BenQ W1070 – Review Summary Posted on June 8, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. BenQ W1070 Home Theater Projector Review - BenQ W1070 Highlights - BenQ W1070 Projector Overview2. BenQ W1070 Special Features - BenQ W1070 3D - BenQ 3D Glasses - Gaming with the BenQ W1070 - W1070 Brilliant Color3. BenQ W1070 Special Features Part 2 - Full Color Management System - CMS - W1070 ISF certification - W1070 Smart-Eco mode - W1070 Audio - W1070 Lamp Life4. BenQ W1070 Projector – Physical Tour - BenQ W1070 Projector - Appearance - W1070 Control Panel - W1070 Projector - Input/Output5. BenQ W1070 Projector – Physical Tour 2 - W1070 Menus - BenQ W1070 Remote Control - BenQ W1070 Lens Throw - BenQ W1070 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen6. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality - BenQ W1070 Out of the Box Picture Quality - BenQ W1070 Projector - Skin Tones7. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance - Black Levels Comparison - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Comparison - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: BenQ W1070 Projector - Bottom Line8. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 3 - BenQ W1070 Overall Color & Picture Quality9. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 4 - BenQ W1070 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports, including 3D - BenQ W1070 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports, and also 3D HDTV content10. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance - BenQ W1070 Brightness - BenQ W1070 Calibrated: User 1 "best" mode = 1711 lumens - BenQ W1070 Modes: Image Comparison11. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance 2 - W1070 Lamp Brightness Smart-Eco vs. Full Power - BenQ W1070 Pre-Calibration Color temp - W1070, Post Calibration, Best Mode (User 1)12. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance 3 - BenQ W1070 3D Brightness - BenQ W1070 Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison Images13. BenQ W1070 Projector Calibration and Settings - BenQ W1070 Basic Settings14. BenQ W1070 Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - BenQ W1070 Post Calibration Grayscale: User Mode - W1070 Post Calibration settings15. BenQ W1070 – Projector Screen Recommendations - W1070 Projector Screen Recommendations16. BenQ W1070 – Competitors - BenQ W1070 - Competitors17. BenQ W1070 Projector – Warranty - BenQ W1070 Projector - Warranty18. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary - BenQ W1070 Projector - The Bottom Line19. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line on the W1070 projector20. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary 3 - BenQ W1070 Projector: Pros and Cons - BenQ W1070 Projector: Pros - BenQ W1070 Projector: Cons21. BenQ W1070 – Full Specifications A Hot Product Award for the BenQ W1070. One of my easiest decisons of the year. Read on. BenQ W1070 Projector - The Bottom Line If you can purchase this W1070 projector for under $1000, then I can’t think of a better value at the moment in a low cost 3D capable projector. Oh, this is certainly a projector with minimal frills. But, if you can live without fancy features like CFI for smooth motion (nice but hardly a deal breaker for most) and very clever image processing for “detail enhancement”, and a host of other goodies, and if , instead, you just want a very bright projector with excellent color, 3D, and a low price point, then the W1070 is probably for you. There’s serious performance here. Start with brightness, with over 1700 lumens calibrated – about 3 times the average home projector. Add to that excellent color if you calibrate the W1070. Or just use our published settings, and save a few hundred. Ours is just a calibration of the projector, not everything a calibrator can do, but, it should make a noticeable improvement, even if the BenQ W1070 looks very good right out of the box. This is first and foremost, a family room projector – a home entertainment projector rather than a home theater projector. That is, it’s intended for less than opitimized rooms. But the BenQ W1070 is also a 3D capable projector with very good 3D. 3D demands “horsepower”. With active glasses the theoretical minimum brightness loss relative to 2D, is 50%. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet. Consider that the W1070 is a very bright projector. That means the BenQ W1070 has plenty of lumens for large screens, or, it can handle medium sized screens (I’m talking 100 – 120 inch diagonal) in rooms with enough ambient light to render some far more expensive projectors rather ineffective. And it also can give you a reasonably bright 3D image. Can you drop the W1070 in a dedicated home theater? Absolutely. Its color accuracy will rival any “home theater projector” anywhere near its price. Family room projectors tend to be a little noisy, in terms of fan noise. The W1070 is hardly a quiet projector, but rated 33db, puts it in the same range, and I’d say it’s at least as quiet at full power, as Epson’s Home Cinema 5020UB one of the best under $3000 