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BenQ LK990

98K views 1K replies 111 participants last post by  Dave Harper 
#1 ·
#2 ·
Unfortunately, we won't know until someone gets a unit for testing. Hopefully Dave H can secure a unit and I maybe able to get one as well. The previous model is excellent however. The only thing that concerns me is the color gamut coverage. I hope they didn't trade color for lumens, because the LK970 doesn't need to really be any brighter. If BenQ improved the laser control in standard viewing without any pumping then the unit should be an excellent performer. Honestly, they just needed to make the laser dimming about 20% more aggressive and that would have been perfect for me. For the eco blank mode, I can see 3m:1 if they further reduced the laser power or even cut the power in that mode. The current model get 100k:1 at about 15-20% laser power in eco blank.
 
#3 ·
Hi 12GAGE,

I placed my order for LK990 and have to wait 4-6 weeks, LK970 do have stock.


My only concern is the Color Gamut, the official site said it only can go 92% of BT709, it is a big step backward from LK970 as it can go around 90% of DCI-P3.

However, LK990 supports HDR and BenQ advertised that their HDR color rendering is better than other HDR projector brands and they also mentioned that the lens of LK990 have been optimized for HDR projection.

Actually I am very worry about the color of LK990 will very under saturation, but I wait more lumen so that I choose LK990 but not X12000H.
 
#4 · (Edited)
BenQ likely designated thr lk990 as business/pro due to its very high brightness suitable for ambient light as it's.key feature.

On the other hand, the ht8060 and ht9060 are likely designated home theater as they focus more on color accuracy, wider color gamut (ht9060 only), lower brightness thats adequate for dark HT, and lower likelihood of RBE due to faster color cycling.
 
#5 ·
I asked about the color gamut and the Dealer replied me as follow:-

LK970: REC709 - 95% chip 0.66"
LK990: REC709 - 92% chip 0.67"

what difference between 0.66 and 0.67 chip?

Seems LK970/LK990 can't go beyond BT709 color gamut?
 
#7 · (Edited)
The BenQ announcement for their 11 new projectors discusses the LK990 (0.66" chip; 6000 lumens) and LK952 (0.47" chip; 5000 lumens).


In situations where projection targets a larger audience, as is the case with companies or amphitheater exposures BenQ recommends the use of the projector LK952, with a DLP Single Projection System 0.47 "XPR 4K that can reproduce 4K UHD images with 5000 ANSI lumens and contrast ratio 100,000: 1. Their diagonal can vary between 30 and 300 "after a projection ratio of 1.36-2.18 with zoom 1.6x

And when the content to be played is the entertainment for bars and cinemas, BenQ LK990 is the best choice. It uses a DLP Single 0.67 "4K for Project 4K UHD images with a 30 to 300-inch diagonal, 6000 ANSI Lumens and 100,000: 1 Contrast Luminance with a projection ratio of 1.38-2.02 and Zoom 1.47x IP6X is also ce certified for IP6X certified dust and can therefore be used safely for outdoor cinemas, including projections in any position, and in addition, the LK990 uses a revolutionary fluid cooling system and advanced temperature sensors to work for extended periods of time



The LK952 (https://business-display.benq.com/en/findproduct/projector/installation-projectors/lk952/spec.html) is already available for (pre)order from B&H and other places at a nice price point. Since the LK990 has the larger chip, larger case, and cooling, it should be several $k more expensive than the LK952. The LK990 is a big unit, and at this point I'm leaning towards the smaller size, lower cost, and lighter weight of the LK952.

I would really like a BenQ DCI-P3 HLD LED projector (HT9060, X12000H, and the previous models), but that is beyond my price range. The LK990 doesn't appear to have the larger color gamut that HLD LED's provide.


Scott

Edit: BenQ's announcement mentioned above https://vaaju.com/romaniaeng/benq-launches-11-projectors-for-business-and-entertainment/
 
#8 ·
#9 ·
Does it matter, because if they are listing either as native, then it is complete fiction.
 
#34 ·
Am I the only one who find dynamic contrast annoying, like yeah it's nice to boost the specs but for watching video I get instantly bothered when it goes on/off, much more noticeable than the dreaded rainbows. I'd rather they do something else, but inherently it's just the nature of projection that the contrast will never be able to be on par with like OLED TVs and similar. When you have a bright pixel next to a dark pixel, it's not problem for an OLED, very minimal light bleed from pixel to pixel, but not possible in projection, the light from the bright pixel will always illuminate the darker one to some degree.
 
#35 ·
I think the bleed problem has to do with the screen type. Otherwise it's not a big issue if the right screen is used.

There's a new Christie projector that uses a lot of local dimming like LED TVs to achieve nearly OLED like quality as reported. But that projector cost in the 6 figures. I am sure if Benq does it, i'll be like $15K price tag...
 
