Official BenQ W7000 Owners Thread - Page 95

How about the aggresiveness of the IRIS setting? It is currently on 2.

[U]Warning to[/U] be wary of what is on the same electrical circuit with Benq. I was using a massager for a nagging healing 2yr foot tendon tear. No lines in screen so did not think about it, but suddenly iris clamped down to fairly dim pic, then back to light and cycling back and forth. Finally orange light and red light on projector which I'd never seen. I shut down and restarted maybe a couple of times after investigating in manual, and saw nothing exactly for those lights in manual but proj has been fine now in the last week. Clearly this iris is sensitive. I am knocking on wood, crossing my fingers that all is ok now.

Only other time had iris issue was prior to 1.03 upgrade for sharper pic (very pleased with 1080i DirectTV especially sharpness, also colors and blacks some, but scary 3 week turnaround and Benq does not insure value). The two 3d movies I'd tried prior to upgrade, Tin Tin had cycling during some of the ocean pirate scene, and Hubble had cycling during pool extra scene. Noted recently that people are correct here; now my updated firmware does not allow DI during 3d, so perhaps Benq couldn't solve and figured 3d 75% reduction in brightness anyway so DI not that important.

Still real happy with my Benq, sure darkness could be better, for example First Contact, Enterprise gorgeous, but star-field lighter than desired, and concerts on axstv look good, but night should be darker. But for price under 2K, combo of movies, 2d and 3d, sports, concerts and regular tv look pretty good. If true aficionado and could justify the extra cost, like big boys, Zombie10k et al, would spring for JVC for 2d movies and concerts, though.

Yes, same thing happened to me, as it is confusing. Luckily I was suspicious and caught it 1 hour later, so was able to cancel order and reorder dlp ones.

So, I just mounted and turned on the projector for the first time and I'm getting a vertical line down my screen. It's not constant, just sort of travels up and down fading in and out depending on the motion on the screen. Bad unit?

That is not normal . I would call support.

The 3D on this projector is pretty spectacular. I can't believe how much better motion looks with FI enabled in 3D on this particular PJ. The motion is really bad in 3D without FI on this unit at least, I haven't seen that many PJ's in 3D mode really though (About 4), but I recall the Epson looking better in motion in 3D than the Benq ONLY if FI were not enabled on the Benq, but the Benq looks GREAT on motion with FI (but have only watched very little 3D on the Epson 5010, perhaps Zombie10k has more comments on this). If this PJ didn't have FI, I would have been really dissapointed in the 3D motion, thank god it does!

Overall the 3D is killer, I just wish people would make more comfortable glasses. I have the True-Depth 3D, and they aren't bad but still a bit tight on my head. I wish glasses were lighter and looser fitting.

OK back to watching more 3D, really this PJ makes 3D worth it when it was not worth it on other PJ's I seen it on (well Epson was pretty good, but I think this one is still better for 3D overall).
This is a completely different 3D experience than what I was used to on other devices.

Also, I don't even have it mounted at exactly vertical center-point to my HP screen, and it's still SO SO bright in 3D mode that I am using the IRIS like a manual IRIS even in 3D mode. Yes, even though I guess the DI is disabled in 3D, the manual IRIS still works in both 2D and 3D when you set the min or current aperture position, nice.

With 50 hours on my lamp, and my Benq mounted near level with the top of my screen to a 106" HP 2.4 gain screen (only getting 1.5 gain at this position), it is so bright that my IRIS aperture position is set to POSITION 7, I will move it to 8 soon enough. In 2D mode I use position 6 min (keep in mind huge difference in brightness between position 6 and 8). I will move it down a shelf once the lamp starts to wear in, and get 1.8 gain or so. Perfect!
Edited by coderguy - 1/10/13 at 10:10pm

coderguy,
Its really interesting that even with native contrast that low (~1000:1) picture quality can get spectacular by just reducing brightness with 3D glasses.

