BenQ W1200, Affordable cinema

• The "little" BenQ (only in size and price) not only offers excellent picture quality, but with the right tools (a meter) or the right friends it can be optimized beyond what some models costing several times as much are capable of.

• Price: €1,200

• Specialists' rating: 5

• Text: Josep ARMENGOL

When you consider turning your living room (or another room) at home into a "cinema", the first thing you should do, without any doubt, is consider installing a projector and the corresponding screen: not even TVs over 50 inches can give us the picture size, the cinema feel, of a projector; it's that simple.

But projectors are not without their drawbacks: the image they offer suffers greatly if the room is not dark (in fact, that is another similarity with the "real" cinema), and that means not only having little ambient light but even dark-colored (low-reflectance) walls and ceiling. Since both things tend to sit badly with a domestic setting, unless you are lucky enough to have a dedicated room, you will need a certain duplication of displays: a TV for everyday viewing (children's programs, sports, series, etc.) and a projector for more special occasions.

In other words, although if we want "cinema" we need to buy one, the projector is usually an "extra", and when it comes to drawing up the shopping list, price can be decisive. The most active segment of the market is projectors between €2,000 and €3,000, and that, given the current economic circumstances, is not within reach of most people.

Taiwan's BenQ comes to our rescue: specialists in projectors (and LCD monitors), their main argument has always been price, and thanks to that many enthusiasts have taken their first steps (in some cases first and only, because they need nothing more) with BenQ projectors, which, moreover, in their commitment to DLP technology have stood out for their brightness and vivid colors, making them ideal for being more compatible with "non-specialized" domestic life.

Our guest, the recently introduced W1200, fits all this perfectly: it is a brilliant high-definition DLP projector that we can buy without compromising the household budget.

Description

With a relatively modest size (especially compared with its big brother the W6500, which we tested last season) and a very reasonable weight of just over 3 kg, it is a perfectly manageable, even "portable" projector: this means that, apart from being able to install it permanently (always the recommended way to use a projector) without having to worry much about the sturdiness of its mount, it is not unreasonable to think of using it without a fixed installation, simply placed on a coffee table, for example.

This does not mean that this BenQ is easy to install; on the contrary, that is the only drawback I find, as it offers no "aids" because the lens is fixed (it is common for lenses to shift horizontally and vertically), so we will not only have to ensure that its axis is perfectly perpendicular to the screen (this is true of all projectors) but also position it, left/right and up/down, perfectly aligned with the screen we are using. Something of a chore, made more difficult by another factor: the presence of a built-in vertical offset, meaning the image is projected somewhat above the plane on which the unit rests. All this may sound complicated, but an example makes it clear: with the W1200 four meters from my 120-inch screen (about 2.5 m wide), I needed an intermediate zoom setting (neither the widest nor the tightest) to fill that screen, but the image ended up about 40 cm higher than the projector. In other words, with the projector on the floor, the screen had to be raised 40 cm... or, with it where I have it (it is fixed) about 60 cm off the floor, I needed to raise the projector by 20 cm (several books solved the problem).

This can be problematic in rooms with not very high ceilings if we want to ceiling-mount it, which is ideal, because using the same measurements the screen will have to be those 40 cm below the ceiling (and the ceiling may not be high enough for certain screen sizes). In return, it allows non-permanent use, on a coffee table (or on the floor), projecting onto a screen hung from the ceiling. Avoid the temptation to tilt it to reposition the image and then correct the resulting trapezoid with the keystone control: that control affects the actual resolution we use, and it is better to spend a little more time getting it properly "squared up" than to spoil the image from the outset with something like that.

The projector's relatively compact size means it has a cooling system with two fans (air intake and exhaust) that are quite noisy, the other negative point of this BenQ: in economy mode (low lamp) they only bother you in quiet scenes, but in normal mode they make too much noise. Oh, and the zoom and focus adjustments are manual, but we expected nothing else at this price, and it is not something that needs constant adjustment.

"All" the connections are there, notably including two HDMI inputs, a VGA output (as well as input) and two... audio inputs! Yes, despite its compact size the W1200 has two amplified speakers, and although I paid little attention to that feature, I got a pleasant surprise when I tried them as I was finishing this Lab. They are certainly no substitute for a minimally decent sound system, but there are some very indecent systems out there, including the speakers in many TVs (the quest for minimum thickness is incompatible with good sound). For watching TV programs with a DTT tuner, even sports broadcasts, they are perfectly adequate, although they will force us to run another cable (one of the inputs has RCA connectors, the other a headphone-type jack), and the (switchable) SRS digital widening effect seems to help in these, shall we say, less critical uses.

The fully illuminated remote control is comprehensive, and best of all, with it we access the menus, which are among the most complete I have seen. They are perfect, because if we select the preset "modes" (dynamic, standard and cinema) it hardly lets you touch anything, but using the user modes (three, based on the previous ones) a whole world opens up before us: brightness, contrast, color, sharpness, etc. are of course accessible for the first, essential adjustments (which should be available in the presets, although they are not), but beyond that we can enter menus to adjust colorimetry, gamma and color temperature, and manage the primary and secondary colors... "everything" needed for a perfect calibration (with a meter, of course). Even more, as it also has an ISF menu so that a professional certified by that institute can calibrate it (and lock it) perfectly for us. There are projectors at three times the price that do not offer so much adjustability: bravo, BenQ.

