BenQ W20000 1080p, DLP, Home Theater Projector Review

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Art Feierman

Specs Preview

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BenQ W20000 Specs
Price	7999
Technology	DLP
Native Resolution	1920x1080
Brightness (Manufacturer Claim)	1200
Contrast	20,000:1
Zoom Lens Ratio	1.20:1
Lens Shift	No
Lamp Life	3000 hours low power (eco-mode), 2000 hours at full lamp power
Weight	21
Warranty	3 years

BenQ W20000 1080p, DLP, Home Theater Projector Overview

The BenQ W20000 is the flagship of the BenQ home theater projector lineup. It is a DLP projector using the Darkchip3 processor. BenQ refers to their iris system as a dual one. There is an iris that adjusts based on the preset mode (Cinema, Dynamic, Standard, User...), and a dynamic iris called Dynamic Black, which is the tradtional dynamic iris, constantly changing to match the scene and improve black levels in darker scenes.

Key W20000 highlights

One of the brightest 1080p projectors around, in both best and brightest modes, it easily goes way beyond its claimed 1200 lumens, when you need it to
Vertical lens shift, making shelf mounting a possibility for some
Limited zoom lens range (the reason not everyone can shelf mount)
Very sharp image
Reasonably quiet
Very nice remote control, well laid out
One of the physically largest projectors out there
Really good color accuracy after calibration, but not the best
Overall very impressive image quality
A very good value proposition, with excellent price/performance

BenQ W20000: First Comments

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One real plus of the BenQ W20000, is that, for a DLP projector, it has a feature rarely found - vertical lens shift. This, combined with a longer throw zoom lens than many DLP projectors have, make the W20000 suitable for shelf mounting, instead of only having a ceiling mounting option. The fact that the zoom ratio is only 20% (1.2:1), does mean that depending on screen size, and room depth, some may not be able to place the projector on a rear shelf.

The W20000 projector is one of the brighter home theater projectors, offering significantly more lumens in its best, movie watching modes, than the typical 1080p projector. That doesn't mean, though that there aren't a few that are brighter still. In it's absolute brightest mode, it is again, above average, making it very suitable for larger screens, and for watching TV, especially sports when you don't want your room fully darkened.