ascend Acoustics 7.1 Speakers, Harmony 880 Remote, and I am going to be purchasing a Dish Network 942 Reciever to feed the PJ. I ran a DVI and Component cable from my Theater shelf to the projector (approx 28')
1- My Ceiling is 10' high- will I have problems hanging this from the ceiling?
2- Should I buy the AVIA cal disk, or just play around?
3- How does regular X-Box work as DVD player?
4- Should I install projector or screen first?
5- Will the DVI fit the projector- or do I need an adapter- I was thinking about using the DVI for my satellite/HD, and the Component for everything else.

THANKS- I love this forum, it has taught me a ton.
4-

Anyone else have a 7700 where all preset modes are the same?

With the exception of the color value, all of the other settings (brightness, contrast, etc.) are the same on my unit. As expected, I can switch between Cinema, Home Theater and Family Room, and there is no difference in brightness levels. :(

Hi- I just purchased a BenQ 7700 last on 11/24- waiting for it now. I also ordered a Yamaha RX-V2500 Reciever, Da-Lite 106" 1.3 gain screen, Ascend Acoustics 7.1 Speakers, Harmony 880 Remote, and I am going to be purchasing a Dish Network 942 Reciever to feed the PJ. I ran a DVI and Component cable from my Theater shelf to the projector (approx 28')
1- My Ceiling is 10' high- will I have problems hanging this from the ceiling?
2- Should I buy the AVIA cal disk, or just play around?
3- How does regular X-Box work as DVD player?
4- Should I install projector or screen first?
5- Will the DVI fit the projector- or do I need an adapter- I was thinking about using the DVI for my satellite/HD, and the Component for everything else.

THANKS- I love this forum, it has taught me a ton.
4-

Congrats on your purchases! To answer your questions..

1. Not necessarily -- it will just hang down quite low compared with a shorter ceiling. You're going to need a ladder though... :)
2. Yes, buy a calibration DVD - they're cheap and will result in a much, much better picture than "playing around", as long as you follow their instructions
3. The regular Xbox's DVD functionality, IMO, works about as well as a typical progressive scan non-upconverting DVD player. Which is to say, decent. To get the best from the 7700, use either an HTPC or upconverting player. Or just wait for Blu-Ray to come out, depending on your budget and impatience.
4. This depends on what is more flexible in your situation. Some have calculated the exact height of the screen based on the heights of their rows of seating. Some can't move it left or right due to their speakers, etc. IMO, it's easiest to do the following:

1) Have a rough idea of where the screen will go, and be sure to calculate the throw and size to determine how far back the PJ will be mounted from the screen. There are calculators to help with this. You can dry run this by putting the PJ on a table the same distance away (the lens will simply be at the bottom of the screen instead of the top) and make sure you can get the size you want.
2) Mount the projector at the correct height (ideally, the center of the lens is at the height of the screen), with some ability to adjust it somewhat.
3) Mount the screen in the exact location, and as close as you can to match the top of it to the height of the center of the lens, and the horizontal center as close as possible to the center of the lens (more important since there's no horizontal keystone correction).
4) Fine tune the projector's zoom, angle, etc.

5. There is no DVI input on the 7700... You need to buy a DVI-HDMI adapter.. be sure to get the right female/male ends for that adapter based on your cable. Most likely a female DVI to male HDMI. Play with the various configurations.. Ideally, using DVI for everything is best case.. with the aid of a DVI switch (or HDMI switch, but you already ran the 28' of DVI, so just go with a DVI switch). Some equipment won't have digital outputs though, of course. Use component for those.

Good luck!

Hi- I just purchased a BenQ 7700 last on 11/24- waiting for it now. I also ordered a Yamaha RX-V2500 Reciever, Da-Lite 106" 1.3 gain screen, Ascend Acoustics 7.1 Speakers, Harmony 880 Remote, and I am going to be purchasing a Dish Network 942 Reciever to feed the PJ. I ran a DVI and Component cable from my Theater shelf to the projector (approx 28')
1- My Ceiling is 10' high- will I have problems hanging this from the ceiling?
2- Should I buy the AVIA cal disk, or just play around?
3- How does regular X-Box work as DVD player?
4- Should I install projector or screen first?
5- Will the DVI fit the projector- or do I need an adapter- I was thinking about using the DVI for my satellite/HD, and the Component for everything else.

THANKS- I love this forum, it has taught me a ton.
4-

I agree with the responses so far, a few comments that I learned when mounting this projector:

I was going for 12" from the ceiling and used the Universal Chief mount (which is working very well). I found that the mount itself uses 5" of height, so I bought a 7" pipe. This is very close to 12" (you would probably want more pipe given your 10' ceiling) but I was NOT going to assume 12" and mount the screen there. Therefore:

- I mounted the projector first based on the calculations above
- Turned on the projector to find the resulting top of the display and mounted the screen based on that.
- Dont forget the lens on the projector is NOT centered when positioning the mount on the ceiling.

I have used the AVIA DVD with success. You can find it online very reasonable (ebay).

Jim

- Dont forget the lens on the projector is NOT centered when positioning the mount on the ceiling.

Jim

Yep, I know "a guy" who forgot to take that into account and had to redo the mounting. He wasn't happy with himself at all.... :)

I didn't buy the projector for this function, but I just learned that there are specific sources for the PIP. From what I read in the manual you can only PIP composite and Svideo with the digital input. In other words if you have component with your cable TV and hdmi with your HTPC you cannot PIP the two together. I like BENQ but what are they thinking? Who is paying this much for a hometheater projector and using Svideo or composite? This would be a really nice feature if I could check email, etc while watching TV. Does anyone else find this annoying?

There was some discussion previously about high altitude fan vs. normal fan temperatures. I just did a read with my instant read thermometer in both settings (given some time to let the temperatures adjust accordingly). My projector in econo lamp mode, HD football, settings closes to Home Theater preset:

Normal fan = 157F
High Altitude fan = 127F
Room Temp = 70F
I am at 1000' here in Atlanta area.

High Altitude is very noisy....I think I could only use it watching sports, but will do that for piece of mind of lower temps.

Jim

I didn't buy the projector for this function, but I just learned that there are specific sources for the PIP. From what I read in the manual you can only PIP composite and Svideo with the digital input. In other words if you have component with your cable TV and hdmi with your HTPC you cannot PIP the two together. I like BENQ but what are they thinking? Who is paying this much for a hometheater projector and using Svideo or composite? This would be a really nice feature if I could check email, etc while watching TV. Does anyone else find this annoying?
This is true for most TVs I've seen. Some will only allow the PIP to be one video input and one antenna input.

I use Svideo on occasion. When watching SD shows. Sometimes I'll use PIP to watch an SD football game in a window with an HD game fullscreen.

Bubbawilly, about the presets, I usually use home theater. When I watch in the daylight I switch to Family Room and it makes a big difference (I also switch to Full lamp mode.) The colors are off, but it makes it much more visible on the washed out screen.
Warren.

Most STB, DVD players, etc. allow for the simultaneous output of a video signal from both the DVI/HDMI output and the composite or s-video output. See if this works for purposes of PIP on the BenQ.

Bubbawilly, about the presets, I usually use home theater. When I watch in the daylight I switch to Family Room and it makes a big difference (I also switch to Full lamp mode.) The colors are off, but it makes it much more visible on the washed out screen.
Warren.

Thanks!

The presets are fouled up on my unit. The brightness and contrast settings are all the same. The only setting that is different is color. I may have to make my first call to BenQ.

As to the fan issue, with the bulb at economic setting and the High Altitude option set to on, the air temperature out of the front exhaust vent was 127 degrees. When I turned off High Altitude, the temperature climbed to 167 degrees.

Again, the High Altitude fan is loud and diminishes the home theater experience, but for casual viewing (e.g., right now I have a room full of people talking and coming and going as they watch HDTV football), I would be inclined to switch to High Altitude -- even if the bulb issue wasn't so pressing.

What did you measure the temps with?

I used a Radio Shack infrared, and I get ~200 degrees at the exaust in normal fan mode, and 151 on High Altitude.

I can't live with High Altitude mode.

I didn't buy the projector for this function, but I just learned that there are specific sources for the PIP. From what I read in the manual you can only PIP composite and Svideo with the digital input. In other words if you have component with your cable TV and hdmi with your HTPC you cannot PIP the two together. I like BENQ but what are they thinking? Who is paying this much for a hometheater projector and using Svideo or composite? This would be a really nice feature if I could check email, etc while watching TV. Does anyone else find this annoying?
I agree that it's somewhat annoying, but I'm guessing it's due to some kind of extra cost associated with providing any input to be used for any PIP window that doesn't make it worth it. Also, after I thought about it a bit, I realized that the S-video feed would be in a smaller PIP window that's the size of a normal TV, and using probably 200 lines of resolution and thus the projector's resolution, not the source is most likely the main limiting factor. (Both are, but the resolution moreso)

What did you measure the temps with?

I used a Radio Shack infrared, and I get ~200 degrees at the exaust in normal fan mode, and 151 on High Altitude.

I can't live with High Altitude mode.

I used an instant read thermometer...typically used for cooking..and held it at the vent until it stopped rising.

what altitude do u live?

Jim

I used a thermocouple from my DVM. I inserted the probe about 1-inch into the vent and left it until the temp stabilized. I am at an altitude of 4,600 feet. The ambient temp in the basement at the time of my measurements was approximately 65 degrees.

I just got my PE770 and so far i love it.
Only problem i have is that I need a new dvd player. I´mnow using an older pioneer dvd player without y-comp or hdmi and I was thinking of getting the Dennon 1920.
Anyway, i´ve read in this forum that some users are accessing the "service" menu. I´ve check everywhere on my pe7700 but I cant find the serversettings menu, can someone please direct me to it?
Thanx
/Garlic

I just got my PE770 and so far i love it.
Only problem i have is that I need a new dvd player. I´mnow using an older pioneer dvd player without y-comp or hdmi and I was thinking of getting the Dennon 1920.
Anyway, i´ve read in this forum that some users are accessing the "service" menu. I´ve check everywhere on my pe7700 but I cant find the serversettings menu, can someone please direct me to it?
Thanx
/Garlic

Just wait to you get a good DVD/HDMI player, when I upscale to 720P over HDMI my 7700 has a sharpness picture increase that's quite substantial. Then I get another sharpness increase using the "Real" aspect ratio mode. I guess this is a 1:1 pixel map, all I know is the combination of the 2 has made the picture quality outstanding over what I got out of the box.

As for the service menu it's hit the "menu" key then "up/down" arrow keys 3 times each, then hit the "menu" key again. Warning be careful in their I accidentally changed a value and screwed the picture up bad!!!!!! Take the time to write down all the values of each sub menu so you can avoid a total reset. :)

I used an instant read thermometer...typically used for cooking..and held it at the vent until it stopped rising.

what altitude do u live?

Jim

I'm at ~5500'. I tested my Panasonic 300 at the same time. It ran at 165 degrees in normal fan mode on the low lamp setting, and it ran that way for 2.5 years without a hitch. Room temp (before both projectors started running ;)) was 68. The brightness levels between the 2 projectors are within 100 lumens after calibration, so I'm not sure why the BenQ would run so much hotter.

I did get some interesting news from BenQ yesterday regarding the High Altitude setting. Both their 1st and 2nd level support folks stated that the High Altitude setting shouldn't be necessary under 6000'. I may be putting that theory to test. I will not keep the 7700 if I have to run it in High Altitude fan mode. It is much too loud in my 12x14 theater.

There is a 'Manual' fan option in the Thermal Test section of the service menu, and the values at Main, Blower and Power all affect the fan speed. Too bad someone can't figure a way to set these numbers at a position between normal and High Altitude so that fan noise would remain tolerable. A couple of notches above normal may increase bulb life as well.

Just wait to you get a good DVD/HDMI player, when I upscale to 720P over HDMI my 7700 has a sharpness picture increase that's quite substantial. Then I get another sharpness increase using the "Real" aspect ratio mode. I guess this is a 1:1 pixel map, all I know is the combination of the 2 has made the picture quality outstanding over what I got out of the box.

As for the service menu it's hit the "menu" key then "up/down" arrow keys 3 times each, then hit the "menu" key again. Warning be careful in their I accidentally changed a value and screwed the picture up bad!!!!!! Take the time to write down all the values of each sub menu so you can avoid a total reset. :)


Ok, Thanx! I´ll be carefull, I dont need the service menu but i might in the future =).

So my picture will be that much better you think, using hdmi, nice then I´ll go shop real soon!

Garlic

Would anyone be willing to go through the service menu with me over the phone? I think I may have screwed up all my settings in there by pressing the wrong factory default button. If anyone is willing, pm me. If there is anyone who would be willing to send me pics of their service menu settings, that would work also. Of course you can post all of them here, but I know thats alot of info to type.

Thanks, Steve

Just go back in and select the "Saved Factory Settings" option, and you should be good-to-go.

I'm also of the impression that resetting to "Default" in the Picture menu acts to reset the service menu as well. At least it did for me. I had the mysterious changing of the color wheel speed to +70 deal, and I know for a fact that I didn't touch anything. Selecting the Default setting in the Picture menu reset the color wheel speed to 50+, and it reset the degamma from film back to the factory setting of graphic.

Bubbawilly is correct just do a "Saved Factory Settings" every unit as it is tweaked by a tech, could have slightly different settings, so my settings might not be the ones your unit needs.

Anyone have any experience with BenQ's web (email) support? I sent in a question earlier this week, and I've yet to receive a response.

bubbawilly, I've sent in a couple of emails and never heard anything. I've had much better luck with calling them. Of course the wait can be long sometimes, listening to the Benq song over and over:)

Anyone have any experience with BenQ's web (email) support? I sent in a question earlier this week, and I've yet to receive a response.

Always called them and had good luck in getting a tech. I think a lot of company’s put the email to low on the return list, or they are just buried. I do wish they would update the music. LOL :)

How many hours do you guys have on your "new" type bulbs?
I suppose less than 50 since they are so new in distribution. I haven't heard of anyone burning out the new kind of bulb. Someone should start a poll as to the success with the new bulbs. Some of us are waiting in the wings to see how it pans out.

