BenQ TK800 4K UHD Home Theater Projector with HDR and HLG | 3000 Lumens for Ambient Lighting | 92% Rec. 709 for Accurate Colors | Keystone for Easy Setup

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0:00 0:00 This video is not intended for all audiences. What date were you born? January February March April May June July August September October November December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 Submit Adobe Flash Player is required to watch this video. Install Flash Player Having owned the Optoma UHD60 for several months I was excited to see what BenQs budget 4K projector had to offer, especially considering its great price. Ill start by saying that this is a fantastic projector overall. It has great color accuracy, 3D, HDR, and good brightness despite being 2200 lumens. The color accuracy is great on this projector. This is especially noticeable with HDR content. Let me start by saying that no DLP projector is going to blow you away with HDR content like a high-end OLED TV. However, the HT2550 did a pretty good job handling HDR once the HDR feature is turned on.(It would not work in "Auto" mode for me) The HDR performance and color accuracy is far better than the Optoma UHD60, which had low brightness and muted color with HDR content. Before I talk about this projectors sharpness I want to clear up some information regarding budget 4K projectors, pixel count claims, and pixel shifting. Expensive 4K projectors use chips that have 8 million actual discrete pixels. Budget 4K projectors such as the BenQ HT2550, Optoma UHD60 and several others have chips with less native pixels but they use pixel shifting technology to produce an image that meets 4K standards. There are 3 different types of “4K” projectors. There are Native 4k Projectors, Certified 4K projectors, and Faux K projectors. The BenQ falls into the Certified 4K Projector category. Even though this projector does not have 8 million discrete pixels, it displays a picture than is sharp enough to meet 4K standards. I have seen the UHD60 projected next to a Sony Native 4K projector and I was unable to tell the difference between them without putting my face a few inches away from the screen. “Faux-K” projectors are usually 1080p projectors that use pixel shifting to attempt to display a 4K image. However, the result is not enough to meet 4K standards so they cannot market them as 4K projectors. However, they can note that the projector is capable of accepting a 4K signal. An example, of this is the Epson 5040ub. (This is not to take anything away from the Epson. It’s a fantastic projector that has excellent contrast and color accuracy. It’s just not as sharp as the Optoma UHD60 or the BenQ HT2550.) I say all of this to stress to you that there’s no point in arguing about native pixel count vs 4K. 4K is a standard. If the box and/or body has a 4K badge on it, it produces an image that meets 4K standards. Some just do it better than others. That being said, the BenQ HT2550 produces a nice and sharp image. However, it uses a smaller chip than the Optoma UHD60 so the UHD60 is a bit sharper than the HT2550. This is difficult to see unless you have both projectors sitting side-by-side, but this is likely due to the larger DLP chip in the Optoma. Although the chip in the BenQ is newer, the Optoma has a larger chip and produces slightly sharper images. (This is difficult to determine from the video but in person I noticed it). The BenQ’s image is still sharp enough to meet 4K standards and the advantages in color accuracy may be more important than sharpness to some. So as I said, this is a good projector but its certainly not perfect. Since all of the pixels from the chip are not being used there is a border of light around the projected image. This is common on DLP projectors. However, it is very noticeable on the HT2550. The thing that makes it stand out more on this projector compared to others is that the border is so large. Its size will depend your projected screen size but it extended about 6 inches beyond my 135" screen, which was visible on the wall around my screen. It also displays a small amount of light leakage on the ceiling a few inches away from the projector if you have it ceiling mounted, although it wasnt too distracting. Overall, this is a great projector for the money. I wish it didnt have the light border issue but if you have a large screen (135+) you may not notice it. Considering its price, color accuracy, and 3D capabilities, I think it’s a great buy and worth checking out. PROS: Price Color accuracy 3D 4K Certified Automatic vertical keystone correction CONS: Light border issue Not as sharp as the Optoma UHD60 No lens shift

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I researched putting the right projector into my new theater room for months, I almost went with the HT2550, however when I heard about the TK800 coming out and it had more light and sports modes built in, I decided to wait and purchase it when it came out. It was worth the wait! Ive never seen a project with an image like this. I put a 150" screen in my room and this projector fits it beautifully! I am so happy that I got this amazing projector and everyone that has seen it thus far has been blown away.

