BenQ has unveiled a new pair of additions to its home projector range: The W5850, designed to deliver a premium home cinema performance for “theatre-grade large screens”, and the W4100i created to offer more versatility for more mixed use home entertainment rooms.
The W5850 can deliver images capable of satisfying screens as big as 200 inches across from a flexible, shorter throw ratio than BenQ’s previous W5 series models. It also features new solid state illumination technology; next-gen LED and laser light sources claimed to extend the projector’s lifespan, deliver more consistent brightness than regular DLP-type projectors usually do, and run more efficiently.
The W5850 is BenQ's latest premium home theater projector, boasting 2,600 lumens of brightness from ... More
The AI Cinema system introduced on the previously announced W2720i BenQ projector a couple of months back also returns for the W5850, enabling the projector to analyse the composition of incoming images in real time and optimise colour saturation, sharpness and the way HDR is handled accordingly.
The W5850’s innovative optics support 4K and high dynamic range video playback in the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ formats, the latter of which adds extra scene by scene picture information to help compatible displays deliver more accurate and punchy images. It can also cover a claimed 100% of both the DCI-P3 wide colour spectrum used for most home entertainment HDR mastering, and the Rec 709 standard dynamic range standard.
In fact, as part of BenQ’s CinematicColor technology, every W5850 will ship having been already factory calibrated to a DeltaE 2000 error level of less than two, meaning that right out of the box its colors will look so close to the HDR and SDR standards used when TV shows and films are mastered that your eye won’t be able to detect the difference. In fact, BenQ’s dedication to accuracy with the W5850 has earned it both THX and ISF certification, backed up by a Filmmaker Mode picture preset designed to satisfy the ‘as the director intended’ wishes of the independent UHD Alliance.
The BenQ W5850 projector.
BenQ claims that the W5850 can deliver an impressive (for a serious home theater projector) 2,600 lumens of brightness form its blue laser lighting system, while its powerful 1.6x motorized zoom makes it possible for the projector to produce a 180-inch image from a throw distance of just four meters, meaning you no longer need to have a cavern of a home theater room to enjoy a truly cinematic big screen experience.
The W5850 also carries the fullest version of BenQ’s HDR-Pro technology, which combines global contrast enhancer, local contrast enhancer and dynamic black image adjustments to deliver as punchy and dynamic an HDR experience as the projector’s optical system can manage.
The W5850’s uncompromising home theater focus is apparent, too, in its lens design, which features no less than 16 different elements – including an aspheric lens coated with low dispersion materials – to help the projector deliver its 4K images with more clarity and uniformity.
Connections on the W5850 include two HDMI ports, one with HDMI’s audio return channel technology for passing audio out to AVRs or soundbars; a pair of powered USB ports; an RS-232 control port; an optical digital audio output; and a 3D sync out. This latter port, of course, indicates that the W5850 supports 3D playback. This is an increasingly niche market, with an ever dwindling amount of 3D content available. There’s still a passionate 3D fanbase out there, though, and 3D always works more effectively at the sort of image scale a projector can deliver than it does on relatively small TV screens.
The W5850’s desire to help you enjoy a pristine home cinema experience extends to a four-way optical image shifting system so that you should be able to position the image perfectly on your screen without having to distort its presentation with any keystone correction. It also carries a multi-channel cooling system to keep its running noise down to a maximum 30dB that shouldn’t disturb you too much during quiet movie moments.
The BenQ W4100i combines 3,200 lumens of brightness with 4K/120Hz input support to potentially ... More
Turning to the W4100i, this shares a few key features with the W5850. It also uses a new Solid-State Illumination system, for instance, for a more consistent image, as well as AI Cinema technology to enhance picture quality, especially with streamed sources. The W4100i joins the W5850, too, in being factory calibrated for exceptional color accuracy out of the box, and can also cover 100% of the Rec 709 and DCI-P3 color gamuts.
The W4100i can again play the HDR10, HLG and HDR10+ HDR formats, supported once more by BenQ’s HDR-Pro system.
The W4100i is actually brighter than the W5850, though, with a seriously punchy claimed light output from its LED light source of 3,200 lumens. As well as potentially helping deliver more of the bright end of HDR’s extended light range, this extra brightness indicates that while the W4100i is still designed for a dedicated home entertainment room, it offers more flexibility for environments that might not be able to be as consistently fully blacked out as the rooms the W5850 is aimed at.
Built in smart system and sound
The W4100i’s more ‘lifestyle’ approach is also backed up by a built-in 5W audio speaker and built-in Android TV smarts, complete with all of the most popular global streaming services, Google Assistant voice control, and built-in Chromecast support. It carries plenty of ’lifestyle’ set up flexibility, too – including another four-way optical image shifting system. It only supports a 1.3x level of optical zoom, though, versus the W5850’s 1.6x.
The W4100i’s connections differ from those of the W5850 too – most notably in the addition on the W4100i of a third HDMI port that’s impressively capable of handling 4K/120Hz feeds. This instantly marks the W4100i out as wanting to extend its appeal to gamers rather than being more laser-focused on a premium home cinema experience like the W5850 is.
The W5850 is available now for $4,999 in the U.S. and £4,599 in the U.K. The W4100i is only available now in the U.K., for £2,999, with its U.S. launch date and price yet to be confirmed.
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