Test

Although we did not have the calibration equipment (meter and software) on hand, and to begin with we did not much like the out-of-the-box colorimetry, it is quite easy to get an image already fairly close to optimal by leaving the lamp on low, setting brightness and contrast (black and white levels respectively) correctly for our room, screen and usual lighting (remember that this is always the first step with any display), and adjusting the white balance by raising the red (our unit at least came with an icy color temperature even at the warmest setting). Following our custom, mainly because we have yet to find a projector in which those settings always "help" (especially when it comes to evaluating what the panel and optics can do), we left sharpness at zero, "clarity" at minimum and "Brilliant Color" off.

DLP projectors (and the BenQs we have tested in particular) are susceptible to generating digital video noise when those settings or aids are used, and the truth is that they do not need them, because by design (an excellent Texas Instruments DLP chip) and optics they usually offer good sharpness. I began testing this W1200 precisely looking for that effect and was surprised to find a very sharp image free of noise (without activating those processes; otherwise the classic shimmering in backgrounds does appear).

The W1200 is a fairly bright projector but, above all, one with very vivid colors and a very dynamic image, living up to the reputation of DLP projectors. As you will know, these use millions of micromirrors and are therefore able to make the most of light, or its absence, compared with LCD systems (which let light pass through their color panels) or D-ILA, which sits halfway between the two. Frankly, ever since I had that DLP I mentioned above, I found it very hard to find anything able to satisfy me in this respect, and this happens to many users of projectors with this technology, and BenQ in particular knows how to get the most out of it. We know this from the much-missed W5000 (a revolution in its day), or from the more modern W6000 and W6500, and this affordable W1200 reminds us of those machines within a few seconds of watching the images it projects in scenes we have seen countless times... That vividness of color and dynamic light (although absolute brightness is not very high) even makes it possible to tolerate less than optimal conditions (ambient light or light-colored walls) with less loss of subjective quality than other projectors suffer, which, together with its price, makes this W1200 a highly recommendable unit as a first step into the world of (genuine) home theater.

And that extraordinary sharpness... The modest BenQ will let us appreciate details that other units struggle with: depending on your experience, it is possible that with the W1200 you will truly appreciate high definition in all its breadth and quality for the first time. It really is very good at this.

Now for two things we liked less: the first, directly related to DLP technology, is its Achilles' heel, the so-called rainbow effect. The W1200 has a six-segment color wheel (an essential mechanism in these reflective-chip projectors) that spins fast (7200rpm), but it is not hard to see the effect in high-contrast areas, even with subtitles (white on a dark background)... At least I do see it, though I confess I was looking for it, but some people are more sensitive to this effect than others, and I think it is important to point it out.

The other issue that puzzled me is its sensitivity to the source when synchronizing: with some, 1080p24 played smoothly, with others it needed 23.976 or suffered small judders. What's more, when frame interpolation was activated, artifacts appeared occasionally in both cases, and audio sync was also slightly lost (a problem if the receiver does not allow a slight audio delay). I suspect all this will be overcome with a firmware update (our unit came with 1.02), because that is what has happened with similar (even more serious) problems in the past: in short, it is not something without a solution. Incidentally, even at minimum, frame interpolation is quite aggressive and gives that hyper-realistic look that makes it seem as if we were watching an HD-TV documentary about the movie rather than the film itself, something some people like, others like depending on the case, and others cannot stand at all (I am one of the "depending on when" camp).

Conclusion

This test has been a pleasant surprise: the "little" BenQ (only in size and price) not only offers excellent picture quality, but with the right tools (a meter) or the right friends it can be optimized beyond what some models costing several times as much are capable of. It will make us work harder than others when installing it, with no lens shift and with its offset, and in quiet scenes its far-from-discreet fans will attract attention, but the level of picture quality it lets us enjoy is a notable leap over what was available in this range until now and brings us very close to the "big boys". A highly recommendable projector as a first step, or as a replacement for a model a few years old: in both cases its images, with vivid colors and extraordinary sharpness, will surprise us very pleasantly.

We like

-Extraordinary sharpness and vivid colors.

-Good brightness and decent black level.

-Extensive adjustment options, including the ISF menu.

-Excellent picture quality/price ratio.

-Built-in speakers occasionally useful.

Could be improved

-Greater installation flexibility (the lens is fixed).

-Noisy fans.

-Synchronization (especially with interpolation activated).

BenQ W1200, Affordable cinema

Specifications

Projection system: 0.65-inch DLP chip with native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Aspect ratio 16:9. Brightness 1,800 ANSI lumens. Contrast 5,000:1. Manual zoom 1.5x (throw ratio 1.4 to 2.1); manual focus adjustment. Connections: 2x HDMI (1.3), RS-232C, USB, mini D-sub (input and output), composite video, S-Video, component video, L/R audio (RCA), audio input/output (3.5mm jack). Built-in speakers, 2x10W. Fan noise: 27dB (22dB Eco mode). 230W lamp, 2,500-hour life (4,000 hours in Economy mode). Maximum power consumption 290W. Dimensions: 338 x 139 x 259 mm. Weight: 3.6 kg. Included accessories: power cord, backlit remote control, CD-ROM with complete manual. Web: benq.es

Price: €1,200