BenQ - W2720i

I just got the Benq2720i. Set it up. I'm projecting a 180 inch image and it looks very crisp and vibrant. The only thing is I notice the color changes during movies almost like warm to cool and it's pretty noticable. I'm going to call BenQ and find out what that's about. Also, I notice that when switching in between inputs, the sound going to my soundbar (eArc) is super low and I have to raise the volume. ALSO the audio/video sync is off a millisecond or 2. I have to turn the projector on and off (very quick start up) to make that go away. Otherwise, projector is solid and throw distance is great. Almost a cross between a ST and reg throw.

BenQ W2720i is a awesome home theater projector, come with AI Cinenema Feature and bring you awesome picture quality.

The contrast isn't just affected by the chip; lens design also plays a role. The 0.65" chip is more expensive, while the BenQ W2720i uses a 0.47" chip paired with a better lens and AI Cinema features, delivering impressive image quality. Although the BenQ W2720i's specs are slightly lower, it's a great entry-level product for non-enthusiasts—simple and easy to use. If you have a darkened AV room, you can set it up and enjoy an 80% performance with no adjustments needed. I think it's well worth its price. On the other hand, the W4000i is truly worth the extra $1,000. Once installed, it delivers 85-90% performance out of the box, and with proper calibration, it gets close to 100%. If you're not a hardcore enthusiast, the W2720i is ideal for someone looking for AV room-quality performance without spending too much time learning or tweaking.

Hey, I also bought a W2720i a few days ago. As you intended, I also run this on an Nvidia Shield Pro. However, I can set a maximum of 4k 24hz. As soon as I test more hz the image remains black. This is the case on all entrances... have you noticed anything similar?

I was also thinking about purchasing this one today but the change to .47 got me concerned. I’m currently using a x3000i which have the .65 dmd chip. Due to the box shape and the lens is lower than my old benq model, it doesn’t display to my screen properly.

How about the fan noise??

I just placed an order for this projector. I hope I won't regret it.

Hi just purchased the W2720i for €1580. Have I made the right decision will the projector punch 92 inch screen in mid to low level lighting? I am just looking for a that looks amazing image that is all :) All the reviews don't actually say they like it not like the Valerion Pro which they say is spectacular. Thanks

Black bars on the dark wall above and below the screen.  And for 16:9 content zoomed out with black bars on the side within the screen and masking panels. X500i has zoom and addititional digital zoom. I have seen the reviews for the x500i and that maybe has  an overall better image unless the w2720i has a better perceived image due to the ai and image enhancements. I have heard the x500i is really noisy so I would rather go with a much quieter W2720i. And is slightly brighter ANSi lumens for dim to moderate ambient light. Is it true the pixel density is larger on the w2720i due to 0.47 dmd?  Thanks

Hi I tested the uhd35stx too bright and poor video processing. The w2720i at home and allthough blown away with some of the 4k fidelity for example costa rica video and colour enhancements in fifa i wasnt happy with some motion handling.  Next I got the tk710sti and it looked pretty basic contrast wise had really good motion and processing but had laser speckle. So now about to purchase the x500i and follow the advice I was given and if it anything close the w2720i or better I will be extremely happy. :) 

Mmm. Do you think it's going to be an improvement over the likes of x500i and x3100i for film watching? I really like the form factor, more home cinema room oriented, but who knows... The other options I was considering for specs were either gaming oriented or lifestyle pj's, but I wasn't fully convinced by any,.. And I really didn't want to spend over 2000€ or go back to a lamp... Pretty much my only option.

