BenQ W2700 4K DLP Projector Review & Comments

ah is that what it is. I can just about see it from the seating position but only on the grid, not on any pictures and its only as I spotted it due to trying to refocus when I stand up close to the screen, but will have to look out for it more during playback.

The annoying thing I have at the moment is the PS3, bluray and roku 3 don't have HDR so I feel I am wasting this projector for now. I have a PS4 downstairs that I am going to connect up to it to see what 4k with HDR looks like as I am also re-decorating my living room where the PS4 is so it needs shifted for a week.

Do you have the W2700, did you manage to get the firmware uploaded? I tried for hours under different flash drives, file formats etc. but nothing worked.
 
ah is that what it is. I can just about see it from the seating position but only on the grid, not on any pictures and its only as I spotted it due to trying to refocus when I stand up close to the screen, but will have to look out for it more during playback.

The annoying thing I have at the moment is the PS3, bluray and roku 3 don't have HDR so I feel I am wasting this projector for now. I have a PS4 downstairs that I am going to connect up to it to see what 4k with HDR looks like as I am also re-decorating my living room where the PS4 is so it needs shifted for a week.

Do you have the W2700, did you manage to get the firmware uploaded? I tried for hours under different flash drives, file formats etc. but nothing worked.

I do have the W2700, but it is still on the original firmware. I was eagerly waiting for the new firmware to come out and then never got around to using it!

My W2700 is taking a break at the moment as I have re-arranged the room to accomodate a new TV and need a new projector screen to fit in.

As I say, the problem is with any projectors and especially ones towards the lower end of the budget range is sample variation. I'm sure there is a perfect W2700 out there somewhere.

Mine has:

1. CA (although not as bad as yours by the sound of it as I can't see it from more than 4-5 feet away.)

2. Imperfect focus across the lens. This is noticeable on the Apple TV menu screen where text and logos are slightly less sharp in the bottom right corner compared to the rest of the screen. I've not really tried looking for it in normal viewing too hard, but I've certainly never noticed it.

I don't want to change mine because there seems to be a risk of getting worse problems with the next one, but if the problems really affected the performance then I would do.

It's definitely worth plugging in your PS4 to show what this can do with a 4K/HDR source. I think it is excellent.

Just to manage expectations slightly, I am now comparing the image to my new LG 65 C9 and the TV is better in every respect other than size, BUT that is £2,300 for a 65" image compared to £1,400 (plus screen) a 120" image so it's hard to compare.

Certainly, I expect the projector to be getting more use once I source a suitable screen again, but we'll see...
 
Mine has a little bit of chromatic aberration, but only really noticeable with white text on black background, such as menus, and even then only when viewed closer than I would normally sit, not noticeable in normal movie viewing. Focus, geometry and sharpness on mine is perfect across the whole image, seems I did get a good one in that respect. Mine is a first revision model too. Only criticism I have is the fan noise. Normal and SmartEco lamp levels are just too loud in my room, not tolerable unless with a particularly bombastic movie, but Economic mode is fine, about same as the 1070. Fortunately I find Eco mode is plenty bright enough for comfortable viewing.
 
high DaveB thanks for the info. I emailed benQ and they said it can only be installed by a service engineer. Just received an email an hour ago though with a link to the download area of benq europe where I can download the firmware. Strangely enough this was the same link I emailed them a week ago saying "i downloaded the firmware from this link ....... but put it on to a flash drive but cannot get the firmware uploaded via the usb port on the projector". Glad they read my original email so well.

Ah you are the same as me I bougtht the LG 65B7 so yes this projector really isn't up to what that TV can do and I have to say first time out of the box compared with the 1070 it replaced I didn't immediately get blown away but after a few days I started to realise how good it was. Then I noticed the stuff I was streaming to it isn't HDR although my denon AV amp does appear to be trying to upscale the data sent to it from my PC. I have started painting the white wall behind the OLED where the PS4 is so time to shift it to the cinema to see what the PS4 can really throw at it.

I was asking on another thread is there a video streamer with 4k and HDR and ethernet connection as I like everything wired but it does not seem to exist. The Roku 3 can only do 1080 as does the PS3. Also considering a NAS with HDMI 2.0 or above which is capable of HDR and it is somewhere to store a rather large library of films on!

I will try and take a picture of the grid at some point when I get a chance.

The Weird yes the noise is pretty bad, much louder than the 1070. Ecomode is quieter but a fair bit duller. I am really ripping the pixels apart though on a 160" screen so I need as much light as possible. I am thinking of building some sort of sound dampening enclosure around it to quieten it down but still allow enough air into it.
 
I do have the W2700, but it is still on the original firmware. I was eagerly waiting for the new firmware to come out and then never got around to using it!

My W2700 is taking a break at the moment as I have re-arranged the room to accomodate a new TV and need a new projector screen to fit in.

As I say, the problem is with any projectors and especially ones towards the lower end of the budget range is sample variation. I'm sure there is a perfect W2700 out there somewhere.