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Im pulling my settings from my update to the top. Try them out! MY FANTASTIC SETTINGS MODE: Cinema BRIGHTNESS: 52 CONTRAST: 57 SHARPNESS: 3 4K Pixel Enhancer: 2 Color Enhancer: 2 DCTI: On DLTI: On LAMP MODE: NORMAL BRILLIANT COLOR: ON <<-- very important to get the most brightness out of Cinema Mode WITH HDR CONTENT ON SCREEN: COLOR GAMUT: BT.709 On with the review! === The HT2550 is one of the most exciting projector launches in recent memory. It delivers fantastic picture quality, color, sharpness, and brightness right out of the box at the most affordable price point in history. Which brings me to my first point... everything in this review, and indeed the projector itself, needs to be viewed through the lens (no pun intended) of this being a 4K projector. There are less expensive and strong performing 1080p projectors out there if 4K is not near the top of the list in priorities for you. But i f 4K projection is one of your top priorities (and it should be, IMHO)... read on. To begin my review, I want to spend a couple of minutes on the "State of 4K Projection" in general to help illustrate the unique value I feel this projector has in the marketplace. ========== Setting the stage... 4K UHD is defined by the industry as delivering a 3840 x 2160 image with 8.3 million pixels. This is 4 times as many pixels as a 1080p image. In my opinion, the 4K format was MADE for projectors and large format viewing. However, until the last year or so it has been limited to smaller 4K TVs flooding the market. And lets be honest, when sitting at a normal viewing distance the benefits of increased resolution are not realized in 99% of living rooms with TVs smaller than 70". NOT SO with projectors. Being able to project a 110"+ image while sitting 10 feet away is a 4K dream and really highlights the benefits of this high resolution format. =========== The problem... The problem is that, until now, 4K projectors have been cost prohibitive. I wont debate FauxK vs 4K here, but what made 4K projection possible was the advent of "pixel-shifting" within the projector itself. A "True 4K" projector with 8.3 million individual mirrors on the "DMD" chip in the projector still cannot be had for less than $5,000 as of writing this, but 2x and 4x pixel shifters brought viewing higher resolution signals into the projector world. The Optoma UHD60/65 were among the first to bring true 4K on-screen pixels to the projector world in the realm of affordability with their 2x pixel shifting DLP DMD chips. But they dont provide 3D. The Epson 5040 and 4000 are also in this camp but they only accept a 4K signal and only produce 4.1 million on-screen pixels. The Epsons are strong in black level performance, however. More on that later as Ive had hands-on experience with the Epson 4000 the last month or so. =========== The Answer... Enter the HT2550. It was the first 4K projector announced for less than $1,500. AND it is the first "4K on-screen pixels" projector to also do 3D! $1,499 is a bit pricy for the "affordable" 1080p projector market but again...this is the most affordable 4K projector on the market right now. A big part of producing this value came with the introduction of a TI chip that can produce a 4K 3840x2160 image with 8.3 million individual and unique pixels on-screen. This is accomplished by shifting the mirrors on the 1080p chip 4 times 240 times per second using XPR technology. Enough with the projector intro and market talk. Impressions and review time! ============ Personal Use-Case and Round 1 with the Epson 4000.... Lets start with the "WHY" and my use-case. I just finished building out a dedicated home theater under my suspended slab garage. Dimensions are 30 ft x 20 ft with 10 ft tall ceilings. This gave me ample room for a larger projector screen. I went with the 160 inch 16:9 acoustically transparent screen with a 1.0 gain. I wanted an image to match my 9.4.4 Atmos setup and with the size of my screen, a bright 4K projector was a must for me. My AV setup includes a Roku Ultra for 4K streaming, an Xbox One S for UHD Blu Rays, and a Denon 6300 for my 11.2 receiver. The last piece of the puzzle was the projector. I have researched high and low and had my eyes on a few higher end 4K projectors from JVC, Sony, BenQ, and Epson. But to save some buxx I thought I would try my hand at more value-oriented models. I widdled down my list to the HT2550 and the Epson HC 4000. I had ruled out Optomas, Acers, and Vivteks offerings for a number of reasons I wont list here. Due to the timing of finishing my theater coming before availability of the HT2550, the Epson got the first crack at wowing. The Epson did several things well. Placement flexibility on the Epson was a dream with the motorized lens shift, zoom, and focus. While VERy nice for placement and setup, I objectively filed that away since it didnt impact the picture quality and thats what counts. I fired up the Epson and spent about 100 hours with it viewing a mix of HD TV, UHD Blu Rays, Gaming, and 4K streaming. Overall picture quality on the Epson was good. Uniform focus, good brightness, and acceptable contrast. However, the fact that the Epson was only producing 1/2 a 4K image and 4.1 million pixels, I found myself wanting a bit more sharpness and resolution fo my 160" projector screen. This was especially true whenever there was text on the screen. ============ First Impressions... Late January rolled around and I got my hands on the HT2550. While setting it up, the placement flexibility of the Epson was missed since the HT2550 does not have any lens shift. The zoom/focus were done with knobs on the projector but I reminded myself that this is the most affordable 4K projector EVER. Mounting was painless enough because I had pre-calculated mounting location (more later). I fired up some 4K content... Pacific Rim, The Martian, Lego Ninjago, and Planet Earth II. I immediately noticed the increased resolution of the true 4k image (I expected this) but I was pleasantly surprised that color accuracy was quite a bit better than the Epson 4000, which costs $500 more. Brightness was about the same as the Epson (which is good). Blacks and image punchiness were marginally better on the Epson. In short, my first few minutes with the projector, I was absolutely blown away by the detail, color, and overall picture quality at this price point. ============ Color... Color