Benq W1200 and W1100 thread - Page 3

Some objective observations:

The W1100 is bright, but this was not done by some amazing technology Benq came up with. They simply use a bright lamp than consumes more energy, produces more heat and has a shorter life than, say, a lamp that is less bright.

In my setup I sit (lie) very close to the W1100 and the cycling of fan speeds gets on my nerves sometimes. It's quiet in low mode and loud in high mode. If you sit a couple feet away, you will hear the high speed fan. Since I have not heard of owners of other brands complaining about this, this problem must be unique to these Benq models.

While I love the PQ of the W1100, I wouldn't be objective and honest if I didn't recommend the HC4000 also. Now I haven't seen it, so the recommendation is based on second hand information only. The HC4000 has a lot going for it such as:

1. It is quieter, according to reviewers who have tested both.

2. The 2-year warranty is twice as long Benq's. But it's not just that. Mitsubishi has a strong support network in the US. I went to their website and was able to find 2 service centers within 25 miles of 2 different addresses I entered. I went to Benq website and wasn't able find any service center -- zip, nada.

I am not returning my W1100, but I sure hope the amazing PQ will last for at least 2 years and maybe Benq will provide some firmware to address the fan speed cycling.

BenQ, once coined the Apple of Asia, it is very unfortunate that they have been long forgotten. Many don't know, but the BenQ brand is under a bigger BenQ Corp. which is one of the top stakeholders in the world of consumer electronic component manufacturing. Under their umbrella they have companies that are in the top 3 LCD panel manufacturers in the world next to Samsung and LG, and lots of other industries producing plastic components while doing R&D in related industries.

I'm assuming that the BenQ Corp. shifted its focus after BenQ's image slowly deteriorated post their acquisition of Siemens mobile which totally turned into an utter disaster. Only in recent years they seemed to have started rebooting their corporate structure of the BenQ CE brands and thats when we started seeing better products and more focus. I remember a time when BenQ tried to dip their fingers in every single possible segment which led to a lack of direction and focus and leading tons of product releases into flops.

Hopefully this sudden shift in leaner corporate structure and direction will sustain and they shall emerge in product leader in their lines of products. Because there is one thing I know and that is in any industry, when there is a sudden rise of the 'underdog' they will try to be as competitive as possible to attract customers by offering more, lower prices, or better service.

Currently in the international car industry Hyundai is a perfect example. They are selling their cars in the U.S. with 2-4% margins which is extremely low. And now with the U.S. dollar dropping in value to the Korean won they've been making losses, but continue to keep their prices low in order to capture market share. If BenQ follows the same strategy it will benefit the consumers, us. Because we will reap the joyful benefits of globalization and market competition and receive better products, with lower prices. And then competing brands will offer the same or better, and in the end we win

I'm interested. Probably more so in the 1100 as projectorcentral notes it might be better for gaming, but I could be swayed either way. Some quick questions:

Spec chart on projector central doesn't list 24p support, but user manual does. I assume owners can confirm this? I can't believe in this day and age of blu-ray 1080/24p a recent display wouldn't have this.

projectorcentral review said digital noise was noticable while the channelnews review said it was minimal... any comments from forum users?

What is the real source of the almost over the top optimism for these projectors?
+ Low expectations and perhaps naivite of the low-end or entry user
+ Impressive features for the money, maybe shading even pro reviewers opinions
+ Newer projectors that don't have 100 page owner threads littered with people complaining about image or reliability problems
+ Actual genuine improvement in performance in this price range

It's just that for bright scene POP you can't beat DLP, if it compares to the Mits hc4000 in bright scene POP (which it should be about the same), then a JVC is going to probably look just a little flat in comparison except in dark scenes.

Every technology has major weaknesses, DLP's is RBE and black levels.
LCOS is ANSI contrast, convergence, bright scene POP, calibration issues, and cost
LCD has the same weaknesses as LCOS plus a few more but at a lower cost

Even if you spend $10,000 on a projector, it is no guarantee you will beat a DLP in bright scenes, most people say the DLP wins except in dark scenes.
Also both the Mits and Benq calibrate well, the JVC's as one example have calibration issues.

It's when reviewers prefer bright scene POP and the overall look of DLP that they will think this projector is golden.
When reviewers prefer dark scenes and darker blacks (like Art @ projectorreviews.com), then they will think this projector deserves to be at this price range.
Only if you are just absolutely set on getting better black levels and more dynamic dark scenes should you really look somewhere else.

