BenQ has announced three new 4K projectors will be hitting the stores in the U.K. very soon, with each one offering some very powerful specifications that will serve them well in a range of different viewing environments.
As BenQ explains, the very best 4K projectors are those that are capable of throwing up cinema-size pictures in almost any location and conditions. The new models are designed to do just that, though there are some important differences that mean each one is more suited to a specific scenario.
First up is the BenQ W4000i (pictured), which will cost around £2,999 and offers 3,200 lumens of brightness and HDR-PRO technology. It’s aimed at dark home cinema rooms where achieving powerful contrast from HDR movies is the goal. The HDR-PRO tech supports HDR10+ (a rare treat in any projector), HDR10 and HLG and features a Local Contrast Enhancement function that works by splitting the picture into 1,000 zones and independently optimising the gamma for each one. According to BenQ, the W4000i is powered by a 4 LED light engine and offers 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour gamut.
The other models are both a tad more affordable. The BenQ W2710i costs around £1,699 and is also suited for dark room viewing. It offers 2,200 lumens of brightness and the same HDR-PRO technology to enhance HDR content, with 95% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space.
Finally, the BenQ TK860i is available for the same price of £1,699, only it’s designed to be superior for daytime viewing. To that end, it boasts 3,300 lumens of light output and once again, HDR-PRO is onboard. It may not perform quite so well in darker environments, but it should definitely be a solid all-rounder that enables casual viewing or gaming anywhere, at any time. Another useful feature is the 20 watt built-in treVolo speaker system, which promises to output well above average sound quality than is usually found in a projector.
The support for HDR10+ is a big plus because projectors generally have a limited peak light output compared to most 4K TVs. Though most high-end projectors do boast impressive brightness, they’re unlikely to deliver the same kind of visual punch as a high-end Mini-LED TV or one of the new QD-OLED or WOLED TVs when viewing HDR content.
BenQ’s projectors should be a different story, and it’s all down to HDR-PRO, which has been designed to get the very best out of all HDR-enhanced content.
BenQ said the flagship W4000i comes with Android TV with Netflix, Amazon Prime Videos, Disney Plus and various other streaming apps built-in. It’s not clear if the W2710i or TK860i also support streaming, or if it’s necessary to connect some kind of dongle first.
The BenQ W4000i and W2710i appear to be identical to the HT4550i and HT3560 projector models listed on the company’s U.S. website, so it may well be they’re just marketed under a different name in that country. The U.S. site also lists the TK860i, though no prices or availability details are listed yet.
