BenQ's new premium projector is a bright, native 4K beamer that's got an Award-winning Sony in its sights
BenQ has revealed the next edition to its CinePrime projector line, which appears to be the company's most serious model yet. The W5800 boasts a high brightness rating and a feature package that should satisfy even the most discerning cinephiles.
This is a 4K DLP laser projector that uses BenQ's CinematicColour and HDR-Pro technology. However, unlike most of BenQ's other 4K projectors, this one does not employ pixel-shifting technology to attain its resolution. This is a native 4K projector capable of displaying the entire 8.3 million pixels; predictably, the price matches this, but we'll get into that later.
It has a high stated brightness value of 2600 ANSI Lumens, and BenQ claims that it is the world's first laser projector. with the brightness figure. It can also project images up to 200 inches and has a 1.6x zoom feature, allowing for an immersive 150-inch display from as close as 16.6 feet. The W5800 has a 2D lens shift capability (up to 50% vertical and 21% horizontal), allowing you to center the picture even with limited placement space.
The W5800 additionally supports HDR10 and HDR10+ with dynamic image information that individually optimizes each frame, something the Sony VPL-XW5000ES does not have. It also has Filmmaker mode, which allows for high-quality 24p HDR video playing with minimum judder, according to BenQ, which helps to "preserve the purity of the original image".
Unsurprisingly, such a powerful projector comes at a high cost. The W5800 costs £4600 / $5999 / AU$8999, putting it uncomfortably close to the multi-Award winning Sony VPL-XW5000ES (£5999 / $5998 / AU$9990), indicating that BenQ faces considerable competition in this sector. Only time will tell whether BenQ can dethrone the incumbent champion, but we're pleased to witness BenQ's entry into the premium projector arena.
