Official BenQ W7000 Owners Thread - Page 105

I hope Benq releases W8000, with DLP chip DC3 or DC4 in a bigger chassis like the W5000 which was very quiet.

Amen to that.

It's about time Benq brought out a new flagship.
A DC4 with the W6/7000's light output would have me and many others opening our wallets again.

Although what with the old W9000 and W10000, they might need to call it something else.... the W11000?

Benq... are you reading this?

Hopefully when they do they actually wait until the unit is ready for prime time. I was originally going to get the W7000 in late 2011, but all the issues that were being reported did not leave me with any confidence in that decision and I ended up going in another direction.

So Coderguy, are you saying that the quality of 3D on the W7000 really isn’t much of an improvement over the HD33? I’m asking because I own an HD33 (which does have nice 3D) and I’ve been seriously considering buying a 7000. I’m trying to weigh out whether the “upgrade” is worthy enough to spend $1800 for. I’ve been researching the differences between the 2 projectors for over a week now and I’m still sitting on the fence with this.

I think you should check out the Benq W1070.

I wouldn't think so, but I never saw 3d on the Optoma hd33, only saw 2d. Still, there is no reason for the Benq to be much better than the Optoma's 3D, and most reviewers all praised the Optoma similarly except it isn't quite as bright as the Benq.

I don't know for sure though, the Benq is sharper and all that.

I like the idea of 'sharper.' I'm looking for 'sharper.' Thanks for your input. That helps.

I have checked out the W1070... and it sounds interesting... but it's still new and not many reviews to go by yet. Benq's not pitching it as one of their high-end home theater projectors like the W6000 and W7000. For the price (which is nice) I can't imagine that the 1070 would stand up to the 7000, but I don't know. The jury's still out on that. Still keeing an eye on it though.
Edited by Steven414 - 3/14/13 at 6:38pm

I only got to watch the hd33 for 10-15 minutes, does your HD33 go out of focus a bit on the edges, the one I saw did. I guess that is the biggest advantage, well that and the Benq's ability to control the IRIS. The Mits hc4000 also goes out of focus on the edges a bit, I think most of the cheap DLP's except for the w7000 do this (well maybe the w1070 does not either, not sure). It is going to be more of an advantage for documentaries or gaming than it is for most movies. In movies the extra sharpness isn't that noticeable to most people unless you sit super close to the screen.

I love the Benq's sharpness, but I still dislike its sharpening filters. It needs smaller steps, the sharpening between 1 and 2 is ridiculous, 1 is like barely sharpened and 2 is way over-blown. Actually even with 1 there is some ringing, and I think the issue is just a poor sharpening algorithm, though it has enough natural sharpness to sort of not need it as much I guess. It would be nice to see an RC-like sharpening filter on the Benq (and yes I have the Darbee, but that's more of a luminance detail enhancer than sharpness).

 

I looked at a W7000 just yesterday that corners lost focus (rather badly). I think it's more luck of the draw than anything. Some models might be more lucky than others but still...

Hey guys,

Sorry for potentially asking a silly question, but if keeping dynamic iris Off, whats the difference between messing with the iris settings in the service menu to simply turning down the light output (ie contrast control to get darker blacks?

Hey Guys - just wanted to note that BenQ has lowered the price another $100 on the w7k on the official BenQ store.

http://shop.benq.us/ProductDetail.aspx?id=389

Maybe this signifies a new model will be showing up soon??

This is going to be a luck of the draw thing from what I have seen. My first 7000 was clearly out of focus as you got away from center, especially on the left side as I remember. My replacement 7000 does not have this issue.

I agree with you about the sharpness control. Anything above "0" shows ringing.

Yep. My first 7000 was a bit ugly with focus uniformity as you drifted further out from center.

Yah it is luck of the draw in some cases, but I've seen 5 or so Mits hc4000's, there was very little difference between the different units as far as focus uniformity (a tiny bit). So some of these other PJ's just are not as sharp as the Benq even if you get a perfect sample. I think the hd33 and the Mits hc4000 both fall into that category. I think the variance in the lens assembly is more common with Benqs than some of the other DLP's, perhaps because at its best the Benq has better sharpness.