Here is my recent summary of a comparison I did between the HC4000 / w1000+ / w1100. I had all three PJ in my viewing room in the last week. The w1000+, the w1100 and the HC4000. Now, I am not going to even pretend I am a professional reviewer and these thoughts are highly subjective but I think I should post these opinions. I mostly viewed material in a pretty dark to totally dark room. My screen is a FAVI 92" and throw distance is 10 feet. The elements that mattered most to me were:

Image Sharpness
Pop
Black Levels
Fan Noise
Ease of Use
Inputs
Viewing Fatigue
Ambient Light Flexibility
Personal Preferences

So, here are my thoughts on them:

Image Sharpness: BenQ was sharper than Mitsubishi. HD is enjoyable for the sharpness and so Benq was rewarding here. Both the w1000+ and the w1100 were equally sharp. The HC4000 was not unsharp, just not crisp.

Pop: BenQ has pop. The images are inviting. IMO, much greater pop than the HC4000. Between the w1000+ and the w1100, I did not feel one popped more than the other.

Skin Tones: HC4000 does great skin tones. The Benqs do pretty well but you never really get there like on the HC4000. The HC4000 skin looks like skin. The Benqs I feel are passable to very good but not in the same league and the Mit.

Black Levels: HC4000 by a mile. Benq doesn't have blacks, it has many shades of grey some of which can be very dark but when compared with the HC4000, there is no contest. Mitsubishi really gave me the "movie theater" feeling.

Fan Noise: w1000+ was quietest, second HC4000, third w1100. For me the cycling fan on the w1100 along with the volume of air it displaced was a little worrying. The Mitsubishi was very close to the w1000+ but not as quiet. Anyhow, with the w1100 cycling and my head being 36" from the PJ, it would not work for me.

Ease of Use: I liked the remote on the w1000+ the best, second the w1100, third HC4000. Menus on Benq were easier to use and adjust in real time. On the Mitsubishi, the screen would cycle black before showing a correction/change in settings.

Inputs: Benq has 2 HDMI / HC4000 has one. The rest don't concern me so I can't help here but 2 hdmi is great because I have ROKU and HTPC hooked up.

Viewing Fatigue: Well, this ties together with sharpness and pop for me. I found myself enjoying watching the w1000+ the most. Secondly the w1100 and third the HC4000. I have the lamp in econo mode on all three PJ and have done contrast/brightness/color/skintone calibration in a layman's way. I found myself gravitating toward the w1000+ because the images seemed less noisy than the w1100. I had difficulty enjoying the HC4000 for extended periods because of the lack of pop. I found it required more energy to watch which = less relaxation. The Benqs are not cinematic like the HC4000 but they are like candy for the eyes.

Ambient Light Flexibility: I found that the HC4000 & the Benqs both did very well in a moderately lit room. I was surprised by both (all three).


Personal Prefs: My room required a white/beige PJ. I know, just throw rocks at me. I don't care.


Conclusion: I like the Benqs more than the Mitsubishi. The HC4000 really has skin tone /cinematic imagery / black levels but really couldn't keep up in all other areas. For me it came down to Pop and viewing fatigue. I just want to watch the Benqs more. Between the w1000+ and the w1100, I like the 1000+ better because of the w1100 fan issue and the w1100's "next gen" style remote where the buttons are all crunched together. I found the w1000+ had far less mosquito noise. All together the w1000+ feels like a polished product and that spoke to me.

Sorry for the lack of professionalism and most likely the injection of emotion into this review. To be truthful, my gut really was saying w1000+ by the end.

I agree with what you said about the BenQ W1100, I haven't seen any other projectors.

It's weakness is blacks, but with a bit of tuning I got mine looking pretty good, hopefully when I paint my screen grey I'll see an imporvement.

Everytime I watch this thing, I am blown way by it POP. It is amazingly clear, and the colours are vibrant. Watching nature doc's has been taken to a whole other level for me! :P Even my mates ask them selves around to watch the BBC Life series on the 136" screen.

I am very, very happy with my purchase, and in my opinion, it's one of the best buy's out there.

Getting frame interpolation running on my PC is my next goal, that should add another enhacement and close the gap between this and the W1200.

I appreciate the comparisons, but don't know if a projector with a 3x color wheel would give less fatigue than a 4x color wheel.
Maybe 3x cause some people less eye fatigue, not sure on that myself.

