BenQ W7000 owners thread - 3D DLP projector

soupdragon

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2008
Messages
8,476
Reaction score
4,012
Points
1,991
Location
Antrim NI
Welcome to the BenQ W7000 owners thread. I might be a bit lonely in here for a bit as its not yet available for sale in the UK. I just got mine imported from America. It was in Memphis yesterday and in my home today - well done FedEx!
Pity my 3D glasses which I ordered 3 days ago within the UK still haven't arrived :(

Opened it up, looks pretty sexy, quite light but then anything would compared to the JVC X3 it replaced which is built like a tank. Nice remote, I like the light button- stays on until you press it again. No manual, just a quick start guide and a full manual on CD. No 3D glasses included, maybe will include some with the UK release?

Switched it on- fired up in about 15-20 seconds so reasonably quick. Holy smoke, this thing is bright......and a bit noisy, hmmmnnn, I hope to god its in high lamp mode.
Quick check, yes, in high power mode as default- phew!
Normal power and it quietens down and doesn't make your eyes bleed. JVC is quieter in both modes. I would say this is about standard for noise levels compared to other dlp projectors (to date I've had Optoma hd65, hd81 and hd87) with only the hd87 being a bit quieter.

First up viewing was football, Man Utd on channel 5. Colours were totally over saturated, pretty horrible. Put it in cinema mode, played with gamma/colour temp/brightness/contrast for a minute just to get something less nauseating and found a good starter image. Motion was better than the JVC as you would expect from a DLP and that was without frame interpolation which I haven't tried yet. Watched some sky hd movie channels briefly too and image looks pretty good. At this point I would say sharpness on skyhd isn't as good as the JVC and therefore nowhere near hd87 levels but I'll not confirm just yet- I've a different av amp in between so I need to figure out if it's impacting or not. As it stands, image isn't as sharp as I would like but I'm yet to fire up a blu ray and send it direct, 24p so I'll refrain from commenting anymore until I do some proper tests.
Joystick lens shift is excellent and zoom and focus rings work as you would expect- nice and smooth with medium movements equalling small adjustments.

All in all, I'm looking forward to spending some time dialling it in and especially looking forward to its 3D performance.

In the meantime, some pics from my phone.
 

Attachments

  • image-107938288.jpg
    image-107938288.jpg
    88.1 KB · Views: 522
  • image-2161452636.jpg
    image-2161452636.jpg
    62.8 KB · Views: 347
  • image-193668335.jpg
    image-193668335.jpg
    104.9 KB · Views: 358
  • image-3171078179.jpg
    image-3171078179.jpg
    73.4 KB · Views: 309
  • image-2111934918.jpg
    image-2111934918.jpg
    76 KB · Views: 790
  • image-1871536330.jpg
    image-1871536330.jpg
    73.3 KB · Views: 563
skinnywhippet said:
Hi,

can you advise where u bought it exactly and how much it cost,

regards,

Neil

Hi Neil

I hope you don't mind but I would rather not share those details for various reasons.
Plenty of vendors to chose from though if you decide to go down the import route, although it will be released over hear very soon for around £2100-£2300 approx.
 
Hi Soupdragon,

How are you getting on with this? I am very keen to hear how it compares to the HD87 you had. Also thanks for the other threads you have you have posted comparing projectors, they have been very informative.

Cheers
 
skinimin said:
Hi Soupdragon,

How are you getting on with this? I am very keen to hear how it compares to the HD87 you had. Also thanks for the other threads you have you have posted comparing projectors, they have been very informative.

Cheers

Will give more info when I've got time and some decent screen shots. Not as good as HD87 though in 2D but you wouldn't expect it to be. Still no 3d glasses either, grrr!
 
Hi Soupdragon,

How are you getting on with this? I am very keen to hear how it compares to the HD87 you had. Also thanks for the other threads you have you have posted comparing projectors, they have been very informative.

Cheers

I am also very eager to hear how it compares to the HD87. Currently the W7000 with glasses sell for 10% more than the HD87 here.
 
Webmonkey said:
I am also very eager to hear how it compares to the HD87. Currently the W7000 with glasses sell for 10% more than the HD87 here.

Well overall it's not as good as the HD87 in 2D. The BenQ is brighter, but in every other area the HD87 is better IMO. That's not to say BenQ is poor, because it's actually a very good projector. The 2D image is nice and sharp with blu-ray and with sky hd and motion handling is great when watching sport. The high brightness means I get a nice image watching golf with the lights on which is great. Downside is that it's very bright with the lights off and its impacting on black levels which aren't great. I've still to do any decent calibration as I've not had time but I'll get this better I'm sure.

