BenQ PE8720: Image Quality

This review was based on a pre-production version of the PE8720. To read the summary update (Jan, 2006), based on the latest production version of this BenQ home theater projector, click here.

Please note, that this main review offers a great deal of information not found on the update, including the "physical tour", image quality, performance, and warranty information. The Summary, Pros and Cons link below has been updated to reflect the updated review.

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons

All the images below were taken with the BenQ PE-8720 projector in the Family room mode. For content, I viewed the following DVDs: I, Robot, Lord of the Rings (LOTR) Return of the King, Sin City (great for black levels and depth), The Italian Job, The 5th Element, Batman Begins, and the Princess Bride.

I also used Star Wars, Attack of the Clones for my side by side shots on the double wide StewartFilm screen. For Hi-Def, I used my D-VHS deck and viewed the Hawiian Tropic Pagent, and Over America (talk about scenery), two superb 1080i resolution tapes for looking at image quality. In addition, I have enjoyed a couple of HDTV football games, Jay Leno, and some Discovery HD channel content.

Overall, I found the picture quality to be excellent.

A note on the Family Room setting. On this pre-production unit, I found the color saturation setting to be a bit high (8). I found things more natural by dialing it down between -3 and +1. I also found the reds to be a bit strong, especially in the lower brightness range. This was easily correctable, without a light meter, using the basic AVIA disk (or even by eyeballing it.) In other words, the color was pretty excellent, and needed only simple adjustment to take the finished picture to the next level of image performance.

There's been a lot of hype about the super high contrast ratios the new low cost LCD projectors are offering (5000 - 7000:1). Those LCD projectors use irises and computer control to adjust the image frame by frame. The PE-8720 home theater projector offers the "real thing". Put on any scene with lots of dark and bright areas, and you can immediately see that those LCD projectors cannot come close to delivering the real black levels that today's Darkchip3 DLP projectors can produce.

The image here from LOTR of Arwen, and also further down, of Gandalf, simply stated, produces truly excellent and natural looking fleshtones, and that is perhaps the most critical single thing for a home theater projector to accomplish. No matter how good other things are, if fleshtones don't look right, instant

customer - dissatisfaction.

Switching to Sin City, the great black levels the BenQ projector is capable of, become apparent.

On the double wide screen, I compared the PE-8720 against the low cost Panasonic PT-AE900u (which recently won a Hot Product Award).

Sorry, LCD fans, the BenQ is in a different league, in terms of the overall image. The trick colors in the fleshtones, and the detail in the dark areas, definitely are superior on the BenQ projector. (OK, the Panasonic is less than 1/3 the price, but it is reassuring to know that you can get your moneys worth when you spend that much more).

On the image from the Italian Job, you can appreciate the rich colors on the Mini-Cooper cars (red, blue and white), and the grass has a natural look. On projectors that do have higher gammas (like the BenQ PE7700 projector, (or the Cinema mode of this pre-production projector), the grass appears too dark. When watching this movie in Family Room mode, with the lights off, though, it looked "right on"!

The balance of color between bright and dark areas on the LOTR images of Gondor, again produce very pleasing results. The watch fire images, and the shot of Legolas and Aragorn which are dark scenes are done extremely well, and the last of the group, with lots of shadow area on the right and bright mountain scapes on the left, revealed more dark detail than even the Marantz VP-12S4 projector, the most expensive single chip DarkChip3 projector I have reviewed. (List price $14,499!) I will note that out of the box, the Marantz does have more perfect color balance, but the BenQ projector, definitely is more in the league of the Marantz, than it is to less expensive projectors!

Moving to the Star Wars DVD, the BenQ is just loaded with stars. You can see first one image shot of the BenQ PE8720 projector, and then, four side by side images. On the side-by-side images, the BenQ PE8720 projector is on the left. The first side by side image (planet, stars, ship) compares the BenQ home theater projector with the low cost Panasonic PT-AE900u, the second (Phila., boat house), is the Optoma H78DC3, and third one (Chrysler building at dusk), the Marantz VP-12S4. (It sure is nice to have all three of those available for this review!).

Further down, this BenQ PE8720 projector takes on the less expensive HD2+ BenQ PE7700 and you can see a huge difference in the star scene - you will have to get close and look hard, but the difference is large when you do!

On the shot from the clone factory (immediately below), the sharpness of the BenQ projector becomes apparent, compared to the Panasonic, also you can see more detail in the vertical light columns on the right side of the images.

Lastly are a couple of shots from the Hawaiian Tropic Hi-Def. The stage shot (vs Marantz) is challenging because of bright whites, and lots of dark areas, and the BenQ manages to handle it very well. Lots of shadow detail, without the whites getting crushed (loss of near white detail). Unfortunately, my digital camera has less dynamic range than these projectors do, so a single image can't reveal both. (This also true for the Sin City shots.)

One more image of note between the BenQ projector and the Panasonic. This night shot from Star Wars on Tatooine, shows a real difference. Look at the cliff face on the right side. The BenQ (left) produces plenty of detail, which is lost on the Panasonic (this despite the claimed 5500:1 contrast ratio on the Panasonic. Don't get me wrong, the Panasonic is one truly impressive projector for around $2000, but despite some conjecture out there about it's ability to take on the much more expensive Darkchip3 DLP projectors, it's just not up to it.

Most importantly, the BenQ provided the best image I have yet had in my house from any single chip DLP or 3 chip LCD, with the possible exception of the Marantz, and there I found that the BenQ produced a slightly higher contrast but more dynamic looking image (which I prefer), with the BenQ projector looking better on most scenery, but the Marantz having a slight edge on flesh tones.

Let me put it this way. Don't be surprised to read in a month or so that I have chosen to replace my PE8700+ with the PE8720 projector. I had planned on the Optoma H78DC3 (which would require moving my ceiling mount - no easy feat with a 19.5 foot ceiling, to accommodate the different lens throw.) I have been waiting for the PE8720 figuring I could get a Darkchip3 projector with a similar throw range to my PE8700+. So, I have waited. Well, turns out, the PE8720 has a throw similar to the Optoma, and therefore also requires the same reworking of my ceiling installation.

At this point, if there are no surprises, it looks like the PE8720 is going to be my choice. The extra few thousand $$$, I think is worth it, especially in light of my large screen (128" motorized Firehawk), and close sitting distances (11 feet to the front seats, 20 to the rear). The difference in sharpness is visible even on DVD, but especially on HDTV. Even at 11 feet, the high def, is razor sharp!

Bottom line. The production PE-8720 should have have the settings closer to ideal. There is, however, little doubt in my mind that the image quality the BenQ PE-8720 produces, makes it a value in the $5000 - $15,000 DLP projector range.

 

This review was based on a pre-production version of the PE8720. To read the summary update (Jan, 2006), based on the latest production version of this BenQ home theater projector, click here.

Please note, that this main review offers a great deal of information not found on the update, including the "physical tour", image quality, performance, and warranty information. The Summary, Pros and Cons link below has been updated to reflect the updated review.

Overview
Image Quality
General Performance
Warranty
Summary, Pros, Cons