BenQ HT1075 Projector Review Summary 2

The Bottom Line - continued

I really had hoped that after all the wait, BenQ would provide the one feature that the W1070 really was missing to achieve greatness at its price point, and that is a dynamic iris.  Had they done that, I seriously doubt you would have encountered the word “disappointed” anywhere in this review.  (That’s unless it proved to be a lousy iris, but BenQ puts an excellent one on their W7500.)  Those Improved black levels would have cemented the HT1075 as the projector to beat around $1000, but without it, at any moment, something else can come along and offer up a overall better solution.  We’ve got price competitive Optomas and Epsons coming  in for review, and perhaps Acer, Viewsonic and Vivitek will show new projectors by January 2015 (CES show) to do battle.  Certainly, for not much more Acer has their H6510 which has much better black levels, but is definitely rough around the edges – primarily due to not near as good color…

So, where does that leave us?  Well with one slightly disappointed reviewer, but despite that, I can’t at this time point to a better overall projector around the price, but that may not hold for long.

That’s unlike the W1070 which was so good when it came out, that it took a year before it had, by my take, even one serious competitor (that also had 3D), near its price.  (Panasonic’s PT-AR100U and Epson’s just replaced HC8350 had been serious very serious competition, but no 3D, and I like my 3D.

You know the story now, a great overall projector for the money, well balanced, “refined,” great color, but thin on black level performance and also thin in terms of feature set.  Still, the BenQ HT1075 has got to be on everyone’s short list whether shopping for a home entertainment projector or more of an enthusiast’s affordable home theater projector!

In the months following this review, come back and visit us, for you will find some direct comparison reviews pitting the HT1075 against one of the Optoma projectors and the announced Epson Home Cinema 3000 series, at the minimum.

Until those arrive, though, the HT1075 is the “just over $1000” projector to beat.

If you are willing to spend upward of $1500, sure, there are definitely better overall projectors but for many folk getting from around $1100 to $16000 or $2000 isn’t an option.  Still, all considered:  If you want to spend less, there’s a number of home entertainment projectors ready to do battle, but I can’t think of one of those that is a match for the HT1075 in a more theater like setup.  Nice projector BenQ!

HT1075 Pros

HT1075 Cons

• Lacks a dynamic iris, thus unimpressive black level performance means less than great dark scenes
• A little on the noisy side (fan noise), but typical for the price point
• Documentation – not bad, but could be better, comes on disc (not everyone has a CD player in their computers any more).  Would have liked a hard copy.  (You can download from BenQ site)
• The Wireless HD option is nice, but would seem to be a good deal more than 3rd party solutions.  Unfortunately we were not provided one (not shipping yet) so we don’t know if it might have exceptional range, for example.
• Lag times for gaming are just respectable but far from the best out there.
• Although I like the remote, in a fully dark room, the bright red LED black light is a bit too bright.
• 3D capable but no 3D glasses included in the price
• 3D uses DLP link, RF 3D would be a better solution, and preferred
• No CFI for smooth motion for sports viewing
• No detail enhancement solutions (the step up projector from the W1070 – the W1500 did offer detail enhancement

That’s all folks

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