#43 ·
Christie is using a similar idea i think for their super high end projector, their is a thread about it in the $20 000+ projectors forum, it has 30 000 lumens with 20million:1 native contrast so practically a giant OLED, arguably the perfect projector but would cost like half a million dollars hahhahahahah, maybe in 20 years it ll be less than 30k and we can afford it 😛
 
#45 · (Edited)
Yeah the big difference between DLP and LCD "FALD" is that with DLP you can do per-pixel dimming like OLED. With LCD you cant even come anywhere close to that due to the physical size of the LEDs.

However this tech is a long long ways away from consumer territory due to patents by pro pj companies and limitations imposed by TI on the consumer market to keep the pro market thriving.
 
#46 ·
Oh great, another projector to think about. This thing wasn't even on my radar but sure seems like it has potential. Thanks for nothing AVS projector freaks ;):p
 
#51 ·
The 9050 measured almost 100% of P3. The problem with it though was that it was actually IN P3, not 2020. So it has the gamut coverage, it was just using the wrong color profile so it didn't work properly with a 2020 input (colors all shift). I explained this to them in the meeting and was hoping they would offer a firmware fix for this, but I haven't seen anything about it.

As for shadow detail, it is technically still shadow detail, it is just that the information is obvious for different reasons than most post. It is typically just brighter at low APL levels (due to lack of contrast). Eventually as you go lower and lower in APL, the black floor becomes the limit and you just get a straight line. If you were to measure it for BT1886 this becomes REALLY obvious as the DLP will come out of black REALLY fast and you end up with an overall gamma that is much higher (2.1-2.2) whereas a display with high contrast will be closer to the intended 2.4 gamma (2.3-2.4). When you take two displays like this and do a split screen comparison in a properly calibrated environment, the difference is staggering. But I realize that most people don't watch content in the real world like that. But once you've seen these types of comparisons and realize how much you are compromising, it is hard to go back. I'm sure some here feel the same way about super brightness though, and that is understandable, especially with different viewing environments.

For HDR DLP needs to be as bright as possible to make up for the range it lacks on the lower end. The brighter you can drive it, the more biased your eye becomes to help simulate a better black floor. With the right tone mapping it will probably look great for most content out there. But in a perfect world you'd have both, and other than cost no object R&D designs we are a long way from that regardless of what projector you're using.
 
#53 ·
Thanks Kris. I think your quote hit the nail on the head about HDR on this unit. It is pretty bright 3600-4200 calibrated lumens, can put out good color and has an excellent lens to resolve max detail. With the right tone mapping it is awesome. I use MadVR and can't say enough good things about the dynamic mapping. With all that being said, this unit can be calibrated and put out solid images without any magic settings. It honestly is a typical DLP unit (same drawbacks with placement and black floor) but one of the 1st laser DLP units with a great lens and excellent brightness. 4K HDR is a bit of a different animal and when you see a projector that can deliver the good in that space it catches your eye. It would be nice to have a display without compromises but in the realistic consumer space it may be awhile before we get there.



The 9050 measured almost 100% of P3. The problem with it though was that it was actually IN P3, not 2020. So it has the gamut coverage, it was just using the wrong color profile so it didn't work properly with a 2020 input (colors all shift). I explained this to them in the meeting and was hoping they would offer a firmware fix for this, but I haven't seen anything about it.

As for shadow detail, it is technically still shadow detail, it is just that the information is obvious for different reasons than most post. It is typically just brighter at low APL levels (due to lack of contrast). Eventually as you go lower and lower in APL, the black floor becomes the limit and you just get a straight line. If you were to measure it for BT1886 this becomes REALLY obvious as the DLP will come out of black REALLY fast and you end up with an overall gamma that is much higher (2.1-2.2) whereas a display with high contrast will be closer to the intended 2.4 gamma (2.3-2.4). When you take two displays like this and do a split screen comparison in a properly calibrated environment, the difference is staggering. But I realize that most people don't watch content in the real world like that. But once you've seen these types of comparisons and realize how much you are compromising, it is hard to go back. I'm sure some here feel the same way about super brightness though, and that is understandable, especially with different viewing environments.

For HDR DLP needs to be as bright as possible to make up for the range it lacks on the lower end. The brighter you can drive it, the more biased your eye becomes to help simulate a better black floor. With the right tone mapping it will probably look great for most content out there. But in a perfect world you'd have both, and other than cost no object R&D designs we are a long way from that regardless of what projector you're using.
 
#58 · (Edited)
As a 5 days user of LK990 and a professional calibrator, my comments on this LK990 is:-

1 the user have to lower the contrast from 50 to 30 to get the stable color temp and turns out the lumens have been bring down a lot....but it still have 110 nits in SDR and 200 nit in HDR in a 100" screen, the simple word is the maximum brightness is unusable ;
2. there is no gamma adjustment in HDR mode, the user only can adjust the HDR brightness "HDR -1 -2 0 +1 +2";
3 the color in cinema mode is quite under saturation
4. the picture is dim and flat in HDR mode, I have to adjust the HDR Brightness to "+2" to get an acceptable image brightness, when I turned off the HDR in UB900 the color depth and dynamic is much better in HDR mode.
5. SmartEco can project a true black screen and it works like DC1 on UHZ65
6. the color accuracy is disappointed me especially in HDR mode, the color's brightness is too high and no way to bring it down and the saturation is too under, the color hue also act weird, in playing the Greatest Showman Hugh Jackman's suite should be red but LK990 made it a little bit pink look, the 100% cyan in REC709 is go to green side when 75% cyan is go to blue side. Just like all DLP HDR projector with 25% 50% are under saturation but the 75% is way over.....
Compare to my 3 years old HT1075 entry level 1080P, HT1075 I can get
 
