Moving to the top of the projector, in addition to the aforementioned zoom and focus rings, there is a control panel in the right rear covering the most frequently used commands, as well as some other handy functions. Included are indicators for power on, lamp status and for temperature (i.e.; overheating). There are buttons for Power, Auto Setup, blanking the screen image and selecting the source. There are also buttons to bring up and select from the on-screen menu, as well as menu navigation (Up, Down, Left, Right) buttons. The Left and Right menu navigation buttons also function to bring up the FAQ page and to lock the Panel buttons respectively. The Up and Down menu buttons also function to adjust keystone correction up and down as well. Finally, the Menu Select button also functions to select the Picture mode.
On the left side (again facing the front of the projector), is a heat exhaust vent. On the right side, moving from front to back, is the built-in 2-watt speaker, followed by an air intake vent.
Moving to the rear panel, starting on the left side and moving from top to bottom, is a set of component video jacks. Just below them are S-video, composite video and stereo audio inputs. Below that is the power cord connector, USB port, RS-232 port and mono audio input and output jacks. Moving to the right across the back panel, there is a VGA computer input, two HDMI inputs (very unusual, but welcome on this class projector), a second IR receiving eye and a Kensington lock.
That being said, the auto keystone feature in the W600 certainly comes in handy for quick setup and works quite well for small adjustments. It should also be mentioned that if you’re projecting on a wall rather than a screen, the W600 has a Wall Color selection section that allows the user to select from a number of non-white wall colors, including Light Yellow, Pink, Light Green, Blue, and Blackboard.
Once set up, the user goes to the Picture mode section of the menu to choose the desired preset picture mode (Dynamic, Standard, sRGB and Cinema), depending on the intended use. If picture adjustments are desired, the user selects one of the two User modes. This allows for selection of one of the preset modes as a starting point and then the usual picture adjustments (contrast, brightness, color, tint and sharpness) are available. In addition, there is the ability to turn Brilliant Color on or off and a choice of four different color temperatures. Going a step beyond most projectors in this class, BenQ has also included full color management, which includes adjustment of saturation, hue and gain of each primary (Red, Green and Blue) and each secondary (Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) color. While proper use of color management requires professional calibration equipment, this feature will allow for the most accurate color reproduction. All of the above settings can be saved in either of the two User modes, allowing for different setups for different lighting conditions. While grayscale adjustments would have been a nice to have along with the color management, it’s not often seen in this price range in anything but a dedicated home theater projector.
For better time management during presentations, The BenQ W600 also includes a timer that can be set to display on screen or sound a warning when the end of the preset time is approaching.
