BenQ HC1200 Projector Review – Hardware Tour

The BenQ HC1200 has its lens slightly offset right of center when facing the front of the projector.  Zoom and focus rings are in a recess right above the lens on the top of the projector.  There is lens cap as well, attached by a short cord.  There is an IR receiving eye to the right of the lens and a push button for releasing the front height adjustment foot in the center.  Unfortunately, as is typical with BenQ projectors, only one of the two rear corner feet is height adjustable. It seems to me that if you’re going to make one of the two feet adjustable, why not just both rear feet were adjustable.  Also on the front panel is a hot air exhaust vent.  There is an air intake vent on the right side of the projector (as you’re facing it from the front).

The left half of the top of the projector serves as a cover for the lamp.  There is a single screw on the top edge of the left side of the projector that, when removed, allows for removal of this cover.  This facilitates replacing the lamp when the HC1200 is ceiling mounted, without having to unmount the projector.

Toward the rear, on the right side (as you’re facing the projector form the front) is a control panel with the most oft-used functions, plus indicators for power on, lamp status and temperature (if overheating).  There are buttons for Power, Menu/Exit, Navigation (Up, Down, Left, Right and Enter/Mode), Source, Eco Blank (for temporarily hiding the image on the screen) and Auto (for syncing the source timing to the projector).  The Up/Down buttons also serve for Keystone adjustment when not in the menu.  The Left and Right menu navigation buttons also function as a volume control for the built-in speaker.

Moving to the rear panel, we find a wide array of connections.  Starting at the top left, there is a USB Type B jack, followed by an RGB monitor out and two RGB computer inputs.  There are two HDMI inputs to the right of that and a 12V trigger jack for a motorized screen.  Across the bottom of the panel, from left to right, there is the AC power cord jack, an RJ-45 network jack, 1/8″ audio input and outputs, an RS-232 control jack, stereo audio phone jacks, S-video and composite video inputs, IR receiving eye, the 5W built-in speaker and a Kensington lock port.

The HC1200’s remote control is nicely designed, black with mostly black buttons that are well laid out.  The power On and Off buttons are red and at the top of the remote.  There are a host of buttons that are appropriately grouped and cover all the important functions without accessing them through the menu.  In addition to the usual source button that scrolls through the inputs, there are individual buttons for each input source.

In the center of the remote is a duplicate of the buttons on the projector’s control panel, all in white to stand out on the remote.  These buttons include for the usual menu access and navigation, as well as buttons to auto sync the display, keystone adjustment, speaker volume control and blanking the displayed image.  Below that are separate volume control buttons for the built-in speakers and the microphone input, digital zoom and paging through presentations.  There are also buttons for freezing the image, changing the aspect ratio, mute, network setting, quick install and putting the projector in its Smart Eco mode.

One nice touch is the inclusion of a laser pointer.  On the HC1200 remote, the laser pointer button is all by itself near the center of the remote.  As usual, the remote’s buttons are not backlit or even glow-in-the-dark.