3D wise it's superb, everything I would have hoped for and more. It's quite a fair bit brighter in 3D than the JVC X3 it replaced and with less crosstalk. I found myself using frame interpolation which actually improves the experience during 3D when watching football for example.

Overall I've only spent about 6 hrs with it on so I've more to try and discover about the BenQ but I'm liking it thus far.

The menu interface is very average and when switching between 3d input, it freezes for about a minute before actually changing. I also had a hand shake issue with my blu ray player but got that resolved. Not as polished an interface as the JVC X3 which was much better to use that's for sure.

BenQ are working on firmware to get the 3d switching speed addressed.

I intend to give a better summary and some screen shots to support when I've a bit more time.
 
So the FI works in 3D? great!

Did you ever have the change to mess with the Optoma HD83?

And the W7000 seems to be noisier than the Hd87(?)
 
Webmonkey said:
So the FI works in 3D? great!

Did you ever have the change to mess with the Optoma HD83?

And the W7000 seems to be noisier than the Hd87(?)

Never seen the HD83 unfortunately :(

Yes it's noisier than hd87. About typical compared to some other dlp's but not too noisy to be an annoyance.
 
Well overall it's not as good as the HD87 in 2D. The BenQ is brighter, but in every other area the HD87 is better IMO. That's not to say BenQ is poor, because it's actually a very good projector. The 2D image is nice and sharp with blu-ray and with sky hd and motion handling is great when watching sport. The high brightness means I get a nice image watching golf with the lights on which is great. Downside is that it's very bright with the lights off and its impacting on black levels which aren't great. I've still to do any decent calibration as I've not had time but I'll get this better I'm sure.

3D wise it's superb, everything I would have hoped for and more. It's quite a fair bit brighter in 3D than the JVC X3 it replaced and with less crosstalk. I found myself using frame interpolation which actually improves the experience during 3D when watching football for example.

Overall I've only spent about 6 hrs with it on so I've more to try and discover about the BenQ but I'm liking it thus far.

The menu interface is very average and when switching between 3d input, it freezes for about a minute before actually changing. I also had a hand shake issue with my blu ray player but got that resolved. Not as polished an interface as the JVC X3 which was much better to use that's for sure.

BenQ are working on firmware to get the 3d switching speed addressed.

I intend to give a better summary and some screen shots to support when I've a bit more time.


Just wondered how you are getting on with it now?
Are you happy with the benq over all ?
I could do with advise on which projector between the acer 9500bd, the benq w7000 or the epson 5010 which has great reviews.
It is just I never owned a 3 lcd projector before, I had a mitsubishi hc3800 dlp lastly.
Im looking for a sharp colorful picture for movies and pc use with good 3d to boot.
 
The reason I haven't posted in here is because there is new firmware coming out which will fix some issues. Once resolved I'll be in a better place to comment but signs are very good.
 
BenQ have released a firmware beta to an owner on avs (zombie 10k) and it's looking good. Sharpness issue is resolved and these are some of the new firmware images. 3d is already top notch and he says it's now even better :devil:
 

Attachments

  • image-1010382515.jpg
    image-1010382515.jpg
    98.9 KB · Views: 326
  • image-671756099.jpg
    image-671756099.jpg
    52.2 KB · Views: 360
  • image-2221657301.jpg
    image-2221657301.jpg
    79.1 KB · Views: 311
  • image-591327104.jpg
    image-591327104.jpg
    66.8 KB · Views: 277
Well I have taken the plunge and ordered the benq w7000 too.
It's refurbished but apparently has had latest firmware installed.
Just a question about 3d glasses, apparently I can use acer dlp glasses as well as benq ones.
Any idea which are best and also can my samsung active glasses work from my plasma tv?
:) Looking forward to getting the beamer!!! :)
 
The Acer zd201's are what I have and I've gotta say they are excellent. A guy on Avs tested numerous glasses with the BenQ and said these Optoma glasses are the best.
I prefer dlp link to the rf glasses as the rf interfered with my remotes and also my remote control lighting which was annoying.
 
Cheers for info there.
I will check those glasses.
I didn't realise you could use rf glasses on benq?
Does that mean if so the optoma rf emitter and glasses would work?
 
a1blues said:
Cheers for info there.
I will check those glasses.
I didn't realise you could use rf glasses on benq?
Does that mean if so the optoma rf emitter and glasses would work?

