Product Review
BenQ
BenQ W 1070 and W1080 Overview The W1070 and W1080ST are two similar entry-level projectors from Taiwanese electronics manufacturer BenQ, the only major difference between the two being the Short Throw capabilities of the 1080ST. Both the W1070 and W1080ST are 3D capable Full HD DLP projectors with a 16:9 aspect ratio. With majority of movies produced today having a native resolution of 1080p, you are able to watch these HD movies in their native resolution. Both projectors have a 2,000 Lumens output. The number of lumens determines how bright the projector lamp is; the higher the number, the brighter the image on the screen. The W1070 and the W1080 are primarily home cinema projectors so a bright projector is crucial as one has to deal with a lot of ambient lighting at the home environment. With such high Lumens capabilities, one can comfortably watch movies using both these projectors even during daytime. The W1070 and 1080ST have a contrast ratio of 10,000:1. Again for contrast ratio, the higher the better. The standard contrast ratio for projectors at this level is between 2,000 and 3,000:1, so having a projector with contrast ratio this high is a major plus. The two projectors will give you a 30-300" image size.
Key Features The W1080 Short Throw Projector is able to achieve a 65" image from 1 metre out, and you can comfortably place it on a coffee table in front of you in a sitting room like I did. This is ideal when space at home or office is at a premium or when trying to avoid
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interrupting the show when people walk back and forth in front of the projector. A unique feature in the W1070 as well is the Lens shift. This capability, achieved through a knob concealed on top of the lens, allows the image to be moved up or down without adjusting the position of the projector. This is a feature you find in higher end models, the only drawback here being the awkward placement and manoeuvrability. Both the models are relatively portable weighing at around 2.8kgs and around 31Ă—24cms in dimension.Size is a major advantage for DLP projectors in that unlike LCD projectors that need 3 LCD panels, DLP employs a tiny chip and what you get is a more compact mechanism and device. You get your regular VGA/RCA/USB/ Component connections with these two projectors. In addition there are dual HDMI connections meaning you do not need to be switching connections in and out when you have multiple devices. The two models pack an in-built 10watts mono speaker enhancing the plug and play attributes of the projectors. While not exactly a home theatre experience, the audio is quite decent for average home viewing. External output audio connections are available if connecting to a home theatre system is preferred. Both models feature three viewing modes including Standard, Dynamic and Cinema. Dynamic would be useful when watching during daytime or in a well lit room as this mode pushes light output almost to the maximum. However, you will notice some loss of
The Integrator East Africa | April/May 2013
contrast as the projector compensates for the extra burst of energy. In Standard and Dynamic modes, the deep well-saturated colours are restored. BenQ has included a 6-segment colour wheel adding Cyan, Magenta and Yellow to your regular RGB combination. This means that you get a truer representation of colours just as the director intended. Full Color Management System (CMS) allows the user some direct control of the colour by allowing one to calibrate colour according to their individual preferences. Both these projectors are NVIDIA 3DTV Play certified making them bona fide gaming machines. My experience when playing games with these two projectors were generally superb when playing both 3D and 2D games. Lag time, a major annoyance for gamers, was minimal ensuring a smoother gaming experience. BenQ has fully embraced Green and these two projectors offer what the company refers to SmartEco. In SmartEco, the projector power is reduced from the normal 296W to a more energy saving 163W.SmartEco also helps prolong lamp life over the long term.
Conclusion BenQ has managed to cram a lot of hi-tech features in what is an entrylevel device achieving an excellent performance to price ratio. For around USD1, 000, (USD1, 200 for the W1080ST) you get a projector with some very high contrast, long lamp life and what’s more, a 3D capable HD projector.