BenQ DLP FP W10000 - I am VERY tempted

[chuckken2]

Richard...I'm eager to hear the Panny review. The BenQ appears to be an awesome DLP machine also, but because of the short throw and no real true lense shift, I couldn't possibly use this unit in my Great room or bedroom...It might be something I would consider for my basement theater when it's done...I'll be looking forward to a full review of both...thanks... ... Just wish DLP didn't have rainbows.

[Richard]

no real true lense shift,

This machine centers on performance so no, it will not be as adaptable as the Panasonic. They are tough to beat for NOT placing it right and still getting a decent image. The H and V tilt range is huge but the price paid is focus errors. The more you use it the more the error. Same goes for the super wide zoom/throw range but that creates a penalty in optics no matter what. It is intended for the entry level market or a customer who insists on having it in the wrong place. For most folks it is going to provide a very satisfactory image. For my ISF clients watching calibrated CRT or DLP the cons are clearly revealed.

Just wish DLP didn't have rainbows.

Bring more money and we can get rid of that too, 3 chip DLP, plus you will have more light output for an even bigger screen!

If rainbows are something you can't bring yourself to tolerate then it appears you have no other choice in this price range except soft although it appears you may be able to get rid of that transmissive LCD veil with relective LCD technology like DiLA, SXRD, LCoS. Unfortunately those have a problem with high frequnecy detail. Only full pixel depth DLP seems to be able to provide this perceptually perfect rendering of of a 1920 burst. I calibrated a Samsung HLS DLP RP wobulated 1080P and while this burst was softened and not as contrasty due to wobulation the Panasonic could not touch that response level. After calibration and getting the pixel mapping working right it had far more detail resolution than the Panasonic and good gamma. The image was jumping off the screen!

And by all means, as I know you know but here is a reminder, the price WILL be going down on ALL of it. Just give it time... I would not have believed 5 years ago that this level of performance would be below $6000!

[Richard]

and not enough throw for me.

This projector has very little room for placement. I was shocked at how little range the zoom provides. That may have a lot to do with the anamorphic lens option. Buyer beware; this one has to be installed right but you do still have plenty of play for vertical lens tilt if you need that.

Also, pixel free at about 1.5 screen heights!

[chuckken2]

Richard, have you checked out this projector yet?.....I think you will be surprised and really like this unit.........It is really getting great reviews and the price is dropping... XVZ-20000

http://www.bwayphoto.com/product.asp?it ... Everyprice

[Richard]

sure haven't... thanks for the link.

BTW...

Richard...I'm eager to hear the Panny review.

Dude, you have one HUGE advantage... come visit me!

[chuckken2]

sure haven't... thanks for the link.

BTW...

Richard...I'm eager to hear the Panny review.

Dude, you have one HUGE advantage... come visit me!

I would like that... Richard, Check out this review from AVS posted from a "former" Ruby owner...The name of the thread is "The Day I decided to sell my Ruby"...(LOL)...

The day I decided to sell my Ruby (AVS forum...3000.00 and over projectors)

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It really began like every other day, but then I received a call from the local Sharp dealer informing me that he just received the new Sharp 20K.

As a long time Sharp customer (9K, 10K and 12K) I was very curious to see Sharp's new 1080P on my set-up and compare him directly with my Ruby.

I LOVE MY RUBY, but I just had to see the Sharp.

I must say that after 5 minutes or so with the Sharp I realized that I'm looking at a new level of picture, so to be sure I turned ON the Ruby and began testing

Details:

** Both projectors were hooked up via DVI to 2 identical JVC HD DVD streamers.

**Both projectors were showing on the 106" Da-Lite High Power screen (I covered the lens of the projector which was not tested)

**My Ruby has 900 hours on it, so using a light meter I managed to eliminate any light output advantage. I closed the Iris on the Sharp (H.contrast)+ Economy mode+ ND2 filter. The Iris on the Ruby was set (as always) to auto. In this configuration no one had any real advantage.

** I calibrated the Sharp very quickly with Avia, while my Ruby has been thoroughly calibrated using digital sensors (also using Darin's tweak for higher CR).

Findings:

On/Off Contrast

This was my major surprise. I was under the impression that the Sharp can not hold a candle to the Sony in that regard, but I was proven wrong. In fact, in most Fade To Black scenes it looked like the Sharp had better Blacks, and his clear advantage in uniformity (the famous Sony bright corners) came to play. This was close

Mixed scenes (Ansi Contrast)

This was not even close. All 3 attendees (long time projector owners) were overwhelmed by the differences. Dark scenes look fabulous on the Ruby, but the Sharp had deeper and richer Blacks with tons of detail which a big part was not visible on the Ruby. The Sharp always had this incredible 3D look to it, while the Ruby looked pale in comparison. I clearly remember a scene from Finding Nemo, the part were the Pelican swallows Nemo's father and his friend. Both fish end up in the pelican's stomach. . Only when you compare both side by side you realize that the Sharp is IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE. The picture is vivid, sharp, 3D and has details which can not be seen on the Ruby.

Sharpness

This was something I expected. I was one of those that said that I don't miss my old 12K's sharpness when going to the Ruby. I said that the Ruby is plenty sharp. I was wrong. The difference is very big and once you get used to this razor sharp image , the Ruby looks disturbingly soft in comparison.
This is probably the difference between LCOS and DLP, but perhaps it's also a question of optics.

Video processing

I tested Sharp's new CIVIC 3 against the Sony and against the Sony+Lumagen HDP Pro. In both instances with NTSC and PAL the Sharp yielded better results. The 21K has very good deinterlacing and fantastic scaling, Panning never looked better and over all I was very impressed.

All this is not to say that the Ruby is not a nice projector, I think it's an exceptional unit, it's just not as good as the Sharp.

Ran

[Richard]

For the videophile geek...

The BenQ provides 1X1 pixel mapping which bypasses the internal scaler allowing you to see your source natively supporting 1920X1080, 1280X720 and 640X480. Note the 640X480 is 4:3 so it does not support the 16:9 format of 720X480 and will not pixel map those sources.

This means when you switch to 720P the picture will only use 1280X720 pixels, same for 480P and it

[HD Library]

BenQ W10000 1080p DLP Front Projector