Denon AVR-X3500H; Sony UBP-X800M2; EFE speakers; Outlaw Model M amps; SVS sub; Epson 8350 projector.
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I just got my home theater up and running over the weekend with a BenQ PB8220 projector. Since I didn't see many reviews of BenQ projectors when I was doing my research on what to buy, I thought some of you might appreciate some initial thoughts on this projector.
First some background. My home theater is 10' wide and I wanted the seats to be about 11 feet from the screen. As I had pre-wired my ceiling for a projector 12 feet from my screen, I needed a short-throw projector that was quiet enough to sit under. I also wanted a DLP projector as I did not want to deal with the risk of burned out pixels with an LCD projector. And I wanted a 4x3 projector as I felt it gives you the largest possible 4X3 image for old movies, and not much loss in image size when viewing modern movies in their correct aspect ratio. I was about to order the BenQ 7200 when two separate vendors strongly recommended that I consider the 8220 instead. Though it had about the same specs as the 7220, they both claimed that it had much better quality components and that I would be much happier with it than with the 7200. It might have been upselling, but I don't know. I got my 8220 for only $200 more than the 7200.
Set up. I had a heck of a time setting up the 8220. Whatever I did, I could not get the focus just right. Very close, but not perfect. I eventually concluded that you have to mount the projector closer to the screen than where your seats are. For example, when I mounted the projector 12' from my screen, the picture was just a little blurry at 12' and not totally sharp until about 14-15'. Other than that, set up was a breeze. The menu is clear and easy to access. I ran the AVIA DVD, but did not have to make many changes at all. The projector's default settings were generally good and it has all the options people want these days: keystone correction, etc.
Picture. Once you get it mounted the right distance from your screen, the picture is quite good. The colors are vibrant, the blacks are very black, and it is hard to discern where the bars are when viewing a 16x9 image. It is easy to switch between image sizes: the remote has a switch image button right on it. The picture is not as sharp as you would get with a plasma screen, but it is a good, solid image. I have not, however, seen many FPs up close, so someone else may differ.
Rainbows. Yes, both my wife and I see them. When I turned up the contrast and brightness on the projector, I saw them a lot (but only on made for TV movies such as From the Earth to the Moon and on old black and white movies; not on new releases such as Gladiator, Shreck, or SWII). They were VERY disturbing. But when I returned those settings to the factory defaults, I saw very few rainbows. So few that while we both still see them sometimes, they are not bothersome and we see them less with each viewing.
I have some more tweaks to try to get the projector calibrated just right, but we decided that it was a keeper.
Again, we have only had the projector for a couple of days. So I assume I will have more to add later if anyone is interested. But for now, we are happy with it.
First some background. My home theater is 10' wide and I wanted the seats to be about 11 feet from the screen. As I had pre-wired my ceiling for a projector 12 feet from my screen, I needed a short-throw projector that was quiet enough to sit under. I also wanted a DLP projector as I did not want to deal with the risk of burned out pixels with an LCD projector. And I wanted a 4x3 projector as I felt it gives you the largest possible 4X3 image for old movies, and not much loss in image size when viewing modern movies in their correct aspect ratio. I was about to order the BenQ 7200 when two separate vendors strongly recommended that I consider the 8220 instead. Though it had about the same specs as the 7220, they both claimed that it had much better quality components and that I would be much happier with it than with the 7200. It might have been upselling, but I don't know. I got my 8220 for only $200 more than the 7200.
Set up. I had a heck of a time setting up the 8220. Whatever I did, I could not get the focus just right. Very close, but not perfect. I eventually concluded that you have to mount the projector closer to the screen than where your seats are. For example, when I mounted the projector 12' from my screen, the picture was just a little blurry at 12' and not totally sharp until about 14-15'. Other than that, set up was a breeze. The menu is clear and easy to access. I ran the AVIA DVD, but did not have to make many changes at all. The projector's default settings were generally good and it has all the options people want these days: keystone correction, etc.
Picture. Once you get it mounted the right distance from your screen, the picture is quite good. The colors are vibrant, the blacks are very black, and it is hard to discern where the bars are when viewing a 16x9 image. It is easy to switch between image sizes: the remote has a switch image button right on it. The picture is not as sharp as you would get with a plasma screen, but it is a good, solid image. I have not, however, seen many FPs up close, so someone else may differ.
Rainbows. Yes, both my wife and I see them. When I turned up the contrast and brightness on the projector, I saw them a lot (but only on made for TV movies such as From the Earth to the Moon and on old black and white movies; not on new releases such as Gladiator, Shreck, or SWII). They were VERY disturbing. But when I returned those settings to the factory defaults, I saw very few rainbows. So few that while we both still see them sometimes, they are not bothersome and we see them less with each viewing.
I have some more tweaks to try to get the projector calibrated just right, but we decided that it was a keeper.
Again, we have only had the projector for a couple of days. So I assume I will have more to add later if anyone is interested. But for now, we are happy with it.
