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expired Posted by RR12 • Sep 4, 2022
expired Posted by RR12 • Sep 4, 2022

X3000i 100%DCI-P3 True4K HDR-PRO colors for Open World Gaming Projector - $1999

$1,999

BenQ
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100%DCI-P3 CinematicColor of 3000lm brightness HDR10 compatibility
16ms(4K@60Hz) and fast to 4ms(1080p@240Hz) for smooth gameplay
Dual HDMI 2.0b (HDCP2.2) with eARC support for every game console

https://www.benq.com/en-us/projec...3000i.html
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100%DCI-P3 CinematicColor of 3000lm brightness HDR10 compatibility
16ms(4K@60Hz) and fast to 4ms(1080p@240Hz) for smooth gameplay
Dual HDMI 2.0b (HDCP2.2) with eARC support for every game console

https://www.benq.com/en-us/projec...3000i.html

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Sep 4, 2022
1,029 Posts
Joined Oct 2004
Sep 4, 2022
washerebefore
Sep 4, 2022
1,029 Posts
Availability at FULL PRICE - BUT NOT A SlickDeal..
Sep 4, 2022
171 Posts
Joined Oct 2013
Sep 4, 2022
SungH
Sep 4, 2022
171 Posts
This is a probabaly the Best Gaming projector available in the market. Totally agree.
Wish price goes down little more..

For people who are wondering what is so special about this projector, here is a link for good review of this unit:

https://youtu.be/4OfC36LIXK4
Pro
Sep 5, 2022
12,200 Posts
Joined Nov 2010
Sep 5, 2022
PeteyTheStriker
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Sep 5, 2022
12,200 Posts
Quote from washerebefore :
Availability at FULL PRICE - BUT NOT A SlickDeal..
Quote from SungH :
This is a probabaly the Best Gaming projector available in the market. Totally agree.
Wish price goes down little more..

For people who are wondering what is so special about this projector, here is a link for good review of this unit:

https://youtu.be/4OfC36LIXK4
White this is not a discount on price, the projector has been near impossible to find, so for that respect its a good FYI.

I got mine refurbished from Amazon and am using it as we speak it is incredible, even without a screen in full day light on a white popcorn wall in the rental I am staying in.

IT checked marked all the boxes for me, have yet to test 3-D as I left all my 3-D content at home while i traveled for work.
Sep 6, 2022
1,029 Posts
Joined Oct 2004
Sep 6, 2022
washerebefore
Sep 6, 2022
1,029 Posts
Quote from PeteyTheStriker :
White this is not a discount on price, the projector has been near impossible to find, so for that respect its a good FYI.

I got mine refurbished from Amazon and am using it as we speak it is incredible, even without a screen in full day light on a white popcorn wall in the rental I am staying in.

IT checked marked all the boxes for me, have yet to test 3-D as I left all my 3-D content at home while i traveled for work.
Getting the refurb on the UHD55 - would of def tried the BenQ if the price was about the same..

I started with the 3 Color TUBE projector and had low end to mid range projectors since.. Got a Sony 720P LCD lasted 7 yrs and
My 1st BENQ lasted 3yrs and then came up with a color defect - sale @ $2k..it was cheaper to get the BenQ HT2050 than fix the W7000 The BenQ HT2050 lasted 6 yrs from 2016 - HDMI board issue - ( may get it fixed? ) - The 3000i by BenQ looked great but last time I gave them 2K it did not last long enough. UHD55 commin in next week..I know my 3D glasses with def work with this unit as well.Giving it a try. nod
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Sep 6, 2022
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Sep 6, 2022
PeteyTheStriker
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Sep 6, 2022
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Quote from washerebefore :
Getting the refurb on the UHD55 - would of def tried the BenQ if the price was about the same..