on the HT2550, as stated earlier is fantastic. Cinematic Color and 96% Rec.709 coverage really lets you enjoy movies as the director and post production team of those movies intended. My personal settings will follow, but once I dialed in my settings, the image is bright, VERY color accurate, and lends to providing as much details as possible. I have had several people comment on the colors and overall image quality whenever they are in the theater. And they arent just being nice. The HT2550 uses a fast RGBRGB color wheel maximize color accuracy and brightness. The speed and the type of color wheel helps to reduce the "Rainbow Effect" for those sensitive to it. I am not terribly sensitive to Rainbows and have not noticed them at all while viewing content on the projector. It is important to note that I am viewing a 160" screen from IMAX seating distances and am sometimes moving my head quickly when in the first row of my theater. Still no rainbows, at least for me for what its worth. Contrast... Contrast is acceptable on this projector. The .47" TI DMD chip it uses has a few traits about it that limit how much contrast and how deep the blacks are on this projector. It is fairly entry level but not poor enough for me to affect my overall opinion when this projector is viewed holistically. On bright images, blacks will pop and contrast is fine. It is in darker images that leaves a bit to be desired. Light Border...the TI chip has a border of un-used pixels that create a light border about the image. I thought I might be bugged by this, but it honestly melted away after I first set it up. If I look, I notice it when the splash screen is firing up, but I am hard pressed to notice it, let alone find it if I try when content is on the screen. Kind of a "meh" for me... non issue. HDR... HDR on the HT2550 is unique from others in the market since its implementation maintains a very high level of color accuracy. Other projectors who try to implement HDR try to create a punchy over-saturated image and they miss the mark in picture quality. I watched a few movies in UHD Blu Ray HDR on the HT2550. A couple of scenes that stand out to me are the middle city fight scene with the Kaiju in Pacific Rim and the Sloth scene on Planet Earth II. In the Pacific Rim scene, the colors against the dark city setting really pushed HDR to its limits and created a stunning image balanced with color accuracy, shadow detail, and contrast. It really popped! That Kaiju fight scene was made for HDR! When the Jaegar and Kaiju go up to the atmosphere and the curvature of the earth is displayed. Wow. Planet Earth was a breathtaking demonstration of Color Accuracy. HDR really brought out the shadow detail in the pan-shots of the island and forest. The veins in bark were especially breath-taking compared to watching it in non-HDR. I viewed the Netflix 4K non-HDR version and thought that looked great but the HDR implementation of it on Blu Ray was truly amazing. Im bringing forward a comment from my 3/27/18 update below but make sure that when in HDR, that Color Gamut is manually set to "BT.709". More context in update section, but suffice it so say that the implementation of HDR on this projector is great. Brightness.... Brightness is good on this projector. I really enjoy "Brilliant Color" set to "On" regardless of mode. If brightens up the image and increases the pop of the image without degrading color accuracy. Modes... I deleted my initial impressions on modes. Sorry, but Im throwing my initial "Modes" section out the window since I was off-base and would not want anyone head off to set up their projector with the wrong information. So my 3/27/18 opinions on modes are: Forget about "Bright" mode. Green and unusable. Some will like Vivid TV mode and the saturated colors. I found myself switching to Vivid TV mode the other night while watching The Big Bang Theory where color accuracy is not paramount. When I first posted this review I stated Cinema was too dim but it is by far my favorite mode now. (See 3/27/18 Update for settings) I found Sport mode to be the best "out of the box" mode for most, It is like a bright Cinema mode, but accentuates reds and warmth for basketball courts, balls, etc. But please make a few setting adjustments and stick to Cinema mode that i post below for the best combo of brightness and color accuracy. "Silence" mode... There is a semi-hidden "Silence" mode that will disable the 4K XPR pixel shift and simply just display a native and dim 1080p image. I think this should be called "1080p" mode. The projector is virtually silent in this mode and colors are still great. Due to the XPR shifting turning off, my untrained eye tells me that contrast slightly improves in this mode as well. I like bright images so I immediately changed the Lamp Mode in Silence to "Normal" and that brightened up the image quite a bit. You are not able to switch to "Cinema, Vivid, or Sport" in "Silence" which would be nice. However, "Silence" mode is mainly just exploratory for me since I like 4K so I don’t leave it in ‘Silence’. For what its worth HDR also works in this 1080p "Silence" mode and even though the info display will say 3840x2160, there are only 1920x1080 pixels on screen. Lamp modes... a quick note and personal story here. All of the default "Lamp Modes" on the preset modes are either "Eco" or "SmartEco". I had the W1070 (loved that thing) and when the Lamp was set to SmartEco I thought it was interesting that the image brightness stayed the same but the fan noise decreased. “Great!”, I thought. But after a few months I noticed a slight rattle from my fan. What had happened is the increased heat from the decreased fan speed accelerated the rate at which the fan lubrication evaporated... hence the rattle. I had to get in the projector and apply a drop or two of grease on the fan axle to fix it. I want to avoid a similar situation here even though I am sure it is fine to leave it in Smart Eco all the time. In Normal mode the fan is still quiet and has a low and consistent frequency so you will not hear it while enjoying the projector. Long story short: fan noise is fine in Normal mode. So there’s that! Form factor... Another thing I loved about the HT2550 is its form factor. It is very smart (I lived in the UK for a couple years). Compared to the Epson, the BenQ is literally 1/3rd the size. That may have something to do with the Epson being huge. Like the biggest