Quick review: https://preview.redd.it/bhx7tbut0cde1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40e533d6b7f0176eec4b27e883a24dfcc0dcac37 The image quality is satisfactory out of the box, and I reckon there's room for improvement. But OOTB, its way better to my eyes than the Hisense C1 and the Dangbei DBXO02 that I purchased and returned. LED works better than Laser for me, with my setup and preferences. I was after a more "cinema-like" image than the more "TV-like" image of the laser cubes. I played a few films and demos from different sources (CCWGTV, PC with madVR, the included dongle) and I tried all the precalibrated options both in SDR and HDR, and all of the images projected were watchable except for the "Bright" mode in SDR, which is there just to justify the marketed lumens. It's bright enough for what I want (films and streaming), and it doesn't have (as it shouldn't) the image you can get from a TV. Any TV is going to be brighter, and will probably show darker blacks, etc., but my 65" OLED doesn't give me the cinematic experience I can get from this PJ. The Hisense and Dangbei wanted to replace my TV, the Benq doesn't. I like the form factor, it's a proper ceiling-mount home cinema PJ, and after trying out the new portable cube-shaped form factors, I'm happy with the Benq. I know it's only an aesthetic remark, but I look at it and smile. That's what aesthetics are for. Contrast and black levels: guys, I don't know, and I'm glad I got the PJ before any reviews tell me the contrast ratio is X:1, and other things that could give me the impression that it's not good enough. I knew that my white ceiling and walls were going to wash out the blacks, and so they did. But I enjoyed the picture nonetheless. Very dark films like Batman are going to be dark grey, but I watched some scenes and I liked what I saw. Colour accuracy, gamut and other: The colours are "contained" out of the box. That doesn't mean that the image is not powerful, but it's not "WOW" like the Hisense; but I have to confess that over-saturated colours put me off a bit, and they made the speckle more visible. NO speckle or noise from the Benq. As I said, LED light source works better form my setup and eyes than laser. Theres a "Wide Colour Gamut" option that's disables OOTB. When I turned it on in Filmmaker Mode, the colours where richer and more saturated without losing too much brightness; I guess it triggers the BT.2020 standard. Some might like that better, but for me it was too much. Maybe I can fine tune things in the future. NO TRACE OF 0.47 RING around the image. There has to be, it's phisically unavoidable from the chip's architecture, but I couldn't see it. Maybe the 9cm velvet frame of my screen hides it, but it was really noticeable in the Hisense and Dangbei, as it was with my old Optoma UHD40. Sharpness: it's remarkable. I watched 4K and 1080p content for hours, and the image and text was sharp and crispy all the time; my untrained eye couldn't see blurry corners or aberrations. Smart features: I didn't really try them: there's a "screen fit" thing that I haven't tried, since I'm going to ceiling mount the PJ and it will stay up there permanently. The AI calibration thing and AI cinema modes... I'm sure they included them because they had to, since the market seems to ask for smart features all the time. They work well and the resulting image is ok. But I like my projector to be dumb, so I stayed with the Filmmaker mode and will fine tune from there with patience and time. Android dongle: It works, it's what it is. You don't really need it, but it's there. Not the fastest dongle ever, by the way. I'll probably get a Shield TV pro instead, will see. I couldn't get atmos from the dongle; I could from the Chromecast attached to my receiver. No Dolby Vision, and it isn't triggered. The content from Netflix and Disney+ appears as HDR or HDR10. I'll post some random pictures to give you an idea of the experience. Of course, the purpose is already defeated, since my phone camera is soooo smart that it decides when and how to improve the pictures I want to take... but hopefully they will be of use.

By the way, I'll need some advice on how to test it properly without specific equipment (I'm not a pro tester, just an average consumer).

Ok, noted. I don't think DV content will be triggered, since it's not natively supported by the projector. I'll try LLDV mode on the Chromecast WGTV dongle, I think it can be forced somehow. My initial plan was to ignore the dongle and hook a Shield TV Pro (for its ethernet port), but I'll try what you suggest (Plex, etc.) for the sake of this discussion, why not. That will be a nice way to test the WiFi connection on the dongle. About colour reproduction, Ill take pictures of all the preset modes, from various sources. Thanks for your suggestions!

Hallo, ich habe meinen W2720i gestern installiert und mir sind ein paar Dinge aufgefallen. Im Android TV (neuste FW) habe ich nur drei Bildmodus-Einstellungen : Filmmaker, HDR10 und HDR-KI-KIno. Der AI Cinema, Hell Kino und Ben. werden mir nicht angezeigt. Wenn ich die Xbox über HDMI1 anwähle, habe ich diese Modi. Audio Return funktioniert bei mir nicht (2.1 HDMI-Kabel an Pioneer VSX-920. Meine Crucial X8 2 TB SSD Festplatte (exFat) wird am Media Reader nicht erkannt. Grüße Kt https://preview.redd.it/9j5kzqeng2qe1.jpeg?width=2312&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cfd64ca628f8ebfe4c7fdf4e0841b70144af43f6

Hey mate, i just did a small review! If anyone out here also owns this beamer, please read my review. I am wondering if others encounter the same problems, but also amazing picture quality.. https://www.reddit.com/r/projectors/s/sWTsLkB6An

DLP projectors often overstate their lumen specs and Optoma tends to be especially egregious about this. I’d honestly be surprised if that 4500 lumen Optoma was putting out more than 2000 real ANSI lumens in any mode you’d actually want to watch. I’m also dubious the lamp is the issue. You say it’s acting wonky? What’s wonky? I’ve had several lamp based projectors and, yes, the lamps do go bad but they are fairly easily replaced. All that said: I really DO like DLP especially for outdoor applications. You don’t have to worry about filters or dirt getting into the light path. They are comparably compact and efficient. Lastly, there is such a wide variety of DLP make/models out there that almost everyone can find something to fit their needs. I also really like the idea of solid state. While lamp has a cost advantage we’re at the point where LED and laser projectors are getting reasonably priced and offer a substantial upgrade in terms of longevity and picture quality. The Epson you picked out seems to be a nice model for high brightness applications. But like AV said: these high brightness, business use models tend to have a reputation for pretty mediocre contrast/blacks. That extends to both 3LCD and DLP but a comparable price/performance DLP like the $1300, 1080p BenQ LH730 would probably do a bit better here and be sharper to boot. I run a projector outside on a 120” Elite screens yardmaster. But I prefer to stick with 4K these days. If I’m traveling I take a BenQ TK700STI which is a 3000 lumen (but not really) short throw, lamp based, gaming projector. I love that thing for how compact and convenient it is and how you can throw a big image without needing a lot of space. Built in wifi streaming and Bluetooth audio out in a package that weighs less than 7 lbs. At home my upstairs sometimes outdoor projector is a BenQ X3000i (replaced with the X3100i now in BenQ’s lineup). That projector is even brighter and a lot more colorful and has the benefit of LED so no lamp to fuss with. But at 15lbs and requiring more throw I wouldn’t exactly call it portable. For reference my home theater projector was a BenQ HT4550i, then an Epson 5050UB (temporarily) and I’m now using a BenQ W2720i in that space.

