Projectors under Review: BenQ W5000 – impressive
February 23rd, 2008 Art FeiermanJust when I’ve been convincing myself that DLP projectors have lost their historic advantage over 3LCD projectors, in the home theater projector space, along comes the BenQ W5000 1080p home theater projector.
Mind you, I have barely begun the W5000 review, having only viewed it in my theater room for perhaps 5 hours, a mix of movies (including parts of Casino Royale, one of the Harry Potter’s, and a fair assortment of HDTV content (including a little Blade: Trinity).
This evening, the W5000 moves to the testing room for calibration and measurements. Meantime, here are some preliminary thoughts:Sharpness: Outstanding. Not much of a surprise, as I owned the PE8720 before I bought the JVC RS1. Even back then, that huge lens on the BenQ was well regarded as producing as sharp an image as any other projector anywhere near the price.
In terms of sharpness, the W5000 is second to none, of all the 1080p projectors that I have reviewed. The Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB, and the Sony VW40, both recently reviewed, can’t match the W5000′s sharpness, and certainly my JVC RS1 falls short. Extremely impressive.
Out of the box performance and color handling: Not bad, not bad at all. Not perfect, but adjusting this guy is going to be a snap. The out of the box color accuracy seems very good, close to the RS1 and better than most other projectors – many of which desperately need calibration to reveal their true potential.
One comment relating to picture quality. The W5000 has Brilliant Color – which is found on a number of DLP projectors. In the case of the W5000 the choices are: Brilliant Color – off, or on. Some projectors provide a range of Brilliant Color settings, but not the W5000. With Brilliant Color engaged, the overall brightness (among other things) increases significantly. However, with Brilliant Color, the W5000 loses any claims to being “film-like.” With Brilliant Color on, the BenQ W5000 projector is going to function really well, when dealing with ambient light, but skin tones (and everything) appear oversaturated (that’s a simplistic assessment), and very hard. Some won’t mind, especially with ambient light situations, but to achieve “best” mode, it definitely looks to require Brilliant Color to be turned off (it defaults to on).Black level performance looks to be excellent. I’ll be doing some side by side comparisons including the Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB. At first glance the BenQ W5000 looks like it is at least very close to the Epson. We shall see!
Placement flexibility: The bad, as always, for DLP projectors, is limited zoom range. in this case, 1.2:1. That’s a little better than the older W10000′s 1.15:1, but still very limited. Like the other BenQ’s it does offer lens shift, with enough range that the lens can be anywhere from even with the bottom of the screen surface, to even with the top. Not quite as much range as some 3LCD projectors, but still a very acceptable amount.
Shelf mounting the W5000 projector, is doable, within the limits of the zoom lens. Overall the limited throw range would have to be considered medium to long, so a good number of people will be able to shelf mount. The important point to note, is that for those wanting to shelf mount, the limited zoom might require you to restrict your screen size to a narrow range. For example, you might discover that for your room, based on its depth, that if shelf mounting, you can only use a screen between 84″ and 100″ or 96″ and 115″, and so on.
That’s it for now. The W5000 projector review should post this coming Tuesday, Feb 25, or maybe Feb 26.
Stay tuned! -art
February 24th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Sounds good Art. I have had my eye on this unit ever since it was announced. A 1080P DLP with a properly implemented dynamic iris should give LCD and LCOS some stiff competition, and it sounds like the W5000 does just that. Looking forward to the full review and the side by side comparison with the 1080UB.
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Hmmm, manual iris, not dynamic. I believe the more expensive W20000 may have a dynamic iris? At any rate it claims 20,000:1 contrast vs the W5000′s 10,000:1 -a
February 24th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Hello Art,
I own a benq w5000 since late December… It’s my first projector, and i have choosen it because at least at the time comparing it to the others in the stand (hc6000, panasonic 2000, sony w50) and given the price tag (1700 euros)… and because i have a big room to put in (and not being a connaiseur) it seemed like the best choice.
However given my lake og experience i still aint confortable with my calibrations… Could you tell me what settings have you found to be the best? Looking forward for your review Art.
KJust Keep up the excellent job!
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Greetings Claudio,
Very impressive so far. What is most interesting, is the out of the box color temperature is about as good as it gets, with it pretty much staying between about 6550 and 6790, accross the IRE range.
But, green is definitely too strong. It’s not really bad, but it is just enough that it should be improved. Here’s the problem. The 3 user modes all start from the same set of defaults, and they aren’t near 6500K. So, what should have been a simple “ok start with Cinema mode and turn down green controls just slightly.” Instead it’s start from far, far away, and try to get everything great. I screwed around with it for 90 minutes and couldn’t get a decent setup. For now, I’m back to the Default Cinema setting (color temp warm), as is.
Brilliant color is over the top, on a lot a bit, but otherwise has the same color temps as with it off, but the saturation and other stuff sometimes is too much, so I have to screw with gamma, etc. On other stuff, it’s still not perfect but easily acceptable.