Mine has:

1. CA (although not as bad as yours by the sound of it as I can't see it from more than 4-5 feet away.)

2. Imperfect focus across the lens. This is noticeable on the Apple TV menu screen where text and logos are slightly less sharp in the bottom right corner compared to the rest of the screen. I've not really tried looking for it in normal viewing too hard, but I've certainly never noticed it.

I don't want to change mine because there seems to be a risk of getting worse problems with the next one, but if the problems really affected the performance then I would do.

It's definitely worth plugging in your PS4 to show what this can do with a 4K/HDR source. I think it is excellent.

Just to manage expectations slightly, I am now comparing the image to my new LG 65 C9 and the TV is better in every respect other than size, BUT that is £2,300 for a 65" image compared to £1,400 (plus screen) a 120" image so it's hard to compare.

Certainly, I expect the projector to be getting more use once I source a suitable screen again, but we'll see...

hi Dave ,

May I ask you to delete some of your inbox as I wish to mesage you. Thanks !
 
Dooh I just deleted all my messages from my inbox, wrong Dave !!

Anyway BenQ sent me another message today, which has been really helpful and links to the firmware update.

Not updated it yet as the kids are watching a film at the moment.

Good luck and don't blame me if anything goes wrong. I will give it a go in the next few days.



Dear David,

The update is now available:
  1. Download the firmware from the following location: <https://mft-cc.BenQ.eu/?ShareToken=039CD7D00DD3F69D4CFDF176B867FC334C3556E1>
  2. Format a USB flash drive as Fat32.
  3. Save the file named " W2700Upgrade.bin " to the USB flash drive to the root of the USB drive.
  4. Please Insert USB flash drive into the USB 3.0 port, when projector is power off.
  5. Long press “OK” key for 10s, then press “Power” Key to turn on the projector.
  6. Wait until the upgrade is finished. During the upgrade you will not have any indicator the projector is updating, please wait for the BenQ logo to be displayed (typically this takes around 7-8 minutes) and the projector will boot afterwards. Do not disconnect power during this time.
 
Found another review advising the gaming lag is 85ms, rather high :(
 
Just updated worked well firmware version 1.0.3 only completed not sure what changes have been made yet.

Interesting - the publicly available firmware is still 1.0.2. Wonder what is new?
 
If it is an official download, there will be a Text file contained within the Zip file download identifying the changes.

Bill
 
oh that looks like it was just a one off download, I thought I was putting it on here for everyone to download. No text file in it that I could see just a .bin file and another file with android and one with lost.dir

I will have to fire up the projector to check it definitely was 1.0.3 or I am going mad !
 

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oh one immediate difference between the original firmware and this one is the grid for focusing is green rather than white. I had complained before about seeing a blue surround to the white bars, well I can't see that now its green only! It plays havoc with your eyes in a dark room though! Still not convinced I have managed to get it as sharp as possible, pity there is not a better or motorised focusing so I could be standing at the screen when I focus it. Same as you get in a lot of CCTV cameras these days.
 
If that's all the files that were in the download (Where did you get it from) it is not a firmware update in the usual sense, I suspect it may just be a minor menu change, or as it has an Android folder something to improve the compatibility with streaming sticks.

Bill
 
The .bin file is the firmware update its 763mb in size. I got it directly from BenQ in the link above, just hadn't realised it must have only been for me, I thought it was on general release. I see on the BenQ site its still 1.0.2 so maybe its coming out soon. Pic shows its definitely a firmware update.

I wish I had my old 1070 to compare the picture with as some times I think its not a massive jump up but it must be. That said I really need something better than a bluray player to really appreciate what it can do. I need to get the PS4 from downstairs and wire it up to it and run netflix HDR stuff through it and see what it can really do.
 

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@Phil Hinton

We are looking a this as an excellent budget 4k projector - but as you highlighted we are not really getting near to 4k performance and therefore the hdr image is not something to get excited about.

So how do these models compare to the top end HD projectors of the last 5 years? At present i own a HW40ES which obviously gained rave reviews. However i have since moved home and after relocating my cinema gear to a smaller room, i am looking in the short throw market. This is always going to be a struggle. If this projector isn't giving us the best 4k image, how is it at giving Bluray quality (Full HD) images compared to other short throw options at present or of previous years. Is this model worth the upgrade?

Thanks

Pete
 
Hi Pete,

I watched avatar the other night, blu ray only, and have to say it was pretty impressive. Its not going to come close to my LG OLED for HDR and overall contrasts, brightness wise there have been a few times I have found myself almost closing my eyes a bit so it does get pretty bright so I am happy with that.

It definitely has a fair bit more noise than the 1070 though unless you put it on silent mode. My solution for that is turn the volume up on the amp though. It is directly above my head and at some point I may build something around it to see if I can quieten it down a bit.
 
Hi Pete,

I watched avatar the other night, blu ray only, and have to say it was pretty impressive. Its not going to come close to my LG OLED for HDR and overall contrasts, brightness wise there have been a few times I have found myself almost closing my eyes a bit so it does get pretty bright so I am happy with that.

