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By Philip Wong
Mar 24, 2008

It's no surprise why shoe-string budget hunters have a soft spot for this Taiwanese brand. Not only are the company's DLP home theater projectors one of the most affordable among its competitors, they are also no pushover when rendering amazing visuals. In this respect, we're still having a hard time coming to terms with its pricey flagship W20000. Having said that, BenQ has definitely returned to its roots with its stepped-down 1080p W5000. The best part is, both projectors share the same user manual with hardly any independent references to each model, so users will find the W5000 not that much different from the W20000.

Upside: From a layman's perspective, the full-HD W5000 is akin to a cookie jar filled with many little treats and surprises. For DVD collectors, a tried-and-tested Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processor will almost guarantee (if implemented accurately) some serious upscaled pictures. Then there is the latest Texas Instrument Brilliant Color technology which promises bright-yet-saturated hues to go hand-in-hand with its extended 1.07 billion-color gamut. If that's not enough, there is the Imaging Science Foundation Certified Calibration Controls to get the beamer professionally tuned.

At S$5,999 (US$3,946.71), this BenQ still costs a notch higher than the Optoma HD80, though it's a lot easier to setup without a limiting 36 percent vertical offset (click for more information). Furthermore, you also get away with wide vertical lens shift which is unheard of for entry-level DLPs. This puts the W5000 almost on par with LCD and LCoS projectors, plus leeway to install the beamer off the screen's center-horizontal-axis without compromising picture quality. Another nice touch is an optional anamorphic lens support, enabling ultra-wide aspect ratio sans the distracting letterbox bars.

Rounding up the impressive feature set is the projector's competent onboard connectivity options. For starters, we have a pair of digital HDMI 1.2 terminals on the rear. These are closely matched by additional two component-video sockets, one of which can be converted to an analog PC input via a compatible cable. All the above-mentioned four inputs have full 1080p signal compliancy, capable of accepting standard 50/60Hz video as well as the 24Hz film-based frame rate. That said, it's worth noting that the HDMIs are not Deep Color-ready for software with richer hues.

Downside: Unless you are willing to setup the projector in your hall or in a huge bedroom, chances are, the mediocre 1.2x zoom will be a serious bottleneck for realizing a theatrical large-screen experience. You will need at least a 4m screen-to-lens depth or throw distance to comfortably cast a 100-inch projection. We are also a little disappointed that there's no contrast improvement over the HD80, pegged at a respectable 10,000:1 figure. This may be a constraint of the lower-end DarkChip 2 engine, although there are other areas such as the electronic iris for fine-tuning.

Outlook: Taking everything into consideration, the BenQ W5000 is a promising full-HD DLP projector with most of the essential features covered. It has both the raw-processing power to put on a good show and flexibility for making installation a breeze in our typically confined Asian living quarters. Pound-for-pound, you will be hard pressed narrowing down a better bargain at least for DLPs. However, if you're willing to stretch your budget or venture into other technologies, do check out the Sony Black Pearl and Epson EMP-TW2000. The latter is already on sales in Hong Kong with a street price of HK$22,000 (US$2,800).

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