Bubbawilly/Blasst, I just installed my PE 7700 last week and I have about 10.5 hrs. Of actual play time (according to the lamp life meter). All of the sudden my HDMI went out. I have sent three messages to BENQ and have not received an answer. So I am going to call BENQ in the morning. I read in a couple different sites that BENQ in the past five to six months have received numerous e-mail teck. problems with a couple of their new projectors. I am kind of worried about these projectors. Does it concern anyone that these where made in twain? Am I wrong to worry about a projector breaking down after 10 HOURS OF USE? Man I am frustrated, specially after waiting for about six months for my theater room to be finished and only having 10 HOURS OF USE? Six months of looking at a room and saying, ”man I cant wait to watch a movie down here.”, and only getting maybe four and a halph movies in. Man I am pissed offfffffffffff.
Ok I feal better now…NO I DON’T 10 DANG HOURS OF USE!!!!!

:mad:

I'm almost at 100hr on the new bulb no problems yet. Previous I had 2 older styles go bad and both started to flicker at around 40 hr and only lasted to around 100. No flicker so I feel good!!!! :)

A couple weeks ago I posted that my new 7700 had a strange shadow stripe running across the top of the screen cutting off peoples heads. Well I ended up sending it back to projector people where i got it and they checked it and said it was defective and instantly sent me back a new one. Even paid for the fed-ex. Also the buttons on the first one were not responsive. now I am happy. BenQ was of no help. just told me to change the input plugs. today I got my Oppo. looks great so far. haven't used it just reading the manual. lots of unique controls on this DVD player.

Well, I have a unit produced in October 05. Have about 40 hours on the lamp, only using the HDMI input. Recently white vertical lines showed up all over the screen, picture unwatchable.

There seems to be som kind of "play" in the connections/circuits, as the lines are visible when I unplugg all connections. With a slight "pressure" on the backside near the connections the lines are gone, so it seems like a manufacturing fault. Called Benq and described my problem. They will replace me with a new unit, dont know when I will recieve it.

Bulb discussions are resurrected so I'm anxious again. I have 250 hrs on my "old" style bulb and the Christmas season is coming and we are hosting parties with family and friends. I have a power conditioner on mine and followed Kevin A's suggestion to put it on High Altitude setting. X my fingers.

Bubbawilly/Blasst, I just installed my PE 7700 last week and I have about 10.5 hrs. Of actual play time (according to the lamp life meter). All of the sudden my HDMI went out. I have sent three messages to BENQ and have not received an answer. So I am going to call BENQ in the morning. I read in a couple different sites that BENQ in the past five to six months have received numerous e-mail teck. problems with a couple of their new projectors. I am kind of worried about these projectors. Does it concern anyone that these where made in twain? Am I wrong to worry about a projector breaking down after 10 HOURS OF USE? Man I am frustrated, specially after waiting for about six months for my theater room to be finished and only having 10 HOURS OF USE? Six months of looking at a room and saying, ”man I cant wait to watch a movie down here.”, and only getting maybe four and a halph movies in. Man I am pissed offfffffffffff.
Ok I feal better now…NO I DON’T 10 DANG HOURS OF USE!!!!!

:mad:

What's the build date on your projector?

Originally Posted by Sammy101
Bubbawilly/Blasst, I just installed my PE 7700 last week and I have about 10.5 hrs. Of actual play time (according to the lamp life meter). All of the sudden my HDMI went out.

Have you ruled the source component out as the fault?

What's the build date on your projector?

I have no idea. I got this projector when it first came out, March 2005.

Have you ruled the source component out as the fault?

Yes. I acctually took back my dvd player and got a new one, thinking the DVD player was the problem. After geeting new one had same problem. I then tried a new HDMI cable, but i got the same problem.

So here is what BENQ told me, after being on hold for about 48 minutes, they said that they have seen this problem and that they will fix my unit, not replace it with new or re-furbished, because they are out of them right now and that it will be "much quicker" for them to fix it. The guy told me that it will take between 5 to 7 bussiness days and at the max two weeks. Plus he told me that when they get the unit they will replace the bulb with the "updated bulb". I hope that this does not become a huge problem down the road. Has anyone elese sent one in to get repaird? IF so how long did it take to fix it and send it back to you?

What's the build date on your projector?

I have no idea. I got this projector when it first came out, March 2005.

Have you ruled the source component out as the fault?

Yes. I took back my dvd player and got a new one, thinking the DVD player was the problem. After getting new one had same problem. I then tried a new HDMI cable, but i got the same problem.

So here is what BENQ told me, after being on hold for about 48 minutes, they said that they have seen this problem and that they will fix my unit, not replace it with new or re-furbished, because they are out of them right now and that it will be "much quicker" for them to fix it. The guy told me that it will take between 5 to 7 business days and at the max two weeks. Plus he told me that when they get the unit they will replace the bulb with the "updated bulb". I hope that this does not become a huge problem down the road. Has anyone else sent one in to get repaired? IF so how long did it take to fix it and send it back to you?

ask them if they are going to update your firmware also. I am curious what his response is.

Jim

I'm also curious about whether they plan to update your unit to the "new and improved" PE7700, as per Projectral Central's comments regarding BenQ sending them a new and improved review sample. It would be nice to know whether all of us can take advantage of these improvements. Has anyone called and asked BenQ about the PJCentral comments?

The build date of your projector will be on the box and on the bottom of the projector.

Let us know how things go. I'd also like to hear back from you when you get the repaired unit as to the firmware version/date.

Have you ruled the source component out as the fault?

Yes. I took back my dvd player and got a new one, thinking the DVD player was the problem. After getting new one had same problem. I then tried a new HDMI cable, but i got the same problem.

So here is what BENQ told me, after being on hold for about 48 minutes, they said that they have seen this problem and that they will fix my unit, not replace it with new or re-furbished, because they are out of them right now and that it will be "much quicker" for them to fix it. The guy told me that it will take between 5 to 7 business days and at the max two weeks. Plus he told me that when they get the unit they will replace the bulb with the "updated bulb". I hope that this does not become a huge problem down the road. Has anyone else sent one in to get repaired? IF so how long did it take to fix it and send it back to you?

Mine went in for the bulb fix a few weeks ago, they cleaned some dust that was in the optical path, and did a check on my fan just to make sure it was functioning properly, I told them I could not hear a fan speed change going to any of the higher bulb output modes like I use to hear.

I ask about the firmware up dates since my unit was one of the first batch in the country, he said the up date fixed a HDMI sync problem that was showing up on some units in combinations with some source DVD machines.

I told him my picture was vary clean and I had no problems with HDMI sync so it was up to me if I wanted it, I chose the path of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". He said I had until the warranty ran out to decide.

As for this replacement unit with a Refurb unit, I would ONLY take MY unit BACK repaired , and would not accept any other. I take great care of the lens, case, filter, cable connections ect......... and would not want a unit that that has questionable maintenance records.........no way!!!!!!!!

Interesting on the HDMI sync...I have a S97 and I did have an issue where the hdmi would no longer work...the DVD player had a code come up that said damaged cable. The PE7700 would try over and over to sync and not successful.

I assumed I damaged the cable somehow and returned it and put in a new one (not a fun job with a 30' cable in conduit in the ceiling). It has worked fine now, but the DVD player still shows that damaged cable 'code'. Go Figure.

Jim

Mine went in for the bulb fix a few weeks ago, they cleaned some dust that was in the optical path, and did a check on my fan just to make sure it was functioning properly, I told them I could not hear a fan speed change going to any of the higher bulb output modes like I use to hear.

I ask about the firmware up dates since my unit was one of the first batch in the country, he said the up date fixed a HDMI sync problem that was showing up on some units in combinations with some source DVD machines.

I told him my picture was vary clean and I had no problems with HDMI sync so it was up to me if I wanted it, I chose the path of "if it ain't broke don't fix it". He said I had until the warranty ran out to decide.

As for this replacement unit with a Refurb unit, I would ONLY take MY unit BACK repaired , and would not accept any other. I take great care of the lens, case, filter, cable connections ect......... and would not want a unit that that has questionable maintenance records.........no way!!!!!!!!

I'm with you. I've heard that some of the refurbs are pretty 'rough.'

So, did they update your firmware? What is your firmware rev/date?

No up dated firmware for me I kept the old. I might regret keeping it if I buy a new DVD machine and it has HDMI trouble. My Oppo971H works perfect and my picture quality is outstanding.

I forgot to ask BQ if the firmware improved picture quality or was it just a HDMI sync problem. The way he talked about the firmware it was just a sync issue. :)

I just joined the blown bulb crowd (wait until my wife finds out - she is going to flip over spending this much money and having it die in less than 7 months).

Prior to purchase I heard all about how great BENQ support is...I am not convinced. I sent service an email last month about bulb life concerns and received the following "Dear BenQ Customer, Thank you for choosing BenQ! In order to serve your inquiry more effectively, please link to BenQ Contact Center http://Support.BenQ.com for assistance regarding any product and service inquiry, our BenQ Technical Expert will be glad to serve you. Thank you again for choosing BenQ!"

No follow-up was ever sent by BENQ. Today I sent them, via the above link, a message that my bulb died and again received the same message. Of course, they are only available for support Monday thru Friday.

I will NEVER buy anything from this company again, nor would I recommend that anyone either. They were aware of this problem months ago and did not do anything to help those of us who were early adaptors. As far as I am concerned, this is a company that should be out of business. :mad:

I just joined the blown bulb crowd (wait until my wife finds out - she is going to flip over spending this much money and having it die in less than 7 months).

Prior to purchase I heard all about how great BENQ support is...I am not convinced. I sent service an email last month about bulb life concerns and received the following "Dear BenQ Customer, Thank you for choosing BenQ! In order to serve your inquiry more effectively, please link to BenQ Contact Center http://Support.BenQ.com for assistance regarding any product and service inquiry, our BenQ Technical Expert will be glad to serve you. Thank you again for choosing BenQ!"

No follow-up was ever sent by BENQ. Today I sent them, via the above link, a message that my bulb died and again received the same message. Of course, they are only available for support Monday thru Friday.

I will NEVER buy anything from this company again, nor would I recommend that anyone either. They were aware of this problem months ago and did not do anything to help those of us who were early adaptors. As far as I am concerned, this is a company that should be out of business. :mad:

SW - We share your pain; however, I think you're writing BenQ off way too quickly. I suggest you skip the email and call them first thing Monday morning. Most large companies don't really do business via email. Talk to someone and then tell us how you are treated. The email response you received sounds like a typical, auto-generated, response.

As for the spousal concern: Point out that a recurring cost of PJ based HT is the bulb. "We are all very lucky that the initial design of these bulbs were defective, because we get 100 - 600 hours of "free" bulb usage before they blow and the company sends us a brand new one - allowing us to start over for free." :)

I just joined the blown bulb crowd (wait until my wife finds out - she is going to flip over spending this much money and having it die in less than 7 months).

Prior to purchase I heard all about how great BENQ support is...I am not convinced. I sent service an email last month about bulb life concerns and received the following "Dear BenQ Customer, Thank you for choosing BenQ! In order to serve your inquiry more effectively, please link to BenQ Contact Center http://Support.BenQ.com for assistance regarding any product and service inquiry, our BenQ Technical Expert will be glad to serve you. Thank you again for choosing BenQ!"

No follow-up was ever sent by BENQ. Today I sent them, via the above link, a message that my bulb died and again received the same message. Of course, they are only available for support Monday thru Friday.

I will NEVER buy anything from this company again, nor would I recommend that anyone either. They were aware of this problem months ago and did not do anything to help those of us who were early adaptors. As far as I am concerned, this is a company that should be out of business. :mad:

Definitely call them. Their web support is useless. I, and others have used their web support option, and have received no response at all. But, please do mention to their live tech support people that the web support is worthless, just in case they don't already know. ;)

From what I've read in this thread, they will take care of you once you talk with them.

Do us all a favor and ask them what the build date was when the lamp problem was supposed to have been corrected.

I've just recently purchased a BenQ PE7700 and discovered a problem with the hdmi signal.

I've been reading past posts and seen some discussion about the sync problem, but with my projector don't get any text across the screen about a bad signal or connection, just a blank white sreen with the highlighted text that says it is searching for hdmi signal.

I know my dvd works, because I've tried it on another tv with no problems.

I checked the firware version and it is from july of 2005, could that be the problem?

I need some responses about what I can do to fix this problem. Also if I send the PJ to Benq to fix it, will I have to absorb the shipping costs?

Any feed back would be greatly appreciated.

Just contact BQ service by phone, My projector has been back 2 times on the bad bulb problems(out of warranty both times) , they emailed me the second day air label both times. Their service is wonderful so I would not fret too much.

Their firmware up date is to take care of hdmi sync problems with some DVD machines just like yours.

They paid both ways but only for Fed-x ground on the return trip (3 to 4 days usually) so if you are in a hurry you might ask the to up the return it to you 2 day air but I'll bet they will ask you to pay or ask you to send it in and they will pay the air back (a trade)

Just a thought :)

I have July firmware (August build), and I'm not experiencing any HDMI sync problems with my Elite 59AVi.

I would like to think that July is very recent firmware. Let us know if your unit comes back with something more recent.

Checklist,
Did BenQ tell you when the lamp problem was supposed to have been fixed? I can't help but think that the current free lamp rebate is a sign that the lamp issue hasn't been addressed in even currently shipping units.

Thanks for the info,

I'm going to call Benq first thing Monday morning and I'll post any new information I get about the firmware upgrades and the bulb problem.

Ask them if the firmware will improve the picture quality ,or ask about the new updated 7700 some people are talking about, and some reviewers are going to test.

You will be getting the new design bulb. :)

Spoke to two BenQ service people before I ordered my PE7700, plus an email query. All responses were the same. Bulb problem has been resolved. This has been somewhat confirmed by two avs dealers, ie: no issues in the past couple of months. BenQ service advises to confirm that Mfg. date is "after Aug. 2005". Mine is Sept. Don't have time now but I will post on my initial impressions / measurements. The operative word will be AWESOME !!

