BenQ - W770ST

I can’t say enough good about the Benq HT2060. I picked it up in June as my third projector in ten years. First I had a Benq WT770 ST (short throw, 720p resolution) followed by a very used Optoma HD146x (1080, standard throw, facebook marketplace). The short throw Benq still works well to this day and I use it for outdoor movie nights, having replaced the bulb once in its 7 year daily service. Albeit 720p resolution, the color balance and contrast are still really good for a ten+ year old projector which cost a scant $750 at the time of purchase. The Optoma came with a broken color wheel, which I replaced initially, then it broke again 10 months later. Luckily they are $30 on eBay, so I replaced it again. I’m also on my second bulb on that one, but it’s been sidelined for the time being, pending selling it off cheap to a friend, with full disclosure and a color wheel service warrantee, ha. No let me rant and rave and postulate and praise the Benq HT2060! I went with the HT2060 after researching the heck out of a sub $1500 projector. After my time and energy spent on bulbs and color wheels, I was very interested in LED or laser as a “permenant” light source. The added benefit of led running cooler (less hot) and no added warm up/cool down cycle were also perks that I didn’t realize how much I’d appreciate. The resolution is 1080p, downcoded 4k, but it looks somehow better than 1080 and not quite 4k… there’s something going on with this projector. I feel like they got half way, knew they couldn’t claim it as native 4k, and just settled on calling it 1080p. It looks GREAT. The thing people write about with this model that got me across the “purchase” line, is the depth of contrast/black levels, the 96% color gamut, and HDR functionality. The picture on this bad boy puts the optoma 146x out to pasture. Everything is crispy, life-like, and even dark scenes are well-balanced and defined. The TRex attack in Jurassic Park is alive and well, and you can see every detail. I picked it up through Amazon, purchased from Adorama. Because they are a verified seller or whatever, I was still able to buy a warranty from Amazon. I paid $1250 plus $200 (war) and tax. Two weeks later the price was adjusted on Amazon down to $949 for a sale, and I was able to get the difference refunded. Great! My experience so far is summed up in two concrete statements: 1) I know now that contrast and color matter more to me than native 4k. I have a buddy who bought a comparable 4k bulb projector - viewsonic brand. It’s shape and bright as hell! But… my set up looks better, by a combination of factors. 2) I’ll never go back to bulbs. The LED color balance, brightness, lack of heat production, instant (3-5 seconds, comparable to a tv) on/off cycles were something I didn’t know I was getting, and love. The life-cycle being 20k-30k hours instead of 3k-8k… that’s the clincher right there, for me at least. Edit: native autocorrected to booked in the next to last paragraph.

W770ST here which has been our nightly TV for 13 years now. No replacement bulb yet. These things are tanks! (Touch every piece of wood in the house)