Why were you getting viewing fatigue on the Mits and not the Benq?
Maybe what you saw in POP was just sharpness and a varied gamma and more saturated color.

Good comparions, as suspected the Benq's are sharper, brighter, but with worse blacks.

As far as POP, I don't really think the Benq should POP more in a darkened room with dark walls, possibly a bit due to its more uniform sharpness, but I think it's just calibration and the fact the Mits isn't as bright to fight the walls. The Benq will win in a room with white walls. With white walls you lost all your ANSI contrast, which makes it so the brighter image will win.

I don't mean to take away from this comparison, but when I was comparing things, sometimes it took me an ungodly number hours of calibrating with meters before I was confident in stating an advantage. Most of the time differences are in calibrations, color accuracy, and gamma curves.

I am thinking of getting a Benq 1080p DLP projector to use mainly just for HDTV. I had finally decided to get the Benq W6000 since I can table mount and it will utilize my High Power screen even though it may almost be too bright. I was waiting for the W6000 refurbished models to get back in stock and have been reading about the W1100 and W1200. Since I would have to ceiling mount either the W1100 or W1200 it wouldn't use the high power screen for best brightness but since my 16:9 screen is only 92" diagonal I probably don't need the gain of the HP screen anyway. All that being said, has anyone seen either the W1100 or W1200 and compared it to the W6000? Is the W6000 worth the extra money?

Thanks,
Mike

how would this compare to a W9000? Mine is on the fritz...thinking about replacing

for those who seem to "lack" black in w1100 I advise trying:
Picture basic settings
1. brightness 48 or so and contrast +3 or so
2. reference mode - standard
Picture Advanced
1. color temp - normal
2. gamma selection - 2.6 or 2.8 (if lamp in normal mode)
3. brilliant color on (of course!)
Display
1. HDMI Settings > HDMI Format >Video signal

Share your settings please.
PS. But my screen is grey. And pretty grey. And i am 95% satisfied by the POB (perception of black) on these settings.
I dont like Cinema mode in my PJ its too warm and yellowish IMO.

This is past the level of my knowledge but I can say that the images from Benq were easier for my noggin to process. I fould myself just liking what I saw for it's sharpness, brightness and simplicity. The HC4000 was by contrast more textured, cinematic, dramatic and theaterlike. And softer.

Hey Electric:

I'm not sure if this is true or not, but I read a post on this before in another thread.
What the person said was what happens is at different frame speeds the RBE is actually the same on 3x as it would be on 4x, so the same RBE exists even at varying speeds.
I see RBE pretty severely even at 4x, so for me I'm annoyed that everyone doesn't use 6x.

coder,

I had the Benq pe8700 for about 2 weeks when it just came out; it was 5x but I still see RBE. The 4000 at 4x was about par, based on my recollection since it has been such a long time. The Infocus IN72 and IN76 at 4x were similar.

Never had a 6x.

Trying to get some shots with the iphone, I know that they represent absolutely nothing but I like looking at them so here is one from True Grit.

Projecting on 90 inch screen. Still playing around with settings, when I am happy with them I will post them.

For some reason the camera pushes red, image in real life is a little more neutral.

For clarification let me say I own a HC4000 for personal preferences, not by chance...

You may not be a professional, but I must say you did a very well thought out comparison, and while your preferences and mine differ slightly, I can surely appreciate that you were fair and accurate in your findings and how you reported them... In the end you made it clear that the projector you chose fits your preferences... I would think anyone trying to choose between these projectors who can't compare them directly as you did can read this and make a much more educated decision... I applaud you for your honesty and lack of bias, and I hope you are happy with your choice for many years...

2 questions... 1) did you have the lamps set on high, or low when comparing, I ask because my HC4000 is dead silent on low lamp, high not so much... 2) How were the benqs on light spillage compared to the HC4000? The Mits spills a lot of light, and some people are bothered by it...

There is a fix for the lamp spillage problem on the Mits, some guy posted how he did it in the original hc4000 thread.

I appreciate opinions in here a lot too and am glad he took the time to write up his views. Only thing I would note to others is that it really does take a lot of calibration work to be sure, but most of his notations sound about right.

