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Re: BenQ PE8720 reloaded
Y aquí abajo os dejo una preview de una unidad preserie sacada de un foro australiano. Sigue pintando igual de bien y habrá que ir pensando en una powerbuy, gitannnnnnoooooooooooooo!
Un saludo, Javier G.
Hi Guys (this is just a quick first impressions pending further review next month...)
A couple of weeks back I had an opportunity to do a brief audition of a pre-production build of the new high end HD2+ DC3 based BenQ 8720.
The 8720 is an interesting machine as it ushers in a new generation of high performance, highly featured and high resolution home cinema projection at a realistic price point.
As I mentioned above, the machine is based on the newer DC3 DLP chip from TI, featuring a higher fill factor (smaller, and closer pixels) and higher contrast than generations pre-ceding it - this combined with the full glass optics (as reported by the Australian BenQ rep) helps gives the image from the machine, an extremely smooth and crisp appearance when comapred to older generation machines.
The 8720 also incorporates a manually controlled, electronic dual Iris implementation. This allows the user to fine tune the light output of the machine to control the absolute black level to thier individual prefferences - If I recall correctly, there are 10 steps of adjustment in the Iris assembly.
Similar to the new BenQ PE7700, the PE8720 has several pre-set picture modes such as Home Theatre and Film. These preset modes ajust gamma, colour and various other picture balances to give the user easy "out of the box" control of the picture, to in theory achieve an image pleasing to their own prefferences - without needing to be a rocket surgeon.
On the other hand, in the event that you ARE a rocket surgeon :-) , OR your supplier offers in home ISF calibration, the machine has a great deal of adjustibility that will allow for fine control of the image almost to the 'nth degree.
The casing is sleak and a stylish pearlescent white, with smooth lines and sturdy chasis that when compared to older BenQ models such as the 8700(+) seems to ooze class and will certainly help overcome the often negative WAF .... :-)
Now onto the performance.... (please remember that this brief review was done on a pre-production machine that is not trully representative of the final production spec) and further refinements are expected to be implemented for the PAL market).
BenQ specs the machine at a maximum 6200:1 on-off contrast, and although not in a position to measure the real world performance, I will say confidently that the absolute black level of this machine, even with the IRIS assembly at full open, appeared to be significantly lower than my ISF calibrated Sim2 30H which has a manufactures spec of 2800:1 contrast.. though again, I am not sure what it is after calobration as this is extremelyt difficult to measure in the average viewing room.
For those of us that love black level, this machine certainly delivers!
For those of you that have read my comments on the PE7700, you will know I am stickler for colour accuracy (within limits) and am particularly scathing of video noise and poor optics.
I am glad to report that the pre-release 8720 I auditioned did not appear to suffer from Optical distortion nor was there an overly significant level of noise in the picture. On a related note, dithering in dark areas was also minimal. I did think this unit had an 8 segment colour wheel though a quick check of PJ central shows a 6 seg wheel...
EDIT: I just got off the phone to the BenQ rep who assures me it has an 8 segment wheel (R,G,B,DG x2)... and come to think of it, it must have in order to operate the DC3 chip as per TI spec.
Due to massive time contstraints, I only had a chance to try the machine briefly
on component interlaced output from a Denon 2910 and 720p output over HDMI.
De-interlacing appeared to be as good as any other modern projector, with minimal to no artifacting. This would obviously be due to the incorporated Faroudja Di chip as per the branding on the top of the case.
I noticed no significant scaling artifacting, as detail appeared to remain true regardless of input signal.
I did notice a little cleaner image on the HDMI input 720p from the 2910 though vs component.
Personally, I do not think de-interlacing or scaling performance is much of a differentiating influence in current generations of projection, as almost all manufacturers are leveraging on well established standards in this area.
It has been a long time since I have observed poor scaling, and some time since I have observed glaringly bad de-interlacing so after a quick scan of some common scenes in Gladiator for example, I cease to scrutinise these areas.
I saw nothing in these areas in the 8720 to cause me to raise an eyebrow - rather it performed easily to the level I would expect.
I beleive colour balance and intra-scene contrast performance (low level detail) and overall picture sharpness (optics), to play a more significant part in differentiating performance.
Overall processing can also differ greatly, with macro-blocking or ther "wrestlessness" in the image being common in lower end machines. This is particularly true in the cheaper LCD machines due to various influences like internal bandwidth, control of the display chips (static dithering in DLP or fixed pattern noise in LCD) and power routing interfering with the video circuitry to name a few.
The colour balance out of the box of the pre-production 8720 was not fantastic, though it certainly was not glaringly poor. When compared to the 7700, it was years ahead in this regard - as it was in regards to a lack of noise and accurate optics.
The picture was overall smooth and pleasing and bright and punchy in all the right areas.
I did notice a slight lacking of detail in the darker areas of the picture, though I understand this was quickly overcome with an ISF calibration from Avical (performed the following day).
Undoubtedly also, due to the high level of adjustibility within the machine, the colour balance, grey scale tracking and Gamma could be adjusted easily during calibration to achieve an even better image with more accurate presentation.
I Did have the opportunity to review the machine after ISF calibration, though due to other commitments, could not get out to the east to pick the machine up, so it went back overseas before I could lay eyes on it again :-(
Reportedly (though I have not been able to get hold of Aron myself yet) Aron was extremely impressed with the image after calibration.
To put all that in perspective, I would say that anyone who loves the image of the 8700+ will really love the image of the 8720! If you are a fan of the Infocus models, you will probably also be in for a treat with the 8720, as the overall image in my opinion is more solid, sharper and has much deaper blacks.
For those looking for an upgrade from a Sony HS50, you will fall in love with the comparible black level these two machine share, though you will gain from the much smoother and sharper image (greater fill + inherent DLP benefits over LCD in this regard) which you can enjoy from closer seating distance for any given screen size - combined with the short throw, making it easy to install in many smaller living / lounge rooms.
The machine was also whisper quiet - more so than just about any PJ I have auditioned from memory. The 8720 also had powered focus, zoom and lense shift.
1280x720 DC3 DLP, Dual iris, Electric Optics, Short throw lens, Whisper quiet, excellent adjustibility, lucious looking case.... all at a RRP of $9999 AUD!
Sexy.
Big Picture People Hoppers Crossing will be getting two pre-release production units into the store early next month for a full ISF calibration and product review, prior to the national product launch on the evening of the 27th of October.
I hope to have more information about the event, and the opportunity to discuss the unit more in the coming weeks.
I think this is an exciting addition at a great price point for those who expect a highly functional machine without paying rediculous premiums.
P.S - I have had a chance to review a second 7700 now and can report that there appears to be only marginal optical distortion (similar to what is common with the older Infocus 7200 for example), colour balance is far improved out of the box and the noise issues I discussed earlier have been taimed significantly.
speaking with the BenQ rep, he tells me that the unit I reviewed earlier was an early software release on the original hardware platform, which has been updated in all current production models. That could explain the differences in the picture quality between the two samples.
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Iniciado por Gn0m4
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