3 year report: solid performer but getting dim

I bought this projector as a refurb "boxing day" special from NCIX for under $500 in December 2004, along with an inexpensive 120" diagonal 4:3 pull-down screen.

At the time, installing a home theater with a screen was considered pretty exotic, and I managed to scrape together this with a Kenwood 5.1 DTX switching component A/V receiver, a JVC CD/DVD component (even on VHS) player and very unobtrusive Wharfedale 5.1 home theatre speaker system for a grand total of $1200 (all bought on Boxing Day sales). With the screen up you can't even tell we have a home theatre in the basement!

One of the advantages of this projector is the lens is fairly wide, and it is possible to have a fairly big screen in a small space. We are lucky enough to have an unimpeded 18 foot run in our basement, and it would be impossible to put in a bigger 4:3 screen than what we have.

Installing a home theater projector might seem to be an easy task, but not obvious if you want to properly collimate the projector to the screen. This means that the projector and the the screen must be not only perfectly in alignment on the image plane, but also dead center. I had some experience doing this with a graphic arts camera (that dates me, huh?), and this is pretty easy to do with a laser pointer and a mirror. (I recommend getting a professional to do this for permanent installations). Not only that, I couldn't find a ceiling mount anywhere, only a lot of strange looks from electronics store salesmen! (now they are everywhere).

The other issue I had during installation was trying to find out if I needed a special (read: expensive) cable to run component video (720p). There was no information from BENQ, and I could not find out anything on-line. Also my cable run was fairly long to the projector (20 feet) and I wanted to do this by running a VGA cable with hopefully no adapters. I eventually found a place on-line that made these cables custom, and they assured me that the projector would detect and automatically switch to component video without having to set anything. This way I could get away with a single cable run to the projector (but I also ran an S composite video cable just in case). Things are much easier now, with the new standardized HDMI connectors showing up on everything.

The next thing is calibration. I ordered the Digital Video Essentials calibration DVD, and promptly got to work. I found out right away this projector could not be calibrated, as it had too much emphasis on the green. After rooting around on the Internet I found out how to get into the service menu. Amazingly I found a "green cut" filter, activated it, and finished up the calibration. (WARNING: I would be very careful about messing around in the service menu, it is possible to completely mess up the projector beyond repair!!)

Once set up and calibrated (including the sound system) we were introduced to a vibrant and beautiful image, without any of the fringing artifacts common to DLP (digital light processing) projectors. The image is so good and so clear from 12 feet that we have basically given up on going out to the movies.

The projector is also quiet, and considering it is located right over our heads, its whirring is not bothersome at all.

Needless to say, our house has been THE destination for our kids friends!

So far, after over 3 years, the projector is still going strong with over 1000 hours on the lamp. However we have noticed that the image is quite dim, which is the biggest downside of having a home theatre projector. The lamp is rated for 2000 hours but it seems obvious to me that it already needs replacing. However aside from the obvious dimming, the projector has not needed recalibrating even after 3 years. A quick check with the DVE disc has shown negligible shift in color or contrast.

My dilemma is that originally I never expected this projector or its lamp to last, and since lamps (at the time) were nearly as expensive as the projector itself, that I would be upgrading to something better within 2 years.

I am still debating whether to replace the lamp or upgrade but my current budget won't permit either. It would be nice to have a bit better color processing and resolution enough to warrant upgrading to XGA or higher for Blue Ray. The only thing basic DVD movies have become so cheap it hurts to pay $30 per title for the privilege of higher resolution. And since this is a function of viewing distance, I quite frankly don't see much of an advantage from where we sit.