I think you’re going to be waiting a while on those Epsons. Buzz seems to be there isn’t much market left for mid range or affordable HT models anymore. I’ll be releasing my BenQ w2720i review soon. I really like it. Typical of BenQ it is extremely color accurate out of the box. Also typical: gaming responsiveness is excellent and it now supports ALLM. Brightness is sufficient— getting about 100 nits on my 120” matte white. 4LED continues to impress with its color saturation and punch. Image sharpness and lens quality is next level. The AI Cinema feature isn’t just a gimmick, it builds on their existing lumiexpert feature to create a one size fits all picture mode and it will also do all the auto screen setup stuff that many smart projectors will do. Did I mention the new chassis is fantastic? 15 lbs and super quiet in operation. HDR Tone mapping is the best it’s been on a BenQ. Built in sound is surprisingly good too. But I fear the story is going to be about contrast. The w2720i looks REALLY good. But the actual native contrast of the 2720i hovers around 750-800:1. Now it looks a lot better than that spec might suggest thanks to the aforementioned 4LED color brightness and some really effective dynamic contrast systems (no more distracting color shift!) as well as some judicious manipulation of contrast curves aka tone mapping. In fact, the w2720i very often looks better, with deeper blacks (such as in letterbox bars) than their one up and far more spec performant HT4550i. But super low APL stuff is still going to produce blacks that lean more towards grey. Personally, for $2K, I think the performance is fantastic. But people are going to read that spec and compare it with something like the Valerian or even BenQ’s own X500i and wonder why the w2720i is taking a step back in this area— again without the context of actually seeing the thing. Personally I’m really looking forward to the BenQ W4100i. The HT4550i/W4000i was already one of the best DLPs on the market (and one of the only ones with actual lens shift). Seeing how they’ve improved the image on the w2720i it will be very interesting to see some of those features and improvements come over to the W4100i which has better baseline specs in the areas of brightness and contrast. Should be a really awesome alternative at the $3K price point… assuming it stays $3K with the looming trade war.

I did a review of this model over at Avs here: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/benq-tk700sti-review-owners-thread-4k-hdr-low-lag-short-throw-gaming-projector.3198258/?post_id=60733182#post-60733182 Bottom line it is a very bright, very compact gaming projector that is, on the surface, surprisingly color accurate. But suffers, as many of these later model 4K bulb models did, from poor color brightness related to the inclusion of a white slice in the color wheel. We still use ours as a semi portable for setting up games in one room or taking outside for movies under the stars. The small size, short throw, high output and built in streaming/Bluetooth make it an ideal solution for that. For the theater I’m testing out the new W2720i.

I installed this projector on WED and it is AWESOME. I connected a high speed HDMI cable to the Audio Return + port and run this to my Onkyo receiver. BUT, when I put a USB thumb drive with a 4K Movie with Dolby TrueHD audio the player says it doesn't recognize the audio track. I have it set on RAW+ but NO sound comes out. If I play a YouTube video using the Google Chromecast (dongle included with PJ) I can get Dolby audio while watching the video, but not from the USB drive. I have googled plenty and was unable to find anything other than Benq posts that claim Dolby Atmos & DD 7.1 work via Raw+ and the Audio Return+ port. Help?

Running a BenQ TK-850 that we have been Very happy with. 110" Silver Ticket fixed screen; about 9.5ft viewing distance; projector is mounted overhead - probably 10.5 ft back. Disclaimers: 1) Have had multiple BenQ DLPs over the years: don't "see" rainbows, and like the color output. 2) This unit was installed - and has been Calibrated - by someone who Knows What They Are Doing (not DIY...). 3) The person who did the install / calibration is currently running a BenQ W2720i, on a 120" Silver Ticket fixed screen. I have seen that unit running on a 100" as well as his current 120" screen, and in various states of "tune" (calibration / settings). If (when...?) the TK-850 failed, the W2720i would Immediately become my "Standard of Comparison" when shopping for a replacement. To be fair, the 2720i IS more expensive up front (exceeds $2k, at least at list) - but it also does NOT use a traditional Lamp, which ought to help offset the initial cost over a reasonable life span. Best of Luck in your search. EDIT: Corrected reference projector model to "W2720i" to fix incorrect "W1720i" in original. Thanks for Jred... for catching this!