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BenQ GP10 review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £388
inc VAT

Has good image quality and range of connection ports, but limited 3D capability

Specifications

1,280×800 resolution, 500 ANSI lumens, 62x220x177mm, 1.5kg

http://www.lambda-tek.com

Home cinema projectors don’t come much smaller than the BenQ GP10. Measuring a slim 62x220x177mm and weighing just 1.5kg, this portable DLP projector is easy to carry in or out of the home. The GP10 comes with a carry case, and its internal battery means you only need to bring a plug instead of a bulky power adaptor.

BenQ GP10

Naturally, the GP10’s small size means it doesn’t have as many inputs as a typical home cinema projector, but BenQ has made great use of the available space. There are HDMI, VGA and composite inputs, an SDHC card reader, a USB port for connecting USB drives or a Wi-Fi dongle, and a mini USB port for projecting over USB or transferring files to the GP10’s internal memory. There are also two 3W stereo speakers if you don’t have a dedicated set of speakers handy.

It’s easy to switch between input devices thanks to its easy-to-use home menu. The projector automatically defaults to the DVD player option when you first turn it on, but you can either use the remote control or the buttons on top of the projector to switch between its different projector modes.

The GP10’s 1,280×800 resolution looked sharp and bright in our test room, and we could use the GP10 comfortably with the lights on. Our test PowerPoint presentation looked great. Colours were vibrant and punchy, and even our high contrast test photos showed lots of clearly defined shadow detail. Of course, images looked better with the lights off, but you won’t have to shroud your room in darkness when you want to use it.

The GP10 has a short throw ratio, so you won’t need to position it too far away from a wall or projection screen to see a large picture. We saw a screen size of 82in from just 7ft away, so the GP10’s perfect for placing on a small coffee table in front of your projection surface. There’s also a height-adjustable foot at the front of the projector to help you get the correct angle.

BenQ GP10

Sadly, there are only a few options for adjusting the picture. There are five picture modes, including Standard, Cinema, Game, Bright and a customisable User mode. In User mode, you can change the brightness, contrast and colour temperature by using one of the other four modes as a reference, but make sure you remember to save your settings because the GP10 won’t remember them automatically.

This was mildly irritating, but the GP10’s picture mode settings make only the slightest bit of difference to the overall image, so we’d recommend sticking with one of the preset modes. We liked Bright and Standard the best because these produced the most natural colours and had the best contrast levels. Cinema and Game, on the other hand, made the screen appear far too blue and they obscured almost all the detail in dark night scenes, even when we set the contrast to its highest setting. Other image settings include wall colour, aspect ratio, keystone correction and colour space conversion.

In our test Blu-Ray footage, images looked beautifully crisp, but fast-paced action sequences and even mild camera pans juddered. This is to be expected on a projector at this price; we normally only see frame interpolation and smoothing features on high-end models. It certainly didn’t detract from our overall viewing experience and you’d be hard-pushed to notice it in more sedate films.

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Details

Price £388
Details www.benq.co.uk
Rating ****
Award Budget Buy

Specifications

Projector technology DLP
Lamp brightness 500 ANSI lumens
Lamp life 20,000
Lamp life in economy mode 30,000
Contrast ratio 10,000:1

Picture

Native resolution 1,280×800
Max compressed resolution 1,600×1,200
Aspect ratio 16:10
Other aspect ratios 16:9, 4:3
Max diagonal at 7ft 82in
Throw ratio 1.2:1
Optical zoom 0.0x
Projection distance 0.5m to 6.1m
Mirror image yes
Invert image yes
Lens shift horizontal 0%
Lens shift vertical 40%
HD Ready yes
Special view modes Standard, Bright, Cinema, Game, User

Inputs/Outputs

VGA input yes
DVI input No
Sound inputs 3.5mm
Composite input yes
S-video input no
HDMI input yes
Component input no
PAL support yes
SECAM support yes
NTSC support yes
Audio output 3.5mm
Video output VGA, HDMI
Others inputs/outputs USB, mini USB, SD/SDHC card reader

Other

Noise (in normal use) 36dB(A)
Size 62x220x177mm
Weight 1.5kg
Internal speakers yes (3W stereo)
Extras remote, power cable, VGA cable, carry case
Remote special features screen blank, home button, mute, DVD controls
Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 128W

Lamp

Lamp cost (inc VAT) N/A
Lamp supplier N/A
Lamp cost per hour of use N/A
Lamp cost per hour of use (economy) N/A

Buying Information

Price £388
Supplier http://www.lambda-tek.com
Details www.benq.co.uk

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