BenQ W1070 Projector - Physical Tour
We start our tour of the W1070 projector from the front...
1/6/2013 - Art Feierman
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BenQ W1070 Projector - Appearance
OK, the W1070 is a box. 
For the most part it is rectangular with only mild sculpting. But BenQ made an effort to make it look a bit cool. I like the way they did the trim on the sides, two toning, with the lower part on a diagonal, with lots of holes. Definitely one of the cuter small projectors out there.
The lens is mounted to the right (facing the front of the projector). A bar/button in the lower center front adjusts the front foot. There are two rear feet, one of which is adjustable. Table top setup would be much easier if both rear feet were adjustable. It's a minor nuisance.
The controls of the projector's 1.3:1 lens are recessed and located on the top. Both focus and zoom are adjusted from the lens barrel.
Right behind those lens controls is the lens shift control, hidden under the silver panel which slides back. The control itself is tiny, with a slot for turning it with a small screwdriver.
Further back on the top is the control panel.
The inputs are located in the back.
W1070 Control Panel
A nice compact control panel, it has the power switch to the left side. To it's right are nine buttons in 3 rows. The navigation arrows are the top and bottom center buttons and the left right center ones. Enter is located in the dead center.
The top left is the Menu, while the bottom left is for Eco mode selection. The bottom right is the Source select, and the top right is an Auto setup.
The left and right navigation arrows double as volume controls when you aren't using the navigation system. The up and down arrows double for keystone correction.
Three indicator lights for Power, Temp, and Lamp are just toward the front.
W1070 Projector - Input/Output
Two HDMI inputs (1.4a for Blu-ray 3D compatibility) are located on the right side of the back (facing the back).
Moving to the left, you will find a 12 volt screen trigger for controlling a properly equipped motorized screen (or anything else that's compatible with such triggers). Then comes the component video input (three color coded RCA jacks). A USB connector is next. A PC analog input is next, and also a RS232 serial port below it. That leaves a Din connector for S-video, a yellow RCA for composite video and RCA jacks for stereo audio. A second audio input uses a mini jack, while below it, is a stereo audio out.
That's all there is, but for the power receptacle, and a Kensington lock slot (far right).
W1070 Menus
No surprises here at all. Nor should there be. BenQ's been going with the same general look and feel to the menus, that they used back when I owned one of their PE-8700 projectors. (6 years ago?) The main menus are selected by using the navigation to move right or left. The first menu on the left is the Picture menu. It has all the usual things you will find there, starting with selecting from the modes.
Unfortunately, you can't press Enter and see all the modes and pick one using the navigation. Instead, you have to scroll through them one at a time. The good news is most people won't need to change the mode once setup, except if you need Dynamic mode from time to time.
There is a submenu labed Advanced, with additional related controls.
Below, the Advanced sub-menu. Note the Clarity control. Click enter and you will find only an Image noise adjustment. I was trying to figure out why an extra layer of submenu for a single control. I have concluded its because some other BenQ models have more than one control in their Clarity sub.
Below, the User Mode management let's you determine which of the other modes you want to use as the starting point for setting up User 1,2, 3.
The Display sub-menu, has digital zoom - you might find it useful. It's not something you expect on a home projector, but it is a fairly common business projector feature. The W1070 has Overscan, but not Masking. It's nice to have a choice, if you have to get rid of some image noise around the edges as sometimes shows up with cable or satellite HDTV. There is also 3D which brings up a submenu.
3D Sub Menu
Didn't spend much time playing within this menu, but I did notice after just watching 3D off of my PS3 with the Blu-ray stacked frames, switching to HDTV, I had to manually go in and select Side-by-Side. And, at that point Auto was grayed out. Not sure if there's a trick to keep Auto working, or if my issue occured due to some combination of circumstances and settings. Regardless, it's a minor hassle once every so often, at the very most. As noted elsewhere, the projector seems to need to be manually put into side-by-side 3D, when you watch 3D off of HDTV. Minor nuisance.
3D menu image missing, coming soon.
Here's how you control the audio:
Color Management: Here they are, the standard Color Temp controls, and below it, the full CMS for individual color calibration.
The System Setup menu offers you everything from menu language selection to a Sleep timer. From here you can also change sources, and set the orientation (Front or Rear projection, Ceiling to Table).
Interestingly, usually "Advanced" menus are sub-menus, as is the case with the Picture - Advanced menu. The System Setup Advanced, though is a separate menu. Some of the highlights - Lamp settings (Normal Economic and Smart-Eco), there's a test pattern, High Altitude and Quick cool modes. Plus, this projector offers password protection (more of a business projector feature), and also the ISF menu for calibrators.
Below, the password area for entering the ISF saveable modes. The idea here, is that most calibrators are ISF certified. You've got two modes here for them to calibrate usually referred to as ISF Day and Night (with and without ambient light). Of course, few people will hire a professional calibrator for their W1070 projector. Which reminds me. We publish most of our calibration settings here.
Our last menu for today is one found on virtually every projector - a static Information menu. The W1070 provides most of the usual stuff - resolution, source, and firmware version, etc. That said, some projectors provide far more details.
BenQ W1070 Remote Control
I really don't care if a projector is supposedly designed for a family room or a dedicated home theater. Any remote that isn't backlit starts out with one big strike against it. This BenQ has that one strike.
The remote control for the W1070 is a smaller white affair, but still far bigger than "credit card" type remotes. Buttons are mostly small, as the whole remote is only about four inches long.
I won't bother to tell you what all the buttons are, as they are readable in the photo on the right.
BenQ W1070 Lens Throw
For a standard 100" diagonal 16:9 screen, the BenQ W1070 can be placed as close as 8 feet 4 inches, or as far back as 10 feet, 10 inches. The lens is a 1.3:1 manual zoom.
Lens Shift
The BenQ W1070, almost to my amazement, offers lens shift at this price. Given, the amount of vertical lens shift is minor compared to almost any other projector, there is enough to do the job nicely for most ceiling mount setups and for just setting down the projector on a table projecting onto a screen.
BenQ was the first DLP manufacturer of relatively affordable to put lens shift on projectors, and I'm going back more than 5 years. Lens shift isn't easy for DLP projectors (at least affordably) and the range tends to be limited.
Like many other BenQ's, lens shift starts at "0 offset" with the lens even with the bottom of the screen (if table top).
Turn the small (flat head) screw behind the sliding door on the top, and you can raise the image about 6 inches higher on a 100" screen. This should work fine for table top usage, or ceiling mounting with normal ceiling heights.
Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen
The W1070 doesn't support an anamorphic lens. Why? Because it's sort of silly to pair a $1500 - $4000 anamorphic lens with a $1000 projector.