The BenQ TH690ST won the Projector Reviews “Highly Recommended” award.
The BenQ TH690ST 4LED 1080p HDR Short Throw Projector for Console Gaming that retails for $1,099 and can deliver 2,300 ANSI lumens of brightness. The TH690ST is part of BenQ’s gaming-focused TH Series of Full HD projectors. The TH690ST is the 4LED version of the lamp-based HT2150, BenQ’s first gaming projector, launched in 2016.
BenQ sent Projector Reviews a demo sample of the TH690ST to review. To thoroughly test the projector, I connected my PlayStation 5, Apple TV 4K, Kaleidescape Compact Terra 6TB movie server, and Kaleidescape Strato C 4K movie player to the TH690ST via 48Gbps HDMI 2.1 cables. I projected onto a 100-inch (16:9) Elite Screens Aeon Series fixed frame projection screen with Elite’s EDGE FREE® technology and Elite’s CineWhite® UHD-B screen material. The CineWhite® UHD-B (Tensioned Matte White) is a 1.3 gain flexible front projection screen material that is ISF certified for achieving accurate color reproduction and image fidelity.
The BenQ TH690ST sitting alongside the BenQ X3000i and BenQ TK700 which are on a long-term loan for our monthly “Gaming On A Projector: Best New Games To Play On A Projector In 2022” articles.
With a retail price of only $1,099 for the TH690ST, BenQ has in mind the end-user who wants to get into gaming with a projector but doesn’t want to pay the price tag for a 4K gaming projector but at the same time doesn’t want a 1080p lamp-based gaming projector. The BenQ TH690ST 4LED gaming projector fits nicely between those two types of gaming projectors and is the perfect gateway to get into gaming with a projector.
A few projectors in the BenQ TH Series of gaming projectors.
BenQ has various series of gaming projectors: X Series, TK Series, and TH Series. With its 4LED light source and HDR10, the BenQ TH690ST is the flagship of the BenQ TH Series of gaming projectors. The BenQ TH685 and TH671ST are two of the other TH Series gaming projectors from BenQ.
The TH685 and TH671ST have lamp-based light sources compared to the TH690ST’s 4LED light source. The most significant difference is that with the lamp-based projectors, you’re looking at a light source lifespan of 4,000 hours in Normal mode and up to 10,000 hours in Eco mode. The TH690ST’s 4LED light source gets you 20,000 hours of light source life in Normal mode and 30,000 hours in Eco mode. Also, the TH690ST has HDR10 support, whereas the TH685 and TH671ST do not have HDR support. The TH685 and TH671ST have an MSRP of $799 compared to the TH690ST’s $1,099 price tag.
One of a few essential elements for us gamers is input lag. As far as input lag goes, BenQ states 0-20ms is high-speed, 20-40ms is fast, 40-62ms is slow, and anything lower than 63ms is very slow. The TH690ST has a BenQ rated input lag of 1080p@120Hz: 8.3ms, 1080p@60Hz: 16.7ms, and 4K@60Hz (downscaling to 1080p): 33.4ms.
The TH690ST’s game modes allow the end-user to tweak the images for the best display in bright or dark viewing environments, delivering additional clarity and detail for complete immersion into the game. All it takes is a simple switch under Game Settings by changing the Room Setting to Dark or Bright. The game mode also optimizes the latency settings.
