HELP!!! Benq w5000 - Half the picture is gone

Doesn't sound good. The problem is going be either a failing image processor or the connection from the main board to the imaging display. The connection is not one that you can repair, if that is where the fault is. There is a connector on the main board and the mate is on the optical engine, no cable. And those connectors are surface mount soldered, very TINY.

Either way, it's something that would have go back for repair. But only if it's still under warranty. Out of warranty, it's likely to be cost-prohibitive as most mfr repair centers REPLACE assemblies instead of repairing them.

Having said that, it's worth a shot to call them and make some inquiries.

Is it close or similar to this?


If yes, it is a mainboard issue and should be fixed by the manufacturer.

Bad DMD panel. I had this problem with a W10000 and they simply replaced the projector with a new one. It had less than 200 hours usage when it happened. Read of this problem elsewhere involving other projector makes including Infocus and Sharp so I guess it's not all that uncommon for dlp projectors.

I had the same issue on the left side.
However after positioning the projector on it's side (to make note of the serial number information (why not print this stuff on the side? %)), then returning it to it's normal position, the projector is performing normally. Who knows how long it will last, but thought it best to pass this experience along.

Hi guys, mine is doing the exact same thing. If its out of the warranty will benq still replace it without charge? My projector is only 1.5 years old

I'm going to guess they will want to charge a repair fee, but definitely call and ask regardless then weigh your options. I doubt it would be free since it's out of warranty, but it may not be too pricey .

Thanks for the reply! I've called them and they said they haven't heard of this issue before. I live in Toronto and they want me to ship it to Montreal. I have to pay for shipping and a $65 charge if I don't go ahead with the repairs plus shipping the projector back, I hope someone who has had this problem before and got it fixed could tell me how much it cost.

I'm seeing the same issue, but have not sent it in for repairs yet. I was quated $160 for labor and 80 for shipping to and from.

I am also getting black and white bars on the right half of the screen. Has anyone sent their projector in for repairs yet? My projector is about 20 months old with about 1100 hours on whisper mode.

Benq service is horrific. I have sent this unit twice to Vancouver from Calgary to get it fixed. Problems have been having it shut down at random with various lamp errors and power issues. Over two months in the shop. They could not replicate and told me to buy a new lamp. I bought one and now 100 hours into the replacement lamp I'm getting an effect periodically on the right side of the screen with the alternating bars (you can still see the video (like the picture posted earlier) but broken up with the bars. I'm fed up with Benq. Do not buy one of these.

From what I understand it's been a problem with the W5000's. Mines done that a few times with weeks in between. May show up once a month. I cycle the unit and it's fine. That's one reason I've been reluctant to replace the bulb. Hope it lasts to the fall.

i'm not sure it is a problem with this projector, just that it can be a point of failure


i don't remember, but it something with the image processing. products today are made cheap for short life times so this stuff happens

i have had one repaired and it worked fine for another 4000 hours and then it started to slowly do it again.

the effect can be different, but basically you get vertical slices of the screen being repositioned, often on just one half of the screen. sometimes you'll see some video noise added in bars too

I am having the same problem as everyone else, half the screen get's inverted vertical bars, or half the screen is static or black.

txsteel - Have you sent the projector in to get repaired? I'm interested if the quote they gave you is accurate.

I'm having the same issues, on the left side of the screen. Has anyone spoken to Benq and received a quote? I'm trying to decided if it's time for a new projector. Thanks!

Well, talked to BenQ, and they think it could be a mainboard issue, and said that the average cost to repair would be $250, but could be as much as $450! I'm going in another direction.

Anyone want to buy a W5000 with 4000 hrs on the bulb in the original box with all accessories? (oh, but you will have to spend $250-$450 to get it fixed)

Hmmmm. This is looking like a defect.

The right side of my screen is also black and white bars.

Mine also shuts off with an error of the colors - Red on Lamp, Orange on Temp.

I'm emailing them, and will likely send it in even if it's $450.

One of the previous posters was correct in saying that many things aren't meant to last or tested properly to do so these days.

When and if this ever goes again, I'm putting it on a credit card with an extended warranty policy, and I'll be buying an additional coverage plan from whoever I buy it from.

