» BenQ W500 3LCD 720p Home Cinema Projector Review

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Editor's HDTV Pick

HP 47 inch MediaSmart 1080p LCD HDTV "Out of the box" digital media platform. Enjoy videos, pictures and music from home network + digital media delivered over your broadband Internet connection + 3 x HDMI

The BenQ W500 is a 720p resolution projector. Its brightness of 1100 ANSI lumens makes it a projector which needs the low ambient lighting of a home cinema to look good. The unit has an excellent contrast ratio of 5000:1 although as discussed in an earlier article, contrast ratio should not be a deciding factor in selecting between projectors. The BenQ W500 is the only one of the three BenQ Home Cinema Projectors which incorporates 3LCD technology. The PE7700 and W100 are both DLP projectors.

BenQ have made the W500 simple to set up with horizontal and vertical lens shift and horizontal and vertical keystone correction. Lens shift would be the alignment method of choice as it does not tend to introduce video artifacts. The W500 is reasonably quiet with a noise level of 28dB in economic mode. It has a good range of connectors including HDMI.

HQV ( Hollywood Quality Video)

The BenQ has a powerful video processor in the form of a Silicon Optix HQV Video Processor. Silicon Optix gained some significant recognition last December when it was selected as a 2006 Technology Pioneer by the World Economics.

The HQV processor performs more than one trillion operations per second and delivers superior video image quality using 10-bit video processing and other features to resolve conflicts between native pixel resolution and different pixel source material. The technology uses pixel-based (rather than frame-based) motion adaptation and detail enhancement to more accurately process de-interlaced images. Even standard broadcast video images are upscaled for improved viewing on a large screen.

Unlike some similar technologies, HQV technology processors have sufficient power to perform the full suite of image-enhancing processing calculations on two, simultaneous, high-definition sources without losing any resolution. This capability allows picture-in-picture or split screens to be displayed in full resolution.

The Epson PowerLite Pro Cinema 810 HQV and Mitsubishi HC5000BL projectors also have a Silicon Optix Video Processor.

3LCD Projection Technology

The W500 projection system is based on 3LCD technology, a video projection system that uses three LCD panels to produce an image. This technology has three main advantages:

• A brighter picture even in high ambient light situations
• More natural colors
• Greater resolution - high definition performance

3LCD is an active-matrix, HTPS (high-temperature polysilicon) LCD projection technology. From its active matrix technology it inherits sharp images, brightness and excellent color reproduction. Deeper blacks are contributed by the HTPS technology.

Application Mode Selection

For instant settings for various applications, BenQ a number of application modes (cinema mode, home theater mode, family room mode, photo mode and gaming mode,) are available. The application modes customize the projector output for each video source, for four different lighting environments or other preferences.

Resources

Projection Screen Selection

8 Tips to Extend Projector Lamp Life

Replacement Projector Lamps and Bulbs

User Reviews and Price Comparisons

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Specification BenQ W500 Home Cinema Projector