BenQ LK990 First Impressions

[AVSCraig]

I hate to say it but a lot of people get taken in by the mysticism of laser and LED light sources. Many people equate these light sources as automatically making the image better. In the case of the LK990 it doesn't seem to have any of the image quality enhancements laser can offer (large color gamut capabilities and less light scatter) because the LK990 isn't using direct laser. In the case here, I don't see what the benefit is other than it lasting longer and being more stable over time than a UHP lamp. You're still stuck with a color wheel which severely limits things on top of adding issues with visible RBE. I know some don't like it, but the performance really reminds me of a business class projector that happens to have a good lens.

It is a business class projector. With laser. The thing is, it's as bright as a VW5000, which almost nobody can afford. So, if you need the lumens, have a big screen and can give up contrast and powered lens controls ( like if you have a 16:9 screen only ), it would work for some people. Sports watchers and gamers I suppose. 

[DavidHir]

I think part of it is also room dependent. For someone with lighter walls, carpet, etc. they really need the lumens to even see the image well where as a high contrast JVC will look too dim and the APL differences will be very negligible if even noticeable.  Even a moderately dark room might not show a big difference.  Then, of course, if the screen is larger the lumens become even more important.

But if you have a true black cave (i,e, no windows, black carpet, black walls, velvet, etc.), it's hard to justify the lack of native contrast.  I saw a BenQ HT 2050 in my room and those low APL scenes just looked awful aside from the rainbows I saw (but that is individual dependent too).  

[AVSMike]

I think part of it is also room dependent. For someone with lighter walls, carpet, etc. they really need the lumens to even see the image well where as a high contrast JVC will look too dim and the APL differences will be very negligible if even noticeable.  Even a moderately dark room might not show a big difference.  Then, of course, if the screen is larger the lumens become even more important.

But if you have a true black cave (i,e, no windows, black carpet, black walls, velvet, etc.), it's hard to justify the lack of native contrast.  I saw a BenQ HT 2050 in my room and those low APL scenes just looked awful aside from the rainbows I saw (but that is individual dependent too). 

I am wondering the same thing. That is why I am interested in Javs, Kris and Arrow seeing one. I think the room that Dylan compared his RS2000 to LK990 was a good dark room and Dylan liked the RS2000 best. Dave says this projector is special, but I have seen a lot of high brightness DLP's with good lens and all of them look fantastic on things like sports, but really suffered on low APL scenes.

[Dylan Seeger]

I don't want to put words into Calvin's mouth. He never told me which one he liked more overall. The only thing I know he did say is that the RS2000's image has more depth and three-dimensionality. 

[AVSMike]

I don't want to put words into Calvin's mouth. He never told me which one he liked more overall. The only thing I know he did say is that the RS2000's image has more depth and three-dimensionality.

I went back and modified my post. I guess I was remembering you saying that Calvin said the 2000 had more depth and three-dimensionality and took that as him liking the 2000 better. 

[Dylan Seeger]

I spent the last several hours at Calvin's house. We plugged in Dave Harper's settings. Color was way off but they did subjectively improve the image's dynamic range over the stock HDR settings. I calibrated the LK990 after this. D65 greyscale was easy to calibrate but color proved more difficult. I was able to get it reasonably accurate, but not as accurate as the JVC. Someone on the other forum mentioned he had similar issues trying to calibrate citing the laser light source and/or the menu controls as the issue not providing linear color output/change. I'm sure with something like a lumagen you could calibrate to perfection, but with the built in controls it's difficult. Gamma was good. I chose the 2.3 gamma setting and it tracked very well. It didn't need any adjustment.


Contrast performance didn't improve. Overall, the image just looked washed out by comparison to the JVC with most content. Bright content looked excellent on the LK990 though. Input lag was measured in a 64.5ms. The RS2000 was 41.1ms without the low lag mode engaged.

