BenQ w1070 is a full HD DLP projector loaded with rich video output and 3D support. Ideal for home entertainment this projector is capable of giving you cinema type of experience at your place. Projector always remains a costly and complicated choice for entertainment. Compared to that hooking a HDTV is far easier and under budget. But if you are a true cinema lover then you will surely like to spend any amount in buying a projector. Also it is helpful in various office uses like presentation, conference meetings, etc. We will checkout the complete features of this projector later on. Before that we will test some prime features that makes it effective. BenQ w1070 provides a full 1080p HD resolution and a projection screen upto 200”. That is simply great while watching HD videos. All you need is a good quality projector film and a flat surface. It offers vibrant 10,000:2 contrast ratio with 2000 lumen brightness. It is a 3D capable projector that comes with Nvidia 3D Technology which also supports 3G glasses. But to use it you need the input source which is 3D ready. Like if you are using it on a PC then you must have a 3D support GPU with IR Receiver or else the output will be not great. BenQ w1070 also comes with integrated speakers which are not really great but good enough. Those are basic speakers and for good surround sound output you will have to attach a speaker set separately.
In terms of usage it is really simple. You have basic OSD menu on the screen through which you can control everything. The remote that comes with the projector has everything in it. But I found a bit difficulty in setting it up properly. The screen size is determined on the basis of different modes inside it. You cannot manually reduce or increase it. The distance between projector and screen also matters a lot to get the right clarity. I was expecting a simple setup here. It is a DLP projector. Compared to LCD and CRT projector, DLP are better in terms of output. It is ideal for home entertainment purpose, while LCD is cheaper and low on video resolution. 1080p resolution is not really bad for watching movies, playing games via your pc, or simply web surfing or streaming video. The clarity is superfine. If we talk about detailing then this projector is good, but as I said the placement matters a lot here. An additional thing this projector gives you is Smart EcoMode that enhances the dark parts of a video. With Eco Black Mode you can simply reduce the lamp power consumption where you are not using it. We will now move ahead to checkout its technical specification and then test everything in more details.
Specification:
- Projector type : DLP
- Native Resolution : 1080p (1920 x 1080)
- Brightness/ Contrast Ratio: 2000 ANSI Lumen / 10000:1
- Display Color : 1.07 Billion Colors
- Lens : F=2.59-2.87, f=16.88-21.88mm
- Aspect Ratio : Native 16:9 (5 aspect ratio selectable)
- Throw Ratio : 1.15-1.5 (79″@2M)
- Image Size (Diagonal) : 40″-235″
- Zoom Ratio : 1.3:1
- Lamp Type : 240W
- Lamp(Normal/Economic Mode/SmartEco Mode) : 3500/5000/6000 hours
- Keystone Adjustment : 1D, Vertical ± 20 degrees
- Projection Offset : Vertical 110%-130%±5%
- Resolution Support : up to WUXGA
- Horizontal Frequency : 15K-102KHz
- Vertical Scan Rate : 23-120Hz
- HDTV Compatibility : 480i, 480p, 576i, 567p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
- Video Compatibility : NTSC, PAL, SECAM
- Weight : 2.75 kg
- Picture Modes : Dynamic / Standard / Cinema / 3D / User 1 / User 2 / User 3
Design:
BenQ w1070 design features a portable look. At the front side lies the lens which is placed on the left corner. A lens cover also comes attached with it. Usually it is a kind of plug and play device where you do not require messing with any kind of special settings. All you have to do is to find a proper place to hook it properly. The projector features a 90 degree image output where the screen projected can be adjusted as per our needs, but not from the menu. You have to adjust the distance between projector and projector screen. On first use I found it a bit complicated to use. That is because the projector was simply crossing the wall boundaries. After changing the aspect ratio to 4:3 it fits well. BenQ w1070 is a high resolution projector. Due to which the screen output is really wide. On a regular pc you can easily get 1920x1080p output via VGA connection. Or you can simply use HDMI for much higher video output. At the front lies a ventilation chamber that has a fan inside. Within a few minutes of usage hot air blows out. The projectors come with a temperature indicator. It gets really hot while using it for long time. There is a small push button available below which a tiny platform opens up to tilt the projector upside. Next to lens lies the IR sensor for remote.
