BenQ W100 Projector Reviews - General Performance 1

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Art Feierman

Remote Control

Click to enlarge. So close.

For a small projector, the W100's remote is pretty large. It is basically the same remote as their other home theater projectors use, but with less buttons.

First, it has great range. I have found fault with competing projectors for remotes without the muscle to bounce the image off of the screen, to the projector. Not so the BenQ's remote, it has so much range that you barely have to pay attention to where you point it at all, in a normal to large room.

Next great thing - its backlit, and bright. I hate those remotes with "glow in the dark" buttons, they are never bright enough for me, and surprisingly many remotes that are backlit, are dim anyway, probably to extend the battery life. I don't care, I want a bright, easy to read remote.

The BenQ delivers. My only complaint is that ther are a few buttons that have no symbols on them, but since most have obvious symbols, you quickly learn which is the Mode change, and the Auto setup...

The remote has discreet buttons for each of the inputs on the top (below the power button). Then comes the aspect ratio buttons, and below them, the 3 unlabeled - in the center the auto button, and to the right, the default, but the important one, and the one you are likely to use, is on the left - the Mode (preset) button.

Below that the four arrow keys with the Menu/Enter button in the middle. They are large, easy to find and use.

Finally two rows at the bottom. Brightness, Contrast Color (saturation - if available depending on source), and Tint (also not available on component or Digital sources).

On the last row two buttons I hope you never use, as they are for keystone adjustment, and inherently (like all digital keystone adjustment, slightly distort your image), and finally on the right, is the Backlight button.

Click Image to Enlarge

Lens Throw and Lens Shift/Offset

As mentioned in the Overview, the BenQ W100 digital projector has a zoom lens with a very narrow range. Most DLP projectors that sell for under $3000 share this placement limitation, and offer zooms with ranges from 1.15:1 to 1.3:1, with 1.2:1 being the most common. The W100 is at the low end with 1.15:1, allowing you to use the zoom to adjust the image size by 15%.

To fill a 100" diagonal 16:9 screen, the front of the lens can be as close as 12.3 feet or as far back as 14.1 feet.

If your planned screen size is larger or smaller, you can calculate the distances proportionally with a calculator.

The BenQ W100 projector does not have variable lens shift. As such you want to have it positioned correctly in terms of height relative to the screen. If you are table mounting, the center of the lens will position slightly below the bottom of the screen surface. If ceiling mounted, slightly above the top.

The offset number for a 100" diagonal screen, is an almost perfect 8 inches. So, if table mounting, you want the center of the lens height to be 8 inches below the bottom of the screens surface!