I started with the 3 Color TUBE projector and had low end to mid range projectors since.. Got a Sony 720P LCD lasted 7 yrs and
My 1st BENQ lasted 3yrs and then came up with a color defect - sale @ $2k..it was cheaper to get the BenQ HT2050 than fix the W7000 The BenQ HT2050 lasted 6 yrs from 2016 - HDMI board issue - ( may get it fixed? ) - The 3000i by BenQ looked great but last time I gave them 2K it did not last long enough. UHD55 commin in next week..I know my 3D glasses with def work with this unit as well.Giving it a try. nod
This is the first projector I paid over $1.5K for, the refurb was $1800 from amazon with 90 days to return and you can buy a 3 year warranty for another $100 which in the end made it worth wild. I was very much so on the fence on the UHD55 and almost purchased it too when it was on sale for $1.5K the other week, but seeing the X3000i for a few hundred more made me go after it instead. The X3000i when first announced had everything I was looking (extremely low input lag, daylight viewing, led light source, 3-D, great HD/HDR/SDR performance, great color reproduction) for my next upgrade and it was top of my list, the UHD55 placed 2nd cause of no LED/LASER technology.

If there was a good UST for around this price I would have probably went after it but nothing good in the UST category under $2K currently exists that you can comfortably game on or watch 3-D.
Sep 6, 2022
481 Posts
Joined Feb 2008
Sep 6, 2022
tbob19
Sep 6, 2022
481 Posts
Quote from PeteyTheStriker :
This is the first projector I paid over $1.5K for, the refurb was $1800 from amazon with 90 days to return and you can buy a 3 year warranty for another $100 which in the end made it worth wild. I was very much so on the fence on the UHD55 and almost purchased it too when it was on sale for $1.5K the other week, but seeing the X3000i for a few hundred more made me go after it instead. The X3000i when first announced had everything I was looking (extremely low input lag, daylight viewing, led light source, 3-D, great HD/HDR/SDR performance, great color reproduction) for my next upgrade and it was top of my list, the UHD55 placed 2nd cause of no LED/LASER technology.

If there was a good UST for around this price I would have probably went after it but nothing good in the UST category under $2K currently exists that you can comfortably game on or watch 3-D.
Seems like a nice projector for gaming. Just wish the contrast was better, at ~1000:1 I just don't think it would be suitable for a dedicated theater for movies.

I have an older Vivitek 1080p DLP projector with a native contrast of ~2000:1 and even then black levels look comparable to what you'd see in some nicer movie theaters - slightly grey (i even use an ND filter for dark movies to bring the black floor down).

Seems like right now you have to choose between low latency and bulbless but poor contrast or higher latency, traditional bulb, but good contrast like the Epson UB series.

I'd love to see a modern laser DLP with higher contrast, I think that'd push me to upgrade.
Last edited by tbob19 September 6, 2022 at 10:13 AM.
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Sep 6, 2022
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PeteyTheStriker
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Quote from tbob19 :
Seems like a nice projector for gaming. Just wish the contrast was better, at ~1000:1 I just don't think it would be suitable for a dedicated theater for movies.

I have an older Vivitek 1080p DLP projector with a native contrast of ~2000:1 and even then black levels look comparable to what you'd see in some nicer movie theaters - slightly grey (i even use an ND filter for dark movies to bring the black floor down).

Seems like right now you have to choose between low latency and bulbless but poor contrast or higher latency, traditional bulb, but good contrast like the Epson UB series.

I'd love to see a modern laser DLP with higher contrast, I think that'd push me to upgrade.
So contrast is one of the biggest market gimmicks out there so I would not be too worried about what you see listed as contrast. Every company has their own standard and the standard for contrast rating varies drastically by company brand and even model, lol. Its one of those buzz words but the substance behind it is hard to grasp, you can literally have two projectors from two different brands with 1000:1 ratings but the difference could be night and day.

As for the X300i its gorgeous at night, this would be a perfect fit for a man cave, when I turn off the lights its nicer than my previous 1080 epson 3100 and that was a gorgeous projector meant for theater setups. I even tested the HDR on my Xbox and definitely makes a difference. I would not hesitate picking up a X3000i for a home theater. Also the high lumens means 3-D if thats important to you will pop a lot more in 3-D movies.

As for DLP's with higher contrast ratios and LED's they exist one just launched recently from viewsonic, I mentioned it in another thread I thought you were on:

https://www.viewsonic.com/us/prod...html#specs
Last edited by PeteyTheStriker September 6, 2022 at 02:00 PM.

