A True 4K UHD Home Theatre Projector BenQ W5700 - Hyper Realistic Video Quality

Is the BenQ W5700 the Best Home Theatre Projector any Good?

BenQ has taken upon itself the task of bringing 4K resolution to the “majority” by contriving to produce four times more pixels out of a standard HD panel. This is achieved by displacement of the pixels, where an optical lens element wobulates the pixels from the panel both vertically and horizontally, so that each pixel in the image panel produces four pixels on the screen. Pretty nifty.

While TVs have the advantage of better contrast between black and white and also provide a far better HDR effect than a projector, there’s something special about the big picture you get when it’s cast up onto a screen.

The reason a projector can’t provide a decent HDR effect is that you can’t increase the brightness without also brightening the black level, so you have to compromise somewhere in between. That doesn’t mean it can’t look dazzling anyway, not least because of the increased colour space, with deeper and more vibrant colours.

Impressively sharp images

It’s easy to see that the BenQ W5700 has higher than HD resolution. Everything is more fine-meshed. However, the fact that it contrives a 4K image from a 1080p image panel becomes apparent if you use it as your PC monitor because the text will not be as defined as if it were true 4K. This is because the pixels overlap and make the image more dense. There is a feature called 4K Pixel Enhancer, but it produces sharp edges around the objects on the screen. Though I switch it off, if you’re going to use it at all, then I recommend setting it at level 3 of the available 15.

Very good colour

Out of the box colours are really good. In Cinema Mode, colours appear neutral and true and I didn’t experience any particular need for calibration on our white DreamScreen. Though there are never any downsides to getting the projector calibrated precisely for your screen.

Details about the BenQ W5700 projector:

In terms of practicality, the W5700 offers a 2D Lens Shift feature that eliminates trapezoid effects on a flat screen, allowing for flexible installation and placement options. The 1.6x optical zoom provides greater versatility in fitting the projector into different room sizes, without sacrificing image clarity and detail.

Additionally, the W5700 features a dustproof matte-black design that not only enhances its aesthetics but also prevents light leakage for outstanding image quality. The patterned lens ring reduces stray light, while the rearward tilt and vertical louver air intake reject dust from the cooling system, ensuring optimal performance and longevity.

The W5700 goes beyond just offering impressive visuals and accurate colors. It also incorporates features that enhance usability and customization options. The projector includes preset light balance modes, allowing you to select the ideal settings for different viewing environments or content types. This ensures that you always enjoy the optimal picture quality.

Furthermore, the W5700 features advanced image stabilization technology, minimizing pixel blur and ensuring a sharp and crisp image. The low-dispersion lenses reduce chromatic aberration, resulting in precise surface textures and vibrant colors. This attention to detail enhances the overall viewing experience, making every scene come to life with stunning clarity.

The projector's CinemaMaster Video+ technology utilizes advanced frame interpolation to produce smooth and seamless 60 frames-per-second movies. By inserting 36 extra interpolated frames between actual sequences of footage, motion appears more fluid and realistic, providing a heightened sense of immersion.

The W5700 also offers a range of connectivity options, including multiple HDMI ports, USB ports, and wireless capabilities, allowing you to easily connect your favorite devices and stream content from various sources.

With its user-friendly interface and intuitive functionality, the W5700 is designed to be accessible to both casual users and home theater enthusiasts. The projector's menu system provides easy access to settings and adjustments, ensuring that you can personalize your viewing experience according to your preferences.

Design, Connections and Control

The design of the W5700 is a definite step away from its more budget office style of chassis design and is a much more home cinema oriented design. It is larger than other BenQ projectors in this market sector and feels substantial for permanent use in a cinema room. There is no built-in sound system and the construction is designed to allow ceiling mounting or adjustable table mounting. The lens is centrally mounted on a large dark coloured chassis with lens shift control dials on the top plate and focus and zoom on the lens. 

The lens itself has a super-high resolution 11-element array that is structured into six groups which BenQ say will help with sharp 4K images from the W5700 across the entire screen. To either side of the central lens are the air intakes and exhaust and they have been designed, like the lens, to reduce light spill from the chassis and reject dust. The lens shift and zoom ratios used mean that the BenQ can be positioned perfectly for the best possible image without the need for keystone correction. Keystone can destroy image quality and fine line details when used, so being able to set up the W5700 correctly is welcome. 