I must say that I got my 7700 about 3 weeks ago. So far no problems. Once I got it set up and hung correctly the picture is fantastic. Hope this doesn't jinx me. Out of the box picture was great, still figuring out all of the tweeks but haven't wanted to make any just watch. I'm set up with a toshiba upconverting DVD ( just got it and don't remember the number but it was cheap a 100 special) The picture is great, I'm using a dalite 0.8 gain gray screen which I built the frame myself and bought the material from AVS. The HD from media com box is fantastic. I use the hdmi for the DVD and component conections for the HD TV. Works great with some room light as long as I don't have the ceiling spots on right in front of the screen. I used one of the above dealers and they were very easy to work with. The only complaint I have is that I don't have enough time to watch it. Football and basketball games are great especially in HD. Standard is a little grainy but only because the source. Any time you blow a analog up that big I think you have to expect it to be grainy. Heck my regular TV is grainy also but it is so small you don't notice.

Well,

I just checked the Benq box and it says my machine was manufactured on October 2005.
So make mine the first to report the same problem which was supposedly fixed since August.

I really do feel special.

October build, not good. I guess we will see how responsive BenQ really is. We all better send in the bulb rebate form.

I am very relieved to not have to worry about benq anymore (since I went with an Optoma H79). They are still having the same problems they were 4 months ago when I did have to worry. Their Customer service always told me something different. One of tem told me I was sending in to many HD signals (720p) thru the HDMI input. That was when it was time to call it quits. I also had my lamp blow out at 129 hours. They said it might have just rattled around and try to reinsert it. So I did. And of course nothing. So they replace the lamp with another defective lamp that went out less than 100 hours. If they are going to release a product with this many problems then maybe they should keep it in production a few months longer. I just had to post when I read that benq is still giving customers excuses and new lamps and new firmware HDMI versions...I plan to never even look at a benq product ever again, and I am glad I do not EVER have to listen to their CHEESY "benq- I love you and I am crazy for you" on hold music...Man that gets stuck in your head!!!

I am very relieved to not have to worry about benq anymore (since I went with an Optoma H79). They are still having the same problems they were 4 months ago when I did have to worry. Their Customer service always told me something different. One of tem told me I was sending in to many HD signals (720p) thru the HDMI input. That was when it was time to call it quits. I also had my lamp blow out at 129 hours. They said it might have just rattled around and try to reinsert it. So I did. And of course nothing. So they replace the lamp with another defective lamp that went out less than 100 hours. If they are going to release a product with this many problems then maybe they should keep it in production a few months longer. I just had to post when I read that benq is still giving customers excuses and new lamps and new firmware HDMI versions...I plan to never even look at a benq product ever again, and I am glad I do not EVER have to listen to their CHEESY "benq- I love you and I am crazy for you" on hold music...Man that gets stuck in your head!!!

I would be upset if my machine had to go back more than once within a short period of time. So far, for me, I've just had to deal with the lamp issue. For now I'm happy. I am really curious to see what the upgraded 7700 consists of. If the upgrade contains fixes that corrects existing deficiencies and Benq is not willing to retrofit (at little or no cost) then I would be tempted to press them for a refund.

BTW. Did Benq refund for you? If so, how difficult was that process?

Regards

Through Benq it is very hard. I ended up getting it fixed (again) then sold it outright. I supplied all the paperwork and let them know of the issues the unit had. I also gave them an unbelievable deal. To me, it was still worth it. I am very happy with my H79 and knock on wood, I have had no problems. It is better built, and seems more reliable than benq. Plus, any questions I had were answered the same by Optoma's customer service. That is a plus in my book!

H79 better do more than make you happy at 2X the cost. We would all love to have that option. I would not have considered the PE7700 in the first place.

Sorry, I did not mean to trample this thread. I would have went to another pj in this price range if I had the confidence in great picture quality and reliability. The PE7700 did have a great picture and was very bright. That is why it is problem plagued. In a perfect world combine it with reliabilty and you have a near perfect pj...

Smithsonga, Bubbawilly and all with Problems:

Here is what the latest news that I got from BENQ i.e. Doug who supposedly is the manager of BENQ warranty department, I had to call back because I never got the UPS e-mail they where suppose to send me so that I can send back the projector (they had wrong e-mail address), anyways he told me today that “There is a firmware issue on the original batch of projectors that where made and we will update it when it comes in.” Also he states that the bulbs automatically get changed to the new ones and that the projector is tested before shipped. He also claims that this all will only take 3-5 business days. Is this true? How long has it taken others to get their projector fixed?
I will let everyone know how it all turns out.

Hi,

I checked the box tonight, I have a PE7700 that was manufacturered in sept '05. How quick are you all seeing issues?


I will be hooking up an HDMI cable nextweek through a Dish 942 DVR. Hope it goes well.

I didn't spend this kind of money to have issues.

I was wondering if anyone has noticed crushed blacks on HD material? I tuned into a broadcast of LOTR last night through Rogers cable here in Canada and found that the image looks nowhere near as bright as through DVD on an HTPC HDMI. The image was quite dark. It looked like it needed a gamma adjustment (which I don't think the Benq has).

The projector is being fed with a Scientific Atlanta 3250HD cable box through component at 720p. I know that folks have complained about something similar with DVD on component that was dealt with by changing the IRE from 7.5 to 0. This setting on my machine is set to 0. I've played with brightness and contrast but can't get a satisfying picture out of it.

Generally I've noticed that a lot of broadcast HD material is really dark, maybe with the exception of live sports material. I'm concerned that maybe this isn't a source material problem.

Thanks in advance

basement:

Also in Canada, but I get my HD from ExpressVu. I've never experienced HD material that seemed dark. For the most part, it all looks fantastic.

I'm using a Dishnet receiver thru component.

Dan

I too watched a HD broadcast on the 7700 for the first time this weekend, through a DirecTV/Hughes receiver (1080i over component). I did notice that anything very dark or black seemed to blend into one tone, but the overall image was not dark. In fact, I dialed down the brightness because I felt that the overall image was too bright. I wrote off the blacks because I've yet to calibrate the component input. Overall, the image was very good. Stupid me, I disconnected the component cables on my DVD player once I attached the HDMI cable. Now I have no way to calibrate the component input. I will fix that sometime this week and check the component input with DVE to see if it is passing BTB. HDMI definitely is.

I did notice one thing that I found interesting. All of the picture settings on the component input were set to 0 values, whereas the picture settings on the HDMI input were values other than 0. Usually once a manufacturer sets their preset modes, they set all values to zero as the baseline, so what I saw on the component input wasn't surprising. I was surprised to see other values on the HDMI input. It's as if BenQ forgot to reset the user menu to zero, once they set the preset values in the service menu.

I have the clone mt-700 and if you don't set the NTSC menu to Japan it crushes blacks. I did read somewhere that there is a setting like this on the 7700. Try reading the review at

http://www.projectorreviews.com/

How about having your PE8700 projector broken since July...it is dec now. I sent it in 5 times and they couldnt fix the problem. After the 3rd RMA they even created a new problem. Promised a new PE7700 in the beginning of oct. Everytime I call they say they are expecting new PE7700s in 2-3weeks. Projector worked for 10months, have been without one for 5months and counting.

After seeing all issues with the PE7700 here I wonder if i will ever have a working BENQ projector. It will be land up being a $5k paper weight.

Mr Crackers

Mrcrackers I feel for you. That is why I bailed on this pj after I had problems the second time. I would call them every week til I either got a refund or a pj on the way. That is ridiculous that it has taken them so long to resolve this...Goodluck...

I have the clone mt-700 and if you don't set the NTSC menu to Japan it crushes blacks. I did read somewhere that there is a setting like this on the 7700. Try reading the review at

http://www.projectorreviews.com/

Yes. I know about this one on the Toshiba. I think the IRE setting on the Benq is equivalent. I believe mine is set to the right value. However, the ability to set this value is available only on specific inputs and has been identified as a problem with the firmware. This leads me to wonder if there isn't an issue with it doing what it's supposed to. I'm not sure if I have the ability to toggle the value, it's greyed out.

I've since done some investigation on other forums which talk about my particular set top box and there are reports of black level problems related to firmware. Swapping it out for another one might be the first thing to do to try to narrow it down.

Thanks

I have tried repeatedly to call BENQ about my bulb failure, and each time after being on hold for over 30 minutes I get cut off. Is there another number besides 1-866-600-2367?

I still have not heard back from the web-based form.

I cannot state how frustrated I am with this company.

Try e-mailing lisa herself. Lisa.Sierra@BenQ.com

Thanks for the contact. I just fired off an email to her...will let the forum know how it turns out.

I have tried repeatedly to call BENQ about my bulb failure, and each time after being on hold for over 30 minutes I get cut off. Is there another number besides 1-866-600-2367?

I still have not heard back from the web-based form.

I cannot state how frustrated I am with this company.

This is the number I used 1-800- 452-2237 press 1 for english and 1 again for tech. Never had to wait more than 5 min. Try your DEALER if you are on hold to long most dealers have direct numbers to specific tech person. Hopefully your dealer is as good as mine, they offered to send me a bulb if Benq was out of stock.

Please tell me they still do not have the cheesy benq theme song playing while you are on hold...Sorry for you if they do...

Yeah, it is very nice to deal with them in E-Mail instead.

I would pick the email alternative over the phone whenever possible...

Wnielsenbb
who is LISA (what is her position), and is she responsive to e-mails?

I have been extremely happy with my BenQ 7700 since I purchased it back in July. I did have the bulb go out but my vendor replaced it ASAP. I have a new problem. There seems to be a shaded stripe on the left hand of the projected image. It started out small and it appears to be growing. The stripe is larger, about 1 inch on a 106 inch screen, at the top and tapers down towards the bottom of the screen. Near the middle of the screen on the left hand side of the image there is also some discoloration. Has anyone seen this? Is there a fix a can do myself? If the unit has to go in for service should I send it to BenQ or my retailer?

I will take a picture and post it if needed.

Thanks everyone,

Chris

My friend actualy had this happen to his 7700. It was the left part of the image as well and it always was a darker shade. Benq said it was an internal problem so he sent it in. They fixed it and then did their HDMI upgrade as well. It has worked fine ever since. It took about 3 weeks turnover time...

Joerod, Thanks for the info. I didn't want to have to send it in but if thats what it takes, i will. Hopefully it won't take three weeks :(

It should not take 3 weeks now, that was in the peak of the lamp wars. Since things have settled down a bit I would guess at most 2 weeks. I would get them on the horn or email them though. Chances are it probably will need to go in. Which might not be a bad thing since they will perform an upgrade on it anyhow...

Sammy, Lisa is the support person I got when I called. She gave my first RMA when my first bulb went out and I just e-mailed her when my second went and she took care of it.
Warren.

Could you guys fill me in for purchasing a new BenQ7700, what mfr. date do you look for so that it would have the new firmware and the new type bulb?

A lot of them are offering a free bulb, free shipping and free mount for under two grand.

The things have sold like hotcakes. It is completely improbably you would get an old one.

I got mine today. This PJ has about the best picture out of the box I have ever seen. Benq must monitor this forum because all of the favtory settings are what was recommended here. BTW If anyone is interested in this PJ you had better jump because the free bulb rebate expires in 2 weeks. Wuth a picture like this a free bulb and mount the deal was just too good to pass up for me. No I will see how the reliability goes. I will keep you all posted.

Could you guys fill me in for purchasing a new BenQ7700, what mfr. date do you look for so that it would have the new firmware and the new type bulb?

A lot of them are offering a free bulb, free shipping and free mount for under two grand.

Hey Tim just ask the dealer of the build date, like wnielsenbb said the pe7700 has been selling well and the odds of getting an old that has a build date before Aug is not vary likely. August and later is the date you want so it has the new bulb and the latest firmware. Under 2 G's with a spare bulb and mount is a great value.

What DVD player are you going to use?? My 7700 got a large picture sharpness increase with a 720P DVD upscale player. :)

I got mine today. This PJ has about the best picture out of the box I have ever seen. Benq must monitor this forum because all of the favtory settings are what was recommended here. BTW If anyone is interested in this PJ you had better jump because the free bulb rebate expires in 2 weeks. Wuth a picture like this a free bulb and mount the deal was just too good to pass up for me. No I will see how the reliability goes. I will keep you all posted.

What is your build/firmware date?

Could you guys fill me in for purchasing a new BenQ7700, what mfr. date do you look for so that it would have the new firmware and the new type bulb?

A lot of them are offering a free bulb, free shipping and free mount for under two grand.

Just be sure to purchase from the higher profile (higher volume) online dealers, several of whom are forum sponsors, and you will get a recent production unit.
One of the forum sponsors is out of stock on the mounts, and they shipped me a flat panel TV mount instead. They did give me a credit, but as far as dealers go, I think that you can do better. Stick with the well known projector-specific dealers, to include AVS. The TV dealers may have older stock.

As checklist stated, August and after is good to go.

Thanks Wnielsenbb for the info. I am glad she helped out. :)

I'm sorry,

but I'm hearing alot about BenQ 7700 after august not having problems, but mine has a built date of October 2005 and I've got the same hdmi sync problem.

I'm sending mine in this week and it was excruciating to have to deal with such an inefficient service help group. I had to wait almost an hour each time I called and still they screwed up necessary information.

I just hope they have a better group of people working on fixing their products.

The build firmware issue was a planned leak to dump remaining inventory at a steady pace thru CES I was told. Could be BS...but the Rep has no interest in it, we were just chatting?

I don't feel anything has changed, my friends is in the shop every other week it would seem...3 bulbs later.

Sorry guys..

TJ

wait, say that again?

My main concern is the bulb issue has been fixed, are you speaking to that or the new firmware 'rumor'?