It was presumed that the Benq's would be sharper and brighter, but with worse blacks and not quite as accurate color, pretty much what the reviewer stated.
Not sure about image POP as that is subjective though, some people think black levels are more important. For me, I like both, but it seems like you can't have your cake and eat it too.
However, I personally would not want to go any brighter on black levels than the Mits hc4000, as I consider it just mediocre for black levels. That is my own personal taste though, and if the w1200 came close enough, I may actually like the Benq more, but would never know unless I saw one.

I would assume with a professional calibration that the Benq can do very good skin tones closer to the Mits after massive calibrations.
The Mits just has very good skin tones even OTB after just some minor adjustments.

I posted this in the wrong BenQ thread so I figured I'd ask over here

I helped my bro install an elite screen with a w1200 yesterday and I must say out of the box this projector is very, very, very impressive. I've owned every Epson since their first 1080UB model to last years model and I moved on to the JVC RS40 and I currently use the HD250 for comparison. There definitely is more of a "pop" factor compared to the Epsons and my JVC but the black levels on my JVC in another league. I'd say overall I have no doubt this is the best projector on the market under $1,500 or very close to it.

Reason for posting is on the bottom part of his screen, a small strip seems to flicker or be mis-aligned with the rest of his screen when using a PS3 for 1080p playback. It doesn't do this with any other source material. When we first fired up his PS3 the projector couldn't communicate a handshake with it so I did a factory reset and it still wouldn't take the projector as being a 1080p display. We swaped HDMI cables and the PS3 would recognize it as being 1080p but now the bottom flickers on fast scenes that pan and it just seems "distorted" would be a good word. Has anyone confirmed this uni can do 1080p/24?

Thanks for the help.

Ahamay17: I tested with lamps on econo mode for all three because of fan noise and fan life. Light spillage is not noticeable on the w1000+. The HC4000 did have a little.

Electric_Haggis:

For scenes where there is a lot of darkness, the HC4000 is far more descriptive. For scenes where there is a lot of light with some dark, the Benqs really do much better. I guess you could draw the line on material you like to watch too. If you like comedys / animation / bright action films (007) then the Benqs will do better. If you mostly watch darker films (war, sci-fi, horror) then the HC4000 will do better.

Can't help with the "distorted" problem. My W1100 does 24p just fine. I can't tell the difference between 60p and 24p. Hence, I don't understand what the fuss is.

As they say, "you didn't do it if there is no picture to show it", here is a picture of Casino Royale in 24p. This movie has lots of eye candy and the W1100 does it justice. Who wouldn't want to be James Bond, eh?

Good to know, thanks. I told him to hookup his PS3 to his Plasma and see if it still does it.

I've been testing a BENQ W1100 for several days now, and I've had the same issue with my PS3 (but not my 360). I fixed it by turning on the Overscan Adjustment. I have no idea what the side effects might be, but I had to turn it all the way up to 10 to get the flickering to disappear completely on scenes with lots of fast movement. Nevertheless, so far I've found this to be a satisfactory resolution.

Also, I've heard people comment that the controller is unresponsive at times when trying to turn off the projector. This may be due to the fact that you must press the power button TWICE to turn it off. This is, I assume, by design and has not bothered me in the least.

Now for my impressions, if anyone is curious. Overall, I'm impressed, but as a video game enthusiast, there are some issues that will probably be deal-breakers for me (see below).

I've got the W1100 set up in my spacious bedroom, filling my wall completely at 110" inches or more (I haven't measured exactly) with the zoom fully out. I'm currently using the it uncalibrated against a normal white wall.

It is super bright, so much so that there's really no urgent need to close my curtains during the daytime. At night, in complete darkness, it's almost too bright. I find myself using Cinema Mode/ECO Mode for everything (even video games). Even then, I find myself turning the brightness down even further at night.

I have it set up on the floor next to my bed; it's literally three and a half feet away and I haven't had any problems with ambient noise. I use it consistently with my Xbox 360 and PS3, and both of those machines are far louder.

The onboard speakers are usable, better than my laptop, but nothing to write home about. I don't have a home theater system in my bedroom, so I currently use an auxiliary cable to jack into my Altec Lansing iMT800 boombox (a product I recommend highly, by the way). It's not surround sound, but I am happy with the result.

Placement is a bit of an issue. To be able to fill my full wall, I have to place the projector flush against the back wall on the floor; not a even the bottom shelf of my small rolling tv table (just two inches off the floor) will work. If I were to keep this projector, I would need to ceiling mount it, which to me, isn't ideal, because I'd like to be able to use it often for movies in the backyard, which would mean dismounting it quite a bit. Does anyone have an idea of how much of a pain taking it on and off is? I've never ceiling mounted a projector before.

