BenQ has created the Home Cinema Series to meet the "diverse needs of home entertainment enthusiasts ranging from beginners to expert connoisseurs." Joining last year's newbie-friendly 4LED projector is a brighter model plus a pro-level laser thrower.
Starting at the top of the range, the company says that the W5850 has been designed for "theater-grade large screens." This model features a laser light source that's reported good for 2,600 ANSI lumens through a 16-element lens system, which BenQ says should be ideal for darkroom setups.
The DLP projection engine is capable of 4K UHD visuals at up to 200 diagonal inches via a 1-1.6:1 throw ratio, which means that you'd need to position the front of the unit at least 14.5 ft (4.4) away from the viewing surface. The system boasts 30-bit color, 100% coverage of the Rec.709 and DCI-P3 gamuts, and is calibrated at the factory for a Delta E measurement of less than 2.
BenQ has also cooked in 11 levels of white balance – "enabling content fans to adjust to the most accurate colors in mid-tone colors" – plus 3-million:1 dynamic contrast and support for HDR10+ content, with further tweaking possible via the company's own HDR-Pro technology. Vertical and horizontal keystone adjustment is available, along with four-way motorized lens shift for setup ease.
Though it will mostly be used to watch movies, casual gamers could plug in a console over HDMI 2.0 but should note that input lag at 4K resolution is 17.9 milliseconds at 60 Hz. Bumping that down to 1080p at 120 Hz will improve things slightly, for input latency of 13 ms.
Ethernet LAN is included but built-in Wi-Fi is not, though you can plug in a streaming device (which can be powered from a nearby PD USB port). This model doesn't have an onboard sound system either, so you'd need to cable up to a soundbar or home theater audio setup through eARC or S/PDIF.
Switching it up to a 4LED light source for the W4100i model boosts the brightness to 3,200 ANSI lumens, with similar color accuracy and coverage supporting the show. Again, the DLP projector treats viewers to 4K UHD with AI on hand to analyze each frame and adjust for optimum detail. There's support for judder-free 24p playback as well.
Maximum supported screen size tops out at 150 inches, for which the projector would need to be pulled back at least 12.5 ft (3.8 m). Four-way lens shift means that the image can be repositioned without moving the unit, with keystone adjustment adding to a relatively painless setup process.
This model comes with an Android TV dongle for streaming entertainment (including Netflix), which plugs into a covered HDMI port to the rear. A single 5-W speaker is included too, though users might want to wire the projector to external audio systems over eARC or S/PDIF for best quality. And gamers gain a 240-Hz mode here for plugged in play at 1080p, which takes HDMI 2.1 input lag down to just 6.5 ms.
The W5850 and W4100i models are expected to be available in Europe from next month, though we don't have pricing for either. Nor do we know whether a US release will follow.
Source: BenQ