#59 ·
As a 5 days user of LK990 and a professional calibrator, my comments on this LK990 is:-

1 the user have to lower the contrast from 50 to 30 to get the stable color temp and turns out the lumens have been bring down a lot....but it still have 110 nits in SDR and 200 nit in HDR in a 100" screen, the simple word is the maximum brightness is unusable ;
2. there is no gamma adjustment in HDR mode, the user only can adjust the HDR brightness "HDR -1 -2 0 +1 +2";
3 the color in cinema mode is quite under saturation
4. the picture is dim and flat in HDR mode, I have to adjust the HDR Brightness to "+2" to get an acceptable image brightness, when I turned off the HDR in UB900 the color depth and dynamic is much better in HDR mode.
5. SmartEco can project a true black screen and it works like DC1 on UHZ65
6. the color accuracy is disappointed me especially in HDR mode, the color's brightness is too high and no way to bring it down and the saturation is too under, the color hue also act weird, in playing the Greatest Showman Hugh Jackman's suite should be red but LK990 made it a little bit pink look, the 100% cyan in REC709 is go to green side when 75% cyan is go to blue side. Just like all DLP HDR projector with 25% 50% are under saturation but the 75% is way over.....
Compare to my 3 years old HT1075 entry level 1080P, HT1075 I can get
 
#64 ·
Thanks Anthony. I don't know if I would have tried to calibrate strictly to PQ though, projectors are designed to be perfect PQ. Have you tried the BT2390 workflow? Might get better results.

Also, since this projector even advertises that it can't even reach 709 fully, I wouldn't have expected much from 2020. I almost feel like with a display like this (despite the light output), converting to SDR709 might be the better approach. Most UHD players will allow this. Then you can calibrate to the appropriate base gamma (typically 2.4), 709 color (which I would hope would have better tracking) and still get the benefits of 10 bit and 4K.

After spending a few hours on the DPI I mentioned before, that is what I ended up doing and the results looked MUCH better to EVERYONE that looked at it. Funny thing is, almost everyone that came in afterwards was talking about how it was the best looking HDR they'd seen on a projector and how the colors looked amazing only to have to hear me say that it was actually converted to SDR and that the gamut was still only 709. I definitely don't think it was anywhere near the best projection of HDR I've seen, but it looked WAY better than it did when I showed up.
 
#65 ·
I haven't try 2390 yet....I use 2084 PQ only
 
#93 ·
Sounds like some folks in Australia are liking the BenQ LK990 (and LK970 presumably) and realize what I’ve been touting for many months now!

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/to...ctor-releases/?do=findComment&comment=4031343

minireza:

.....I viewed the LK990 off a 1.1 - 1.2 gain (from memory) and in other room had a 1.3 gain Severtson screen which was honestly stunning. Not cheap, but it was incredible. Both were AT screens (the owner wavetrain certainly knows his stuff!)

Understand that a typical acoustically transparent screen is lower gain, but many can be bought with a higher gain (obviously negatives may come along with this).

In the last few weeks I've seen and viewed the following;

Sony 870
Sony 570
Barco balder cinemascope
Benq lk990

From. 130 inch to 170 inches

The one I was most impressed by was the Benq. The combination of calibration, lumagen, fantastic AT screen and beatiful nice and large cinemascope aspect, it honestly impressed me the most.

It just goes to show, for these projectors to stretch their legs, it's important to have the room setup to the level these projectors deserves.........
 
#96 ·
I thought It wasn't released in the US yet?
 
#97 ·
I think it was just released. I heard January 19th a while ago.

My LK990 is supposed to be delivered tomorrow! I can't wait to try it out and report back, although I have to warn you that I have no calibration experience (or software)... If anyone has any suggestions for a newbie, it would be greatly appreciated.

Where did you get it from?
 
#100 ·
This is great news that the projector is now available in the US. My wife is actually encouraging me to upgrade. So, I need to jump it!

I will be upgrading from an old Sharp XVZ10000 DLP And have been waiting for a reasonably priced 4K, laser projector. I currently have an old 110” Da-Lite Cosmopolitan Electrol screen. I will be upgrading that as well.

While I will wait to hear your review of the projector, I’m assuming that it will be at least as good as the reviews for the 970. Accordingly, does anybody have a recommendation for a good screen to go along with this projector. I’d like to stick with Da-Lite if possible because I assume the installation of the same size screen will be simplest. However, if there is a must-have screen from a different manufacturer I will do that.
 
#109 ·
He posted it arrived. Then nothing. I suspect he is waiting on a replacement. That is the most logical assumption. That or he is enjoying the projector. If he hated it, I think he would have posted so.
 
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