home theater projectors around. While the W1070’s brightness is wonderful, and its color accuracy excellent post calibration, this projector isn’t great at everything. That would be asking too much. Black level performance (while very good for the price), is certainly no mach for that aforementioned Epson HC5020UB, or most of the over $2000 projectors for that matter. It would seem a good thing, therefore, that this is only a one thousand dollar projector. As long as I’m now pointing out some of the weaknesses, consider: There’s the remote control. It’s small, it”s white (easy to find in a partially darkened room), but it lacks a backlight. Oh, you’ll eventually learn which buttons are which, but BenQ makes some great remotes for other projectors, that I’m disappointed. No backlight is always a pain when the lights are out. I already pointed out that there are a lot of advanced features – and frills, that the projector lacks. Another thing is the 3D glasses. I won’t complain that none are included, as I think the W1070 is a great value even without. But I will mention that they could be a good bit lighter. Comfort isn’t bad, but try those lightweight Epson and Panasonic glasses, and you’ll know what I mean. And I’d prefer to see RF, not IR on the glasses, and have them rechargeable. But with luck, as you decide you need more glasses next year, perhaps there will be lighter ones. But, other than black level performance, most areas of performance aren’t weak at all. Dark shadow detail handling is also extremely good – for any price point. And then there’s a radical surprise, lens shift on a really low cost DLP projector. Unheard of. As mentioned before, it doesn’t have very much shift, but what it does is pretty much where you are most likely to need, and use it. The point is, it has good black levels and no specific reasons why the W1070 wouldn’t make a good dedicated home theater projector for the price. The remote might not be ideal, but the menu layout is well organized and easy to navigate. Some might find the text a little small if they sit far back, but that’s about it. Oh, they could provide additional info on the Information menu. I could provide a list, or they could just see what some other manufacturers add. Alas now I’m really quibbling. So I’ll stop. By the way, if you really don’t like the remote, splurge for a decent universal, and control multiple devices. 1. BenQ W1070 Home Theater Projector Review - BenQ W1070 Highlights - BenQ W1070 Projector Overview2. BenQ W1070 Special Features - BenQ W1070 3D - BenQ 3D Glasses - Gaming with the BenQ W1070 - W1070 Brilliant Color3. BenQ W1070 Special Features Part 2 - Full Color Management System - CMS - W1070 ISF certification - W1070 Smart-Eco mode - W1070 Audio - W1070 Lamp Life4. BenQ W1070 Projector – Physical Tour - BenQ W1070 Projector - Appearance - W1070 Control Panel - W1070 Projector - Input/Output5. BenQ W1070 Projector – Physical Tour 2 - W1070 Menus - BenQ W1070 Remote Control - BenQ W1070 Lens Throw - BenQ W1070 Lens Shift - Anamorphic Lens - Wide Screen6. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality - BenQ W1070 Out of the Box Picture Quality - BenQ W1070 Projector - Skin Tones7. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 2 - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance - Black Levels Comparison - Shadow Detail Performance - Shadow Detail Comparison - Black Level and Shadow Detail Performance: BenQ W1070 Projector - Bottom Line8. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 3 - BenQ W1070 Overall Color & Picture Quality9. BenQ W1070 Projector – Image Quality 4 - BenQ W1070 Projector: Performance, HDTV and Sports, including 3D - BenQ W1070 Projector: Bottom Line on HDTV Sports, and also 3D HDTV content10. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance - BenQ W1070 Brightness - BenQ W1070 Calibrated: User 1 "best" mode = 1711 lumens - BenQ W1070 Modes: Image Comparison11. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance 2 - W1070 Lamp Brightness Smart-Eco vs. Full Power - BenQ W1070 Pre-Calibration Color temp - W1070, Post Calibration, Best Mode (User 1)12. BenQ W1070 Projector – Performance 3 - BenQ W1070 3D Brightness - BenQ W1070 Sharpness - Sharpness Comparison Images13. BenQ W1070 Projector Calibration and Settings - BenQ W1070 Basic Settings14. BenQ W1070 Projector Calibration and Settings 2 - BenQ W1070 Post Calibration Grayscale: User Mode - W1070 Post Calibration settings15. BenQ W1070 – Projector Screen Recommendations - W1070 Projector Screen Recommendations16. BenQ W1070 – Competitors - BenQ W1070 - Competitors17. BenQ W1070 Projector – Warranty - BenQ W1070 Projector - Warranty18. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary - BenQ W1070 Projector - The Bottom Line19. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary 2 - The Very Bottom Line on the W1070 projector20. BenQ W1070 – Review Summary 3 - BenQ W1070 Projector: Pros and Cons - BenQ W1070 Projector: Pros - BenQ W1070 Projector: Cons21. BenQ W1070 – Full Specifications BenQ W1070 Projector – Warranty BenQ W1070 – Review Summary 2