[teluan]

If you are considering purchasing the BenQ 6100 as an inexpensive projector feel free to post your questions here and I (and others) will do their best to respond.


I wrote a review back in July about my BenQ 6100 and had nothing but good things to say about it. Well I’ve now logged close to 160 hours (a surprise to me as I am using it virtually every other day and thought it would be a lot higher in 3.5 months) and the WOW factor has STILL NOT worn off.


To be honest I really wanted a higher resolution projector at a minimum of 1024X768 or higher and felt that I had to settle on 800x600 due to budget constraints (basement development was way over budget). Typically when I settle on something I regret it! The BenQ 6100 purchase I am happy to say is anything but a regret.


The picture (which is ever so slightly defocused to almost eliminate screen door), is VERY good even on a 110†screen sitting 14.5 feet away. The picture from my HTPC running enhanced wide screen DVDs looks like film…and that is not only my opinion. I’ve shown at least 30 people my dedicated Home Theatre room with the BenQ 6100 and every person has been shocked at how good the picture…and even more shocked at the price. My wife’s good friend and her s husband was over last weekend and he was very QUIET when I showed it off to him. Turns out that his lack of words was due to his regret, as he just purchased a similarly priced Sony WEGA 32 inch T.V. that in his word a few days later “paled in every respect to the projectorâ€. He is now trying to return his WEGA so that he can buy a 6100 for his home theatre room.


I had my doubts about 800x600 resolution being adequate, especially since my contact lens given me overly sharp vision, but until HDTV or HD-DVD takes off in a more substantial way I see no reason to upgrade.


As stated at the beginning of my post, I would like to offer anyone considering purchasing the BenQ 6100 or are in the market for an inexpensive projector to feel free to post their questions in this post.

 

[triggle]

Glad ti hear your still pumped about your projector. I have a couple questions for you:


What kind of screen do you use.

What res can you do in 16:9

How does it look with PC input - HTPC surfing etc

Do you have a HW tuner ?

What SW are you using ?

 

[MartinK]

I don't mean to bash you teluan, but I feel no review or even praise is complete without pointing out any possible weaknesses. There's also something to be gained from looking at more expensive products in order to gain a frame of reference to compare against.


Cretainly almost all projectors are impressive to first time users and TV watchers. I like the product for its price! Normally when you buy from the lowest end of the market you end up with inferior equipment that makes you want to upgrade as soon as possible. Not with this unit, it's a great value in itself but nevertheless I need to point out a few disadvantages:


(1) There is only one hi-res input. Swap cables or lose signal in a VGA switchbox.


(2) There is no DVI input. So you can't use the fancy DVI scaling DVD players that are flooding the market right now (the Zenith DVB318 being the only exception)


(3) Economic mode unsuitable for video due to overly bright whites


(4) (IMO) hard to position, should have either shorter or lager throw distance, or wider zoom range


(5) 480p would be a more practical resolution to avoid extra scaling in the projector.


I had the chance to see the Optoma H30 in action and would have preferred it over the 6100. Also see this review which has a comparison at the end: http://www.projectorcentral.com/optoma_h30.htm. Of course the H30 is not $800 so I ended up with the Benq


Current setup

PB6100

Dalite High Contrast Matte White 50x50" screen

MCE2005 HTPC connected over 25ft tri-coax VGA cable (nvDVD 4.0, zoom player, ffdshow resize to 800x600)

XBox connected over 3ft VGA-to-component cable


HTPC has 2x nvtv cards. Analog cable TV looks terrible on the big screen, but that's not the fault of the projector it just reveals it.

 

[Troubleshooter]

Wish I still felt so happy about my PB6200...I see its flaws oh-so-painfully these days On the other hand for so little cash, it certainly ain't bad And dang its bright!

-Trouble

 

[metablob]

I was in the market for a projector and in a bit of a quandry wrt the plunging price performance of projectors. I don't have HD yet and may not have it within the next 12 months so HD performance isn't a priority. I thought a good compromise was an XGA projector - 1024x576 for 16:9 so I was looking for a deal on the 6200. However one of the local retailers had a typo on their web page that resulted in an additional $200 discount (Cdn) over the Benq rebate for the 6100. I couldn't resist - I essentially got the 6100 for $300 more than the bulb itself. I brought it in to work to demo it for some of the guys who were curious - 2 of them ran out and bought them as well. I have now have 30 days to evaluate it. I was pleasantly surprised with the lack of pixelization from this SVGA panel. The colours looked great and I'm sure that calibration will only improve them. The only potential problem may be the rainbows which I can see quite easily but don't really bother me. Now I have to convert my basement - but that will be a labour of love - I just hadn't planned on doing it so soon. All in all excluding the sound system, my home theater will be less than $1000 CDN taxes inc. as I am going with a DIY screen. Now I can wait 2 years for the price/performance of real HDTV projectors to drop into my price range.