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Sep 6, 2022
481 Posts
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Sep 6, 2022
tbob19
Sep 6, 2022
481 Posts
Quote from PeteyTheStriker :
So contrast is one of the biggest market gimmicks out there so I would not be too worried about what you see listed as contrast. Every company has their own standard and the standard for contrast rating varies drastically by company brand and even model, lol. Its one of those buzz words but the substance behind it is hard to grasp, you can literally have two projectors from two different brands with 1000:1 ratings but the difference could be night and day.

As for the X300i its gorgeous at night, this would be a perfect fit for a man cave, when I turn off the lights its nicer than my previous 1080 epson 3100 and that was a gorgeous projector meant for theater setups. I even tested the HDR on my Xbox and definitely makes a difference. I would not hesitate picking up a X3000i for a home theater. Also the high lumens means 3-D if thats important to you will pop a lot more in 3-D movies.

As for DLP's with higher contrast ratios and LED's they exist one just launched recently from viewsonic, I mentioned it in another thread I thought you were on:

https://www.viewsonic.com/us/prod...html#specs [viewsonic.com]
I am not referring to the rated contrast, the manufacturer specs mean little to nothing.

It has been tested by some users at AVS forum and ended up around 1000:1 to 1100:1. Better compared to many other 4k DLP projectors (typically around 500:1) it's no where near higher end LCOS (~30:000:1 native, JVC, Sony) or LCD projectors with a good dynamic iris (~4000:1 native, Epson).

I haven't seen this specific projector but most run of the mill movie theaters have a contrast around that level and black ends up looking very grey, especially how movies are so dark these days. I'm sure the colors are good though, I'm just looking for 3000:1 or better, my old 720p Marantz projector had a native contrast of 3500:1 and dark scenes were not distracting (though no where near LCOS level), it died though so I decided to jump to (budget) 1080p and with that came lower contrast.

I measured my own Vivitek h1186 with an i1 Display Pro at 1900:1 to 2000:1 (I'm a photographer so I calibrate all my displays). I have velvet curtains on my walls in my theater, and flat black ceilings, etc. I can see the lower contrast being fine with white walls but if you are looking for inky blacks it just won't cut it IMO (spoiled by FALD LCD and OLED displays nowadays).

Actually added an ND filter to my Vivitek to bring the brightness down more, at full lamp it's actually around 200nits (on screen which is different from at the lens of course, x3000i is around 225nits on a 120" screen) which also causes a really high black floor. I'm happy with 50nits and a much lower black floor in a fully light controlled room with dark walls.

The right way to measure contrast on these projectors is generally to have a white dot in the center to prevent the dynamic dimming and measure the black area, then measure full white and you have your contrast. The Vivitek for example has a black level of 0.025 nit and white of about 50 nit with ND filter.

As far as the X11-4K goes, we'll have to see how it measures. As you said, the specs mean nothing. If it does come close to 3000:1 that would be tempting for sure.

The Vivitek is actually 3D compatible and I did try it some years ago with active glasses, it's fine but really didn't impress me that much. I think it would be better on a 4k projector at 1080p the resolution hit was noticeable. I never really cared that much for 3D though so it's not a big draw in my case. My priority is a really nice 2D image, as close to OLED as possible but much larger of course.

Edit: Noticed the specs say the Viewsonic has HDMI 2.2.. Surely a typo laugh out loud. Would be nice to see 2.1 on some of these newer projectors though, 4k at 120hz for PC gaming would be a nice draw.

Edit 2: According to this [projectorcentral.com] the X11-4K is using a standard 0.47" DLP chip so it's pretty safe to assume it will be in the range of 400:1 to 600:1.

The reason the X3000i is able to get above 1000:1 is because of the larger 0.65" DMD.

I haven't seen any DLP's with the TI 0.78" chip, I'd assume with that chip we'd see 2000:1 and maybe higher.
Last edited by tbob19 September 6, 2022 at 06:43 PM.
Sep 6, 2022
3,464 Posts
Joined Jun 2005
Sep 6, 2022
estoyloco
Sep 6, 2022
3,464 Posts
Quote from PeteyTheStriker :
White this is not a discount on price, the projector has been near impossible to find, so for that respect its a good FYI.

