BenQ EW800ST Smart Classroom Projector Review – Picture and Sound Quality

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Nikki Zelinger

BenQ EW800ST Smart Classroom Projector Review – Picture and Sound Quality: Color Modes, Video Image Quality, Text and Presentation Quality, Audio Quality

Color Modes

Best Color Mode for Video Content: sRGB Mode

Best Color Mode for Infographics and Presentations: Infographic Mode

Best Color Mode for Brightness: Presentation Mode

Best Bright Color Mode for Video: Video Mode

Brightest Color Mode for Combatting Ambient Light: Bright Mode

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All but one of the EW800ST's five color modes have reasonably good color, right out of the box. Bright Mode, as expected, has strong greens and yellows. This is typical of a projector's brightest mode, which is why we call it your "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency mode." We advise only using such a mode in the most dire of ambient light conditions. I have broken down the color modes in the adjacent chart, by their best uses.

Color Mode	Best Use
sRGB	Best Color for Video
Infographic	Best Color for Presentations + Infographics
Presentation	For Presentations + Infographics in Ambient Light Conditions
Video	For Video in Ambient Light Conditions
Bright	For Uncontrollable Ambient Light Conditions

Video Image Quality

The BenQ EW800ST has good color in multiple modes.

The BenQ EW800ST projects a nicely sharp image, thanks to its WXGA resolution. I found the color accuracy of its best mode, sRGB, to be the best for video content such as Journey to Space.

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The photos in the slider above were all shot in sRGB mode. You could easily use any of the other good color modes (Video, Infographic, Presentation) for projecting educational videos from Blu-Ray disks, YouTube, or websites such as TED Talks. It will all come down to preference.

Text and Presentation Quality

Text is clear and sharp, as I would expect on a WXGA resolution projector. As you can see from the images below, even small text on infographics are highly readable. These photos were shot in Infographic Mode.

Infographic projected by the BenQ EW800ST. Click image to enlarge.

We use a graphic to test the clarity and sharpness of text on business and education projectors. The graphic tests font sizes and styles starting with 8pt font. The photo below demonstrates the EW800ST's performance on text, which I found to be excellent.

BenQ-EW800ST_Test-Graphic-in-Infographic-Mode

Teachers use PowerPoint Presentations, website pages, Infographics, and Apps to demonstrate concepts and provide learning material. The BenQ EW800ST is capable of handling all these applications with clarity. View the photos in the slider below to see the EW800ST projecting presentations.

A PowerPoint Presentation project, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in Infographic Mode.

A PowerPoint Presentation slide, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in Infographic Mode.

A graphic from the Netflix show, Explained, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in sRGB Mode.

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View the photos in the slider below to see the EW800ST projecting websites.

The Boeing Website, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in Infographic Mode.

The SpaceX Website, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in Infographic Mode.

The TED Talks Website, projected by the BenQ EW800ST in Infographic Mode.

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Audio Quality

The BenQ EW800ST has a single 2-watt speaker built in, which will be sufficiently loud for most classroom environments. Most general education classes in a K-12 setting would be considered medium-sized, with high school classrooms being medium-large, but elective classes can potentially have rather large spaces.

My husband's classroom is huge, for example. He teaches video production at the high school level. One of his classes has over 30 students. A speaker like this would not suit his needs because, when he shows films, students need to be able to hear the details of the sound design. His classroom is outfitted with an external sound system, which I would suggest for such an elective classroom.

For subjects such as math, science, and english, the speakers on the EW800ST will be just fine. That does it for our discussion of Picture and Sound Quality. Next up, we have our Performance Page, where we talk brightness, contrast, and audible noise.