Most 3D is bright scenes, the dark scenes are ok in 3D, but there isn't that many in most 3D content so I can live with the poorer blacks. I was primarily evaluating all attributes of 3D. JVC has the best contrast in 3D of every projector, and I'd still take the Benq 10x over the JVC for 3D.
Edited by coderguy - 1/11/13 at 7:59am

What other 3d glasses work well with this PJ. I still have it in and I really like it so far. It doesn't seem quite as sharp as my rs40 and electric focus would be nice, but overall I like it a lot, I just need to watch some 3d now? Any pairs found in big boxes work?

Presumably most any of the DLP-LINK glasses. The True Depth are probably about as comfortable as it gets according to many, I am just picky on comfort.

They are good and work fine.

My one complaint in 3D on this PJ is the bugged out sharpening controls in 3D. In order to get any sharpening, you have to have sharpening at +2 and detail enhance at +3 or higher (which is way too high and causes massive ringing). If you turn it any lower, it doesn't work at all (no effect, bug in 3D mode). Eventually I'll have to find a better sharpening method for 3D.

Do others also have this issue, or did I create the bug from my service menu adjustments?

So the refurb showed up. It was a Oct 2012 with 1.0 firmware. I can't get it to focus at all. It's blurry at it's sharpest point. Plus the iris makes all kinds of beep noises and the power supply has a loud constant buzz. I should have kept my original projector. I emailed Benq for another one. Ugh.

I think you are fine. I noticed I had to turn sharpness down to +1 or lower to get rid of the ringing. +1 might be introducing some as well, not sure. I need to look into this more.

Having said that, I find the image PLENTY sharp combined with my Darbee. I personally am not feeling the need for more here as it is already a bit sharper perceptually vs my 45.

That sucks man! Sorry to hear that. My first unit had a sharpness uniformity issue, but my second one is fine. Fingers crossed that third time is the charm for you. These projectors seem to be a crap shoot no matter what brand you choose.

Let me clarify, my point was that in 3D mode only, turning it any lower than +2 sharpness / +3 detail is BUGGED, meaning it has no effect on the image, it's the same as 0/0 if you go lower than +2/+3. In 2D mode it works as expected, sharpness +1 and Detail +1 has an effect, in 3D mode no effect is seen until you hit +2 s /+3 d.

Yes, the projector itself is very sharp, but I need at least a little sharpening in 3D mode due to the focus in an average video (don't need it for cartoons). It has no sharpening at all in 3d mode, unless you crank it to full. So the sharpening controls are useless and broken in 3D, unless you want to use +2sharp/+3detail or +2sharp/+4detail, it's broken.

You can easily tell the sharpness controls are broken in 3D by testing it on the Grand Canyon 3D video, you have two sharpness choices in 3D, maximum or none, everything between doesn't hold the setting.
Edited by coderguy - 1/12/13 at 1:02pm

Interesting, thanks for the info. I have not experimented much with this but will check it out. Only thing I have noticed so far is going from +2 to +1 sharpness in 3d reduces ringing considerably.

Hi -
I'm wondering if anyone has discovered the definitive functions of the aperture settings in the service menu, They are -

Aperture Position - I BELIEVE identifies the current aperture position on a numeric scale. But, what is "more open" and "more closed"? and does changing this do anything? I can't see any differnce
Min. aperture - Does this numeric value refer to the smallest the iris will close on a dark scene? Or, the most OPEN the iris will be (least irised) on a bright scene??
Max. Aperture - Ditto above question. And what do the 1-100 numbers mean? Percent open or closed?
Reset Min and Max Aperture - does this reset to default? When I choose it, nothing seems to move
DI level - I am assuming the agressiveness of the iris
Calibrate Aperture.- ???

Can anybody help??

I think I noticed this as well. In 3D I was changing the sharpness and it would change for a split second, ie I could see a sharpness improvement and the number would change, but then it immediately reverts to the lower sharpness value.

I haven't retested since I noticed this behavior on prometheus a few weeks ago.

I guess there's no hope of another firmware fix for this... Rediculous that it can't be user updated via USB.

In general I'm very happy with it though.