Sorry, I should have been more clear....firmware supposedly is revised to fix issues.
Bulbs and any other supporting component remains the same based on the info I got from him. Benq supposedly is close to calling it EOL with the PJ. CES will tell the tale. Scary thing is, he was told from an inside source when I had my Mt700 that voltage/ballast was the issue not the bulb, hence the multiple failures even after replacement.

His firm reps a lot of top lines, and he is in the know. He was instumental in helping me get my Toshiba bought back after 6 months of ownership. His advice and info has always proved to be sound.

But you never know?


TJ

The build firmware issue was a planned leak to dump remaining inventory at a steady pace thru CES I was told. Could be BS...but the Rep has no interest in it, we were just chatting?

I don't feel anything has changed, my friends is in the shop every other week it would seem...3 bulbs later.

Sorry guys..

TJ

Were any of the "3 bulbs" the supposed new and improved bulb?

Yes... the last one was supposed to be?


TJ

Not good!

Bad "new and improved" bulbs, and continuing HDMI sync problems on machines with the latest firmware.

Is there anyone here that has not had problems with the 7700 (after at least 150 hours, or so), lamp or otherwise???

I'm at 328 hours, 7 minutes bubbawilly:) So far so good. August build, bought middle of Sept.

My original lamp made it past 600 hours (before failing :mad: ) and I've been using the HDMI input for my DVR for months without sync problems. Maybe the sync problems are with HDCP signals. My DVR outputs via DVI, which I convert to HDMI, so there isn't any HDCP in my set-up.

Yes... the last one was supposed to be?


TJ

TJ - when did you acquire the third lamp?

This is fastly moving me away from looking at this projector AGAIN.
HDMI problems keep croping up, whether it is a sync problem or mechanical jack problem. And the bulb issue isn't dead. We probably won't know if the "new" bulb will have longevity for several more months as they rack up 100-300 hours or more. I would hate to spend the money (even at these great prices) and then have a hardware problem from one of these known issues. I'd be kicking myself if I hoped it wouldn't happen and then it did.
I'll probably go purchase the Sanyo Z3 at a steal of a price and it has a long history of proven reliability and extremely happy owners. It has virtually the same throw distance as the 7700, sharper picture and much better 480i deinterlacer, an extra component input and a VGA input.
I am sad to see there are still hardware issues with the 7700. I have seen it and it has a great picture. They have always praised BenQ's customer support and product support but the threads here in the past few weeks sure have reports of terrible customer support and wait times of 45-60 minutes and then not getting satisfaction.
Sorry BenQ, but you really blew it in my book.
I really hope those of you who own this projector have good luck with it.

Sadly,
Tim

Tehotaone, "Benq supposedly is close to calling it EOL with the PJ."

This might be a dumb question but what does EOL stand for?

Tehotaone, "Benq supposedly is close to calling it EOL with the PJ."

This might be a dumb question but what does EOL stand for?

End Of Life ?

Ok. So what will they do for the people that have problems with the projector?
Sounds like a lemon law rule to me. That is if they truly have serious problems with this projector.

Hey Guys-

Just got my system set up and running last night. My BenQ 7700 works excellent. I love the picture and colors. I do have a slight problem though. I watched 2 "Widescreen" DVD's last night- and I have a 52x92 Da-lite screen, there was about a 10" black out on the top and bottom of my picture- making the picture shorter and wider- anyone know why my screen isn't filled in the Wide mode? I am using a cheap DVD player-very cheap- everything else was great.



BenQ Pe7700
Yamaha RX-V2500
Ascend Acoustic 7.1 surround

Hey Guys-

Just got my system set up and running last night. My BenQ 7700 works excellent. I love the picture and colors. I do have a slight problem though. I watched 2 "Widescreen" DVD's last night- and I have a 52x92 Da-lite screen, there was about a 10" black out on the top and bottom of my picture- making the picture shorter and wider- anyone know why my screen isn't filled in the Wide mode? I am using a cheap DVD player-very cheap- everything else was great.



BenQ Pe7700
Yamaha RX-V2500
Ascend Acoustic 7.1 surround

Do you get the startup blue screen filling the screen properly? The projector may be in Real mode. You should probably have the projector set on Anamorphic mode.

Sorry, I should have been more clear....firmware supposedly is revised to fix issues.
Bulbs and any other supporting component remains the same based on the info I got from him. Benq supposedly is close to calling it EOL with the PJ. CES will tell the tale. Scary thing is, he was told from an inside source when I had my Mt700 that voltage/ballast was the issue not the bulb, hence the multiple failures even after replacement.

His firm reps a lot of top lines, and he is in the know. He was instumental in helping me get my Toshiba bought back after 6 months of ownership. His advice and info has always proved to be sound.

But you never know?


TJ

It is odd that if it is a voltage/ballast issue they should have gotten their customers to send in their PJs to get the problem fixed rather than send out new bulbs. It may be a question of economics I suppose, not knowing how much it costs the manufacturer to deal with the bulbs vs the ballast. I was told by Benq that the replacement bulb has a warranty. If it blows again I would expect another bulb. I wouldn't imagine that they could do this over and over with every customer.

Thanks for the info. I'm still interested in the rumour of a new updated 7700 mentioned on Projector Central.

Not good!

Bad "new and improved" bulbs, and continuing HDMI sync problems on machines with the latest firmware.

Is there anyone here that has not had problems with the 7700 (after at least 150 hours, or so), lamp or otherwise???

Hope this does NOT jinx me for the Christmas (oohh, the "C" word) holidays.

My June-purchased PE7700 has 250+ hours on original bulb; I've ran it in economy mode 95%, and high altitude modes the last month. I have intermittent HDMI sync problems though, but usually recoverable by switching input sources via remote control. X my fingers

Hey Guys-

Just got my system set up and running last night. My BenQ 7700 works excellent. I love the picture and colors. I do have a slight problem though. I watched 2 "Widescreen" DVD's last night- and I have a 52x92 Da-lite screen, there was about a 10" black out on the top and bottom of my picture- making the picture shorter and wider- anyone know why my screen isn't filled in the Wide mode? I am using a cheap DVD player-very cheap- everything else was great.

Are these 2.35:1 widescreen movies? If so, you are going to have the bars. I find even with Wide or Anamorphic, the bars may get a bit smaller, but you obviously also lose some of the picture from the sides.

2.35:1 seems to be the latest format for many movies, but the 16:9 (1.78:1) of HDTV is what most screens are purchased.

I tried component DVD with my projector for the first time last night. With HDMI 720P, Real is clearly the way to go, but when using Real with the component feed I get a small box in the middle of the screen. What is the proper aspect selection to use with DVD component?

It is odd that if it is a voltage/ballast issue they should have gotten their customers to send in their PJs to get the problem fixed rather than send out new bulbs. It may be a question of economics I suppose, not knowing how much it costs the manufacturer to deal with the bulbs vs the ballast. I was told by Benq that the replacement bulb has a warranty. If it blows again I would expect another bulb. I wouldn't imagine that they could do this over and over with every customer.

Thanks for the info. I'm still interested in the rumour of a new updated 7700 mentioned on Projector Central.

Benq had me send in the projector to replace the old designed bulb, this was early in the bulb issue before they were exactly sure what was causing the bulb problem. The tech rep said they wanted to check the entire system just to make sure.

No HDMI sync problems and the new bulb is past the hours of the first 2 bulbs that gave me problems. Does this mean the new bulbs will be perfect "not" Benq is now back to where everyone else is, and any intelligent person only has to read the threads out on this site to KNOW that bulb problems and hdmi SYNC problems pelage every projector brand on the market.

The bulb reliably issue it one that all MFG's need to address it is a PIA for us consumers and them. The PROBLEM lays with the FACT the projector MFG's don't make the bulbs, all MFG's go to an outside source to procure their bulbs.

Come one no one really believes that a Bulb MFG is going to produce a bulb that will actually slow down (high profit) secondary sales to themselves, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

I argued this vary point with the Osram bulb representative back in the mid 80s and I can see some 20 years later that things have not changed.

As for the Sync problem one only has to take off the blinders and read the threads in Panasonic,Sayno,Infocus,Benq,Optoma ect..........you will see that all MFG’s have had a few problems with sync, on certain DVD players but the large majority of the sync problems occur with HD signals from the local cable company and the related converter boxes,cableing ect…and this reading will show the most all of the mfg’s have work hard to solves these issues with firmware up dates, and Benq seems to be working just as hard as the rest, in solving a problem that has occur only in a hand full of units sold.

Just my .02

Yes, even romantic comedies and cartoons are coming in 2.35 now, like Hitch and The Incredibles. Very few movies are 16x9 (which is 1.78:1) Almost all are 1.85 (small blackbars for you if in real mode) or 2.35 (black bars covering 25% of your screen.) This is why some of use spent extra for 2.35 conversion lenses and processors so all our pixels are used to make the 2.35 movie. I get very tiny black bars top and bottom on 2.40 movies. Anything less that 2.35 and I have black bars on the sides instead. Watching SD I have almost half my screen black.
Bubbawilly, the problem you have seems to be your DVD player isn't upconverting the component output. The OPPO doesn't I know. Then you just need to experiment a bit. I would really stick with HDMI output if I were you.
Warren.

checklst,

I do see your point. Knowing about limitations with bulbs, I went in to front projection thinking that if I get 2000 hrs out of a bulb give or take a few hundred hours then I'm ok with that. Obviously, 100 to 200 hours is not ok. I believe it's still to early to tell if the new bulbs will give us something close to it's ANSI rated life. When people start reporting 700 to 1000 hours on their new bulbs then I'll start to feel comfortable again.

I had sync problems with my unit when I first got it. In my haste to try the new PJ I cobbled together a component to vga to BNC setup. This worked most of the time but not consistently. Then I got the machine properly installed and all sync problems went away and never came back. On my Infocus X1, they must have made three or four firmware releases dealing with sync issues. On the Infocus, this was user upgradeable. The problem with the Benq is that firmware is not advertised as having this capability.

I have a question about firmware. I think some people have had theirs updated. Is there a PQ improvement with the new firmware?

What is your build/firmware date?

Build date is novemer 05'

Basement,

I agree on the firmware up date that’s a big mistake on Benq's part not to have it as a user up grade. Most of us out hear in tech land have grown use to up grades and down load patches. I would think in the long run BQ would save a bundle on shipping charges alone, it is quite a pain to box it up and ship it back even on their dime.

I'm with you on the bulb a few hundred hours is not acceptable, if I get past 1000 hours I'll consider each hour after that a bonus. I went into the front Projection with my eyes open, knowing bulbs were always over rated on life expectancy. I did have a knowledge background that most did not, I was an on the road salesman for some 12 years just out of college for an Industrial Graphic house. I've sold more than a few high output bulbs for slide projectors, plate burners, rail cameras ect.............. and this was a problem then and now on the rated life.

I think back to the good old days(not) of the problems some clients had with bulbs on a 25 slide projector shows, just think of syncing 25 units together, with music, fades ,sweeps ect...and all without the use of a computer(well computers as we know them now) :)

I have once AGAIN joined the burned out bulb club. About 110 hours on the second supposedly newly designed bulb and it quits! Man, what a pain!

I am currently on hold with BenQ on Friday afternoon waiting for a human.

I have a reunion party planned next Wed in my HT with a streaming video planned. Murphy really is working overtime on me!

I will post what happens if and when BenQ ever answers the telephone with a real person.

I have once AGAIN joined the burned out bulb club. About 110 hours on the second supposedly newly designed bulb and it quits! Man, what a pain!

I am currently on hold with BenQ on Friday afternoon waiting for a human.

I have a reunion party planned next Wed in my HT with a streaming video planned. Murphy really is working overtime on me!

I will post what happens if and when BenQ ever answers the telephone with a real person.

WOW did you run over a black cat!!! Seriously I have never waited more the 8 min on the 800 number and never had to push more than 2 buttons to get a live person. Try this number if yours is different 1-800-452-2237 :(

BenQ does need to give up on this pj...How many more failures are they going to have and keep making up different stories for? I think it was a great design but just built poorly. It is less expensive for a reason. They must use the cheapest parts on the planet. If the new bulbs are not the answer then obviously it is internal...Now what benq???

I was on hold about 15 minutes or so. Rep named Jesse is going to personally work on getting me a Hot Swap box. He said it will have all updates and a new"ish" bulb. They say they will try to get it to me as quick as possible. Emailed me a form to fill out and fax in, which I did. We'll see what happens.

He did say that some of the units have had problems causing bulbs to burn out. I might have opted just to send mine in for repair, but I really need it by next Wed. His claims of being good as new I hope are true.

I will post actual results with the "new" unit, but so far, I must say BenQ is trying hard to rectify a problem.

He just called back to confirm my FAX to them was received. They will ship the box out Mon AM FedEX overnight. Confirmed all fixes applied.

Sounds like there may be something to the rumor that the bulb issue isn't really a bulb issue afterall, but rather a power supply or ballast problem instead. If you really think about it, having this many bad bulbs, on both BenQ and Toshiba units doesn't make much sense. A bad "batch" simply wouldn't affect so many units. Dennis has ben running almost exclusively in High Altitude mode as well, if I remember correctly.

I've been asking plenty of questions for a reason. I'm pretty sure at this point that I will be testing my dealer's 30 return policy. Sorry guys, but that's it for me!

Dennis,
Sorry to hear that your new bulb also blew! This is what we all feared. Now we have heard two reports of the new bulb blowing.

I finally had to bail on this PJ after months of watching it and considering all the options.
I just ordered the Sanyo PLV-Z3 today and it is $700 cheaper than the BenQ. People report up to 1700 hours bulb life so far on the Z3 with no issues.
I'll will have to say goodbye to the PE7700. I wish all of you luck that have them.

Tim

Well, in now a proud member of the bad Bulb club.

My unit is dated OCT / 2005. So its obviously after the reported fix date.

Bulb died at 62 hours... Like many i had my fingers crossed that i would not have a unit cursed by this problem. But it does seem like a very high percentage of units have indeed failed. Will this problem ever be fixed.

I think im smelling Class Action lawsuit. This is a very popular projector. ill bet there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there with this bulb problem.

