Beginning in 2009 and early thereafter, Taiwan-based BenQ Corporation has claimed the distinction of being the best-selling brand for DLP projectors worldwide. While models designated for the business and education markets bolster the overall sales figure, the company has enjoyed a strong presence in consumer home theater as well. BenQ aims to retain that No. 1 status, aided by their new HT series of home theater machines, which includes our review unit, the range-topping HT4050. Stocking the projector with an assortment of finely honed features, BenQ promises the performance level found in more costly models while targeting an appealing price point. Will the HT4050 deliver winning image fidelity and a winning sales formula for BenQ? Let’s find out.
Overview
Proportionately compact at 13 x 4.7 x 9.7 inches, the mostly gloss white HT4050 is trimmed by a dark gray front fascia with connecting accent panels that wrap around to the rear input panel. For tabletop use, a central front bar support descends by way of a release button, locking at the desired height as the two thumbscrew rear feet permit tri-planar balancing of the 9.24-pound unit.
The rear panel has two HDMI inputs (one MHL compatible), which can be complemented by a wireless HDMI interface kit (WDP01) featuring a dual-HDMI input transmitter with a specified range of 100 feet (structure-dependent) and a receiver powered by the projector’s USB Type A (5-volt/1.5-amp) jack. An HDMI jumper between the receiver and one of the HDMI jacks on the projector completes the wireless connection, which is said to have less than 1-millisecond latency. (This kit wasn’t sent for testing.) Legacy analog component and composite video inputs mate with analog stereo and audio in/out minijacks, and there’s an analog PC input via a D-sub 15-pin connector. Rounding out the connections are a DC 12-volt trigger, a 3D sync port for use with activeshutter 3D RF glasses, an RS-232 DB-9 pin connector for automation, and a USB type B jack used as a service access portal.
Along with the projector’s 1080p resolution and 3D capabilities, BenQ boasts of the immaculate attention paid during design to create a package that not only can accurately produce the international Rec. 709 HD color standard but can also retain long-term color stability with a sharp, detailed image. During assembly, every machine is said to receive precision, hands-on adjustment at multiple points in the manufacturing process, ensuring strict adherence to Rec. 709 and excellent out-of-the-box performance.
BenQ calls its suite of advanced audio and (mostly) video processing features CinemaMaster. The video controls include Motion Enhancer, Flesh Tone, Color Enhancer, and Pixel Enhancer.
Motion Enhancer inserts up to 36 interpolated frames in between sequences for smooth, fluid motion with 60-frames-per-second video. It defaults to off for all picture modes, but with judicial use, it was beneficial in eliminating motion artifacts (see more below). Flesh Tone comes out of the box set to zero and is intended to bring about more natural skintones in high ambient light conditions. As I moved through settings 1 through 5 (on my Stewart Filmscreen Studio-Tek 130 screen, with the lights on), Flesh Tone incrementally added warm, reddish enhancement to faces and made blue shades brighter, ultimately adding a “glow” to faces. I left it off. Likewise, Color Enhancer primarily accented middle tones, creating a sunburn look on faces when ramped up. I also left it at its default setting of zero.
Pixel Enhancer was chameleon-like within its range of 0 to 15 (8 being the factory setting). Using the internally generated test pattern (a white grid upon a black background used for sizing the image to the screen), I found that lowering it to 0 noticeably darkened the grid’s lines. Turning to the Weather Channel in HD and taking the control to 15 added “ringing” (fuzziness to text and small details). I left it at its default setting. I also tried out the Noise Reduction feature, which has a range of 0 to 31 and defaults in all picture modes to 7. At any setting, even resorting to the Weather Channel in SD resolution to see if small text and map relief features would soften or hard edges appear, I could detect no discernible difference and left it at its default.
There isn’t much magic that CinemaMaster’s audio features will perform using the internal, 10-watt amplified speakers. Five preconfigured sound profiles plus a User mode with a five-band EQ won’t prompt the folks at Dolby to take a glance over their Atmos shoulder. Sampling its usefulness, my viewing room effectively filled with intelligible sound, showing no sign of strain. If you need movie sound in a pinch, it shouldn’t offend too badly.
Precise video adjustment is possible with a full color management system (CMS), high and low color temperature (white balance) fine tuning, and ISFccc Day/Night modes (code-enabled by a professional calibrator).