The speakers are placed on the left side. Integrated speaker in BenQ w1070 projector are reasonable. They do not give you great audio output. The output is similar to a pc desktop speaker. However, the volume is enough to watch videos in a single room. But for better output you will need a good quality speaker. It comes with single 3.5mm audio jack on the backside. You can hook your pc speakers on it. For video BenQ w1070 projector has many options, but for audio it has no special features. You will need to rely on your speaker quality for audio output. That can be a drawback.
At the backside lies all connectivity option. There are two set of HDMI ports available. Now this is for connecting multiple video sources. Like at one side you can connect your DVR or Set Top box and on the other you can connect your pc. You can simply press the source button to select between HDMI 1 and HDMI 2. Video output on HDMI is far better compared to any other connection. It is clear and rich. I will advise you to get a good HDMI cable if you need good output. Next to that lies 12V Trigger jack.
Then comes Component Video inputs (RCA) jacks. It offers you support for Y/PB/PR or Y/CB/CR video signal, where you can connect Set Top Boxes, DVD Player, etc. It is one of the most common ports available for connecting media devices. The next connector is a Mini USB port which does nothing. Then comes the VGA and RS232 connector. Here on VGA you can directly connect your pc or laptop. The output resolution is auto adjusted. It is necessary that your system must have a good video memory in order to manage the high resolution. Or else if you try to pay videos at maximum resolution it will start to lag.
At the corner you can see few set of more connectors. Among which the first two are S-Video Input. Next to that lies Audio L/R input jack where you can connect better speakers or amplifier. And the last is Audio IN/Out jack. This is used for PC. To play audio from projector speaker connect a 3.5mm cable on Audio In Jack (Blue) and Audio Out jack of your PC (Green.). And to connect speaker directly to the projector just connect the cable in the green port which has audio out jack. So this was the connectivity options that we get with BenQ w1070 projector. It is not advanced but comes with all kinds of audio/video connectivity options.
The top part consist of glossy finish with few set of control buttons, Zoom-in and Zoom-out liver, autofocus and camera shift key. There is nothing special available here. The lens unit comprise of a zoom liver through which you can reduce or increase the image size to limited access only. There is a focus liver also available that allows you to adjust the video output to the best quality. Just below that lies a lens shift that allows you to shift the screen towards up or downside. A full set of control keys is provided at the top side. To some extent this is easy to access when you keep the projector on the table. The control buttons which are available on the top side offers you different type of job. The menu will launch the OSD menu where you can modify the brightness, contrast, mode, etc. It also acts as the mode button. You can change to different modes like Dynamic, Cinema, User, etc. It offers you a full set of advance settings to customize the projector output, while you can see a set of 4 buttons marked with arrow keys. This is for screen keystone adjustment. You can simply adjust angled projection through this. The Eco Blank button turns off the lens while the projector is still working. So if you are not using it, then just hit the button. All settings and changes which you can manage with these keys are available through the remote also.
OSD :
Now we will test out the different settings and options available in the OSD of BenQ w1070 Projector. In the above image you can see the set of control buttons where on the top you can see a light indicator. There is a TEMP indicator also. Now if while using it the projector heats up a lot then the light will start to blink. That is the time when you have to turn it off. There is a lamp indicator also available that tells you about any issue with the lamp. There is no advance features available in the projector settings. All options are similar that you find in a monitor. Still we will move ahead by checking what changes we can do to get the right kind of image output. To launch you have to press the Menu button. For using this instantly you can simply press the source button first, choose the video input and then hit auto. This will automatically adjust the screen as per your need. To reduce the screen size you will need to play with aspect ratio that is available in the menu. We will checkout each and every section one by one to get detail settings on it. I found it really easy to use.