It definitely has a fair bit more noise than the 1070 though unless you put it on silent mode. My solution for that is turn the volume up on the amp though. It is directly above my head and at some point I may build something around it to see if I can quieten it down a bit.

My thoughts exactly re. PQ and comparisons to OLED.

I do find mine loudn operation, but not much louder than my W1070. Perhaps I had a loud example of the W1070!

I saw an Optoma (not sure of the model number but it was tiny) in a demo room last week and it was much quieter than either of my BenQs have been. I hardly noticed it even though it was directly above my head AND the sound in the demo room was turned off.

I hadn't realised that the BenQs were that much louder than the Optomas.
 
I get what your saying guys but from the review what I was hearing is that you're getting excellent 1080p imagery rather than the extra detail one might expect in full 4k, and 1080p is something that has been done well 5 years ago. So what is the difference between the 1080p performance of this model compared to projectors like my hw40es which are selling on the second hand market for less than £400 and likely producing better blacks and contrast. Now this is a short throw Projector so the comparison may be a little unfair and I certainly know very little about the technology used in Projector hardware, but even on something described as 4k, it still seems we are a way of bridging the gap between short throw 1080p, and standard 1080p projectors, even if it is still pleasing enough to the eye. Or is that not the case?
 
I get what your saying guys but from the review what I was hearing is that you're getting excellent 1080p imagery rather than the extra detail one might expect in full 4k, and 1080p is something that has been done well 5 years ago. So what is the difference between the 1080p performance of this model compared to projectors like my hw40es which are selling on the second hand market for less than £400 and likely producing better blacks and contrast. Now this is a short throw Projector so the comparison may be a little unfair and I certainly know very little about the technology used in Projector hardware, but even on something described as 4k, it still seems we are a way of bridging the gap between short throw 1080p, and standard 1080p projectors, even if it is still pleasing enough to the eye. Or is that not the case?

It's too hard to say without having had enough experience with the Sony.

I demo'd it years ago when I bought my W1070. I remember being impressed by the black levels and the operating noise of the Sony, but I didn't think the PQ was worth four times the price (£450 for the W1070 vs £1,800 for the HW40 at the time.)

I just can't remember it well enough. The W2700 is a good step on from the W1070 as it offers better colours, blacks and overall definition.

As long as operating noise isn't a killer for you, I'd expect that you'd find the W2700 slightly better overall, but whether it is would be improvement enough to pay £1,400 for if you'd only get £400 back on the Sony is another matter.

I've actually gone the other way. The W2700 was an easy choice for me as it was the only faux-4K projector that offered the throw distance I needed. I have since re-arranged my room and could have accommodated other options!
 
It's too hard to say without having had enough experience with the Sony.

I demo'd it years ago when I bought my W1070. I remember being impressed by the black levels and the operating noise of the Sony, but I didn't think the PQ was worth four times the price (£450 for the W1070 vs £1,800 for the HW40 at the time.)

I just can't remember it well enough. The W2700 is a good step on from the W1070 as it offers better colours, blacks and overall definition.

As long as operating noise isn't a killer for you, I'd expect that you'd find the W2700 slightly better overall, but whether it is would be improvement enough to pay £1,400 for if you'd only get £400 back on the Sony is another matter.

I've actually gone the other way. The W2700 was an easy choice for me as it was the only faux-4K projector that offered the throw distance I needed. I have since re-arranged my room and could have accommodated other options!

Unfortunately I'm limited anyway. The hw40es in my new room only gives me 84" (at a 2.6m throw) and I was right on my limit which I wasn't happy with. I think I'm just going to be a little frustrated if I pay a lot more and get a lot less.
 
Unfortunately I'm limited anyway. The hw40es in my new room only gives me 84" (at a 2.6m throw) and I was right on my limit which I wasn't happy with. I think I'm just going to be a little frustrated if I pay a lot more and get a lot less.

Hopefully someone with experience of both will be able to offer some better advice.

If not, I wonder if Richer Sounds would do a demo of the W2700 against the newer HW45ES as they sell them both.

It is interesting that the Sony is still on sale at £1,700 when the W2700 is only £1,400. It would certainly suggest that a lot of customers are choosing higher end 1080P projectors rather than the cheaper faux-4K ones. Short throw is the only other thing that the W2700 offers above the Sony, but most of the competing faux-4K ones don't have that either.
 
I would say it was fake go into the about section of the site look at the pictures
Andre KowalsySupport Boss
Is actually this guy

They are just using stock photos a quick Google image search found him
 
I would say it was fake go into the about section of the site look at the pictures
Andre KowalsySupport Boss
Is actually this guy

They are just using stock photos a quick Google image search found him

Yes, I thought the same. They all look like far too slick Americans to have started a shop in Tottenham Court Road anytime in the recent past.

It also looks like it is directly copied from another website - 'Store Locator' doesn't do anything for example.

A shame as the W2700 for that price is a steal.
 

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