It sounds like you guys figured out how to get into the service menu and change the iris setting on these. I must have missed that. If you can do that how many "steps" are there? Gets brighter or dimmer as the number gets larger (sounds like it's opening up or brighter on higher number?) If you do this in there manually does it make the dynamic iris (weak as it is anyway) inactive?

And......how do you get into the service menu..... please?

Service menu =

Pull up regular menu first and go to information menu (far right menu). Then while on that menu, press Up-Down-Up-Down-Up-Down and then enter.

Service menu pops up, IRIS settings are second to the last menu from the right.

To enable fixed IRIS to darken the image, here is how:

Change min aperture, and current aperture position much lower (you may not see much affect until you go below say 20, usually at 5-10 is where the most affect will be seen).
Be careful, if you lower the IRIS min or current position below 6 or so, the image may go so dark you can no longer see the menu. If you have issues with the settings getting stuck or not moving when you change them, try lowering the max aperture as well to get them unstuck so to speak, or exit service menu change PJ modes back and forth and come back to it. The easiest way after disabling dynamic black to force the IRIS to go to manual mode is by setting BOTH the MIN and Current Aperture Position to the same value as required to darkening your image.

You cannot control the MAX brightness of the IRIS with Dynamic Black enabled (DI functional), it will get reset, so that is why you need to disable the DI if wanting to darken the image, hence by turning OFF dynamic black. The MIN Aperture settings will generally hold between projector reboots, but not always such as if going between modes they can get reset.

Current Aperture Position = The current position of the IRIS, sometimes when using fixed IRIS (dynamic black disabled for 2d) it is best to adjust this manually to match the min aperture position.

Maximum Aperture Position = If using dynamic black (DI capable), then how far the IRIS opens up in a bright scene.
--Doesn't really work, even if you tell it max is 20, it will still go to 80+... So disabling DI is needed if you want to keep the IRIS closed down.

Minimum Aperture Position = How far the IRIS closes in a dark scene, this setting does seem to hold, this will make the IRIS close harder on dark scenes.

Not entirely sure what changing IRIS level from 0,1,2 or whatever does, as this setting is pretty buggy to say the least. I assume the difference is this changes the aggressiveness of the algorithm, whereas the min aperture changes the amount the IRIS closes using the same algorithm.
Edited by coderguy - 1/19/13 at 9:11pm

Thanks for that Coder! I am going to try this out at some point as I need to reduce the 2d lumens a bit. I leave my DI off right now anyway, so this should work out good for me I hope.

Awesome coder...thanks!!! I assume there's nothing in there to improve the dynamic iris over stock settings available on main menu?

Actually there is, the min IRIS setting with DI enabled can reduce the IRIS or increase the IRIS amount that it closes down on dark scenes.
The Max Aperture setting when DI is enabled has no effect though and will be ignored, well really this MAX setting has no effect regardless that I can see other than when you hit a bug (hard to describe)...
(MAX = useless, because if DI is disabled MAX is not applicable, and when DI enabled it is ignored by the PJ AFIK).

It is funny because you can make it so the IRIS closes 100% to a pitch black room, and then tell your friends the Benq has 5,000,000:1 contrast, better than JVC
Of course that only applies when staring at a blank black screen and after making the IRIS really ridiculously bouncy.
Edited by coderguy - 1/14/13 at 12:46pm

^^^ So can you get it to close to be a little darker and NOT have it be annoying or bouncy? Actually improve its function, or that makes it too bouncy? You take the "Minimum" control for that downward in numbers scale, correct? How many clicks did you find you could go, if any, and make it work better, if that is possible without the negative tradeoffs? Does it crush blacks (.....errrrrr "dark grays") more when you do that to make it close further?

@coderguy... did you ever get the chance to measure the contrast ratio variation with offset and throw to see what the best (from a CR perspective) placement is?

@RON

It's hard to say, as it is purely a personal preference. You can move it down farther yes, but it will become bouncier. The lower the number = darker.

I think you'd probably need to calibrate the gamma to counteract it if you wanted to, but I have only done a very fast calibration and did not go into great detail yet (waiting for lamp to wear in).
So not sure if it is really crushing blacks so much as it is more like just lowering white level POP. There might be some black crush after you adjust the IRIS.

