• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Tech News, Magazine & Review WordPress Theme 2017
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • Review

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    The Analogue Nt Mini is the perfect NES console for video game lovers

    Using a mind reading device, ‘locked-in’ patients told researchers they’re happy

    Watch Cruise’s self-driving Bolt EV navigate smoothly to SF’s Dolores Park

  • Gaming

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    The Analogue Nt Mini is the perfect NES console for video game lovers

    GoPro’s Karma drone is back on sale after design flaw made them fall out of the sky

  • Gear
    • All
    • Audio
    • Camera
    • Laptop

    Apple Watch Series 2 Is Swimproof and Comes With Built-In GPS

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Jack Dorsey says he’ll continue running both Square and Twitter

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    The Warby Parker of hair color, Madison Reed, scores new funding and a CMO

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

    Trending Tags

    • Best iPhone 7 deals
    • Apple Watch 2
    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • iOS 10
    • iPhone 7
    • Sillicon Valley
  • Computers

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

    SpaceX targets February 18 for Dragon resupply mission to ISS

  • Applications

    Apple Watch Series 2 Is Swimproof and Comes With Built-In GPS

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Jack Dorsey says he’ll continue running both Square and Twitter

  • Security

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    The Warby Parker of hair color, Madison Reed, scores new funding and a CMO

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • Review

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    The Analogue Nt Mini is the perfect NES console for video game lovers

    Using a mind reading device, ‘locked-in’ patients told researchers they’re happy

    Watch Cruise’s self-driving Bolt EV navigate smoothly to SF’s Dolores Park

  • Gaming

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    The Analogue Nt Mini is the perfect NES console for video game lovers

    GoPro’s Karma drone is back on sale after design flaw made them fall out of the sky

  • Gear
    • All
    • Audio
    • Camera
    • Laptop

    Apple Watch Series 2 Is Swimproof and Comes With Built-In GPS

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Jack Dorsey says he’ll continue running both Square and Twitter

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    The Warby Parker of hair color, Madison Reed, scores new funding and a CMO

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

    Trending Tags

    • Best iPhone 7 deals
    • Apple Watch 2
    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • iOS 10
    • iPhone 7
    • Sillicon Valley
  • Computers

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Fujifilm X-T2 review: The definition of a great camera

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

    SpaceX targets February 18 for Dragon resupply mission to ISS

  • Applications

    Apple Watch Series 2 Is Swimproof and Comes With Built-In GPS

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    Jack Dorsey says he’ll continue running both Square and Twitter

  • Security

    To regain advertiser trust, Facebook is tracking ads by the millisecond

    National Academy of Sciences endorses embryonic engineering

    Google has been asked to take down over a million websites

    Watch Dogs 2 Update Coming This Week, Here’s What It Does

    The Warby Parker of hair color, Madison Reed, scores new funding and a CMO

    Shopify CEO attempts to defend continued hosting of Breitbart’s online store

No Result
View All Result
rTechnews
No Result
View All Result

BenQ HT2050A review: Great (big) picture for the money

gadgetnews by gadgetnews
June 8, 2020
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


If you’re shopping for a projector between $500 and $1,000, prepare to face a sea of clones. Sizes, designs and even button layouts are often nearly identical from one brand to the next. But there’s something different about the BenQ HT2050A. Although it has a similar price as the competition, it’s larger and there’s a more aesthetically pleasing, curvy design. It looks less like the repurposed business projector and more like something you’d want in your house. 

LikeBright picture with great contrastAccurate, realistic colorsLens is shift a rarity at this price.

Don’t LikeLens shift and zoom don’t adjust farRainbows, if they bother you

The difference is more than skin deep: This projector’s performance is a step above as well. Better contrast ratio and color than its counterparts create some of the best picture quality I’ve seen in this price range. Darker blacks, paired with bright whites, all with accurate color, make for a pleasing image. The cherry on top is a small amount of vertical lens shift, which is rare in this price range and almost nonexistent in single-chip DLP projectors. This means more people will be able to fit the projector in their homes. 

Just like its predecessor, the BenQ HT2050A is one of the best projectors you can get for the price. It currently sells for about $699 in the US and £550 in the UK; pricing in Australia isn’t available but that works out to about $1,000AU. 

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Basic specs Native resolution: 1080pHDR-compatible: No4K-compatible: No3D-compatible: YesLumens spec: 2,200Zoom: Manual (1.3)Lens shift: ManualLamp life (Normal mode): 3,500 hours

Like the other projectors in this price range, the HT2050A lacks 4K and HDR. It is 3D capable, though the glasses aren’t included.

