BenQ W1200 review

First impressions of the W1200, BenQ’s latest home cinema projector, are good; it’s compact, quiet and stylish. The glossy white and silver plastic chassis is easy on the eye and the projector is small enough to fit on a shelf. Like most projectors available for around £1,000 it’s a DLP model, but one that supports 1080p resolutions and has multiple HDMI inputs.

The projector’s bulb is rated at 1,800 lumens, and it’s reasonably bright. At its maximum setting images were clear in a bright room, but turning off the lights and closing the curtains is still the only way to get the best picture. Buttons on the remote control illuminate when pressed, which makes it easier to adjust display settings in the dark. This is useful, as there are plenty of options to change; as well as three pre-set picture modes and three further user-defined ones, the Brilliant Colour setting increases colour intensity to produce more vivid, albeit less natural, images.

Of the three preset options, Cinema produced the best image quality; colours were intensified and contrast was increased to draw out better shadows. The Dynamic setting, designed to increase brightness so the projected image is clear even with the lights on, was less impressive. It created an unwanted blue hue that made movie scenes look unnatural. The Standard setting was a decent compromise between the two, but for best results it’s worth adjusting the image manually to suit personal preference. Brightness, contrast and colour intensity settings are all available for tweaking, as are sharpness and flesh tones.