I got mine refurbished from Amazon and am using it as we speak it is incredible, even without a screen in full day light on a white popcorn wall in the rental I am staying in.

IT checked marked all the boxes for me, have yet to test 3-D as I left all my 3-D content at home while i traveled for work.
Ha glad you are enjoying it. This is my first projector so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was going in bracing myself to be disappointed coming from OLED TVs. Fortunately, exact opposite I am completely surprised by the x3000i's quality and absolutely love the projector.
Sep 7, 2022
211 Posts
Joined Nov 2012
Sep 7, 2022
n00pster
Sep 7, 2022
211 Posts
Been looking at it every day Smilie My media room is not ready yet. Hoping for some kind of discount by black Friday.
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Sep 7, 2022
12,200 Posts
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Sep 7, 2022
PeteyTheStriker
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Sep 7, 2022
12,200 Posts
Quote from tbob19 :
I am not referring to the rated contrast, the manufacturer specs mean little to nothing.

It has been tested by some users at AVS forum and ended up around 1000:1 to 1100:1. Better compared to many other 4k DLP projectors (typically around 500:1) it's no where near higher end LCOS (~30:000:1 native, JVC, Sony) or LCD projectors with a good dynamic iris (~4000:1 native, Epson).

I haven't seen this specific projector but most run of the mill movie theaters have a contrast around that level and black ends up looking very grey, especially how movies are so dark these days. I'm sure the colors are good though, I'm just looking for 3000:1 or better, my old 720p Marantz projector had a native contrast of 3500:1 and dark scenes were not distracting (though no where near LCOS level), it died though so I decided to jump to (budget) 1080p and with that came lower contrast.

I measured my own Vivitek h1186 with an i1 Display Pro at 1900:1 to 2000:1 (I'm a photographer so I calibrate all my displays). I have velvet curtains on my walls in my theater, and flat black ceilings, etc. I can see the lower contrast being fine with white walls but if you are looking for inky blacks it just won't cut it IMO (spoiled by FALD LCD and OLED displays nowadays).

Actually added an ND filter to my Vivitek to bring the brightness down more, at full lamp it's actually around 200nits (on screen which is different from at the lens of course, x3000i is around 225nits on a 120" screen) which also causes a really high black floor. I'm happy with 50nits and a much lower black floor in a fully light controlled room with dark walls.

The right way to measure contrast on these projectors is generally to have a white dot in the center to prevent the dynamic dimming and measure the black area, then measure full white and you have your contrast. The Vivitek for example has a black level of 0.025 nit and white of about 50 nit with ND filter.

As far as the X11-4K goes, we'll have to see how it measures. As you said, the specs mean nothing. If it does come close to 3000:1 that would be tempting for sure.

The Vivitek is actually 3D compatible and I did try it some years ago with active glasses, it's fine but really didn't impress me that much. I think it would be better on a 4k projector at 1080p the resolution hit was noticeable. I never really cared that much for 3D though so it's not a big draw in my case. My priority is a really nice 2D image, as close to OLED as possible but much larger of course.

Edit: Noticed the specs say the Viewsonic has HDMI 2.2.. Surely a typo laugh out loud. Would be nice to see 2.1 on some of these newer projectors though, 4k at 120hz for PC gaming would be a nice draw.

Edit 2: According to this [projectorcentral.com] the X11-4K is using a standard 0.47" DLP chip so it's pretty safe to assume it will be in the range of 400:1 to 600:1.

The reason the X3000i is able to get above 1000:1 is because of the larger 0.65" DMD.

I haven't seen any DLP's with the TI 0.78" chip, I'd assume with that chip we'd see 2000:1 and maybe higher.
I watched a few movies that had a lot of dark scenes and they looked good to me even without a screen, I will actually later tonight try to put on a really dark movie and see if the blacks look more grey or not.

As for 3-D content on 4k or 1080 they are made only for 1080 so there is no improvement with having 4k for 3-D as they will only play in 1080 when 3-D is detected.