BenQ claims 2,200 ANSI lumens. I measured approximately 1,591. It’s normal for projectors to measure lower than their claimed specs. This is a bright image, and roughly the same as the Epson HC2150.

Lens shift in this price range is rare, and rarer still with DLP projectors, so its inclusion here would be one of the HT2050A’s main selling points even if it didn’t look as good as it does. That said, the lens shift isn’t a lot. BenQ says it adjusts the vertical range by 10%. So depending where you place the projector, you’ll have a few inches of vertical leeway, but that’s it. Still, it definitely helps and is better than the nothing you get with most single-chip DLP projectors.

Now playing:
Watch this:

Six things to know about home theater projectors

2:33

The zoom range is only average however, falling behind the Epson. So you won’t be able to place it quite as close, or as far, from the screen as the HC2150. 

Also average is the lamp life, at 3,500 hours in Normal mode. This goes up to 7,000 hours in the SmartEco mode, which maintains the maximum brightness of the Normal mode but drops lamp power during dark scenes for a better black level. Though you can occasionally see this happen, it’s fast enough that it’s fine to leave in this mode (unless you notice and hate it).

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Connectivity and convenience HDMI inputs: 2PC input: Analog RGBUSB port: 1 (1.5A power)Audio input and output: YesDigital audio output: NoLAN port: No12v trigger: YesRS-232 remote port: YesMHL: YesRemote: Backlit

Both HDMI inputs have HDCP 1.4, meaning you can send each input any video source you want. This isn’t the case with some competitors, which only have HDCP 1.4 on one of the HDMI inputs. The USB connection has a claimed 1.5 amp output, letting you power a streaming stick directly with no external power adapters. 

The HT2050A has several legacy analog video inputs, which is a rarity these days. Not only do you get component video, but composite as well. So if you want to directly connect something like a Nintendo Wii, or, I don’t know, a LaserDisc player or something, you can do it with no extra adapters. These connections share RCA analog audio inputs.

There’s also a 3.5mm audio input and a 3.5mm audio output, the latter to connect to an external speaker or soundbar.

The RS-232 and 12v trigger are useful for those with more elaborate home theater systems.

The remote is backlit with a relatively dim orange backlight. This is a good thing: Many of the current crop of projector remotes have a bright blue backlight. Using them can be like forming your own personal B-type star while you’re just trying to change the inputs in the dark.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET
Picture quality comparisons

Epson Home Cinema 2150

Viewsonic PX727HD

I compared the HT2050A to the Epson HC2150 and the Viewsonic PX727HD. The latter, like the BenQ, is DLP. The Epson, like the majority of Epson’s projectors, is LCD. I connected these via a Monoprice 1×4 distribution amplifier and viewed them all on a 102-inch 1.0-gain screen.

Right away the differences were apparent. Firstly, the Viewsonic was far dimmer, and didn’t have the contrast ratio of the other two. This put it at a distant third, so I spend most of my time comparing the Epson and the BenQ.

Both projectors are far brighter than even high-end projectors from a few years ago. What’s more obvious than the numbers would suggest is how much better the black level, and therefore the contrast ratio, is on the BenQ. This is clear when viewing widescreen movies, with the black bars several shades darker on the BenQ. Because their light output is roughly the same, this gives the HT2050A a bit more dimensionality to the image and more apparent depth. 

A good example of this is the contrasty scene in Avengers: Infinity War where Thor and his pet rabbit help Tyrion Lannister forge the Stormbreaker battle axe. Nidavellir’s colorful neutron star and magical effects are brightly offset compared to the darkness of space and the shadows of the forge. These shots don’t look bad on the Epson, but the shadows are far more gray than on the BenQ, giving the latter a more pleasing look overall.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

Color is another point in the BenQ’s favor. It’s just a little richer and more realistic. Greens especially look more natural. The grass in the Battle of Wakanda, also in Infinity War, for example, is just a more vibrant and realistic shade of green. The blue of the shield wall is a stronger, more vivid blue, without the sky looking like candy.

Another place where the BenQ wins out over the Epson is with motion resolution. All LCD-based displays have some degree of motion blur. DLP-based projectors don’t, thanks to the way they create an image. This is most obvious in the way the BenQ maintains detail when things move. Take the camera-panning action of Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow. When there are closeups of Emily Blunt or Tom Cruise’s faces, you can still see fine details throughout.

Geoffrey Morrison/CNET

On the other hand there’s DLP’s long-standing problem: rainbows. These are multicolored trails left by bright objects on screen. You may also notice them if you move your eyes quickly. Most people either don’t see them, or aren’t bothered by them, so they may not be an issue for you. But people who are bothered by them are really bothered by them. In that case, no single-chip DLP projector is likely to work. You’ll have to go with an LCD option like the Epson HC2150, or a higher priced LCOS projector (Sony or JVC) or a much more expensive three-chip DLP projector.

