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Saw the BenQ w1080st for under $900 on Amazon and pulled the trigger. I had been coming from a Epson 8350 which I had been happy with for a while, but I never was a big fan of LCD projectors and I sit very close to my screen (1.1 SW) so I wanted to go 1080p DLP for my next projector. I also wanted to go short throw so I could use my Xbox One and the kinect without my shadow always getting in the way. I didn't expect a dramatic increase in performance since they are in the same class, but was a little disappointed with the brightness of the BenQ w1080st considering my Epson has ~1250 hours on the bulb it was only slightly less bright than the w1080st. Although, a major factor could be that I'm using a High Power 2.4 screen, which from my understanding isn't the best idea with a short throw projector. My Epson is already boxed up to ship to another forum member who purchased it, so sorry for no side by side pictures, but I can provide a subjective review for anyone interested. I ranked the two projectors in categories that were important to me with the most important starting at the top. I use the projector in a living room with ambient light.
Brightness
I think this is a wash, if I was comparing my Epson with 0 hours vs my Benq with 0 hours I bet the Epson would have been slightly brighter. Right now thought the Benq has an edge. I think this is also consistent with other reviews online.
SDE
I was hoping to see a bigger difference between the two, but only a slight edge to the Benq. My vision with contacts is 20/20 to give a reference.
Placement
For using a Kinect, the BenQ has big advantage, but the Epson is soooo easy to place with lens shift. I had to spend a lot of time trying to find a table that was the right height and making small adjustments to the feet to get the image to display within my screen near perfectly. I'm sure my cats will be respectful of how much time I spent placing it and not knock into the table
.
Black level
I do think the Benq has better depth than the Epson, in addition to deeper blacks...shadow detail for me was a wash. During the day this isn't a huge issue for me because of the ambient light pretty much makes any contrast ratio or black level meaningless.
Sharpness
The w1080st was noticable sharper, almost looks too artificially sharp....less of a film look than the Epson
Colors
It's hard to describe why colors have always bothered me a little with LCD projectors...I've always preferred the colors of DLPs of course they never could be placed easily. But but I also thought this was more of a wash for me than I was hoping between the two projectors.
Something else that was odd for me is that I do see rainbows on the BenQ, although for most media they are not super distracting. I used to own an X1 a looong time ago, about 10 years ago, and never saw them with a 2x color wheel. It probably has to do with the fact that Benq is brigher than the X1 but that was something else I was a little disappointed about. It's too bad there aren't really that many other options for 1080p short throw DLP PJs under 2k. I'd be willing to pay a little more for something brighter. I bought it through Amazon, so I could always trade it for another projector on Amazon if after a week or two I'm not happy...but not really sure what other choices I'd have for my preferences.
Chris
Brightness
I think this is a wash, if I was comparing my Epson with 0 hours vs my Benq with 0 hours I bet the Epson would have been slightly brighter. Right now thought the Benq has an edge. I think this is also consistent with other reviews online.
SDE
I was hoping to see a bigger difference between the two, but only a slight edge to the Benq. My vision with contacts is 20/20 to give a reference.
Placement
For using a Kinect, the BenQ has big advantage, but the Epson is soooo easy to place with lens shift. I had to spend a lot of time trying to find a table that was the right height and making small adjustments to the feet to get the image to display within my screen near perfectly. I'm sure my cats will be respectful of how much time I spent placing it and not knock into the table

Black level
I do think the Benq has better depth than the Epson, in addition to deeper blacks...shadow detail for me was a wash. During the day this isn't a huge issue for me because of the ambient light pretty much makes any contrast ratio or black level meaningless.
Sharpness
The w1080st was noticable sharper, almost looks too artificially sharp....less of a film look than the Epson
Colors
It's hard to describe why colors have always bothered me a little with LCD projectors...I've always preferred the colors of DLPs of course they never could be placed easily. But but I also thought this was more of a wash for me than I was hoping between the two projectors.
Something else that was odd for me is that I do see rainbows on the BenQ, although for most media they are not super distracting. I used to own an X1 a looong time ago, about 10 years ago, and never saw them with a 2x color wheel. It probably has to do with the fact that Benq is brigher than the X1 but that was something else I was a little disappointed about. It's too bad there aren't really that many other options for 1080p short throw DLP PJs under 2k. I'd be willing to pay a little more for something brighter. I bought it through Amazon, so I could always trade it for another projector on Amazon if after a week or two I'm not happy...but not really sure what other choices I'd have for my preferences.
Chris