Great info and very interesting. So is the 7000 right near the top as far as sharpest projectors you have seen? The BenQ is the sharpest projector I have owned, but I have not seen all the projectors you, Zombie and some other members have seen.

Pretty much, except maybe when I saw the Runco LS-5, though it was in Dallas at a showroom, so I didn't get to test it so to speak. It might have been a little sharper but I could not tell just by watching their demo material. I think the Runco had better sharpening controls at least, but the Benq was almost as sharp or appeared so. It is the sharpest projector I've seen in my home at least. I think it is sharper than the commercial Sony 4k projector even, but not sure about the home version of the Sony 4k (Sony 1000es). I'm not sure how the 4k stuff will help sharpness on LCOS, since the pixels get so much smaller you'd think the picture would be much sharper on 4k projectors, but who knows.

Our JVC actually has better sharpening controls over the Benq though, but you can only turn up the JVC's sharpening really high on certain sources or same problem - ringing. The Benq just needs better sharpening controls.

Well guys, after over a week of reading and re-reading reviews and sitting on the fence, it was a rough decision to cut loose on the $, but I finally decided to hit the “GO” button. My new Benq W7000 will arrive on Tuesday. I’m feelin geeked and guilty at the same time… but I’ll get over the guilty part soon… probably right around Tuesday or so.

I’ll be updating, for sure!
Edited by Steven414 - 3/15/13 at 5:54pm

Are u upgrading from something else or is this your first projector? I have 7000 as a first and am very pleased with it. Great pictures quality/sharpness. The black levels could be better but it rarely detracts from the great at home cinema experience. 

Actually this is my second projector. I have the Optoma HD33, which is a nice projector for the price. I suppose you could say I’m upgrading to a certain extent for a sharper brighter image, not to mention lens shifting capability, which the HD33 does not have. It's also nice to know that I'll always have a back-up incase one of the projectors peters out on me. Now that I've owned a projector I don't ever want to be without one.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the train, hold the train, hold the train!

I've noticed that the price on the 7000 has been slowly dropping over the past week, which left me feeling a bit suspicious that something might be going on down at Benq headquaters. Well, I just read that Benq is releasing their new W1400 next month, priced around $1500. Soooo, I decided to cancel my order for the 7000 for now and wait & see what the skinny is with this new projector.

Yea, that would make sense. Besides, if there was a replacement for the 7000 scheduled to be released in just a matter of weeks I expect ya’all would know about it by now.

Oh well… that’s probably a good thing cuz 15 minutes after I submitted to canceled my order I received confirmation that my order was shipped and on its way. It’s all good…

I am a big time 3D fan. That’s what originally compelled me to buy the 7000. It has great reviews in that department.

I have 2 pair of 3D corp specs, which aren’t too bad, and 1 pair of ultraclear, which I like best cuz they’re not as dark as the 3d corp.

Edit:
ok... 3rd generation ya say... Have to tried the ultraclear? If so, how do they compare?
Edited by Steven414 - 3/16/13 at 5:40pm

Just read your review and they sound really nice. Also did some price checking and see they're really pricey too. Do they serve you breakfast in bed? ;o)

I will probably be checking them out eventually but allready over my budget for now.

BTW, what do you mean by "red flash?" Apparently this is something I haven't noticed with my HD33. Just curious...


Update:
When I first started doing a search for the BQ specs I was seeing prices of $150 and up (WOW)!
I just went to BQ's sight and found them for $99. Still pricey, but better.
Edited by Steven414 - 3/16/13 at 7:12pm

Are these new units shipping with the firmware update? If not is there a way to DIY?
Just reading pjreview site says it has some improvements.

Current units ship with version 1.0, which is supposed to be like 1.03 was on the original W7000 models. They made some changes to the internals apparently.