With its high light output, great-for-its-price contrast ratio and accurate color, the HT2050A is a great choice for someone looking to replace their TV, or who wants a projector for the occasional movie night. The icing on the cake is the lens shift, which should allow the 2050 to fit in a lot more homes than most projectors in this price range.

Geek Box

Test

Result

Score

Black luminance (0%)

0.089

Average

Peak white luminance (100%)

176.7

Good

Derived lumens

1591

Good

Avg. grayscale error (10-100%)

6.608

Average

Dark gray error (20%)

3.43

Average

Bright gray error (70%)

8.499

Poor

Avg. color error

2.759

Good

Red error

5.578

Average

Green error

1.391

Good

Blue error

3.254

Average

Cyan error

3.187

Average

Magenta error

1.871

Good

Yellow error

1.274

Good

Avg. saturations error

2.07

Good

Avg. color checker error

2

Good

Avg. luminance error

3.5

Average

Input lag (Game mode)

16.4

Good

Measurement notes and suggested picture settings

Before calibration the 2050A’s most accurate picture setting was Cinema, which was OK. Its grayscale wasn’t too close to D65, especially with brighter images. This was highly adjustable, however, and was easily dialed in to be accurate. Colors were fairly accurate out of the box: They were all close to their targets except for magenta, which was a little off, but not badly. Colors, just like color temperature, were adjustable. And after calibration, they were far closer.

There’s no iris on the 2050A, but it does have a variable lamp. Eco mode is about 33% dimmer than Normal mode. The contrast ratio in the Normal and Eco modes averaged 2,094:1, which is pretty good for a projector in this price range. The DynamicEco mode, which bases the lamp power on the average picture level of the image, creates a dynamic contrast ratio about 50% higher than the other lamp settings, but the contrast ratio within a single image is still 2,094:1.

Best Picture Mode: Cinema

Expert settings (suggested):

Brightness: 51Contrast: 41Sharpness: 7Color: N/ATint (G/R): N/AColor Temp: NormalGamma Selection: 2.2Brilliant Color: OnNoise Reduction: 7Fast Mode: Off



Source link

gadgetnews

gadgetnews

Next Post
Rumour says Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Fold 2 will launch on 5 August

Rumour says Samsung Galaxy Note 20 and Fold 2 will launch on 5 August

Please login to join discussion

Recommended.

Android Advisor 77: Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra: You really can have it all

Android Advisor 77: Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra: You really can have it all

September 18, 2020
The best board games to give in 2020: Gloomhaven, Marvel United and more

The best board games to give in 2020: Gloomhaven, Marvel United and more

November 2, 2020

Trending.

Justice League Snyder Cut News, Rumours & How to Watch in UK

Justice League Snyder Cut News, Rumours & How to Watch in UK

February 12, 2021
OnePlus 9, Red Magic 6 & Xiaomi Mi 11

OnePlus 9, Red Magic 6 & Xiaomi Mi 11

February 14, 2021
Best USB-C docks and docking stations for laptops and tablets 2021

Best USB-C docks and docking stations for laptops and tablets 2021

February 13, 2021
PomaBrush Review: The Minimalist Electric Toothbrush

PomaBrush Review: The Minimalist Electric Toothbrush

August 11, 2020
iOS 14.5 Release Date, New Features & Public Beta News

iOS 14.5 Release Date, New Features & Public Beta News

February 11, 2021
rTechnews

We bring you the best Premium WordPress Themes that perfect for news, magazine, personal blog, etc. Check our landing page for details.

Follow Us

Categories

  • Apple
  • Applications
  • Audio
  • Camera
  • Computers
  • Gadget Reviews
  • Gaming
  • Gaming News
  • Gear
  • Laptop
  • Latest News
  • Microsoft
  • Photography
  • Review
  • Security
  • SmartPhone News

Tags

Apple Watch 2 Best iPhone 7 deals Buying Guides CES 2017 iOS 10 iPhone 7 Nintendo Switch Playstation 4 Pro Sillicon Valley

Recent News

2021 Dodge Durango SRT 392 review: A big, comfy, 475-hp couch

2021 Dodge Durango SRT 392 review: A big, comfy, 475-hp couch

March 5, 2021
This video game helps men level up in bed by tackling sexual dysfunction

This video game helps men level up in bed by tackling sexual dysfunction

March 4, 2021
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Review
  • Apple
  • Applications
  • Computers
  • Gaming
  • Gear
    • Audio
    • Camera
  • Microsoft
  • Photography
  • Security

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.