So, I’m rather frustrated so far. If I can just figure out how to get to those greens. I’m checking with BenQ, to at least tell me if they have exact settings that would allow me to start from the same settings as Cinema mode. I doubt they’ll come through, but that would make getting this projector near perfect, rather easily.
thanks in advance,
Cláudio
February 25th, 2008 at 7:04 am
Actually Art both the W5000 and W20000 have both a manual and a dynamic iris. The dynamic iris is referred to as Dynamic Black, which is TI’s trade name for their dynamic iris implementation. This is the feature that made me think the W5000 would be a good machine. To turn off the DI, set Dynamic Black to off.
Here is a link to the Benq site with details.
http://www.benq.us/products/Projector/?product=767
Here is the image that shows how the two irises work in series:
http://www.benq.us/modules/image_bin.cfm?id=47963&ttid=936297&url=product/projector/w5000/image_bin(1).jpg
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Hi Scott, you are correct, the W5000 uses a dynamic iris as well as a manual one. When I last answered you, I had just unboxed the W5000 for the first time, hadn’t scanned through the manual, etc. The menu control is dynamic black, which I didn’t initially assume was a dynamic iris, but is.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Hi Art
I really like your site and will use it to research my next purchase (could well be a benq product since their canadian pricing is better than other brands). My question for you is if you were to do a head to head comparison between your old 8720 machine and this 5000 machine with one exceptional detail – the test had to have been done back when the 8720 was brand new and a top of the line 720p model, how impressed would you have been with the 5000 (given the same BR disc source)? What I am getting at is how big a leap in terms of value and performance does this represent vs a good unit that is a few years old. Also what price did you pay for your 8720 when it was new? This should also help illustrate if the newer technology is a much better value.
thanks
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Hi Sean,
Well, first, when I bought my PE8720, it was $8,000 list price, and I paid a little less than $6,000. So, to start, you are getting 1080p for half the price of the PE8720, back then. Black levels have improved, but not drastically. the PE8720 had slightly more range on the zoom (1.35:1, instead of 1.2:1). The reduced zoom range is due to the larger DLP chip used in the 1080p projectors. Thus, the older W9000 and W10000, which were motorized, had the same inherent 1.35:1, but BenQ put a stop on the range of the motor, since to get the full 1.35:1 you would lose the outer edges of the image. With the W5000, I’m assuming that the slight improvement to 1.2:1, from 1.15:1, still reflects the same issue, but with a manual zoom, they probably were able to expand the range just slightly. The other possibility is that they are using a newer, slightly smaller chip. The W5000 uses what is apparently called a DC1, not the DC3, of the W9000, W10000 and W20000. I have asked BenQ for details as to the difference, but a DC1 should not be confused with first generation widescreen DLP chips. This is apparently a new DLP chip.
Of course that 2.5 years makes for huge jumps in performance should surprise no one. Even more impressive in terms of improvement over this timeframe are the 3LCD projectors. 2.5 years ago, your $2200 bought you a Panasonic PT-AE900U 720p projector. By comparison, I’ll use the Home Cinema 1080 UB. Drastically (and that’s being conservative) better black levels, much brighter, and of course 1080p instead of 720p. The UB costs about $600 more than the old AE900 when it was released, but the overall image improvement is stunning, between the old and new 3LCD projectors, whereas the W5000 closely resembles the performance of the 8720, but better resolution, for far less money.
And of course, 2.5 years ago, I don’t think you could find an LCoS projector for less than $12K (720p?), and now there’s the JVC RS1 with a sub $5000 street price, and the Sony VW40 for under $3K. Also those old LCoS projectors had rather abysmal black level performance compared to DLP’s of its time, whereas the LCoS projectors now, are at worst, the equal to today’s best DLP projectors, and mostly a cut above. -art
March 2nd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Art- there’s a reference on a forum to a firmware upgrade that addresses the noise issue with BC turned on. Have you heard anything about that?
Are you planning on getting the w20000 in for review?
I’m trying to decide between the vw60 and the benq w5000 and w20000. Thanks for the great reviews- they are a valuable source of information.
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Hi Frank, I know there was a recent firmware upgrade, but I am only aware of a “fix” that allows the W5000 to request 1080p/24fps, and display it, rather than the older releases, which required that you “force” the W5000 to do 24fps, by having your player force output 24fps (such as the PS3 allows).
Yes, I plan to review the W20000, but it isn’t likely to happen until mid or late May. -art
March 9th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Update. I should have a W20000 arriving in the next two weeks. art
March 9th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Art,
Looking forward to your review of the W20000. I am espcailly intrested on how it will perform on noise vs the W5000. It will also prove intresting to see how it compares to your RS1.
On that topic will you get your hands on the new RS1X to ascertain if it addresses the light corners issues that were reported on the RS1. Unfortunately the RS2 is slightly out of reach for me.
Many thanks for your insightful reviews
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Hi Steve,
I was up at BenQ on Wednesday, returning the W5000 and to pick up the W20000. When I got there they said “sorry” we don’t have a W20000 for you yet, another week or so.