I have same issue....I called benq, they said they have to await the mainboard.
This is my W5000's sixth times repair.

my w5000 is off for its third trip to be repaired (all three seperate occurrences)

to be fair i use mine a LOT more than the average user. i'm near 10'000 hours, although all parts haven't made it that long


i had the video image failure mentioned above the first time, right at the one year point so it went to benq for warranty repair. at first you get scrambled stripes of the image on either side, then you start to see some color variations as it gets worse, like whole side one color, and if you wait long enough it completely dies and goes to black and white stripes or like an analog looking fuzz.

benq service can be kinda shady to deal with, like a mom and pop store, but overall ok.


second trip was scheduled around 18 months i got tired of the dreaded three red lights on the machine. hard to tell what causes it but you can't do anything but keep unplugging and waiting till it

service seemed to fix it, but it reappared about 8 months later and slowly got worse. part of the large hours on my machine are leaving the machine on so i don't have to worry about it not turning back on if if i shut it down.


now at 30 months i still have the occasional three red lights, and the video issue has occurred. the problem happened in about the same amount of use so whatever causes it is not meant to last more than 5000 hours

i also have one of the fans dying a slow screechy death



all were covered by mackcam external warranty, which is a good thing, got my moneys worth. they don't give you a detail of what they do really, and i doubt it could be trusted anyway so i can't tell you what parts are needed.

bad thing is that its not cheap to ship it off each time, with insurance its 50 bucks, plus mackcam charges a $20 return shipping fee [something not advertised in its 'free' warranty service], and it can be quite a while to get it back.

it can be fixed; i imagine it costs quite a bit

best thing about this projector

the bulbs literally last forever for me. i ran the first one well past 7,000 hours. it did dim some, but my theater is light controlled


oh one other thing to note if you ship it off for work, you may need to keep the power cord out while you pack the styrofoam back on the lense in front. there is no way in the menu to reset the lense vertically to its defaul position. the packing foam is aligned for it to be at a certain height. mine got broken by mackcam on a return. if you just smash it on and put it in the box, the foam will shift and the plastic tabs will easily be the weak point on the lense thingy.

it just breaks the plastic tabs that hold the whole lense cap on. my adjustment rings came off too.

Mine seemed broken with the half screen of b&w stripes.

I did multiple restarts, pulled sources and power, but nothing worked.

I pulled the power plug, tapped it gently on it's side a few times and let it sit overnight. The next day I plugged it in just for kicks and it worked!

The tech said in an email to me to let it stay on a number of hours after it appeared to be functioning again. Not sure why that would help.

I hope others have have similar luck.

Love this projector, and hope it hangs in there.

unfortunately it will break permanently eventually....

the half screen issue normally starts, then increases, and eventually won't go away no matter what. so if you have only seen it a few times, your near the beginning of the journey

it is best to wait though until you are for sure it is stuck, as you don't want to ship it in, and then have them not see it. a nice bouncy trip via ups seems to fix broken things and break fixed things

My W5000 has been doing similar thing since it was new.

Problem with half screen is different in my unit. Mine is showing thin horizontal lines (not vertical like others reporting here) on right side of the picture.

Also this problem occurs only after syncing to a source right after picture from source is displaying. Right side of the picture is displaying picture from the source but is has some thin horizontal lines on it and picture has fuzzy analog look. If I open projectors menu lines are on the menus too, so the problem is not a source. Usually it happens when I have just powered on my unit but sometimes when stopping movie and going back to PS3 desktop when changing from 1080/24p to 1080/60p.

This problem occurs maybe once a month, sometimes more and sometimes less frequently. Also problem only lasts for one second to few seconds and goes away by itself. I never needed to turn off the projector and start again to get rid of this. It never occured during I watch something, only right after syncing to a source or source is changing refresh rate from 24p to 60p or similar.

Like I said it has been doing this since it was new (nearly three years). Problem is that warranty is ending soon so I try to decide should I send it to service or just keep it and hope it does not broke down completly.

What do you think, is mine suffering from the same as others in this thread meaning my unit is dying slowly or is this something else and I should just forget about it?

There is always a risk when sending these things that they get damaged during shipping and some new problems arise. How do you even get the lens shift to right position so that you can put the styrofoam back on the lense in front?

I talked to a BenQ rep and they basically did everything to try and convince me it wasn't worth it to fix it. Well, they convinced me. I was getting the bars on one side of the screen, then they'd randomly go away. The nail in the coffin was the constant dual vertical bars that would show up in the middle of the screen. I would unplug, plug back in and it would show up every few minutes. It seemed more worth it to me to upgrade, as the lumens the BenQ pushes is on the low side with my setup. I do have a relatively new bulb, so if anyone is interested, give me a PM and I'll check the hours on it and we can go from there. FWIW, it was a great projector while it lasted...