No HDMI problem though, Thank God.

wish me luck with BENQ service dept on Monday.

Cheers People!!

There was something fishy when Toshiba gave up on their clone pj so soon. I feel for everyone having to go thru what I did 4 or 6 months ago...To have this still going (it was going on since day 1) is unbelievable...

So has everyone who bought a PE7700/MT700 had problems, or just those before a certain manufacture date? This is very disappointing. I've see-sawed so much on what's the best PJ/HDTV to get for the money.

I've seen an AE700 setup and it looks great on most movies and HD content. However, I game a lot, and the Panny's shadow delineation/black level is problematic for me- especially while playing HL2 via DVI and my PC. I haven't seen an LCD yet without this problem. :(

Well, in now a proud member of the bad Bulb club.

My unit is dated OCT / 2005. So its obviously after the reported fix date.

Bulb died at 62 hours... Like many i had my fingers crossed that i would not have a unit cursed by this problem. But it does seem like a very high percentage of units have indeed failed. Will this problem ever be fixed.

I think im smelling Class Action lawsuit. This is a very popular projector. ill bet there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there with this bulb problem.

No HDMI problem though, Thank God.

wish me luck with BENQ service dept on Monday.

Cheers People!!

I have the Toshiba (I'm on my second bulb) and if my bulb goes again I am considering taking them to small claims court. Has anyone successfully done this to get their money back? I wonder what a letter from my attorney might accomplish.

I know of many who are contemplating that. I would first attempt to deal with toshiba/benq and see if they have a trade out program ready yet. These truly are the best pjs for the money but they're to good for a reason. To much of a good thing can be a bad thing and that sums up these "poor quality parts" pjs. They can't handle their own light power...

Anyone interested in starting a poll among BenQ PE7700 or Toshiba MT700 users to see who...
- has had bulb problems
- at how many hours
- what lamp mode setting
- have power conditioners
- has had HDMI issues
I'll be interested in the results, assuming people give honest answers.

Anyone interested in starting a poll among BenQ PE7700 or Toshiba MT700 users to see who...
- has had bulb problems
- at how many hours
- what lamp mode setting
- have power conditioners
- has had HDMI issues
I'll be interested in the results, assuming people give honest answers.

There are already two polls regarding lamp life -- although now mostly meaningless (the poll, not the threads).

If a poll is started now, maybe it should be for those with problems with the supposedly "new model" replacement lamp.

I tried component DVD with my projector for the first time last night. With HDMI 720P, Real is clearly the way to go, but when using Real with the component feed I get a small box in the middle of the screen. What is the proper aspect selection to use with DVD component?

Anamorphic. Real is for those sources that are feeding the PJ a 720p signal.

Anyone interested in starting a poll among BenQ PE7700 or Toshiba MT700 users to see who...
- has had bulb problems
- at how many hours
- what lamp mode setting
- have power conditioners
- has had HDMI issues
I'll be interested in the results, assuming people give honest answers.

Thanks basement.

The original poll is no longer impactful. I bought the PE7700 despite the poll, because I believed that the problem was as Toshiba and BenQ had stated, "a bad batch of bulbs." Hindsight being what it is, I now see the fallacy in that excuse. A "batch" simply doesn't affect projectors from two brands built from March through July. That's 5 months folks! That ain't a "batch." And, how much you wanna bet that same lamp (perhaps in a different mounting assembly) is used throughout the BenQ line, to include the flagship 8720, and I'm not reading about failures in other BenQ projectors.

I think a new poll on "new lamp" failures, along with HDMI problems after the reported firmware fix date of July would be in order. It may help to get some resolve for those not in a position to return their projector like I am.

Let me know. I'm willing to start it if you can't find the time.

This is truly a shame (the projector and this spellchecker!).

I have once AGAIN joined the burned out bulb club. About 110 hours on the second supposedly newly designed bulb and it quits! Man, what a pain!

Have you been using the high altitude setting? just curious.

Well, in now a proud member of the bad Bulb club.

My unit is dated OCT / 2005. So its obviously after the reported fix date.

Bulb died at 62 hours... Like many i had my fingers crossed that i would not have a unit cursed by this problem. But it does seem like a very high percentage of units have indeed failed. Will this problem ever be fixed.

I think im smelling Class Action lawsuit. This is a very popular projector. ill bet there are hundreds, if not thousands of people out there with this bulb problem.

No HDMI problem though, Thank God.

wish me luck with BENQ service dept on Monday.

Cheers People!!

Call your dealer as well. Even if you're well beyond any return period, they need to know what they are selling! Who knows, they may help you with an exchange for something other than the 7700.

How long have you had the projector?

I think a poll about the newer units should definitely be started. It will show a parallel with the newer released units. Then everyone will know what they're still up against. It may also deter new buyers from getting these lemon pjs...

I have already talked to a family member who is an attorney and he advised me to write a letter putting Toshiba on notice of the problems concerning this unit. If my bulb goes again (2nd time-1st went after 100 hours) I will be asking for either my money back or a new (model) projector. If I get a negative response from Toshiba - I will file a suit in small claims court.

In my opinion there is DEFINATLY something wrong with these projectors, not the bulbs. Benq and Toshiba are wrongly pushing this problem aside. I believe this to be irresponsible and bordering unethical.

Call your dealer as well. Even if you're well beyond any return period, they need to know what they are selling! Who knows, they may help you with an exchange for something other than the 7700.

How long have you had the projector?


I recieved my Projector on Oct 15. and ran it for approx 50 days. Only 63 hours on the bulb. Looks like the 50-75 hour mark is the curse for these suckers, as i have seen many post of the bulb going around that mark.I was aware of the problems with this unit when i bought it. But was under the impression that Units made after Aug 2005 were unaffected, or came with the new bulb design. I was wondering what the warranty was on the replacement bulb, is it 90 days still, or i see reports of 9 months or 1000 hours. Is this true. And if it is, they must have some faith in the new bulbs if they warranty the new bulbs for this long.

I personally doubt my dealer would exchange or give me my money back. He was a good dealer (here in canada) Projectorsplus.ca. But i have to deal with Benq themselves for any warranty. he says he personally has this unit, and has not had any problems with it. nor has the many units he has sold. I find that hard to beleive. But in any case. I can deal with Benq directly.

Might have been a good idea to wait 2 months and get a Panny AE900, as i hear they are every bit as good as the benq.

I guess all i can hope at this point is is that the new bulb fixes the problem. But im not too hopefull, not with seeing people on here with thier 3rd bulb.

maybe a little more R & D, would have been a good idea on this unit. A bulb cost $550 here in Canada, They must be making a good chunk on bulbs alone. And at that price, they should at least work.

can anyone shed some light on the new bulb warranty situation. Thanks

Sorry to say but add another on the benq/tosh pj mishap...

i bough mine from complete-it here in canada about 6 weeks ago.he also claimed the he as never heard of any problems with this projector.i should have found this forum before i bought.i should have went with the ae 900. my bulb started to flicker within 60 hours and the unit was made in sept.i hope the new bulb works out.

He was obviously lying to you. There is NO WAY that any c.s. rep can say that have not heard of any problems with these pjs. The only reasonable explanation is it was the janitor who picked up the phone...

i bough mine from complete-it here in canada about 6 weeks ago.he also claimed the he as never heard of any problems with this projector.i should have found this forum before i bought.i should have went with the ae 900. my bulb started to flicker within 60 hours and the unit was made in sept.i hope the new bulb works out.


How long is it going to take you to get the new bulb, or what did they tell you. I was just wondering becasue im going to talk to them tommorow, and im keeping my fingers crossed, i will get a replacement before X-Mas.

I assume you dealt with Benq Canada directly.

Maybe BenQ should just give everybody 30 bulbs so that they can get the advertised 2000 to 3000 hours out of these units.

i took mine to a service centre in toronto.i had it back in 2 days.where are you in canada daddyd?

Maybe BenQ should just give everybody 30 bulbs so that they can get the advertised 2000 to 3000 hours out of these units.

Oh man. Thanks for the laugh :D

For the record, the two bulbs in my MT700 lasted 370 and 200 hrs. I'm waiting for my third now.

Maybe BenQ should just give everybody 30 bulbs so that they can get the advertised 2000 to 3000 hours out of these units.

If that's what it takes then I'd be happy with that :-)

For Canadian support I went through Benq US. The support number on the Canadian web-site gets you to their US customer support office.

i took mine to a service centre in toronto.i had it back in 2 days.where are you in canada daddyd?


I live in Thunder Bay, Ontario (sometimes known as the Butt end of Canada) :)


So i will have to deal with benq service, i think its in Missisauga.

Did you take out the whole, bulb unit, and bring it in, or did you take in your whole projector, Mine is set up precicely, with a ceiling mount, took some time to tweak so i would not have to use the keystone. and would be a pain to unhook the whole thing.

ive already taken out the bulb unit, and can see the burned out fillament. I assume they will hot swap the whole unit. Do they make you give the old one back?

I live in Thunder Bay, Ontario (sometimes known as the Butt end of Canada) :)


So i will have to deal with benq service, i think its in Missisauga.

Did you take out the whole, bulb unit, and bring it in, or did you take in your whole projector, Mine is set up precicely, with a ceiling mount, took some time to tweak so i would not have to use the keystone. and would be a pain to unhook the whole thing.

ive already taken out the bulb unit, and can see the burned out fillament. I assume they will hot swap the whole unit. Do they make you give the old one back?

I was asked to send my bulb to a company (not Benq) outside of Toronto. I can't recall. It may be Mississauga. Then Benq US sent me the replacement bulb last September. Apparently they were out of stock in Canada at that time.

There maybe a chance that 30 bulbs could get you 3,000 hours...Maybe...

i called benq tool free number-don't know if it is in canada or the u.s. i was told that i could do either 1)send in to old bulb and they would send me a replacement or 2)give them my credit card and they would send out a replacement right away and credit your card when they receive the old one from you or 3)thak it to their service centre-which i did.

by the way-that stupid benq song that they play while on hold makes me feel brainwashed!!!!listening to that thing for 30 minutes can drive one alittle nuts

i called benq tool free number-don't know if it is in canada or the u.s. i was told that i could do either 1)send in to old bulb and they would send me a replacement or 2)give them my credit card and they would send out a replacement right away and credit your card when they receive the old one from you or 3)thak it to their service centre-which i did.

by the way-that stupid benq song that they play while on hold makes me feel brainwashed!!!!listening to that thing for 30 minutes can drive one alittle nuts


Yes i remember that song, heard it for 30 min also, when i phoned for an LCD monitor problem. That song burned a a hole in my brain, I remember it well. Shall we sing a few verses "Benq i love you...crazy for You......" Im sorry that is the most horrible thing they could ever make you listen to. :p

the Credit card thing sounds fine, as long as they have stock.


I wonder if they send you a return shipping tag, or do you have to pay to get the bulb back?

wich lcd monitor do you have and what problem?i also have a benq t905.bough it 2 weeks ago-hope i won't have a problem???

I am glad I am not the only one who HATES that song...I wanted to poke my eardrums out with a toothpick when I heard that!!!

Anyone interested in starting a poll among BenQ PE7700 or Toshiba MT700 users to see who...
- has had bulb problems
- at how many hours
- what lamp mode setting
- have power conditioners
- has had HDMI issues
I'll be interested in the results, assuming people give honest answers.

I'm with you Zilla a new poll might provide useful info, going over the last 8 pages of this thread it seems 3 new bulbs have gone and 3 HDMI sync issues. Well over a hundred posts and a lot of the post are by people that don't own the projector anymore.

I not saying theirs NOT a problem, their vary well could be, but those numbers are not exactly off the scale and are not any higher than the bulb failures/HDMI sync issues reported on new Panasonic, Z4,HC3000 in the last few weeks(on this site). Bulb/HDMI sync issues seem to be the biggest problem with all these PJ’s

I think a new poll with serial numbers of the PJ and bulb would be helpful in keeping track if a new problem is on the horizon. What’s needed is accrete info form currant owners on (new bulb failures) not info gathered from a friend of a friend. Accrete empirical data over a given time frame of (new bulb failures) and numbers on Benq not supporting such failures are the only numbers I would walk in court with.

I have had 2 (old bulb failures) and Benq stood behind both (out of warranty) bulbs. They checked the entire unit (both times) for possible problems. So far BQ has shown no sign of not supporting their PJ, customers, or warranty, NOT that I am pleased having 2 problems but as long as they continue to support their product as they have in the past, it won’t be cause for alarm.

My personal opinion is they won’t drop support, if they did it would crush their entire line of equipment and I just can’t see them doing that, but hey I have been wrong before just ask my wife!!!

I just did a search on the 900, Z4, and HC3000 threads, and I didn't find a single post discussing lamp failure. Lots of hits on "lamp" and "bulb," but for different reasons, not problems, and certainly not failures. I have been following those threads anyway, and I sure didn't recall any discussion of lamp problems, but your comment prompted me to do a thourough search.

checklist, why would you try to diffuse a clear and obvious problem on the MT700/7700 by claiming that other projectors are suffering from the same failures when in fact they're not, and I'm not talking about HDMI sync issues that are related to a source device? You aren't a BenQ "buzz marketer" are you?

Sounds like the issue may be related to the ballast after all. I was the original 2 lamp failure here, and both times they worked on the ballast. First time they replaced it and second time they resoldered it in. I am around 3 months and 500 hours on my 3rd lamp, which means it is one from before the fix. My first one showed signs of dying at 80 hours, 2nd went dark around 410 hours. So far so good on #3. I have the MT700, run in Standard/Low lamp mode most of the time through all 3 lamps, and Standard/Low altitude all of the time, ceiling mounted in the middle of a large room that never hits 70 deg.

Filing a lawsuit when they have not charged anyone for repairs seems silly. Toshiba's service has been exemplary, and BenQ's has too, once they admitted the lamp problem.

If you are looking at buying one of these, I would recommend not buying the Tosh since they've discontinued PJs completely, and thinking very carefully about the BenQ, probably choose the AE900 instead. But if you have one of these twins already, I don't think throwing in the towel is warranted just yet.

