ViewSonic - PX749-4K

In this price range for 4k you are going to give up certain things. So the BenQ is ultimately going to look better in a darker room. You'll get more accurate contrast and colors. However, with it only being 3200lm... When you turn on lights or have outside light coming in. You won't be able to see it and it will be washed out. *** a good projector screen could help with this*** With the ViewSonic... The colors and contrast will be less accurate. You'll see that with commercial projectors. They are made to deal with more ambient light. At the cost of color accuracy. But when lights are on... It will be easier to see. Now remember, no matter how bright a projector is. It can only overcome so much ambient light. If I were you... I would buy both from B&H try them out. And return the one you don't like. Just be very careful with packaging and the projectors. They had a pretty good, no questions asked return policy when I was testing projectors. I personally really liked the ViewSonic PX749-4K UHD 4K. It was a nice middle ground.

Hands down - best and brightest Projector at that price point. https://www.amazon.com/ViewSonic-PX748-4K-Projector-Support-Keystone/dp/B0C33XXPMQ/ref=asc_df_B096HBWRGT?mcid=b0d6472507c03ddc879469cbb9d82a07&hvocijid=5233959619188108131-B096HBWRGT-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=738055595456&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5233959619188108131&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028780&hvtargid=pla-2426394699034&psc=1&hvsb=hilltop&th=1

I've had a fair few 4k projectors. Had a benq w1070, could see RBE with that  Viewsonic px749, x1 4k, lx700 all 3 had terrible RBE.  Then I tried optoma uhd55 and zero to minimum RBE (You have to really look and move eyes really fast left to right to see it) turns out optoma have 8 segmented color wheels which very much nearly cures RBE.  4.2ms 240hz at 1080p 4k 60hz at 12ms ( I think)  Brilliant quality. Remote is dog crap though. 

I also just finally upgraded to a 4k projector for the sake of the Switch 2. There are so many variables to take into account regarding the right projector for your setup but I’ll walk you through my journey real quickly. I have a dedicated theater room with controlled light, charcoal grey walls and floor, 120” white pull down screen, and a projector mount already mounted about 10ft away from the screen. My previous projector was a 12 year old ViewSonic PJD7820 which was a fantastic projector when it was new and still worked just as well now (although it is on its third or fourth bulb by now.) My sound system was a really good PC 5.1 surround sound system contemporary to my projector. I also had a 5 input HDMI splitter that does not support UHD but I wasn’t going to replacing anything in my setup so I really wanted a projector with a second HDMI input to basically add one new input to my setup. After researching a lot on specs and reviews I came down to the ViewSonic PX749 and the BenQ TK710. The BenQ was about $800 more expensive but was laser so it would never need bulbs replaced and also has better black levels, while the ViewSonic has a greater brightness but lower contrast ratio. Ultimately I decided to go with the BenQ based on paper specs, but when the delivery got held up and I got a gift card from a friend to B&H and I happened to look if they had either projector there I saw they actually had an open box “like new” version of the ViewSonic for a few hundred dollars off, so I cancelled the order for the BenQ and ordered the ViewSonic instead. The canceled order did not go through and both projectors arrived the same day lol. Well now I was going to actually get to test them side by side. I set up a Blackmagic 6k Pro camera with all fixed settings and ran a ton of tests across all 3 projectors comparing both new ones to my original projector in the 3 different lighting setups that happen in our theater room. One big takeaway, I would have been happy with either of these if there was no direct comparison. They are both good and there was no wrong option. The BenQ pros: super crispy, sharp, and high contrast with vibrant colors almost no light pollution in the blacks. Also it boots up super fast. BenQ cons: while the blacks looked incredible, and everything above middle grey did as well, dark shadows had a weird fizzle/grain to them. I tried different sources, different inputs, different cables… This is just how the projector was. It was not visible from viewing distance, but a couple feet closer and you could see the noise dancing in the shadows. I hated that. Also the aux input is a pass through so when aux is activated the volume controls on the projector are disabled. We have a speaker system with a physical knob turned up high on our setup and use the projector controller to lower the volume, so this was a surprisingly huge knock against it. ViewSonic pros: brightest of all the projectors, good looking vibrant colors (slightly less punchy than the BenQ), better contrast than the previous projector, simplest and best corner pinning settings, audio works exactly as the previous projector did so it is a simple projector swap in our setup with no need for additional hardware and remotes. And lastly my wife really likes the ViewSonic birds, they are cute and that counts not for a lot but if all else is equal it counts for something. ViewSonic cons: contrast not as high as the BenQ. I would have never cared if I had not seen them side by side, I would not have known what could be missing. Also there is chromatic aberration in the corners of the image. It is not visible from viewing distance but if you take a couple steps forward it is visible and that bothers me. Lastly, it uses a lamp which will not last forever. I want this projector to last me a decade and I know what that means regarding replacing the lamp a handful of times in its life. It’s not a huge deal, but I like the idea of not needing to do that. Ultimately I went with the ViewSonic PX749. The BenQ TK710 had a slightly better image thanks to the higher contrast, although both projectors had their visual flaws and honestly I am less bothered by the mild chromatic aberration than the shadow fizzle. The two biggest deciding factors were the audio convenience of the ViewSonic, it really was a simple projector swap and immediate upgrade without any additional effort whereas the BenQ would have required buying more things, using an additional remote… a lot more effort for a mildly better image… and $1200 more. Was the image quality of the BenQ worth the additional $1200? Absolutely not. Would it have been different if I got the ViewSonic for full price? Still probably no but it would have been more to think about. If I had a completely different setup I probably would have gone with the BenQ, but again since the new ViewSonic was as simple swapping one projector for another on an existing mount with existing cables and nothing changing about our setup except an upgraded image I have no regrets and absolutely feel I made the correct choice for me with my setup. And the Switch 2 looks phenomenal on there, I love this system! My wife and I have been playing Split Fiction and it looks amazing, I can’t imagine how anybody plays games any other way than on a massive projection screen in a home theater. So good luck to you on your projector journey. There is no one right answer for everyone, and there are undoubtedly many right answers for you. I am sure whichever way you choose to go will feel like the best option for you when it is all said and done and set up properly.

I'm real happy with my ViewSonic 4k projector. Sub 1000$