the reason for the 'split screen' is that the screen is processed in two halfs. you are seeing the two halfs not synced up by the video processors

my unit will show the two sides a bit differently when syncing, but that is not a problem if it goes away right away. it is only an issue if it remains that way. when it is broke, you'll know it.
[i don't believe i've ever seen a soft focus on one side and not the other, but have seen some horizontal lines/dancing]


having shipped this thing many times, i'd say it is not worth it unless the issue is constant. you'll easily pay $60 with proper insurance to ship, and you are going to wait and wait because after its eval'd it will get reshipped to benq for the major fix if you have aftermarket warranty. you'll wait a good month, at least.

also with these units aging, they may just swap it for a refurb that may have many more problems, lesser bulb life, etc. i got back a different bulb once that was not up to standard and died almost immediately and blew black muck all over the inside when it went - not sure if the one i included went bad in shipping or what.

if you do ship, note that the foam piece that surrounds the lens eyepiece adjustment is set for a particular lens height position, but the projector doesn't have a 'reset' option so you have to guess what the default height should be. if you don't center the lens before unplugging, it won't fit back in the foam piece and into the box. also the warranty repair place can screw this up too, and you'll open the box to find the cover piece rolling around as the plastic tabs on it will break. you'll have to fight ups or warranty repair which will want you to ship it back.


besides the processor, the fans on my unit have gone out too.
this thing really wasn't meant for a lot of hours of use

This is exactly why I wonder if mine is actually acting "normal". Like I said mine has thin horizontal colored lines (not wide vertical black/white like other have) and they only occur when syncing (changing source resolution or refresh rate, or first sync to source right after power up). Problem is that this does happen only occasionally and usually lasts only one second or so but sometimes up to several seconds. When it happens I see the effect in projector menus too.

My unit has never done that in the middle of movie. It only shows up when syncing just when source picture is showing up. When it is syncing screen goes black first and there are horizontal lines (which is normal) but then after picture from the source is shown there can be very thin horizontal lines overlayed on the right half of the picture and that side is usually less contrasty and has analog soft/shimmering look until it corrects by itself. Does your unit do like this too? Other W5000 owners please comment if you see this too?



I know. My problem here is that I still have warranty left and I have opportunity to get DMD board changed under warranty but I wonder if it is gonna do any difference and I'm considering other risks involved with shipping and such.


Does yours do this occasionally too? Do you have a photo of it doing that?
I have tried to take photo of mine but I never got camera ready quick enough to get a picture.


I have opportunity to get this done without any extra cost.


I realize this too and this is one of the reasons I hesitate. Shipping is a major risk. If you hold this projector in your hands during installing it and turn it around you can hear that optical parts are moving. I guess It does not need a big hit during shipping to damage it even if you get lens support foam in right place.


Mine has a little noisy fan too but its been like that for long time and does not really bother since you really need to go close to the unit to hear it.


I've had several projectors before and my experience is that many of them are build for lot less use. Most of other pj's I've owned before have broke down much earlier (some of them were broken right out of the box). Also bulbs seem last long in BenQ's unlike in many other brands.

Without ever having seen this PJ it sounds like a bad connection on one or more signal processors on the dlp board. BGA chips tend to crack the connections to the board when exposed to high heat and/or a lot of power cycles. A reflow might fix it.

What you mean by reflow?

Do you mean this cannot be a software issue where syncing gets sometimes longer or may be exaggerated by using long HDMI wires?

i've had mine off six times now

i've had major video faults three times, two different fans go bad, the same fan twice, and i've had the dreaded red lights of death and still do occasionally, along with the lense ring snapped off. if your unit doesn't have the deathly red lights no start up issue, then keep a hold of it and consider yourself lucky.

they rebuilt the innards thrice, and the final time they wanted to refurb swap.
i really don't like the risk of a refurb swap because those units are generally broken returns, and the refurb houses don't get paid to do it right, just to move inventory.
[it is just like used cars, if you buy one, your buying a car someone else more than likely traded in because it had some problem they couldnt' resolve]

if they consider it an error to fix, it will most likely get routed to benq for the actual fix, which takes time, because then it gets shipped back to the warranty house and tested and then reshipped again.

if you are not paying for shipping - lucky you and what warranty plan is that? - you can double box it. the factory boxes are fairly decent.


i also didn't appreciate the crap lamp i got on the last fix; it looked completely diff than all the other factory lamps, and i sent them a almost new lamp at the time so it was a big loss.


i've seen all sorts of video artifacts when the board goes. generally on startup i get some vertical bar patterns. it is just not a fast unit as far as that goes, nor has friendly screens to cover that up.

the other video error that happens is vertical slices of the video get shuffled around
i don't have any pictures off hand


to be fair, i've put hella hours on this thing;
i'm at 17,346 total hours, the last rebuild at 13,110 hours.
i had my second bulb last 7,400 eco hours before i finally swapped it under a warranty contract