HDMI is a huge problem for every single source and display that has it. Complaining about that in reference to this PJ is pointless. Installers hate HDMI since it craps out so much. Flat panels are loaded with HDMI these days and have all sorts of problems syncing. Many of them refuse to run it, staying with component for now. If it is an HDMI failure where it used to work and died, that would be something to worry about. Like the HDTivos have had massive failures over the entire life of the product. Hasn't seemed like that's a problem with these PJs.

Have you been using the high altitude setting? just curious.


Yes. And about half and half on normal brightness or economical. The fan is definitely noisy on high altitude, but is OK most of the time if the sound is up.

I should get my replacement tomorrow. I will post results.

Spiky,
In general, I agree with your take on HDMI. It is a moving target at best, and STB's in particular are huge culprits when it comes to HDMI sync problems. However, many of the HDMI issues in the 7700 have been described as the HDMI input simply failing to work, after it had been working fine with the same source for some time prior to the failure.

That's not the overwhelming problem as far as I'm concerned (though I may feel differently if I had one of the units that failed ;)). The biggest problem in my mind is whatever deeper fault is causing the lamp failures, especially now that the supposed new lamps are starting to fail. That points to another problem entirely, and if we can figure that out, then BenQ should have figured it out months ago and fixed the problem. I hate to have new stuff repaired, but if it fixed a problem for the long term I could live with it. Sure, BenQ has been quick to replace lamps, one, two, and three times or more, but why are they not addressing the real problem? Something just isn't right.

Spiky,

Is the ballast in the projector or the bulb "unit"?

checklist, why would you try to diffuse a clear and obvious problem on the MT700/7700 by claiming that other projectors are suffering from the same failures when in fact they're not, and I'm not talking about HDMI sync issues that are related to a source device? You aren't a BenQ "buzz marketer" are you?

I'm just an owner; don't know what a buzz marketer is.

I have read about early bulb failure from a handful of owners on almost every brand out hear. Early failure is a FP problem as a whole not just a Benq problem, and it’s far too early in the new design bulb to tell if it’s above the norm.

This problem in FP bulb life, (% of failure) will always be high unless a projector MFG makes their own bulb or purchases a bulb factory, it’s not in the bulb MFG’s best interest to make a bulb with a vary low failure rate their by lowering their sales of such high profit items.

Spiky,

Is the ballast in the projector or the bulb "unit"?
PJ. I've looked at a lamp, my 2nd failed one. It certainly does not have a ballast attached to it, just the bulb and structure holding it.

Spiky,
In general, I agree with your take on HDMI. It is a moving target at best, and STB's in particular are huge culprits when it comes to HDMI sync problems. However, many of the HDMI issues in the 7700 have been described as the HDMI input simply failing to work, after it had been working fine with the same source for some time prior to the failure.

Sorry, I did just remember Tim (or someone) discussing that they had an HDMI board upgrade at one point. So I guess that could be an issue for early purchasers.

I don't believe this has been an issue for the Tosh, though. Strange. I'm near 8 months with the PJ and 6 with an HDTivo, no HDMI issues.

To add some more speculation to this discussion .. I do believe that Benq is trying to determine the nature of the problem as I'm sure they do not want to keep fixing these problems over and over. I believe that the lamp failures was a surprise to Benq. It's also likely it's not a trivial engineering exercise and would also require time to find the real cause of the failures. In order to deal with their customer's immediate issue with dead units they may have made an early determination that the bulbs were at fault and therefore could be fixed with an updated lamp. First, this may very well be the problem. If not, then it would then get their customers off their backs while they try to figure out the real cause and determine possible engineering changes to fix the problem.

Again, this is pure speculation and not knowing is painful. In the end, I'm hoping that Benq/Toshiba will do what's right. So far, in my opinion anyways, they have supported their customers.

I just did a search on the 900, Z4, and HC3000 threads, and I didn't find a single post discussing lamp failure?

These are very new projectors...look back at the PE7700 posts and there was no bulb failures until probably 6 months in.

I have seen some reports (didnt research the extent of it) on Panasonic AE700 LCD panel failures/issues at <1000hrs.

If Benq is going to stay in the projector business, which I would think they would, they cannot screw all the owners of one of their highest selling units. That is suicide.

Jim

PJ. I've looked at a lamp, my 2nd failed one. It certainly does not have a ballast attached to it, just the bulb and structure holding it.

Spiky: What is the writing on your 2nd bulb say? I would like to compare to my 2nd bulb.

My 2nd bulb says in black marker 9/22 B310

thx.
Jim

speaking of possible engineering changes - isn't there an updated version of the 7700 out there now? I thought I read that somewhere.

It'd be interesting to know what changes were made if there are new ones out...

I believe they have a big issue with the PE7700. I was supposed to get one of the new 7700 to replace my broken 8700. In early Oct they said it was going to take 2-3weeks. In early nov they said 2-3weeks. I called them today 12/12 to check the status of the RMA and was told "no eta date is available".

They are probably re-designing the bulb & bulb assembly and having to remanufacture new ones. It wouldnt surprise me if it takes 2-3months more for the new 7700 to become available.

Mr Crackers

speaking of possible engineering changes - isn't there an updated version of the 7700 out there now? I thought I read that somewhere.

It'd be interesting to know what changes were made if there are new ones out...

The rumour is from Projector Central but no specific details were provided. I'm assuming something is forthcoming.

Assuming that something other than the lamp needs to be fixed it's my hope that the 'updated' 7700 changes can be retrofitted to existing units and that Benq would do it for nothing. To sweeten the deal, if there are actual image or PQ improvements I would be willing to pay for the upgrade during the retrofit. Again, this is pure speculation.

Hey, got my advanced RMA replacement worked out today, Basically i gave them my credit card, so they can ship me a bulb right away. The tech told me that the bulbs are truly the issue. Everything else is pure speculation. They have thousands of units sold, and most are just fine.That kind of reassures me, but i still have my doubts. This Model is only about 8 months old, kinda early to say its only a small portion having trouble. I would hope i would not hit even 1000 hours in 8 months, If the new upgraded unit has anything more than new bulbs and the fixed hdmi issue with new firmware, i will be pissed. Nice way to screw people who just bought this unit. I have read reports that the upgraded unit will have Darkchip 2, or a new ver of Sensieye. Ill bet the 8700 owners felt similarly screwed when they upgraded the 8700 with the Mustand HD+ chip in mid production. Just for the record, my old bulb has "8/4 B1157" in ink on the assembly itself. I assume its dated Aug 4. So its possible its from the bad bulb batch.

Took me 1 hour on hold to get a tech, very frusterating. And it took 2 subsiquent calls to get them to process my credit card, and get the new bulb shipped. I only hope they are quick to refund my card, when they get the old bulb back.

In my opinion, since this is such a well known issue, they should just send a new bulb out to anyone who can prove they have this projector, via Serial#, that is under 6 months old. No questions asked, Just send em out.

As of Oct 1 in the US, they were giving rebates for a free bulb, but in Canada it was for a free mount. Ill bet the free bulb rebate was just a cover for trying to silence the bulb issue a bit, since nobody is gonna bitch a bout a free bulb.

The newest deal is free bulb and ceiling mount. All this for about $1k less than the price 8 months ago. So it is with electronics and my prediction that I will be upgrading to 1080p native for same price paid for my MT-700, by 4/07.

I'm getting my Dish 942 installed today and then my OTA, so my hours on my PJ should go through the roof now, I hope I'm not afflicted with HDMI Synch or Bulb issues, cause I did not pay that kind of money for problems.

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

These are very new projectors...look back at the PE7700 posts and there was no bulb failures until probably 6 months in.

I have seen some reports (didnt research the extent of it) on Panasonic AE700 LCD panel failures/issues at <1000hrs.

If Benq is going to stay in the projector business, which I would think they would, they cannot screw all the owners of one of their highest selling units. That is suicide.

Jim

I know Jim, but I was responding to checklist's specific claim that the 900, Z4 and HC3000 were starting to suffer from bulb failures. That simply isn't true. There hasn't been a single failure, which of course is to be expected on units that have only been available for two months. I couldn't quite understand why he was making that claim.

I've seen a handful of reported <1000hr failures on the Panasonic 700, much like I've seen similar reports on virtually every projector discussed on this fourm. Now, that I would consider that to be a few "bad bulbs," when ordinarily a particular projector doesn't display significant failure rates. When you consider how many 700's were sold, the 'early' bulb failures were insignificant. The same cannot be said about the 7700/700, unfortunately.

I think the point is most of the projectors sound like they have issues, so pick your poison :)

i bought mine back in the beginning of september. within 60 hours the bulb burned out. it took me about 30 minutes to get a customer service rep. within four days, two of them were weekend, the replacement bulb came. right now i am around 300 hours and crossing my thumbs. i am extremely pleased with the benq and the picture by picture is an awesome feature not found on many projectors, although i wish it would accept two hd signals.

Posted by Daddyd:
"I have read reports that the upgraded unit will have Darkchip 2"

The spec sheet on the PE7700 already lists the DLP chip as HD2+. I don't think the unit ever shipped with anything else.

Dan

eh guys,did everybodies buld actually burn-out?i replaces mine because it started to flicker-more like pulsating.i had this condition for about 20hours before i replaced the bulb.i wonder if this happens before it dies?anybody else have this happen?

eh guys,did everybodies buld actually burn-out?i replaces mine because it started to flicker-more like pulsating.i had this condition for about 20hours before i replaced the bulb.i wonder if this happens before it dies?anybody else have this happen?

I think most had burn outs including mine. It never flickered at all.

Agree, just poof- gone.

Mine made a kind of crackling or sizzling sound - and then nothing.

Just a test

I did notice some flickering at times with my replacement bulb. Never a really big deal and it would always go away as we watched for a while. Does make you think though about it being a precursor to failure. I will definitely be watching for that on my replacement projector, which I am waiting to arrive today.

Anyone willing to sell me a BenQ 7700 at a reasonable price? Or know where to get 1 at a good price.

Anyone willing to sell me a BenQ 7700 at a reasonable price? Or know where to get 1 at a good price.

Check a forum Sponsor ;)

Really though, I bought mine just over 7 weeks ago and the price has already come down $400. Throw in the free mount and the free lamp and you would be well served to just by a new one.

eh guys,did everybodies buld actually burn-out?i replaces mine because it started to flicker-more like pulsating.i had this condition for about 20hours before i replaced the bulb.i wonder if this happens before it dies?anybody else have this happen?

Your first bulb is likely not bad. I had this happen on my bulb. After I switched it to high lamp mode for a bit it stopped flickering.

What's happening is that the arc is finding two paths where resistance is very similar and it is jumping back and forth. Putting the pj in high lamp mode tends to wear one down more, resulting in the flickering being gone.

This was described in great detail by an Infocus engineer. I don't have the link, but I believe it was referenced in the MT700 thread.

it was in high lamp mode.and the flickering got worst and worst.when they changed the bulb it stopped.for now!!!

Your first bulb is likely not bad. I had this happen on my bulb. After I switched it to high lamp mode for a bit it stopped flickering.

What's happening is that the arc is finding two paths where resistance is very similar and it is jumping back and forth. Putting the pj in high lamp mode tends to wear one down more, resulting in the flickering being gone.

This was described in great detail by an Infocus engineer. I don't have the link, but I believe it was referenced in the MT700 thread.

Exactly, the flickering is a different phenomenon entirely and is (as far as we know) not related to bulb failure. Other lamps in other projectors do this as well. It's in the MT700 thread somewhere, like he said.

Edit: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6224830&highlight=infocus+flicker+bulb#post6224830

but the problem stopped when they changed the bulb.then what causes a flickering bulb?i could not live with the flickering for about 2-3 minutes about 20times in a movie.benq told me the flickering was because of the bulb.

Posted by Daddyd:
"I have read reports that the upgraded unit will have Darkchip 2"

The spec sheet on the PE7700 already lists the DLP chip as HD2+. I don't think the unit ever shipped with anything else.

Dan


Darkchip2, is a new technology that suppliments HD2+, they are not the same thing, Darkchip2, and 3 are new technolgies TI has developed, and are appearing in new lines of projectors. it increases Contrast ratio even more. The new benq 8720 will have darkchip 3, and a contrast ratio of 6200:1

So HD2, HD2+ and Darkchip are not the same thing

Darkchip 2 is incorporated in HD2+, and is already in the PE7700, MT700 (and all other HD2+ projectors) Here's a quote from the DLP site:

HD2+: the latest enhancement to HD2 product line, it offers DarkChip2™ which enhances contrast for rich and detailed dark scenes.

From what I recall the only thing which may be changed on the 7700 is the firmware.

but the problem stopped when they changed the bulb.then what causes a flickering bulb?i could not live with the flickering for about 2-3 minutes about 20times in a movie.benq told me the flickering was because of the bulb.

Of course it stopped when you got a new bulb. Because it's a new bulb. It didn't have similiarly worn electrode areas or whatnot. Your new one will probably do it a little in the future. If it doesn't, lucky you. :)

You could have stopped the flickering by switching the lamp to "high" mode and leaving it there for like an hour. That would have eventually stopped it, if not immediately stopping it while you were in "high".

Darkchip 2 is incorporated in HD2+, and is already in the PE7700, MT700 (and all other HD2+ projectors) Here's a quote from the DLP site:

HD2+: the latest enhancement to HD2 product line, it offers DarkChip2™ which enhances contrast for rich and detailed dark scenes.

From what I recall the only thing which may be changed on the 7700 is the firmware.