BenQ’s HT projectors feature Texas Instruments’ BrilliantColor technology, which uses an unusual six-segment color wheel that includes only two each of the traditional primary colors red, green, and blue. This is somewhat contrary to the usual approach that might integrate the secondary colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow to help reproduce those tones or white/clear segments intended to boost the brightness of white. Nonetheless, the color wheel produces the full Rec. 709 color gamut, utilizing custom segment angles, specific coatings, and some optimized software. When Brilliant Color (BenQ’s menu labeling) is selected, there’s an appealing boost to color brightness whose effect is to exude a sense of texture, such as adding extra depth in a fabric or making a metal surface seem hewn rather than plated.
The above would all be for naught if the light exiting the projector couldn’t make a clear, detailed image. BenQ engineers selected highgrade, pure glass elements within the light engine and an all-glass cinema-grade projection lens with proprietary low-dispersion lens coatings to minimize chromatic aberrations (impurities in lens glass that suggest misconvergence with fine-line patterns that should otherwise appear to be white).
Setup
Despite my presumption of the HT4050’s prefix to mean home theater, the throw ratio of 1.15:1 to 1.86:1 tethers the projector far closer to the screen than desired for use in a dedicated home theater space, or even for a dual-purpose environment. Although the projector might be ideal for occasional use on a coffee table, shining images on the living room wall, the restrictive specs here require careful consideration in planning a permanent location. For comparison, an Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 3500 projector I keep around for testing ambient-lightrejecting screens sits atop a tall equipment rack behind my sofa. It was some 5 feet behind the BenQ, which I placed in front of the sofa on a makeshift stand. Both projectors were sized to the same screen, with the Epson capable of going back a bit farther in position if needed, while the BenQ was at maximum distance. Why worry, you ask? Were the BenQ ceiling mounted, I’d find its landing spot inside my upper field of vision, with its not too generous 12.5 percent Vertical offset tugging it down into the room, so it sat close to the top of the reflective viewing surface. Although the machine runs quietly even with Normal mode selected for lamp power, if you are at higher altitudes (above 5,000 feet), the fans rotate at faster speeds, which you’ll likely notice. (Fan noise is rated from 29 decibels in Economic to 33 dB in Normal.)
Sizing the image to the screen is accomplished via a lens-mounted, tabbed, manual inner ring for zoom (behind the front fascia) and an outer focus ring. Both are assisted with top-panel vertical and horizontal lens shift adjustments having just enough precision, despite interaction with the main lens, to finesse the image into place. Also on top is the keypad for hands-on operation of the HT4050, but BenQ does provide a well-backlit, nicely laid-out remote control.
Lamp power modes include not just Normal and Economic, but also Smart Eco. The 260-watt UHP lamp is rated from 2,000 to 4,000 hours depending on mode. When you look under Lamp Timer in the onscreen menu, you’ll see that each power mode is associated with an Equivalent Lamp Hour assessment. A formula calculates the impact a particular mode has on lamp life. Normal mode supplies 100 percent lamp output, tacking on a 70 percent penalty to the hour meter. For example, 33 actual run hours in Normal produce an Equivalent Lamp Hour tally of 56 hours. Economic mode reduces projector fan noise and power consumption by 30 percent, and Smart Eco yields a reduction of 70 percent. I did most of my auditioning in Normal mode (more on this below).
Simply Brilliant
From initial turn-on through 76 hours of burn-in prior to calibration, the HT4050 impressed me with the factory default settings assigned to the Cinema Rec. 709 preset. Throughout this probationary period (imposed to allow the UHP lamp time for its red spectral response to dissipate somewhat, a normal result of the settling-in process), the BenQ maintained a remarkably natural color quality, especially evident in fleshtones.
Enamored by the Brilliant Color feature, I found myself toggling it frenetically in the menu until I was unsure of it being on or off, testing to determine if I could detect its presence with content. In relatively short order, it was easy to identify, especially one evening when I watched Hawaii Five-O. Flowered prints on island-themed fabrics bloomed into life, with mosaic patterns of subtle hues pitching forward from royal blue and deep crimson backgrounds. On slow, sweeping camera pans of beachfront hotels and Diamond Head, Brilliant Color provided a sense of depth and refinement to otherwise featureless vistas; it was like the difference between a postcard and a picture taken with a Hasselblad camera. Brilliant Color could sometimes tip fleshtones over to the too-warm side on excellent cinematic material (I noticed this while viewing portions of The Fifth Element), but I preferred the extra zest it added to live sports.
