Verdict
The BenQ W4000i is a revelatory UHD projector that combines a compact design with a blockbuster 4 K performance . Reassuringly bright and colour rich , it ’s neat for cyclosis , discs and linear TV
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The W4000i is a gamy stipulation 4 K HDR DLP projector which expend an LED wakeful source , rather than a traditional lamp or optical maser light engine . It ’s compact enough for aliveness elbow room / media room use , but bright enough for afternoon sports wake .
Serious home cinema devotee will be tempted by full DCI - P3 full colour , andHDR10+support , but this model often looks its best with upscaled SDR HD , great news if you have a fully grown Blu - ray collection . It also comes with an Android TV dongle that slot into its undercarriage .
Could this be the UHD beamer you ’ve been waiting to advance to ? I reckon it is .
Availability
Available now and priced at £ 2,999 in the UK , the BenQ W4000i is the brand ’s premium home theatre UHD projector , positioned just above theW2710imodel .
In the US , the model is cognize as the HT4550i and sells for $ 2999 .
Design
Despite the heavyweight spec , this BenQ is reassuringly lightweight . slant the scale at just 6.6 kg , you should have no qualms about ceiling mount .
Not that you ’ll want to obliterate the W4000i out of batch . This nicely designed projector sports stylish rounded edge and off - centre lens , protected by a clip - on genus Lens cap . Onboard ascendance include manual soar and focus steering wheel , plus adjustable lens shift , ± 30 arcdegree , should you need to align the horizontal or the perpendicular .
To the remaining side , there ’s more all-inclusive carte control . A touch sensitive circular panel tolerate you to navigate bill of fare , should the remote control not be to give .
Features
Rear connectivity is good enough . The projector volunteer two HDMI 2.0 stimulus , a brace of USB ports ( one to power connect machine , the other to run media ) , an RS232 interface for system integration , and a 12v trigger , useful for syncing the projector to an electric screen .
There ’s also a 3.5 audio recording minijack output , as well as a digital optical audio output signal .
ship with the W4000i is a QS02 Google Android TV dongle . This pops into the projector ’s underbelly and propose instant access to all the familiar streaming military service , as well as supporting a wireless Chromecast andApple AirPlay .
This Android television set provision is useful , not least because it preserve yourHDMI allocation .
Unlike the average 4 yard TVs , a home base cinema projector is not intimately equipped to deliver a convincing HDR carrying into action . Projectors miss pixel command and essentially illuminate with a constant stream of light .
BenQ trust it ’s found a way around this enigma with an upgraded version of its HDR - Pro applied science , designed to extract more particular and colour while conserve contrast .
whole step mapping preserve colour and smartness when dealing with HDR encoded video , while dynamical smutty engineering , courtesy of a proprietary dark sealed coating visual railway locomotive , maximises contrast . The projector can dynamically align its low-cal outturn , according to contentedness . Dynamic dividing line is rated at 2,000,000:1 .
The W4000i ’s other principal claim to fame is its wide color way , knight CinematicColor . This setting is able to return 100 per cent Rec . 709 color gamut and touch the demand of DCI - P3 .
Input lag is betray at 17.9ms ( 1080/60 ) , which is wholly decent .
I found place - up straightforward enough . 2D keystone correction is available to eliminate straining if the protrude effigy is off - axis from the crystalline lens . There ’s also a helpful grid test pattern . Under the Advanced Colour configurations menu , you ’ll also retrieve colour temperature tuning for RGB . My advice is to bequeath the latter well alone – the various simulacrum presets are artfully optimised as is .
To enable voice search , you ’ll require to couple the Bluetooth remote with the Android dongle during installment .
There ’s also support for Control4 , should you want to mix the W4000i into a smarter home automation organization .
Performance
Straight from the boxwood , I was impress by the W4000i ’s reverberance . My previous experience with light-emitting diode power projectors is that they ask a dark environment to really smooth , but you ’ll get away with using this BenQ in even a moderately ignite elbow room . It ’s rated at 3,200 lumens , and there ’s genuine luminosity to its pictures .
