BenQ W10000 1080p DLP Home Theater Projector

Posted on December 7, 2006 by Art Feierman

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BenQ W10000 Specs
Price	5995
Technology	DLP
Native Resolution	1080p (1920x1080)
Brightness (Manufacturer Claim)	1100
Contrast	10,000:1
Zoom Lens Ratio	1.15:1
Lens Shift	Yes
Lamp Life
Weight	20.9 lbs.
Warranty	1 Year

BenQ W10000 1080p Home Theater Projector - Overview

The BenQ W10000 has fully lived up to my expectations. Consider that I currently own their 720p projector, the PE8720, and that the W10000 is essentially the same projector (it looks identical) but sporting 1080p native resolution, for a sharper image with more detail. I expected the W10000 to be at or near the top of my list for replacing my PE8720, and in that regard, its performance puts it at the top of the list right now, although I have two more 1080p projectors to review yet. All said, the W10000 is a first class 1080p projector, and I am pleased to give it our Hot Product Award. I like to point out why a projector gets our award, as some projectors earn it for performance and capabilities for a small segment of the market. Not so the W10000 home theater projector. It earns the award for an extremely sharp and film-like image, combined with excellent price/performance. It's going to be hard to beat.

There are, of course some improvements in the W10000 over the PE-8720, including the fact that the W10000 home theater projector is ISF Certified.

Quicktip: ISF (Imaging Science Foundation) is the organization of professional calibrators. Understand right off, that being ISF Certified doesn't mean the projector has been fully calibrated by a professional before you get it. Rather, it means that within the service menus (places where normal folks aren't allowed to go), all the tools and options are there for a professional to maximize the projector's performance. I believe that the certification also means that the projector's parameters are such that together, the projector and the calibrator can end up with ideal settings for your environment. (A true professional calibration is done at your home, so that the settings take into consideration, your room, screen type, wall coloring, etc.)

But, back to the W10000. To the consumer, this 1080p behaves almost exactly like the PE-8720, right down to the menus.

There is one other change of note, and that relates to the zoom lens and throw distance. The W10000 has less zoom range (for placement flexibility) than the PE-8720, which I will cover later.

This is the third of the new "affordable" (selling from under $4000 to under $7000) 1080p resolution home theater projectors to be reviewed. We have previously reviewed the Panasonic PT-AE1000U (the lowest cost) and the Mitsubishi HC5000, both LCD powered. Our next review is Optoma's HD81 home theater projector, which like the W10000, uses a 1080p Darkchip3 DLP, and has a MAP price about a thousand dollars more than the W10000.

Early next year we hope to review both the Sony Pearl VW50, and the forthcoming JVC LCOS projector (due to ship in February/March timeframe at about the same price as the Optoma HD81). Also early next year look for our review of the $10,000 SIM2 single chip 1080p home theater projector. That SIM2, will be the least expensive of the 3 1080p models from SIM2, recognized as a high end line - their 3 chip 1080p, lists for $49,995! But I digress.