Irvine, Calif. — BenQ America introduced Thursday a FullHD short-throw 3D home video projector at a price-shattering $1,299 suggested retail.
BenQ’s W1080ST will project a large screen image of up to 100 inches from as little as 6 feet from the screen. It uses Texas Instruments’ Dark Chip 3 (DC3) DLP chip and DLP Link technologies and Nvidia’s 3DTV Play. It also includes two HDMI inputs.
The W1080ST also incorporates BenQ’s SmartEco technology, which is said to cut costs and energy consumption by automatically adjusting lamp power to match the surrounding room light. To further reduce power consumption, a No Source Detected mode automatically lowers brightness to 30 percent when no display has been detected for more than three minutes.
The W1080ST offers a 10,000:1 contrast ratio and built-in 10-watt stereo speakers, BenQ said.
The W1080ST also features an Auto Blank mode that blocks light output when objects are detected in front of the lens. This is said to be useful for coffee-table setups and other short-throw scenarios in small spaces, by avoiding flashing light directly in users’ eyes when crossing the projection path.
“By combining so many advanced features at such an affordable price, BenQ is proving once again its consumer commitment, offering accessible yet high-performance products that customers can enjoy,” said Lars Yoder, BenQ America president. “With the W1080ST projector, users get amazing image quality, short-throw performance for placement flexibility in any environment, rich connectivity options, and our energy-saving SmartEco technology for only $1,299. No other projector delivers this level of innovation and flexibility at this price point.”
Users can calibrate the projectors colors to a Rec. 709 color gamut that matches film studio and television broadcast standards with no adjustments necessary.
The projector combines independent 3D color control and performance/color adjustment with three preset modes and two user modes.
The W1080ST is also ISFccc-certified by the Imaging Science Foundation.
The compact unit weighs 6.4 pounds.