I was keen on spotting signs of the rainbow effect, a DLP anomaly seen on fast motion because of interaction of the spinning color wheel with synchronization of the tilting mirrors on the digital micromirror device. Some folks are exceedingly sensitive to it, while others liken sightings of it to that of unicorns. Two themes plentiful in Hawaii Five-O are bikinis and action scenes. A mere three minutes into the episode, an ambush followed by a motorcycle chase unfolded, but I saw no sign of any rainbows from the HT4050’s 4x (at 60 hertz) color wheel.
For judder-free images, I found that Motion Enhancer set at Low eliminated any trace of staccato movement without introducing signs of the cinematic-robbing soap-opera effect. With broadcast sports, Middle or High worked well, depending on the pace of the action. However, those settings for movies on Blu-ray started to over-sterilize fidelity and highlight artifacts, whereas Low was perfect.
Oh, Black Water
Black level was something of a moving target. When I sampled the projector during the lamp wear-in period on an exceptional ambientlight-rejecting screen with a high degree of contrast enhancement (the Seymour-Screen Excellence Ambient-Visionaire Black 1.2, reviewed in this issue), the HT4050 took advantage of the screen’s assistance to work less and deliver more. I found that Smart Eco mode was great in dark room viewing, providing a dynamic image with the projector’s best black level, in part owed to dimming the lamp approximately 30 percent and throttling back a few of the rated 2,000 ANSI lumens. I mention this to highlight the benefits of ALR screens in controlled light conditions and to demonstrate how the technology from some screen manufacturers is giving budget projectors a chance to compete above their normal pay grade. For review purposes, though, you dance with the one you brought, especially for consistency; for this hoedown, it was my Stewart Filmscreen StudioTek 130 G3. With the white-matte, 1.3-gain Stewart, the higher-output Normal fan mode was a necessity to provide the punch I’m accustomed to, and it resulted in some additional sacrifice of black level.
For example, at the start of chapter 1 in The Fifth Element, the opening credits in white lettering lead to a scene from deep in space. When I started with Smart Eco lamp power and then switched to Normal mode, there was a slight yet noticeable uptick in black level. Vertically centered in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the black bars above and below the active image never seemed to be as dark as and never darker than anything black in the image content. And they tended to modulate their level of black depending on how bright a scene in the active image was. To be fair, this may be a normal occurrence with white screens. Perhaps the amount of time I’ve spent during the past eight months living with two excellent ALR screens has left me both jaded and forgetful. I would categorize the overall black level performance of the BenQ HT4050 as being as good as it can get in the $1,000-to-$2,000 price range, and certainly better than that of similarly priced 3LCD machines.
3D
BenQ doesn’t include 3D glasses with the HT4050, though I managed to make a pair I had on hand operate using DLP-Link. To use the 3D VESA RF mode requires an adapter (not supplied) connected to the 3D sync port on the projector’s rear panel. Among the few 3D discs I have, I’m always drawn to Disney/Pixar’s Brave for testing, as the 3D elements are restrained and not overly done. Vast forests or castle dining halls convey a realistic sense of dimensionality, placing young and old alike in scenes next to Merida.
With Brilliant Color enabled, the 3D image was satisfactorily bright. But with the feature deactivated, the image was merely on the fence, and I also noticed a hint of light falloff in the corners. Given the bit of oomph that Brilliant Color lends to 3D, it’s best left on. I did not detect ghosting, especially in Brave action scenes like the one where the characters play in the Highland Games; some displays have problems here with tossed spears and speeding arrows. It seemed to take a bit of fiddling to adjust 3D depth to where it was comfortable for me to feel like all facets of the image were in focus, something I hadn’t experienced with other projectors. But fans of the 3D medium should find the HT4050 to be more than acceptable.
Conclusion
The BenQ HT4050 provides a stable platform of stellar performance for novice users as well as for experienced hobbyists. If point and play rules your day, be assured the HT4050 can display razor-sharp, strikingly accurate images in just a matter of minutes. More ambitious viewers will discover a color management system that can precisely match the projector to its intended application. For optimum, memory-locked performance, the ISF modes await a professional calibrator. Experimentation with lamp power in a dedicated room ekes out the nth degree of performance, while creativity in screen pairing can deliver unheard-of, knockout image fidelity for a miserly price. Add in smooth, fluid motion and good black level (with the bonus of ghost-free 3D).
VERDICT
At $1,399, you’ll have a better chance of finding Waldo than another projector that equals the HT4050’s package of color accuracy, image clarity, and overall fidelity.
SPECS
Dimensions (WxHxD, Inches): 12.99 x 4.72 x 9.72
Weight (Pounds): 9.24
3D Glasses: Active, $59
Video Inputs: HDMI (2, 1 MHL)