The consumer appliance manufacturer known for its computer monitors, BenQ, recently launched the CineHome W1700 4K UHD HDR home cinema projector – a much-anticipated offering in the realm of cinematic projectors on account of its affordable price.
Creative Home had the opportunity to attend the official launch of the BenQ’s CineHome W1700 held on December 20th 2017 at Sunway Putra Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. In addition to representatives of BenQ’s management (Conway Lee, BenQ Corporation’s president and CEO; Brian Lee, BenQ Malaysia’s general manager; and Sasha Huang, the manager of BenQ Asia Pacific Business Line) a number familiar faces were spotted, including celebrity host Chui Ling, and Leroy Low – a young and upcoming film director.
This unassuming little device is essentially the world’s most affordable cinema-grade digital projector, capable of rivalling the colour accuracy and image quality of conventional flat-screen televisions. We found it hard to believe at first, but that was before BenQ let the device speak for itself with a 4K resolution video. Unassisted by the Emerald Room’s sound system, the W1700 produced audio and video in full cinematic glory thanks to its low-profile, and yet heavy-duty, hardware (a single 0.47″ DMD chip) along with industrial-standard algorithms (Rec. 709 gamut, Delta E<3 colour accuracy, in addition to support for HDR10 based media and HDCP copy protection).
The video presentation, projected through the W1700, proved that BenQ’s CinematicColor™ algorithm enabled the device to accurately render all 8.3 million pixels in the colours intended by the filmmaker, producing a bright white using the colour temperature of 6500k (known as the D65 illuminant to industry insiders) and colours in the current industrial standard of the Rec. 709 colour space.
With the opportunity to handle the sleek device, we could see how the W1700 would be easy to combine with a wide range of interior styles thanks to its compact body. It would not take a lot of effort to hide the W1700 where it can project onto a flat surface without it sticking out.
Moving the device around doesn’t seem to shake the little device’s capabilities either, the W1700’s automatic keystone correction and 1.2x zoom lens make it adaptable to a wide range of spaces, correcting itself to display a perfect rectangle whenever we adjusted its position.
Not only did the experience make us want one for our living rooms; more than anything else, we got the chance to hear a professional film director share his views on the capabilities of the W1700 from the production perspective.
Image Credit: BenQ Malaysia
