BENQ W500--new budget king LCD projector?

[Ovation]

As I've been considering various projector possibilities, I came across the BENQ W500 last week. In my budget and in my room I am restricted to LCD projectors because I absolutely require vertical and horizontal lens shift (unknown on DLPs under 3000$ US). If I were stateside, my short list would be the Sanyo Z5, the Sony AW15 and the Epson 400, and now, the BENQ W500 (each of which is available under 1500$). In Canada, only the Z5 and W500 fit that list.

The W500 accepts 1080p/24 signals (even via its component inputs--though I don't know if anyone can actually use that--perhaps it's useful in Europe?) and it has Silicon Optics HQV video processing--for a Canadian street price of under 1200$ (about 300$ less than the Z5--which I already considered a good deal at around 1500$ CDN).

I think the W500 is now at the top of my (admittedly very short) list.

Thoughts?

[George Bellefontaine]

I've never owned a BenQ but they seem to have a fairly good reputation. Anyway, at a street price of under $1200 CDN I don't see how you can go wrong. I own both lcd and dlp and though I prefer dlp for contrast and blacks, I have to admit that today's lcds ( like my Yamaha ) that have vertical and horizontal lens shift is one heckuva feature.

[Ovation]

I'm just waiting to see any news from someone who's watched something on it. If I don't find catastrophically bad feedback, I think I'll take the plunge later this summer (unless something else comes along).

[wildfire99]

Do you really require lens shift? I've used DLPs and tilted them all sorts of ways and most of the time the resulting key-stoning on screen is either minor or not noticeable at all if you zoom the picture to slightly larger than the screen.

At the bargain end of front projection, I don't feel real good about LCD for ultimate picture quality. The Optomas might have a rebate through the end of the month. What is your situation for projector offset and brightness requirements?

[Ovation]

Do you really require lens shift? I've used DLPs and tilted them all sorts of ways and most of the time the resulting key-stoning on screen is either minor or not noticeable at all if you zoom the picture to slightly larger than the screen.

At the bargain end of front projection, I don't feel real good about LCD for ultimate picture quality. The Optomas might have a rebate through the end of the month. What is your situation for projector offset and brightness requirements?

I require lens shift because I plan to use the projector on a table/stand and put it away when not in use (neither the projector nor the screen will be permanently mounted). The only practical place for such a table/stand is to the left of my primary listening/viewing chair (this would place the projector approx. 7 feet from the screen, and 2 feet off-centre). My set up is geared towards MCH audio (seating, speaker arrangement, etc.) and I am not willing to compromise those elements to accompany a projector. So both vertical AND (especially) horizontal lens shift are necessary.

Moreover, while it was a business projector and of lesser quality than home theatre projectors, I had a DLP at the house for a few weeks, to test whether my small room could comfortably accommodate a projector, (my wife borrowed her projector from the office--a Dell 2300MP, IIRC) and the rainbows were severely distracting. And, owing to its lack of lens shift, I had to move my seat rather far off-centre (which was OK for the experiment, but unacceptable for the long-term)

As for brightness, I have total light control in the room. The walls are a dark forest green, the ceiling is made of white acoustic drop ceiling tiles, but they did not bother me when I used the Dell. The carpet is a short-fibre multicoloured (none very light) weave.

Personally, I fail to understand why lens shift is NOT available on DLP projectors in the same price range as LCD (presumably the cost of lens shift is the same for each--though there may be something about DLP that makes it more difficult/pricier, I don't know).

[George Bellefontaine]

(presumably the cost of lens shift is the same for each--though there may be something about DLP that makes it more difficult/pricier, I don't know).

I read the explanation somewhere of why it is more costly to have lens shift for dlp but I forget what the issue was, only that it made the PJ more expensive. Anyway, your setup it will definitely call for a lens shift feature.