Around the back, we have the connections within a slightly recessed area which provides some cable management when ceiling mounted. Connections wise we have a LAN and optical digital output, a 12V trigger and IR in, a USB 3.0 media playback ready port, two HDMI 2.0b inputs that are HDCP 2.2 compatible and will take 4K 60P HDR signals, a mini USB power, RS232C port along with two further USB ports, this time 2.0 and rounding up is a 3.5mm audio jack. The power socket is to the bottom centre of the backplate and to the left side we have manual menu buttons should you lose the remote control.

What picture quality is BenQ W5700?

This is using quadrupled light, which tricks the eye to perceive 8.3 million pixels on screen. The DMD displays a resolution of 1920x1080. It provides you with an approximate 4k picture on the monitor but is significantly cheaper than a native 4K chip.

Is BenQ a good brand projector?

Reputable Brands: When you look at projectors you will find different models to select from. It has a reliable brand and reputation in terms of quality.

What is the native resolution of BenQ W5700?

The W5700 achieves its resolution by using tx-instrument 0.48-in DMDs.

How much is a true 4K projector?

Comparison of similar products.

The BenQ W5700 is a 4K HDR projector aimed squarely at the home theatre market. It boasts an impressive image, some useful features, and a previously unobtainable level of performance and image accuracy for a DLP projector.

Introduction

The BenQ W5700 Home Theatre Projectors are the flagship entry in the company’s CinePrime Series of DLP projectors. It supports Ultra HD 4K thanks to Texas Instruments’ XPR (Expanded Pixel Resolution) technology, and incorporates BenQ’s CinematicColor technology, which the manufacturer claims can reach 100% of the wide colour gamut (WCG) used by UHD Blu-rays

If true the W5700 home theatre projector will be the first single-chip DLP 4K home projector to achieve this milestone, and it’s achieved thanks to a six-segment colour wheel designed to generate those extra colours. BenQ is so confident its beamer can accurately deliver the industry colour standards of REC.709 and DCI-P3 that it even includes a verifying factory calibration report in the box.

The W5700 supports High Dynamic Range in the form of HDR10 and broadcast HLG. However, it also includes BenQ’s HDR-PRO technology for improved tone mapping, along with CinemaMaster Video+ picture processing. Unlike many of BenQ’s other projectors, this model is aimed squarely at the home cinema market – so let’s see if it can reach an appropriate level of performance.

Design

The BenQ W5700 Home Theatre Projector certainly looks like a home cinema projector, with a large, well made chassis and an attractive matte-black finish. The design includes some useful touches, such as an anti-dust hood, louvered air intakes to reject dust from the cooling system, and a patterned lens ring to minimise light leakage from the optical engine.

BenQ W5700’s iris/fascia

There are vertical and horizontal shift controls on the top of the chassis, and rings around the lens for zoom and focus. Unsurprisingly for a DLP projector, these are manual – which means no motorised controls for easier installation (especially focusing the lens) and no lens memory features for those using a scope ratio screen.

At the rear you’ll find a host of connections that includes two HDMI 2.0b inputs that are HDCP 2.2 compliant, and no fewer than three USB ports: USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports for media reading, and a second 2.0 port for power. The inclusion of the latter allows you to attach a streaming stick to one of the HDMI inputs.

The connections on the back of the BenQ W5700

Since the W5700 is aimed at home Theatre installations, there are no built-in speakers. However given that you can attach a streaming stick, BenQ includes an optical digital output and a 3.5mm analogue jack for connection to an audio system. Finally, there’s an RS-232 serial control connector, an RJ-45 LAN port, an IR-IN jack, and a 12V trigger for syncing with an electric screen.

The BenQ W5700’s remote is a backlit effort

There are some basic controls at the rear of the W5700, which is handy if you ever misplace the included remote. This well-designed zapper comes in black to match the styling of the projector itself, and includes all the buttons you need to set up and operate the projector. There’s also a backlight, which is essential for controlling the projector in a darkened home cinema.