Before I came back today Calvin decided that he was returning his LK990 and will probably replace it with an RS2000. The impression I got from what he said was that the LK990 simply lacked in image depth, three-dimensionality and dynamic range. He mentioned the JVC  "looks 3D by comparison". He said he was constantly aware that the image could look a lot better with most of the content he's played back since he got the LK990 and knowing that would have bugged him too much to keep it. We both agreed on this point. That was the assessment I made the last time I was there and going back and doing a calibration didn't change that. Even though it has a ton of brightness, the contrast performance on this machine takes away a lot of potential the extra brightness could leverage over another projector. But it needs the combination of better contrast and higher brightness to do this. If it had maybe 2500:1 native it could look a lot better, but 1000:1 contrast just cannot compete with today's projectors (or projectors from 10 years ago). I hope Calvin chimes in and tells us his thoughts.

We spent some time checking out the new Panasonic color profiles firmware 2.1 added on the JVC. WOW do they look good. Better than the auto-tonemapping settings by a long shot. This was especially apparent on the bottom end of the dynamic range. The auto tonemapping has a tendency to raise the level of black. The Panasonic curves don't do this. I would recommend using the BL (basic luminance) profile as the image is much brighter overall compared to the HL (high luminance) profile.

[AVSMike]

Thanks for the report. Matches with what I see every year at CEDIA. The LK990 would make a great sports projector. Make sure Calvin orders before the end of the month. That way he will be eligible for the free JVC lamp.

[ckgolf]

Dylan and I had a much better session this afternoon with the BenQ and JVC. We did a lot of back and forth replaying the same scenes on each projector.  

Boy did the LK990 look flat on darker material, not just torture test material, but average lower lit scenes. The low contrast creates a haze over the picture that leaves you wanting more. This was my impression even before a head to head with the RS2000. The comparison made it that much more apparent. The RS2000 has real depth and dimension in those scenes. It’s not even close. 

The LK990 looks spectacular on brighter material! It’s super sharp, and very alluring. In the right environment, such as a living room where you’re fighting ambient light to watch tv, I could see this being the right choice.

In my dedicated theater where movies are my priority and I have full light control, the RS2000 is the right choice. It never looked offensive or drew attention to itself. It may not be as bright as the BenQ, but with proper tone mapping it’s bright enough on my 141” 2.35 screen. 

[Set11]

That's a shame on the input lag. It's a deal breaker for me.

Were you able to test whether the lk990 can achieve 100% rec 709 ?

[DavidHir]

If it had maybe 2500:1 native it could look a lot better, but 1000:1 contrast just cannot compete with today's projectors (or projectors from 10 years ago). I hope Calvin chimes in and tells us his thoughts.

That HT2050 I saw was around 1800:1 according to most published reports I read.  1000:1?  Ugh.

[Dylan Seeger]

That HT2050 I saw was around 1800:1 according to most published reports I read.  1000:1?  Ugh.

This was measured close to maximum zoom so I suspect it could be higher with less zoom. But you'd be sacrificing lumen output (this projectors claim to fame) in doing so.

[Dylan Seeger]

That's a shame on the input lag. It's a deal breaker for me.

Were you able to test whether the lk990 can achieve 100% rec 709 ?

I didn't save the calibration report, so I don't know if it hit 100% or not. I don't remember the exact percentage. It was very close. 

[venkatesh_m]

I didn't save the calibration report, so I don't know if it hit 100% or not. I don't remember the exact percentage. It was very close.

Dylan,
Was this close to Rec709 or close to P3 ?

[Dylan Seeger]

Rec709. It cannot do P3 or at least not in any of the color modes I looked at. 

[AVSCraig]

That HT2050 I saw was around 1800:1 according to most published reports I read.  1000:1?  Ugh.

My RS4500 has the minimum native contrast required to keep me happy. Although I'm certainly willing to look at one of these if someone has one to demo close by - or at Cedia . Although Cedia demos can be problematic to say the least.