BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 3 Posted on December 25, 2013 By Art Feierman 1. BenQ W1500 Home Projector – Review - BenQ W1500 Highlights - W1500 Projector: Overview2. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features - BenQ W1500 Wireless HDMI - More on the BenQ' W1500's Wireless HDMI - Vertical Lens Shift3. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 2 - BenQ W1500 3D Capabilities - Three User Modes + ISF - Hooray! - CMS - Color Management System - BenQ W1500 Big Audio4. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 3 - Frame Interpolation - Clarity Control - W1500 Brilliant Color - Picture In Picture - PIP5. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour - General Appearance - BenQ W1500 Control Panel - W1500 Lens Shift Control - BenQ W1500 Projector - Inputs and Connectors6. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour 2 - BenQ W1500's Wireless HDMI - WHDI - Dongle Transmitter - BenQ W1500 Remote Control - W1500 menus7. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour 3 - BenQ W1500 Lens Throw - W1500 Lens Shift8. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality - W1500 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling: BenQ W1500 Projector - Skin Tones are Variable - Based On Lighting Conditions - Black Level Performance - Match The Projector To Your Room and Viewing Habits9. BenQ W1500 Projector: Picture Quality 2 - W1500 Projector - Black Level Performance - Black Level Comparison Photos - W1500 Projector vs. Competition10. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality 3 - Dark Shadow Detail - BenQ W1500 Projector - Dark Shadow Detail Comparison - Dark Shadow and Black Level Comparisons 11. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality 4 - Room Conditions - Ambient Light For HDTV Viewing - W1500 3D Performance12. BenQ W1500 Projector: Picture Quality 5 - Overall Picture Quality13. BenQ W1500 Projector – Performance - BenQ W1500 - Calibrated Brightness - Affect of Zoom Lens setting on W1500 Brightness - BenQ W1500 Eco Mode- Affect on Brightness - Color Temp - Across Brightness Range - Cinema Mode - at Full and Eco - Color Temp - Across Brightness Range - Post Calibration14. BenQ W1500 Projector – Performance 2 - W1500 Sharpness - W1500 vs. Competition - Start-up screen close up ("Logo") - Sharpness - Spiderman Close-up Of Wrist Control Comparison - Bottom LIne W1500 Projector Sharpness15. BenQ W1500 Projector: Performance 3 - W1500 Projector - Image Noise - Audible Noise - W1500 Projector - Rainbow Effect - BenQ W150016. BenQ W1500 Projector – Calibration & Settings 1 - Pre-Calibration17. BenQ W1500 Projector – Calibration & Settings 2 - Post-Calibration - Grayscale Calibration Notes18. BenQ W1500 Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - CMS Calibration Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)19. BenQ W1500 Projector – Warranty20. BenQ W1500 Projector – Projector Screen Advice21. BenQ W1500 Projector: Summary - BenQ W1500 Summary - Color and General Picture Quality - Dark Shadow Detail and Black Level Performance - W1500 Brightness Summary - 3D Performance22. BenQ W1500 Projector – Summary 2 - W1500 Features - WHDI Wireless HDMI - BenQ W1500 Projector Review: The Bottom Line23. BenQ W1500 Projector Specifications BENQ W1500 PROJECTOR – SPECIAL FEATURES 3: CFI, Clarity Control, Brilliant Color, PIP Frame InterpolationBenQ serves up creative frame interpolation with 3 levels: Low, Middle, High. The low and middle settings seem to do relatively little, for sports I tried high, and it seemed a bit jerky. I was watching a pan across a picket fence, and it looked more real with it turned off. Sports seemed fine. I remind you I’m not a big fan of CFI. I use it in moderation for sports, and little else. I think it’s a nice extra feature to have, but not one that many would consider essential, or even very important. I did try watching a movie with the High setting, just to see if it showed the same jerkiness I spotted on sports, and sure enough, it was visible on a typical movie (1080i) off of HDTV. Stick to the lower settings. Clarity ControlThere isn’t much information on how it works (none that I’ve seen). It is a detail enhancement solution, but whether it dynamically adjusts I’m not sure. At rate, it doesn’t seem to do as good a job as Sony’s Reality Creation, nor for that matter, Epson’s Super-Resolution which I don’t like quite as much as Sony’s approach. It seems to be a fairly smart sharpening program, using some edge sharpening, and perhaps contrast enhancement itself. Certainly as you dial it up thin lines tend to become higher contrast, going from darker to lighter. I have several images in this player, where you can see different Clarity Control settings on the same frame. In the dark scene of Rivendell you can barely make out subtle differences if you go back and forth between the three images. Look at the large bright roof areas. Much easier is the image of the priest from The Fifth Element. Look at his cheeks, the threading in his cloak, his hair, etc. There it’s easy to spot. In both sequences