I’m trying to finish up my comparison report, and then I have to knock off a couple of biz projectors, and then, I’ll get to the W20000. However, because they could not get it to me last week, The review likely won’t publish until beginning of May. April is shot, with family vacation, a trade show (Las Vegas), and a press junket to Japan. That pretty much wipes out 3 weeks of work time. But, I can promise you that unless BenQ trips me up again, it will be the next full home theater review. -art
Steve
April 24th, 2008 at 6:45 am
Hi Art, Im set on getting a BenQ W5000 this summer, unless I can stretch for a W20000. I’m Very much looking forward to your W20000 review. This site is fantastic, and I visit it weekly (even daily!
thanks for all your excellent reviews.
Ben
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:59 am
Art:
I’m torn. I can get the W5000 for less than $2000 (with a $500 rebate) and I can get a Sanyo Z200 for just a bit more. Here’s my setup:
*ceiling mounted in a basement
*screen size of only 92-100″ or so
*will be used mostly for movies with some sports
I’m leaning towards the BenQ, but I’ve been bothered by the rainbow effect I saw on a friend’s cheap DLP projector (an Optoma…can’t remember the model but it is 720p). Is the rainbow effect a deal-breaker? Should I go with the Sanyo to stay away from it entirely?
my
Thanks.
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Hi Tim,
Rainbow effect is always a tough call. I’m sensitive as well, but until I bought my current projector – the JVC RS1 (LCos), I previously owned DLp home theater projectors.
Even if the Optoma you saw had a 4x wheel, and many of their earlier ones were 2x, etc., you may still spot rainbows with a 4x or 5x wheel projector.
So, short of seeing another projector with the same wheel speeed and # of color segments, you won’t know. That said, the Sanyo should be very nice, but if you go LCD, a safe bet and great projector is the Epson Home Cinema 1080 UB, my personal favorite, under $3000 projector. Unmatched black levels, but not quite as sharp an image as the other two. Still, you aren’t likely to notice the sharpness without another projector to compare it to. The Epson isn’t bad, it’s simply average in that regard. With the new pricing that Epson just announced and I put in my blog and in a short article on the homepage, the net value is down around $2150, but since part of that is a free lamp worth, say, $350, you still have about a $2800 out of pocket, before the $300 rebate, and, of course you won’t need the lamp for a year or 3.
Of course I haven’t reviewed the Sanyo yet, but it should be very good. Interestingly it’s contrast, if I remember correctly isn’t as good as the Z2000, but how it performs on black levels etc., is far more important than the contrast spec, which is a marketing football these days. BTW the way they measure contrast – when dynamic irises are involved, is virtually meaningless.
Have fun deciding. Truth of the matter is, you will almost certainly love any of these, unless of course you go with the BenQ, and have a real problem with the rainbows. -art
September 21st, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Thanks for your response, Art. I just thought I’d drop back in and let you (and your readers) know about my experiences with the W5000.
The rainbow effect is alive and well (with me at least). The effect was less pronounced than the other DLP from Optoma that I mentioned, but it was still there. Worse still, after watching in a dark room for an hour or two, I went to bed and continued to see flashing when my eyes were closed! It’s a good thing I’m not an epileptic. I suppose I’m one of those people who are particularly susceptible to RE. All that to say that it’s going back and I’m going to look at the Epson 1080 UB or the new Sanyo 3000, which was just announced.
As for the positives, black levels, colors, and sharpness were all great.
I did see some noise, however, and it was a bigger issue with the brilliant color feature activated.
A great projector if you don’t notice RE. If you do, stay away.
Thanks again Art for your great site and blog.
October 14th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Hi Art,
Did you ever detect the W5000 dynamic iris in action, either pumping or closing down slowly? Or was in transparent in operation?
Thanks,
Warren
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Greetings Warren,
As you no doubt suspect – you can see the action of every dynamic iris out there, however, different philosophies on how to set up the iris, in terms of speed, averaging, amount of closure, depending on the amount of bright material in a frame, all affect the type of action you see.
People can notice slow changing irises more easily, than really fast ones, but really fast ones can also be obvious on the right type of material. I was watching a dark scene the other night, with a bright area that was getting brighter and darker constantly. In that case, the iris which was an extremely fast one, become easily visible. Because the bright area was in the upper right corner, I could see the brightening and dimming in the dark lower left, as well as in the letterbox below it.
It’s just another case of trade-offs. However, all considered, most dynamic irises in current models, produce minimal artifacts. Slow might bother one person more than fast, and the next person (on a different scene) might prefer the slow iris.
As to the W5000, yes, I could detect the iris activity at times – when looking for it – no problem, but in terms of a couple dozen hours of normal viewing, it was never a significant issue.
I’d rather have a little iris visibility on some scenes, rather than inferior black levels, or 3:2 pull-down judder, and so on.
Bottom line: If any iris action you detect on the W5000, is the biggest complaint you have with the projector, then you will likely be extremely pleased with your choice! -art
October 16th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Thanks, Art. It sounds like the W5000 dynamic iris implementation is comparable to most other good dynamic irises. I appreciate the response!
Warren