projector I have ever seen. While smart and sleek, the BenQ feels solid and well built. It feels dense and compact when picking it up. Take note that the projector only has 3 mounting holes. It shouldnt matter but you will have a free arm on a 4-arm mount. HDMI Chipset... Another very important feature is that the HT2550’s HDMI chipset supports 18.6 Gbps. This means it supports 4K HDR at 60 frames per second and 10 bit color. This is required to play games in 4K HDR by the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X. The Epson 4000s HDMI chipset only support 10 Gbps so it is limited to 4:2:2 color space and 4K HDR at 24-30 FPS. In short, you cannot do 4K gaming on the Epson 4000 since it is not compatible with 4K HDR gaming. This is important to take into account for gamers. Input lag is acceptable. I measured the HT2550 at 54ms input lag. If you are a twitch gamer you may want to look into the BenQ HT2050A or 2150ST which are regarded as the gold-standard for input lag in high quality gaming projectors. ============ Of Placement Flexibility.... The lack of vertical lens shift will cause some headache for some folks. Luckily I knew this going in and was able to mount the projector EXACTLY where I needed the lens to be to get a square image without keystone. I still wish lens shift was available to fine tune if needed. With that said though, from first hand experience, any headache to get the mounting position just right will be worth it based on the picture quality this provides for the price. There are several things that go into where the lens needs to be to get you a square image so lets get down to the nitty gritty. We need to figure out A) how far away can this projector be from the screen, B) how far from the ceiling the projector lens and projector screen need to be and C) how far from center-of-screen- the lens needs to be horizontally. A) - How far away can this projector be from the screen? This projector has a lens throw of 1.47 - 1.77 - this means that the front of the lens has a range (dependent on the 1.2x zoom) it can be placed to project the same size of image. So take the width of your screen, and multiply it by 1.47 and 1.77 and that gives you the possible placement location distance away from the screen. B) How far from the ceiling the projector lens needs to be? This projector has an offset of 110% - this means that the entire image is projector above it if table mounted, and below it if ceiling mounted. 100% offset would mean that the image moves down one half of the screen height so the lens is exactly at the top or bottom of image. The extra 10% means that the image is 10% of one half the screens height above/below the image. C) How far from center of screen does the lens need to be? Since there is no horizontal lens shift the lens needs to be dead center regardless of vertical placement or distance from screen. Based on my measurements, the lens in about 3" offset from center mounting point of projector. In my situation (remember 160" screen) I placed the front of my lens 186" from the screen. the top of the picture is 8" below the lens so to get my image to my desired 15" form projector screen to ceiling I had to make sure the lens was 7" from the ceiling. I also mounted the center-point of the projector 3" to the left of center to make sure the lens was dead center. The HT2550 does have solid digital auto-keystone features if you are in a pinch, but you are trading off resolution to do so. Avoid if possible. All of this is made much easier by a mount that has adjustments. I got mine from Snap AV which allows me some flexibility after mounting it. Another invaluable resource is ProjectorCentral and BenQs distance and throw calculators on their websites. Google it! ============ Conclusion At the end of the day, when viewed objectively as the most affordable 4K projector in the market, I really enjoy this projector and have no qualms about it being my primary driver in my dedicated space. It provides the best value in the space due i So thats it! Longest review in Amazon history. To summarize in classic pro/con fashion..... PROS: - Fantastic sharpness and resolution - Bright enough for almost any situation - Picture quality good enough for dedicated theater and videophile like myself - ACCURATE COLOR - especially in HDR - Sexy form factor and size - Good on-board sound for backyard movies or gaming LANs in a pinch - 3D on a 4K Projector - Recognizes 24hz content and switches accordingly. CONs: - No lens shift. Could be an issue for some. MEH: - The light border Yes it is there. Its a non-issue for me and to be honest when there is content on the screen I do not notice it... even if I try to find it can’t. But meh. - Black levels not legendary, but as expected in this price range. The bottom bottom line is that I really do love this projector and as much I like the Epson HC 4000 (its a great projector!) I will be returning it and keeping this as my main projector because of the sharpness, 4K60hz gaming, color accuracy all at a great price point. Well done, BenQ! A solid 4.8/5 stars! ======== Need help? Hit me up in the comments below and Ill try to respond quickly. ======== 3/27/18 UPDATE and new 1.03 Unit It gets better... I had a v1.00 HT2550 for two months and I feel I can provide a better opinion of what it is like to own this projector. Rewind for context: my unique use case and need was a bright and sharp image for my 160" screen in a light controlled dedicated home theater. Because of my big screen I have done quite a bit of fiddling with settings and I can honestly say that I adore this projector at least 58.9% more today than when I posted my initial review. The first 6 weeks of owning this I used a combination of custom modes I created from Sport and Vivid modes. This really brought out specific colors and the brightness and I was loving it. However a REALLY helpful post from fellow HT2550 owner Sage11x on avsforum and my own further calibration led me to try and customized version of Cinema. BEST SETTINGS MODE: Cinema BRIGHTNESS: 52 CONTRAST: 57 SHARPNESS: 3 4K Pixel Enhancer: 2 Color Enhancer: 2 DCTI: On DLTI: On Lamp Mode: Normal BRILLIANT COLOR: ON <<-- very important to get the most brightness out of Cinema Mode WITH HDR CONTENT ON SCREEN: COLOR GAMUT: BT.709 In my initial review I wrote off "Cinema Mode" because it was too dim. but the settings above yielded a bright and amazingly color accurate