Im sorry but this is simply incorrect, darkchip 2, is a recent enhancments to the Ti HD2+, HD3 and matterhorn dlp chipset. It is in only a few projectors right now, such as the the Optima H27, Optima H57, benq 8720. Its easy to spot a Darkchip 2 enabled projector, they always sport a high contrast ratio, of 3000:1 or higher.
It will appear from the get go with the new HD3 enabled units, but is not always offered the the sub hi-def sets, or hd2+ units.

they benq 8700 had HD2+ but did not have darkchip 2 technology, nor does the Pe7700, or the mt-700, many reviews mention this shortcoming. It is not a technology that is uniquely tied to the HD2+ chipset. The darkchip spec was introduced in 2005, well after the 8700 was being sold. Any projector with darkchip, clearly states it, in addition to the dlp chip wether its matterhorn, Hd2+ or the new Hd3 chipset,and the pe7700 makes no mention of it.

Dont' get me wrong i wish it had it, and like i have heard, it will be in the upgraded pe7700. But too bad for us who already have one..

daddyd,

Sorry, but I think you're wrong about DarkChip2 and HD2+

From a TI press release dated Jan 8 2004:
"HD2+: the latest enhancement to HD2 product line, it offers DarkChip2™ which enhances contrast for rich and detailed dark scenes"

Jan 2004 isn't that recent. Seems to me, by this press release that DarkChip2 is inherent in HD2+.

eh guys,did everybodies buld actually burn-out?i replaces mine because it started to flicker-more like pulsating.i had this condition for about 20hours before i replaced the bulb.i wonder if this happens before it dies?anybody else have this happen?
I had one of each. Note that my first lamp did not respond to the discussed fix of switching into high lamp mode. It flickered for over a week and nearly 40 hours (1/3 of its life) before I had it replaced. I have had lesser flickers with my other 2 lamps that were fixed by switching to high for a couple hours.

I had one of each. Note that my first lamp did not respond to the discussed fix of switching into high lamp mode. It flickered for over a week and nearly 40 hours (1/3 of its life) before I had it replaced. I have had lesser flickers with my other 2 lamps that were fixed by switching to high for a couple hours.

Wow, maybe in that case the lead wire that apparently fails was arcing or something. Hmmmm. At least all your recent lamps can be cured :)

3 days since i was issued a bulb replacement from Benq, They charged my credit card so they could send me a replacement bulb immediately, and then when i returned the old on, they would credit my card.

well after several emails, and another 1 hour wait on hold today, it turns out they are out of stock on bulbs till possibly x-mas. man am i pissed, They have $400 USD of my money, and it will now cost me interest if it goes past the end of the month.

i was assured on the phone Monday, that they indeed had the bulbs in stock, and that if i wanted one quickly i would have to do the credit card method. Hell i even had to give them a photocopy of the credit card, and my drivers licence to make this happen. And why was this required i ask. I mean.. i bought my benq pe-7700 from a dealer with a credit card over the phone. Why could they not do it that way.

So heres to Benq, good projector ( for image quality, and features) but with the worst service in the industry, by far....

My next projector (which may be sooner than i planned) will not be a benq, no matter what. And eventually i think this bad service may destroy them. After all they are a very new company, owned and backed my Acer, but they may fall just as fast as they rose.

Cheers for now my fellow 7700 owners.

Benq did the right thing by requesting a photocopy of the card and your license -- it protects both of you from fraud.

You can solve the credit card issue quickly enough. Send them your old lamp. They'll have it before the new lamps ship, and you can avoid paying interest on your credit card.

As for service, Benq seems to be doing pretty well here. They're replacing the lamp, and doing it as quickly as they can (they don't make the lamps). I don't know if yours is in warranty or not, but they've replaced every out of warranty lamp that has blown early.

Benq did the right thing by requesting a photocopy of the card and your license -- it protects both of you from fraud.

You can solve the credit card issue quickly enough. Send them your old lamp. They'll have it before the new lamps ship, and you can avoid paying interest on your credit card.

As for service, Benq seems to be doing pretty well here. They're replacing the lamp, and doing it as quickly as they can (they don't make the lamps). I don't know if yours is in warranty or not, but they've replaced every out of warranty lamp that has blown early.


Lamp is under warranty, its just a pain to have to jump thru hoops, after i was told the lamps were in stock, other wise i would have just shipped the old one back on my own and waited for a replacement. I doubt at this point them having my credit card will get me the bulb any faster than if i just sent back the old one in the first place. I mean wasnt that the point of them offering this option. Kinda crazy in my opinion..

ask them to credit you card and recharge you when they have bulbs.they should do that.as for them going under for bad service.corporations don't go under for bad service.maybe bad marketing!!if that was the case,"rogers" and 80% of the other corporations would be bankrupt and not making millions in profit.
but i agree it is very fustrating.

ask them to credit you card and recharge you when they have bulbs.they should do that.as for them going under for bad service.corporations don't go under for bad service.maybe bad marketing!!if that was the case,"rogers" and 80% of the other corporations would be bankrupt and not making millions in profit.
but i agree it is very fustrating.


Your right on the Bad marketing thing Vs bad service. And i when im buying things i do look at warranty, but seldom think of how easy it is to obtain service, I usually dont think out what ill do when something breaks , until it does.

My second bulb just burned out.. Not sure how many hours, but probably 150-200 or so. I got the bulb replaced in September; I'll let you all know how it goes, but for reasons I won't get into, I really want it up and running by the 22nd.. :(

Sorry, I did just remember Tim (or someone) discussing that they had an HDMI board upgrade at one point. So I guess that could be an issue for early purchasers.
Yes, I was the one who first posted that they were offering an HDMI upgrade. I didn't end up getting it though, since I wanted my projector back sooner and HDMI was functioning fine with the equipment I was/am using.

Tim,
Sorry to hear about your second bulb failure! I hope they do resolve it quickly and I hope they figure out the real problem. Who wants to deal with customer service every 150-300 hours of your projector's life. Your machine looked sweet when you let me come over and demo it, hope you get it going quick. I came really close to buying this pj in the last two weeks but then I saw several reports of the new bulbs failing and it ended it for good for me. Last week I ordered the Sanyo Z3. But my nephew ordered the 7700 last week in spite of all the reports.
Good luck to all of you.

Tim S.

Hey Tim, I have a question on your plex mount. How thick is it? and do you see any flex in it?

I mounted my "Factory pole" up in the drywall so only the adjustable pole is showing out of the drywall. I mounted it before I decided on a PJ, and the BQ7700 has a offset lens and I'm 4 inch off center to screen.

Do you think your Plexiglas could handle the weight if the pole was over the lens, it would have 3/4 of the weight to one side, I am a little worried the plex would flex ,and not be able to handle the off center load. I guess I could use 2 layers, or a bolt U channel aluminum to make a I beam.

I am also a little worried the factory adjustable ball will not hold the off center weight, I could run a support cable with a turn buckle back to the pole. Hoping to get yours and others thought on this small but important problem.

My second bulb just burned out.. Not sure how many hours, but probably 150-200 or so. I got the bulb replaced in September; .

Was this 2nd bulb the old design with the red handwritten "A" code etc?

thx
Jim

My replacement refurbed projector came yesterday about 4 PM. It was sent second day air and not overnight as they promised. In any case, I did have time to get it up on the ceiling and set up.

Bottomline is that the projector works just as well as my old one. I did notice a slight flicker when I turned it on, but it went away quickly. I hope that is not a bad omen.

And, the bulb shows that it has 235 hours on it already! Man, this one better last a LONG time.

Overall, BenQ service was good and they were fairly prompt in getting me a replacement to solve my problem of a bunch of people coming over.

Hehe Nephew I never thought of that. I am so going to start calling you uncle Tim.

Anyway I did just get my PE7700. November build date so if anyone wants me to check the bulb version I sure will just let me know where to look on the bulb assembly. I haven't fired it up yet but I should be, sometime this weekened, when I do, I will check the firmware version. I just couldn't pass on the great deal tvauthority is giving on them even with the problems. I guess since I am going into it knowing there is a problem I won't be too upset if it blows up, as long as benq gives me the same good service I have been reading about.

Blake - it is on the bulb module. written in handwritting marker.

Check the manual on instructions to remove the bulb carefully and write down the writing.

And look what happens.

My bulb didn't blow, but I turned my 7700 on tonight to watch Rome in HD. Instead, I now have huge black, flashing, vertical patches of black across the entire screen. It isn't solid vertical bars, more of a crosshatch type of pattern but in 5-6 inch wide vertical bars.

I will try to take a pic of it and post it to show what's going on. I've turned the unit off, let it cool down and plugged the surge protector into a different outlet. Powered it back up and still the vertical flashing bars.

This is on all of the input settings. HDMI, component, S-Video..everything. Ruined..completely ruined. No clue what is causing this or how to fix it. I've had the projector since late July and have approximately 300 hours on the lamp. The sections of the screen that don't have this black patchwork look fine, no change in brightness, so I assume there is no issue with the lamp.

Needless to say I'm disappointed beyond words, mostly because of how great the unit performed up until now. Now, I will surely be without a HD screen for several weeks of the Colts season. We'd even made plans to have people over to watch the games as we'd done for Week 1. BenQ will definitely be getting this one back if I can't find a way to fix it.

Edit for new info:

I just went back to check the Factory Menu settings which I've never changed....looked at but never changed. When I go to the DLP tests - curtain tests...the red, green, blue, black and white curtains all look fine. Solid colors with no black vertical flashing patches. However, any mixture of those colors (yellow, cyan, any gradient ramps, etc, etc), all have the black patches. I'm guessing this means there's something wrong with the color wheel? I also tried changing the color wheel speed in the factory options and no help. Hopefully, this info might give some insight to one of the more knowledgeable members here. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Small Update: The day after that happened (3 months ago now), I powered on the 7700 and the black patches were magically gone. No clue why. It worked fine for another ~3 months, when the bars came back again. Long story short, I got ahold of BenQ (after 2 disconnects and an hour of wanting to shoot myself if I had to listen to that BenQ music one more time...especially the part at the end of the loop where she goes high pitch with the "CRAYZAAAYYYYY"). They emailed me an overnight UPS label. I shipped it out last Wednesday and it is due to be delivered back to me today (tracking number from BenQ agrees). The CSR couldn't access the information about what they did to fix the issue, but said that they include a report in the box that should explain everything. I assume it was not a bulb issue, thus the quick turnaround time. Other than the hold music, I can't be more pleased with how quickly they've repaired and returned the projector.

Finally got to put it back up on the ceiling. Something's wrong with the HDMi port on my Motorola 6412 HD DVR from Insight cable though. Everytime I plug in the HDMI cable, it puts "DVI" on the box's display and freezes up. I connected the 7700 via RGB comp and everything looks great. Cable company's coming out Monday to look at the box.

Two odd notes. First, the sheet they sent with the repaired projector didn't explain what was wrong or what they did. Also, the bulb timer has been reset and now had 1.5 hrs on it. I sincerely doubt they replaced the bulb (especially with it spending less than 4 days at BenQ), but I'll have to call to make sure...plus I need to find out what exactly they did. I just can't stomach the idea of listening to that hold music again...ever. Bottom line is that my projector's back and ready to watch the Colts go 14-0 in HD this Sunday :) :)

If something has to go wrong, they handled it well and did everything I could ask of them with as little effort on my part required as possible.

YOU GOT MY BULB! DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:p

YOU GOT MY BULB! DAMNIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:p

Actually mine is coming tomorrow, I got your bulb :D

Finally got to put it back up on the ceiling. Something's wrong with the HDMi port on my Motorola 6412 HD DVR from Insight cable though. Everytime I plug in the HDMI cable, it puts "DVI" on the box's display and freezes up. I connected the 7700 via RGB comp and everything looks great. Cable company's coming out Monday to look at the box.

Two odd notes. First, the sheet they sent with the repaired projector didn't explain what was wrong or what they did. Also, the bulb timer has been reset and now had 1.5 hrs on it. I sincerely doubt they replaced the bulb (especially with it spending less than 4 days at BenQ), but I'll have to call to make sure...plus I need to find out what exactly they did. I just can't stomach the idea of listening to that hold music again...ever. Bottom line is that my projector's back and ready to watch the Colts go 14-0 in HD this Sunday :) :)

If something has to go wrong, they handled it well and did everything I could ask of them with as little effort on my part required as possible.

Just wondering, how do you not know that the problem with the HDMI is acctullay not from the 7700?

Hey Tim, I have a question on your plex mount. How thick is it? and do you see any flex in it?

I mounted my "Factory pole" up in the drywall so only the adjustable pole is showing out of the drywall. I mounted it before I decided on a PJ, and the BQ7700 has a offset lens and I'm 4 inch off center to screen.

Do you think your Plexiglas could handle the weight if the pole was over the lens, it would have 3/4 of the weight to one side, I am a little worried the plex would flex ,and not be able to handle the off center load. I guess I could use 2 layers, or a bolt U channel aluminum to make a I beam.

I am also a little worried the factory adjustable ball will not hold the off center weight, I could run a support cable with a turn buckle back to the pole. Hoping to get yours and others thought on this small but important problem.
I think it's 3/8" plexiglas, and it might flex an 1/8" at most. I wouldn't mount it off center though, but probably only because I'd first put "blocking" (2x8, etc) between two joists and mount to that before I'd try the offcenter mounting. Any reason you can't use that method?

Was this 2nd bulb the old design with the red handwritten "A" code etc?

thx
Jim
I don't know... actually, my wife reported it to me as I'm away from home for a bit, and she couldn't get one of the screws out off the bottom of the PJ. I'm going to have them send me a new bulb that I can hopefully install when I get home.

I'll let you know when I replace it.

Just wondering, how do you not know that the problem with the HDMI is acctullay not from the 7700?

I suppose it could be. 2 things tell me it probably isn't. 1) I never had a problem with HDMI before it was sent in and, more importantly, 2) I used a DVI-HDMI adapter and ran the HDMI cord into my laptop (just got a new Dell XPS M170 w/ P-M 2GHz and Go 6800 Ultra :D ) which displayed just fine on the 7700.

I suppose it could be. 2 things tell me it probably isn't. 1) I never had a problem with HDMI before it was sent in and, more importantly, 2) I used a DVI-HDMI adapter and ran the HDMI cord into my laptop (just got a new Dell XPS M170 w/ P-M 2GHz and Go 6800 Ultra :D ) which displayed just fine on the 7700.