Uncalibrated, the picture quality is still impressive to me. The colors pop and show no signs of being washed out. There is a visible screen door effect (oddly, moreso than the far dimmer, 1024x768 LG WX350T that I'm also testing), but it's not too distracting. BLU-Ray movies are beautiful. Standard definition DVD's and Netflix look good, as well. I noticed no rainbow effect, though I simply may not be sensitive to it.

Now for the sad part. As I mentioned above, I'm an avid gamer, and for some reason, this projector doesn't seem to play well with the PS3 and Xbox 360. Aside from the Overscan Adjustment issue mentioned above, you cannot adjust any of the Advanced Picture Settings while hooked up the PS3 or Xbox 360. You can only change from the different Cinema, Standard, and Dynamic Modes and adjust basic things like Brightness.

Also, in back-to-back testing with my friend Mikey's 3LCD Mitsubishi HC5500 in his home theater, video game animation was clearly smoother on the HC5500 than the W1100. Our first test game was Motorstorm: Pacific Rift on the PS3. This game was challenging for both projectors, as the game moves at a break-neck pace. The W1100 outperformed the WX350T (a non-1080p, LED DLP pocket projector), but it was still very jaggy compared to the HC5500. I can't help but wonder if this is a basic difference between 3LCD and DLP. It's possible it is caused by DLP technology's higher digital noise due to how their pixels render grays. Is it possible 3LCD's tend to have smoother animation in general?

Our second test game was Red Dead Redemption on the Xbox 360. This is a comparatively slower-paced game, so the animation-related jagginess was far less of an issue. I've gotta say, pulling off headshots seemed a lot easier on a big screen. I don't have any numbers, but anecdotally, input lag during online multiplayer was a non-issue for me. I remained as competitive or moreso (thanks to the larger screen) as on my standard 19" LCD monitor.

Due to the Advanced Picture Settings not being accessible while hooked up to a console, as well as the jagginess issues at high framerates, I'll probably be passing on the BENQ W1100 and saving up for a Mitsubishi HC5500 like Mikey's or a Panasonic AE4000U (both of which are more expensive). I may even keep the LG WX350T around sheerly for its impressive versatility.

I believe that sums it up. I hope you guys appreciate the longer post. If you have any further questions or comments, I'd be glad to hear them.

Also, if anyone has any recommendations for a good gaming projector with smooth animation, I'd love to hear those as well. Thanks!

It sounds like the projector was overly processing the image when you were gaming, an LCD should not be smoother than a DLP projector for gaming, it is the other way around.

DLP is smoother for motion than LCD.

I'm slowly working on a MASTER RESEARCH page on how to choose a projector with a CHEAT SHEET.
It's a work in progress, it's a culmination of my own comparisons as well as other reviewers stated "facts".

Coderguy's Projector CHEAT SHEET on WHICH Projector to CHOOSE
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1339241

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Here are some picture adjustment tips for the uninitiated.

1. There are a total of six modes: 3 presets and 3 user programmables.

2. The 3 preset modes: cinema, standard, and dynamic don't have any picture adjustments. The only thing you can adjust is "Clarity" control. This is by design regardless of the devices the projector is connected to.

3. The 3 user programmable modes allow for picture adjustments and must be based on one of the preset modes. In other words, the 3 preset modes are adjustable when they are used under one of the user programmable modes.

4. How does this work? Say you like watching TVs in the dynamic mode and you want to be able to apply picture adjustments. All you have to is put the dynamic mode under one of user programmable modes and adjust the pictures to your heart contents.

I hope this help new and inexperienced users of the this projector.

Oddly, I had the same issues with overscan on the w1100. I ended up going with the w1000+ which locked onto my 16:9 screen out of the box. With the w1100, I had to do all sorts of tinkering with the overscan and my desktop videocard settings.

One more thing about picture adjustments:

Brilliant color has to be on for advanced picture adjustments. I seriously wonder if some people missed this and blames being unable to adjust the picture on other things.

I just saw the W6000 at Fry's today and was unimpressed. My W1100 produces a better picture. This brings me to another point. The only way to determine the relative PQ of a projector is to compare it to another projector. This is important for people looking for projector advice because often times they will hear glowing recommendations for a particular projector over other projectors from people have only seen the projector they recommend.