there are three settings 4, 2, and 0 (off) Overall, not a huge amount of difference between off and 4 which is the maximum, but there is a visible difference. Noise in the Priest’s cheek is also noticeably more visible with the higher setting. W1500 Brilliant ColorThe last projector I reviewed had 10 different Brilliant Color settings. That was the Optoma HD131Xe. BenQ takes a simpler approach. Their customization of Brilliant Color gives you a choice of Off, or On. Brilliant Color adds some pop to the image. The W1500 also measures about 30% brighter with Brilliant Color engaged. Generally you have a more natural image without using Brilliant Color, but it does add a dynamic edge to the picture, one that’s very handy when there’s ambient light present. With both pair of images shown here, the first one has Brilliant Color off, the second one has it turned on. Picture In Picture - PIPBenQ has been serving up home projectors with Picture-In-Picture for about as long as they’ve been selling projectors. I owned three BenQ projectors consecutively back about 6-9 years ago. I think they all had PIP, and they all had the same issue as PIP on this W1500 projector: Only one of the sources can be HDMI. Well, these days, HDMI is by far the standard out there, and few people are set up with component video, or other alternatives. (OK, some folks will have an analog computer input in use.) I had hoped BenQ would finally support two HDMI sources at once. My hope came from the new Epson projectors, where Epson also didn’t in the past support two HDMI’s at once, but they do for Picture in Picture on several new projectors. PIP in general, is another of those sometimes nice to have features, but few people will consider it an essential feature. You just have to figure out what your “other” source will be. Click Image to Enlarge 1. BenQ W1500 Home Projector – Review - BenQ W1500 Highlights - W1500 Projector: Overview2. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features - BenQ W1500 Wireless HDMI - More on the BenQ' W1500's Wireless HDMI - Vertical Lens Shift3. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 2 - BenQ W1500 3D Capabilities - Three User Modes + ISF - Hooray! - CMS - Color Management System - BenQ W1500 Big Audio4. BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 3 - Frame Interpolation - Clarity Control - W1500 Brilliant Color - Picture In Picture - PIP5. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour - General Appearance - BenQ W1500 Control Panel - W1500 Lens Shift Control - BenQ W1500 Projector - Inputs and Connectors6. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour 2 - BenQ W1500's Wireless HDMI - WHDI - Dongle Transmitter - BenQ W1500 Remote Control - W1500 menus7. BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour 3 - BenQ W1500 Lens Throw - W1500 Lens Shift8. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality - W1500 Out of the Box Picture Quality - Skin Tone Handling: BenQ W1500 Projector - Skin Tones are Variable - Based On Lighting Conditions - Black Level Performance - Match The Projector To Your Room and Viewing Habits9. BenQ W1500 Projector: Picture Quality 2 - W1500 Projector - Black Level Performance - Black Level Comparison Photos - W1500 Projector vs. Competition10. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality 3 - Dark Shadow Detail - BenQ W1500 Projector - Dark Shadow Detail Comparison - Dark Shadow and Black Level Comparisons 11. BenQ W1500 Projector – Picture Quality 4 - Room Conditions - Ambient Light For HDTV Viewing - W1500 3D Performance12. BenQ W1500 Projector: Picture Quality 5 - Overall Picture Quality13. BenQ W1500 Projector – Performance - BenQ W1500 - Calibrated Brightness - Affect of Zoom Lens setting on W1500 Brightness - BenQ W1500 Eco Mode- Affect on Brightness - Color Temp - Across Brightness Range - Cinema Mode - at Full and Eco - Color Temp - Across Brightness Range - Post Calibration14. BenQ W1500 Projector – Performance 2 - W1500 Sharpness - W1500 vs. Competition - Start-up screen close up ("Logo") - Sharpness - Spiderman Close-up Of Wrist Control Comparison - Bottom LIne W1500 Projector Sharpness15. BenQ W1500 Projector: Performance 3 - W1500 Projector - Image Noise - Audible Noise - W1500 Projector - Rainbow Effect - BenQ W150016. BenQ W1500 Projector – Calibration & Settings 1 - Pre-Calibration17. BenQ W1500 Projector – Calibration & Settings 2 - Post-Calibration - Grayscale Calibration Notes18. BenQ W1500 Projector – Advanced Calibration Information - Color Management Settings (CMS) - CMS Calibration Notes - Calibration Charts (Before and After)19. BenQ W1500 Projector – Warranty20. BenQ W1500 Projector – Projector Screen Advice21. BenQ W1500 Projector: Summary - BenQ W1500 Summary - Color and General Picture Quality - Dark Shadow Detail and Black Level Performance - W1500 Brightness Summary - 3D Performance22. BenQ W1500 Projector – Summary 2 - W1500 Features - WHDI Wireless HDMI - BenQ W1500 Projector Review: The Bottom Line23. BenQ W1500 Projector Specifications BenQ W1500 Projector – Special Features 2 BenQ W1500 Projector – Hardware Tour