image. I no longer had the red hotspots that Sport mode had and didnt have to set the color temperature to Cool on vivid to offset saturation and warmth. Im telling you, I am 58.9% more blown away by the image now than when I wrote the initial review. Additionally..... HDR.... While no projector is amazing at HDR dude to blacks and brightness... the HT2550 does a respectable job out performing peers with accurate color. This implementation of HDR leads me to prefer an HDR image to a non-HDR image on the HT2550. However I found on my v1.00 unit that the HDR image tended to hotspot the color red in some scenes. For example when there was a flame in a scene, instead of a soft yellow glow, the flame was more red. I discovered that this had to do with the "Color Gamut" setting. When an HDR image is produced, a new setting called Color Gamut is now selectable (I mentioned this in my review) and the default setting is "Auto". In my experience on my 1.00 unit, "Auto" will defer 100% of the time to BT.2020 if that color space is provided in the input signal. CHANGE THIS SETTING TO BT.709. BT.709 is the color space that the HT2550 kicks butt at and will display the an great, color accurate HDR image. In my initial review I applauded BenW for the "support" of this color space, and I still do, but would rather see it as a manual selection than the default. Additionally Additionally... 1.03 My v1.0 unit got swapped out with a 1.03 unit and while I wasnt having any major issues with 1.00, the 1.03 unit did a couple of things for me... Focus was slightly more uniform, 3D synch issue was fixed (I dont watch much 3D), and from what I can tell, BT.709 is now the default Color Gamut on HDR content which is what I recommended users switch to pre 1.03. HDR mode also kicks in faster, Ive noticed. Overall, its great to see that BenQ is committed to working out any kinks, but I would have been happy with the initial unit I had and reviewed. Now my custom Cinema Mode is selected and the HDR Color Gamut is set to BT.709... I am even more blown away about the value this projector provides.

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0:00 0:00 This video is not intended for all audiences. What date were you born? January February March April May June July August September October November December 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906 1905 1904 1903 1902 1901 1900 Submit Adobe Flash Player is required to watch this video. Install Flash Player In short, The TK800 is an EXCELLENT follow up to their recently launched HT2550. For context, The HT2550 was the first 4K projector launched at a sub-$1,500 price point and represents one of the best values in 4K projection to date. Excellent color, sharpness, and brightness in a compact form factor led to me being blown away by the value it created in this segment of the market. I’ll refer to the HT2550 a few times in this review but lets talk about it’s brother, the TK800… As I stated in my review of the HT2550 - the TK800 maintains has to be viewed and judged from the lens (ha) of 4K projection. This is definitely a different market than the 1080p projector market so 4K needs to be one of your top priorities when looking at this projector. I did a lot of research on this projector before-hand. I was really interested in it’s 3000 lumen claim above the HT2550’s 2200 lumens. Reason being is I have a massive 160” screen that can use all the brightness it can get. Don’t get me wrong, the HT2550 produced a great image with accurate color. But the brightness of the HT2550, as I stated in my review, was juuuuuust bright enough. If I had a wish list it would be a tad brighter image with all the greatness that the HT2550 brought to the table. ENTER THE TK800 After a few weeks with this projector I’m happy to report that I am VERY impressed with it. Before firing it up I was slightly concerned about the move from an RGBRGB to RGBW color wheel. After all, on paper, THE ONLY thing that changed in the TK800 vs the HT2550 is the Color Wheel. I’m sure the color engine and calibration wizardry changed as well, but the light engine is using the same power draw and it has the same chassis (albeit blue vs black front plate), throw ratio, and offset as the HT2550. So lets talk about this color wheel since it is the main change in this projector since that is it’s differentiator. Older DLP projectors typically used this clear “White” slice of the RGBW color wheel to boost white lumens produced by the projector but they left the color lumens behind. Additionally, when those DLP projectors of the past tried to eek out color lumens with that “White” slice, the color image became washed out. I was concerned this might be the case with the TK800… NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND. Somehow, someway… the BenQ engineers have calibrated this RGBW color wheel to produce a brighter, punchier, image that maintains very respectable color accuracy. The result is an image where, due to extra lumens, perceived contrast is improved, color is extremely accurate, and when you add this together on a 160” screen with 4K and even 3D content… it makes for a VERY happy customer. The first night of setting up the projector I had the HT2550 and TK800 side by side to calibrate and compare. I had a 4K HDR Blu Ray of Planet Earth II playing form my UHD Blu Ray player through an HDCP 2.2 HDMI splitter. I had similar Cinema Mode settings enabled with Brilliant Color set to ‘On’ on both projectors. The black point seemed darker on the TK800 to my untrained eye (sadly I don’t have a light meter to measure). I brought my wife into the theater and had 5 samples ready to show her. 5 times out of 5 she chose the TK800 image. The TK800 image was brighter, more punchy, and had more vivid and saturated colors. It ‘Wows’. “Whoa, whoa, whoa…. Hold on a sec…. What about the HT2550’s color accuracy?” Yep. Great point. I did these tests in my 100% light controlled theater. When completely dark and I am watching UHD Blu Rays, I still personally prefer the 96% Rec Coverage of the HT2550 to the 92% Rec Coverage of the TK800. The color is more accurate and natural on the HT2550. A great comparison to think of the two projectors would be the display produced by an IPS LCD iPhone Display vs an AMOLED Display of a Samsung S8. The iPhone is more natural, but the Samsung sure is a heck of a lot punchier and vivid. Both great displays. Different strokes for