To go through its wide colour P3 natural endowment , you ’ll ask to select the Wide Colour filter , selectable with a loud clunk . I was expecting this to significantly bear upon overall smartness and contrast , but subjectively there ’s only a balmy penalty . Even black degree remain largely unaffected .
Specular highlights have a convincing glow . HDR brightnessis manually adjustable on a sliding scale between -2 and +2 , but for this auditory sense I provide the projector in its nonremittal setting . That enounce , for most streaming or analogue content there is no obvious benefit in select the panoptic colour mode . Blu - ray is a different matter .
Images are exceptionally discriminating , with superb detail and texture replication . I ’ve always see this level of pin shrewd clarity a characteristic of undivided chip DLP projectors , and here the image really raciness . The projector utilise a 0.65inch TI DMD silicon chip . It ’s not aboriginal 4 grand but uses pixel shifting to provide a dense look-alike .
Unfortunately , DLP ’s rainbow fringing trait , usually get wind in areas of gamy line , is also discernible , although susceptibility is very much an individual thing . For me , it did n’t take away excessively from the overall impingement of the range .
Picture modality represent lustrous , Bright Cinema , Cinema , Filmmaker musical mode , HLG , ISF Day , ISF Night , and user .
Filmmaker mode is at its adept when regard in a fully dark room , while Bright Cinema is akin to a Vivid setting , and a little more of an win taste . Generally I preferred Cinema mode , which is burnished and punchy with most content , but never overwrought .
Dynamics are top nick . The W4000i does a top problem finding detail in both dark shadows as well as bright highlighting , as evidence by Oscar nominated play Society of the Snow ( Netflix , 4 special K ) . The gelid landscape enjoys slew of subtle blending , the projector find out copious detail in skin tones and landscapes likewise . There ’s filmic depth to its double and letterbox bars are reassuringly contraband .
Similarly , Guy Ritchie ’s Sherlock Holmes ( 4 K Blu - ray ) , has quite a burnt sienna colour palette and rich shadows , but scene with shine lamps and cd lights seem to do good from the projector ’s cagy light direction .
Not that the W4000i postulate 4 grand HDR subject matter to shine . Wonder Woman , in HD Blu - ray , fork up to the projector in 2160p SDR by myPanasonic Blu - ray player , depend as fine . This is a projector for all reservoir .
Early scenes of the Amazons on Themyscira are bright , dynamic and extremely elaborated . Their atomic number 79 headgear have a realistic lustre , while their leather and fur rig are alive with detail and grain .
The W4000i ’s audio operation is well described as operable . Under the hood there ’s a monophonic 5W speaker that serves a purpose , but for most home dramatic art drug user , cinematic strait will come in from an international multichannel sound system .
The speaker unit system itself is a BenQ trevVolo pattern . intelligent mode options include Cinema , Music , Game , and Sports .
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Should you buy it?
projector struggle with HDR images but the BenQ is capable of proudcing better than expected luminance with HDR content
Functional and not all that muscular , the BenQ require assistance from a outside speech sound organisation
Final Thoughts
The W4000i is an great domicile cinema projector that impress by dint of its LED - powered brightness and extremist - sharp image quality . It ’s well built , as I ’d bear from BenQ , and gentle enough to use ( I like the Android TV implementation ) .
Although a headline attracter , I ’m not sure that its wide colour mode would be my default see choice , I prefer the rather punchier Rec . 709 presentation , but it show HDR projection is heading in the right direction , and BenQ is leading the path .
On the debit side , operable noise is systematically high . I was always mindful of the projector ’s hum , which registers between 28 and 32dB. You ’ll want to mask it with a sound system .
The W4000i is expensive , but it comes highly recommended .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every projector we go over good over an extended period of clip . We habituate industry standard test to compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , consent money to review a product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
In normal mode , the BenQ W4000i ’s lamp can last for at least 20,000 60 minutes .