 

[Swat_R2]

Quote:

Originally posted by Troubleshooter Wish I still felt so happy about my PB6200...I see its flaws oh-so-painfully these days On the other hand for so little cash, it certainly ain't bad And dang its bright! -Trouble

What flaws? I've had my 6100 for a month and a half now and it's up there with one of the best tech purchases I've ever made. Sure you can spend 2-100 times more for some extra improvements, but each time I fire it up I'm still amazed at how awesome a picture, for how cheap a price.


Sick of demoing it to friends and family though! But seriously, their reaction is all the same.. "WOW!" followed by "That's ALL you paid?"


So far my setup has caused 3 people to start looking into FP, pretty funny

 

[fiLa]

hello,


I bought the benq 6100 for about 888euro last friday, it should arrive tomorrow. I manly will use it for TV, PS2 and PC gaming. Sometimes DVD of course too.

I have my ps2 connectet to my pc via a dvb card on svideo input (picture quality is mutch more detailed then with composit video).

the throw distance will be 4,5m and the screen hopefully about 210x160cm

Im from germany and its my first pj, at the beginning I throw the screen on a plain white wall since my budget doesnt allow a extra screen yet.

So my questions are:


1) will the quality still be good when using a wall for projection

2) anyone using 6100 with a ps2? how is the quality?

3) how is the image offset of the pj? eg if it is standing at the bottum how many cm is the picture above/beyond the buttom

4) on the benq homepage it says the projector does 100hz but in the manual I only see max 85hz. will I be able to use 100hz @ 1152x864?

5) I got an DVI out on my gfx card (fx5900xt) with an DVI to VGA converter, I plan to use this for the projector, I hope it will work well with no quality loose.

6) I bought a cheap (8euro) vga monitor cable 5m in lengh, It is very thin and Im worried about that there will be a quality loss when using such a cable.

7) The cable doesnt have the pin nr. 7, Im not sure why but its not there, I connected it to my monitor but it worked fine, will it work for the pj too?


well I hope I got everything, thanks if you have time to answer.

 

[Swat_R2]

1) Yes, it looks great on my plain off-white wall, but I would like to paint it very soon to get an even better image.

2) I've heard PS2 looks pretty bad (Jaggy). Some Xbox games look pretty bad, but most Xbox games look very nice. Your PC gaming will look much better.

3) The offset is a bit of a pain, I have mine about 6" down from an 8' roof and I have to tilt it quite a bit to center the image.

4) Best looking PC resolution is 800*600 at 85/100Hz You can run that res but since it's not native it will be blurry and not pretty.

5) No quality loss that's perceivable - at least not to me

6) Get good cables, you might see some ghosting, etc.

7) Lol.. get a new cable!

 

[fiLa]

thanks for the input


2) what do you mean with "jaggy"? I guess there will be lots of pixels visible since i can see them on my 19" crt too (ps2 technic...)

4) well, my desktop res is 1152x864 @ 100hz and I dont want to change it when using the projector since Im doing TV, PS2, DVD all from my PC so it would be a pain to change the hz everytime I want to use the pj

7) its a cable linke this:
computeruniverse.net/images3/big/90096365.jpg

(of course not so high quality)

as you can see it is missing the pin nr.9 too (I thougt it was 7 sorry..)


edit:


Since Im using the second monitor out of my gfx card I wonder If I can change the resolution and hz only affecting this monitor out. maybe someone knows.

 

[benhur]

I have had my 6100 for 8 months and approx 130 hrs and I am still amazed at the picture I get out of this product. It is by no means perfect, but the enjoyment per dollar that me and my family (and often extended family and friends) get out of this product is an awesome return on investment. The only other projectors I have seen are lcd's that are several years old. I am sure that there are much better projectors out there, but from the research I have done, the "bang for the buck" is hard to beat with the 6100.


I have two young kids and live 45 minutes away from the closest theater. So it makes having a movie night with my wife a lot easier. Besides, I am the restless type and I don't think I would have enjoyed watching the LOTR Trilogy stuck in a theater seat.



I use the 6100 for 95% DVD's and rest is watching HDTV special events, SuperBowl, NCAA Basketball Tourney, and some NFL. I run dvd's off a HTPC, it gives the best picture quality in my opinion, through a 25' SVGA cable and displayed on a Da-Lite pulldown screen. My surround sound is Infinity SM's in front and Cerwin Vega's in back and sub. All this runs off an Onkyo 601 receiver.


Ben

 

[Troubleshooter]

My issues are with the colors mainly. Also, the deinterlacer is AAAAWEFUL on 1080i material. My old jet engine LT150 beat the Benq hands down on both accords and that's not saying much! Didn't see it at first and lauded the colors initially but I've yet to be able to get them right. Don't get me wrong, this is a good PJ! There's nothing else at close to the price IMO or I would have bought it! Again, the thing is wonderfully bright and ohhhhh so quiet compared to the LT150. Guys buying your first PJ, don't let this post freak you out. If I never had another to compare it to, I'd never know. It's NOT a bad PJ! Maybe the lesson here is that once you get bitten your standards go up? Makes me listen to the hardcore guys that see tons of PJ's even more these days. I was going to buy an 8700 but couldn't justify the cost knowing that a 1080 native pj would be out for the same price in just a year or so and I KNOW I'll want to upgrade to it.