different folks. The first opportunity I had to really put it through its paces was watching the NBA Playoffs with a gathering of about 20 people coming in and out of the theater. We had the back half of the theater with lights on and even with a hefty amount of ambient lighting, the TK800 cut trough it all and still produced a great image on my 160” white 1.0 gain screen. This is a projector for sports enthusiasts, living rooms, backyard movies, and in my case a blend of all 3 in my theater. The bottom line is this, for folks with dedicated theaters and close to 100% light control, and primarily watching movies, the HT2550 is going to get you an image as close to what the Director of those films intended. If you are someone who wants as bright and vivid image as possible, don’t have light control, or watch a lot of sports, the TK800 is a great choice too… AGAIN, even in a theater. It is a TON of fun and produces a bright image without a lot of tradeoffs regarding color. And if 3D is your thing, look no further. This is a great unit for 4k and 3D. As of today, it exceeded expectations and has taken a primary spot in my 9.4.4 Atmos 4K Theater… especially during the Playoffs. I might switch back to the HT2550 after the Playoffs until football season. Both are great projectors. I plan to put this through more paces including an outdoor move party so I’ll be back to post additional thoughts and pictures soon. I’m also finalizing the settings that I like the most, but for what it’s worth, I like the Gamma set to 2.4 instead of “BenQ” in Football and Sport modes. The “BenQ” Gamma setting hot spotted the whites a bit much with it’s S-Curve gamma… however that BenQ Gamma setting did create quite a bright and punchy image. Personal preference! I’ll be back with more when I finalize. Have fun! ================== UPDATE 5/15/18 I have put an addition 50+ hours on the projector and I continue to be impressed by it. Ive settled on the fact that this projectors shines (ha) more-so than the HT2550 for someone who Either 1) watches more non-movie content than movies, ie: TV, sports, gaming, etc etc OR 2) Wants more brightness for 3D viewing OR 3) has a screen larger than 130" OR 4) has a projector in a room where you will be viewing with ambient light. I REALLY enjoy both the Cinema Mode and Football Mode.... my adjust Football mode is so good that I will leave it in Football mode even for watching movies. My settings adjustments that differ from default for Cinema Mode are: Brightness 52 Contrast 47 Gamma: 2.4 My settings adjustments that diifer from default for Football Mode are: Brightness 53 Contrast 44 Gamma 2.4 I use the BenQ Gamma setting (which is on by default on all modes) when I need max brightness sparingly. LOVING this projector!

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just bought TK800 for my living room/media room with automatic drop down screen. I watched Thor Ragnarok yesterday and it looks amazing. My best options i set so far are: vivid colors and then set colors to warm. I also use HDR brightness +1 as i think with +2 there is to much "white color". I think colors are amazing and my old "gigantic" Sony SXRD is going to e-bay ;-) Leap is huge from 1080 10 year old projector. I had to replace all my hdmi fables with fiber hdmi, remount and replace ceiling mount due to no lens shift so it took my whole day but it was worth it. Few issues I have notice, hence Im giving 4 stars: - my screen is "drop-down" so its retracted during the day and its in some distance from the wall. When project shoot the image on one side i see a white border light. During the day its not visible at all and also in semi-bright environment, but in total darkness its definitely noticeable. - I noticed some issues with HDR detection. I purchased this projector and connected output from my AVR through the 4k/4:4:4/60 HDR 18Gbps spliter. Other output goes to my TV. When projector is "off" I was able only to set 4kUHD on Netflix no HDR. When projector is "on" both are recognize as "HDR" output. When I remove cable from spliter going to projector TV sees again HDR signal. Very strange. When I have my TV "off" and projector on - HDR is properly detected on projector even thru the spliter. Is looks like some handshake issue when projector is off ? - projector is a bit loud so having it directly behind you and watching a quiet movie you can definitely notice that. Update 5-17-2018: ================== Few other comments: - I played with projector in "dark room" and I see on all whites the rainbow effect pretty dam perfectly. I wonder if that is cause by RGBW color wheel. This becoming the most annoying part of the projector right now. I dont see it as much in dark or color movies but in white places (e.g football, snowy scenarios etc) rainbow effect becomes quite annoying. - I finally tested 3D. 3D sync is insanely long 10+ second during which time you are great with darkish/gray screen. - 3D settings with "flip perspective" are not being saved and I have to set it each time when i start 3D session. - 3D issues when watching movie: a) few time went completely out of sync on the screen i had image dived in the middle with a flickering line after restarting 3D mode it went back to normal. b) glasses went into flickering and stopped projecting 3D at all Im still testing and I will see If i can live with all that drawbacks... Update 5-26/2018: i decide I will be returning the unit. Due to following issues: - EDID sync issues causing no HDR output - DLP link issues in 3d movies causing lost of sync - 3d movies going into split mode (split line in the middle) - long 20 sec 3d syncs - whites over saturated to the point that "bold" subtitles were melting altogether. - two "resets" of the unit. - strange hissing going out of the projector. I will probably look into different brand unfortunately.

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Wow. I love this thing. Its amazing! I was saving up for the UHD60, but I didnt like that Id have to give up my love for 3D for it. 3D is only 1080, but Ill take it. Tested Netflix 4k, YouTube 4k (from the Nvidia Shield) and movies from the Samsung UHD player and all were spectacular. Only downside is there is a small light border that extrudes a bit (depending on size of image), and a tiny bit of light that comes from the fan vent, but that is it. Im loving the RGBRGB color wheel too! Get this thing, you wont be disappointed.