Quote from estoyloco :
Ha glad you are enjoying it. This is my first projector so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was going in bracing myself to be disappointed coming from OLED TVs. Fortunately, exact opposite I am completely surprised by the x3000i's quality and absolutely love the projector.
Yes I am happy with it as well, even though its not as large as a leap over my 3100 in picture quality as I expected its still a beautiful picture and would say numerically like a 20/25% improvement. The other features is what makes it great low input lag, full featured 3-D, HDR, LED light source.
Sep 7, 2022
481 Posts
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Sep 7, 2022
tbob19
Sep 7, 2022
481 Posts
Quote from PeteyTheStriker :
I watched a few movies that had a lot of dark scenes and they looked good to me even without a screen, I will actually later tonight try to put on a really dark movie and see if the blacks look more grey or not.

As for 3-D content on 4k or 1080 they are made only for 1080 so there is no improvement with having 4k for 3-D as they will only play in 1080 when 3-D is detected.
You'd definitely see a nice improvement from a screen. Even with my older projector going from a white wall to a cheap pull down screen was a big jump, then again to a decent fixed screen (Elite Aeon) was an even bigger jump in color and contrast.

Yeah I think my 1080p projector did the same thing, bumped down to 720p/144hz or something like that for 3D.

I think for more typical setups, the 1000:1 contrast is not going to really matter when light is bouncing all over the place. Once you start going with room treatment and a dedicated room is where the lower contrast will start really showing up.

And of course a side by side comparison would really make it apparent.

Here is a decent image, although they use rated "dynamic" contrast instead of native contrast. The one on the left has about 1200:1 native contrast, the one on the right is about 5000:1.
https://guide.lightform.com/hc/en...rast-Ratio

Photos can be somewhat deceiving though, but it shows the difference between lower and higher contrast ratio and what to look for.
Sep 7, 2022
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Sep 7, 2022
Gotchaforce
Sep 7, 2022
7,787 Posts
$2000 for a color wheel projector in 2022. blah
Sep 7, 2022
481 Posts
Joined Feb 2008
Sep 7, 2022
tbob19
Sep 7, 2022
481 Posts
Quote from Gotchaforce :
$2000 for a color wheel projector in 2022. blah
N̶o̶ c̶o̶l̶o̶r̶ w̶h̶e̶e̶l̶. I̶t̶ u̶s̶e̶s̶ L̶E̶D̶s̶ i̶n̶s̶t̶e̶a̶d̶, i̶t̶ c̶a̶n̶ p̶r̶o̶d̶u̶c̶e̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶a̶m̶e̶ r̶a̶i̶n̶b̶o̶w̶ e̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶ t̶h̶o̶u̶g̶h̶.

Edit: it uses a color wheel
Last edited by tbob19 September 7, 2022 at 03:01 PM.

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PeteyTheStriker
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Quote from tbob19 :
You'd definitely see a nice improvement from a screen. Even with my older projector going from a white wall to a cheap pull down screen was a big jump, then again to a decent fixed screen (Elite Aeon) was an even bigger jump in color and contrast.

Yeah I think my 1080p projector did the same thing, bumped down to 720p/144hz or something like that for 3D.

I think for more typical setups, the 1000:1 contrast is not going to really matter when light is bouncing all over the place. Once you start going with room treatment and a dedicated room is where the lower contrast will start really showing up.

And of course a side by side comparison would really make it apparent.

Here is a decent image, although they use rated "dynamic" contrast instead of native contrast. The one on the left has about 1200:1 native contrast, the one on the right is about 5000:1.
https://guide.lightform.com/hc/en...rast-Ratio

Photos can be somewhat deceiving though, but it shows the difference between lower and higher contrast ratio and what to look for.
I definitely know I would benefit from a screen, but when I travel for work a lot its one less thing to worry about, so currently it shining on a white popcorn wall and it looks awesome so that speaks a lot to the quality of this projector. I have tested and seen some major higher end projectors so I have a lot to compare it too also.

I totally understand the contrast ratio, but my earlier comment was just pointing out you cant always trust the listed contrast ratio as a indicator of how good something will be, as you pointed out when properly tested those numbers vary.

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