-Trouble

 

[Swat_R2]

I hear you troubleshooter, I'm sure if I saw a primo model too It would be hard to go back to "econo". But if I buy a new Audi and I see a Ferarri - yeah, the Ferarri is sexy - but it's way out of my price range and my Audi still kicks ass


If I'm paying 4-6x the cost for something, I expect something 4-6x better than what I currently have. If it meant spending double for the same resolution, only with a bit better color saturation, and say.. a deinterlacer I'd hardly use, there's no way I'd pay double.


But yeah, I think this little sucker will last me until a 1080 native comes out for a reasonable price - it's true when you go FP for the first time you can never go back

 

[teluan]

Hello Triggle,


Your questions may have already been answered here, but let me answer from my experience.



What kind of screen do you use.


I used a plain white wall. I used Behr Ultra Pure White Flat. I had considered a screen before I got the projector based on some articles I read, however, colour, contrast, and brightness are all extremely good and for me leaves NOTHING to be desired. I figured why spend the extra money. I’ve been to a few of the high end HT shops in Calgary with the higher end screens and I can honestly say, I see NO improvement, other than a slightly different picture. Perhaps of a projector that does not have as high a contrast ratio or is not as bright. The BenQ 6100 is so bright at times that you have to squint in dark scenes with a bright spot (e.g. flashlight, welders touch in Aliens)


What res can you do in 16:9


No more than 800x450. Sounds low, and it is by any definition, but the picture that results really looks like high def. Not just my oppionin, but every person that has been to my house and seen it swear it is high def.


How does it look with PC input - HTPC surfing etc


I only use my HTPC (low end older PC, you do not need much more than a 1Ghz to run DVD software flawlessly) for DVD’s and Xbox over component for games. I run my HTPC at 800x600 to match the projectors native resolution and to scale DVDs in the digital domain versus analog.




Do you have a HW tuner ?


I do not watch TV on my projector. I will when HDTV becomes more of a reality, but even then, I prefer games and movies, not regular T.V. (this is becoming an increasing trend for the 18-34 year old male).



What SW are you using ?


I am using an older version 4 of PowerDVD (came free with my $54 DVD player and the newer version 5 has no new features that I would use).



I will close with this, since getting my projector, I have seen more flaws at my local Cineplex (higher end new theatre), with the picture and sound since getting my 6100. Colour contrast and most noticeable focus are rarely better. Go figure? Perhaps this is because theatre screens are so much bigger, or because the heat from the lamp kills the film, or maybe the projectionist is to busy making sure the films start, rather than making sure they are calibrated. I don’t know, but even my non technical wife has stated that the theatre in our basement looks better.

 

[Swat_R2]

I just finished putting on my second coat of Behr Ultra White about half an hour ago. I gotta say - after running on an off-white wall for the last month or so and finally getting off my butt to paint, there's a definite difference. The colors seem to jump out, and the image is definitely brighter - and very plasma like in my opinion (I know, I could get shot for a statement like that).


I thought the Behr would cause a decrease in black levels - it's not that bad, but the blacks could be a bit better. But personally? I think I would rather have the added brightness/colors for the "Wow!" effect rather than showing off "hey guys, look at the black folds in his jacket, and how definied they are".


I'm not a videophile by any means, I do however like tweaking for the best possible results, and I love a good image.


One thing I have to point out from the way I have my projector calibrated now, is how whites tend to "sparkle" in heavy white scenes (ie. snow/mountains). Lowering the DLP Contrast in the service menu helps this a bit.


I really wish there was a way to save the video mode settings so I don't have to manually change from G2.2 to PhotoG2 every time, that's a bit of a gripe. I find the default 2.2 setting to be a little washed out.

 

[crumbaker]

Does anybody know what the actual lumen output of the 6100 when it's in video mode?


Trying to decide between this and the Optoma H30.

 

[Swat_R2]

I haven't seen the H30, but given the fanbase it has on AVS I'd definitely give it a go, if you have the extra money. Apparently it has some great color. I think after you put any projector into econo mode and calibrate it, the lumens drops a bit from what they claim.

 

[Marco T]

MartinK,


Take a trip into the service menu, you can make econo mode look pretty much like cinema mode by reducing white peak and a little contrast.

 

[fiLa]

how to get access to the service menu?

is there a option to reset the settings to default?

 

[fiLa]

well I just installed the projector but em the picture is VERY blurry I even cant read the OSD.


whats wrong? did I miss anything?

 

[deals168]

Did you use the focus ring to focus the picture? It's the ring right behind the front of the lens and the zoom tab.