BenQ W1000 Projector - Image Quality

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Art Feierman

The BenQ W1000 images below are all from either Blu-ray or HDTV, with the exception of Lord of the Rings (standard DVD). Note: By the time these BenQ W1000 projector images get to your eyeball, through digital camera, software, browsers, and monitor, there is definitely color shifting, saturation differences, etc. The images are to support the commentary, but keep in mind the limitations when trying to compare images from the W1000 with other home theater projectors. None are faithful reproductions of the colors that you see when projecting on a screen. Remember also, that the projectors themselves look far better than what you see in these photos. Intentionally overexposed images to show shadow detail and black level performance, on the other hand, are very good at showing differences between the BenQ W1000 and other home theater projectors.

W1000 Out of the Box Picture Quality

The "out of the box" color is very good, but a touch too much red, which is a very good thing, since the BenQ lacks the tradtional R,G,B brightness and contrast controls for doing a grayscale balance. (There is a color management system, however.)

Of note, the projector's brightest mode, aptly named Bright mode exhibits a bit too much green. This is common because it will help cut through ambient light.

Then, a good deal less bright is Standard mode, which has even better color. Cinema is the best mode for our discussion purposes. Overall, very watchable, right out of the box, in all three modes.

The image below (digital image from the DVE-HD test disk) with the BenQ W1000 projector was taken post calibration:

BenQ W1000 Projector - Flesh Tones

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Skin tones are very good. There is a very slight, touch too much red to faces like Gandalf's below, due to the touch less red than there should be. When viewing, the projector doesn't really feel like it's a little thin on red, as the image has a good bit of contrast, and a lot of punch.

These images all look very good. I spent a lot of time watching movies and sports on the BenQ W1000, and found the picture pleasing, overall, with my only serious complaint being the black level performance, which we'll tackle next.