BenQ HT1075 Projector Review Summary 2 Posted on October 4, 2014 By Art Feierman 1. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review - BenQ HT1075 Projector - Overview - HT1075 Highlights2. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Special Features - Single Chip DLP Design, 3D - HT1075 Lens Shift - Projector Lamp Modes - MHL and Audio on the HT1075 Projector3. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Special Features 2 - HT1075 Audio and Sound Quality - Wireless HD Capability (Optional) - Sorry, No PIP and SWAP - Revised Menu System4. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Hardware Tour - HT1075 Hardware - Overview and Lens - HT1075 Control Panel - HT1075 Inputs and Connectors - HT1075 Lens Throw - HT1075 Lens Shift5. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Hardware Tour 2 - HT1075 Remote Control - HT1075 Menus - HT1075 Optional Wireless HD6. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Picture Quality - Impressive Out of the Box Color - Skin Tones - HT1075 Black Level Performance7. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Dark Shadow Detail Handling - HT1075 HDTV and Sports Viewing - HT1075 Overall Picture Quality8. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Performance - Color Temp, Cinema, Pre-Calibration - Affect of Zoom Lens on Brightness - HT1075 Best Mode Color Temperature - Post Calibration - HT1075 Gamma9. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Performance 2 - HT1075 Sharpness - More Sharpness comparison Images - HT1075 Image Noise - Audible Noise10. BenQ HT1075 Projector Calibration and Settings - BenQ HT1075 Pre-calibration Settings - BenQ HT1075 Calibration - Mike's General Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes11. BenQ HT1075 Projector Advanced Calibration - About this Calibration Information - BenQ HT1075 CMS - Mike's CMS Calibration Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)12. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Summary - BenQ HT1075 - Home Entertainment or Home Theater Projector? - Picture Quality - HT1075 Brightness - The Bottom Line: Great Yet A Bit Disappointing!13. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review Summary 2 - The Bottom Line - continued - HT1075 Pros - HT1075 Cons14. BenQ HT1075 Projector Specifications BENQ HT1075 PROJECTOR REVIEW – SUMMARY Page 2: The Bottom Line (continued), Pros and Cons 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 Extremely bright Excellent value both for Home Entertainment and Home Theater Excellent color – right out of the box is extremely good, and calibrated, its truly excellent Vertical lens shift (modest amount) helps out with placement flexibility 1.3:1 manual zoom lens doesn’t offer great front to back range, but more than a number of competitors Reasonably quiet for a home entertainment projector Good sharpness 3D is nice and clean. BenQ still needs lighter and RF 3D glasses to be competitive, but there are plenty of lightweight low cost 3rd party DLP-link glasses available. Very good lamp life (but not the best) Excellent warranty – 3 years MHL for portable HDMI streaming, etc. Very nice remote control 12 volt trigger to control a motorized screen Audio out, allows feeding sound to a larger sound system (definitely comes into play if you are using MHL sources) Lightweight and reasonably portable Excellent overall price performance value 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 Click Image to Enlarge 1. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review - BenQ HT1075 Projector - Overview - HT1075 Highlights2. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Special Features - Single Chip DLP Design, 3D - HT1075 Lens Shift - Projector Lamp Modes - MHL and Audio on the HT1075 Projector3. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Special Features 2 - HT1075 Audio and Sound Quality - Wireless HD Capability (Optional) - Sorry, No PIP and SWAP - Revised Menu System4. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Hardware Tour - HT1075 Hardware - Overview and Lens - HT1075 Control Panel - HT1075 Inputs and Connectors - HT1075 Lens Throw - HT1075 Lens Shift5. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Hardware Tour 2 - HT1075 Remote Control - HT1075 Menus - HT1075 Optional Wireless HD6. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Picture Quality - Impressive Out of the Box Color - Skin Tones - HT1075 Black Level Performance7. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Picture Quality 2 - Dark Shadow Detail Handling - HT1075 HDTV and Sports Viewing - HT1075 Overall Picture Quality8. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Performance - Color Temp, Cinema, Pre-Calibration - Affect of Zoom Lens on Brightness - HT1075 Best Mode Color Temperature - Post Calibration - HT1075 Gamma9. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Performance 2 - HT1075 Sharpness - More Sharpness comparison Images - HT1075 Image Noise - Audible Noise10. BenQ HT1075 Projector Calibration and Settings - BenQ HT1075 Pre-calibration Settings - BenQ HT1075 Calibration - Mike's General Notes - Mike's Grayscale Calibration Notes11. BenQ HT1075 Projector Advanced Calibration - About this Calibration Information - BenQ HT1075 CMS - Mike's CMS Calibration Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)12. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Summary - BenQ HT1075 - Home Entertainment or Home Theater Projector? - Picture Quality - HT1075 Brightness - The Bottom Line: Great Yet A Bit Disappointing!13. BenQ HT1075 Projector Review Summary 2 - The Bottom Line - continued - HT1075 Pros - HT1075 Cons14. BenQ HT1075 Projector Specifications BenQ HT1075 Projector Review – Summary BenQ HT1075 Projector Specifications