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I have a dedicated theater room that has a window but is covered with double black out curtains. For months I was going back and forth between the BenQ HT2550 and the Optoma UHD60. I watched just about every YouTube video on both projectors then I googled and found avs.com and read reviews from actual users/owners of both projectors. There were three selling points that led me to chose the HT2550 over the Optoma. They are: 3D, smaller projector, and Chris Majestic’s review on both projectors on YouTube and on avs.com. Although Chris owns an Optoma UHD60, he gave the HT2550 rave reviews and came away impressed. For my personal use, I use my HT2550 to watch TV almost daily like a regular TV (I’m watching Sportscenter as I type this), play my PS4 pro (4K looks AWESOME), and of course catch some movies. Again this is my first projector and I almost bought the 82 inch Samsung TV but I’m glad I didn’t!! I’m projecting the BenQ on a 120 inch Elite Screens Sable Frame B2. This projector screen has a black velvet black border which gives it a nice touch. With this being my first projector I hired a company to install the projector and projector screen for me. I’m using a Pioneer Elite receiver to control everything which does a phenomenal job and DirecTV is my cable provider. Obviously Directv only has two-three 4K channels so everything else is broadcasted in mostly 720p and 1080i. I have my HD DVR set to display 1080p but it only goes up to 1080i according to the status menu on the BenQ. I also have the Pioneer receiver set to upscale 1080p content to 4K. Again I’m only getting 720p and 1080i watching DirecTV. So all of my 4K programs are when I play games on the PS4 pro and/or run apps on it like YouTube, WatchESPN, Netflix, HBO, etc. Btw, 4k gaming on the PS4 pro looks AWESOME!! I mostly use the pre set settings on the BenQ but I made a few tweaks to Cinema mode I found on avs.com (a great reference site for video and audio tech) from folks who own the BenQ HT2550 that know a lot more about picture settings than I do. Ok let’s address what is known from reading all the other reviews: yes there is a light border HOWEVER I only notice it when I first turn the projector on and or if I’m looking for it (maybe I’m used to it). But it doesn’t bother me one bit or anyone else who’s watched a showing on my projector screen. Again I have the black velvet border around my projector screen. I’ve also seen people who put LED lights around their screen which will disguise the light border issue from the projector. As far as noise from the projector: yes there is a faint noise. I have mine ceiling mounted and I sit directly underneath the projector but it doesn’t bother me. There is a way to rid the noise I believe by turning on “silence” in the settings on the projector. However I don’t think 4K is available and your resolution is limited to 1080p. I turned on silence mode just to try it and I turned it back on. Again the faint noise from the projector does not bother me. This projector was released in January 2018 and it has a few bugs on the first batch released. BenQ has addressed these bugs by releasing two firmware updates. The first batch of HT2550s were running the firmware 1.00. The 2nd batch of HT2550s were runnning the firmware 1.0.1. And the latest firmware patch for the HT2550 is 1.0.3. I’ve unfortunately had all 3 firmware patches. You can’t update the firmware OTA (over the air) like a smart phone. BenQ has to send you a HT2550 unit with the latest firmware (1.0.3) installed. If you’re running the 1.00 firmware, you are missing out BIG TIME!! The pre set picture settings on the 1.00 firmware looks pretty bad. Also you may experience random power shut downs on the projector, the 3D doesn’t sync well, and most importantly the picture quality. Thankfully I’m running the 1.0.3 firmware and I haven’t experienced any random power shut downs, I haven’t checked the 3D yet, but the picture quality is awesome. I mainly use Vivid and Sport picture modes. Again I made a few tweaks to the Cinema mode that I found on avs.com (thankful for that site). To sum it up if you’re thinking about this projector, it’s worth it but make sure you get it with the 1.0.3 firmware. Call up BenQ and they can possibly verify you will be getting the latest firmware. Also I would like to thank Sean LeBlanc and Andy Lazar at BenQ for helping me through the process of getting me a unit with the latest firmware after experiencing the few issues I had with the units with the early firmware releases (1.00 & 1.0.1). They overnighted me a unit with the latest software (1.0.3) so I wouldn’t be without a unit had I sent mine back then have to wait to receive a new unit. Kudos to them!! I know I said I compared the HT2550 to the Optoma UHD60, I briefly and I mean BRIEFLY considered the expensive $5,000 Sony I think VW285es which is also 4K but not 3D. Yeah it may be TRUE NATIVE 4K, but I would be hard to believe it’s $3500 better than the HT2550. Again this HT2550 is phenomenal. I’m glad I went the projector route over a huge 4K TV. In my novice eyes, I don’t see anything that displeases me. So if you’re on the fence, buy it!!