OSD MENU:
The OSD menu is divided into different categories and each of them offers you different settings. The Picture section allows you to modify settings associated with choosing different mode. There are quite a few preset modes available. Like Dynamic, Standard, Cinema, User 1, User 2, User 3, 3D, ISF Night and ISF Day. Under the first three modes, Dynamic mode gives the most vibrant output, while User 1 and User 2 are for custom settings. Through the Display section you can modify brightness, contrast, color, tint, sharpness, color temp, lamp power, etc. Anything related to picture settings goes in this section. The second is the audio part. Through which you can control the volume of the projector speaker. There are no preset modes available here since the audio output is quite basic. It is better if you hook up a good 2.1 or 5.1 surround sound speakers on the system which automatically manages the sound quality.
The next section is display where you can control the aspect ratio. Now depending on your projector screen you can choose the right ratio from Wide, Real, 4:3, Anamorphic, Letter Box, & Auto. You can find the sample images in our video review of BenQ w1070. The other things that you can modify from this section are keystone, overscan, component cable, digital zoom, etc. 3D settings of the projector are also controlled from this section. But it is disabled by default. For 3D if you are using PC then you need a GPU that supports 3D. Or else it will not work. We tried testing a few 3D movies on our regular onboard video of our pc which failed to work. So for that you required a specific hardware support. The last two section which is left to test out is basic and advance settings. Under basic settings you can modify the menu settings while under advance settings you get have option to control lamp and HDMI settings. So this was the menu control of BenQ w1070. It is not complicated to operate. If you are not able to find proper screen output then just go in advance settings and enable Test Pattern. Adjust the screen and turn it off.
Video Output:
BenQ w1070 offers you vibrant screen output. It is one of the best projector under mid range feature. In terms of connectivity it offers you ample of outputs. But there is no option available to connect a usb or external storage. Leaving that aside the video output is great. Playing HD videos on it is simply awesome. 3D capability is sometime complicated to configure. I was first excited to test out some 3D videos from YouTube which does not seem to be working well. Being a DLP projector it is capable of giving you a widescreen output at the highest resolution. It has a high contrast ratio that makes the video brighter. It is necessary that you play HD videos on it. Low resolution videos will create more blurry effect on the screen. Along with good contrast output it has brilliant color management. For videos it is awesome. The screen output is also great for using your pc on it. If you love to read news on a big screen size, or want to play presentation then this projector is an ideal solution. Text details are sharp and clear enough.
Image Sample in different Mode:
Dynamic Mode:
Cinema:
Standard:
User 1 :
User 2 :
Aspect Ratio 4:3:
Anamorphic:
Auto:
Letter Box:
Real:
Wide:
Web Page Sample:
Conclusion:
BenQ w1070 is great projector for home entertainment. Also it is loaded with additional feature that keeps your electricity cost at lowest. It is a plug and play kind of device which is easy to use. It is a bit bulky in design and offers you all kind of control via using its simple remote control. You will surely enjoy a great multimedia on it. Videos are more clear if placement is well and if you watch it from a distance. The major issue lies with adjusting the projector properly with right distance and screen size. Everything depends on it. No settings will work if your placement is not proper and your video output will be poor. Overall we find BenQ w1070 an impressive projector with great features and simple usability. But as I said it falls back on the audio output that we can still manage with other devices. Image quality is far better through HDMI in comparison to any other video output. The cost of this projector is around Rs.1,00,000. That makes it really costly. Because still if we go in market we can find a series of more affordable projectors. The projector is costly due to DLP specification. Also, affordable range is available under LCD and CRT projectors.
Pros:
- Plug and Play
- Great Video Output
- Multiple Connectivity options.
Cons
- Poor audio output
- Overpriced
- Heating
