BenQ W1000 Projector - Performance4

Posted on March 14, 2010 by Art Feierman

BenQ W1000: Bottom Line Sharpness

Like almost all single chip DLP projectors the BenQ produces a very sharp image. It isn't the sharpest of the DLP projectors, but it is sharp enough to easily match or beat the sharpness of any of the LCD competition. That's pretty darn good, for $999! In other words, no issue here at all. You could buy, for example, a $2500 Epson 8500UB, perhaps the best under $3000 projector on the market, and its image still would be a touch softer than the Vivitek.

Light Leakage

Very good, in terms of light leaking out from vents, etc. In other words very minimal leakage of that type. The other type of light leakage is that coming through the lens. In this case, the BenQ W1000 isn't so good. I'm seeing a modest but still surprising amount of light from the lens. It hits below the projector (when right side up), off to the left. It isn't a big problem, and it isn't hitting the image area. In a family room environment no one will notice.

Image Noise

No obvious problems spotted. As is typical of DLP projectors the inherent image noise seems to be greater than on LCD and LCoS projectors, but that's been the case for a very long time. Each technology has its trade-offs, and for the most part a little more image noise is part of many DLP projector's description.

Audible Noise

I complained about the audible noise of the Optoma HD20, when I reviewed it. OK, DLP projectors tend to be the noisiest of the three projector technologies, and it tends to be made worse when the manufacturers are building particularly small projectors like the HD20.

Fortunately, the BenQ W1000, like the Vivitek is definitely quieter than the HD20. It's not night and day, but definitely several db worth. BenQ claims 27 db in low power, 29 at full power. And yes, that would be definitely quieter than the HD20, and about average among the lower cost DLP projectors. Over all, few will overly object to the BenQ W1000's fan noise, even at full power.