Chris, I had the EXACT same thing happen to me. However, it turened out to be the projector. This was just after 10 hrs of use with no problem. Then out of no where it craped out just like yours. I just got back my PJ from Benq. They told me that it need to have an upgrade on the software. Also they replaced my bulb with the supposed NEW UPDATE.

But i would make sure that it is not the HDMI port before the cable company comes out and ends up charging you. Just my suggestion. GOOD LUCK. :)

Could someone tell me where to find the free mount rebate that
was mentioned on this thread. Thanks.

Could someone tell me where to find the free mount rebate that
was mentioned on this thread. Thanks.
It's not a rebate. If they have it, they send it with the projector.

Benq finally issued a call tag, for my old bulb, it will probably go back on monday. So that they can credit mt credit card for the $400 USD they charged it for the advanced replacement. This alone took 7 Days to achieve, When at first they told me they had the bulbs and charged me credit card to when they admitted the warehouse was empty, and i now have to wait till after X-mas for new stock,to get a bulb.

I know how some of you Rave of benq's support, dispite the many defective units we all have. But my experience has thus far been less than stellar, in regards to the service.

I am surprised at the different experiences with BENQ service. My experience was a call to customer service that was immediately answered (I havent heard this BENQ music yet..which I think is good). The man immediately gave me the RMA # and the address to send the bulb. Said, once they received it, they would send the new one. I sent it overnight...then I called 3 days later to find they were out of stock apparently between when I talked to them and they received my bulb. Said it would be 3 weeks....it ended up being 1.5 weeks. New bulb is working great.

Jim

Chris, I had the EXACT same thing happen to me. However, it turened out to be the projector. This was just after 10 hrs of use with no problem. Then out of no where it craped out just like yours. I just got back my PJ from Benq. They told me that it need to have an upgrade on the software. Also they replaced my bulb with the supposed NEW UPDATE.

But i would make sure that it is not the HDMI port before the cable company comes out and ends up charging you. Just my suggestion. GOOD LUCK. :)

Yikes, if I have to send this thing back right after getting it back I'm gonna lose it.

I'm not sure how else to test the HDMI port other than running it to my laptop like I did. If they replaced my bulb I'm gonna be even happier with BenQ :)

I was looking at the projector calculator for the Benq and it has
a throw range for a 92" screen from 8.8 to 12' at a 1X zoom. I have never set up a projector before and was wondering if it is better at the min max distance or
somewhere in the middle. I guess the 1X zoom would be best. Thanks for any
help.

Do any of you know how to tell by either serial number or date of manufacture, which projectors are shipping with the "NEW" bulbs, and or the HDMI update. Also if the FREE bulbs rebate are the new batch bulbs?
One more thing. Have any of you with bulb failure used your rebate bulb as a replacement, and also gotten the original bulb replaced, out of warranty?

Thanks


Edit
I read more of the thread, and it's looking to me that many of you may be right. This problem has nothing to do with the bulb. It looks like more of a power supply problem.

I was looking at the projector calculator for the Benq and it has
a throw range for a 92" screen from 8.8 to 12' at a 1X zoom. I have never set up a projector before and was wondering if it is better at the min max distance or
somewhere in the middle. I guess the 1X zoom would be best. Thanks for any
help.

Typically, the less zoom the better. High end optics and lenses lessen the drawbacks of zoom. In the case of the 7700, however, I'm a graphics designer by trade so my day job is to pick out flaws in images. I use about 1/4 of the zoom's slider to get the screen up to 110" at about 12.5' throw distance and cannot tell a difference in image quality between the 1/4 zoom and no zoom at all. I'm not sure what the magnification factor would be... 1.25X I suppose. If I zoom the image to full zoom, I *can* start to see a little image degradation at 12.5'. If your max throw distance is 12', I wouldn't plan on using much more than 1/4 to 1/2 of the zoom's ability unless you have poor sight and can't tell a difference anyway (i.e. my wife).

Thanks. I quess I could just set it to no zoom,
and move it back and forth until it fills the screen.

I wouldn't hesitate to use a little zoom if it places the ceiling mount in a better location (where someone won't stand up and bump into it, for example). Unless you compare full zoom to no zoom, you probably won't be able to tell a difference.

Well now I'm completely stumped. Here's the summary:

1) Moto 6412 HD DVR worked perfect over HDMI to 7700.
2) Got horrible vertical black patches across screen.
3) Sent 7700 back to BenQ, BenQ repairs and returns it to me.
4) I re-mount the 7700 and connect the 6412 HD DVR to the 7700.
5) As soon as the 7700 is switched to the HDMI input, the 6412 HD DVR reads "DVI" on the front display and freezes. No picture on the screen. The 7700 says "HDMI (searching...)".
6) RGB Component from the 6412 to the 7700 works just fine.
7) Attempted rebooting the 6412 first, then starting projector. No luck. Tried the opposite sequence. No luck. Only RGB component works. This makes me think that maybe the HDMI port on the 7700 was messed up while BenQ worked on it.
8) I run my Panasonic S97 upscaling DVD player to the 7700 via HDMI out to the HDMI in on the 7700. Works perfect, no problems whatsoever.
9) I run the HDMI cable out of the 7700 and into my laptop via a DVI-HDMI adapter...works perfect.
10) This makes me think that the HDMI port on the 6412 HD DVR is jacked. Cable guy just replaced it and the new 6412 HD DVR is doing the exact same thing....flashes "DVI" and freezes...7700 won't connect to it.

Side note: I still haven't gotten ahold of BenQ to find out exactly what they did to my projector while they had it to repair it. The bulb timer was reset and I'm still not sure if I somehow received a new bulb.

I have absolutely no idea whats going on now.

[RANT ON]

The obsession of content providers with digital rights management has done more to frustrate, confuse, and damage consumers than anything short of the HD/Blu-Ray debacle.

In home theater, stupidity and incompetence have a name and it is “High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection” or HDCP. You pay thousands for equipment, but if the HDCP protocol is nonexistent or poorly implemented in the equipment, either as to the source device or the display device, than all you’ve got is a couple of worthless pieces of metal, plastic, and silicon (for an explanation of HDCP, see http://www.octavainc.com/HDCP.htm )

I have spent many hours helping customers resolve this issues that should have required nothing more than "plug and play."

A consumer rebellion is in the air that will manifest itself in 2006 with a resounding rejection of new and expensive technology (high-definition DVDs) due almost exclusively to the fact that the benefits of such technology are substantially mitigated by the unnecessary, unreasonable, unworkable, draconian, and incompetent implementation of Digital Rights Management.

Look at what happened to SACD and DVD-Audio. A great idea with an amazing improvement in sound all brought to naught because some “pin-headed” executive decided that you could only listen to the music (until just recently) through 5 analog interconnects. Where is the sense of paying top-dollar for digital sound when they made you convert it all to analog!?!

It is the insane business equivalent of saying “I will cut off my nose to spite my face” and when that happens, executives of consumer electronics and media need look no further than a mirror to see the evidence and source of their stupidity.

[RANT OFF]

Hi,

I havent been following the thread so I owe the thread an explaination of what I meant with my question very early on about how much cropping the 7700 has.

I'm currently a PE7800 owner and as the 8700 before it, used similar optics and deinterlacer as the 8700. it is only the DMD that is different. I have a feeling (it is what I want to find out) the PE7700 is just like it.

I'm using component inputs with a Panny RP-82 DVD player. I'm using the BNC connections with the RCA converter tabs. This setup allows me to push a button on the RP-82 to switch between 480i and 480p.

I purchased a copy of DVE a while back in my X1 days. I used it to center my screen since I have a little bit of keystoning. On DVE, there is a grid with 4 circles at each corner. I used this grid to center the video. I understand that Avia has a screen that figures out crop loss.

While staying on this screen, I toggled my RP-82 between 480P and 480i. I was suprised to see more video in 480i than what the 480p mode gave. In 480p mode, there was about as much as 8 pixels cropped on the right and about 3-5 pixels cropped on the left. In total this cropped out a noticeable amount of video. In 480i mode, I noticed that not only was there less cropping, the image was far clearer.

When the PJ is receiving 480p, the image is cropped but the annoying thing is the actual image appears stretched. This distorts the image. I actually have an on going email thread with Andy at Benq about this and he asks me for proof.

What I'm asking PE7700 owners to test is, do you still see this kind of cropping on your PJs?

My experience suggests that this is a function of the analog nature of the component input and voltage variances from the source device and not necessarily an inherent problem with the BenQ. This is also why it is essentially impossible to achieve 1x1 pixel mapping over component.

480i and 480p must be scaled to 720p, but the voltages over the component cables fluctuate with each resolution; consequently, the projector scales the image differently for each resolution over component. This is not unique to BenQ, but I've seen it on many projectors.

I support this statement with the fact that when I calibrate grayscale, I have to do a separate calibration for each resolution connected via component. In contrast, a single calibration of the HDMI input works for all resolutions (480p, 720p and 1080i).

Because of this, most ISF calibrators have a separate charge for each resolution over component.

for those who are experiencing hdmi issue which initially worked but after a period of time no longer sync to signal, just to let u know that Benq Taiwan has released Oct version 0.45 which supposingly corrected a timing issue, hope this helps.

B&W aka CRT king
singapore

Well now I'm completely stumped. Here's the summary:

1) Moto 6412 HD DVR.....

If a 6412 is in the equation, it is probably the cause of the problem. I have a love/hate relationship with mine. When it works right, I love it. I just never know when that is going to be. Recently mine developed a bad habit of freezing and pixelating the picture. Thanks to AVSforum, I learned that entering the diagnostic menu and pressing repeat/mydvr/mydvr/mydvr/repeat totally wipes the hard drive clean. That seems to have improved it. Back on topic, last night my MT700 suddenly lost the picture from the 6412; no searching or anything else, just black (thankfully it wasn't the lamp :) ). After a few minutes of messing with the 6412, the picture came back and did just fine the rest of the evening.

My experience suggests that this is a function of the analog nature of the component input and voltage variances from the source device and not necessarily an inherent problem with the BenQ. This is also why it is essentially impossible to achieve 1x1 pixel mapping over component.

480i and 480p must be scaled to 720p, but the voltages over the component cables fluctuate with each resolution; consequently, the projector scales the image differently for each resolution over component. This is not unique to BenQ, but I've seen it on many projectors.

I support this statement with the fact that when I calibrate grayscale, I have to do a separate calibration for each resolution connected via component. In contrast, a single calibration of the HDMI input works for all resolutions (480p, 720p and 1080i).

Because of this, most ISF calibrators have a separate charge for each resolution over component.

Kevin,

Thanks for the explaination. What you explained is in line with what I saw. I did try DVI as well and it does have much less cropping than 480p component. I'll try it again to refresh my memory.

My argument against the different resolutions and voltages causing the issue is that I dont experience this with my X1. The X1 is consistant in the image. I dont know why but I'm pretty sensitive to distortion since I have a 145" screen. I did not feel or notice it with the X1 when I fed it the same signals but it was noticeable with the Benq 7800.

You are right that results can depend on how the source sends the YPbPr signals and how the projector displays them, and your X1 may be much better at handling component. My sense is that manufacturers are giving short shrift to component because of the trend towards HDMI/DVI connections.

My frustration with component is that it is so much more unpredictable than HDMI/DVI and is much more susceptible to interference (think how many systems you've seen with ground-loop artifacts scrolling across the screen). When I calibrate or install using component, it always takes twice as long.

While VGA is also analog, it at least gives you some timing options to minimize overscan and other scaling issues.

Kevin,

Thanks for the explaination. What you explained is in line with what I saw. I did try DVI as well and it does have much less cropping than 480p component. I'll try it again to refresh my memory.

My argument against the different resolutions and voltages causing the issue is that I dont experience this with my X1. The X1 is consistant in the image. I dont know why but I'm pretty sensitive to distortion since I have a 145" screen. I did not feel or notice it with the X1 when I fed it the same signals but it was noticeable with the Benq 7800.
Did you adjust the 7700 to 100% image before comparing? The component input is likely set at 98% from the factory, while the HDMI input is set at 100%.

Did you adjust the 7700 to 100% image before comparing? The component input is likely set at 98% from the factory, while the HDMI input is set at 100%.

What does setting the image to 100% mean? Sorry, I own the BenQ PE7800, not the 7700 so the menus may have changed.

You are right that results can depend on how the source sends the YPbPr signals and how the projector displays them, and your X1 may be much better at handling component. My sense is that manufacturers are giving short shrift to component because of the trend towards HDMI/DVI connections.


I kind of wandered off my own question..so does the BenQ 7700 also exhibit this behavior on the component connections?

Well its been 5months since my 8700 died and I finally got a replacement from Benq. I got a new 7700, manufacture date Dec 2005, from UPS today. Can't wait to get it home to hook it up.

Mr Crackers

Well its been 5months since my 8700 died and I finally got a replacement from Benq. I got a new 7700, manufacture date Dec 2005, from UPS today. Can't wait to get it home to hook it up.

Mr Crackers


5 months seems to be quite a long time to wait for a replacement and have no pj. Why did it take so long?

It was originally an 8700 and after 5 rma's they couldn't fix the problem, that was 3months. They offered me a new 7700, right about the time the 7700 started having bulb issues. So I had to wait 2months for that to get sorted out, just bad luck on the timing. It sucked hardcore not have a projector for that long.

On the back of the projector for the interested bulb people

Manufacture date: Dec 2005
Lampunit: 60.j0c29.001
Lamp OSRAM Type No: P-vip OSRAM 250W

On the lamp itself I couldn't find any numbers. They was some hand written numbers
8/26 A1627 located right near where the light exits the assembly

Firmware Version .44 A00 July 21, 2005

Projector uses M6 metric bolts for the mounts. Found them at Lowes.

The 8700 has a slight better picture in my opinion than the 7700. But the 7700 has dust filter, runs quieter, and is better engineered for cooling. All and All an excellent value since they are selling around 2k with an extra bulb and free ceiling mount.

Mr Crackers