The majority of my viewing is still with DI disabled until the lamp wears in more. Also it appears you MIGHT be able to get the DI working in 3D even though DB is disabled in 3D. You can enable the IRIS in 3D by enabling dynamic black in the Service Menu to override the 2D setting, however I didn't really test it but unless I am crazy (and everyone is a little crazy), then I swear I saw the IRIS move in 3D mode dynamically after enabling DB mode in the Service Menu even with DB = disabled in the regular menu...

You can also alter between NO IRIS (bright mode for 3D) and fixed IRIS clamped down by changing back and forth between Dynamic Black = On and Off. It doesn't always work though (forget all the conditions for this to work). What I do for now when switching between 3D and 2D modes is just go into the SM menu and adjust the fixed IRIS position, but depending on settings some will just be able to click one button and not even have to mess with SM settings except until after lamp dims a bit.
Edited by coderguy - 1/14/13 at 2:15pm

Not yet, it will take me a full day because I will also have to measure it with so many different SM setting changes, so I'll try to do this weekend, just busy at work right now.

Just wanted to post my experiences with my w7000. I ordered several off Amazon, 4 to be exact. All had varying problems. Finally got one with no issues from BenQ service when they rellace my last amazon unit which had a loud colorwheel. One of them had a split line down the center on 3D movies. I was told turning Brilliant color on and off fixed this and it did. Sent it back anyway. All of them had iris shutting issues with dark video games ( Dead Dpace and Alan Wake). Haven't had this problem with movies. My new one did it for the first time in 600 hours last night. Service Menu settings don't save which is annoying. Also the "Source Searching" prompt is very annoying anytime the signal changes (like from Stereo to DTS). I've been told this could be my Onkyo receiver HDMI switch circuitry. It may not sound ljke it but I'm very pleased with the projector overall. Just wanted to outline the various issues. Titanic 3D and Hugo 3D are amazing BTW. makes Avatar seem 2nd rate. BenQ replaced my 3rd bum unit from Amazon within 3 days and it has had no provlems except the one time iris shutting. My first unit from Amazon was also good but it also ha the iris shutting problem and that's why I sent it back. So, depending on the content The five w7000 I've owned have all had the iris problem.

That's interesting. Complete opposite of the W6000. On the W6000, the "min" position controls the maximum open position of the iris, the "max" position controls the minimum closed position. So bigger "max" values causes the iris to close down more in dark scenes.

I didn't mess with the DI that much since I am using fixed IRIS mode, but I'll double check it next time to make sure that's correct. The whole thing is a little buggy sometimes.

Everything else you said is the same I think. Mine will go black if you go to a value less than 6 or so just as you state. I think that is what happens when the iris gets hosed up. Mine will go dark on a very bright scene making me think that it's actually getting in to that same area.

They must have changed it some though. I tried the idea of using the fixed iris mode when it started giving me trouble, but every time I turn the PJ off, it reverts back to the default value. So they must have changed the W7k so that the value sticks (at least part of the time).

You or someone might post the default values for reference. It's easy to change it and forget to make note of the original values.

I haven't really had any of the issues as many others here with my w7000, I do however occasionally find myself unhappy with the focus, like text and scores etc. I have had the unit professionally calibrated ( he was here for 7 hours!) and it looks fantastic but the occasional focus issue happens. It's weird, it's not all the time, I actually think its as simple as what goes in to unit comes out on the screen but I have tried to tweak the focus a few times since the calibration. I do have foot traffic directly above the theater in living room, meaning a 4 year old jumping up and down lol. I wonder if this can throw off the focus enough to notice? The calibrator used a monocle as well as test pattern to focus, I hate I can't stand at screen and adjust it like my w10000. Anyone else have occasional focus issues?

Also, does everyone use FI for 3D? I have not tried it I don't think, the 3D is amazing on this thing already. Do you turn it on before you play 3D material or leave it on? I do not like the soap opera effect with 2D at all its horrible.