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I was Skeptical before getting a 4K Projector. But I had heard a lot of great things about BenQ. At first I was going to get the BenQ HT2550, but when i saw they were coming out with a 4K projector with better Lumens I waited for the BenQ TK800 and boy was the wait worth it. I have this Projector connected to my Xbox One X. The Xbox One X switched to 4K display mode automatically. I am also using the FURUI Fiber Optic HDMI 2.0 Cable HDR, ARC, HDCP2.2, 3D, High Speed 18Gbps Subsampling 4:4:4/4:2:2/4:2:0 Slim and Flexible HDMI Fiber Optic Cable which is highly recommended for 4K Projection. The picture is amazing and the colors are real. I am no longer skeptical but now am a believer. BenQ has out done them selves with this projector. I give this Projector on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being poor and 10 being excellent a BIG 10. I am one satisfied customer.

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I upgraded from 1080P Epson projector to this 4K. I spent about a month doing research. There are really 2 consumer budget friendly 4K projectors on the market now. The Optoma UHD60 and the BenQ HT2550. The TK800 is essentially the HT2550 with 3000 lumens on the lamp instead of 2500. Everything else is similar. I chose this over the Optoma because this seemed smaller in size. The Optoma has a better contrast ratio, 1,000,000:1 compared to this but to be honest with you, I have not seen any downside. I also ready some not so flattering reviews of the UHD60. Many people will talk about how these projectors are not true 4K compared to for example, Sony’s projectors, but if you don’t have about 10 grand to shell out, you can’t go wrong with this projector. Ultimately, I am super happy with this projector.

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Ill get straight to the point here and let you know that if youre thinking about getting a projector, this is the one to go for if you want the most bang for your buck. I have been on the projector train for a few years now. I originally purchased an Optoma HD26 a few years back for my garage/mammal cave. When my living room TV started to go out, I decided to say goodbye to standard TV sets forever. I originally was going to go with Optoma again, but the specs for this projector and the price point beat the comparable Optoma in my budget. I have nothing bad to say about Optoma. Ive had theirs running in my garage through the extreme heat and cold and its never skipped a beat. Still runs like a champ, despite the extreme conditions, dust and smoke from my BBQ smoker. Now, back to the TK800. This model is designed for ambient light, and I can attest to it exceeding my expectations. I can literally have my living room light on full blast and still see a good picture. Granted, when dealing with really dark shows, its better to watch them at night for the best outcome. I do the same with a regular TV. Even though my Optoma has a "higher lumen" output, the TK800 is much brighter than my older HD26. The image is crisp and looks great. When it comes to 4k, having a screen this big can bring out some flaws in the 4k encoding. Some shows have a snow or haze, but after doing a lot of research it has nothing to do with the projector, but rather now they create the movies. Some shows will be drastically better than others. The Apple TV and Netflix seem to present more issues than other platforms. I also got a Belkin high speed cable to help. As a side note, if youre going to stream 4k content, youll need an internet connection cabled of at least 25 megabits per second or higher. If you dont have this speed, your picture will not stream in 4k and your image will be less than satisfying. The projector itself is amazing when given high end content to play. Pros: - Very bright screen. Perfect for rooms that arent 100% free of light. Honestly, even in a basement setting I would still choose this model. It looks amazing at night too. - Easy to setup and use. Gives you a much larger screen and less of a budget. - They have a 3-year warranty. This is particularly important when it comes to firmware updates. - The company does back their product. - If you move, this is easy to box up and transport. No more worrying about breaking a 65" + screen when you move it. One slight drop or knock and its gone. With this, no more worries. - Less parts than a standard TV, so a lot less can go wrong. - The built in speaker is surprisingly good. I got a sound bar to go with it, but since my room is fairly small, I havent had the need to install it. The built in speaker is much better than I anticipated. Cons: (Disclaimer, despite the cons I still gave this product a 5-star review) - The only major con is that you need to ship it back to Benq for firmware updates. To everyone who bought one during the Black Friday sale, I would highly suggest making sure you have firmware version 1.0.1 and not 1.0.0. I originally purchased a refurb and it worked great. when the sale hit, I decided to get a new one for the 3-year warranty. This is where the hassle started. I bought the new one and returned the refurb. The new one had 1.0.0, which wasnt allowing HDR to work and was missing HDR10 settings in general. I had to go through 3 projectors before I could get back one with firmware version 1.0.1. This was a hassle and I became very familiar with FedEx. Despite the mishaps, Benq took care of me and Im now up and running. I work in the tech industry, so I know firmware updates can be tricky. If the power or internet gets cut off during a firmware update, it can brick pretty much any device without an internal recovery partition. So I can see why they dont want people doing firmware updates at home, but they do cover the updates. This is another reason I mentioned the 3-year warranty. One thing I can say is that every projector I got worked perfect, the only issue was the out-of-date firmware. Summary: Ultimately, this will be one of the most satisfying purchases you will make this year. It is great for movies and even better for gaming. The picture quality is fantastic and it works in bright rooms. This projector makes me happy and really helps me to unwind after a long stressful day. Having this large of a screen allows a deeper immersion into the content you have. Projectors are the future. They are built to last longer. The TV market is a racket right now. They know the larger their TVs get, the more potential problems can come up, which makes people keep buying new ones every few years. Either a part of the screen breaks, it gets damaged from trying to move it, or it just burns electrical parts out. This projector is amazing. I think they dont display these in most places is because it would cut the TV sales down drastically. You wont regret it. Projectors are the bidets of entertainment; you dont know what youve been missing until you try it. I dont write a lot of reviews, but this projector is worthy of a stellar review. Just click "add to cart" and do it.

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