No you can't use rf. I had rf glasses for my Jvc X3 and I was just illustrating that I like the dlp link glasses as they don't interfere with remote signals.
 
Just ordered zd201 anyhow.
I asked about rf as I had the hd33 prior and used the rf system which on my setup worked good.
 
Any ideas what screen gain I would need.
I only have a small room and can just project 110" at the closest throw distance with full zoom. That will be around 3.9m from the screen.
I don't have a bat cave, just standard type room, although two walls are dark but two walls are gold (side)
The roof is magnolia and the curtains are light coloured.
I want a screen that will be good for movies but also can be used in 3d mode too.
 
Got projector today yah! :thumbsup:
Seems good although waiting for night time to try with black levels etc.
Bright picture, very good it seems.
Just wondered about the firmware, its version 1.0
Is this version ok for black levels?
 
Have any of you seen the discussion on this projectors ability to do 1:1 1080p pixel mapping via HDMI. There is a long thread on avsforum.com about this issue:

Official BenQ W7000 Owners Thread - Page 29 - AVS Forum

A new firm ware is out that solves the probem, but it is still sort of beta and unfortunately it is apparently not user upgradable. Is this a problem on european models and have any of you testet 1:1 pixelmapping? It seem odd to me that none of the "reviews" have spotted this, and that so few users reports the issue.
 
I've read that from start to finish and it appears firmware has been resolved now.
As for sharpness, it's actually quite good and compared to some LCD and dila I've seen, very similar.
But this is a dlp projector and I've seen a few of those too and can tell that it could and should be better. This is maybe why it's slipped passed some reviewers as its not like it's suffers from poor sharpness, it's just the more eagle eyed owners know that there is room for improvement.

Black levels can be got to decent levels but this is no JVC and they will never be stunning.
Hopefully BenQ will enable the iris to be controlled manually which will be a useful tool for creating various image settings for a variety of content. The HD87 I had gave user control of the iris and it comes in really handy when it's movie time.
The BenQ w6000 had manual iris control so hopefully we'll have the w7000 with this feature too.
 
Ok. So I guess you are confirming the issue on your (european?) w7000. I see your point in comparing to a LCD based projector. My tw3200 has, like many others, a bit of RGB convergence and is not able to fully resolve 1080p on screen. However it is very easy to see sub standard resolution in standard high resolution testimages and issues shuld not be missed or excluded from online reviews. To my eyes the main benefit going for a single chip DLP model is in fact the general superior sharpness compared to a 3 chip LCD like the Epson.
 
TV potato said:
Ok. So I guess you are confirming the issue on your (european?) w7000. I see your point in comparing to a LCD based projector. My tw3200 has, like many others, a bit of RGB convergence and is not able to fully resolve 1080p on screen. However it is very easy to see sub standard resolution in standard high resolution testimages and issues shuld not be missed or excluded from online reviews. To my eyes the main benefit going for a single chip DLP model is in fact the general superior sharpness compared to a 3 chip LCD like the Epson.

I got mine from America as mentioned in post 1.
I agree, DLP you expect top quality sharpness. Hopefully the firmware will be confirmed pretty soon as judging by the screen shots from Zombie10k, it's going to be very good.
 
I've had a W7000 for a week and after some testing and dialogue with BenQ UK, can pass comment. The latest Firmware Version is 1.2. Basic initial problem was that when connecting to Component 1 input (much preferred to HDMI which is akin to SCART and superior in my experience especially as far better cables can be used) the W7000 reacted to certain parts of TV signals especially adverts, which meant it blanked screen and began searching for signal. This was an unknown phenomenon as BenQ do not check non-PC component performance using legacy equipment eg Sky STB which many of us have. Eventually, problem resolved by channelling component signal from AV amp into 1 to 4 component distribution amp and then thro' a component to HDMI Converter (Neet) and into W7000's HDMI2 input using User2(ISF Night) setting. Result: brightness glare reduced and blacks improved, rendering picture on 3.2M wide Da-Lite screen with 2.4 gain as good as that of a commercial digital (not 4K) cinema - bearing in mind quality of video signal used; a good blu-ray disc eg Adele's performance at RAH track 8 is breathtaking! Don't like 3D for number of reasons including health and expect it to be eclipsed in time by the 4K/Quad revolution. Previous projectors include CRT Electrohome 9500 fully loaded via Faroudja Quadrupler, so am able to judge good performance. For just over £2.2K this is truly a bargain.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom